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Views from the Choir Loft

New Testament Hymns

Fr. David Friel · September 22, 2013

LOSE INSPECTION of the Greek New Testament reveals several passages that, on account of their peculiar structure, may have been early Christian hymns. One such passage is found in the first letter to Timothy:

Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion,

Who was manifested in the flesh,

vindicated in the spirit,

seen by angels,

proclaimed to the Gentiles,

believed in throughout the world,

taken up in glory.

(1 Timothy 3:16)

What most strikes me about this passage is the title it gives to our Lord. We all know the usual titles: Son of God, Son of Man, Prince of Peace, etc. But when did you last refer to our Lord as “the mystery of devotion”?

Catholicism is very comfortable with the idea of mystery. Critics of faith would make the accusation that “mystery” is a throwaway term used whenever hard evidence is lacking. This is what makes Agatha Christie’s novels so riveting; the mystery remains until the critical piece of evidence is unveiled, at which point the mystery is solved. But this would be a gross misunderstanding of what Catholics mean by mystery.

Mystery, for us, is not a dimly lit attic—so dark that its contents can’t be seen. Mystery, understood aright, is more like looking at the sun—so bright that we can’t take it all in at once.

God, Who is infinite, cannot be totally grasped by our finite minds. Jesus is all Truth, so He is mysterious in this sense. After the consecration (a rather ineffable moment), the priest proclaims “the mystery of faith.” We speak of the Paschal Mystery, too, because there is more to the Passion, Death, & Resurrection of Christ than we can fully appreciate.

We should be comfortable with mystery. The mysteries of our faith cannot be explained not for lack of content, but rather on account of superabundant content.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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    26 January 2023 • FEEDBACK
    “Jeff, I wanted to personally thank you for your spiritual witness at the Symposium & often blogs that you write too. Praying that prayer in the mornings My God, my Father and my all (by Cardinal Merry Del Val), mentioning saints’ stories of Brébeuf, Jogues, John Vianney, monks who fought in WWII, their hard work in spite of terrible conditions, their relentless zeal for the faith, their genuine love for the laypeople they served, etc. Overall though—more than anything concrete I can point to that you did or said—it was your demeanor at the Symposium. I could tell you really absolutely love and believe the Catholic Faith. You don’t get that everywhere, even in Church circles. And your humility is what then makes that shine even brighter. It is super inspiring! God is working through you probably way more than you know.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Symposium Draft Schedule Released!
    Those who head over to the Symposium Website will notice the tentative schedule for 2023 has been released. This is all very exciting! Very soon, we will begin accepting applications, so please make sure you have subscribed to our mailing list. If you are subscribed, that means you'll hear announcements before anyone else. (It’s incredibly easy to subscribe to our mailing list; just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.)
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    Good Friday Polyphony by L. Senfl
    The editor of the Sacred Music Magazine recently made available to the public this splendid article by our own Charles Weaver. It includes an edition of polyphony for the GOOD FRIDAY “Reproaches.” Renaissance composers often set the various offices of Holy Week; e.g. readers will probably be familiar with the beautiful TENEBRAE setting by Father Tomás Luis de Victoria (d. 1611). From what I can tell, Ludwig Senfl (d. 1543) was originally a Catholic priest, but eventually was seduced by Luther and ended up abandoning the sacred priesthood.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The Catholic Church holds it better for the sun and moon to drop from heaven, for the earth to fail, and for all the many millions on it to die of starvation in extremest agony, as far as temporal affliction goes, than that one soul, I will not say, should be lost, but should commit one single venial sin, should tell one willful untruth, or should steal one poor farthing without excuse.”

— Saint John Henry Newman (1865)

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