Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen - Fathers of Cistercian Monks and Nuns

Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen, Cistercian Founders 

Solemnity:  

Gospel Matthew 4:12-23.

Homily by Fr. Aelred.

Robert, Alberic, Stephen (A)

1. Today’s  Gospel (Third Sunday in Ordinary Time) gives us an account at the calling of Christ’s first four disciples. They were called and they immediately followed Jesus, leaving behind nets, boats, and parents. These are models for disciples of all times. For the genuine disciple does not merely say. ‘Lord, Lord’, but also does the will of the Father as taught by Jesus.

2. Today we honour these other disciples who also let all when they heard the call of Christ. Sts Robert, Alberic and Stephen, the Founders of the Cistercian Order. Monastic history shows that periodic reforms are normal and necessary. This happened in the French Benedictine abbey of Molesme in 1098 when Abbot Robert  and a group of followers seceded from Molesme. They were looking to distance themselves from the many entanglements and comforts of feudal society and live in greater seclusion and poverty. Above all they were seeking to live according to the Rule of St. Benedict with greater fidelity, as they had promised when they made their monastic vows. They founded the new monastery of Citeaux.

3. Pressure was soon put upon Abbot Robert to return to his former monastery of Molesme. After his departure the community elected Alberic. Alberic was Abbot for ten years and maintained a tranquil atmosphere at the new monastery. But the community lived in considerable material poverty and recruits were slow in coming.

4. After the death of Alberic the monks elected Stephen Harding, an Englishman, as Abbot. Stephen had many gifts of scholarship and practical organisation. His engaging personality attracted numerous disciples. Among them, in 1113, was the future Saint Bernard, accompanied by a large retinue of relations and friends. The new monastic order now rapidly expanded throughout Europe and beyond fostering a spiritual renewal of the Church.

5. This brief sketch of Cistercian origins shows how three men heard the call of Christ to follow Him in a particular monastic way of life, in a more intense life of prayer. But it would be wrong to see monks as having a different aim in life to other Christians. The aim of all, lay and monastic, is to arrive at that fullness of charity St Paul speaks of in 1^st Corinthians 13, ‘Love is patient’ and so on. 

6. Speaking about this primacy of love, a monk of the Eastern Church gave this advice to his fellow monks: ‘Console the distressed, and do not make you longing for prayer a pretext for turning away from anyone who asks for your help, for love is greater than prayer.’ So the desire for prayer and closer union with God in our lives should never be used as an excuse to sever contact with those in need, ‘for love is greater than prayer’.

St Francis de Sales, Mass. Fr. Nivard

24 Jan 2014 Early Morning Sky

Friday Yr. II, St Francis de Sales

On Friday, 24 January 2014, 

Nivard ... wrote:

Daily Reading & Meditation, c. Don Schwager

Friday (January 24): Mark 3:13-19

"Jesus appointed twelve to be with him"

 

In today’s Gospel Jesus chose very ordinary people to be his Apostles. They were non-professionals. They had no wealth or position. Jesus chose them from the common people who did ordinary things. They had no special education, and no social advantages.    

   Jesus wanted ordinary people who could take an assignment and do it extraordinarily well.

   When the Lord calls us to serve, we must not shrug back because we think that we have little or nothing to offer.    

   The Lord takes what we can offer and uses it for building of his kingdom.

   We can apply all this to St Francis de Sales whose Memorial we celebrate today.

   Some people seem to be gentle by nature.

   Others are ‘barrels’ of vinegar!

   Most of us lie between these two extremes.

   We need to work at becoming more gentle and humble each day as did St Francis de Sales.

   Jesus constantly whispers in our ear, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart. Be like me.”

                *************

Father, Take our lives and all that we have as an offering of love for you through Christ our Lord.

Nivard.

