Woe to the soul that does not have Christ dwelling in it

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

On Wednesday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to first read and reflect on a passage from the second letter of the apostle Peter (2: 1-9) entitled “False teachers”. Our treasure, which follows, is from a homily attributed to Saint Macarius, bishop.

Saint Macarius was born in Lower Egypt. A late tradition places his birthplace in the village of Shabsheer around 300 AD. He tended cattle as a boy. As a young man, with a strong call to solitude, he constructed near his home a small cell where he prayed continually and wove mats. Macarius is known for his wisdom. His friends and close kin used to call him Pidar Yougiron which meant "the young man with the elders' wisdom."

At the wish of his parents he entered into marriage, but was soon widowed. After he buried his wife, Macarius told himself, “Take heed, Macarius, and have care for your soul. It is fitting that you forsake worldly life.” The Lord rewarded the saint with a long life, but from that time the memory of death was constantly with him, impelling him to ascetic deeds of prayer and penitence.

The second letter of the Apostle Peter can be appreciated both for its positive teachings and for its earnest warnings. It seeks to strengthen readers in faith, hope for the future, knowledge, love, and other virtues. This aim is carried out especially by warning against false teachers, the condemnation of whom occupies the long central section of the letter. A particular crisis is the claim by “scoffers” that there will be no second coming of Jesus, a doctrine that the author vigorously affirms. The concept of God’s “promises” is particularly precious in the theology of 2 Peter. Closing comments well sum up the twin concerns: that you not “be led into” error and “fall” but instead “grow in grace” and “knowledge” of Jesus Christ.

Second Peter is clearly structured in its presentation of these points. It reminds its readers of the divine authenticity of Christ’s teaching, continues with reflections on Christian conduct, then returns to the exalted dignity of Jesus by incorporating into the text the apostolic witness to his transfiguration. It takes up the question of the interpretation of scripture by pointing out that it is possible to misunderstand the sacred writings and that divine punishment will overtake false teachers. It proclaims that the parousia is the teaching of the Lord and of the apostles and is therefore an eventual certainty. At the same time, it warns that the meaning of Paul’s writings on this question should not be distorted.