Monastery of the Holy Cross

  • Home
  • About
    • Benedictine Life
    • History
  • Visit Us
    • Guesthouse
    • Prayer Schedule
      • Christmas 2024
    • The Catholic Readers Society
    • Caskets
  • Vocations
    • Monastic Experience Weekend
    • Formation
    • Oblates
      • Oblate Podcast
  • Solemn Vespers
    • Chant
  • Contact
  • Donate

Et Incarnatus Est – The Prior’s Blog

The Progress of Advent

December 17, 2024

In days long ago, before the invention of Twitter, when kings, governors, and others occupying the highest levels of authority wished to communicate with their subjects, they relied on the spoken word. Most often, messages from the palace or capital were delivered by heralds. Upon more solemn and serious occasions, however, the monarch would make his or her own “progress” through the cities, towns, and villages of the realm. These were graver occasions not merely because of the requirements of royal pomp. Certain pressing issues at a local level were reserved for the judgment of the sovereign himself. When the sovereign was just, this was good news for those who loved peace and justice. The arrival of the king, his “advent,” was an affair of great municipal fervor. Extending several miles from the destination town, the royal route would be richly decorated. At various stations along the way, singers and dancers awaited the royal progress and celebrated the king’s or queen’s approach. When the sovereign finally arrived, the celebrations began in earnest. Then, of course, the work began, courts were drawn up, cases were heard, and judgments were dispensed. The sovereign then began the journey to the next town.

Before the institution of a hereditary  monarchy in ancient Israel, the king was God Himself. God communicated through heralds, who occupied the social positions of prophet or judge (priests, too, occasionally divined God’s will by use of the mysterious urim and thummim). God’s most memorable advent was His descent into Egypt to take Israel out from slavery and to pass judgement on Pharaoh and his army. As time went on,  such miraculous manifestations of God’s judgment became harder to discern. The great crisis was the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 586 B.C. and the deportation of the most important Judahites to exile in Babylon.  In spite of the high-flown and inspired rhetoric of Second Isaiah (chapters 40-55 of the book of that bears his name), the restoration of Jerusalem under the benevolent sponsorship of the Persian empire never quite took hold of the people’s imagination as had the Exodus. No wonder: many Jews opted to remain in Babylon and in Egypt, where life was decidedly less rugged than in the hills of Judea.

Most of the literary prophets of the Hebrew Bible grapple with this problem. The general solution proposed is that God will, at some future time, once again make His royal progress from His heavenly throne, and through an appointed Messiah, execute judgment on the idolatrous nations that successively dominated God’s chosen people. This “day of the Lord” was often enough a frightful event, but the goal was always the eventual restoration of justice and shalom, the peace that is “ordered tranquility [Saint Augustine’s phrase],” the world as God had intended it to be.

In the Christian proclamation, when God did make His advent, it was in a most unexpected manner. His herald, the angel Gabriel, went not into the public square, not to the courts of Herod (much less those of the faraway emperor, now in Rome), but to the humble dwelling of the Virgin Mary. God was indeed to make His solemn entry into the world, but it would be in an obscure village as a vulnerable infant. He would go unrecognized by nearly everyone until, ironically enough, His return to the Father at the Ascension. In the Incarnation, the Son of God came not to issue final judgment, but to invite all to a new way of thinking about the world. No longer is it divided into antagonized interest groups and national factions (though Israel would always remain God’s first love). Salvation and shalom (“My peace I give you—not as the world gives…”) would be offered to all peoples by the humble carpenter of Nazareth to those who would take seriously His offer to repent and undergo a change of heart.

We now wait for the ultimate advent, what is often called the Parousia or Second Coming, but each year, we call to mind this first “royal progress” of the infant King, so as to be reminded of His offer of peace and joy. “No one ever spoke like this man [John 7: 46]!” May these Final Days assist us in our preparation to celebrate the approaching Kingdom of God!

 

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 12:7

December 13, 2024

“The Lord appeared to Abram.”

Why does the Lord appear to Abram and not Noah, when we are told that Noah also was just? We will discover that Abram goes beyond justice when he pleads for Sodom and Gomorrah, whereas Noah made no apparent effort to save others besides his family from the Flood. That is to say, in wrath, he remembered mercy [Hab. 3: 2]. Since he accurately conveyed this quality of God, he also was found worthy to be the source of blessings for all the families of the earth.

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 12:6-9

December 10, 2024

“Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem…”

Jacob will later recapitulate the very movement of Abram: entering from the north, he will first abide at Shechem, then Bethel, and then Hebron. While the proximate approach is from the north, they are ultimately coming from ‘the East’, where God had originally planted the Garden. Abram/Abraham and Jacob are gradually being acclimated to the idea that the way to their true home passes through this promised land.  The location of Jerusalem and the Temple of God’s presence have not yet been revealed, except in an obscure manner in the Binding of Isaac.

Spiritually, this is an indication that our return to God, to the image and likeness that was ours before sin, requires us to go out from the things that keep us attached to the world. We must journey by stages toward a place that God will reveal only when we have perfected our faith. We cannot ‘go back’ to an Edenic existence, at least by a direct route. As in Dante’s Inferno, the only way back is by journeying through the land of unlikeness, learning to let go of every spiritual hindrance.

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 11:32

December 6, 2024

“Terah died in Haran.”

Interestingly, Terah, Abraham’s father, begins this sojourn away from Ur toward Canaan. But like Moses and the generation of the Exodus, he is not permitted to enter into the Promised Land. We are told that Abraham “took…all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran.” [12: 5-6] This happens so that nothing tainted by Ur will accompany Abraham. Terah was appointed to bring the family into this place of transition.  But there the things of Ur were forgotten, and new possessions were acquired.  This mystically represents the uprooting of vice and the acquisition of virtue before we can properly enter upon the vision of God in His dwelling place.

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 11:31

December 3, 2024

“They went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans.”

The rabbis tell us that the name ‘Ur’ (‘ur) is related to the word for ‘light’. Abraham was ‘tried in the fire’ of the Chaldeans, just as his later descendants, the Three Young Men spoken of in Daniel, were tried in the fires of idolatrous Babylon in the days of the Exile. Abraham, our ‘father in faith’, foreshadowed Israel’s return to the Holy Land. He, too, departed from the gods of Babylon/Chaldea to follow the promptings of the One God.

The way of faith is a way of darkness.  To go forth from Ur is to go forth from the light of the earthly senses into the darkness of the purgative way.  Abraham now ‘walks by faith and not by sight’ [2 Cor 5: 7], journeying ‘by paths they never knew’ [Is. 42: 16], allowing God to ‘turn the darkness before them into light.’

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 11:9 (Part 3)

November 26, 2024

“The Lord confused the language of all the earth.”

(Here are the first and second parts of the scholion on this verse.)

The confusion of languages is also displayed in an ironic and ominous way in the modern academy. The effort of the various disciplines to delve more and more deeply into narrower subjects results in a situation in which inter-disciplinary discussion is simply impossible. Who can discuss the fineries of theology and the mechanics of cellular evolution at the same time? Who in each discipline can even begin to understand the vocabulary and significance of the work of the other? We see how even our well-intended human quests, tinted perhaps by a certain pride, end in the scattering of knowledge.

This is most dangerous where, for example, ethicists and biological researchers cannot comprehend one another. What results will this have for human beings? It seems to me that many of the more frightening advances in medicine will either not benefit the poor, who cannot afford highly specialized procedures, or will actively harm them (witness the incentives involved in finding live or recently-deceased research subjects). And yet, rather than slow down and take the time to listen for what will benefit all, we instead let our desire to ‘make a name for ourselves’ [Gen. 11: 4] continue to drive us on down who knows what bitter road.

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 11:9 (Part 2)

November 19, 2024

“The Lord confused the language of all the earth.”

(Here are the first part of the scholion on this verse.)

We cannot understand the full meaning of the confusion of languages without reference to its remedy in the story of Pentecost morning. The presence of the Holy Spirit made it possible for the Jews on pilgrimage from every land to understand the Apostles’ teaching in their own native language. From this we see that the solution to the confusion of tongues is not ‘Esperanto’ or some kind of universal code. Any such attempts are bound to the limitations of any single human language, and will force all persons into an artificial discourse, presided over by the humanly powerful. Rather, God preserves the uniqueness of each language, and by extension each individual voice. But in the power of the Holy Spirit individuals can now understand one another and rejoice to discover how diversity enriches. Understanding the Other no longer entails the danger of losing myself.

We also see that ‘purity’ is not achieved by destroying all differences, but by eliminating sin and violence. As soon as bricks and mortar are mentioned in the story of the Tower of Babel, every listening Israelite, mindful of his Egyptian slavery, would be asking, “Whose backs were broken to construct this ridiculous tower?” All this to ‘make a name’ for some anonymous ‘ourselves’ [Gen. 11:4]—undoubtedly, the materially wealthy and powerful.

