Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Monastic Office of Vigils, Martin D'Arcy


Martin C. D'Arcy S.J. by: Eman Bonnici
27th Week in Ordinary Time
TUESDAY
First Reading
2 Kings 18:17-36
Responsory          Ps 20:7-8; 121:2
Some put their trust in chariots or horses, but our trust is in the name of the Lord. + They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand firm.
V. My help shall come from the Lord, the creator of heaven and earth. + They will collapse ...
Second Reading
From The Sense of History by Martin D'Arcy, pp. 133-134

D'Arcy, Martin Cyril (1888-1976) A Jesuit who was one of the most influential English Catholics of his age, his homilies and lectures, no less than his writing, inspired, strengthened and deepened the faith of many. He lectured in philosophy both at Oxford, where he was master of Cam­pion Hall, and in the United States. His books include The Nature of Belief, The Meeting of Love and Knowledge, and Facing God.

The clearest example of a pure belief in providence is to be found in the Jewish religion, which rose steadily and defiantly above the mists of surrounding beliefs. The Lord is the one, true God, who created the world and has a purpose for humankind and a mission for his people. No matter what disasters befell them the Jews returned to this faith and hope at the instance of their prophets. The Lord is the everlasting God, who has created the ends of the earth. He shall not faint nor labor, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom. It is he that gives strength to the weary, and increased force and might to them that are not ... They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall take wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. The gospels place in the forefront this idea of providence; the teaching of Christ begins with the declaration of God as the Father who makes life precious by his care for it, and this assurance is more than ratified by the act of the Son of God, who shows his surpassing love for us by dying on our behalf.
In the Christian dispensation providence is looked upon as both universal and particular. As particular it means that every individual is cared for by God, even to the hairs of his head, or as Saint Paul describes it, that all things cooperate for the good of those that love God. As universal, it means that though history is made by the cooperation and clash of human wills, God works in and through it, so that his purposes are fulfilled. This is the idea of providence which has prevailed in the West and wherever Christianity has penetrated, and it lies behind the attempts of various Christian thinkers in the past to sketch a providential view of history. Christians from time immemorial have their own personal needs. Such prayers pervade the liturgy, of which one example is the collect asking that "God, by whose never-failing providence the world is ordered," may "remove from our path all hurtful things, and give us all that will be for our good." Such prayers are warranted by the Lord's Prayer and by the belief of Christians that the divine and human meet in a personal relationship. The language of friendship and love does not, however, lend itself to theory, especially to a theory of history in which the part of God is to be explained.
The new hope stirred at the beginning by the Christian message was not due to any theory of history. It was the fact of the existence of providence which produced a radical change, removing the dark fears that human life signified nothing. Comfort can come when we are sure that all is well, even though we have no idea of how the happy ending is to be brought about.

Responsory     Rom 8:28; Jdt 9:5
We know that by turning everything to their good + God cooperates with all who love him, with all whom he has called according to his purpose.
V. All your ways are prepared beforehand, and your judgments rest on foreknowledge. +God cooperates ...

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