Reflections for the Year for Priests

     The following are biblical verses pertinent to the priesthood with commentaries. They are in chronological order, that is, based on the order in which I preached about these things in the administrative year 2009-2010 at Assumption Grotto in Detroit. It is my hope that both priests and laity may read them, and, taking them as a biblical catechesis on the priesthood, live the priestly dimension of the Catholic Church more perfectly.
     I use the scriptures, writings of the Fathers of the Church, and several other sources. Dealing with weekday homilies, I don't always dispose of my time to footnote all my scriptural and hagiographical references, but the main ones will be cited.

Part I: Moses as a Prefiguring of Jesus Christ the High Priest

1. “Now, a man from the house of Levi went and took to wife a daughter of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months” (Gen 2:1-2).

            Moses descends to the house of Levi on both sides, his mother’s and his father’s; therefore, he is of the priestly tribe, even if only later did the priestly tribe get established as such. This was a priesthood based on the ancestry of the flesh. It only prefigured that of Christ, which was not based on the flesh; it only foretold of Christ’s priesthood, which was of an entirely different order.

2. “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God” (Gen 3:1).

            Jethro may have been a priest of Baal. Moses was clearly not among his kin, and an alien even if he took to himself Zipporah, Jethro’s daughter. The Midianites were ever a scourge to Israel; they were not the chosen people, and Moses eventually would leave them forever.

            Moses the priest reveals himself here as a shepherd. This is proper to the essence of the priesthood of Christ, for he is the Good Shepherd, and all the ordained priests participate in that dimension of his priesthood in the midst of the Church.

3. “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed” (Gen 3:2).

            Moses manifests himself for the first time as a minister of sacraments, here in that he serves this great sign. The manner in which his priesthood ministers the sacraments is inferior to how the priests of the New Covenant minister the seven sacraments of the Church, but nonetheless he, in signs, foretells the sacraments; he differs here from the prophets, who provided only word, but not sign.

            “The Greek word mysterion was translated into Latin by two terms: mysterium and sacramentum. In later usage the term sacramentum emphasizes the visible sign of the hidden reality of salvation which was indicated by the term mysterium” (CCC 774).

            “‘The Church, in Christ, is like a sacrament – a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among men’” (CCC 775, LG 1).

4. “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?’ He said, ‘But I will be with you” (Gen 3:11).

            Here we see a lesson which is repeated all throughout the scriptures: when man is weak, and terrified before the great call of God, God reminds man, “I am with you; do not be afraid.” Mary said something similar to Juan Diego at Tepeyac: “Am I not here, who am your mother?”

            The presence of God in one’s life should dispel all worry. This should be more the case of those of the New Covenant, for not only is God present to them as he was to Israel, but God lives inside of them, making their bodies and souls his temple.

            The priest in this instance, Moses, clearly is not worthy of the great dignity of his vocation. Without God’s presence in his life, there would be no hope of him ever completing his mission. No priest can ever attain to the goals he sets before himself, or the goals his bishop, or the Pope, or the Church establish for him, without the grace and divine aid of supernatural grace. So many failures of priests occur because they depend, in pride – sometimes monumental, sometimes subtle, sometimes of such a self-absorbed nature the priest cannot see his pride when it is obvious to all around him – on their own qualities, virtues, plans, programs, methods, etc. God alone bears fruit, he alone builds the house and keeps watch over the city.

5. “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God… God said to Moses, ‘I am who am.’ And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you’… But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent… but I am slow of speech and of tongue’” (Ex 3:6, 14, 4:10).

            We return to the burning bush. Hereupon, I will simply quote what St. John Damascene said of Moses:

The divine Moses, the lawgiver, withdrew from all sight of human things, and abandoned the turbulent sea of life. He purified the eye of his soul by wiping away every material reflection, and only then did he become fit to receive the divine vision. Only then was he found worthy to behold the benevolent condescension of God the Word and His marvelous appearance in a bush and in immaterial fire… He was the first to learn the name of Him who is and who truly is super-essential, and he was entrusted by God with the leadership of his own countrymen. Yet, if he considered himself as ‘having impediment and slowness of tongue’ (cf. Ex 4:10) – and thus unable publicly to execute the divine will and to be appointed as a mediator between God and man – then who am I, who am defile and stained with every sort of sin, [etc.] (De Fide Orthodoxa, Preface.)

            St. John Damascene was, as he describes himself, a “lowly monk and priest,” yet he compares his mission to that glorious one of Moses, and then sees himself as unworthy. Furthermore, he reveals Moses as not just priest as “mediator between God and man,” but also as prophet since he received God’s word for the people, and then as king because he was “entrusted by God with the leadership of his own countrymen.”

            These words help us see in Old Testament type the reality of the Catholic priesthood which Christ would establish.

6. “The Lord said to [Moses], ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A rod.’ And he said, ‘Cast it on the ground.’ So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent.” (Ex 4:2-3; cf. Aaron’s rod, Ex 7:10).

            Of this passage, St. Augustine wrote:

“Moses’ rod turned into a serpent stants for Christ who became obedient to death on the cross (Phil 2:8). He himself says in the gospel, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life (Jn 3:14), just as those who looked on that serpent in the desert did not perish from the bites of the fiery serpents. (Nm 21:9). For our old man has been nailed to the cross with him in order to nullify the sinful body (Rom 6:6). Serpent stands for death (which was caused by the serpent in paradise)… so the rod turned into a serpent means Christ turned into death (De Trinitate, III, 3, ed. Hill pg. 139).

The rod changed into a serpent by God but through Moses’ action. So, too, the Eucharistic bread is changed into the sign, symbol and reality of the sacrifice of Christ by the Holy Spirit but through the priest’s action at the Mass. For the Eucharist is the sign and instrument of healing, of Christ’s death and of man’s eternal life.

            Mysteriously, God makes himself obedient to sinful men, by whom I mean priests, who call him upon the altar to be spiritual food for Christians on earth. Moses, in this small point, therefore is revealed as a foreshadowing of the priest.

            Let us thank God for the ministry of priests, by which we are sanctified, healed, nourished, saved, and brought into communion with the Divine Son of Mary.

7. “The whole people was standing far off, but Moses went into the mist [“dark cloud”] where God was; and the Lord spoke to Moses” (Ex 10:21).

            This verse addresses something about a priest, that is, his consecration. When we consecrate things, we set them apart. The chalice that is consecrated is used only for the Mass, the items we ask priests to bless become separated for their own sacred use. A priest is blessed in his person; the same can be said of religious, but it is a different type and degree of consecration.

            The architecture of a Catholic church shows, or should show, the sacred. The priest is in a place different from the laity. He has been set apart to enter into the action of the Trinity; for the Son offers himself to the Father through the Holy Spirit at every Mass. He uses a special place in the Church to do this, the sanctuary. The table used at Mass is used for nothing else but the Sacrifice of the Eucharist. Everything in the Church points to and is centered upon the Eucharist. Strict logic leads us to the astonishing conclusion that any other configuration of church architecture is, therefore,  the architecture of a non-believer, of a heretic or of a very misinformed believer.

            Some say that my comparing Moses on Sinai with the priest at Mass is an exaggeration. Do they not know that priests are mediators and intercessors for the laity? Do they doubt the fearsome power of the priest? Do they fail to recognize that the priest actually speaks to God’s face, albeit mystically, on their behalf? Then hear what Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, says: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me too, since he wrote about me (Jn 5:46).

8. “And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame; but if he let them down a little, Amalek overcame” (Ex 18:11).

            Israel, at the point from which this verse is abstracted, is wandering in the desert. The Amalekites opposed their entrance into the Holy Land. Israel engaged them in battle, and while they did so, Moses stood upon a hill from where he could watch. Aaron and Hur went with him. While Moses had his hands stretched out, there was victory; when not, there was route. So Aaron and Hur held his arms up until the day was Israel’s.

            Of this, St. Augustine writes:

[Amalek disputed] the passage to the promised land, [and] are overcome by the Lord’s cross, which was prefigured by the outstretched arms of Moses. (De Trinitate, IV, 4, 20, Hill ed.).

            From this we can learn two things, when we reflect upon Moses as a prefiguring of Christ the Priest. First, that the priest is an intercessor, a mediator. So it is that at Mass, the Catholic priest says many prayers all by himself, even in the new order of Mass promulgated by Pope Paul VI, an order which prides itself on the faithful doing actions and dialoguing much. For nothing can substitute the powerful prayers of a priest. He says them, beginning with “Oremus,” in the posture of Moses, with his arms outstretched, also signifying that he speaks in the person of Christ to the Father for the faithful – awesome, and dreadful, is the office of a priest!

            Secondly, we see that the priest is one who is crucified. This is why Augustine associates Moses to the cross. Yet many priests live as aristocrats, enjoying their power and surrounded by the best of things, the best of foods, the best of leisure. There is a discrepancy between how they live, which is really a life which feeds their pride, greed and sensuality, and what they are by the character of Holy Orders, that is, another Christ (alter Christus). So it is that many young men, within the first three years of their ordination, leave. When the reality of the cross falls upon their shoulders, they reject and hate it. They have not understood that the priest is a crucified man. What’s not clear about, “Take up your cross, and follow me”?

            If this union with the cross is a dimension of the ministerial priesthood, it is also a dimension of the common priesthood of the faithful.

9. “They said to Moses, ‘Speak thou to us, and we will hear; let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die. And Moses said to the people: ‘Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that the dread of him might be in you, and you should not sin’” (Ex 20:19).

            Moses here appears very clearly as a mediator. He speaks to God for the people, and he speaks to the people on behalf of God.

            There are some, especially among the Protestants, who assert that there is no other mediator. Since Christ became man, there is only one mediator – and here they correctly refer to a passage in Hebrews – between God and man, the man Jesus Christ.

            Yet they isolate this doctrine from all other Christian doctrines. It is true that Jesus is the one mediator. But if these objectors and Protestants used strict logic, they would come to the conclusion that all of God’s creatures who are holy must be also mediators. This is so because God shares his life through grace, with angels first, and then with men. If men share God’s life by grace, and the Son of God is a mediator, then to the degree and in the manner of sharing, so too man is a mediator in the Mediator. This should surprise no one, because God is good, and good spreads itself – bonum diffusivum sui, “the good is diffusive of itself,” even diffusing its diffusiveness – and if one aspect of God’s goodness is his saving mediation in the Incarnate Word, then it is this “saving mediation” which he will infuse in his creatures.

            Even the scriptures, as Stephen proclaimed before he was martyred, are mediated through the angels.

            No one, therefore, not even Catholic priests, can approach God without the aid of the ministry of priests. This creates a paradox: our relationship with God is personal, intimate, interior; but we need priests for their services (teaching, governing and sanctifying especially through the sacraments of the Mass and confession), which are social, public and exterior. To this we should add, we need our neighbor, for no one can love God without loving his neighbor; but let us leave the topic of charity for another day.

            Let us, therefore, turn to priests, ask for their prayers with faith in the special power of their prayers, especially at the altar. Let us be humble and never look for God separate from the ministry of the Catholic priesthood.

