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Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word #1
Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, Vol. 1
Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis To the unstudied eye, Matthew's gospel can seem a terse narrative, almost a historical document and not the tremendously spiritual (and doctrinal) storehouse that it is. Erasmo Leiva here acts as our guide, showing Matthew's prose to be not terse so much as economical--astoundingly so given its depth. The lay reader can derive great profit from reading this. Each short meditation comments on a verse or two, pointing to some facet of the text not immediately apparent. Leiva's work is scholarly but eminently approachable by the non-technical reader. The tone is very much gustate et videte, quoniam suavis est Dominus [taste and see how good the Lord is]-as it is friend, come up higher! . The goal of the book is to help the reader experience the heat of the divine heart/the light of the divine Word. Leiva points to Matthew's gospel as being deeply ecclesial because it is first Christological. He comments on the Greek text, demonstrating to the reader nuances in the text that defy translation into English without serious revision of the text. Leiva uses linguistic analysis to aid the non-Greek reader with the literal meaning of the text; numerous quotes from the Fathers and the liturgy of the church demonstrate the way the Tradition has lived and read the Word of God. His theological reflection vivifies doctrine by seeking its roots in the words and actions of Jesus. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis obtained his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Theology from Emory University. Presently he is a Professor of Literature and Theology at the University of San Francisco.
746 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1996
83 people are currently reading
336 people want to read
About the author
Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis
21 books50 followersErasmo Leiva-Merikakis (now Fr. Simeon, OCSO) is a Trappist monk and accomplished author, preacher, and retreat master.
He received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Theology from Emory University.. His areas of interest include liturgy and liturgical texts, Georg Trakl's poetry, the Gospel of Matthew, French and German poetry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Greek and Roman classics, and Dante.
Father Simeon entered the St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, MA in April of 2003 and was ordained to the priesthood in May of 2013. He is currently serving as secretary to the Abbot General in Rome. He continues as editor of the Monastic Wisdom Series for Cistercian Publications. When at his monastery in Spencer he leads retreats in the Abbey Retreat House, pitches in as community cook and does his part in the regular round of chores. Father Simeon tells us that he treasures: “the rhythm of the common life that draws me back to essentials even when I am most distracted or concerned with more relative things.”
He has also translated numerous works for Ignatius Press, including several books by Hans Urs von Balthasar.
He received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Theology from Emory University.. His areas of interest include liturgy and liturgical texts, Georg Trakl's poetry, the Gospel of Matthew, French and German poetry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Greek and Roman classics, and Dante.
Father Simeon entered the St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, MA in April of 2003 and was ordained to the priesthood in May of 2013. He is currently serving as secretary to the Abbot General in Rome. He continues as editor of the Monastic Wisdom Series for Cistercian Publications. When at his monastery in Spencer he leads retreats in the Abbey Retreat House, pitches in as community cook and does his part in the regular round of chores. Father Simeon tells us that he treasures: “the rhythm of the common life that draws me back to essentials even when I am most distracted or concerned with more relative things.”
He has also translated numerous works for Ignatius Press, including several books by Hans Urs von Balthasar.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 25, 2016
Yes it's 700 pages and only covers the first third of the Gospel of Matthew.
And your point is ...?
That I might not live long enough to finish all three books?
If I don't finish the 2,100 pages or so by then, hopefully I'll be in a place where God will fill me in on what I missed.
Actually I'd been circling around this book for several years. It took Will Duquette's enthusiasm to tip me over the edge.
Flipping through this doorstop, I came across a paragraph that stopped me in my tracks.
Full disclosure: I skipped the lengthy introduction, except for the parable about Aleph which rings loudly every time I see the Aleph after each meditation to remind us to leave space for God to enter in.
When I am craving yet another meditation, I'll begin working through the intro.
=============
UPDATE
I've been trying to figure out how to describe this treasure. It makes me eager for afternoon prayer and, I'm sorry to admit, that is a rare thing ... to be eager for prayer. To think, "Woohoo! I get to read another section of Fire of Mercy!" So there's that.
Will Duquette says it best. We may recall he turned me onto this book so he's further ahead.
And your point is ...?
That I might not live long enough to finish all three books?
If I don't finish the 2,100 pages or so by then, hopefully I'll be in a place where God will fill me in on what I missed.
Actually I'd been circling around this book for several years. It took Will Duquette's enthusiasm to tip me over the edge.
Flipping through this doorstop, I came across a paragraph that stopped me in my tracks.
