Lecture 5 part deux

The Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Merry Christmas and felicitous feast of the Nativity of Christ (purposely phrased in proximity to feliz navidad) to all Western Christians celebrating! May the blessing of the prayers of Santa Claus and St. Cyril of Jerusalem remain with us continually.

Not all fathers of the church are created equally! Here’s Cyril:

Now we have many things to say concerning faith, and the whole day would not suffice us discoursing of it: for the present be we content with Abraham alone, one of the examples of the Old Testament, seeing that we also are become his sons through faith. He was declared righteous not only by works, but by faith also; and though he did many things well, yet was he never called the friend of God, except when he believed; moreover every deed of his was perfected by faith. By faith he left his parents: by faith he abandoned country, dwelling-place, and home. As then he was declared righteous, so be you also justified. Further, his body was dead: for he was an old man, and his wife Sarah was old also, and no hope of children was left him. God promises offspring to the old man: and Abraham, not being weak in faith, nor considering his own body now dead; thinking not of his body’s infirmity, but of the power of Him who promised, and judging Him faithful who had promised, in a wondrous manner gained a child from bodies as good as dead. And when after he had gained a son, he was ordered to offer him, although he had heard that, in Isaac shall thy seed be called, he offered his only-begotten son to God, believing that God was able even to raise him from the dead. So having bound his son, and laid him upon the wood, in intent he offered him, but by the goodness of God, who fave him a lamb instead of his child, he received his son alive. Wherefore, he being faithful, was sealed unto righteousness, and received circumcision, the seal of the righteousness which he had yet being uncircumcised; having received the promise that he should be the father of many nations.

One of the great things about Abraham was at the drop of a dime he dropped everything for God. How about you? Could you do such a thing? “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). The only people I have met who do this are monks. I know men who have left their parents home at 10, 14, 15 etc. to pursue traditional schooling of the EOTC in liturgy, scripture, patristics, and poetry. The one exception is a friend who left everything to go live with monks for a year. Leaps of faith seem irrational, but superlative trust in him is pre-rational. I refuse to elaborate further.

Men and women are not equal. You can argue politically for equal protection under the law, but that is another issue entirely which is not germane. A lie has been told to the West, and I believed it unthinkingly for years against all evidence to the contrary. It’s not healthy. Don’t worry, this is no late aughts manosphere soapbox, but plainspoken facts from the heart told out of compassion for humanity, and a desire for us to “bear fruit and multiply.”

Geriatric pregnancy, or advanced maternal age, begins around age 35 for women. Advanced paternal age begins around age 55, and is not the same thing. Sarah was more than twice this age, when after God foiled their plan with Hagar and Ismael, Isaac was born to her and Abraham from the promise of God and not the will of man. I have had many a childless aunt, whether by blood of the covenant or water of the womb, residing in the diaspora. What message does God have for them? “Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord. “Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited” (Isaiah 54 & Galatians 4).

Wat means? This means God laughs (read the word laugh or some conjugation thereof everywhere and anywhere you see the name Isaac in scripture; and read aloud Psalm 2) at the machinations of man. But blesses us with the opportunity to produce children of his kingdom in a non-biological way. By reciting his word to our neighbors and their children, we can raise children of God. The more the merrier! ‘Tis the season. Be like Abraham, an abe bizuhan, father of many nations.

The parallels between Isaac and Jesus are not an accident nor coincidence but providence, and something you cannot unhear once you hear. Reread Genesis and come back to me with written evidence that Sarah and Abraham copulated to make Isaac. All I hear are the utterances of yahweh. Setting this aside, you still have a sacrificial lamb, and trust in God whether he saves you or not. A third part of this illustration can include the three youth of Daniel who civilly disobeyed Nebuchadnezzar ruler of Babylon. “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we bow-down to worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Finally, biblical circumcision (not to be confused for the serious issue of pagan female genital mutilation) is a literal physical sign performed on the private parts of males. It is a painful procedure for adult men, but sometimes done nonetheless. Circumcision is a seal of inclusion into the community of the promise of God. In the New Testament, baptism has taken its place, but it is of the utmost importance that the table-fellowship includes the circumcised and the uncircumcised.

Lest you think the king of the universe has a peculiar preoccupation with private parts, long before Saul of Tarsus (later belittled by the Lord Jesus whom he persecuted and later again served unto the ends of the earth and is still serving through the written word), the torah (teaching; law; Moses) and the nebiim (prophets; Elijah/Elias) provided us with figurative exegesis of circumcision including our lips, hearts, and ears.

“And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am of uncircumcised lips” (Exodus 6:12)?

“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember;I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26:40-42).

“To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it” (Jeremiah 6:10).