The outcome of the Babel project was liberation for the voice of the oppressed and the exposure of the ‘impurity’ at the project’s heart. Restoring purity is not, therefore, to be seen as reimposing one language (English?) on all peoples, but by all people coming to an understanding of one another, thereby purifying hearts and uniting the members of the body in one mutually-beneficial working order.

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 11:9 (Part 1)

November 1, 2024

“The Lord confused the language of all the earth.”

The confusion of language keeps us from building towers of ideological abstraction. In this, we can agree with the ‘deconstructionist’ philosophers who warn us away from discourse that gives no room to the ‘Other’.

‘Mixing’ the language (Hebrew: balal) moves in the opposite direction of purity, which is what God is seeking in our hearts. In this way, we can see that the confusion of languages and cultures is a gift from God to help us see the impurity, confusion and mixed motives of our own hearts. When we are unable to see this, we are overly confident in our ability to conceive grand schemes to unite peoples. But our impure hearts neglect to consider the violence required to do this ‘uniting’ without God.

The fact that others speak unintelligible tongues is an invitation for us to see them precisely as ‘Other’, to recognize that other persons are not projections of my own will. Making others intelligible to me is an invitation to go out of myself, to learn the patient ways of attentiveness. When in public debate all are saying the same thing, this frequently conceals some kind of violence, usually happening ‘offstage’.

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 8:6-12 (Part 3)

October 29, 2024

“Then Noah sent forth a dove.”

(Here are the first and second parts of the scholion on this verse.)

As the raven was sent forth before the dove, the Holy Spirit goes forth mysteriously to prepare matter to receive God’s informing Word.  Thus, as the Spirit broods like a bird of prey at Creation, prior to God’s speaking, so the raven flies ‘to and fro’ over the waters before the re-creation after the Flood.  So, too, does the Holy Spirit overshadow the Virgin Mary to prepare her to conceive the Word Incarnate in her womb.

Scholia on Genesis: Genesis 8:6-12 (Part 2)

October 25, 2024

“Then Noah sent forth a dove.”

(Here is the first part of the scholion on this verse.)

Just as Noah sent forth the dove three times, so the Son of God is sent three times.  The first time, He comes as the Son of Man, with ‘nowhere to rest his head’ just as the dove found no place to rest.  His second coming is mystically, after the resurrection, and as the dove brought back an olive branch, so Jesus appears to His disciples saying, “Peace be with you.”  And so we recall this coming in peace before we consume the holy Eucharist each day.  When He comes the third time in glory, it will be the establishment of new heavens and a new earth, and He will no longer return to the Father, for God will be all in all.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to page 5
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 25
  • Go to Next Page »

Blog Topics

  • Beauty (11)
  • Contemplative Prayer (47)
  • Contra Impios (2)
  • Culture (18)
  • Discernment (21)
  • Formation (8)
  • General (40)
  • Going to the Father (18)
  • Gregorian Chant (5)
  • Holy Spirit (3)
  • Jottings (25)
  • Liturgy (78)
  • Meditations on Heaven (4)
  • Monastic Life (42)
  • Moral Theology (43)
  • Music (17)
  • Scripture (52)
  • Vatican II and the New Evangelization (20)

Blog Archives

  • May 2025 (1)
  • April 2025 (4)
  • March 2025 (4)
  • February 2025 (3)
  • January 2025 (5)
  • December 2024 (8)
  • November 2024 (3)
  • October 2024 (9)
  • September 2024 (8)
  • August 2024 (9)
  • July 2024 (9)
  • June 2024 (8)
  • May 2024 (9)
  • April 2024 (4)
  • November 2023 (1)
  • April 2023 (1)
  • December 2022 (1)
  • October 2022 (1)
  • March 2022 (1)
  • February 2022 (1)
  • August 2021 (2)
  • June 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (1)
  • April 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (2)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (4)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (4)
  • April 2020 (9)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (1)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • February 2019 (3)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • November 2018 (2)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • September 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (2)
  • June 2018 (4)
  • May 2018 (7)
  • April 2018 (1)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • February 2018 (1)
  • January 2018 (2)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (2)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (1)
  • February 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (3)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • April 2016 (5)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (1)
  • November 2015 (2)
  • October 2015 (3)
  • August 2015 (10)
  • July 2015 (12)
  • June 2015 (17)
  • May 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (7)

In This Section

  • Benedictine Life
  • History
  • Et Incarnatus Est – The Prior’s Blog
 
© 2025 Monastery of the Holy Cross
  • Accessibility
Web Design by ePageCity