Daily Reading for January 27 • John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, 407

The Baptismal Instructions of John Chrysostom, among others, focus our attention on what a Christian initiation into the Church consisted of at one time. Let us briefly summarize the spiritual themes that recur most frequently.

The Christian Identity. The glory of the stars, and that of emperors, is nothing compared to that of Christians.

A Sense of Church, especially of the local church, so typical of the Christian East. Although Chrysostom does not systematize this concept, it is found frequently in his Instructions.

The Good Fight. Evil lies at the gate. His series of warnings should be understood within this context.

Witness. Christians live in the world and are to be its salt and its light.

Eschatological Tension. We live on earth as in an inn, which we will one day have to leave to return to our homeland. The martyrs wonderfully symbolize this pascha (Easter Passover, pesah), which is at one and the same time painful and glorious, and toward which we are all moving.

From Prayer: The Spirituality of the Christian East, Volume 2 by Tomaš Špidlík SJ (Cistercian Publications, 2005).