Matthew 5:15-16

  • Thread starter Thread starter Athanasiy
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Athanasiy

Guest
Matthew 5:15-16

15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Are these verses the denunciation of monasticism in the wilderness?
I have often heard such statements from the mouths of evangelical preachers.
It is much more effective to proclaim the Gospel to preach in the world rather than to go into desert solitude.
Is there a similar criticism in the midst of the Church of the past practice of solitude in the desert?
 
Last edited:
No. It’s an allegory to the Church. Part of the Church is monastic and most what they do is not seen. Keep reading on and see where it talks about alms and your right and left hand.

This is a reason why it can be dangerous to listen to Evangelicals.
 
Last edited:
Yes, I agree that it is not customary in the Catholic environment to exhibit a demonstration of faith in the openly propagandistic manner.
If today there is a perception that different confessions and denominations can learn something from each other, then the question arises, - Maybe evangelists should learn something from desert monks? 😊
Well, how can you preach to the world while you are in a desert wilderness?
 
Athanasiy said:
Well, how can you preach to the world while you are in a desert wilderness?
Click to expand...
From Acts:
“8:26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Arise, go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza: this is desert.
8:27 And rising up, he went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch, of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge over all her treasures, had come to Jerusalem to adore.
8:28 And he was returning, sitting in his chariot and reading Isaias the prophet.
8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip: Go near and join thyself to this chariot.”
Click to expand...
Does light have to be seen by all in order for it to be considered a bright light? Is a fire in the middle of the desert any less bright or hot because no one is around to see or feel it?
 
Last edited:
The tradition of hermits is very old. Elias is considered the precursor of the hermits in the Old Testament. St. John the Baptist lived like them in the desert. Nothing wrong with them.
 
Red herring! Rather, it is confirmation of a visible Church. From the Rev. George Leo Haydock bible commentary - a slightly more authoritative and reliable source than some guy with a bible, “pastor” or not.
Ver. 15. This light of the world, city on a mountain, and candle upon a candlestick, signify the Catholic Church, so built upon Christ, the mountain, that it must be visible, and cannot be hidden or unknown. S. Aug. cont. Fulg. Therefore the Church being a candle not under a bushel, but shining to all in the house, i.e. in the world, what shall I say more, saith S. Aug. than that all are blind, who shut their eyes against the candle which is set on the candlestick? Tract ii. in ep. Jo.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Are you presenting a solely emotion or feeling-driven faith? Or one of deep prayer and union with God?
 
I think more about the eastern ecclesial heritage.
Eastern European Orthodox states do not pay such attention to social service to society as Catholics and even Protestants, but much attention is paid to asceticism and especially to the desert fathers.
In the 21st century, the glorification of hermits is extolled in church bookstores, and rely on statements from the dubious elders.
The problem is that when we try to approach a modern unbelieving person, sometimes the heritage of desert elders can do more harm than help.
 
Last edited:
I don’t think this passage particularly addresses the issue of monasticism, it does not appear to be in view here. The passage, in light of the rest of the sermon on the mount is a call for the conduct of believers to be in accord with their professed faith in Christ for the sake of proclaiming Christ to the world. That being said, I don’t know that taking oneself out of their vocations as husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, workers, etc., accomplishes the goal of allowing others to see your good works that they may give glory to your Father in heaven, but neither does it necessarily exclude a monastic vocation from carrying this out as well. I think the passage read in context is silent on the matter.
 
What if we think more broadly about how to “be in the world but not from the world”, and what if to “hide from the world in the desert” or “hide our light instead of shining brightly” we will apply in the sense of escaping from the modern world who needs our light.
If we think more globally about the hidden light by Christians, I reminded the thoughts of Vladyka(bishop) Boris Gudziak, he reflected in a broader sense and the depth of his reflections could even touch on such phenomena as political transformations in United States, Brexit, the EU, and so on…
I read his thoughts in Ukrainian, but they are not difficult to translate into English.

“Very often, not only in the theological sense but also in socio-cultural and, apparently, in political terms, people are fond of their separation and opposition to others. Organizations or institutions that would seek common denominators in order to become stronger together, in their quest for self-identification and outline of their own ideas, are separated from each other”

“People who would seek an understanding with others, reject the opposite, maybe inconvenient, even break the relationship, just in order to be in the comfort of their own beliefs. Only describing this phenomenon, I feel as it is spontaneous, may be calculated, but at the micro level and for a short distance, because it does not contain a precise or far-sighted perspective. For the most part, this reflection is fear, prejudice. For some reason, so many people, systems and organisms fall into the trap of their separation, alienation, and secrecy.”

Certainly, instead of alienation, it is necessary to look more for what brings one closer, then surely there will be less - religious hatred, less fanatical sectarian intolerance, less uncompromising upholding one’s own truth or one’s national God, and so on.
There will be more light in the darkness.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top