OCTOBER 12/13, 2019
5:00 PM (SAT @ COTATI), 7:30 AM, 10:30 AM (SUN) ORDINARY FORM MASSES
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens was a Roman Christian poet born in 348 in northern Spain.
He was a lawyer, and provincial governor; eventually ending up in the Imperial Court of Emperor Theodosius I (the first). Around the age of 50, he left public life and devoted his time to fasting, prayer, and writing.
Prudentius's allegorical poem titled Psychomachia – in English, The War for the Soul – was his most influential work. Focusing on the spiritual battle, it captured the imagination of Christians in the middle ages; being illustrated in manuscripts and on church walls – as a sort of medieval comic book. And continues to captivate and interest well into modern times – as a strategy card game.
In this epic poem, the seven virtues are portrayed as seven heroic women who go to battle against the vices, portrayed as seven haughty and wicked women.
Faith beheads Idolatry, Chastity slays Lust with a sword to the throat, and Sobriety uses a cross to sabotage Greed’s chariot before crushing her with a stone. Patience exhausts Anger, who then dies by her own sword.
And on and on, Humility, Hope, and Concord all take to the battlefield being cheered on by saints and biblical figures – and conquer all the other vices.
Today is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Our readings today give us a look into biblical and Christian virtues.
Namaan the Syrian general is looking for a cure for his leprosy. Yet if we read the story that precedes today’s reading, we learn that Namaan needed to get over his pride, his anger, and his self-will. In the end, as we heard today, he was healed. But in both body and soul.
St. Paul speaks of virtues and vices as well. Perseverance, Honesty, Transparency, and Fidelity. Pointing out that our Christian walk requires an inward transformation – so that we might be always, more and more, conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
In the Gospel, Our Lord shows Generosity to ten lepers. They are all healed through Obedience to His command. Yet only one returns to show Gratitude, glorifying God and giving thanks to Jesus.
While there are various arrangements and listings of virtues and vices the etymologies of these words are quite simply that virtues are strengths and vices are weaknesses.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us pray that we might allow the grace of God to transform us interiorly. To cast of the sins of our past, and the vices of the world. To hear and listen to God’s call and to fight the spiritual battle, every day – in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the strength of Christ Jesus – growing in both virtue and holiness, so we might truly live as the adopted children of God the Father, both now and in eternity.
