Wednesday, June 1 : A Greek 4th century homily

The tree of the cross is for me the tree of eternal salvation. It feeds me and I feast upon it. With its roots am I rooted and with its branches I stretch out my arms. It’s sap cleanses me and its breeze, like a fragrant wind, makes me fruitful. Beneath its shadow I have set up my tent and, escaping the terrible heat, I find there a haven of coolness. It is with its flowers that I myself blossom and with its fruit that I take my greatest delight. Yes, those fruits were kept for me from the beginning and I enjoy them without end… When I tremble before God, this tree gives me shelter; when I waver, it is my stay. It is the price of my battles and the prize of my victories; it is my narrow way, steep path, Jacob’s ladder where angels ascend and descend and at whose top the Lord is supported indeed (Mt 7,14; Gn 28,12). This tree of heavenly dimensions has been raised up from earth to sky; it is an immortal plant, set between heaven and earth. Upholding all things, bearing the universe, support of the inhabited world, it embraces the cosmos and gathers together the diverse elements of human nature. For itself, it is assembled of the invisible planks of the Spirit that it may not waver in its conformity to the divine. Touching the heights of heaven with its top, grounding the earth with its feet, and encircling with its great arms the innumerable spaces of the atmosphere, it is wholly in all and around all… It would have been of no account that the universe was blotted out, melted with terror before the Passion, if our great Jesus had not infused the divine Spirit in it when he said: “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit” (Lk 23,46)… Everything was shattered, yet when the divine Spirit rose again the universe was re-animated after a fashion, brought back to life and recovered the firmness of its stability. God filled everything, everywhere, and the crucifixion penetrated all things.

maronite readings – rosary,team