Danielou Hebrews 11, 17-19

Night Office.

The Second Reading from Jean Danielou is from A WORD IN SEASON Readings for the Liturgy of New Edition  AUGUSTINIAN PRESS 2001 

We do not have the French origin and the not known translator.

Happily in our shelves is the English book "The Advent Of Salvation by Jean Danielou (translated by Rosemary Sheed 1950), pp.47-48."

It makes a worthwhile comparing the translation, as in the columns below.

The Letter to the Hebrews is the background to the Lent cursus.

Le mystere de l'Avent by Jena Danielou in the Rosemary Sheed translation ranges the mystery of salvation. Adding a sentence to the 2nd Reading, we read Danielou, "And once again, as I shall show when I come to speak of her, for our Lady at least the education was a success. That is why our Lady consoles us for the others, consoles us for all the work of preparation wasted upon us. " It is very significant pointing to Mary in the Church and Salvation. The excerpt is thirsting for the book only come to hand.
The opening widens into the Danielou and von Balthasar opens the profoundest understanding  The Lenten Reading, "Mary For Today", (von Balthasar), echos the two great contemporaries. See the Link:    

Jean Daniélou - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Daniélou

Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou, S.J., (14 May 1905 – 20 May 1974) was a Jesuit theologian, historian, cardinal and a member of the Académie Française. 
Hans Urs Von Balthasar 82 (1905-1988)

+ + + 

 Fifth Week of Lent   Monday Year I.  

First Reading                       Hebrews 11:1-19

 Responsory                 Heb 11:17.19; Rom 4:17

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac; 

he who had received the promises 

was ready to sacrifice his only son. 

+ He trust­ed that God had the power to raise the dead.

V. He believed in him who calls into being what does not yet exist. 

+ He trusted that ... S

Second Reading       From the writings of 

Cardinal Jean Danielou, S.J. (Le mystere de I'Avent, 52-53)

The sacrifice of Isaac 

A WORD IN SEASON Readings for the Liturgy of New Edition  AUGUSTINIAN PRESS 2001    Second Reading From the writings of Cardinal Jean Danielou, S.J. (Le mystere de I'Avent, 52-53) translator not indicated.

The Advent Of Salvation by Jean Danielou (translated by Rosamary Sheed 1950), pp.47-48 - Abraham and the Hebrew Covenant.

The sacrifice of Isaac The difference between the sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Christ is that the first was never consummated. It is characteristic of Old Testament types that they provide us with a preliminary outline without going on to complete the picture. We have another striking instance of this in Saint Paul's reference to the entry of the high priest into the holy of holies once in every year. The fact that the ceremony had to be repeated annually makes it clear that the high priest's action was merely symbolic, and there was not yet any real entry into the true holy of holies which Christ was to enter once for all. Similarly, in the present example, Isaac offered in a sacrifice which was never carried out is to be regarded as a preparatory sketch of how Christ was destined to be sacrificed in very deed. As the Letter to the Hebrews profoundly observes, Isaac restored alive to his father without being raised from death to life is a figure of Christ risen from the dead. What makes this episode so remarkable a foreshadowing of the passion of Christ is that we can discern in it what looks like the disappointment of a hope turning out to be the actual means of fulfilling the promise. God had sworn to Abraham that from Isaac would issue a great nation, and then he asked Abraham to bring that expectation to nothing. But out of that very sacrifice would come the fulfilment. Now the passion of Christ could also look like the total failure of his mission. When he lay in the tomb, the apostles were scattered and all seemed lost. The passion of Christ was the supreme test of faith; yet it was by his dying and rising again that the promise was fulfilled in the resurrection. So for us also it will often be only through the night of faith, through apparent failure, through the destruction of some cherished hope, that God's plan for us will be truly fulfilled in that mystery of death and resurrection which lies at the very heart of Christianity. Here we find a recurring element in the divine scheme. But God's plan is so much at variance with our human way of thinking that before revealing it fully in Christ he elected first to familiarize his people with it. Without some preparation the truth concerning Christ would have seemed so strange and disturbing to their minds that they could never really have grasped it. Responsory                                                                         Phi! 2:6.8; Is 53:5 Although he was in the form of God, Christ Jesus did not think equality with God something to be grasped at. + but he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. V. He bore the punishment that brings us peace; By his wounds we are healed. + But he humbled ...

And let us then re-read the passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews which sees the full meaning of this: By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, offered Isaac; and he who had received the promises (to whom it had been said, "In Isaac thy seed shall be called") was about to offer up his only-begotten son, reasoning that God has power to raise up even from the dead (Heb. II, 17-19). (p. 47) We see the difference between this sacrifice of Isaac and Christ's sacrifice: the former was not consummated. It belonged to the figures in the Old Testament to adumbrate, but not to accomplish fully. Saint Paul gives us another striking example, that of the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies once a year. The very fact that it was repeated every year shows well enough that it was only a figure, that it was not as yet the reality, whereas Christ entered once and for all into the true Holy of Holies. In just the same way Isaac, offered but not immolated, is a shadowy sketch of Christ who was immolated in very fact; and, as the Epistle to the Hebrews remarks with such depth, Isaac given back to his father still alive, not risen from the dead, is a figure of Christ risen. What makes this episode such a very impressive figure of the Passion of Christ is that here, too, we see apparent failure becoming the cause of the promise being fulfilled. God promised Abraham that He would make Isaac a mighty nation, and He then ordered him to destroy that hope. Now Christ's passion also seemed to be the utter failure of what He had set out to do. When He was in the tomb, the Apostles dispersed, and the thing seemed hopeless. The passion and death of Christ were the supreme test of faith: from death came the Resurrection wherein the promise was fulfilled. And for us, too, it will often be only through the night of faith, through apparent failure, through the frustration of one hope after another, that God's plan for us will really be fulfilled in that mystery of death and resurrection which is at the very heart of the Christian life. This is another of the elements always to be found in God's actions. And here again it is something so opposed to our human way of that God, before showing it fully in Christ, willed to give men something that would prepare them for it. (p. 48) Otherwise the truth about Christ would have appeared so extraordinary, would have been such a shock to men's minds, that they could never really have been able to penetrate it. You may say that they were not able, even as it was. But this is for a different reason. And once again, as I shall show when I come to speak of her, for our Lady at least the education was a success. That is why our Lady consoles us for the others, consoles us for all the work of preparation wasted upon us.