Saturday, August 21 : Saint John Chrysostom

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name,” says Jesus, “there am I in their midst” (Mt 18:20) (…) Yet what is this I see? Christians who serve under the same banner and beneath the same head, devour and rend each other: some for a little piece of gold, others for fame, some for no reason at all, others for the pleasure of argument! (…) The title of ‘brothers’ is empty where we are concerned. (…) Have respect for this holy table where all of us are gathered: respect Christ, sacrificed for us; respect the sacrifice offered here. (…) When we have shared in such a table and communicated in such food as this, do we take up arms against each other when we should all be arming ourselves against the devil! (…) Are we forgetting that enemy so as to shoot our arrows against our brethren? – What arrows are those, do you say? – Those shot by tongue and lips. It is not just iron-tipped arrows that cause injury; there are words that cause far deeper wounds than this.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team