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Office Of Readings | Week 30, Monday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Letter Of Pope Saint Clement I To The Corinthians | We Must Not Run Away From God’s Will
‘We must not turn our backs and flee from God’s will.’
Saint Clement reflects on the discipline of Christian life within the early Church, focusing on the relationship between divine presence, moral conduct, and communal order. He addresses the need to align human action with God’s will and to avoid hypocrisy or self-deception in faith.
Clement begins with an admonition concerning responsibility for divine blessings. The gifts of God are not presented as static possessions but as obligations that carry moral weight. Blessing may become condemnation if it is received without corresponding conduct. This establishes the principle that grace demands a practical and ethical response. The believer is not to rely on divine favour as assurance of safety but to live in a way consistent with its source.
The reading stresses the awareness of divine omniscience. God is described as searching the hidden places of the human heart, a formulation that draws upon biblical language from the Wisdom tradition. Knowledge of this interior scrutiny requires transparency of conscience. Since nothing is concealed from God, external compliance without inward integrity is meaningless. The emphasis is on sincerity rather than public conformity.
A contrast follows between the approval of God and the opinion of ‘stupid and foolish men’. The choice presented is between obedience to divine will and submission to human vanity. This introduces a social dimension to moral life: believers must be prepared to offend social pride if truth demands it. The community’s health depends on a hierarchy of loyalty, where divine judgement takes precedence over public esteem.
Clement then describes a network of relationships within the Christian body. He refers to authority, age, marriage and education, situating moral discipline within the structures of everyday life. Respect for presbyters, proper instruction of youth, and the formation of wives and children in reverence express a practical theology of order. The passage implies that holiness is maintained through patterns of conduct appropriate to each role. The tone is not speculative but prescriptive, defining the community as an organism held together by mutual duty.
The description of the household serves as a microcosm of the Church. Each person’s behaviour reflects and supports the moral condition of the whole. Clement’s references to chastity, gentleness, silence, and charity are presented not as private virtues but as public disciplines. Control of speech, equitable charity, and purity of intention demonstrate the unity between inner disposition and outward behaviour. This coherence is a central concern: the Spirit searches the heart, and hypocrisy disrupts the spiritual integrity of the body.
The reading grounds ethical instruction in faith and Scripture. Clement alludes to Psalm 34/33, invoking divine speech through the Holy Spirit. The citation frames moral exhortation within revelation. God’s word teaches the ‘fear of the Lord’, which is presented not as anxiety but as recognition of divine reality that leads to life and peace. The sequence ‘turn away from evil, do good, seek peace’ reflects an ordered vision of moral reform: avoidance, action, and pursuit.
Clement describes the divine character as merciful, generous, and good to those who approach with undivided hearts. The argument concludes with a warning against duplicity. Faith must be whole, not divided by mistrust or calculation. Clement’s concern is with integrity—between inner belief and outward conduct, between confession and behaviour, between individual and community.
A Reading From The Letter Of Pope Saint Clement I To The Corinthians | We Must Not Run Away From God’s Will
Dear friends take care that God’s blessings, which are many, do not become the condemnation of us all; we must live lives worthy of him and in mutual harmony do what is good and acceptable in his sight. He tells us: The Spirit of the Lord is a lantern, searching the hidden places of our inmost being.
We must remember how near he is and that no thought of ours, no conversation we hold is hidden from him. It is right, therefore, that we should not turn our backs and flee from God’s will. We should rather give offense to stupid and foolish men, puffed up and taking pride in their boastful speech, than give offense to God.
Let us reverence the Lord Jesus, whose blood was shed for us. Let us respect those in authority, let us honor the presbyters. Let us train the young in the fear of God. Let us lead our wives toward all that is good. Let them show by their conduct that they are lovers of chastity; by their gentleness let them reveal a pure and sincere disposition; by their silence let them manifest the control they have over their tongues; let them bestow an equal charity, without respect for persons, on all who have a holy fear of God.
Your children must share in the way of discipleship in Christ. They must learn how effective humility is before God, what chaste love can accomplish with God, how good and noble is the fear of God, for it brings salvation to all who possess it and who live holy lives with a pure heart. The one whose Spirit is in us is the searcher of our thoughts and of the counsels of our hearts. At his will, he shall take that Spirit from us.
All this is strengthened by the faith that comes to us in Christ. He himself addresses us through the Holy Spirit and says: Come, my children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Is there a man who wants life, desiring to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking what is false. Turn away from evil and do good. Seek peace and go in pursuit of it.
The Father is merciful in all he does and full of generosity; he is loving to those who fear him. In goodness and gentleness he gives his graces to those who approach him with undivided hearts. We must then put away all duplicity and not be distrustful in the face of his excelling and ennobling gifts.
Christian Prayer With Jesus
God of light,
You search the hidden places of the heart.
Teach us to live with integrity before you,
to speak truth,
to act in peace,
and to seek what is good in your sight.
Keep us from duplicity and pride.
