Zacchaeus (32nd) Sunday - Sunday After Theophany

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Zacchaeus Sunday

MATINS (X)

John 21:1-14

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 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

LITURGY

1 Timothy 4:9-15

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 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

Luke 19:1-10

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 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

For Sunday after the Theophany

LITURGY

Ephesians 4:7-13

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 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Matthew 4:12-17

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 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[尼古拉前执事]

32nd Sunday after Pentecost - Zacchaeus Luke 19:1-10
From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Luke
by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

1-10. The Lord seizes the mightiest of the devils vessels and destroys his cities. See how the Lord not only makes publicans His disciples, but He even takes prisoner, in order to save him, the chief of publicans, Zacchaeus. No one doubts that a publican is an abomination: how much more so is the chief publican, who is foremost in wickedness? For the publicans derived their living from no other source than the tears of the poor. But even this chief publican is not despised by the Lord. In return only for showing eagerness to see Jesus he receives salvation. He desired to see Jesus, which is why he climbed up into the sycamore tree, but before he had caught sight of Jesus, the Lord had already seen him. In the same manner, the Lord always anticipates us if only He sees that we are willing and eager. When the Lord sees Zacchaeus, He urges him to come down quickly, for He intends to stay at his house. And Zacchaeus was not slow to obey--for when Christ commands anything, we must not hesitate--but he came down and received Him joyfully, even though many people murmured. Let us see how Zacchaeus reaped the benefit of Christs entrance into his house. He says, The half of my goods I give to the poor. Do you see his fervor? He began to disburse without stint, not giving just a little, but all that he had. Even what he held back, he held back so that he could give to those whom he had wronged. From this we learn that there is no benefit at all to a man who gives alms to others of money he has obtained unrighteously, and ignores those whom he defrauded in obtaining that money. See what Zacchaeus does with this money: if he defrauded anyone, he restores to him fourfold, thus remedying the harm he had done to each man he defrauded. This is true almsgiving. He not only remedies the harm, but he does so with increase. This is in accordance with the law, which commanded that the thief make fourfold restitution. [Ex.22:1] If we consider this well, we see that nothing at all remained of Zacchaeus money. Half he gave to the poor, and of the half that remained to him, he gave fourfold to those whom he had wronged. But since the living of the chief publican was derived from fraud and extortion, and since he paid back fourfold all that he wrongly taken, it follows that he stripped himself of everything that he had. From this we see that his thinking goes beyond the prescription of the law, for he had become a disciple of the Gospel, and he loved his neighbor more than himself. And what he promised to do, he did: he did not say, "I shall give half, and I shall restore fourfold," but instead, Behold, I give and I restore. For he had heard the counsel of Solomon, Say not, Come back another time, tomorrow I will give. [Prov. 3:28] Christ proclaims to him the good tidings of his salvation, saying, "Today you give, today salvation is come to you." By saying, to this house, the Lord indicates that Zacchaeus himself has received salvation. By this house He means Zacchaeus, for the Lord would not call a building without a soul a son of Abraham. It is clear that the Lord named this living master of the house a son of Abraham, because Zacchaeus was like the Patriarch in two respects: he believed and was counted righteous by faith, and with money he was magnanimous and generous to the poor. See that the Lord says that Zacchaeus is now a son of Abraham, and that in his present behavior the Lord sees the likeness to Abraham. The Lord did not say that Zacchaeus had always been a son of Abraham, but that he now is. Before, when he was a chief publican and tax collector, he bore no resemblance to that righteous man, and was not his son. To silence those who were complaining that the Lord went to be the guest of a sinful man, He says, The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. This is the explanation of the literal words; but it is easy to understand these things in another sense as well, for moral benefit. Anyone who is chief among many in wickedness is little in spiritual stature, for the flesh and the spirit are opposites to one another, and for this reason he cannot see Jesus for the crowd. Crowded in by a multitude of passions and worldly affairs, he is not able to see Jesus acting, moving, and walking about. Such a man as this cannot recognize Christian acts for what they are, namely, Christ acting and moving in us. But such a man, who never sees Jesus passing by and cannot perceive Christ in Christian acts, will sometimes change from negligence and come to his senses. Then he will climb up to the top of the sycamore-fig, passing by every pleasure and sweetness, as signified by the figs, and counting them as foolish and dead. Becoming higher than he was and making ascents in his heart, [Ps. 83:6] he is seen by Jesus and can see Jesus, and the Lord says to him, Make haste, and come down, which means, "Through repentance you have ascended to a higher life; come down now through humility lest pride and high mindedness make you fall. Make haste, and humble yourself. If you humble yourself, I must abide at your house, for it is necessary that I abide in the house of a humble man. Upon whom shall I look, if not upon him who is humble and meek, who trembles at My words? [Is. 66:2] Such a man gives half of his goods to the destitute demons. For our substance is twofold: flesh and spirit. The righteous man imparts all his fleshly substance to the truly poor, the demons who are destitute of everything good. But he does not let go of his spiritual substance, for as the Lord likewise said to the devil concerning Job, Behold, I give into thine hand all that he has, but touch not his soul. [Job 1:12] And if he has taken any thing from any man by false accusation, he restores it to him fourfold. This suggests that if a man repents and follows a path that is opposite to his former way of wickedness, he heals his former sins through the four virtues, (1)and thus he receives salvation and is called a son of Abraham. Like Abraham, he also goes out of his land and out of his kinship with his former wickedness and out of the house of his father, meaning, he comes out from his old self and rejects his former condition. He himself was the house of his father, the devil. Therefore, when he went out of the house of his father, that is, when he went out of himself and changed, he found salvation, as did Abraham.