The Virgin Mary is called the [Greek words] (the "book of the Word of life") by the Greek Church. The book of the Gospel, the book of Christ's origins and life, can be written and proclaimed because God has first written his living Word in the living book of the Virgin's being, which she has offered to her Lord in all its purity and humility—the whiteness of a chaste, empty page. If the name of Mary does not often appear in the pages of the Gospel as evident participant in the action, it is because she is the human ground of humility and obedience upon which every letter of Christ's life is written. She is the Theotokos, too, in the sense that she is the book that bears, and is inscribed with, the Word of God. She keeps her silence that he might resonate the more plainly within her.In fact, it almost knocked me out of my seat. So I'm reading these meditations, holding myself down to one per day. I must say that the author's translations are as inspiring as his meditations. There is a vivid sense of "action" that I just don't find when I try different translations to see the equivalent. It feels ... living ... alive ...
Full disclosure: I skipped the lengthy introduction, except for the parable about Aleph which rings loudly every time I see the Aleph after each meditation to remind us to leave space for God to enter in.
When I am craving yet another meditation, I'll begin working through the intro.
=============
UPDATE
I've been trying to figure out how to describe this treasure. It makes me eager for afternoon prayer and, I'm sorry to admit, that is a rare thing ... to be eager for prayer. To think, "Woohoo! I get to read another section of Fire of Mercy!" So there's that.
Will Duquette says it best. We may recall he turned me onto this book so he's further ahead.
All of my hopes for Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis’ book Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word. I’ve been getting up early every day to spend time in study ever since Easter Tuesday (including Saturdays and Sundays!), and I’m regularly astonished by the blindingly obvious things he pulls out of each line of the text—blindingly obvious after you’ve seen them—that I had never noticed before. I’m keeping notes of my reflections; some of them may appear here in the future. (As some kind of indication of the depth of Erasmo’s writing…50 days after Easter, I’m not quite to the end of the third chapter of Matthew’s gospel.)I too am continually hit by the blindingly obvious that regularly surprises and simultaneously enlightens. I'm feeling dumber by the page and yet I don't mind because I'm so blown away that I have food for thought for the rest of the day.
January 16, 2017
I will never actually be done with this magnificent volume. I'm good with that.
February 25, 2025
This book is absolutely mind-blowing and opened up the Gospel of Matthew in a completely different light for me. Erasmo writes the most magnificent and meticulous meditations, verse-by-verse, that cannot help but trickle into your thoughts, prayers, and—God-willing—actions. This volume is brimming with quotes from Saints, various liturgies, Scriptural references, and even some beautiful illustrations. I cannot wait to start reading the second volume!
My review cannot do Erasmo’s writing justice so here are (just a few) of my favorite quotes:
- “‘con-solation’ implies that someone enters my solitude in order to share it with me. God does not console us by abolishing our solitude but by entering it and sharing it.”
- “We prepare Christ, the Father’s incarnate Love, for crucifixion when our theology turns Him from being our fountain of light into an object of curiosity; when in our life we confess Him with our lips and deny Him with our deeds; when the divine power of forgiveness Jesus has put in our souls is wasted in exhausting judgementalism; when God’s invitation for us to repose in the arms of His providence is rejected in favor of a feverish anxiety.”
- “At the moment of Christ’s death on the Cross, when the outpouring of blood from His torn body paradoxically reveals the fulness of divinity dwelling within Him…”
- “What will be revealed inexorably in the end, then, is in keeping with the double meaning of καλυμμα (veil) here: either the identity of the Bride veiled under the cover of humiliation and persecution in the present era; or the rotting face of the corpse of those who have not embraced Christ as Spouse of Lord—a disfigurement and a stench that are presently concealed under the veil of power and success.”
My review cannot do Erasmo’s writing justice so here are (just a few) of my favorite quotes:
- “‘con-solation’ implies that someone enters my solitude in order to share it with me. God does not console us by abolishing our solitude but by entering it and sharing it.”
- “We prepare Christ, the Father’s incarnate Love, for crucifixion when our theology turns Him from being our fountain of light into an object of curiosity; when in our life we confess Him with our lips and deny Him with our deeds; when the divine power of forgiveness Jesus has put in our souls is wasted in exhausting judgementalism; when God’s invitation for us to repose in the arms of His providence is rejected in favor of a feverish anxiety.”
- “At the moment of Christ’s death on the Cross, when the outpouring of blood from His torn body paradoxically reveals the fulness of divinity dwelling within Him…”
- “What will be revealed inexorably in the end, then, is in keeping with the double meaning of καλυμμα (veil) here: either the identity of the Bride veiled under the cover of humiliation and persecution in the present era; or the rotting face of the corpse of those who have not embraced Christ as Spouse of Lord—a disfigurement and a stench that are presently concealed under the veil of power and success.”
Currently reading
April 3, 2015I heard a priest up at EWTN's chapel give a homily filled with insights from Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word. I promised myself to read the whole set one day. Now I have all three volumes in Logos/Verbum format, and all I can say is, Wow!
July 6, 2021
A companion that will lead you into the Word. Worth the length and much more.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews