Dominica XXIV post Pentecosten
Notes
Transcript
LESSON: The two faces of Christ
LESSON: The two faces of Christ
In the Gospel passage for today, this Last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, we hear a series of warnings given by Our Lord. The original context for this message is Our Lord’s foretelling of the destruction of the Temple, but the message applies equally to the destruction of the world, the end of time, the Last Judgement.
One particular thing that Our Lord warns His hearers about, is false Christ’s, but there is perhaps one type of false Christ that is more dangerous than any other, and that is the false Christ that exists in our own minds. You know the one I mean, the one that is there to justify our sins.
It’s the Christ who says, “I came to teach you how to love each other, so I would support homosexual marriage”. “I was very progressive and promoted the cause of women, so I would support abortion or women’s ordination”. “I was constantly railing against the Scribes and Pharisees, so I would be okay with you insulting and disobeying your bishop.”
These are, of course, more extreme examples, but these, and the more run of the mill examples come about, at least in part, because we have been trained over the last 50 or 60 years, to only look at one face of Christ. Think for a moment, after the crucifix, what is the most common image of Christ that we see? The Sacred Heart. After that comes the Divine Mercy, and after that comes the Good Shepherd. These are all depictions of the Merciful Christ.
There is, however, another side to Christ, another face that we will see at the moment of our deaths, and one that the whole world will see at the end of time, the Just Christ. Perhaps the most striking depiction of this Christ is the one painted by Michelangelo above the High Altar in the Sistine Chapel.
In the grand fresco of the Last Judgement, Christ is not smiling down with a look of kindness, His face shows only anger, and His hand is raised to strike the Earth. Beside Him is Our Blessed Mother whose face is turned away because she cannot bear to watch what is about to unfold.
St. Thomas Aquinas famously said that “Justice without mercy is cruelty, but mercy without justice is the mother of all dissipation.” If we don’t want to fall prey to our own false image of Christ, then we need to keep both of these faces of Christ in view.
ILLUSTRATION: St. Cedda in a thunderstorm
ILLUSTRATION: St. Cedda in a thunderstorm
In pre-Reformation England, when the faith was flourishing, the diocese of London was governed by a holy Bishop named Cedda.
Venerable Bede tells us that whenever that holy man heard thunder pealing through the heavens, he used to throw himself upon the ground, and call on God to have mercy on him. And when he saw the lightning flash around him, he would tremble from head to foot, and run to the church, where he would lean against the altar, and pray with tears in his eyes till the storm had come to an end.
Some people who saw him on these occasions thought to themselves that to act in this way was a mark of childish fear which they did not expect to see in their pastor and Father. One day they confronted him about this behaviour.
“O my children,” he answered, “it is not the storm that makes me afraid, but every time I hear it burst forth, I think of the terrible Day of Judgement. The howling of the tempest puts me in mind of the cries of despair of poor sinners on that day. When I see the lightning, I think of the anger of Jesus Christ against those who have offended Him; and when I hear the thunder, I think I hear the terrible voice of Jesus Christ pronouncing the awful sentence of condemnation against them. If I tremble now even at the thought of these things, how much more will I tremble when I really see them!”
St. Cedda, in this way, kept before himself the face of Christ’s judgement.
APPLICATION: Keeping God’s judgement before our eyes
APPLICATION: Keeping God’s judgement before our eyes
While we live in this life, we are living in the time for God’s mercy, but this life is temporary and short when compared to all of eternity. All of us will one day stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ, whether on our own or with all of humanity on the Last Day. If we want to be judged favourably on that day, then we need to keep that day plainly in view in the here and now.
Failing to do so, and focussing solely on God mercy’s is an invitation to abuse God’s mercy. St. Cedda gave us one, perhaps extreme, example of keeping God’s judgement in view, but how else might we do so?
One sure method is to read the Gospels faithfully each day. Even just a chapter per day takes no more than five to ten minutes, and it will show us the true face of Christ, both the merciful and loving Christ, and the Christ who abhors sin with a perfect hatred. This allows us to daily challenge that false Christ that we may have built up in our own minds.
Another method would be, in addition to the images of the Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy in our homes, to have an image that reminds us daily of God’s Judgement. It could be a copy of Michelangelo’s work in the Sistene Chapel or some other image. My personal favourite is the image of St. Bruno’s conversion at the funeral of Raymond Diocrès.
Raymond Diocrès, a professor at the Sorbonne, and a man with a universal reputation for learning and apparent virtue, died in Paris. Three days later, his coffin, beautifully adorned with the symbols of his profession, was brought into the cathedral with solemnity, accompanied by his fellow professors, by a large group of students and many priests.
Hundreds attended the funeral service; innumerable candles were lit and prayers were offered for him by those who had admired the great knowledge and virtues of the illustrious deceased.
But when the choir came to the passage in the Office of the Dead: ‘What are my faults and my sins? My misdeeds and my sins make known to me!’ which Holy Job asks in Scripture, suddenly the corpse, which was lying exposed on its bier, moved before their eyes, sat up, and cried out in accents of desperation which matched the despair in his eyes: ‘By the judgement of God, I have been accused, judged and condemned’.
Having said this, he fell back, never to move again. Thus the world-renowned professor had hidden vice under the appearance of virtue. But God, who scrutinizes hearts, knew his sins and punished him for them.
As we celebrate this Holy Mass, let us pray for the grace not to be led astray by false Christs who indulge us in our sins, but to keep the true face of Christ ever before us, the face of mercy, and the face of judgement.
(https://en.gaudiumpress.org/89748-the-frightening-funeral-of-raymond-diocres/)