1. The four universal virtues are courage, prudence, righteousness, and self-control. See Vol. 1, The Explanation of St. Matthew, p. 7.

[Justin Kissel]

John 21:1-14
Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 87 on John

Blessed Augustine, Homilies on John, (Tractate 122) (Tractate 123)

1 Timothy 4:9-15
Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Timothy, (Homily 12) (Homily 13)

Ephesians 4:7-13
Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 11 on Ephesians

Matthew 4:12-17
Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 14 on Matthew

(I'll try to get more Fathers up in a few days)

[Justin Kissel]

...give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine ...Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. - 1 Tim. 4:13, 15

How will Timothy's profiting "appear to all"? Paul gives the answer to this in the next verse: "Take heed unto theyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (1 Tim. 4:16; cf Acts 20:28 ). The concept of "hearing" about the faith seems to be an important concept as even our Lord Jesus Christ linked hearing, faith, and salvation: "I have many things to say and to judge of you: and He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him... If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Jn. 8:26, 31-32; cf Gal. 3:2, 5; Eph. 4:29; etc.)

I think there's something more to it that simply hearing, though. Saint Justin Popovich observes:

"Every tiny part of this Body [or Christ] lives by the whole Body, and the whole Body lives in its every part. All live through each and in each, and each lives through all and in all. Every part grows by the general growth of the Body, and the whole Body also grows by the growth of the tiniest part. All these numerous, tiny parts of the body, all these organs, limbs, and senses, all these cells, are united in one eternally-living, theanthropic Body by the Lord Christ Himself, who co-ordinates the action of each part with the conciliar life of the Body.

Each part works 'according to the measure' of its powers. The strength of each member of the Church comes from the evangelical virtues. The evangelical activity of each member of the Church, although sperate and personal, is always ultimately conciliar, common, and general; it is integrated into the general activity of the whole Body... The activity of each member of the Church is, therefore, always at the same time personal and conciliar, personal and collective.

Even if it appears that a member acts only on his own behalf (for example in the ascesis of hermits), each member of the Church always works for the whole. Such is the dispensation of the theanthropic organism of the Church which is constantly led and guided by the Lord Christ Himself. the lives of angels and men, of the righteous and unrighteous, of the departed and those living on earth, are interwoven in the conciliar life of the Church.

Those who are more righteous and holy help those who are less so, to grow by divine growth into greater and greater righteousness and holiness. The holy power of Christ the Theanthropos flows through all these members, even the smallest and most insignificant, according to the measure of their incorporation by grace in to the organism of the Church, through the ascesis of faith, love, prayer, fasting, repentance and other holy virtues.

