COMMENTARY
The Justice, Mercy, and Wisdom of God. Almighty God had borne for a long time with the murmuring, refractory Israelites; but at last His divine patience was exhausted, and His justice demanded that they should be punished. The people of Israel were condemned to wander about the desert for forty years, and of the 600,000 fighting men who left Egypt, only two entered the Promised Land. But even while He punished, God showed mercy; for at the request of Moses He so far forgave the people that He did not destroy them. He excluded all those who were grown up from the Promised Land, which, however, He explicitly promised anew to the younger generation. By the wisdom of Divine Providence the forty years of wandering served this end, that the Israelites put aside all the heathen ideas and customs which they had imbibed in Egypt, and grew accustomed to the observance of the law of God and obedience to those whom He had placed over them, and were trained to be a valiant, warlike people.
The sins of the Israelites. In the story you have just heard the Israelites sinned against the First Commandment by their want of faith, hope, and charity. They sinned against the Second Commandment by cursing and blaspheming, and speaking and acting as if God were not the one, true, almighty Lord. These sins were all the more grievous, because God was ever before their eyes, and was constantly working wonderful miracles for their benefit. They sinned against the Fourth Commandment, by rising against Moses, the servant of God; and also against the Fifth Commandment, by trying to kill the true and faithful spies, Josue and Caleb.
Cursing. The people called a curse on themselves: “Would to God that we might die in the wilderness!” Their sinful wish was granted for their punishment: they were condemned to die in the wilderness, and never entered the Land of Chanaan. This should be a warning to us to avoid all kind of imprecations. The cry of the unbelieving Jews in the time of our Lord: “His Blood be upon us and upon our children” (New Test. LXXII), is another terrible instance of an imprecation being fulfilled.
The power of intercession. Because Moses, the just servant of God, prayed earnestly for his people, God forgave them their many and grievous sins.
Temporal punishment. God told Moses explicitly that He forgave the people their sin on account of his intercession. Nevertheless He visited them with a temporal punishment.
Lies and scandal. By a lying exaggeration of the strength of the Chanaanites, the spies (with the exception of Josue and Caleb) induced the Israelites to murmur against God. “Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie” (Ps. 5:7).
Sudden death is the worst punishment that can befall a sinner, because he has no time given him to do penance. Therefore, in the Litany of the Saints, the Church prays thus: “From sudden and unprovided death, O Lord, deliver us!”
God’s blessing is everything. The Israelites were completely routed by the Chanaanites and Amalekites, over whom they had previously obtained a victory (chapter XXXV). This was because God neither blessed nor helped them. Our help comes from the Lord: without Him we can do nothing.
The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence. The grown-up Israelites did not enter the Promised Land, because they shrank from the burdens involved in the journey. For the same reason many Christians do not reach heaven, because they do not correspond with God’s grace, and will not fight against the enemies of their souls. “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away” (Mat.11:12).
APPLICATION. Are you inclined to tell lies and to exaggerate? It was on account of a lie that God punished the ten spies with sudden death. Learn from this how much God, who is truth itself, abhors lies. “Putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbour” (Eph. 4:25).
Have you the evil habit of uttering curses or imprecations?
The High Priest was the spiritual head of the people, the visible representative of God, and the mediator between God and the people. He had the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies once a year; and, later on, of anointing the kings.
The Priests had the right and the duty to offer sacrifice, to enter the Sanctuary, to keep burning the lights of the seven-branched candlestick and the sacred fire for the burnt-offerings, to bless the people and pray for them, and instruct them in the law.
The Levites were the assistants of the priest. They might not enter the Sanctuary, but had to guard the Tabernacle, and, later on, the Temple. They assisted with the sacrifices, sacred canticles, and the instruction of the people, and purified the sacred vessels.
The Priests were to be holy. “Let them, therefore, be holy, because I am holy”, said the Lord (Lev. 21:8). Whenever they had any service to perform in the Sanctuary, they had, under pain of death, to keep away from their wives, guard against all defilement, and abstain from all intoxicating drink. This purity of life was signified by their white tunic; and purity of intention by the white turban or tiara.
The High Priest was to be most holy. The inscription on the gold plate on his mitre meant that he belonged entirely to God, and that his thoughts were to be constantly fixed on Him. The breast-plate, on which were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes, implied that he was to bear the people lovingly in his heart, and be careful for their welfare. The bells on his upper tunic, which sounded at each step he took, reminded him that, by word and deed, he had to be a witness to the true faith.
