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| Silver Birch planted 1970 \ by 1st Abbot. Columban Mulcahy.e |
Night Office –Second Nocturn.
The Listening to St. Hilary was not easy but the words of the Eucharist seemed to resonate bells.
Fourth Week of Easter Saturday II
First Reading From the Acts of the
Apostles (15:36 - 16:15
Second Reading
From the treatise
On the Trinity by Saint Hilary
(Lib. 8, 13-16: PL 10, 246-249)
This
treatise, Hilary's most important theological work, was written in about 359
while he was in exile in Asia Minor. In the following passage he contemplates
the unity brought about through the incarnation and through the sacrament of
Christ's body and blood. We are united to Christ as Christ is to the Father.
________________
If it is true that the Word became flesh and
that we receive his flesh in the Lord's Supper, how can we fail to believe that
he really dwells within us? When he was born as a man he clothed himself in our
fleshly nature, uniting it to himself for ever. In the sacrament of his body he
gives us his own flesh, which he has united to his eternal nature. And so we
are all one, for the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in us. He is in us
through his flesh and we are in him. With him we form a unity which is in God
The manner of our indwelling in him
through the sacrament of his body and blood is evident from the Lord's own
words:
This world will see me
no longer but you shall see me. Because Ilive you shall live also, for I am in my Father, you are in me,
and I am in you. If it had been a question of a mere unity of will, why should he have
given us this explanation of the steps by which it is achieved? He is in the
Father by reason of his divine nature, we are in him by rea,son of his human
birth, and he is in us through the mystery of the sacraments. This, surely, is
what he wished us to believe; this is how he wanted us to understand the perfect
unity that is achieved through our Mediator, who lives in the Father while we
live in him. and who while living in the Father lives also in us. This is how
we attain to unity with the Father. Christ is in very truth in the Father by
his eternal generation; we are in very truth in Christ, and he likewise is in
us.
Christ himself bore witness to the
reality of this unity when he said: He
who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I in him. No
one will be in Christ unless Christ himself has been in him; Christ will take
to himself only the flesh of those who have received his flesh.
He had already explained the mystery
of this perfect unity when he said: As
the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so he who eats my
flesh will draw life from me. We draw life from his flesh just
as he draws life from the Father. Such comparisons aid our understanding, since
we can grasp a point more easily when we have an analogy. And the point is that
Christ is the wellspring of our life. Since we who are in the flesh have Christ
dwelling in us through his flesh, we shall draw life from him in the same way
as he draws life from the Father.
Responsory John 6:56; see Deuteronomy 4:7
If anyone eats my flesh and drinks
my blood,
- he lives in me and I live in him, says
the Lord, alleluia.
There is no great nation which has
gods as near to it
as our God is to us.
- He lives in me and I live in him, says
the Lord, alleluia.
HILARY (315-367) was elected bishop of
Poitiers in 353. Because of his struggles with the Arians and his treatise on
the Trinity, for which he was exiled, he has been called "the Athanasius
of the West." He also wrote a commentary on Saint Matthew's gospel and
another on a selection of the psalms. His style is difficult and obscure and he
makes much use of allegory.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2012
The unity of the faithful in God through the incarnation of the Word and the sacrament of the eucharist
We believe that the Word became flesh and that we receive his flesh in the Lord’s Supper. How then can we fail to believe that he really dwells within us? When he became man, he actually clothed himself in our flesh, uniting it to himself for ever. In the sacrament of his body he actually gives us his own flesh, which he has united to his divinity. This is why we are all one, because the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in us. He is in us through his flesh and we are in him. With him we form a unity which is in God.
The manner of our indwelling in him through the sacrament of his body and blood is evident from the Lord’s own words: This world will see me no longer but you shall see me. Because I live you shall live also, for I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you. If it had been a question of mere unity of will, why should he have given us this explanation of the steps by which it is achieved? He is in the Father by reason of his divine nature, we are in him by reason of his human birth, and he is in us through the mystery of the sacraments. This, surely, is what he wished us to believe; this is how he wanted us to understand the perfect unity that is achieved through our Mediator, who lives in the Father while we live in him, and who, while living in the Father, lives also in us. This is how we attain to unity with the Father. Christ is in very truth in the Father by his eternal generation; we are in very truth in Christ, and he likewise is in us.
Christ himself bore witness to the reality of his unity when he said: He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I in him. No one will be in Christ unless Christ himself has been in him; Christ will take to himself only the flesh of those who have received his flesh.
He had already explained the mystery of this perfect unity when he said: As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so he who eats my flesh will draw life from me. We draw life from his flesh just as he draws life from the Father. Such comparisons aid our understanding, since we can grasp a point more easily when we have an analogy. And the point is that Christ is the wellspring of our life. Since we who are in the flesh have Christ dwelling in us through his flesh, we shall draw life from him in the same way he draws life from the Father.
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