10. “And God said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancient of Israel, and you shall adore afar off. And Moses alone shall come up to the Lord, but they shall not come night; neither shall the people come up with them… And Moses sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and sacrificed pacific victims of calves to the Lord… [and in the heavenly vision that followed] Moses rose up, and his minister Josue,” and went up the Mountain of God (Ex 24:1-2,5).

            Chapter 24 of Exodus is the narration of the conclusion of the revelation of the law on Mount Sinai. There is so much material here to comment; but, as we are focusing on the priesthood, I wish to address one dimension that this passage reveals. This dimension is the hierarchy.

            Moses alone goes up to God; ancients are with him. So first we see the prefiguring of Christ, and of the Apostles, and those who succeed the Apostles in office, who are the bishops. Then there are young men who go throughout the whole chosen people, and offer sacrifices. This is the prefiguring of the priests, who offer sacrifices as Moses and as the seventy ancients, but are not initiated into the fullness of the priesthood as are they. And finally there is Josue, who is at the right hand of Moses, but who is not a priest; he prefigures here the diaconate, which is, in the Catholic Church, an ordained and sacramental ministry, but it is not a ministry of the altar and of sacrifice as is the episcopacy and the presbyterate, but rather a ministry of service. And all of these ministries on the one hand govern and are “above” the people Israel, but yet they are at the service of the people to sanctify and serve them in the matters of holiness.

            Let us then each embrace the state that God, in his Providence, has placed us; let us defend the Catholic hierarchy as ordained by God, prefigured in Moses, established by Christ, and handed on by the Apostles. Let us wisely use the divine services which the hierarchy provides, so that we can follow the sure path to heaven, and help others to do the same, aided by the Blessed Virgin.

11. “Frame an ark… and thou shalt put in the ark the testimony which I will give thee” (Ex 25:10, 16).

            Up to now we have considered episodes from the life of Moses. Now let us consider the aspects of ritual worship established by God for Moses, for ritual worship is at the heart of the priesthood, and much of Christ and the Catholic priesthood is foretold in symbol through these revelations to Moses. Almost the rest of Exodus is what God said to Moses about this ritual worship. These chapters flow right into Leviticus, the “priestly book,” “Leviticus” because of the priestly tribe of “Levi” who were priests, yet in these homilies this year we will not have time to examine the book of Leviticus.

            We do not leave off the narrations of the life of Moses because of any lack of material upon which to reflect for the Year for Priests, for much besides what we have seen so far bespeaks the priesthood; but rather, because there is so much else to consider.

            The first part of these reflections on ritual worship deal with the ark of the covenant. Today I introduce it; I will speak about it also in the next two weeks, except on some days which are important of our liturgical calendar and require different topics of preaching

            The ark was a box made of the best, hardest wood, and covered with Gold. Four rings from the corners held two beams used for carrying the ark, as the Israelites were nomads in the desert. The purpose of the ark was to hold the two stone tablets of the ten commandments. On top of the ark was the “Propitiatory,” a golden piece of workmanship portraying two angels facing one another, towards an empty space from which God would speak to Moses. Of the Propitiatory we will speak much later.

            As the ark contained God’s Word, a Word he wrote on stone tablets himself with his own divine finger (Ex 31:18), we see the ark as an image of the Church. The Church contains divine revelation; the four rings represent the four Gospels, through which the beams of the Old and New Testaments lift the Church up. Revelation comes through the angels, who are positioned above the ark, for they are superior to the human creatures who make up the Church militant. Catholic worship, priestly worship, centers upon the Word, not just that spoken by the prophets and apostles, but that Word which became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

            For that reason, the ark is also seen as an image of Mary; and as later King David danced naked before the ark, so too would John the Baptist leap in Elizabeth’s womb before the ark who is Mary. We shall speak more about the ark and Mary  next week.

12. The Lord said to Moses, “‘You shall put into the ark the testimony [or covenant] which I shall give you…’ And God gave to Moses, when he had made an end of speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”  (Ex 25:16; Ex 31:18)

            These verses demonstrate that the ark held the Word of God. The tablets of the law were two; for the first three commandments deal with the love of God, and the remaining seven deal with the love of neighbor. The Law was written with God’s finger, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but also evocative of that moment when the Lord bent down, in John 8, and wrote upon the earth when the hypocrites brought a woman before him to be stoned, for she had been caught in adultery. There is also the writing of the Book of Life in the book of Revelation. When God writes, there is the law: his finger gave the law to Moses, his finger interpreted the law with mercy for the adulteress, his finger rewarded the saints who died in the law of charity.

            Let us return to the fact that the ark held the Word of God. I mentioned last time that this was an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The ark was made of acacia wood, then held to be impervious to corruption; for Mary was incorrupt by any sin. It was covered with gold, not only on the outside, but on the inside; for not only is Mary the most beautiful of all God’s creatures, but she is in soul too, because she is and always was full of grace. The four rings by which the ark travels remind us of the four trips of the Blessed Virgin, to Elizabeth, to Egypt, to Nazareth and to the cross. These trips show us the perfection of her love, by revealing four dimensions of love: service, obedience, humility and suffering.

            Let us, then, obtain mercy, not before the ark, but at that seat of mercy which is the Blessed Virgin, whose love for sinners cannot be told, and whose powerful intercession with God exceeds that of all the angels and other saints.

13. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the Tribe of Judah: and I have filled him eith the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab… Bezalel made the ark” (Ex 31:1-6; 37:1).

            We continue our reflections about the ark, which God commanded Moses, figure of Christ the Priest, to build. We move from chapter 25, where instructions were given, to chapter 37, after the episode of the Golden Calf, and now we find the actual manufacturing of the ark.

            Six times Bezalel is mentioned as a divinely inspired artist and craftsman, and to him is given the credit, with Oholiab, of the beauty proper to the ark of the covenant, and all the other aspects, which we will bit by bit consider over the next few weeks, of the divine worship and cult to God.

            Bezalel was not only great in craft, he was perfectly obedient to God. When the narration of the construction of the ark is provided, it is narrated nearly word-for-word in chapter 37 according to the exact plan God revealed for it on Sinai in chapter 25.

            This brings us to consider three important aspects pertaining to liturgical art. The first, is that it is an inspired thing, which has its origins in the Holy Spirit. Second, the artists are appropriate for liturgical art only if they are the best and most magnificent artists from the point of view of skillful competency. Third, their art perfectly embodies God’s will.

            Yet today we find so many places where artists, be they sculptors or painters, architects or musicians, are not moved by God to serve his people, but moved by money to make a good living. Second, our artists today excel only in building ugly churches, ugly statues, ugly paintings and ugly music. Third, often artists have minds full of dissent against Catholic teaching and dogma, showing a resurrected Christ instead of a crucified Christ on the sanctuary cross, writing heretical hymns such as The Lord of the Dance or Let us Sing a New Church into Being.

            Let us pray for a reform of liturgical art, that the faithful may feel that, having visited their parish Church, they have visited a chamber of heaven, full of saints and holiness and truth and beauty. Amen.

14. “You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; in skilled work shall it be made, with cherubim; and you shall hang it upon four pillars… and you shall bring the ark of the covenant in thither within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy” (Ex 26:31-33).

            Today is our final reflection on the ark of the covenant. Next time we begin meditating on the various altars present in the Tabernacle.

            Here we see where the ark is situated in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the tent, and the curtains described here created the division between the “Holies” and the “Holy of Holies,” a division which was eventually a permanent feature of the Temples built by David and Herod; it was Herod’s temple which the Lord knew, and which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 a.d., whose Wailing Wall can still be visited to this day.

            The curtains are in purple, indicating the suffering and death of the Lord. The four pillars are the Gospels, which introduce us to the interior mystery of Christ, or as the Lord put it, “To you have been revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of God” (Lk 8:10), so that those who enter with faith perceive the meaning and not just the objects of the senses.

            The curtain of the temple was torn when Christ died on the cross. He has invited all men to enter into intimacy with Himself, with the Holy Trinity. In communion today, let us praise the Lord for having offered so great a gift, to enter where before the cherubim kept us out, that he should share his life with repentant sinners. Amen.

15. Introduction to next section: about the altars.

            St. Paul says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16), and also, “your body is a temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6:19), and similarly elsewhere; and therefore it would be of profit for us to understand some basics of the temple in Israel, if we wish to be holy in Christ.

            We have already considered the ark of the covenant, which held the tablets of the law, but two other items time has not allowed us to explore for now: a small jar with manna in it, and the rod which Aaron had and which blossomed (cf. Heb 9:4; cf. also Ex 16:32 ff., and Num 17:8). And we have considered the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies where the ark was.

            We now consider the altars which Moses was to build in the Tabernacle. There were three: the altar of bread, the altar of incense and the altar of sacrifice.

            Where was each placed? First know that there were three parts to the tabernacle. There was the outer court which was surrounded, in the form of a rectangle, by a fence about seven feet high, but with no ceiling. Inside this fence was a covered tent, which encapsuled the “Holy Place,” and, behind a curtain within the same smaller structure, the “Holy of Holies.” This structure has this parallel, that the Old Testament signifies the New Testament, which in turn signifies heaven.

             In the “outer court” of the Tabernacle, was the altar of sacrifice, under the open sky. In the Holy Place, there were the other two altars, the altar of bread on the north side, and the altar of incense in the center; and there was also the golden lampstand (the menorah) on the south side.

            The altar of sacrifice was made of acacia wood, like the ark of the covenant, but not covered with gold; rather, it was covered with bronze, hence called the “brazen altar,” and raised upon a mound of dirt. It was not in the Holy of Holies, but yet inside the Tabernacle, such that it was right in front of the entrance gate to the Tabernacle. There were a variety of animals sacrificed, certain species for certain feasts or occasions; it would be interesting to reflect on the meaning of each, but time does not allow in this series of homilies.

            Within the Holy Place, but not in the Holy of Holies, was the altar of incense and the altar of bread. Remember, there were four important things there: first, the ark of the covenant, with the tablets of the law within, and the “mercy seat” on top of it; second, the candlestick which held seven candles; third, the altar of incense; and fourth, the altar of bread.

            The basic use of these three altars were as follows, and in the next few homilies we shall meditate upon their significance, even if too briefly.

            On the brazen altar the priests were to burn the animals which had been sacrificed; when the animal was completely burned on the altar, it was a holocaust, from the two Greek words for “whole” (and is also one of the etymological roots of the word “catholic”) and “burnt.”

            On the altar of bread, which, just like the ark, was made of acacia wood and covered with pure gold, there were twelve loaves of bread, one for each of the tribes of Israel.

            On the altar of incense, again like the ark of acacia covered with pure gold, and spices which were forbidden for common consumption were offered morning and evening, when the animals were sacrificed; and this incense was a ritual symbol of prayer.

            And so three things were offered to God in the Tabernacle, by God’s own command: flesh for atonement, incense for prayer and bread for divine nourishment. Let us meditate more on these altars over the next two weeks.

            [Note: Highly recommended for the reading of the scholar who desires holiness is the reflection St. Thomas offers in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, at ch. 9, lecture 1.]

