Lacordaire O.P., The Bible is at one and the same time the drama of our destiny, ...

Henri-Dominique Lacordaire
at the convent of Sainte-Sabine in Rome,
by Théodore Chassériau (1840), Musée du Louvre

Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours

Augustinian Press 1995

TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY

First Reading       2 Kings 14:1-27

Responsory   Mt 24:7.11-13; Eph 6:11

Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray, and as lawlessness spreads, most people's love will grow cold. But t whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.

V. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. + Whoever perseveres ...

Second Reading   From a Letter by Lacordaire

It taught gradually by the Church and imbued with her life-giving breath, we enter with facility of heart in to that monument of truth built by God which is the Bible, we will pass under many shadows in its depths, passages where one has to bend one's head, and sublimities where our understanding will al­most fail. However, supported by our unfailing companion, the Church herself, we will go from inspiration to inspiration under the firmament of the holy Word, rejoicing with it in the open plains of eternity, admiring Jesus Christ as he comes ever nearer, longing for him with the patriarchs, seeing him from afar with the prophets, greeting him with the harp of the psalms, until at last, on the threshold of the second temple, he appears to us wholly filled with his glory and death, predestined victim of the reconciliation of souls, and sovereign explication of all that is by all that was.

This vision of Jesus Christ not only fills the long roll of holy books; it interweaves great world events. The Christian sees these events therein under the hand of providence, guided by the laws of justice and grace. In this light he discerns the succession of empires, the rise and fall of great races. He realizes that neither chance nor fate mean anything, but that everything progresses under the twofold impulse of the freedom of man and the wisdom of God. This view of the true meaning of history enraptures the Christian. He gains an understanding of life which no experience could give him, because experience shows him only man, whereas the Bible reveals at one and the same time both God in man and man in God.

This revelation not only makes itself felt in the great mo­ments of the Bible; it is there throughout. God is never absent from his work. He is in the field with Boaz, behind the daughter of Naomi, just as he is in Babylon at Belshazzar's feast. He sits by Abraham's tent as a traveller wearied by his journey, just as he dwells on the summit of mount Sinai in the thunder pro­claiming his presence. He helps Joseph in prison, just as he crowns Daniel in captivity. The smallest details of family or wilderness, the names, places, and events, all these are filled with God, and it is in the course of four millennia, from Eden to Calvary, from righteousness lost to righteousness regained, that one follows from beginning to end, step by step, all the movements of his mercy and all those of his might.

   Who could remain unmoved by so great a pilgrimage? Guided by faith along such paths, who could fail to return home a better man? The Bible is at one and the same time the drama of our destiny, the primitive history of the human race, the philosophy of saints, the legislation of a people chosen and governed by God; within the providence of four thousand years it is the preparation and the seed of the whole future of man­kind; it is the storehouse of all the truth needed by man, the charter of his rights, the treasury of his hopes, the abyss of his consolations, the kiss of God upon his heart; finally, it is Christ the Son of God who has saved him.

Responsory     Rm 15:4; 2 Tm 3:16

All that was written long ago in scripture was written for our instruction, + so that by its encouragement we might have hope.

V. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for refuting error, for correction, and f

Subject: Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Henri_Lacordaire

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Lacordaire, ca.1855
Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire (12 May 1802 – 21 November 1861), often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist and political activist. He re-established the Dominican Order in post-Revolutionary France

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COMMENT: Genesis 32 Jacob wrestles with God

Jabbok Fords from Penuel,

 Jacob wrestles with God

Genesis 32:24-32

A great while before day, Jacob being alone, more fully spread his fears before God in prayer. While thus employed, One in the likeness of a man wrestled with him. When the spirit helpeth our infirmities, and our earnest and vast desires can scarcely find words to utter them, and we still mean more than we can express, then prayer is indeed wrestling with God. However tried or discouraged, we shall prevail; and prevailing with Him in prayer, we shall prevail against all enemies that strive with us. Nothing requires more vigour and unceasing exertion than wrestling. It is an emblem of the true spirit of faith and prayer.  

 Jacob kept his ground; though the struggle continued long, this did not shake his faith, nor silence his prayer. He will have a blessing, and had rather have all his bone put out of joint than go away without one. Those who would have the blessing of Christ, must resolve to take no denial. The fervent prayer is the effectual prayer. The Angel puts a lasting mark of honour upon him, by changing his name. Jacob signifies a supplanter. From henceforth he shall be celebrated, not for craft and artful management, but for true valour. Thou shalt be called Israel, a prince with God, a name greater than those of the great men of the earth. He is a prince indeed that is a prince with God; those are truly honourable that are mighty in prayer. Having power with God, he shall have power with men too; he shall prevail, and gain Esau's favour. Jacob gives a new name to the place. He calls it Peniel, the face of God, because there he had seen the appearance of God, and obtained the favour of God. It becomes those whom God honours, to admire his grace towards them. The Angel who wrestled with Jacob was the second Person in the sacred Trinity, who was afterwards God manifest in the flesh, and who, dwelling in human nature, is called Immanuel, Hos_12:4, Hos_12:5. Jacob halted on his thigh. It might serve to keep him from being lifted up with the abundance of the revelations. The sun rose on Jacob: it is sun-rise with that soul, which has had communion with God.

Concise Commentary, M. Henry

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.