Francis de Sales. How reading St. Francis de Sales has made me a better priest

January 24  
St. Francis de Sales
(1567-1622)

Francis was destined by his father to be a lawyer so that the young man could eventually take his elder’s place as a senator from the province of Savoy in France. For this reason Francis was sent to Padua to study law. After receiving his doctorate, he returned home and, in due time, told his parents he wished to enter the priesthood. His father strongly opposed Francis in this, and only after much patient persuasiveness on the part of the gentle Francis did his father finally consent. Francis was ordained and elected provost of the Diocese of Geneva, then a center for the Calvinists. Francis set out to convert them, especially in the district of Chablais. By preaching and distributing the little pamphlets he wrote to explain true Catholic doctrine, he had remarkable success.
At 35 he became bishop of Geneva. While administering his diocese he continued to preach, hear confessions and catechize the children. His gentle character was a great asset in winning souls. He practiced his own axiom, “A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelful of vinegar.”
Besides his two well-known books, the Introduction to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God, he wrote many pamphlets and carried on a vast correspondence. For his writings, he has been named patron of the Catholic Press. His writings, filled with his characteristic gentle spirit, are addressed to lay people. He wants to make them understand that they too are called to be saints. As he wrote in The Introduction to the Devout Life: “It is an error, or rather a heresy, to say devotion is incompatible with the life of a soldier, a tradesman, a prince, or a married woman.... It has happened that many have lost perfection in the desert who had preserved it in the world. ”
In spite of his busy and comparatively short life, he had time to collaborate with another saint, Jane Frances de Chantal (August 12), in the work of establishing the Sisters of the Visitation. These women were to practice the virtues exemplified in Mary’s visit to Elizabeth: humility, piety and mutual charity. They at first engaged to a limited degree in works of mercy for the poor and the sick. Today, while some communities conduct schools, others live a strictly contemplative life.

Comment:

Francis de Sales took seriously the words of Christ, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.” As he said himself, it took him 20 years to conquer his quick temper, but no one ever suspected he had such a problem, so overflowing with good nature and kindness was his usual manner of acting. His perennial meekness and sunny disposition won for him the title of “Gentleman Saint.”

Quote:

Francis de Sales tells us: “The person who possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender towards everyone: he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of others; the goodness of his heart appears in a sweet affability that influences his words and actions, presents every object to his view in the most charitable and pleasing light.”

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/Saint.aspx?id=1270

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http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/how-reading-st-francis-de-sales-has.html

How reading St. Francis de Sales has made me a better priest

“Introduction to the Devout Life”, the spiritual classic in which St. Francis de Sales sets forth the life of devotion not so much for the consecrated religious or cleric but for the laity, is surely the most popular work of the Doctor of the Catholic Press. This is one of those very few books worth reading two hundred times and more. It serves as a trustworthy guide to sanctity.

Since my ordination to the priesthood (three and a half years ago), this little “Introduction” for lay people has had an immeasurable impact on my own approach to moral and spiritual theology – reading St. Francis de Sales has made me a better priest.

. . . . . .

Lumen Fidei: Pope Francis. Day Seven of Christian Unity Week

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The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Seven: Together... we belong to Christ

Isaiah envisioned a day when Egyptians and Assyrians would worship together with Israel as God’s people. Christian unity belongs to the design of God for the unity of all humanity, and indeed of the cosmos itself. We pray for the day when we will worship together in one faith and one Eucharistic fellowship.

We are blessed by the gifts of various church traditions. Recognising those gifts in each other impels us towards visible unity.

Our baptism unites us as one body in Christ. While we value our particular churches, Paul reminds us that all who call on the name of the Lord are with us in Christ for we all belong to the one body. There is no other to whom we can say, "I have no need of you" (1 Cor 12:21).

Vatican Resources

_______________________________________

Lumen Fidei: A Summary on Pope Francis' First Encyclical

06 Jul 2013

Chapter 2 seeks to understand the relationship between faith and several other aspects—reason, love, truth, and theology. Lumen Fidei shows that truth is necessary for faith so that it can remain grounded. Faith is rooted in ...

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/

For some reason, the writer wished to remove this Blog.
Thanks for his article, I hope he can gain access by the Link.
I loved the illustrations.
Please excuse the delay - it is a first in tracing in the Blog archive.

Happily, the ENCYCLICAL LETTER 
LUMEN FIDEI  is accessible Online at:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html
and it has Downloaded with ease.  

+ + + + + + + +

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Night Office, James Quinn S.J.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Five: Together... we are called into fellowship

Ecuminism 1987

The Clergy Review January 1987

Editor, Questions raised by the present state of ecumenism, 11 Articles

The Church, The Churches and the World

By James Quinn, S.J.