16. The altar of sacrifice. (1/2)

            We mentioned that there were three altars: that of sacrifice in the Tabernacle courtyard, under the open sky, and then the two others were in the Holies, the smaller tent surrounded by the palisade of fabric; there was no altar in the Holy of Holies.

            Let us consider first the altar of sacrifice, and then move our way up to the more mystical altars, that of bread and that of incense.

            All three altars were of acacia wood, but each overlaid with a precious metal. The altar of sacrifice of bronze, while the other altars were of pure gold.

            Bronze is the metal signifying sinners in need of reconciliation. In the desert, when the Israelites, for their disobedience, were bitten by snakes, it was a bronze snake which, when beheld, provided a cure. In Jeremiah it is written, “They are al stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron, all of them act corruptly” (Jer 6:28). Lamech, the great-great grandson of Cain, in his pride, was the forger of instruments “of bronze and iron” (Gen 4:22). The punishment of Israel, should they not obey the voice of God, includes many curses, one of which is, “And the heavens over our head shall be brass, and the earth under you shall be iron” (Dt 28:23). Upon saving Israel, the Lord promises, “Instead of bronze, I will bring gold; instead of iron, I will bring silver” (Is 60:17).

            Upon the altar were offered sacrifices for the atonement of sins. The priest, with the gesture of laying his hands on certain animals, as if to convey to them Israel’s sin and guilt, would then sacrifice them; and the meat would be holy, and ritually sanctify those who ate it.

This was perfected in Christ, who was the bronze serpent on the cross promising salvation through faith. He sacrificed himself for us, and the consuming of his body in the Eucharist would make Christians truly holy, turning the bronze of their sinful lives into the pure gold of sanctifying grace.

17. The altar of sacrifice. (2/2)

           When animals were killed and burned on the altar of sacrifice, such as bulls and goats and oxen, and some of the blood was kept. With it, once a year the High Priest would enter into the Holies and the Holy of Holies, and there he would do sprinklings and other such.

            About this, the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks. There the Apostle writes, “But Christ, having become a high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation: neither by the blood of goats, or of claves, but by His own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Spirit offered Himself unspotted unto God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God?”

            Therefore, the Apostle shows us that the Mosaic Tabernacle is a promise, but could not deliver what it promised: it promised holiness, but only a holiness which the animals’ blood could not give. On the cross, Christ was priest, altar and sacrifice. With astonishing pity, God whom we have outraged with our sins came to earth and bled for us. His blood is as a torrent of pure water, which, flowing in the Church, through the centuries, brings us purity of conscience and conversion of life. Let us contemplate now the blood of Christ in the Mass, and see inside of us what God does through this wondrous Sacrament.

18.“You shall make an altar to burn incense upon” (Ex 30:1).

            We have considered very briefly the altar of sacrifice. Let us move up now to the altar of incense. Of acacia wood covered with gold, it sat in the Holies. Aaron was commanded to burn incense, and no incense used commonly, in the morning and in the evening, “before the veil that is by the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the ark, where I will meet with you” (Ex 30:6). God prohibited anything besides this incense to be offered there.

            In the Catholic Church we pray morning prayer, or laudes, and evening prayer, or vespers. A Psalm associates prayer to incense, as if incense is a symbol of prayer: “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2). Incense was also made a symbol of charitable deeds by St. Paul, who, praising his dear Philippians, said that a gift they sent him through Epahproditus was “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God” (Phi 4:18).

            The prayer was more near to God’s presence than were the sacrifices. It was through the sacrifice of Christ that we gained admission to union with God, the Holies which is the Church; and there we pray and do works of charity, awaiting with hope the day when we will enter heaven, the Holy of Holies, and see God face to face. Let us therefore pray and do works of charity with full fervor and devotion, making of these small works a fragrant offering to God morning and night.

19. “Now while [Zechariah] was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense” (Lk 1:8-9).

            In our discussion of the altar of incense, I wish to remember the role it would play in the life of our Lord, and make some mention of the angels as we are between the feasts of the Archangels and the Guardian Angels.

            Zechariah and Elizabeth were both of the house of Aaron. All the descendants of Aaron were from Levi; now, all the descendants of Levi were called Levites, but those of Aaron’s house were called “priests.” King David it was who divided all the sons of Levi into twenty four houses or classes, putting them on a one-week duty in the temple, because there were so many of the tribe of Levi in his time. He left it to chance, by lot, which house would get which week, to avoid contention (1 Sam 24, 2 Kings 11:6-9). Aaron himself took to wife an Elizabeth, or Elisheba (Ex 6:23).

            Given the three altars and candelabra in the tabernacle – repeated later in the constructions of the temples of David and Herod – there were four duties of the priests: to sacrifice on the altar of sacrifice, to refresh the twelve loaves every Sabbath on the altar of bread, to burn incense on the altar of incense and to light the seven lamps.

            Two things happened to Zechariah at the altar of incense: he received the apparition of an angel, and he received the joyful message that Christ would be born.

            In the book of Revelation 5, John saw twenty four priests bow down and worship the lamb with harps and with golden bowls of incense – twenty four because of the twenty for houses of priests, and so this means all the priests of the New Testament. And of the incense Revelation says, “bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

            The priest, therefore, offers to God the prayers of all the faithful in the Church. This is done at every Mass. So powerful are the priestly prayers, that God answers: to the incense, which is the prayers of the saints, God sends angels to minister and his Son as Savior.

            Later, in Revelation 8, from an angel’s censer before God the “prayers of the saints” (v. 4) rose with the smoke, and, casting it down to the earth, brought forth the beginning of the end of all things. This shows that angels, with priests, raise our prayers to God through their ministry; and that the prayers of the saints for justice against all persecutors and evil doers will be amply heard when Christ comes at the end of time.

            Let us therefore place our prayers, spiritually, on the paten and in the chalice which the priest offers, and, in union with the angels, pray to God for our Salvation, praying also to Mary our Mother.

20. “And you shall set the bread of the presence before me always” (Ex 25:30).

            We now turn to the third altar, the altar of bread. It was in the Holies, not the Holy of Holies; so it was in the smaller, covered tent which was surrounded by the outer court, the open-air part of the tabernacle surrounded by a fabric wall. Inside the Holies, directly before the curtain which separated it from the Holy of Holies, was the altar of incense. Back a bit more there was, facing the curtain, the candelabra or Menorah on the left, and the altar of bread on the right.

            Upon this altar, which was also acacia wood covered with gold, there were twelve loaves of bread, one for each of the houses of Israel, which was renewed every eight days. In the verse we just read, this bread was called the “Bread of the Presence.” The ancient understanding of the word “Presence” may have inspired the Jews to believe that it was so named because it was in the presence of God, that is to say, of the ark.

            But the whole tabernacle and everything in it, and all done in it, was a foreshadowing of Christ. So through this bread we have a prophecy of the Eucharist, which is called “Presence,” not because it is in God’s presence, but because, through it, God is in our presence, and living in his flesh still upon the face of the earth. God dwells among men. We therefore justly call the Catholic “tabernacles” by the name of the place of worship mandated by God to Moses, for in this tabernacle is the real Bread of Presence.

            Let us receive communion today with great joy, that God has come to earth, and, in the Eucharist, is our Sacrifice, our Food and his Presence among us, the true body born of Mary the Virgin.

21. “And [of the altar of bread] you shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour libations; of pure gold you shall make them” (Ex 25:29).

            We see that on the altar of bread, there were not only the twelve loaves, the “Bread of the Presence,” which we discussed last time. There were also vessels for the burning of incense, and flagons for libations. Libations were sacrifices of wine, that is, wine would be poured out upon the earth, forfeited by man as a sacrifice to God. Wine is a symbol of rejoicing and happiness, as the great Psalm about creation says, “[You made] wine to gladden man’s heart, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man’s heart” (Ps 103:15). Man puts aside this type of happiness to worship God: and this is the disposition with which even pagans made libations.

            Yet we Catholics, who nourish ourselves so often on the body and blood of God, look upon an altar, within Moses’ tabernacle, and we see bread and wine, offered as a sacrifice. Melchizedek had already come forth to meet Abraham, long before Moses (Gen 14:17 ff.) to offer a victory sacrifice of bread and wine. What strange sacrifices? Why not animals? And of all foods, why these? And so it is, that we Catholics have a special insight into this mystery, which those who are alien to the doctrine on the Eucharist cannot understand.

            For Jesus Christ is offered to the Father through the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the incense, and he is offered to him as a sacrifice of bread and wine, because this sacrifice is to nourish us day after day, and it pleases God that we hunger for this divine food. For in the species of bread and wine, we find not bread and wine! We find God himself, transubstantiated, incarnated, crucified and rose, the whole Christ in each host, and we eat our God. Thus we enter into communion with him. Who could be worthy of such love? Certainly not us, sinners. God gives us what we do not deserve, because of his infinite mercy, his boundless pity and his majestic charity for repentant sinners.

22. “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests…. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons… Aaron and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests, and I will dwell among the people of Israel, and will be their God” (Ex 29:1, 9, 44-45).

            Now let us briefly consider the priesthood as revealed to Moses.

            God reveals to Moses his desire to have a priesthood, and God is the author of this priesthood. In the Old Testament, God mandates how they are to be made priests, and the rites by which they exercise this priesthood, as a preparation for a more perfect priesthood established and governed by the Incarnate Word in the New Testament.

            Hebrews says, priests are “appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

            In the making of priests, two aspects stand out: first, there are blood sacrifices and bread, and second, there are special vestments.

            Let us for now consider the sacrifices of the animals, and we’ll consider the vestments next time.

            Into the rite of ordination of Aaron and his sons, which is what we may call the Mosaic priesthood, there were brought unleavened bread, one young bull whose slaughter will bring atonement for sin; and also two rams, whose blood will sanctify what it touches, and whose flesh the priests will eat with the bread. The men approach the tent in the tabernacle, and they are anointed with oil (as are all priests, prophets and kings), and then the sacrifices happen in a prescribed order, and they even eat some of the flesh and bread.

            We know that in the Eucharist we find the fulfillment of the prophetic symbol of the flesh and the bread, for our Lord is truly present, sacrificed for us, and made food for our souls. And here men are introduced to the state of the priesthood by this prophetic symbol, showing us this about the priesthood: that it is centered on the sacrifice of the One Flesh of Christ our Lord, a sacrifice which truly brings atonement, and they consummate the sacrifice by partaking of it themselves, for the priest is identified with the Christ who is offered on the altar, and cannot remain not united to him without reproach.

            Spiritually, all the faithful may unite themselves, through the mystical body of Christ, to the offering of the priest, which is the self-offering of Christ. Let us therefore have priestly dispositions of atonement for our own sins, and sins of the whole world.

23. “And for Aaron’s sons, you shall make coats and girdles and caps; you shall make them for glory and beauty” (Ex 28:40).

            We now consider the priestly vestments, for these too were mandated by God to be made and used in a special way. Let us consider each aspect of these vestments in the light of Catholic liturgical vestments of today’s experience.

            They were to be beautiful; yet today there are so many Churches where only ugly vestments are available.

            They were to be worn at the ritual service, under pain of death (Ex 28:43); yet today, there are priests who fail to vest for Mass correctly.