Jesus, the Anointed. It was only when the priesthood was first instituted that priests were anointed; later on, this was not done. But every High Priest was anointed when he entered on his office, and every High Priest was called the Anointed. Jesus Christ, being the great and eternal High Priest who always liveth to make intercession for us (Hebr. 7:25), is especially called “Christ”, or the Anointed.
The priesthood of the Old Covenant, a type of the priesthood of the New Covenant. As there was a gradation in the former, so is there in the latter. The gradation in the Church of Christ is twofold: one of order (Bishops or High Priests, Priests and Deacons or Ministers), and one of jurisdiction, i. e. power of ruling (Pope, Patriarchs, Archbishops or Metropolitans, Bishops and Priests). As in the Old Testament there was only one High Priest, so the Christian Church considered as a whole has only one High Priest (Bishop of bishops), the Pope, who is the visible representative of our invisible High Priest, Jesus Christ. And even as the High Priest of the Old Testament was called “Holy of the Lord”, so do we call the Pope “Holy Father”, because he fills the holiest office on earth.
The Christian priesthood is far higher than the Jewish priesthood. The latter was propagated by natural descent, the former is perpetuated by a spiritual descent, i. e. by means of Holy Orders, which is one of the seven sacraments. The Jewish priests could only offer typical sacrifices; Christian priests offer up the true Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. The former partook of earthly meat-offerings; the latter receive the priceless Flesh and Blood of the Divine Saviour. The Jewish priests prayed for the people; Christian priests remember them daily in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and also, except in Masses for the dead, give their blessing to the faithful.
Holy virgins, as well as the Levites, were employed in the service of the Tabernacle and, later on, of the Temple. They attended to the linen &c., and served the Lord with prayer and fasting. Tradition tells us that Mary, the Mother of God, was dedicated to the service of the Temple at a very early age.
OMMENTARY
Sacrifice is the highest and most perfect form of worship; therefore, God ordained sacrifices to be the centre of divine worship under the Old Law. What was sacrificed, was given to God, and had to be wholly consumed in His honour. Thus victims were killed and burnt, wine was poured out, and incense was burnt. These actions were meant to express on the part of him who made the offering some such thought as this: “Thou, O Lord, hast created all things! Everything comes from Thee. To Thee I owe my life and all that I possess! I have, indeed, deserved death at Thy hands, but as Thou dost not require of me my life, I offer to Thee instead the life of this lamb.” The bloody sacrifices were sacrifices of vicarious expiation, and for this reason the person who offered it laid his hand on the head of the victim, as a token that he laid his sins on it, and sacrificed it as a substitute for himself. Therefore the only animals which could be offered up were the domestic animals which are useful and valuable to man.
The ends of sacrifice. By sacrifices men were 1. taught that they depended absolutely on God, and owed Him worship and thanksgiving as their supreme Lord; 2. they were roused to a consciousness that they were sinners before God, and owed satisfaction to the divine justice; 3. they were shown that they, of themselves, could not make satisfaction, but required a mediator.
In what lay the efficacy of sacrifice? Could pardon and inward sanctification be obtained through the blood of beasts which themselves were not clean, but lay under the curse which Adam’s sin had brought on the earth? No! these sacrifices could only effect an outward justice, and a legal purification by which those who offered the sacrifice were made clean in the eyes of the law, and were enabled once more to take part in the public worship of God. But in so far as these sacrifices were types of the one atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and pointed to this only source of grace and pardon, they could effect sanctification and pardon, provided he who offered the sacrifice believed in the future Saviour, and repented of his sins. This faith, this hope, and this repentance were expressed and stimulated by sacrifice; and, in virtue of this intention, he who offered it received pardon and grace.
Fig. 34. Priest.
The chief significance of the Old Testament sacrifices lay in their being types of the most holy and world-redeeming Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The bloody sacrifices were typical of His bloody Sacrifice on the Cross; the unbloody sacrifices were typical of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass; and the meat-offerings, of Holy Communion. All the sacrifices of the Old Law found their fulfilment in the Sacrifice of our Lord, because, firstly, His was a real vicarious sacrifice, and, secondly, it had infinite efficacy to blot out all sin, and win grace for all men. It was a real vicarious sacrifice, for Jesus Christ is truly man, and took the sins of His brethren upon Him. It had infinite efficacy, because Jesus Christ is also true God, and so able to make infinite satisfaction to the divine justice. The Sacrifice of Christ was a true holocaust, because He shed all His Blood, and was consumed by the fire of infinite love in honour of His heavenly Father. It was a sin-offering, in the highest sense of the word, because it took away the sins of the world, and cancelled the debt of man. It was the greatest of peace-offerings, because it reconciled heaven to earth, and brought peace to the world. Since our Lord offered Himself as a Sacrifice, the typical sacrifices of the Old Law have lost all efficacy and all legitimate existence.
The confession of sins required for sin-offerings is typical of the holy Sacrament of Penance, without recourse to which no sinner dare partake of the “meat-offering” of Holy Communion.
God’s Goodness to the Israelites was exceedingly great; for He deigned to dwell in their midst in a visible way, in the pillar of cloud. But immeasurably greater is God’s love and condescension to us; for His Divine Son made Man dwells with us not only in one place, but in thousands of different churches and chapels, under the appearance of bread, blesses us, offers Himself up for us, and feeds our souls with the bread from heaven, that contains within itself all sweetness.
The veneration of images. By God’s command Moses had figures of cherubim embroidered on the hangings of the Sanctuary, and placed golden cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. These images served for the glory of God and the edification of the Israelites. It is evident, therefore, that it is pleasing to God that we should venerate the images of the angels and saints.
Ark of the Covenant. Mary is called, in the Litany of Loretto, the Ark of the Covenant, because she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, who instituted the New Covenant.
APPLICATION. We should be zealous for the beauty of the house of God. “I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth” (Ps. 25:8). Gladly visit the church; and beware of desecrating it. Be careful how you behave in it, and how you use holy water &c.
St. Augustine condemning re-baptism for reception of converts (Against the Donatists, 2)"Even the Donatists know [baptism] is never given a second time"
APPLICATION. I am sure you detest the ingratitude and faithlessness of the Israelites. But look into your own heart and search your own conscience to see whether you too have not been ungrateful and faithless. What did you promise when you were baptized, and when you renewed your baptismal vows, and every time that you have been to confession? Have you kept your promises? Have you never committed a mortal sin? Do you not know that mortal sin is an execrable ingratitude towards your loving Redeemer? Just think how weak and wavering you are! So do not trust in yourself, but pray humbly for God’s grace, and especially for the grace of perseverance.
Moses spent forty days in prayer, and yet was not weary, for prayer was his joy, his comfort and his strength. All the Saints of both the Old and New Testament have prayed willingly. How is it with you? We can learn to pray only by means of prayer. In this, as in other things, “practice makes perfect”. Never neglect your prayers, and try to be very recollected and devout during divine service. Put yourself in the presence of God several times each day, and thus you will learn how to pray well, and to find delight in prayer.
John Henry Cardinal Newman, Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England (New York and London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1896), p. 390
Читать полностью…COMMENTARY
The Holiness of God. God, who wills what is good, and abhors what is evil, revealed His will to the children of Israel by His holy Commandments, so that they might avoid what was evil, and do what was right. And because He is holy, He desired them to sanctify and prepare themselves by penance for His Revelation.
The fearful Majesty of God. The tremendous signs, under which God manifested Himself, were intended to convince the people of His greatness and majesty, and inspire them with a wholesome fear of breaking His Commandments. Therefore Moses said to them: “The Lord is come that you may fear Him and not sin.” These tokens of the presence of God are typical of His attributes. The cloud and the smoke signified that God is invisible, and cannot be gazed at by mortal eyes. The crashing of the thunder and the terrible blast of the trumpets revealed God’s might and majesty. The lightning and the flames pointed to God’s holiness and avenging justice. The quaking of the mountain signified the fearful and unapproachable majesty of God, before which the very angels tremble. No wonder that these tokens of the presence of God filled the Israelites with fear and awe. When the Lord God Himself spoke the Ten Commandments, they were filled with such consuming fear that they nearly fainted away, and said to Moses: “Speak thou to us &c.” They felt that they must die if God spoke to them in that way. How terrible is the majesty of God! The Israelites did not see Him; they only saw the signs of His presence, and heard His voice, and yet they nearly died of terror. Fear the just God, and keep His Commandments.
The Ten Commandments and the Natural Law. The Ten Commandments were but the expression of that natural law, which God has written in every man’s heart, and which every man can know if he listens to the voice of reason and conscience. Therefore the Ten Commandments apply to all men and all times: and, for this reason, God wrote them on stone to signify that they are as durable as stone, and are to last for all ages. We Christians ought to observe the Commandments even more perfectly than was expected of the Israelites; for our Lord has said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (New Test. XXI).
The contents of the Ten Commandments are fully explained in the catechism, so I will only draw your attention here to their connexion with each other, and to their general tenor. The first three say to us: “Thou shalt worship God; thou shalt honour and keep holy His name; thou shalt respect and keep holy His day.” The fourth Commandment is a transition from one division to the other. The next four protect our most valuable possessions, and forbid any injury to life, innocence, property and honour. The last two forbid evil desires, because they corrupt the heart and lead to evil deeds.
The Ten Commandments are a benefit to mankind. God gave them to us out of love and for our good, or, in other words, for our temporal welfare and our eternal salvation. How would the world fare, if murder, rapine, robbery and defamation of character were not forbidden! Nobody would be sure of either life or property. There would be an end to all order and obedience in family life; evil and lawlessness would reign triumphantly; men would live like wild beasts in accordance with their savage lusts, and hunt down and devour each other. The Ten Commandments were, therefore, given to us for our good; that peace and order might reign among men, in family, society and state, and that we might attain to everlasting happiness. For this reason, he who does not observe the Ten Commandments is not only an enemy to God, but an enemy to mankind and to his own self.
APPLICATION. He who wishes to reach the promised land of heaven must suffer and deny himself. He must renounce his bad desires, and patiently bear trials for love of God. He must fight against the enemies of his soul, and all temptations to evil. We must fight, endure and suffer in this world, and we must do so from our youth upwards. Ask yourself, what you have done hitherto. Deny yourself voluntarily something in the way of food and drink. Do not complain, if anything hurts you, but rather suffer it in silence, and offer your pain to your crucified Saviour. Suppress at once all movements of anger, pride, envy, or sinful curiosity.
We must not only fight: we must also pray, to be enabled to overcome the enemy of our souls. Say to-day a prayer in honour of the Five Wounds of our Lord, or say a decade of the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary, to obtain the grace to overcome yourself.
It is natural for a man to desire what he reckons better than that which he has already, and be satisfied with nothing which lacks that special quality which he misses. Thus, if it is for her beauty that he loves his wife, he will cast longing eyes after a fairer woman. If he is clad in a rich garment, he will covet a costlier one; and no matter how rich he may be he will envy a man richer than himself. Do we not see people every day, endowed with vast estates, who keep on joining field to field, dreaming of wider boundaries for their lands? Those who dwell in palaces are ever adding house to house, continually building up and tearing down, remodeling and changing. Men in high places are driven by insatiable ambition to clutch at still greater prizes. And nowhere is there any final satisfaction, because nothing there can be defined as absolutely the best or highest. But it is natural that nothing should content a man's desires but the very best, as he reckons it. Is it not, then, mad folly always to be craving for things which can never quiet our longings, much less satisfy them? No matter how many such things one has, he is always lusting after what he has not; never at peace, he sighs for new possessions. Discontented, he spends himself in fruitless toil, and finds only weariness in the evanescent and unreal pleasures of the world. In his greediness, he counts all that he has clutched as nothing in comparison with what is beyond his grasp, and loses all pleasure in his actual possessions by longing after what he has not, yet covets. No man can ever hope to own all things. Even the little one does possess is got only with toil and is held in fear; since each is certain to lose what he hath when God's day, appointed though unrevealed, shall come. But the perverted will struggles towards the ultimate good by devious ways, yearning after satisfaction, yet led astray by vanity and deceived by wickedness. Ah, if you wish to attain to the consummation of all desire, so that nothing unfulfilled will be left, why weary yourself with fruitless efforts, running hither and thither, only to die long before the goal is reached?
Saint Bernard of clarivaux
APPLICATION. Thank God for the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and assist regularly and devoutly at it. There you can receive priceless gifts, for the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the source of all grace.
Keep the Feasts of the Church, devoutly contemplating the sacred mysteries of our redemption, and avoid extravagant amusements on those days: “Rejoice in the Lord” (Phil. 4:4).
Have great reverence for the priesthood. Priests are the “ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1). We should always pray that there may be good priests in the Church.
Two significant facts. The entrance of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies, and his blood-offering there on the Day of Atonement, signified that reconciliation with God can only proceed from His throne; and that one day the Redeemer would rend asunder the veil of separation and open the way into the Holy of Holies. Secondly, it was foreshown that even as the goat which was the sin-offering of the people had to be burnt outside the camp, so Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, laden with the sins of the whole world, would be crucified outside the city. He is the great, the true atoning Sacrifice to whom all the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement pointed.
The immediate meaning of the Jewish feasts. The religious feasts of the Jewish people had a double meaning, a retrospective and a prospective or prophetical. The feasts served immediately to remind the people of the wonderful graces and benefits which they had received from God. The Christian feasts are also intended to remind us of, and make us grateful for the grace of sanctification and redemption.
Fig. 35. High Priest.
The typical meaning of the Jewish feasts. Their significance lies in this, that they were types of the Christian feasts, and pointed towards that manifestation of grace which is the foundation of these last. You learnt in chapters XXXIII and XXXVI the connexion between the Jewish feasts of the Pasch and Pentecost and our Easter and Pentecost. The Feast of Tabernacles corresponds with our Corpus Christi, which is solemnized in the open air, and is a Feast of thanksgiving to God, that Jesus Christ, God made Man, has given Himself to be our Leader through the wilderness of this life, feeding our souls with the true Bread from heaven. Our great day of expiation is Good Friday, on which day Jesus Christ was crucified outside the walls for the sins of the world. Even as the Jewish High Priest went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, to carry there the blood of the sacrifice, so Christ, “being come an High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle (i. e. heaven), not made with hand, that is, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and of calves, but by His own blood, entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebr. 9:11, 12). This means that Jesus Christ, having won for us by His death on Good Friday justification, sanctification, and salvation, entered into heaven, where He continually offers the merits of His Passion and Death to His heavenly Father. The great year of Jubilee, which began with the Day of Atonement, is a beautiful type of the Christian era, which will last till the end of times, and in which man, by the atoning Death of Jesus Christ, is freed from the slavery of sin and Satan, and is once more made heir of the kingdom of heaven.—The recurring years of Rest and Jubilee correspond with our years of jubilee, in which the Church throws open her treasuries of grace and offers to us indulgences, i. e. remission of the temporal punishment of sin, so that we may be cleansed from all guilt and made partakers of the heavenly inheritance. Thus we see that all these types find their fulfilment in the Catholic Church, and in her alone; for she alone has priest and High Priest, altar and sacrifice. It follows then that the Catholic Church alone is the true Church, founded by God, and foreshadowed in the Old Testament.
The festal assemblies and pilgrimages of the people of Israel had a very beneficial effect. They served, firstly, to preserve and increase the belief in the true God, and thus to keep the people from idolatry. Secondly, they served to foster unity and a common feeling among the people, who came to look upon themselves as all members of one body, confessors of the same faith, and heirs of the same promises.
Reward of faithfulness. The tribe of Levi was smaller than the others, but it had become less infected with idolatry; and on account of its faithfulness, God chose it for His special service.
COMMENTARY
The immediate meaning of the building of the Tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant, in which were kept the two tables of the law, was more costly than anything else in the Tabernacle. By it the Israelites were to be constantly reminded of the covenant made with God as to the strict observance of the Commandments. The Manna, which was also deposited in the Ark, was to remind them of God’s loving guidance and preservation of them, and move them to love and trust Him. As cherubim kept guard over Paradise, so they now watched over the Ark of the Covenant; and, at the same time, they reminded the people that they should worship God, and serve Him as willingly as do the angels in heaven. The golden candlestick with its lights always burning was an emblem of faith in the true God, and admonished the Israelites to live according to that faith, to avoid the works of darkness, and walk in God’s presence. The laver and the strict laws regarding ablutions were to remind the priests that they ought to approach the holy service of God with clean hearts. The never-ceasing smoke, ascending from the altar of incense, bade the people to lift up their hearts to God, and send up constant prayers, like incense, to heaven. The loaves of the proposition were a perpetual exhortation to be grateful to God, from whom come all good gifts for our souls as well as our bodies. The curtain, which shut off the Holy of Holies, and through which even the High Priest dared pass only once a year, signified “that the way into the holies was not yet made manifest” (Hebr. 9:8). As God was present in the pillar of cloud, resting on the Ark, so the Tabernacle was God’s dwelling in the midst of His people.
Its typical meaning. “The Tabernacle is a parable of the time present” (i. e. the Christian era), writes St. Paul. It foreshadowed the Church of the New Testament and its houses of God. As there was only one Tabernacle and one divine worship instituted by God Himself, so there is only one Church and one true worship of Christ in the world instituted by Himself. In every Catholic church or chapel you will find the same divine worship regulated by one supreme authority, the Vicar of Christ. The different rites (Latin, Greek, Coptic, Syrian, Slavonic &c.) differ only in accidentals and are one even in their difference, because approved by one and the same authority. As there was a real but mysterious and hidden presence of God in the Tabernacle (in the cloud over the ark), so there is the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar. He is both the cloud and the living bread (Manna) that has come down from heaven to give life to the world.
As there was an altar of holocausts and bloody sacrifices and an altar of shew-breads, so there is in the New Testament one and the same altar ever representing the bloody sacrifice of the cross and ever offering up the “living bread that descended from heaven”. The seven lights are the seven Sacraments which are here dispensed, and the laver is the baptismal font and the confessional, where we are cleansed from our sins—or even the stoup of holy water, by the devout use of which venial sins are remitted. You can see, therefore, that in many respects the Tabernacle was a type, which finds its perfect fulfilment in our churches; and that even the poorest village-chapel is holier than was the Tabernacle of the Old Covenant. As the Tabernacle was divided into two parts, so our churches have two parts: one for the priests, called the sanctuary, and another for the faithful, called the body of the church. Hence the Tabernacle was a pattern for our Christian churches.
Charity in conversation
St. Ambrose
Kind words are like honey: sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
Proverbs 16:24
Speech is divided into two kinds: first as it is used in friendly conversation, and then in the treatment of the matters of faith and justice. In either case, we must take care that there is no irritation. Our language should be mild and quiet, and full of kindness and courtesy and free from insult.
Let there be no obstinate disputes in our familiar conversations, for they only bring up useless subjects, rather than supply anything useful. Let there be discussion without wrath, urbanity without bitterness, warning without sharpness, advice without giving offense. And, as in every action of our life we ought to heed to this, so that no overpowering impulse of our mind may ever shut out reason (let us always keep a place for counsel!), so, too, we should observe that rule in our language, so that neither wrath nor hatred should be aroused, and that we may not show any signs of our greed or sloth. And let our language especially be of this sort when we are speaking of the Holy Scriptures. For what should we talk about more often than of the best subject of conversation — its exhortation to watchfulness, its care for good instruction?
Let us have a reason for beginning, and let our end be within reasonable limits. For a speech that is wearisome only stirs up anger. But surely it is really indecent that when every kind of conversation generally gives additional pleasure, this should give cause of offense!
On the Duties of Clergy, Book One, Chapter 22, Sections 99 – 100
#speech
Life and works of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux
https://westminsterabbey.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Life-and-Works-of-St.-Bernard.pdf
COMMENTARY
The Mercy of God. The people of Israel had sinned horribly against God by their idolatry, and yet, at Moses’ intercession, He forgave them.
Idolatry. The weak people were most ungrateful and faithless to God. The Lord had done such great things for them! Only forty days before, full of holy fear, they had heard His voice and had repeatedly promised obedience to His Commandments; and now they transgressed the first and most important of them, and forsook God to worship idols. St. Paul calls lust and covetousness idolatry. Whenever a man loves anything more than he loves God, he is guilty of idolatry.
Pleasure-seeking and sensuality lead to many sins, and finally to unbelief and impiety.
Fear of man. Aaron sinned grievously. It was from fear of man, fear for his life, that he sinned. He ought to have died rather than assist the people in their terrible sin.
Righteous anger. The anger of Moses was not sinful anger; it was, rather, a holy zeal for God’s honour and the good of the people. He who loves God cannot feel indifferent when he sees Him being offended; and he who really loves his neighbour must be pained when he sees him walking on the road to hell. We ought therefore to prevent sin, whenever we can; punish it, when we have the right to do so; and pray zealously for the conversion of sinners.
Intercession for sinners is pleasing to God. We can see this by the way in which God forgave the people their great sin, when Moses interceded for them; and we can also see how great a power is the intercession of Saints for sinners.
Love of our neighbour. Moses’ love for his people was truly wonderful. He even offered to sacrifice himself that they might be spared and not cast off by God. He sought neither his own honour nor advantage, but only the good of his people.
Moses, the eighth type of Jesus Christ. Through Moses God instituted the Old Law, on which account he is called the mediator of the Old Law. As such, Moses was a striking type of Jesus Christ, who instituted the New Law. Moses, as a child, was condemned to death by a cruel king, and was saved in a wonderful way; Jesus Christ was condemned by Herod, and also wonderfully saved. Moses forsook the king’s court so as to help his persecuted brethren; the Son of God left the glory of heaven to save us sinners. Moses prepared himself in the desert for his vocation, freed his people from slavery, and proved his divine mission by great miracles; Jesus Christ proved by still greater miracles that He was the only begotten Son of God. Moses was the advocate of his people; Jesus was our advocate with His Father on the Cross, and is eternally so in heaven. Moses was the law-giver of his people and announced to them the word of God: Jesus Christ is the supreme law-giver, and not only announced God’s word, but is Himself the Eternal Word made flesh. Moses was the leader of the people to the Promised Land: Jesus is our leader on our journey to heaven.
The fruits of prayer. After Moses had fasted and prayed a second forty days on the mountain, his countenance was glorified, and heavenly rays shone forth from it. This shows us that fervent prayer and communion with God ennoble a man, purify his heart and mind, and make him heavenly-minded. The Saints of the Old and the New Testament became holy by dint of fervent prayer and contemplation.
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Читать полностью…The Old Covenant and the New. The Old Covenant was made through Moses, the New through Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant was made with only one nation; the New with all mankind. The Old Covenant was made to last for a limited time; the New will last to the end of time. The Old Covenant was sealed with the blood of victims; the New with the Blood of God made Man (“This is My Blood of the New Testament”; New Test. LXV). In the Old Testament, severe laws were made, but the power of observing them was not given. The New Testament has not only its own holy laws, but abundant grace is given by which to observe them; and the New Covenant is therefore called the Covenant of grace.
The Ten Commandments and the other laws of the Old Testament were a preparation for Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:24). The Jews could not perfectly observe those laws which forbade even evil desires; and, feeling this, they came to know their own weakness and sinfulness. They saw that they required divine help to do that which they ought to do, and to be just in the eyes of God. They longed, therefore, for the promised Saviour. But we Christians can, by God’s grace, keep all the Commandments, if only we desire to do so, and use the means of grace.
Pentecost. God gave the Ten Commandments fifty days after the departure from Egypt. In commemoration of this, the Jews always kept the feast of Pentecost fifty days after the Pasch (Old Test. XXXIX). The Christian Pentecost is also kept fifty days after Easter, because, on that day, God the Holy Ghost descended from heaven, and inscribed the law of love on the hearts of the faithful.
The first day of Pentecost in the Old Testament is a type of the first day of Pentecost in the New Testament. On the former, the mountain shook; on the latter, the house in which the apostles were. There the thunder and storm; here, the rushing as of a mighty wind. There, flames appeared; here, tongues of fire. There, God came down to give the Commandments; here, God the Holy Ghost came down to fill the hearts of the faithful with love of the Commandments.
No more barriers. The boundaries, set round the mountain, were meant to say to the Israelites: “You are not worthy on account of your sins to approach the Lord.” Now, the barriers which separate man from God are removed by Jesus Christ. We dare now approach God. We dare receive Him into our very hearts, and unite ourselves to Him in the closest manner.
APPLICATION. Thank God that, by the Ten Commandments, He has shown you the road to heaven. Take the trouble to learn the meaning of the Commandments thoroughly. Ask yourself, which Commandment you have most sinned against and pray to the Holy Ghost for the gift of holy fear. “If thou will enter into life, keep the Commandments”, says our Lord (see Deut. 5:29).
The Israelites had to prepare themselves for the hearing of God’s voice, by the sanctification of their hearts. How much more ought we to prepare ourselves for receiving God into our hearts in Holy Communion.
Sacerdote advierte a EXORCISTAS que juegan a la OUIJA durante el ritual
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ruPUVXIZrnw&feature=share
TIL that Oliver Cromwell died shortly after developing a bout of malaria. Quinine was known as an effective treatment at the time, but he refused it because it had been discovered by Catholics. [Source]
Читать полностью…COMMENTARY
The wood thrown into the bitter well by God’s command possessed no natural properties, by which to make the water sweet; therefore the miracle worked was simply the effect of God’s almighty power. In the same way, the stroke dealt by Moses’ rod did not of itself bring water from the rock: it was the omnipotence of God, which caused that abundant spring to pour from the dry stone. To show that the power came from Him, the Lord God, present in the pillar of cloud, rested on the rock. It was also His almighty will which summoned the flock of quails, and which rained the Manna from heaven every day (except the Sabbath), during forty years, so that His chosen people might be able to exist in the barren desert.
Goodness and Patience of God. Almighty God was marvellously good and patient with the unbelieving Israelites. He dwelt in their midst in a visible way; He protected them from the heat of the sun by the pillar of cloud; He forgave them their repeated murmurings; He was always showering fresh benefits on them, and defending them against their enemies.
Sins against religion. The Israelites were an ungrateful, carnal people. They cared more for good food and drink than for their liberty and the Promised Land. Though Almighty God worked such great miracles for them, and dwelt in their midst in the pillar of cloud, they were always murmuring against Moses and reproaching him. Their reproaches and ingratitude were, indirectly, offences against God, for Moses was but carrying out His commands. The Israelites sinned against the First Commandment by their ingratitude, want of confidence, and murmurings against the decrees of God.
The power of prayer. Moses raised, not only his hands, but also his heart to God. “The continual prayer of a just man availeth much” (James 5:16). It was not only Josue’s valour, but Moses’ prayers, which overcame the enemy. Raise your heart with your hands to heaven, when you pray. Like Moses, the priest at the altar prays with outstretched, upraised hands.
Helping ourselves. The Israelites did not depend only on the prayers of Moses; they exerted themselves, and defended themselves as best they could. In all our times of danger and necessity, we ought to do the same: do what we can for ourselves, and pray to God.
Unappreciated gifts of God. Daily bread to eat, and good water to drink are very great boons. We only learn to prize them when we have to go without them.
The wood, which made the waters sweet, is a type of the Cross of Jesus Christ. His Cross makes sweet to us all that is bitter and distasteful. Firstly, it gives us the grace to be patient, and, secondly, it teaches us to bear all sufferings cheerfully, for love of Him who suffered so much for us.
The Manna is, as our Lord Himself declared (New Test. XXXIV), a type of the Blessed Sacrament. It came daily from heaven to give strength to the Israelites for their journey, and was sweet to the taste. Our Lord, in the Blessed Sacrament, comes from heaven, and gives Himself to us to nourish our souls on their journey to heaven, through the wilderness of this life; and He is a sweet and life-giving food to those who love Him. The Church sings at the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament: “Thou hast given them bread from heaven, containing in itself all sweetness.”
The water flowing from the rock is (according to 1 Cor. 10:24) a type of the stream of divine grace, which, proceeding from our Saviour who was pierced for us, flows down on the languishing souls of men (compare what our Lord says about the living water, New Test. XVI). “If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink”, said our Divine Saviour (John 7:37).
Moses praying on the mountain with outstretched arms is a type of our Lord, who was nailed with outstretched arms to the Cross on Calvary, and prayed for the salvation of the world.
The victory of God’s chosen people over the heathen Amalekites is a type of the victory of the Church militant over her enemies—a victory won by the spiritual weapons of virtue and prayer.
COMMENTARY
The almighty Power of God divided the waters, held them up as walls on either side, made the burning wind to blow, and the lightning to strike the Egyptians.
God’s Goodness to His people is shown throughout the whole story. First, He led His people by a visible means, the pillar of cloud. Then He worked a great miracle, and saved them, for good and all, from the power of the Egyptians. By the destruction of their army the Egyptians were so weakened, and the damage done to them so lasting, that they were unable to molest the Israelites, the whole time they were wandering in the wilderness.
The retributive Justice of God. Pharao’s terrible end was a punishment for his impenitence and obstinate resistance to God’s grace. His people were punished also, and perished with him. The Egyptians drowned the Israelite babes in the Nile, and, in punishment for this, their sons were drowned in the sea. How terrible is God’s justice!
Confidence in God. While the Israelites, filled with fear, called upon the Lord for help, Moses remained perfectly calm. Full of confidence in God, he said to the people: “Fear nothing! The Lord will fight for you”: and his confidence was justified and rewarded; for God, to whom nature is subject, sent thunder and lightning, wind and rain to their aid. God can help us, when all other help is useless. The greater the need, the nearer is God!
Apparent conversion. Pharao was not really converted. The death of the first-born so frightened and staggered him that he let the Israelites go. But when the first terror was over he returned to his former obduracy, and again defied God. He wished to overcome God’s will, and bring back His people by force of arms. But at last the measure of his sins was full. He had despised the warnings of God’s mercy, so now God’s justice overtook him, and he died a miserable death. He was like those sinners who in times of tribulation, such as sickness or misfortune, promise to amend their ways, but who, when the trial is removed, do not keep their promise, and fall back into their old habits and forgetfulness of God.—Such sinners will die an impenitent death, as Pharao did, and be lost eternally. “Hell is paved with good intentions.”
The object of miracles. The people feared God, because they saw His power and justice with their own eyes; and they believed that Moses was sent by God, because it was through him that His great miracles were wrought.
The Passage of the Red Sea, a type of Baptism. The passage of the Red Sea was (according to 1 Cor. 10:1) a type of holy Baptism. As the Israelites had to pass through the Red Sea in order to escape from the slavery of Pharao, and reach the Promised Land, so must we pass through the waters of Baptism in order to be freed from the slavery of sin and Satan, and finally attain to heaven.
Faith, our guide. We also want a guide on our way through life. Who will be our guide? God leads us through the wilderness of this life to the promised land of heaven, by His holy faith, which Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, taught and deposited in His Church. If we follow the light of faith, that is, if we live up to our faith, we are sure to arrive at our heavenly home. “I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).
APPLICATION. Moses and the children of Israel sang a canticle of praise in thanksgiving for their wonderful deliverance. It began by the words: “Let us sing to the Lord for He is gloriously magnified: the horse and the rider He hath thrown into the sea.”
You too should thank the Lord God frequently for your creation, preservation and redemption. Thank Him daily for your Baptism, and for the holy Catholic faith.