Grant us unity with one another,
and constancy in the path of your will.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Glossary Of Christian Terms
Blessing – The favour or gift of God. In Clement’s use, blessing implies responsibility; it must be matched by conduct that honours its giver.
Will of God – The divine intention or purpose guiding creation and human life. Obedience to it defines faithful living.
Spirit of the Lord – The Holy Spirit, understood as God’s presence and activity within human beings and the Church.
Reverence – A posture of respect and awe before God, expressed through worship and obedience.
Presbyter – A term used in the early Church for elders or leaders responsible for pastoral care and teaching; later associated with priests.
Fear of God – Not terror, but recognition of divine majesty and moral seriousness; a disposition that leads to wisdom and humility.
Chastity – The right ordering of desire in body and mind; living in accordance with one’s state of life and vocation.
Charity – Love directed by faith; the practical expression of goodwill and care toward others without partiality.
Grace – The free gift of God’s life and help, enabling human beings to act rightly and to grow in holiness.
Duplicity – The division between inward intention and outward appearance; the opposite of sincerity before God.
Peace – The condition of harmony arising from right relationship with God and others; a goal of Christian conduct and prayer.
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Christian Art | Our Lord Jesus On The Cross | God The Father | God The Son Office Of Readings | Advent December 23rd | A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed ‘The hidden sacrament is revealed.’ In this reading, Saint Hippolytus writes against the Noetic heresy, which denied the real distinction between the Father and the Son by treating them as the same person acting under different names. The purpose of Saint Hippolytus is to defend the Church’s confession of one God who is not solitary, but who exists with his Word and Spirit. Hippolytus begins by setting a principle: knowledge of God comes from the Holy Scriptures, not from speculation or private reasoning. Faith is not shaped by human preference but by what God has chosen to reveal. The Father determines how He is believed, the Son how He is glorified, and the Spirit how He is received. This establishes Scripture as the rule of faith and guards against theological invention. Hippolytus then affirms that God existed alone before creation, with nothing co-eternal alongside Him. At the same time, God was not without reason, wisdom, or power. Hippolytus insists that plurality within God does not compromise divine unity. God contains within himself Word, wisdom, and counsel. Creation begins when God wills and manifests His Word. The Word is not created from nothing but proceeds from God and acts as the agent of creation. The Word is first invisible to the created world, though known to God. When God chooses, He makes the Word visible, described as ‘Light of Light’. This language safeguards both distinction and unity: the Word comes from God and reveals God, without being separate from Him. The manifestation of the Word is ordered towards salvation, so that the world may see and be saved. Hippolytus identifies this Word clearly with the Son of God. Through him all things were made, and he alone comes forth from the Father. The Law and the prophets belong to the same saving plan. God speaks through them by the Holy Spirit, so that they proclaim not their own ideas but the Father’s will. Revelation is therefore coherent: creation, prophecy, and incarnation belong to one divine purpose. Hippolytus appeals to the Gospel of John to show continuity between prophecy and fulfilment. The Word spoken of by the prophets is the Word made flesh. Though the world was made through him, it failed to recognise him. This failure does not negate God’s plan but reveals the depth of the mystery now disclosed. A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures and from no other source. Whatever things the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatever they teach, let us learn it; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as he wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify him; and as he wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet storming by force the things which are given by God, but even as he has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them. God, subsisting alone, and having nothing coeval with himself, chose to create the world. And conceiving the world in mind, and willing and uttering the Word, he made it; and at once it appeared, formed it in the way he desired. For us it is sufficient simply to know that nothing was coeval with God. Outside him there was nothing; but he, while existing alone, yet existed in plurality. For he did not lack reason, or wisdom, or power, or counsel. All things were in him, and he was the All. At a time and in a manner chosen by him he made his Word manifest, and through his Word he made all things. He bears this Word in himself, as yet invisible to the created world. He makes him visible, uttering the voice first, and begetting him as Light of Light. He presents him to the world as its Lord; and whereas the Word was visible formerly to God alone, and invisible to the world which is made, God makes the Word visible in order that the world might see him and be able to be saved. This is the mind which came forth into the world and was manifested as the Son of God. All things came into being through him, and he alone comes from the Father. He gave us the Law and the prophets; and in giving them, he made them speak by the Holy Ghost, in order that, receiving the inspiration of the Father’s power, they might declare the Father’s counsel and will. Thus, then, was the Word made manifest, even as the blessed John says. For he sums up the things that were said by the prophets, and shows that this is the Word, by whom all things were made. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made. And later, The world was made by him, and the world did not know him; he came to his own, and his own did not receive him. Christian Prayer With Jesus Lord God,You are one, and from You come the Word and the Spirit.You have chosen to make Yourself known, not by human effort,but by what You have revealed in the scriptures. You spoke Your Word, and all things were made.You made that Word visible, so that the world might see and be saved.Grant that we may receive what You give,believe what You teach,and worship You as You have shown Yourself to be. Keep us […]