            What symbolism do we find in the vestments? (cf. Ex 39:27 ff.)  There were turbans and caps, representing the authority of a priest who is a divinely appointed king. Very fine linen and beautiful artisanship were mandated, because they manifested a divine office which is the most exalted of all offices anyone could have, by which God would be manifest to men. A cincture was worn, a symbol of the chastity proper to the office of the priesthood; it was purple and blue, purple for the penance of curbing the passions, and blue as a prophecy of how devotion to our Lady would insure holy chastity.

            The vestments were sprinkled with the blood of one of the sacrificed rams. The curtain separating the holies and the holy of holies was similarly sprinkled. This creates an association between the curtain and the vestments. As the curtain indicated a sacred separation, so too should the vestments, as a priest is separated from among men, consecrated by Christ’s blood, to offer sacrifices for sin, and to nourish his spiritual children with the supersubstantial food which is the Eucharist.

            Let us then see in the vestments of Aaron and his sons lessons about the New Testament priesthood, its glory, its virtues and its role in our spiritual lives as Catholics.

24. “On the eighth day, Moses called Aaron and his sons” (Lev 9:1).

            We continue looking at the ordination rite of the Old Testament priests, albeit briefly, and today we jump from Exodus to Leviticus. In Exodus, God tells Moses what to do as regards the ordinations. In Leviticus, chapters 9-11, we find him doing it. All of Leviticus, the book for Levi, the priest, we find much ritual legislation, all of it immensely rich in prophecy as regards the Catholic priesthood. But in these chapters, we have not legislation, but narration.

            I focus on this one verse, because Moses, who is standing in for God in this passage and speaks and acts for Him, “calls.” The fact of the “call,” and the very use of this verb in this verse, reminds us of this profoundly important aspect of the priesthood: that men are called to it.

            The call to the Catholic priesthood is analogous to the call to any other state of life, in that it takes its origin in God, and is discerned by the Church at the moment the sacrament is celebrated; yet taking its origin in God, it takes shape in so many providential ways through the ordinary things of life.

            The Pope, in speaking about the priesthood, mentions how important prayer is. Prayer is important for two reasons: so that the people of God may ask for priests from God, but also so that young men may discover, in the interior of their souls, the traces of that divine call to holy orders. For no one takes the priesthood to himself; it is given to him as a gift, a gift which he could never deserve, and a responsibility he can never quite perfectly live up to.

            Let us then all remember that the state in life in which we are, or which we might assume, even if human factors and choices are involved, take their ultimate and mysterious origin in God our Father. This should give us confidence in being faithful to God’s will even in the midst of so many difficulties, challenges and crosses. Let us also pray often for vocations, for faithful vocations, and for the perseverance of priests.

25. “These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban and a girdle; they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests” (Ex 28:4).

            There are seven sacred garments prescribed in detail by the Lord to Moses. The Lord gives commands for one other item to be worn by the priests, breeches which are not considered sacred nor are they visible.

One of the sacred seven things is a frontlet or small metal plate. On this plate, the words “Holy to the Lord” were written, and it was fixed to the turban of Aaron who should wear it while he took “upon himself any guild incurred in the offering” (Ex 28:36-38).

            Of these six remaining garments, four are principal: the breastpiece, the ephod, the robe and the tunic. The other two worn items are the turban (like a crown) and the girdle. The making of each of these items is specified in incredible detail, each detail of which mysteriously reveals something of the priesthood of Christ, and has a corresponding reality in the tabernacle or temple. There was, furthermore, slightly different vesture for the priests than for the one High Priest. We will consider the vesture of the High Priest.

            The breastpiece, the ephod and the robe formed all one piece. The breastpiece was something like the large scapulars worn by our secular Carmelites here at Grotto. But imagine that the square part in the front was made of pure gold. Then imagine two large gems, one on each shoulder, each with the names of six of the sons of Israel on them; see also on the large, square gold breastpiece twelve huge gems, one for each of the sons of Israel (see also Ezekiel 28:13).

This was attached to a vest called the Ephod, something like the white surplices our altar boys wear, but with no sleeves and open on the right and left side; it was richly embroidered all over. This in turn was attached to the robe, which was purple, with had a lower hem of bells and pomegranate shaped tassels. Pomegranates also decorated the temple of Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 7:42), and, a fruit symbolic of fertility, they foretold the spiritual fertility of the Church through baptism. So the breastpiece, the ephod and the robe in practice formed a united liturgical vestment. Under it was a white tunic, from neck to feet, from shoulder to wrist

All of this is symbolic of the priesthood of Christ. Only a small selection of these symbols we shall consider in the upcoming homilies. For now, let us consider this most general question: why are Aaron’s vestments a prefiguring of the priesthood of Christ? St. John the Apostle saw Jesus in similar priestly attire (cf. Rev. 1:12-17). This clothing is not just decoration, it manifests something metaphysical.

The vesture of a priest indicates that he occupies an office which is more than a symbol but a reality; that he, continuing to be himself, at the same time becomes, in a mystical way, another Christ; their vestments indicate their identity. Every Christian, therefore, deals with the Catholic priest by this sacramental identity, and through his ministry find an authentic encounter with God.

26. Today, I wish to contemplate one aspect of the priestly vestments, namely, the breastpiece with the twelve gems.

            By comparing this breastpiece with a passage in the book of Revelation, I think we shall discover something quite interesting.

            First, the description in Exodus; and here we read what God commands Moses. “And you shall make a breastpiece of judgment… It shall be square and double, a span its length and a span its breadth. And you shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz and carbuncle shall be the first row; and the second row an emerald, a sapphire and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, and onyx and a jasper… There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel” (Ex 28:15, 16-20, 21).

            Yet we find not the priestly vestments, but rather the New Jerusalem – heaven, our home! – described in amazingly similar language. I even wonder whether the slight differences in stone names are problems of translations of ancient languages. We read:

            “In the Spirit [the angel] carried me away to a great, high mountain (cf. Ez 40:2), and showed me the holy city Jerusalem… with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed… The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst” (Rev. 21:10, 12, 19-20).

            Incidentally, this disposition of the gates in the eternal city, where God is (compare Ez 40:35 to Rev. 21:22) with the names of the sons of Israel was foretold at the end of the book of Ezekiel (40:30-35).

            Last time we saw that the vestments indicated not decoration, but identity. And before that, we mentioned that the priest’s vestments were designed as a miniature, wearable version of the temple.

            What Catholic doctrine can link the vestments, the tabernacle, the temple, the New Jerusalem, Christ the priest, and the Catholic priest? Perhaps several, but I think of that doctrine, unique to St. Paul’s Epistles, of the mystical body of Christ. Through grace we participate in the entire mystery of Christ, and the Church is really his body, he being the head. The priest’s vestments reveal not only his own identity, but the identity of every Christian who is united to Christ Priest Prophet and King, and also the destiny which awaits us in eternal life, where we will truly live in God forever without end.

27. The colors of the vestments.

            Today I wish to consider the symbolic significance of some of the colors of the High Priest’s vestments, of the ephod in particular (time does not allow for a more comprehensive review of all the colors in all the vestments). This will lead us to a contemplation of Jesus Christ, whom we are called to imitate, and who lives in our bodies and souls as in his own temples.

            Just as the large curtains of the tabernacle were of “fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet stuff,” so too was the ephod – that shortened apron-like garment to which the golden breastpiece, with its twelve precious stones, was attached. For God commanded Moses to make it in this way: “They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet stuff, and fine twined linen. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet stuff, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked” (Ex 28:5-6). The ephod was different from the curtains of the tabernacle only in that they contained gold.

            Gold was the color of the kingship of Christ, when the three kings came bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. All through the new testament, it also serves as a symbol simply of wealth. But it also is a symbol of a hard earned spiritual richness, which is sanctifying grace, where Christ says in the book of revelation, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich” (Rev 3:18). Gold in the priest’s vestments says that Christ is the King of the universe, and that he is rich in both suffering and love.

            Blue is the color of the sky, and in one sense represents the whole of the created universe, but is also the color of our Lady, of whose broad and beautiful mantle the sky reminds us. When the camp of the Israelites was to set out, blue garments covered the ark and altars and candelabra and all sacred things, just as our Lady covered Christ first with her flesh, then with her love, during his pilgrimage on earth. Blue refers to the inseparability of Christ the Priest from the Blessed Virgin.

            Purple is the color of penance. It shows that, just like Aaron carried the guilt of the people and made sacrifice, so too Christ carries, but in the flesh of his own human nature, the punishment of the whole world.

            Crimson or scarlet is the color of sacrifice, for it is related to the spilling of blood. “If your sins be like scarlet,” it says in Isaiah 1:18, “they shall be like snow.” When the soldiers on an abused and very bloodied Christ, they put a scarlet robe on him to say, “Hail, King of the Jews” (Mt 27:28-29). Yet the whore of Babylon, in the end, who will be cast down forever, is twice reported to us in the Book of Revelation as being dressed in purple and scarlet. This is not because she is the victim, but the perpetrator, and shall destroy much life on the earth; she will be an anti-Christ, and an anti-tabernacle, an anti-temple, and anti-priest, a false image of the true reality, and wicked beyond all score. Christ is the victor, because he is the lamb who is slain.

            Let us then consider in silent prayer these aspects of Christ the Priest: the King, rich in suffering and love; united perpetually to Mary; Christ the sacrifice; Christ the Lamb who was slain but who lives forever.

            That is all for the vestments; next we shall consider the lampstand.

28. T he Lord said to Moses, “You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The base and the shaft of the lampstand shall be made of hammered work; its cups, its capitals and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. There shall be six branches going out of [the lampstand’s] sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it… and you shall make the seven lamps for it; and the lamps shall be set up so as to give light upon the space in front of it” (Ex 25:31-32,37).

            We turn from our reflections about the vestments to some new reflections about the lampstand. And so let us remember first where it was. The tabernacle was an area established by a tall outer curtain, but with an open air, and in the large open air courtyard, animals were sacrificed and burnt. Then inside this rectangular area was a covered tent – even though the word “tabernacle” means “tent,” and refers to the whole, both the open air part and the smaller tent enclosed within – and this tent was divided by a special curtain, forming two halves. One was the Holies, the other was the Holy of Holies.

In the Holies, if you remember, we said before that, there were the two altars, the altar of bread on the north side, and the altar of incense in the center; and there was also the golden lampstand (the menorah) on the south side; the whole faced East, as do the altars in all Catholic Churches which happen to be built with any religious culture.

This candelabra appears in Exodus, first when Moses receives instructions, then when the artists craft it; but it also appears in Zechariah 4, and twice in the book of Revelation. There is each time an association of the lampstand to God the Holy Spirit, much like there is an association of the altar of bread to God the Son. One can see an association, even, to the Father in the altar of incense, for the prayers of the faithful are offered up to the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit.

Over the next few days, with a rare interruption, the homilies will explore this very mystical dimension of the temple; for which we ask the protection, guidance and wisdom which Our Lady, the Ever Virgin, alone can give.

29. “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and a golden girdle around his breast” (Rev 1:12-13)

            Our meditations on the dress of the high priest call to mind here the symbolism of the girdle and the robe: that he whom John saw was the great high priest of heaven, who is Christ the Lord. Of him, every other priesthood in the scriptures foretell; and every Catholic priest shares in the one priesthood of Christ, as glass shares in the light of the sun.

            We have been considering the menorah in the temple, the lampstand. The stand went up and had three cups on each side, holding seven flames. This passage of revelation speaks of the seven lampstands in the heavenly sanctuary of the heavenly high priest. What are these lamps?

            We are at the beginning of the book of revelation, and the Lord is about to dictate to John seven letters to seven Churches. So we may see in these lamps the seven Churches, which in their turn represent the whole Church, just as the book of Revelation is not only directed to those seven Churches but to the whole Catholic Church. The fire may be interpreted as the prayers of these Churches.

            Or again, we can see the Holy Spirit alluded to here, that the Catholic Church is the work of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is alive and burning in each one of the Churches. This is the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son. If the Trinity were compared to a man, one could see God the Son as the Intellect, for He is the Word; and God the Holy Spirit as the Will, for He is Love; but all are one, as the Trinity is one substance in three persons. Therefore it is the love of God which makes each of these Churches be, and burn with His Divine Fire; for God is “a consuming fire” (Ex 24:17, Dt. 4:24, and Heb 12:29, and elsewhere).

            Let us, then, let the Holy Spirit burn within our lives, and within our parish; the simplest way is to practice this love which the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us, lets loose within our hearts and homes and world. For this we ask the aid of Mary, for she was perfectly filled with the Holy Spirit, who overshadowed her when the human body of the Eternal Word was created within her womb.

30. “Round the throne were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. From the throne issue flashes of lightening and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God” (Rev 4:4-5).

            We have mentioned before how the twenty four elders reflect the twenty four houses or classes of the tribe of Aaron who took turns in the priestly service (cf. 1 Chr 24:7-18). They offer incense, as does the priest in the Holies of the Tabernacle, and this incense is the prayers of the faithful to God, which priests bring before God.

            But our attention now is more on the seven torches of fire which burn before the throne of God. These verses are from the book of Revelation, but they bring us back to the menorah, the candelabra in the Holies of the Tabernacle of Moses.

            If we ask, “What are these torches of fire, what do they symbolize?” The scripture tells us, for John wrote in the very next phrase, “which are the seven spirits of God.” But this in turn raises other questions. We know that there is only one spirit of God, who is God the Holy Spirit, to whose personhood we profess faith every time we recite the creed; there are not six others. But notice what we find at Rev 1:4, “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne.”

            There are seven Churches, but seven spirits; but there is only one Holy Spirit. We saw yesterday how the seven fires were the one Spirit alive in the seven Churches; and also, one ancient author explains how seven is the number of “totality” (Primasius, Commentariorum super Apoc., 1, 1). The seven fires are therefore the great work of the Holy Spirit in the world, which is his Church; and as fire is split into seven, but fire is always the same, so the Holy Spirit spreads himself through times and places, through generations and cultures, to renew every corner of the earth century after century, but he is always the same. The lampstand, the candelabra, the menorah, is therefore a prophesy of the Spirit, who will spread Christ’s priesthood throughout the whole world by the presence of the Church in the world.

            He does this out of love and for salvation, for it is the priesthood of Christ which brings salvation to the whole world, for Christ the Lord alone is savior. Let us therefore meditate on this, that the Holy Spirit draws the world to the priesthood of Christ, in which every Catholic priest shares. Any spirit that separates us from priests, that despises priests, that rejects the Catholic priesthood, is not the Holy Spirit. Uniting ourselves to the action of the priest at Mass, by the dispositions of our heart, let us make of ourselves a sacrifice of praise for the salvation of the whole world.

31. “The angel who talked with me came again… and he said to me, ‘What do you see?’ I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it… And I said to the angel who talked with me, ‘What are these, my lord?’… [And the angel replied] “These seven are the eyes of the Lord which range through the whole earth.” (Zechariah 4:1-2,4, 10).

            This is our last consideration about the lampstand. Next we shall consider the “mercy seat,” or “propitiatory,” which sat upon the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, one of the most important pieces of the tabernacle, and worthy of much meditation.

            In Zechariah, the lampstand appears again in a vision, as we already twice noticed happened to the Apostle John the Evangelist in the book of Revelation. Once again, we raise the question, “What does this mean, that there is a gold lampstand with seven lamps?” The menorah in the tabernacle was a lampstand of pure gold, with seven bowls for seven fires, so we cannot miss the reference. And we have seen that the menorah in the book of Revelation reveals itself as a prophecy of the Church, extended through the whole world, filled with the Spirit, drawing all men to the true and unique priesthood of Christ the Lord.

            So now, we have this question: what does this golden lampstand mean? The angel replies to the prophet, “These are the eyes of the Lord which range through the whole earth.” This only leaves us with more questions. One might say, ask not an angel a question, because his answer will only confuse you more! Because the ways of angels are not the ways of men, and their intellects function a bit differently than ours.

            We know that God has no eyes, so there must be a symbolic meaning to this. Or, if he does have two eyes, and not seven, it is because the Eternal Word became man; but this is an unsatisfactory explanation, because there would then be no accounting for the other five eyes. A Church Father, Didymus the Blind, wrote, “The seven lamps represent the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and power, of knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord” (Comentarii in Zaccharium, 277-284). He refers to that famous passage in Isaiah (11:2-3), a prophecy of the coming Messiah, often used for meditation during Advent. And so once again the seven fires bring us back to the Holy Spirit. And St. Cyril of Alexandria brings in the association we made to the Church, where he writes, “The lampstand also represents the Church, honored throughout the world, her virtue shining brightly, etc.” (Commentarius in Zacchariam, 4:1-3). Therefore it represents, just like we said when discussing the visions in John’s Revelation, both the Holy Spirit and the Church throughout the world.

            But why “eyes.” I think it is because God knows man, the plight of man, and is not some distant power who ignores us. The eyes represent knowledge, and God knows all things. In the book of revelation, after the vision of the seven fires in chapter 1, seven epistles are written by Christ the High Priest to seven Churches, who represent the whole Church. Christ says to the first, Ephesus, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance.” To the second, “I know your tribulation and your poverty.” To the third, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is,” meaning the Christians lived among sinners and persecutors. To the fourth, “I know your works, your love and your faith and service and patient endurance” To the fifth, “I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead,” and he lovingly reproaches them. To the sixth, “I know your works,” for which he praises them. To the seventh, “I know your works: you are neither hot nor cold,” with another saving reproach. Seven “I knows,” seven eyes, seven Churches, seven gifts, seven spirits, and all are one.

            God lives, and he knows man, and he knows the plight and consolations, failures and victories of all men. He made one Church to go through the whole world to bring salvation to all men. This leaves us with a surprising teaching, that the menorah in the tabernacle of Moses stirs us to apostolic zeal, so that all may come to know, love and follow Jesus Christ, and in Him find their salvation.

32. “Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat” (Ex 25:17-18).

            We now move on to consider one of the most important features of the furnishings of the tabernacle of Moses, full of magnificent art and profound symbolism, the propitiatory. I find some differences of translations; the RSV which we just read calls it a “mercy seat,” and in a footnote writes, “or cover”; and elsewhere it is called the propitiatory.

            It is the cover that goes on the ark of the covenant. The ark itself, remember, was a rectangular box of wood covered completely in gold, with rings and two poles for carrying. This is the “lid.” What an unusual sight it must have been: an angel on each end of the rectangular slab of gold, both facing inwards as if towards one another, and they, too, made of gold. But in the middle there was… nothing. An empty space.

            Let us consider, then, the ark of the covenant in the upcoming Masses – with interruptions for All Souls day – and in the following order.

            Starting tomorrow, we will inquire into the reason why cherubim, of all the nine choirs, are placed there. Pope St. Gregory the Great will help us there.

            Thereafter, we will inquire into the reason there is this empty space between them, towards which each angel is facing.

            Third, we will meditate on the meetings God promised to hold with Moses, where in he would speak to him from above the angels.

            Fourth, we shall ask why Exodus later calls these angels “angels of glory.”

            Finally, we will spend two homilies in the book of revelation, in chapter 11 and 12, where St. John says “God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within,” and how this relates to the revelation of Mary, the Queen of heaven, which follows in the subsequent verses.

            That is all for today, a sort of introduction to the upcoming homilies, the last ones about the Tabernacle of Moses. Before Advent, I hope to consider briefly some aspects of the priesthood of Adam, Cain and Abel. If you wish to take with you one spiritual thought for the day, let it be this word: Mercy. The seat of mercy rested upon the ark of the law. For the reason for the true priesthood, that of Christ the Lord, is to show mercy to the world and save poor sinners. Amen.

33. “Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends” (Ex 25:19).

            Our first, prayerful investigation into the seat of mercy, or cover, or propitiatory – this golden cover with two angels, which sat upon the ark of the covenant – is to discover, why cherubim? There are nine choirs of angels, as it has been revealed to man. Why not Seraphim or Thrones or Archangels?

            Pope St. Gregory the Great writes about angels, and I think he can help us here. In homily number 34 of his Forty Homilies on the Gospels, he writes extensively about angels. I will not reproduce his entire doctrine on the Angels here, as that would be too long. But rather, let us consider what he says about the cherubim.

            He writes, “Cherubim means ‘fullness of knowledge.’ These most sublime bands of spirits are rightfully called Cherubim because they are so full of the most perfect knowledge that they contemplate the glory of God from the vantage point of immediate proximity. According to the way of created beings, the Cherubim know all things fully as they draw near, through the merit of their worthiness, to the vision of their Creator.” (in Angelic Spirituality, in the Classics of Western Spirtuality, Paulist Press, 2002, p. 100.)

This great Pope says, “There are ways of human life that coincide with single orders of angelic bands. By means of a correspondence in virtue, these men are conuted worthy of the heavenly city by sharing in the angelic nature.” And he says those men are like the cherubim who “are filled beyond all things with the charity toward God and neighbor.” It is as if to say, that if “cherubim” means “fullness of knowledge,” their knowledge is dominated by charity, for charity is the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:10) and the essence of God.

The propitiatory, or “mercy seat,” or “cover” of the ark of the covenant, therefore, reveals some aspect of the mystery of God himself. For inside the ark was the law. The cherubim on top of the ark manifest both the knowledge of the law and of man’s transgressions against the law; but also the overwhelming love of God and man. These cherubim reveal to man how truth and love are reconciled in God.

For if there is transgression in man, and God knows the truth of man’s sinfulness, the seat of mercy is superior to, on top of, the law which man breaks. There is more to consider in this mystery, and we shall consider more in our upcoming homilies. But until then, let us remember this: the truth about sin is not the final word for man, but God is merciful, and has pity on poor sinners. Amen.

34. “The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces on to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be” (Ex 25:20).

            Why do the cherubim face the empty space in the middle? I think it cannot be said that “they face God, and God is invisible, therefore the empty space.” For yes in fact the cherubim do see God. But yet more, the Lord told Moses that from “above” the mercy seat, not from between the angels in the midst of the mercy seat, he would speak to him. There is some other mystery at work here, and one of great hope for the world.

That is today’s question. We saw last time, on Friday, how the term cherubim means “fullness of knowledge.” Seated upon the law, and charity being the fulfillment of the law, these two golden cherubim manifest God’s mercy (charity) for sinners (who broke the law). Cherubim, truth and charity are three words that cannot be separated.

            And if ever we should meditate upon what is the greatest manifestation of God’s mercy, we might be tempted to say, “The crucifix.” In a sense, this is true. But the crucifix alone might rather be a motive for despair. If we sinners, indeed, crucified our God, and he did not come back to us, we would be only able to conclude that God’s just wrath awaited us after our final judgment. But he rose from the dead in the flesh. This is why St. Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins… but now Christ has been raised from the dead, … in Christ all shall be brought to life” (1 Cor 15:17, 20, 22). The resurrection is therefore the most foundational of all causes we could possibly have for supernatural hope.

            When Christ rose from the dead, there were two angels seen by men. The women disciples of Christ saw two angels (Lk 24:4-5) who instructed them about the risen one. See, and don’t miss what the scriptures report: that there were two angels, and between them, the place of the risen Christ was empty.

            The covering of the ark of the covenant, a symbol of both mercy and truth, now reveals itself to be a prophecy of the resurrection, but one which could not be interpreted by the Israelites, for Christ had not yet risen from the dead.

35. “[At the ark of the covenant] I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel” (Ex 25:22).

            Now it is time to turn to the meetings God had with Moses at the propitiatory. We will consider them in general, and not each one in detail. This leads us to three points: first, God spoke to man. Second, he spoke from above the angels. Third, he spoke through and with the angels.

            God spoke to man. So great was the love God had for man, that he spoke to Moses; and eventually he spoke to us all in Christ. His Word is alive in scripture; therefore, if you want to hear God’s voice, you don’t have to wait for moments of ecstasy in prayer, for visions or locutions. Just read the scriptures, and that’s God’s voice. God’s mind is greater than that of man, so sometimes in scripture we find things hard to understand. Read it, and with attention, but then just keep going. Sometime later in life the Lord will enlighten you about that passage, if not right now. But God is not a stranger, and wants to be close to us, to speak with us, to speak with you, to speak to you and hear from you.

            He spoke from above the angels. God is indeed greater than the angels. It was not fitting that he should speak in the empty space between the angels, for that would be a physical symbol of equation, as if his angels were his peers. Angels are not God’s peers, he is their creator and infinitely greater than they in truth, in love, in goodness, in beauty, in power, and in everything else.

            Finally, he spoke through and with the angels. For the whole of the Bible comes from them, and all revelation. The nearly-last words of Stephen, in Acts, before he was stoned, were “You who received he law as delivered by angels” (Acts 7:53), the Law meaning the Pentateuch and all the commands of the prophets; and “the message was declared by angels” in Hebrews (2:2). For if God loves and speaks with man, all the angels and saints participate in and imitate this action of God, and they become mediators of what he says, and of his divine love. So too should we Christians be mediators of God’s truth and love. Some will hate us for preaching truth and love, but such souls are the ones who love lies and selfishness, and are not on the way of salvation.

            All this about the meetings between Moses and God above the propitiatory which sat atop the ark of the covenant. Tomorrow we shall consider one comment about the propitiatory made in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews. Amen.

36. “In the ark were the gold jar containing the manna, the staff of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of expiation” (Heb 9:4-5).

            Today’s question is, why does St. Paul refer to the angels as “cherubim of glory.” Why the term “glory”? He refers to the propitiatory, or seat of mercy, naming it the “place of expiation.” Yesterday we meditated on the fact that God spoke to Moses from above the propitiatory, and drew applications for our spiritual life.

            Glory is a sort of recognition of greatness that one receives at large. Sometimes it can refer to the cause of this, as when a violin may be said to be a musician’s glory; or it may be the subjective feelings of it, as when a gardner is said to “glory” in his successful garden. In the case of God, his glory is infinite, whether we men wish to recognize it or not; and here we speak of God’s glory not so much because of what he receives from men, but from the splendor and perfection which merit this recognition, a recognition, sadly, which few men give, and all give too stingily.

            Towards the end of the revelations God gave to Moses about how he wished him to build the tabernacle, the book of Exodus, in chapter 33, still before the actual execution by the great artisan Bezalel, some very mysterious things transpired. Among them, Moses asked God, “Let me see your glory” (Ex 33:18). To which the Lord eventually answered him, first, “I will make all my goodness pass before you… I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I show mercy; but you cannot see my face” (33:19); and after, that he would hide Moses in the cleft of a rock and then pass by that place, “then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen” (Ex 33:23).

            I see here a revelation of the Messiah, our Lord, the Christ, born of the Virgin much later than this in the fulfillment of time. For the glory of God is revealed in his mercy – all of God’s goodness, beyond all measure, even for sinners. His mercy was revealed not to Moses, but to us in Christ; in Christ God has a real, human face, but Christ was not yet man.

            I mentioned before that the Cherubim, being full of truth and charity, manifest mercy to sinners in their artistic representation on the lid of the ark of the covenant. Since God revealed his glory, which is his goodness, which is his Mercy, to Moses, and revealed all this at the ark of the covenant, St. Paul rightly calls the angels “cherubim of glory.”

            Let us imitate the angels, as they imitate God, in obtaining mercy from God for our grievous sins, and then show mercy to our neighbor. Amen.

37. “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within the temple… A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun [etc.]… Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon… but the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she could fly to her place in the desert” (Rev. 11:19, 12:1,7,14).

            Today and tomorrow, I wish to turn to a reference to the ark of the covenant we find in the book of Revelation. We have been mediating on the liturgical life of Moses and the Israelites in the tabernacle, during their wanderings in the desert, for a number of weeks now, and so we are better prepared to consider these verses. We see how all of that worship is symbolic and prophetic of Christ and of the Christian life, and even of heaven, and so we know how to see these verses symbolically, and in the proper context.

            Today I wish to focus about the fact that the ark was opened and a woman was seen, and what this means. Tomorrow I wish to consider the two wings and how it might relate to the propitiatory.

            It is no coincidence that the ark was seen within the temple, and the sign of a woman was seen. We have considered before the location of the ark: that the tabernacle had three zones, first the large and spacious area uncovered but surrounded with fabric walls, second the “holies” in the tent, with the altar of incense, the altar of bread, and the menorah or candlestick with seven lamps, and third was the holy of holies, under the same roof of the smaller tent of the holies, but separated from it by a veil. The golden ark was in the holy of holies.

            The holy of holies can be compared in many ways to eternal life in heaven. And so in heaven God the son took to himself a bride, and this is the Catholic Church, as we see in many places in scripture, especially in Ephesians 5. So the woman seen there is a symbol of the Church. All women have, by their nature and by baptism, a calling to imitate the Church as a whole, as it is meant to be, in her relationship to the Lamb, who is her mystical groom. But furthermore, one sees a second symbol in the ark, and that is of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who carried within the veil of her flesh her own Creator.

            So the ark is a symbol of the Church triumphant, and a symbol of Mary, perfect symbols for the ideal of womanhood, but really examples for both men and women. Let us live our Catholic lives to the maximum, guided by Mary’s example and aided by her powerful intercession. Amen.

38. “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant woulc be seen in the temple… A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun [etc.]… Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon… but the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she could fly to her place in the desert” (Rev. 11:19, 12:1,7,14).

            Today I wish to consider the two wings, as I had mentioned yesterday. We saw how the ark is a symbol of the Church triumphant, but also of Mary. I cannot help see in these two wings a reference to the propitiatory; and today is my last reflection about the propitiatory, indeed, of all things pertaining to Moses the High Priest, to Aaron, and to the tabernacle and all that is in it.

            We remember that the ark was a rectangular box of wood covered with gold, with a sold gold lid, and on this lid were golden, winged cherubim, one on each end, facing in towards each other, but with an empty space in the middle.

            The cherubim in Exodus spread out their wings (Ex 25:20) over the whole ark, perhaps to shield its glory, perhaps to protect it, but certainly with love. Isaiah spoke of wings, in a verse which the distressing him On Eagle’s Wings has more darkened than enlightened, where he says, describing the strength and power God gives, “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, etc.” (Is 40:31). Of course, our Lady’s perfect docility to God’s will shows her as most perfectly fulfilling this. But our Lord himself says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem… how man times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling!” (Mt 23:37). Wings serve as symbols of strength and of protection. Not only was this woman protected, but she could do, in a mystical way, as the Lord wished to do, and Mary can protect her children under these wings, which are her mantle, and in one there is power, in the other there is mercy, and in both there is love.

            I think that just as the propitiatory covered the contents of the ark, so too Mary covered Christ, first with her womb, then with her love, and always with her adoration. Our long analysis of Moses the Priest, during this year of priests, therefore ends on a strongly Marian note, for priests are Mary’s special sons, even wayward priests, and we should join Mary in praying for and loving the priests of the Church, that they may save their souls, and help many, many others to save their souls as well.

            Before Advent, I wish to provide some thoughts about the priesthood of Adam, of Cain and of Abel. Amen.

Part II - The Patriarchs Adam, Cain and Abel as Priests

39. “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen 2:24).

            Now that we have considered at great length the priesthood of Moses, as a prefiguring of Christ the Priest, I wish to spend a moment considering Adam. For Adam worshipped God, and so did Cain and Abel. Scripture does not say that Adam offered sacrifices, but Cain and Abel did, and of this we will speak next time. It could be inferred, therefore, that sacrifice as a worship of God is a form of worship proper to man after the fall, for it implies the freely chosen pain of renunciation, and sometimes the death of an animal.

            Yet we can still see, in this verse I just quoted, some aspect of the priesthood of Adam. For in all sacrifice, what makes it a worship is that it is offered and sanctified, separated for God. And it can be said that it was the role of Adam to sanctify Eve. I draw this conclusion from what St. Paul says, when, in Ephesians 5, he speaks of this very verse which I just quoted: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word…  ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.’ This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church” (Eph 5:25-32, passim). Christ left his father, and became one with the Church, one mystical body, of which he is the head.

            Christ is lord of the Church not as a despot, tyrant or self-serving king, but as one who sanctifies. Every husband is to exercise, then, his role as head of his wife, and of his family, as one who sanctifies the rest, especially by his self-sacrifice.

            This role of a husband as one who sanctifies, is analogous to the priest who sanctifies the offerings which he lifts up to God. And so this aspect of the priesthood of Adam is manifest, and as a priest he worshipped God. Let us all, because we are baptized, sanctify all things in our lives, by sanctifying all we can; creatures, by using them for God’s glory and according to his will; and other human persons, by sacrificing ourselves for their holiness and salvation.

40. “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.” (Gen 4:3-5)

            We now meditate on the priesthood of Cain and Abel. This meditation will bring us to some considerations about sin, and about Christ, which will prepare us spiritually for the coming seasons of Advent and Christmas.