Church of the Sacred Heart, 28 Lauriston Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

Extract

   §   11 The Churches

The will of Christ

At the Last Supper Christ prayed for his Church, that it might be one. Unity among all his .followers is clearly his great desire. This unity is to be complete and perfect, having as its source and model the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

But Christians, though accepting Christ as their Lord, find themselves divided from each other in different ways. In obedience to Christ we must do all in our power to undo division- among Christians, and in their place to build up true Christian unity.

The Second Vatican Council, in its Decree on Ecumenism, points out that work for Christian unity is a duty of every Catholic. It is a work for the whole Church, not for bishops and priests only. Each parish should have its own contribution to make towards the Church's commitment in this field.

The ecumenical movement is essentially a meeting of Churches, through their members. But it must not be simply the enthusiasm of the few: it must be the responsibility of all, according to each one's talents and opportunities.

The way of renewal

The Decree on Ecumenism also points out that the way to Christian unity is through spiritual renewal within each Church, and in the life of every Christian.

The unity of the Church is the gift of the Holy Spirit, the bond of love. It is therefore a work that demands our co-operation through prayer. Prayer is the first and necessary condition of work for Christian unity.

Work for Christian unity requires also the fruits of prayer in our individual lives and in the life of the whole Church. It demands spiritual renewal, holiness of life, fidelity to Christ.

It asks for a spirit of penitence for sins against charity. There arc many personal and community barriers - suspicion, prejudice, lack of charity, bad example - which must be removed before the Holy Spirit can heal our divisions.

The spirit of unity

If we are to grow together into the fullness of unity, we must first want unity. We must want it, not for our own glory but in humble obedience to Christ.

We should want other Christians to be one with us because we miss their presence and feel somehow incomplete without them. We must see them, not as rivals or strangers, still less as enemies, but as fellow-pilgrims who belong to us in a very real sense, through our spiritual kinship with them by baptism.

There should be a spirit of forgiveness where we may think that other Christians have wronged us. There should be a spirit of repentance for our own sins against other Christians.

Above all, we should not live in the past but in the reality of the present, and in hope of a more Christian future.

The Eucharist and Christian unity

The Church is essentially a communion of faith, hope and love. It is a communion with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as a com­munion with all its members in the Body of Christ.

Baptism is the basic, initial sacrament of Christian unity. It establishes a sacramental bond among all who have been baptized.

Holy Communion is the crowning sacrament of Christian unity, setting the seal on perfect unity.

The supernatural communion which is the Church must be seen as a true community in itself, but also as a community seeking to welcome into its unity the whole family of mankind.

The article below:

James Quinn SJ The Church, The Churches and the World

23 Jan 2013

www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=15970. Apr 14, 2010 – The hymns of Father James Quinn SJ are found in almost every contemporary English language hymnal, taken from the collection New Hymns ... 2.

Day 5 of WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY and throughout the year 2014 Has Christ been divided? (1 Cor 1:13)

Ordinary Time: January 22nd
Night Office Readings being used for Christian Unity 

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The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Five: Together... we are called into fellowship

We are called into fellowship with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. As we draw closer to the Triune God, we are drawn closer to one another in Christian unity.

Christ has initiated a change in our relationship, calling us friends instead of servants. In response to this relationship of love, we are called out of relationships of power and domination into friendship and love of one another.

Called by Jesus, we witness to the gospel both to those who have not yet heard it and to those who have. This proclamation contains a call into fellowship with God, and establishes fellowship among those who respond.

Vatican Resources   - extract:

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/weeks

Day 5	Together... we are called into fellowship
Isaiah 43:1-7	I will be with you
Psalm 133	How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
1 John 1:3-7	We have fellowship with one another"
John 15:12-17	I have called you friends"

Three points for reflection

We are called into fellowship with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. As we draw closer to the Triune God, we are drawn closer to one another in Christian unity.

Christ has initiated a change in our relationship, calling us friends instead of servants. In response to this relationship of love, we are called out of relationships of power and domination into friendship and love of one another.

Called by Jesus, we witness to the gospel both to those who have not yet heard it and to those who have. This proclamation contains a call into fellowship with God, and establishes fellowship among those who respond.

Questions

• In what ways do you experience the call into fellowship with God?
• In what ways is God calling you into fellowship with others within your church and beyond?

Prayer

Father of love, you have called us into the fellowship of your Son and appointed us to bear fruit in our witness to the gospel. By the grace of your Spirit, enable us to love one another and to dwell together in unity so that our joy may be complete. Amen. 