Thus we all grow together 'unto an holy temple in the Lord' (Eph. 2:21), organically linked through grace with each other by one faith, the same holy mysteries and virtues, one Lord, one Truth, one Gospel. We all parkae in the one theanthropic life of the Church, each in his place in that Body, the place allotted to him by the Lord, the Head of the Church, for the Body of the Church grows from Him and is by Him 'harmoniously joined and assembled'. In this conciliar life of the Church, each edifies himself in love through all, and all through each. Hence, even an apostle needs the prayers of the ordinary members of the Church...

A sense of conciliarity, of personal responsibility, is a mark of every Christian. He knows that when he falls, he pulls others down with him; when he rises, he lifts others as well. His life is not his alone, but is interwoven with the lives of his brethren in the Faith, because we all constitute the one Body of the Church. We have all in common in the Church: God, God's holy things, the soul, the conscience and the heart. Through prayer and grace, each is in all and all in each. No one knows how much each of us owes to God's saints and their prayers: our soul, our faith, our very salvation.

If you are a member of the Church, it means that you are organically bound together with the holy apostles, martyrs and confessors and the heavenly powers of angels. Love of holy conciliarity unites the members of the Church in a theanthropic way. Each and all live the conciliar life of the Church. This holy love of conciliarity depends on their faith in Christ and their life in Him. Hence the divinely-wise Apostle proclaims to the Christians: 'As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him (Col. 2:6)." - Saint Justin Popovich, The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism, (Lazarica Press, 2000), pp. 32-35

[Mary Kissel]

sorry for not posting the ont commentaries yet for this weeks' I'll get them up tomorrow

MaryC.

[Mary Kissel]

Notes for the 32nd Sunday after Pentecost, Sunday after Theophany

Matins Gospel Notes:

John 21:1-14

21:2Saint Gregory the Great: "We must note that the Lord is described as having had His final banquet with seven disciples. Why did He do this if not to declare that only those filled with the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit (Is. 11:2,3) would be with Him at His eternal meal?...Paul most truthfully proclaims, 'Now if anyone doth not have the Spirit of Christ, this same one is not of Him (Rom. 8:9).' What he means is that no one, not now governed by the God Who dwells within, shall afterwards rejoice at the sight of the divine glory." [Ib., 185,186.] (ONT. p. 554)

21:3 Saint Gregory the Great: "Jesus, the Truth said, 'No one, having put his hand upon the plow, and looking to the things behind, is fit for the kingdom of God(Lk.9:62).' Why did Peter return to what he had abandoned? We know that Peter was a fisherman, whereas Matthew was a taxcollector. Peter returned to fishing after his conversion, but Matthew did not again sit down to his business of tax collecting, because it is one thing to make a living by fishing, and another to increase one's gains by money from the tax office. There are many occupations we cannot practise either partially or completely without sin. No one is allowed to take up again, after his conversion, those occupations that are involved with sin." [Hom. 24, Forty Gospel Homilies, 180; cf. Hom. 24, P.L. 76 (col. 1184).] (ONT. p. 554-555)

21:4 Saint Gregory the Great: "'Jesus stood on the seashore.' Before His resurrection He walked on the waves of the sea in His disciples' sight (Mt. 14:25). What does the sea indicate but the present age, which is disturbed by the uproar of circumstances and the commotion of this perishable life? What does the solidity of the shore signify but the uninterrupted continuance of eternal peace? Since the disciples were still held in the waves of this mortal life, they were laboring on the sea. But since our Redeemer had already passed beyond His perishable body, after His resurrection He stood on the shore as if He were speaking to His disciples by His actions of the mystery of His resurrection." [Ib.] (ONT. p. 555)

21:6 Saint Gregory the Great: "We read twice in the holy Gospel that the Lord ordered that nets be let down for fishing. In the earlier catch(Lk. 5:4-6), before the Passion, He did not say whether the net be cast on the right side or the left; and so many fish were taken that the nets were torn. In the later catch, after the resurrection, He ordered the net be let down on the right side; and though many fish were taken, the nets were not torn. The good are designated by the right side and the wicked on the left(Matt. 25:33). The earlier catch signifies the Church in the present time, when she takes along the good with the wicked. She does not choose those she brings in, because she is ignorant of those whom she can choose. The later catch takes place on the right side, since only the Church of the elect, which will possess nothing of the works on the left side, will come to see the glory of His brightness. In the earlier catch the net was broken because the number of the wicked now enters with the elect, and they tear the Church apart with their heresies. In the later catch many large fish are caught, and the net is untorn, because the holy Church of the elect remains in the uninterrupted peace of her Creator and no dissension tears her apart." [Ib., 181, 182.] (ONT. p. 555)