41. “For Cain and his offering, [the Lord] had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.” (Gen 4:4-5)

            Cain appears in the scriptures as consummately wicked. His brother, Abel, appears as a victim, and consummately good; both good, and innocent. Here is already a first foreshadowing of how salvation will happen, that Christ the Priest became the sacrificial victim at the hands of the High Priest, and Levitical priests, of Jerusalem. When the scriptures say that Cain offered the firstlings, and that it was unacceptable, his shedding of blood did not stop at the lambs, but it extended itself to his brother, first not in chronology, but superior to Cain in justice.

            The Lord affirmed this in an indirect way, when he said, “the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophet sand apostles, some of them they will kill and persecute,’ in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of al the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah” (Lk 11:49-51).

            St. Paul wrote of Abel, “You have approached… Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel” (Heb 12: 22, 24).

            Tomorrow I shall consider the cause of why Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted. Worth considering, but not our focus today, is that Cain was angry with God; and this is a proud and foolish thing to do.

            I rather focus on the element of the priesthood: that both made offerings, and this is a priestly act, which all may do in different ways because they are baptized. Not every offering is acceptable to God. Consider these verses from a Psalm: “For you do not desire sacrifice, a burnt offering you would not accept; My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit, a broken, humbled hear, O God, do not spurn” (Ps 51:18-19). And again, the Lord tells us to leave our gift at the altar and be reconciled with our brother before we offer it, as if love of neighbor is part of our worship of God, if we desire it to be true worship.

            The offering of sacrifice, therefore, must be accompanied with repentance and a firm resolution to love both God and neighbor. Some aspect of this was deficient in Cain’s offering.

            This can happen in the Church in two ways, in the offering of the laity, and in the offering of the priests. The laity may make offering to God on the altar of their hearts, for they are priests by baptism, different from the ordained ministry, that offers the sacrifice of the Eucharist on the altar of the Church. The laity who are not repentant find themselves in the state of Cain. The clergy who are unrepentant, likewise, especially as they offer the Mass, perhaps offer it in sin.

            Sin is the greatest obstacle of our worship of God, of our love for our neighbor, and the holiness of our lives. Let us beg the Blessed Virgin to keep us free from sin, and to lead us to heaven.

42. When Cain was angry with God, because God did not accept his offering, Cain’s “countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.’” (Gen 4:5-7).

            St. Paul says this, “now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval…” (Heb 11:1) and this reminds us of the expression in Gen 4:5, “God did not accept Cain’s offering.”

            A couple verses later, the Apostle writes, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts; he died, but through is faith he is still speaking” (Heb 11:4).

            As we saw yesterday how both repentance and charity are required to offer a gift worthily, we see here that faith is, as well. We can only conclude that Abel had faith, and Cain did not. In Hebrews, it seems that because Cain had no faith, he was rejected.

            Because Cain did not have this trust in unseen things, and especially in God himself, that is, because Cain did not have faith, the Lord told him, “Sin is couching at the door, it’s desire is for you.” Sin is portrayed here as a living thing, for Satan, the Lord of Lies and father of murders, is alive, and he is associated to all the sins of the world.

            Cain found himself before this choice: love, repentance and faith on the one hand; and sin and servitude on the other. For if Cain had the sin of faithlessness up to now, a worse sin was still awaiting him. Sadly, he chose sin. Cain the priest was a murderer, and later in Genesis 4, he appears as a lover of every form of worldliness in the worst sense. Because he was a priest, he was capable of falling farther into evil than another who might not be a priest. He was given more, and lost more.

            It is especially easy for many souls in our day, especially in America, to lose the sense of faith. Life boils down to the big party, to the immediate satisfaction, to the things I can see, to the present moment. Those without faith think of living it up, the arrogance of the world, paradise on earth and the enjoyment of all pleasures. Those with faith keep in mind death, judgment, heaven and hell. Let us resist the way of the world, and be men and women of profound faith in God, a faith of true trust, a faith incarnated in works of charity, a faith which justifies the joy of our hope. Amen.

43. “Cain said to Abel his brother, ‘Let us go out to the field.’ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him” (Gen 4:8).

            This expression, “Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him,” is the perfect summary of all those who persecute the Catholic Church. For when one man kills another, because that other is closer to the true God, that is persecution, and that is also exactly what Cain did. And the sad fact is, Cain was a priest, who offered sacrifice to God.

            I therefore wish to meditate on this, that no one can be as wicked a sinner as the man who was raised high close to God. In other words, following Christ is the greatest risk one can undertake, for he might gain more than he ever had, but he might also loose more than he can afford. It is the “wager,” of which Paschal spoke, but in a different sense. Paschal’s wager was a wager on your eternal life: he compares what happens if you live a holy life or evil life, and in each instance whether God exists or not. The conclusion is that it’s a gamble worth taking, and one can wager that God exists in peace.

            So the wager of which I speak is a different one. Man is not gambling over whether God exists, God’s gambling about what you will do with his graces. How many people were great in the world, and scandalous to God. Adolf Hitler was a Catholic altar boy. Josef Stalin was a seminarian. Even Judas was one of the Twelve – one of the Twelve! And have we not seen so many priests in our time fall to scandalous ruin? Yet not all those accused are guilty, a small consolation among so much woe. Those who were given great gifts fell to horrific depths.

            Yet not all. Augustine and his wisdom, Aquinas and his intelligence, Maria Goretti and her youthful purity, Benedict and his piety, Francis Xavier and his zeal, Jean de Brebeuf and his loving heart – all these became saints. So assess the gifts God has given you, not with vanity but with a touch of dread, knowing that with these you can become either a great saint, or greatly evil, such as Cain.

44. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground” (Gen 4:9-10).

            Two homilies remain to us for the consideration of the priesthood of Cain the Murderer and Abel the Innocent. Today I will focus on the expression, “the voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground,” and next time, I will turn to a reflection we find in the first Epistle of St. John.

            About Abel’s blood, two things strike us right away: first, that blood does not speak, but God here says it does; second, that the spilling of blood is proper to the priesthood, but here it is done in a sinful manner.

            I think the first riddle is solved by realizing that there is a figure of speech by which a part stands for the whole. If a sailor says he sees a sail on the horizon, he means he sees another boat. If Homer describes the Achaean’s spears marching into battle, he means that soldiers do. If a man praises his friend because he always has a joyful face, he means that not only his face but the whole of his friend is joyful. And so it is that the blood here refers to Abel; it is the part which draws attention, because of Cain’s act, yet Abel is not dead, he lives. It is Abel who calls out to God for vengeance against those who persecute the innocent. We find in the book of Revelation, when the fifth seal is broken, that St. John writes, “I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God. They cried out in a loud voice, ‘How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?’” (Rev 6:9-10). Endless rich meditation comes from comparing these verses to the slaying of Abel; he is a priest, they are at the altar; the wicked are the “inhabitants of the earth,” and Cain became a sort of unholy lord of all worldly crafts (Gen 4:16-25), for he “went away from the Lord” (Gen 4:16).

            Then we see that it was blood that was spilt. It is a regular practice for priests to make sacrifices to God for the atonement of sin, and animals are killed, and burned. Sacrifice is essential to the priesthood (cf. Aquinas, S.Th., I-II, q. 102), because man forfeits something of his use and offers it to God; even when he consumes part of the sacrifice, it is not for the utility of satisfying hunger, but as a religious symbol of communion. Use and utility always come second to faith, hope and love for God. But Cain here killed not an animal, but rather a man. He killed and it was murder, for it was not a justifiable killing; not all killing is murder. He did so not as an act of worship, but in contempt of Abel’s worship.

            Some applications for our own lives can be drawn out. First, remember that you are a priest by baptism. Hatred for your brother has no place in your life, therefore. Second, when you individually, or the Church as a society, is persecuted, do not loose your peace: God will avenge his beloved down to the last detail. So tremendous will his vengeance be, you will pity your persecutors, but even more will you glory in the justice of God. Third, remember that in the Eucharist we find true and living blood, that of Christ, who cries out to the Father; but Christ, like Abel, even if an innocent victim, he was a willing victim, and had his blood spilt on purpose, not to destroy the world, but to save the world. May holy communion today, therefore, bring great peace to the soul, through Mary’s intercession.

45. “For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, unlike Cain, who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous. Do not be amazed, then, brothers, if out world hates you” (1 John 3:11-13).

            We have had two explanations provided in the scriptures for the reasons of Cain’s wickedness, and today we have a third. First, because he had neither faith nor charity (see our comments on Gen 4:4-5 above). Second, because he had no faith, as is said in the letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:4). Now St. John gives us a third reason, that Cain did not love his brother.

            “Do not be amazed, then, brothers, if the world hates you,” St. John instructs us. When good and evil look at each other, their interior dispositions are different. Both wish to negate one another, but in a different way. Good wishes to negate evil by redemption; that is, by casting light where there is darkness, by providing fire to cold hearts, by converting the sinner from death to life. Evil, on the contrary, wishes to negate evil in a manner proportionate to it’s own evil nature, that is, by negation, by destruction, by death. The war that exists between good and evil is not waged in a similar manner, therefore, on the two sides.

            Evil, therefore, will hate you. Evil men will hate you. You will desire their salvation and redemption, and they will seek to annihilate you. It is in the nature, or better said the “anti-nature,” of evil. I have seen this happen often, especially among the weak men whom God calls to be priests, that when one priest refuses to collaborate with the sins of another, the sinner does nothing more than procure destruction. Think of people who are publicly humiliated by their priests, simply because they wanted to kneel for communion; deformed in their theology, faithless as regards the Eucharist, they have contempt for those who venerate the host, as Cain the priest had contempt for Abel his brother. Be not surprised, then, if the world hates you. If your family hates you. If your friends stop being friends and hate you. If at work, school, at the stores and shops, if in doctors offices and sometimes even in parishes, if others hate you. But do not become, I beg you in the name of God, like Cain; rather, forgive them, love them, serve them, bless them when they curse you, and return good for evil.

            This is what Christ the priest did on the cross, by repaying our sins with his merciful redemption. Amen.

Part III - Abraham, the Priest who Sacrificed Isaac, an Unbloody and Innocent Victim

46. “God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, an offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you’” (Gen 22:1-2).

            Advent has begun, advent of the Year for Priests. We have already progressed five months into this year, and it is good to examine ourselves on how we are living out this year, and how we propose to until June 19, coming swifter than we might think, of 2010. I propose for your consideration two topics for Advent, First, the sacrifice of Abraham, who by offering his son appears as a priest of God. And second, if time allows, a briefer meditation on the passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews which says, “Behold I come,” etc.

            We just read the first verses of this passage; chronologically, we find ourselves long before Moses. The key to understanding the whole passage is the following: As Abraham is to God the Father, so Isaac is to God the Son.

            God is instructing Abraham to act only as God himself does in history. When he says, “Take your son, your only son,” God himself took his own Son, the Eternal Son, who always was, and through whom the world was made.