Saint Agnes TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2014

Saint of the day: 21st January   

Saint Agnes

St. Agnes Morelli Colonnade
The saint's statue is among those
on the colonnade
in St. Peter 's Square

 

 

  Saint Quote of the Day:

 Saint Ambrose of Milan

Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve.

-- Saint Ambrose of Milan

- See more at: http://faithofthefatherssaintquote.blogspot.co.uk/#sthash.QJJ1S18A.dpuf

Virgin, martyr of Rome. St Agnes is one of the most famous of early Christian saints. Her death in 305 was recorded in the Deposito Martyrum just forty years later. Around that time a basilica was built over her grave in the Via Nomentana. Many early writers, including Ambrose, Jerome, Damasus and Prudentias praised her.

It seems she was a young girl who was killed because she refused to marry, having dedicated herself to Christ.

Because her name is similar to agnus, or lamb, her principal emblem is a lamb. Today in Rome, a special blessing ceremony is held for lambs that produce the wool from which the pallia for archbishops, are woven by the sisters of St Agnes.

There are hundreds of paintings, stained glass windows and church dedications to her across Europe. In England five ancient churches are named after her. The best surviving cycle of paintings is on a gold and enamel cup which once belonged to the Duke of Berry, then the Duke of Bedford and King Henry VI. It can be seen now in the British Museum.

http://catholicism.about.com/od/martyrs/p/Saint-Agnes-Of-Rome.htm

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The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Four: Together... we affirm that God is faithful

The eternal unity of Father, Son and Spirit draws us closer into the love of God, and calls us to participate in God’s work in the world which is love, mercy and justice. Mercy and justice are not divided in God, but rather are joined together in the steadfast love manifested in God’s covenant with us and with all of creation.

The new father Zechariah testifies to God’s manifestation of mercy in keeping his promises to Abraham and his descendents. God is faithful to his holy covenant.

As we continue to pray for the unity of the church, we must not neglect to meet together and encourage one another, spurring each other on towards love and good deeds, saying: "God is faithful."

Vatican Resources

COMMENT: Bl. Cyprian

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2006

Saint Quote: Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi

Yourself and your wife should keep always before your eyes that fact that you are creatures, God’s own creation. As a man’s handiwork belongs to him, so do we all belong to God, and should accordingly have no other will but His. He is a Father, a very kind Father indeed. All his plans are for the good of His children. We may not often see how they are. That does not matter. Leave yourselves in His hands, not for a year, nor for two years, but as long as you have to live on earth. If you confide in Him fully and sincerely He will take special care of you.

--Blessed Tansi’s letter to his houseboy

- See more at: http://faithofthefatherssaintquote.blogspot.co.uk/2006/01/saint-quote-blessed-cyprian-michael.html#sthash.sHCzpaMN.dpuf

SOUL OF MY SAVIOUR, SANCTIFY MY BREAST (HYMN)

Desert en-route to Mt. Sinai 2003

SOUL OF MY SAVIOUR, SANCTIFY MY BREAST (HYMN)

22FEB

Soul of my Saviour, sanctify my breast;
Body of Christ, be thou my saving guest;
Blood of my Saviour, bathe me in thy tide,
wash me with waters flowing from thy side.

Strength and protection may thy passion be;
O Blessed Jesus, hear and answer me;
deep in thy wounds, Lord, hide and shelter me;
so shall I never, never part from thee.

Guard and defend me from the foe malign;
in death’s dread moment make me only thine;
call me and bid me come to thee on high,
where I may praise thee with thy saints for aye.(Ascribed to John XXII, 13th century). 

Soul of My Saviour --- Faith of our Fathers concert

Uploaded on 12 Nov 2011

"Soul of My Saviour" hymn from "Faith of our Fathers" concert performed by Irish Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus at the Point Theatre, Dublin, Ireland on 24th/25th January 1997  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j9ilIUyuqc  

Prayers4reparation's Blog

…"IF MY PEOPLE WHO BEAR MY NAME, HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY PRESENCE AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, I MYSELF WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN AND FORGIVE THEIR SINS…" (2 CHRON. 7:14) – "YOU WILL SEE THAT IN PRAYER YOU WILL FIND MORE KNOWLEDGE, MORE LIGHT, MORE STRENGTH, MORE GRACE AND VIRTUE THAN YOU COULD EVER ACHIEVE BY READING MANY BOOKS, OR BY GREAT STUDIES. NEVER CONSIDER AS WASTED THE TIME YOU SPEND IN PRAYER. YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT IN PRAYER GOD COMMUNICATES TO YOU THE LIGHT, STRENGTH AND GRACE YOU NEED…" (SR LUCIA DOS SANTOS)

http://prayers4reparation.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/soul-of-my-saviour-sanctify-my-breast-hymn-2/