21:9 Saint Gregory the Great: "The One Who wished to be broiled by the turmoil of His Passion in His human nature fed us with the bread of His divinity when He said, 'I am the bread, the living one, that came down out of heaven(Jn. 6:51).' And so He ate broiled fish and bread to show us by this food that He bore His Passion in our human nature, and also provided food for us in His divine nature." [Ib., 184] (ONT. p. 555-556)

21:11a Saint Gregory the Great: "Because the Church's preacher was to part us from the waves of this world, it was surely necessary that Peter bring the net full of fish to land. He dragged the fish to the firm ground of the shore, because by his preaching He revealed to the faithful the stability of our eternal home. He accomplished this through his words and letters, and he accomplishes it daily by his miraculous signs." [Ib.,182] (ONT. p. 556)

21:11b Saint Gregory the Great: "The number has a deep and mysterious meaning. You know that in the Old Testament every work is prescribed by the ten commandments, but in the New Testament the power of the same work is given to the increased number of faithful through the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, which the prophet foretells: 'The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strenght, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness shall fill him, the Spirit of the fear of God (Is. 11:2,3).' A person acquires the ability to work in this Spirit who acknowledges faith in the Trinity. All of our work can be comprised by ten and seven. Let us multiply this seventeen by three, and we have fifty-one. In the Old Testament this number possessed a deep and mysterious meaning. In the fiftieth year the entire people is to rest from work, and is called a jubilee (Lev. 25:10-12). True rest though consists in unity since what is one cannot be divided. Where there is division and separation there is no true rest. Let us multiply fifty-one bye three and we have one hundred and fifty-three. Because all our work, practised through belief in the Trinity, tends toward rest. We multiply seventeen by three to arrive at fifty-one, and our true rest exists when even now we recognize the glory of the Trinity, which we hold as certainly existing in the unity of the divinity. And so the net that was let down after the Lord's resurrection was suited to catch a number of fish that would indicate the elect in our celestial home." [Ib.,182,183.] (ONT. p. 556)

Liturgy Gospel Notes:

Luke 19:1-10

19:3 Saint Kyril: "He had sought to see Him, but the multitude prevented him, not so much that of the people, as of his sins. He was of little stature, not merely in a bodily point of view, but also spiritually. In no other way could he see Him, unless he were raised up from the earth. Now the story contains an enigma: for in no other way can a man see Christ and believe in Him, except by mounting up into the sycamore, by rendering foolish his members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, etc." [Ib., 505, 506.]
Saint Ambrose: "Zacchaeos is small of stature, that is, he is not tall with any dignity of innate nobility; he is poor in merits like the people of the nations who, having heard of the coming of our Lord, desired to see Him Whom his own had not received." [Ib., Bk. VIII, paragraph 81.] "As long as he is in the crowd, Zacchaeos does not see Christ; he climbs above the crowd and sees Him, namely, having transcended base ignorance, he deserved to perceive Him for Whom he longed." [Ib.,Bk. VIII, paragraph 88.] (ONT. p. 377)

19:4a Saint Ambrose: "None easily sees Jesus, none standing alone upon earth can see Jesus....He climbed up the sycamore tree, indeed, trampling the vanity of the Jews beneath his feet and also correcting the mistakes of a former age; and, therefore, he received Jesus in the hospitality of his inner house. He fittingly climbed a tree, so that a good tree would bring forth good fruits. Cut from a natural wild olive and grafted against nature onto a good olive tree [cf. Rom. 11:24], he could bring forth the fruit of the law; for the root is holy, although the branches are useless [cf. Rom. 11:16,17], whose barren glory the people of the nations transcended through faith in the resurrection, as if by the elevation of the body." [Ib., Bk. VIII, paragraph 81.] (ONT. p. 377)

