Sunday

1 John…Dearly beloved: Marvel not, if the world hate you. We
know that we have passed from death unto life, because
we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in
death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know
that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby per-
ceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath
this worlds good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth
up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of
God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we
are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our
heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we con-
fidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him,
because we keep his commandments, and do those things that
are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we
should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one
another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his
commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we
know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Saint Focus: the most contemporary saint in America is St. John Maximovich of San Francisco. Born in Russia, he left the country when the Bolsheviks took over going first to Yugoslavia, then to Shanghai and finally San Francisco. In all three places he was loved by the people and in all three places he fed them spiritual food and provided needed leadership during trying times. Like a bee spreading pollen to grow flowers, St. John spread the Gospel to enliven the Faithful across the world.

Monday
*Practical Commentary cont.

[Ex. 25–27]

HITHERTO the Israelites had no fixed place of worship nor, properly speaking, any priesthood. Their patriarchs had offered sacrifice to God; now in one place, now in another. In later times, the heads of families had exercised the priestly functions; but this state of things was no longer to exist. Moses, while conversing with the Lord on the mountain, had received from Him the clearest and most definite directions regarding divine worship, with all the ceremonies that were to accompany it.

Moses, therefore, built a shrine or Tabernacle (Fig. 27) that could be taken to pieces and carried from place to place. It was a portable tabernacle, or church, as we should call it, and well suited to the wandering life of the children of Israel. It was made of the most precious wood. Its length was thirty, its breadth ten, and its height also ten cubits. The boards were overlaid with plates of gold, and furnished with sockets of silver. It was divided into two parts: the fore part, which was the larger, was called the Sanctuary; the smaller part was called the Holy of Holies. Each part was separated from the other by a curtain worked with great art. Outside and around was a covered court for the people.

On the inside the roof and the walls were covered with rich tapestry, and on the outside with skins and furs. Moreover, on the ceiling of the Sanctuary as also on its inner walls, was fastened a most precious weaving in very brilliant colours, adorned with an embroidery of cherubim and palms and flowers.

In the Holy of Holies he placed the Ark of the Covenant   which was covered with gold within and without. At its four corners, on the outside, were attached rings of gold, through which bars, overlaid with gold, were passed, whereby to carry the Ark. In the Ark he put the tables of the Law. As these tables, on which the Ten Commandments were written, contained the chief heads of the Old Covenant, the Ark itself was called the Ark of the Covenant. Later on, there was also placed in the Ark a vase filled with Manna, and the rod of Aaron. He then placed over the Ark a cover or lid of the purest gold, called the Propitiatory, at the ends of which stood two cherubim of beaten gold, looking at each other, and spreading their wings so as to overshadow the Propitiatory.

In the Holy were three principal sacred objects: 1. the altar of incense   made of acacia wood and overlaid with the purest gold. On this altar was offered the daily sacrifice of incense. 2. The seven-branched candlestick wrought of the finest gold, on which seven lamps were burning perpetually . The table of the twelve loaves of proposition, or shew-breads, likewise overlaid with the finest gold . These loaves were unleavened bread made of the finest flour and had to be renewed every Sabbath. By the side of the table stood a golden vial filled with wine. In the outer court stood the brazen altar on which the holocausts were burnt , and by its side a brazen laver for the use of the priests. The people had to remain in the outer court. Only the priests were allowed to enter the Holy, and into the Holy of Holies no one but the High Priest could enter, once a year (on the great day of Expiation).

When all was completed according to God’s command, Moses poured sacred oil on the Tabernacle, and on all it contained; and then the cloud covered the Ark of the Covenant, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle, and rested between the two cherubim. As often as Moses had occasion to consult the Lord, he received an answer of Him from the Propitiatory of the Holy of Holies.

Tuesday
*Explanation of the meaning of the Tabernacle

The immediate meaning of the building of the Tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant, in which were kept the two tables of the law, was more costly than anything else in the Tabernacle. By it the Israelites were to be constantly reminded of the covenant made with God as to the strict observance of the Commandments. The Manna, which was also deposited in the Ark, was to remind them of God’s loving guidance and preservation of them, and move them to love and trust Him. As cherubim kept guard over Paradise, so they now watched over the Ark of the Covenant; and, at the same time, they reminded the people that they should worship God, and serve Him as willingly as do the angels in heaven. The golden candlestick with its lights always burning was an emblem of faith in the true God, and admonished the Israelites to live according to that faith, to avoid the works of darkness, and walk in God’s presence. The laver and the strict laws regarding ablutions were to remind the priests that they ought to approach the holy service of God with clean hearts. The never-ceasing smoke, ascending from the altar of incense, bade the people to lift up their hearts to God, and send up constant prayers, like incense, to heaven. The loaves of the proposition were a perpetual exhortation to be grateful to God, from whom come all good gifts for our souls as well as our bodies. The curtain, which shut off the Holy of Holies, and through which even the High Priest dared pass only once a year, signified “that the way into the holies was not yet made manifest” (Hebr. 9:8). As God was present in the pillar of cloud, resting on the Ark, so the Tabernacle was God’s dwelling in the midst of His people.

 “The Tabernacle is a parable of the time present” (i. e. the Christian era), writes St. Paul. It foreshadowed the Church of the New Testament and its houses of God. As there was only one Tabernacle and one divine worship instituted by God Himself, so there is only one Church and one true worship of Christ in the world instituted by Himself. In every Catholic church or chapel you will find the same divine worship regulated by one supreme authority, the Vicar of Christ. The different rites (Latin, Greek, Coptic, Syrian, Slavonic &c.) differ only in accidentals and are one even in their difference, because approved by one and the same authority. As there was a real but mysterious and hidden presence of God in the Tabernacle (in the cloud over the ark), so there is the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar. He is both the cloud and the living bread (Manna) that has come down from heaven to give life to the world.

As there was an altar of holocausts and bloody sacrifices and an altar of shew-breads, so there is in the New Testament one and the same altar ever representing the bloody sacrifice of the cross and ever offering up the “living bread that descended from heaven”. The seven lights are the seven Sacraments which are here dispensed, and the laver is the baptismal font and the confessional, where we are cleansed from our sins—or even the stoup of holy water, by the devout use of which venial sins are remitted. You can see, therefore, that in many respects the Tabernacle was a type, which finds its perfect fulfilment in our churches; and that even the poorest village-chapel is holier than was the Tabernacle of the Old Covenant. As the Tabernacle was divided into two parts, so our churches have two parts: one for the priests, called the sanctuary, and another for the faithful, called the body of the church. Hence the Tabernacle was a pattern for our Christian churches.

God’s Goodness to the Israelites was exceedingly great; for He deigned to dwell in their midst in a visible way, in the pillar of cloud. But immeasurably greater is God’s love and condescension to us; for His Divine Son made Man dwells with us not only in one place, but in thousands of different churches and chapels, under the appearance of bread, blesses us, offers Himself up for us, and feeds our souls with the bread from heaven, that contains within itself all sweetness. By God’s command Moses had figures of cherubim embroidered on the hangings of the Sanctuary, and placed golden cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. These images served for the glory of God and the edification of the Israelites. It is evident, therefore, that it is pleasing to God that we should venerate the images of the angels and saints.  Mary is called…the Ark of the Covenant, because she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, who instituted the New Covenant.

O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come and dwell in us, and cleanse us of all impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Wednesday

[Ex. 28–40. Lev. 1–10; 16; 21; 23; 25. Numb. 3; 4; 28; 29. Deut. 16–27]

BY God’s command Moses now prescribed what sacrifices were to be offered, together with the manner of offering them, and the times when they were to be offered. Some of these sacrifices were bloody, others unbloody. The former consisted of sheep, goats and oxen without blemish; the latter of flour, fruits, oil and wine. When the thing offered was wholly consumed on the altar, it was called a holocaust or whole-burnt offering, and represented the highest act of adoration. But when only the fat, as the most delicate part, was burned, and the rest eaten, it was called either a sacrifice of thanksgiving for benefits received, or a sacrifice of expiation for sins committed. The latter is also called a sin-offering or simply a sin.

Moses also instituted the feasts of the Lord; for the Lord had told him to establish, first, the Feast of the Pasch or Passover, in memory of the paschal lamb, eaten by the children of Israel on the night when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain, and also in memory of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. For seven days they were to eat unleavened bread while celebrating that feast.