            “Your son, Isaac.” Isaac is mentioned 19 times in the New Testaments: twice in genealogies (Mt 1:2; Lk 3:34), eight times in the expression, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob” (Mt 8:11, 22:32; Mar 12:26; Lk 13:28, 20:37; Acts 3:13, 7:8 7:32). St. Paul refers to Isaac eight times. He points out that through Isaac the promise, that Abraham would father a great nation, would come to be, referring to Gen 21:12 (Rom 9:7), and there calls him “our” forefather, patriarch even of the Christians (Rom 9:10). In Galatians, St. Paul points to him as the free son, in opposition to Ishmael son of the slave woman, to point out the difference of slavery and freedom in the household of God (Gal 4:28). Five times the Apostle mentions Isaac is mentioned in Hebrews 11 (vv. 9, 17, 18, 19 and 20), and we will come to discuss that passage later, as it has much to bear on the topic of our reflections, and in this same sense is cited by James in his Epistle (2:21). Isaac is therefore an especially rich character in the Scriptures.

            God says to Abraham, “Your only son, whom you love,” for the Father loves the Son, and shares his whole being with him. Adding, “whom you love,” the Lord seems to point the fact of his love out, to make his sacrifice more bitter; David too wept for the demise of his son, Absalom, even though Absalom behaved shamefully towards his father.

            Today, then, we have this to consider: that God the Father offered his Son as a sacrifice, the supreme sacrifice, out of love for you and for all poor sinners. Amen.

47. “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife… And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here am I, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide himself with the lamb for a burnt offering, my son’” (Gen 22:6-8 passim).

            A priest is one who makes sacrifice to God. Even the pagans understood this, and pagans had pagan priests for their pagan gods. Priests offer sacrifice. Abraham offered the sacrifice of his son; ergo, Abraham is a priest.

            Obedient to God, he was sacrifice his very own son. God gave him, God would take him back; blessed be the name of the Lord. Now, Abraham already had the promise that through Isaac – not through any other son – would he become the father of a nation whose descendants would be as numerous as the stars. The Apostle in the letter to the Hebrews said that Abraham had faith that God would raise Isaac from the dead.

            Now, here I wish to focus on something I find very interesting. The English reads that Abraham was preparing for a “burnt offering.” In Greek the word we would expect to find is “holocausta,” from which we get “holocaust” in English; the word is a union of two terms meaning “whole” and “burnt.” But the word here is not “holocaust,” but “holokarposis.” This is also a union of two words, “whole,” and “fruit, fruitfulness.” Yet in various places in the Old Testament this word is used, and a burnt offering is understood. Karpos means “fruit.” (Example: “blessed is the fruit of your womb.”)

            We recently meditated on the difference of the sacrifices of Cain and of Abel. Abel offered the first “fruits,” but Cain’s sacrifice, we saw, was empty of faith, full of pride and not repentant. Abel’s was the acceptable sacrifice. I think here the choice of words implies that Abraham was not only offering a sacrifice, but, like Abel, a sacrifice full of those same three qualities that typified Abel’s sacrifice: a sacrifice of faith, an acceptable sacrifice, and a sacrifice prefiguring the Eucharist.

            Abraham’s offering of Isaac was full of faith, because he trusted in the resurrection, and knew “God would provide”; Abraham obeyed God with unconditional trust. It was an acceptable sacrifice, because it was willed by God. It prefigured the Eucharist especially because it was eventually an unbloody sacrifice.

48. “When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built and altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son” (Gen 22:9-10).

            We have seen how Abraham and Isaac reveal something of the Holy Trinity. Abraham stands in for the Father, Isaac for the Son, and their mutual love for the Holy Spirit.

            See in these two verses, then, applying this paradigm, a revelation of the Eucharist and of the Holy Mass.

            For in the Mass, the Son perpetuated his sacrifice in the flesh. His body and blood are separated, both species transubstantiated. In every crumb of the host or drop in the chalice, there is the fullness of the body, blood, human soul and Godly divinity of the second person of the Holy Trinity. The Eucharist is not the Father, nor the Spirit, just as neither the Father nor the Spirit died on the cross; and this is a mystery to our minds, for we know God is One even if in Three Persons. This separating of the body and blood, as a form of worship, is a priestly act. As Christ is subject to no one but sovereign God of all things, no one offers Christ but himself. He does so by his docility to the will of the Father.

            See here then, that Isaac was bound, and put up no resistance or fight. He too was a boy of great faith, a faith far more mature than his age would let us think. He was docile to the will of the Father, and he was so out of love and trust.

            As Abraham lay his beloved son Isaac upon the altar for the separation of his body and blood, so the Father provides the Church with his only begotten Son upon Catholic altars for the separation of the two species of the Eucharist, bread and wine.

            It is then Christ the Priest, who, at every Mass, offers himself; he himself is Priest, and Altar, and Victim. To whom does he offer himself? To the Father. And he does this through the Holy Spirit, who works the whole mystery of the Eucharist.

            The agent, or the “one who does,” or shall we say the “personal cause” of the Eucharist is not Father So-and-so, nor is it the assembled Church as some contemporary theologians might want us to believe. The Trinity is the object and subject of the sacred liturgy. If the liturgy is not the entirety of being Catholic, but one needs to live out his life in so many diverse actions and circumstances, the liturgy is nonetheless and always the center of Catholic life, as the Trinity is the center of our own religion.

            It was to save sinners, “for us men and for our salvation,” that the Father put forth his Son to die for you and for me. This is the reason God became man, the reason of Christmas for which we prepare this Advent. Let him, then, work in your souls. Do not resist him, and remove the obstacles to grace. So great a price was paid for you: what more could God have done to show you his love?

            Ah, but he did do something more: he gave us his mother, to whom we commend the salvation of our souls, with as much trust as Isaac in Abraham. Amen.

49. “Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to hi; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me’” (Gen 22:10-12).

            During Advent, we contemplate how the Father did not withhold his son, his Only Begotten Son, and that the Son emptied himself (cf. Phil. 2:6 ff.) for us.

            We could object to verse 12; how can it be said that he did not withhold his son, when his son was not slain? The command of God was to “offer” his Son, as a “holokarposis,” a word for “offering,” as we have seen, not meaning necessarily “burnt offering,” but “offering-of-the-whole-fruit,” a term which evoked the offering of Abel. Isaac was the whole fruit of Abrahams paternity, and he offered it to God.

            This is an important lesson, then, and draws a further analogy between the sacrifice of Abraham and the Eucharist: that both are unbloody sacrifices. Yes, blood was shed, vicariously – we shall consider that tomorrow. Unbloody sacrifices are acceptable to God, and if they are offered, they must be offered in perfect obedience. It is the obedience of faith, in fact, which justified Abraham and made him holy, as St. Paul teaches (especially in Galatians).

            Indeed, we find Abraham saying again and again in this passage, “Here I am.” He said this expression first to God, then to Isaac, then again to God. When God calls, man should respond with obedience, as did Abraham. God has called us in Baptism, and there is no greater expression of love than this obedience in faith. Obedience unto the supreme sacrifice.

            We can apply all this to our lives in various ways. First, by our obedience to God and the Church. We have the commandments, the laws of God, the teachings of the saints: let us do as we are told, and humbly progress, in obedience, along the way of salvation. Secondly, we can contemplate in the Eucharist that the Lord is truly sacrificed for us, but in an unbloody manner – under species, rather, of bread and wine – a sacrifice which the Son offers to the Father… out of love for you! You are the cause of his sacrifice, the final cause, the purpose and reason why. This leads us to a third application to our lives, and that is to strive to correspond to God’s great love with increased effort during this season of advent. Amen.

50. “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son” (Gen 22:13).

         While our previous reflection drew the association between the sacrifice of Isaac and the Eucharist based on the fact that both were unbloody sacrifices, here we see a second basis of comparison, that the sacrifice in each case is vicarious. The ram substituted Isaac and stood for true worship of God. Then Christ stood in for the sinner, and stood for true expiation for sin.

51. “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’ (Gen 15:6); and he was called the friend of God” (James 2:21-23).

            After considering the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham in Genesis 22, we discover this passage in the Epistle of James which refers directly to the offering of Isaac. Abraham was as a priest, making an offering to God. St. James tells us three things: first, that the offering of this priest worked justification; second, that the works were not empty works, but works done in faith; third, that the faith was perfected by the works; and fourth, that he who practices faith and works together enjoys friendship with God.

            First, the work of the offering justified Abraham, because it was done in obedience. He justified not only himself, but, through him, the nation to come from Isaac would be blessed, even to being the people of the Savior. And so the Lord tells us in command, regarding the Eucharist, “Do this in memory of me.” And we obey; this obedience makes us holy, and makes the whole Church holy.

            Second, Abraham’s works were not done mechanically, externally or by rote memory. “Faith was active along with his works.” And so the Catholic who does not apply himself with interior fervor to the discipline of Catholic life might fulfill all the exteriors, but never become sanctified, or only very little holy, because of his lack of faith. How sad that even a priest could be faithful in the exteriors, but be spiritually mediocre, interiorly numb to all matters of faith. Sad for a priest, and for any Catholic.

            Third, Abraham had faith, but by executing the commands of the faith, brought words to reality. The Blessed Virgin’s faith was perfect, too, because she said, “Be it done unto me according to your word.” So if we live the faith, we must profess with our mouth, but then do what our faith says with our hands and with our lives, or else our faith is imperfect.

            Fourth, St. James says that Abraham enjoyed the friendship of God because of the perfection of his faith made real by his works. Yet every heart longs to love God, and to be loved by God. Faith leads to this love.

            Let us therefore practice our faith, with obedience, with fervor, with deeds and with love for God and neighbor.

52. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your descendants be named’ (Gen 21:12). He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence did he receive him back and this was a symbol” (Heb 11:17-19).

            We now turn to a few homilies now about the Epistle to the Hebrews. This passage from chapter eleven, provides our last homily about Abraham and Isaac, and during the novena, we will focus on the coming of Christ the Priest into the world as the Apostle tells us in Hebrews 10.

            Indeed, we pointed out that Isaac is like God the Son, and Abraham God the Father, and that there are comparative qualities in the Eucharist which every priest offers and all the faithful are called to receive, that is, the qualities of being unbloody and vicarious.

            Here St. Paul points out an extremely important dimension of the sacrifice of Isaac: the resurrection from the dead. Isaac returned to his father alive in the flesh. So, too, Christ returned to heaven in the flesh. We therefore see a prophecy here of both the resurrection and ascension.

            The “symbolic” return of Isaac to Abraham is extremely appropriate for Advent. For the return of Christ to the Father at the Ascension was a revelation of the return of Christ to the world at the end of time: “Men of Galilee, why do you stare up in the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). And in Advent, on the occasion of meditating on Christ’s first coming, the Church encourages the faithful to spiritually prepare for his second coming. For return he most certainly will; and for that return, we must be ready, by a life full of grace and love for God and neighbor.

            Yet, does not Christ return to the world daily? And in many places, everywhere a priest offers the sacrifice on a Catholic altar? He returns to you today at Mass, the same Lord who was born in Bethlehem, who did miracles and preached, who called the twelve, who died for sinners, and who rose from the dead. Let us prepare for his coming in the Eucharist as if we were preparing for the very End.

            This concludes our meditations on Abraham, who, as priest, made a supreme offering to God, in the obedience of faith.