{"id":3535,"date":"2009-02-20T20:17:41","date_gmt":"2009-02-20T20:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2009\/02\/zeal-begins-its-life-in-silent\/"},"modified":"2019-08-31T16:31:39","modified_gmt":"2019-08-31T15:31:39","slug":"zeal-begins-its-life-in-silent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2009\/02\/zeal-begins-its-life-in-silent\/","title":{"rendered":"Zeal Begins Its Life in Silent Thought and Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Peter<\/a><\/span>A Tale of Two Cardinals<\/strong>
\nBefore writing about Saint Peter Damian whose feast we are keeping today, I want to acknowledge the birthday of the Venerable John Henry Newman, born in London on February 21st in 1801. I picture the two cardinals in Paradise; the one quintessentially British, given to careful reflection and sober understatement; the other, Italian, blazing like lightning and hurling thunderbolts in his zeal for reform.
\n
\nWhen Grace Perfects Nature<\/strong>
\nAlthough both men received the cardinal’s red hat, their tastes and temperaments could not have been more different. In art, the fierce and passionate Peter Damian — a man rather given to extremes — is often depicted brandishing a discipline or knotted scourge. I see the gentle Newman, on the other hand, seated in his study with a comfortable cup of tea near at hand. It’s all splendidly Catholic.
\n
\nLove of Christ and of the Church<\/strong>
\nToday’s Collect expresses the two guiding principles of Saint Peter Damian’s life:<\/p>\n

Grant us, we beseech Thee, almighty God,
\nto follow the counsel and example of the blessed bishop Peter,
\nthat by preferring nothing whatever to Christ
\nand always set upon the service of Thy Church,
\nwe may come, at length, to the joys of eternal light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Monk<\/strong>
\nThe first principle comes directly from the fourth chapter of the Rule of Saint Benedict: “To set nothing before the love of Christ” (RB 4:21). Before being or doing anything else, Peter Damian was a monk, a son of Holy Father Benedict. He belonged to the white-habited Camaldolese who, down through history, have given so many holy monks and solitaries to the Church.
\n
\nThe Bishop<\/strong>
\nThe second principle of Peter Damian’s life — being ready always to serve the Church — is inseparable from the first. “To set nothing before the love of Christ” translated, for Peter Damian, into a passionate devotion to the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the Church.
\n
\nThe Reformer<\/strong>
\nThe Church that Peter Damian loved and served was beset with troubles and scandals of all sorts: sacred offices being bought and sold, a clergy addicted to gambling, wine, concubinage, and other vices best left unmentioned, and the widespread collapse of monastic discipline. He wrote a book on the sexual immorality of the clergy that is shocking — even by today’s troubling standards.
\n
\nThe Affairs of the Church Are the Affairs of Christ <\/strong>
\nFor all of that, Saint Peter Damian also had time to write a little book for cave-dwelling hermits who wondered if, in their celebration of the Divine Office, they should say or omit the Dominus vobiscum<\/em>. For Peter Damian, the affairs of the Church were the affairs of Christ. “The love of Christ put before all else” made him a man of the Church, an apostle and a prophet.
\n
\nReform Begins in Silence<\/strong>
\nIn every age of the Church there are conditions that, while they demand reform, also stir up a lot of talking. True reform comes not from much talking, but from much silence. Holy Father Benedict says that “if you talk a lot you will not escape falling into sin” (RB 6:4).
\nA tongue obedient to the Holy Spirit can do immense good; a tongue that wags this way and that is, as Saint James says, “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (Jas 3:8). Authentic prophecy begins in silence; true reform begins with holding one’s own tongue.
\n\"JHNewman@ELCoreNet-05.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\nThe Work of Redeeming Love<\/strong>
\nThere comes a moment when even the conversation of the saints and prophets must return to the silence whence it springs. In that silence, redeeming Love carries out the work of making whole all that is fragmented, of healing the weak and wounded members of Christ’s Mystical Body.
\n
\nYe, Who Would Weed the Vineyard’s Soil<\/strong>
\nCardinal Newman has a little poem that addresses the tension between zeal and meekness, speaking and silence. I wonder if in paradise he has recited it for Saint Peter Damian.<\/p>\n

CHRIST bade His followers take the sword;
\nAnd yet He chid the deed,
\nWhen Peter seized upon His word,
\nAnd made a foe to bleed.
\nThe gospel Creed, a sword of strife,
\nMeek hands alone may rear;
\nAnd ever Zeal begins its life
\nIn silent thought and fear.
\nYe, who would weed the Vineyard’s soil,
\nTreasure the lesson given;
\nLest in the judgment-books ye toil
\nFor Satan, not for heaven.<\/p>\n

Off Sardinia.<\/em>
\nJune 20, 1833<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Tale of Two Cardinals Before writing about Saint Peter Damian whose feast we are keeping today, I want to acknowledge the birthday of the Venerable John Henry Newman, born in London on February 21st in 1801. I picture the two cardinals in Paradise; the one quintessentially British, given to careful reflection and sober understatement; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,13,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-life","category-monastic","category-saints"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-V1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21453,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535\/revisions\/21453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}