Sirach 6:21 'mighty testing stone', Bl. Guerric 'referred to Christ' COMMENT

Saint Benedict

14^th Week Ord. Time Tuesday 10^th July 1012

First Reading     Proverbs 8 22-36

Responsory       Prv 8:22, Jn 1:1

In the beginning, before he made the earth, +The Lord created me.

V/ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. +The Word created me.

Second Reading

From a sermon by Blessed Guerric of Igny (In fest. Sancti Benedicti, Sermo 1: PL 185, 99-103)

Wisdom will be a mighty testing stone

Happy, scripture says, are those who have found wisdom. But it does not stop there. No; it continues: and who are rich in prudence. Solomon found wisdom but because he lacked prudence, because he was not careful enough in keeping watch over himself and guarding himself from pagan women, he not only lost wisdom but fell into the supreme folly of idolatry.

Some people, like Solomon, have been drawn away by the desires of the flesh; others through fickleness and inconstancy abandon wisdom when they encounter the slightest difficulty. These are the ones who believe for a while but in time of temptation fall away. As the scriptures say: Wisdom will be to them as a mighty testing stone. They protest: This teaching is hard. Yes, it is hard, but does that mean it is not true? The stone is hard, but does that mean it is not precious?

Now the stone referred to was Christ, a mighty stone, but not hard. He was the rock, but a rock that could be changed, and indeed is changed, into pools or fountains of water, whenever he finds faithful hearts that are gentle and humble into whom he can pour himself. For if those who were so quickly offended and drew back at the mere appearance of hardness had remained with the apostles, they might well have drunk with them from the Rock that followed them. They might have drunk from the streams of living water flowing copiously from the Rock that was struck on the cross so that today also the people and their cattle might drink. They might even have sucked honey from the rock and oil from the flinty stone.

Now to achieve the wisdom of remaining with Wisdom I think it most important not readily to let restlessness or some slight indisposition keep us away from any of the occupations of wisdom such as the divine office, private prayer, holy reading, our everyday tasks, or the rule of silence. Indeed, with regard to silence we share the prophet's promise: In silence and hope shall be your strength. For if in silence you devote yourself to holiness, heeding the saying of Jeremiah that it is good to wait in silence for the salvation of the Lord, then in the midst of the silence the all-powerful

Word will leap down to you from his royal throne. The waters of Shiloah which flow silently will inundate the valley of your calm and peaceful heart like a gently flowing stream. You will experience this not once but many times if holiness is the purpose of your silence, that is, if you meditate on holiness, keeping in mind the texts of scripture that I have placed before you, and not forgetting the all-seeing eye of God.

It is the fear of the Lord that makes us always mindful of this eternal eye, which unceasingly beholds and judges all things; it draws us back from any wrong action or thought, and teaches us instead to meditate upon holiness, restraining us so that we remain with wisdom.

May he enable us to share in these things who deigned to share in our nature, Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Guerric of Igny (c.1070/1080-1157), about whose early life little is known, probably received his education at the cathedral school of Toumai (1087-1092), perhaps under the influence of Odo of Cambrai (1087-1092). He seems to have lived a retired life of prayer and study near the cathedral of Toumai. He paid a visit to Clairvaux to consult Saint Bemard, and is mentioned by him as a novice in a letter to Ogerius in 1125-1126. He became abbot of the Cistercian abbey of Igny. in the diocese of Reims in 1138. A collection of 54 authentic sermons preached in chapter on Sundays and feast days have been edited. Guerric's spirituality was influenced by Origen.

Bibles Compare  “Wisdom will be to them as a mighty testing stone” (Bl. Guerric) Sirach 6:22

(DRB)  She shall be to them as a mighty stone of trial, and they will cast her from them before it be long.

(RSVA)  Sir_6:21  She will weigh him down like a heavy testing stone, and he will not be slow to cast her off. 22  For wisdom is like her name, and is not manifest to many.

(Vulgate)  quasi lapidis virtus probatio erit in illis et non demorabuntur proicere illum

(The Know translation) 6:21  Only to undisciplined mind she seems an over-hard task mistress;

COMMENT
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William . . .
To: Donald. . .
Sent: Wednesday, 11 July 2012, 0:30
Subject: Re: Biblical contemplation - Guerric's

Dear Father Donald,

 

What a feast of reflection pours out of this 'mighty testing stone' of Bl Guerric! I have been quite taken up with it, thank you for the opportunity to ponder upon it - I need no other pillow this night.

 

A rock is an excellent simile for fear, its hardness and its coldness - that is, until the meaning of fear of God is understood and the symbolism of the rock is appreciated. Those referred to who baulked at the "mere appearance of hardness" remained gripped in the cold fear of the desert journey, in the fear of the mighty God portrayed in the OT. Had they but understood that fear is not an expression of the hardness of God, but of His strength and the sureness of His promises, they might have responded differently. Certainly the disciples discovered the meaning of the rock in Jesus (although in His Hands was it not also a whetting stone?).

 

Wisdom as "the all-seeing eye of God" is a wonderful expression: "It is the fear of the Lord that makes us always mindful of this eternal eye". Scripturally we are accustomed to wisdom being described as the fear of God, but "the eternal eye" awakens our awareness to the presence - to the Person of God, not just the aura of His power. In the presence of God we are drawn to respond by "prudence", that is in the delight of the beautiful service and love of Our Lord.

 

St Francis de Sales wrote that spiritual reading is the oil of the lamp of prayer - indeed, because it does not only ignite prayer but sustains its flame. Thus I delight in Guerric's admonition: "Now to achieve the wisdom of remaining with Wisdom I think it most important not readily to let restlessness or some slight indisposition keep us away from any of the occupations of wisdom such as the divine office, private prayer, holy reading, our everyday tasks, or the rule of silence"... with "holiness as the purpose".  

 

Without such a purpose, 'wisdom' would simply be an ornament of the mind! It is this 'eternal eye' that "draws us back from any wrong action or thought, and teaches us instead to meditate upon holiness, restraining us so that we remain with wisdom"... "Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God".

 

The "eternal eye" is for me the omnipresence of our loving Father, the appeal of Our Lord's gaze, the vision of the Spirit.

 

Thank you Father for the deep joy of these spiritual gems you present on your Blog. 

 

With my love in Our Lord,

William