20 January Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi, OCSO

Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi, OCSO 

http://www.ocso.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=105&Itemid=132&lang=en  

BLESSED CYPRIAN MICHAEL IWENE TANSI (1903-1964)

Iwene Tansi was born in Aguleri near Onitsha, Nigeria, in 1903. He was baptised when he was 9 years old with the Christian name, Michael. His baptism affected him deeply even at such a young age and he shocked his non-Christian parents by daring to destroy his own personal idol, traditionall At the age of 22, after several years of working as catechist and school teacher, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest for the Onitsha diocese in 1937, when he was 34. As parish priest he worked zealously in Eastern Nigeria for 13 years, selflessly serving the religious and material needs of his people.

 He had to travel on foot to visit his widely scattered parishes, would spend whole days hearing confessions and was always available to the people in their needs, day and night. He was particularly eager to give young people a good preparation for marriage and to counteract the tradition of "trial marriages" which prevailed among the pagans at that time. The large Christian populations of many Igbo villages are a present witness to his zeal.

However, in spite of all he was doing, he felt the call to serve God in a more direct way in a life of contemplation and prayer and, if possible to bring the contemplative monastic life to Nigeria. In 1950 his Bishop was able to free him to try his vocation at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, near Nottingham, England, and to be trained in view of founding a contemplative monastery in the diocese of Onitsha. His new name in the monastery was Father Cyprian. The complete change of lifestyle, particularly living under obedience when he had been a leader of people, the change of climate, food and most of all the culture shock were severe tests, but he was convinced that this is where God wanted him to be. Father Mark Ulogu, who later became Abbot of Bamenda, joined him a year later.

In 1962 Mount Saint Bernard decided to make the foundation in Africa, but for various reasons it was made in the neighbouring country of Cameroon, near Bamenda, rather than in Nigeria. Although he was appointed as Novice Master of the foundation, Father Cyprian was too sick to go. He died on January 20, 1964, a few months after the departure of the founders.  

 

The reputation for holiness that he had left in Nigeria before going to Mount Saint Bernard never ceased to grow. After his death, many people claimed to have received favours through his intercession. The process for his beatification was opened in the diocese of Nottingham, then transferred in 1986 to the Archdiocese of Onitsha, whose Archbishop was the present Cardinal Francis Arinze, who had been among the first children baptised by Father Tansi when the latter was a young parish priest. On March 22, 1998, at Onitsha, during a trip to Nigeria made for that very purpose, Pope John Paul II beatified Father Cyprian Michael Tansi, proclaiming him to be a model of priestly zeal and prayer.

Further references:

Fr. Gregory Wareing, A New Life of Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (Coalville, Leicester LE6 3UL: Mt. St. Bernard Abbey. 1994). Father Gregory was Blessed Cyprian's Novice Master.

Veronica Onyedika Chidi Umegakwe, Footprints of Father Tansi: The Tomb is not his Goal (Awhum, Nigeria: Our Lady of Calvary Monastery, 1993). The life of Blessed Cyprian is here presented in a five act play by the chief coordinator of the Father Tansi Lay Contemplative Prayer Movement.

Elisabeth Isichei, Entirely for God. The life of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Studies Series 43, 1980 and 2000).

Dom John Moakler, "Some Thoughts about Blessed Cyprian Tansi" in Hallel 25 (2000), pp.79-93.

