Oh Damascus...

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

St. John Damascene
(675-749 AD)

Called Golden Speaker because of his eloquence.

In 1890 Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church.
His feast is celebrated on 27 March.

Extracts from An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith:

The first name then conveys the notion of His existence and of the nature of His existence: while the second contains the idea of energy.

Further, the true doctrine teacheth that the Deity is simple and has one simple energy, good and energising in all things, just as the sun's ray, which warms all things and energises in each in harmony with its natural aptitude and receptive power, having obtained this form of energy from God, its Maker.

Since we find many terms used symbolically in the Scriptures concerning God which are more applicable to that which has body, we should recognise that it is quite impossible for us men clothed about with this dense covering of flesh to understand or speak of the divine and lofty and immaterial energies of the Godhead, except by the use of images and types and symbols derived from our own life.

And God's hands mean the effectual nature of His energy, for it is with our own hands that we accomplish our most useful and valuable work.

… the Godhead is not compound but in three perfect subsistences, one perfect indivisible and uncompound God. And when I think of the relation of the three subsistences to each other, I perceive that the Father is super-essential Sun, source of goodness, fathomless sea of essence, reason, wisdom, power, light, divinity: the generating and productive source of good hidden in it.

… we speak of God having place and the place of God where His energy becomes manifest. For He penetrates everything without mixing with it, and imparts to all His energy in proportion to the fitness and receptive power of each: and by this I mean, a purity both natural and voluntary. For the immaterial is purer than the material, and that which is virtuous than that which is linked with vice. Wherefore by the place of God is meant that which has a greater share in His energy and grace. For this reason the Heaven is His throne. For in it are the angels who do His will and are always glorifying Him. For this is His rest and the earth is His footstool. For in it He dwelt in the flesh among men. And His sacred flesh has been named the foot of God. The Church, too, is spoken of as the place of God: for we have set this apart for the glorifying of God as a sort of consecrated place wherein we also hold converse with Him. Likewise also the places in which His energy becomes manifest to us, whether through the flesh or apart from flesh, are spoken of as the places of God.

… to God alone belongs the power of energising everywhere at the same time.

… the Deity, Who is everywhere and above all, energises at the same time in diverse ways with one simple energy.

… the soul is bound up with the body, whole with whole and not part with part: and it is not contained by the body but contains it as fire does iron, and being in it energises with its own proper energies.

… God Who is invisible by nature is made visible by His energies, we perceive from the organisation and government of the world.

… the divine effulgence and energy, being one anti simple and indivisible, assuming many varied forms in its goodness among what is divisible and allotting to each the component parts of its own nature, still remains simple and is multiplied without division among the divided, and gathers and converts the divided into its own simplicity.

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Oh Damascus, we need your golden gift today!

Here is what I found in an Amazon search:

…the Holy Eucharist is a source of energy for all-around Christian…

…reduces the obstacles to the transforming energy of the Eucharist

…source of new life and energy. The Eucharist enables believers… 

…elements of the Eucharist, where the energy of a past event is ...

... Age of the Fathers have dedicated time and energy to the Eucharist ...

…the food and drink of the Eucharist sustain the energies of hope…

The Eucharist can be compared to the sun drawing all other things to itself from which these receive their energy and power.

By restoring this ancient approach … we attain to Eucharistic spirituality, the energy of Christ within us to form and shape us into his image.

The core source of this divine energy is in the Holy Eucharist. The apostles were doing more than merely arranging ceremonies and rituals; they were experiencing the mystery of light that flowed from their contact with the Eucharist.

Our visible spectrum now includes that vital energy that Eucharist is who we are.

Just as ordinary food is converted into physical energy, the Eucharist nourishes the continual journey of the believer toward oneness with God.

The invocation of the Spirit in Eucharist calls for the energy of God to transform humanly nourishing food into the Bread of Life.

The Eucharist is spiritual energy that we need to continue on the road to Heaven.

The power of the resurrection in the energy of the Eucharist is to declare that here, in church celebrating Eucharist every individual is equal.

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Eucharist-Energeia = Mass x Double Consecration (Mystery of Light)

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“Suppose there were a reality faster than light, so superenergized that it would be at rest, everywhere at once. Every object we see—though it appears rock-hard—is actually just another form of energy: e = mc². Couple that with all we know from religion; encounters with God are so often described as burning bushes and fiery pillars and tongues of flame. I Am is the pool of energizing existence out of which everything draws its ‘is,’ ‘the dearest freshness deep down things.’ It may not help everyone, but when I pray, I pray to a Person made of light.”

Fr. William O’Malley, SJ

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Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ

See you on the High Ground!

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;

O Beata Trinitas;

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael