Friday, 15 November 2013 Friday of the Thirty-second week in Ordinary Time Saint(s) of the day : St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (c. 1200-1280), St. Raphael Kalinowski, O.C.D. († 1907) See commentary below or click here Origen : The ark of the Church Book of Wisdom 13:1-9. All men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan; But either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water, or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods. Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the original source of beauty fashioned them. Or if they were struck by their might and energy, let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them. For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen. But yet, for these the blame is less; For they indeed have gone astray perhaps, though they seek God and wish to find him. For they search busily among his works, but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair. But again, not even these are pardonable. For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its LORD? Psalms 19(18):2-3.4-5. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day pours out the word to day, And night to night imparts knowledge. Not a word nor a discourse Whose voice is not heard; Through all the earth their voice resounds, And to the ends of the world, their message. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17:26-37. Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left. They said to him in reply, Where, Lord? He said to them, Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather. Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB Commentary of the day : Origen (c.185-253), priest and theologian Homilies on Genesis, II, 3 The ark of the Church Insofar as the lowliness of my soul allows, I think the flood that almost brought the world to an end at that time is the symbol of the worlds ending, an ending that must come about in reality. Our Lord himself said so when he said: “In the days of Noah they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all... So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.» In this text it really seems the Lord is describing at one and the same time the flood that has already taken place and the end of the world he is declaring for the future. And so, in former times, Noah was told to make an ark and bring into it not just his sons and relatives but animals of every kind. In the same way, at the consummation of time, the Father told our Lord Jesus Christ, our new Noah, he who alone is Good and Blameless (Gn 6,9), to have an ark of wood made and to give it measurements that are full of divine mysteries (cf Gn 6,15). This is shown in a psalm that says: “Ask, and I shall give you the nations for an inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession» (Ps 2,8). So he built an ark with all sorts of shelters in which to take the various animals. A prophet speaks of these living quarters when he writes: “Go, my people, enter your chambers, hide yourselves for a brief moment until the wrath is past” (Is 26,20). For in fact there is a mysterious correspondence between the people who are saved in the Church and the creatures, both men and animals, who were saved in the ark from the flood.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 02:53:45 +0000
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