Angels and Saints: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God's Holy Ones by Scott Hahn

Author:Scott Hahn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307590800
Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
Published: 2014-05-27T04:00:00+00:00

PONDER IN YOUR HEART

St. John Chrysostom, in the early fifth century, preached line by line through St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. He didn’t get through the first lines, the salutation, without reminding his hearers that they were children of God and so called to be saints!

“To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:1–2).

Notice that he calls them “saints.” From the end of the letter, it is plain that he is applying the name to married people, children, and household servants. There he says: “Wives, be subject to your husbands” (Ephesians 5:22) and “Children, obey your parents” (Ephesians 6:1) and, “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters” (Ephesians 6:5).

Think how great is our laziness right now, how rare is anything like virtue now, and how many virtuous men must have lived back then, when secular men could be called “saints” and “faithful.”

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace is his word; and he calls God “Father,” since this name is a sure token of that gift of grace. And how so? Hear what he says elsewhere: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ ” (Galatians 4:6).1

— ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM,

Homilies on Ephesians 1.1

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