See also the Web Page on Blessed Cyprian Tansi, developed and managed by Father Chidi Denis Isizoh, secretary of Cardinal Arinze at the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with non Christian Religions www.afrikaworld.net/tansi/index.html  

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For an example of his spiritual teaching, reflecting his own spiritual experience

Excerpt from a Retreat preached by Father Cyprian Tansi in August 1962

"We do very little good when we embark on our own. We do much good when we allow God to direct us and direct our enterprises. The apostles, you remember, went out fishing, laboured the whole night and got nothing. They were on their own, the Lord came and told them to cast the net and they would find. They did so and were not able to draw up the net, so great was the number of fish caught. When they worked by themselves, they took nothing. When they worked in the company of our Lord, they were full. So with us. We must learn to avoid worrying ourselves about things, learn to do away with anxieties of all sorts. "When you have something to do, an assignment to perform, remembering that we are not doing our work, but God's work, we must first go to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, place our plans before Him and ask for his advice and assistance. We must examine before him how he would like us to produce, whether he would like us to do one thing or the other. If any doubt, consult your spiritual director for advice. You should never undertake to do anything unless you are sure that God wants it done in the way you are planning. Above all things you should never do your own will: you should do only what the superiors want to be done. You should never force the superiors to yield to your will by any stratagem. "And while doing whatever you have to do, you should do it at a pace and speed that will allow you time continually to turn to God for guidance. Your conversation with God should be continual. Remember that you cannot achieve this spiritual disposition in a day. You need time, practice and patience. All that I request you now is to examine and to see whether what you are told is the truth. If it is, then make a resolution to continue to make effort in this direction without minding whether you succeed or fail."

- Michael I. Tansi, o.c.s.o., Irrational Love: Incarnation and Redemption, an Incomprehensible Love (Onitsha, Nigeria: Archiocesan Secretariat, 1989), p.35

Vigil Lectionary Readings, Second Week in Ordinary Time Year 2

A reading from the book of Genesis.
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.   

Year B: Second Week of Ordinary Time SUNDAY

First ReadingGenesis 9:1-17

Cardinal Jean Danielou S.J.

Second Reading
Jean Cardinal Daniélou, Holy Pagans of the Old Testament, 78-80.83; Word in Season VII

A reading from Holy Pagans of the Old Testament by Jean Cardinal Daniélou. 

The fidelity of the living God

It is in connection with Noah that the momentous notion of a covenant appears for the first time in holy Scripture. The covenant is one of the essential characteristics, the most characteristic quality perhaps, of the God of the Bible. It signifies that God communicates certain good things to mankind and that this is in the nature of an irrevocable settlement. Thus it allows us to depend upon these benefits, not in virtue of any right we have to them but by reason of God’s fidelity to his word.

The covenant made with Noah is connected with the cosmic religion and bears essentially upon God's fidelity in the order of the world. It is first of all a question of a covenant not with a particular people but with humanity as a whole and even with the whole cosmos. By this covenant God pledges himself not to de­stroy life upon the earth, whatever may be the sins of the human race. God’s fidelity will be expressed particularly in the regularity of the laws of the cosmos, in the recurrent seasons: All the days of the earth seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease. This text is of prime importance. It establishes the right to see in the recurrent seasons the revelation of the fidelity of the living God. And this revelation, says Saint Paul, is given to all people among whom God has not left himself without testimony, giving them rain and fruitful seasons. This revelation constitutes the authentic basis of the pagan religions for which the recurrent seasons are the foundations of their worship.

By this covenant, God gives, as it were, an official document which bears witness to his pledge for all the generations to come. This document is the rainbow: as the paschal lamb is to be the memorial of the Mosaic covenant, as the holy Eucharist is the sacrament of the new eternal covenant replacing the ancient, so the rainbow is the memorial and sacred sign of the cosmic covenant which persists throughout the establishment of new and more perfect covenants.

The order of the world is no longer at the mercy of human sin. In the economy now beginning God will give temporal goods to sinners as well as to saints. The God of the covenant is not a God who will rain upon the just and will refuse rain to the unjust, but, in line with the very words of Christ, he makes the sun to rise upon the good and bad, and rains upon the just and unjust.

By the covenant with Noah a break is made in the connection between sin and punishment whereby salvation can be brought in. Thus the covenant is a manifestation of love. It reveals something new about God, for it is the first manifestation of redemptive love, while the former divine economy showed only creative love. What now appears is that long-suffering mercy with which God endures in order to save the sinner.

Jean Cardinal Daniélou, Holy Pagans of the Old Testament, 78-80.83; Word in Season VII. 1999

Another Link: Vigil Lectionary Readings
http://www.forwardministryonline.com/articlesnews/vigilslectionaryreadings/Bordinarytime021.html
Index
http://www.forwardministryonline.com/articlesnews/vigilslectionaryreadings/  
In the Word in Season (1999) there are 16 references of Jean Danielou