19:4b Saint Ambrose: "He fittingly added, 'He was about to pass through that way'; for He had come thus, so that He would pass through the Jews to the Gentiles." [Ib., Bk. VIII, paragraph 89.]
Saint Kyril: "Christ, it says, was about to pass by the sycamore; for having taken for His path the conduct of life which is by the law, that is, the fig tree, He chose the foolish things of the world, that is, the Cross and death. And everyone who takes up his cross, and follows Christ's conduct of life, is saved, performing the law with understanding, which so becomes a fig tree not bearing figs, but follies. For the secret conduct of the faithful seems to the Jews to be folly."[Ib., 506.] (ONT. p. 377-378 )

19:5 Saint Ambrose: "He saw Zaccaeos high up, for he already stood out in loftiness of faith amid the fruits of new works as if at the top of a fertile tree....He was at the top of the tree, because he was above the law. Already beyond the law, he abandoned his goods and followed the Lord." [Ib., Bk. VIII, paragraph 90.] (ONT. p. 378 )

19:8 Saint Kyril: "He who lately was a tax collector, or rather the chief of the tax collectors, gives up covetousness. He becomes merciful and devoted to charity. He promises that he will distribute his wealth to those who are in need, that he will make restoration to those who have been defrauded [cf. Ex. 22:1]." [Ib., 507.] (ONT. p. 378 )

Sunday after Theophany Gospel and Epistle Notes:

Eph. 4:7-13

4:8 Cf. Ps. 67(68 ):19(18 ). Blessed Jerome: "It is written in the psalm, 'Thou didst receive gifts among men.' Why this difference? Since in the psalm the act had not yet occured but was promised in the future, the phrase was accordingly, 'He received.' But the apostle is seeing this as a promise earlier given and later fulfilled. At this time of writting, Christ has already made the gift and churches have been established throughout the world. Accordingly, He is said to have already given to humanity rather than to have received gifts among humanity." ["Epistle to the Ephesians," 2.4.8, P.L. 26:498B (612-613), cited in ACC, VIII:163, 164.] (ONT. p. 283)

4:10 Blessed Jerome: "The Son of God descended to the lower parts of the earth and ascended above all the heavens, so that He might fulfill not only the law and the prophets but also certain hidden dispensations which only the Father knew. He also descended to the lower parts and ascended to heaven, so that He might bring fulfillment to those who were in those regions, so far as they were able to receive. From this we know that before Christ descended and ascended everything was void and in need of His fullness." ["Epistle to the Ephesians," 2.4.10, P.L. 26.499BC (614), cited in ACC, VIII:164,165.]
Saint Kyril of Alexandria: "For as one of us, though He knew not death, He went down into death through His own flesh in order that we might also go up with Him to life. For He came to life again, having despoiled the nether world, not as a man like us, but as God incarnate among us and above us. Our nature was greatly enriched with immortality in Him first, and death was crushed when it assaulted the body of Life as an enemy. For just as it conquered in Adam, so it was defeated in Christ....The heavens were made accessible to those on earth." ["Letter 1(38 )," FC, 76:32,33.] (ONT. p. 283)

4:11 Blessed Jerome: "He has not allotted different offices to sheperds and teachers. He means that he who is a sheperd should at the same time be a teacher. No one in the Church, even a saintly person, unless he can teach those whom he feeds, should take to himself the name of sheperd." ["Epistle to the Epesians," 2.4.11-12, P.L. 26:500B (615), in ACC, VIII:166.] (ONT. p. 284)

4:13 Saint Symeon the New Theologian: "All those who are foreknown by God must be born, come into being, before the world beyond our world, the world of the Church, of the Firstborn, of the heavenly Jerusalem, is filled up. Then shall the end come and the fullness of the body of Christ be complete, through those who are foreordained by God to become conformed to the image of His Son. They are the sons of light and of His day. These are the foreordained who are inscribed and numbered, who shall be added and joined to the body of Christ. And then-whenas it were the whole is realized, when no member is lacking-it shall be fulfilled, completed, as in truth it appeared to the Apostle Paul when he said: 'Until we all might come to...a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ.'" ["The Church and the Last Things," On the Mystical Life: The Ethical Discourses, Vol. I, First Discourse, VIII:51.] (ONT. p. 284)

Matt. 4:12-17

4:15 Cf. Is. 9:1; Lk. 1:79. (ONT. p. 81)

[Justin Kissel]

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