Thomas Griffin 7/30/26
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St. Peter Chrysologus (406-450) was a bishop who was intently focused on defending Church teaching. He became known as Peter “of the golden words” because his teaching was so beautiful and convincing.
Relying on his words today can aid us in living the Christian life and embolden us to use our words for the glory of God as well.
Reflecting the goodness of God is the entire mission of the disciple. This truth was enumerated by Peter in his following words: “God has made you in his image that you might in your person make the invisible Creator present on earth.”
Simply by our very nature we showcase the communion which is the Trinity. In the way that we yearn for unification with others we reveal that we were made by the One who is relationship Himself. The eternal Son of God became flesh in order for us to know Him and love Him. He came, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but he continues to make himself present to us today.
In these poetic words, Peter transmits the connection between the Incarnation and the Eucharist:
“He is The Bread sown in the virgin,
leavened in the Flesh,
moulded in His Passion,
baked in the furnace of the Sepulchre,
placed in the Churches
and set upon the Altars,
which daily supplies Heavenly Food to the faithful.”
Jesus Christ, the one who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, is the same Jesus present on every altar and every tabernacle across the globe. Seemingly insignificant and easily overlooked, Christ waits for our adoration. He does not impose but quietly arrives in our midst, like bread which slowly leavens or a baby that slowly grows in his mother’s womb.
The more we receive the Eucharist, the more that we will also become small. That will not make us powerless but holy. Reception of Holy Communion enables us to become “baked” like bread in the furnace of his love and pour our lives out for others. In order to live in this sacrificial manner, we must become disciples who give ourselves away.
Being a gift means living out prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These practices, made famous during the Lenten season, are meant to be embraced year-round. “Fasting,” Peter preached, “is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated.” Accepting the invitation to prayer means we choose to give up our time and attention and place it on the One who most deserves our intentional focus. Choosing to go without food or giving to others what we could easily have for ourselves makes us more oriented towards picking up the larger crosses of our lives.
It also proves to make us more open to seeing Christ in the materially vulnerable around us. Peter said that “the poor stretch out the hand, but God receives what is offered.” The beggar or the one who needs physical aid requests our assistance, when we refuse help we are refusing to love Jesus. When we give to them from our supply, when we give them what we could claim for ourselves – Jesus himself receives our self-gift.
For Peter, his words and entire life, were concerned with making his heart a donation to Jesus. His offering made his life golden in holiness. We are invited to make the same gift, and if we do so, Jesus will undoubtedly brighten our souls as well.
Thomas Griffin writes from Long Island where he lives with his wife and three children. He is the Founder and President of Empty Tomb Project, Inc. He holds a masters degree in theology and a masters degree in philosophy. Thomas is the author of Let Us Begin: Saint Francis’s Way of Becoming Like Christ and Renewing the World.
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