Joe Versus the Volcano: Benedict XVI: "we see who Jesus is if we see him at prayer"

Saturday, 19 March 2011

Benedict XVI: "we see who Jesus is if we see him at prayer"

When he was still Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict wrote that "we see who Jesus is if we see him at prayer" (Behold the Pierced One, p. 19).

"Jesus at prayer" certainly seems to be one of the recurrent themes of the reading at Mass and the Office of Readings during Lent, which move from the Temptation via the Transfiguration to the Agony in Gethsemane and the Cry of Dereliction on the Cross.

From a theological point of view, the question of what it means to say that the incarnate Son of God prayed is the most dazzling and unfathomable of mysteries - one which plunges us into the very heart of the interconnected mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation.

It was in wrestling with this mystery that St Maximus the Confessor established the foundation for the Church's teaching on the two wills of Christ, which found concrete expression at the Third Council of Constantinople.

Pope Benedict's short address on Maximus, Gethsemane and the mystery of redemption gives an indication that this is one of those aspects of the mysterium fidei (mystery of faith) which in this life can only be viewed contemplatively and "through a glass darkly".

Over on my other blog, in addition to the Benedict/Maximus link above, I've been assembling a few patristic and mediaeval texts which suggest various responses to Benedict's invitation to see who Jesus is by seeing him at prayer":

Aelred of Rievaulx on Christ's prayer "forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do"; Leo the Great on the implications of the Garden of Gethsemane; Augustine of Hippo on Christ's prayer on the Cross; Cyril of Alexandria on the Temptation in the Wilderness.

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Cyril of Alexandria

"After Christ had completed his mission on earth, it still remained necessary for us to become sharers in the divine nature of the Word. We had to give up our own life and be so transformed that we would begin to live an entirely new kind of life that would be pleasing to God. This was something we could do only by sharing in the Holy Spirit....When the time came for Christ to ascend to his heavenly Father, it was necessary for him to be united through his Spirit to those who worshipped him, and to dwell in our hearts through faith."

Basil of Caesarea

"Just as when a sunbeam falls on bright and transparent bodies, they themselves become brilliant too, and shed forth a fresh brightness from themselves, so souls wherein the Spirit dwells, illuminated by the Spirit, themselves become spiritual, and send forth their grace to others. Hence comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of what is hidden, distribution of good gifts, the heavenly citizenship, a place in the chorus of angels, joy without end, abiding in God, the being made like to God, and, highest of all, the being made God."

Benedict of Nursia

"We believe that the divine presence is everywhere and that ‘the eyes of the Lord are looking on the good and the evil in every place’. But we should believe this especially without any doubt when we are assisting at the Work of God. To that end let us be mindful always of the Prophet's words ‘Serve the Lord in fear’, and again, ‘Sing praises wisely’, and ‘In the sight of the Angels I will sing praise to Thee’. Let us therefore consider how we ought to conduct ourselves in the sight of the Godhead and of His Angels, and let us take part in the psalmody in such a way that our mind may be in harmony with our voice."