Matthew Minerd, theology professor, comes to Mepkin
Matthew Minerd, a professor of theology at the Byzantine Seminary in Pittsburgh, came to Mepkin to offer a series of presentations in Christology. Telling us that Christology and Moral Theology are deeply interrelated, Dr. Minerd drew us through three presentations to look at Jesus offering his teaching at the Sermon on the Mount and how we continue to inherit in the present time the riches flowing from this teaching.
Drawing our attention to the mystery of the Trinity, in his second presentation Dr. Minerd spoke of the inspiring Spirit. The Christian vocation is one of presence, he told us, by which we participate in a community of communion. Helping us to understand by his experience of teaching in an environment that draws from Orthodox teaching, he spoke of Saint Paul writing about what it means to be a community in Christ. Dr. Minerd shared Gregory of Nyssa’s perspective on Christ’s humanity, speaking further of teachings by Iranaeus and Ephrem. Several times he drew our attention to the writing of Columba Marmion, OSB, referring to him as the doctor of divine adoption. And he commented on Saint John as the theologian of indwelling. So the Council of Trent takes up the theme of grace and we reflect on Christ’s sacred humanity acting in us, acknowledging every grace communicates love. We live in the redemptive act of Jesus Christ. Grace is given to sanctify the Church – “not to eliminate but to illuminate”. So we are called to die and rise with Christ.
Our third session began with a poem by Rudyard Kipling, “Sons of Martha”. In this session, Dr. Minerd shared his thoughts on the theological virtue of charity. He referred to Merton saying ‘where love is, God is’. And he emphasized Christ acting through the liturgical action. Saying we encounter Christ in the mysteries, he shared comments on Saint Bernard’s sermon on the annunciation. Thus Christian virtue is Trinitarian. In Jesus’ ascension we see his human nature fully glorified. This leads us to reflect on how we are being called to divine perfection. Consider Saint Paul writing to the Ephesians: “we are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works …”. Thus, we understand that Christian morality is very important. As Dr. Minerd said, we can only replace love or charity with the name of Jesus.