Winzen, Damasus (1901-1971) 'Moses veiled his face' 2Cor 3:13

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Winzen, Damasus (1901-1971), professed in 1923 as a monk of the German abbey of Marialaach, one of the first centres for Catholic liturgical renewal, came to the United States before World War II to escape Nazi persecution. In 1951 he founded Mount Saviour Monastery near Elmira, New York, where he lived until his death.

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THIRD WEEK OF LENT WEDNESDAY  Year II

WEDNESDAY  Year II

First Reading Exodus 33:7-11.18-23; 34:5-9.29-35

Responsory                                         2 Cor 3:13.18.15

Moses veiled his face to hide it from the people of Israel + but we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces and grow ever more radiant, as we are transformed into his likeness by the Lord who is Spirit.

V. To this day that same veil lies over their minds. + But we behold ...

Night Office Reading

From the writings of Damasus Winzen, O.S.B. (Pathways in the Holy Scripture 110)

Moses was a type of the Saviour

• While God is showing Moses on the top of the mountain the glorious gifts which his love is going to bestow upon his people, the latter get impatient over his absence and make a visible and therefore more "reliable" god, the molten calf. The covenant is broken before it has been put into effect. The sin of the people, however, is used by God to manifest his love still more gloriously. Moses shows himself in all his greatness as the true mediator between God and the people. He does not try to excuse the Israelites, but he appeals to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the God who has pledged everlasting love to his chosen people. In this he succeeds.
• The lack of stability and faithfulness in the hearts of the Israelites causes God to disclose the "rock" of his everlasting love. The rock upon which Moses has to stand to see the "backparts" of the Lord is a symbol of this covenant love. The backparts also mean, not the unveiled glory, but the mercy which was made flesh in Christ Jesus. Standing on the rock of his faith in God's charity Moses hears the name of God pro­claimed: Jahwe, Jahwe, Elohim, merciful and gracious, patient and of much compassion and true. It is like a reflection of this divine love in Moses, the mediator, if he offers to be blotted out of the book of life rather than to see his people condemned. In this same love Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world, and Saint Paul wished himself to be accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of his brothers, his natural kin­dred, and Saint Peter, the "rock" on which the Church is built laid down his life for his sheep.
• Moved by Moses' entreaties, God lets mercy triumph over justice, and instead of sending an angel he himself goes with his people. The Book of Exodus ends with the description of the glory of God descending upon the tabernacle and filling it with the cloud of the presence. Likewise the Passover of Christ ended with the dedication of the Church on Pentecost when the strong wind and the fiery tongues of the Spirit descended upon the apostles. Since then the Christians are a temple of the Lord. The Greek term used here by Saint Paul does not mean "temple" only but "Holy of Holies." Thus the "sign" of the tabernacle is "fulfilled": every Christian is a Holy of Holies.