Secondly, they were to keep holy, seven weeks after, the Feast of Pentecost, in remembrance of the law given them on Mount Sinai. On that day they were to bring the first-fruits of their harvest as an offering to the Lord. Thirdly, when the harvest was all gathered in, they were to solemnize the Feast of Tabernacles, during which they were to take branches of trees and build tents, and dwell in them, so that their descendants might learn how the Lord had made their fathers dwell in tents in the deserts. All the men of Israel were to appear on these three festivals before the Lord in the Tabernacle, and later on in the Temple.

There was also to be a day of expiation, kept as a most solemn fast. On that day the High Priest was to sacrifice a calf in atonement for his own sins, and a he-goat for the sins of the people. After the sacrifice he was to raise the veil, and enter into the Holy of Holies, taking with him the blood of the victim and the golden censer; he was then to incense the Propitiatory, or cover of the Ark, and to sprinkle it and the front of the Ark with the blood.

Finally, Moses consecrated Aaron as High Priest, his sons as priests, and the other men of the tribe of Levi as ministers of the Sanctuary. He purified Aaron with water, and clothed him with divers sacred vestments, chief of which was the ephod, a marvellous work of gold and purple and fine linen, the edges of which were ornamented with rich embroidery of gold.

He suspended from his neck the rational, on which were twelve stones, each bearing the name of one of the twelve tribes (Fig. 33); he placed upon his head the mitre, in the middle of which, in front, was a gold plate, with the inscription: “Holy to the Lord.” Finally, he poured oil upon his head, and consecrated him. After his sons and the Levites had also been consecrated, Aaron advanced to the altar, and, having offered a victim, stretched his hand over the people, and blessed them.  And behold! a fire came forth from the pillar of cloud and consumed the holocaust. Seeing this, the people fell prostrate on the ground, praising the Lord.

Explanation: Sacrifice is the highest and most perfect form of worship; therefore, God ordained sacrifices to be the centre of divine worship under the Old Law. What was sacrificed, was given to God, and had to be wholly consumed in His honour. Thus victims were killed and burnt, wine was poured out, and incense was burnt. These actions were meant to express on the part of him who made the offering some such thought as this: “Thou, O Lord, hast created all things! Everything comes from Thee. To Thee I owe my life and all that I possess! I have, indeed, deserved death at Thy hands, but as Thou dost not require of me my life, I offer to Thee instead the life of this lamb.” The bloody sacrifices were sacrifices of vicarious expiation, and for this reason the person who offered it laid his hand on the head of the victim, as a token that he laid his sins on it, and sacrificed it as a substitute for himself. Therefore the only animals which could be offered up were the domestic animals which are useful and valuable to man.

Our Father, Who art in  Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Thursday

[Numb. 13]

IN the second year after their departure from Egypt, the Israelites set out from Mount Sinai, and pursued their march to the desert of Pharan. Thence Moses sent twelve men, one of every tribe, to explore the Land of Chanaan. He said to them: “Go and view the land, whether it be good or bad; and the people, whether they be strong or weak; and the cities, whether they be walled or without walls.” So the men went out and viewed the land, entering at the south side and arriving at Hebron. Thence they proceeded as far as the torrent of the cluster of grapes. Here they cut off a branch with its cluster of grapes, and the men carried it upon a pole. After forty days they returned bringing with them figs, grapes, and other rich fruits, as specimens of what the land produced.

They told Moses and all the people that the Land of Chanaan was good, flowing with milk and honey, as might be seen by these fruits; but that it would be very difficult to conquer the country, as the men were big and strong, and the cities surrounded by walls. They added: “There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind, in comparison to whom we seemed like locusts.” Then the people, losing courage and confidence in God, began to murmur against Moses and Aaron, wishing that they had died in Egypt, or in the desert. They exclaimed: “Let us appoint a captain and return to Egypt!”

In vain did Caleb and Josue, who were of the number of the spies, or explorers, endeavour to appease the anger of the multitude, saying that the Land of Chanaan was very good, and that, if the men of that country were strong, the Lord would fight for the children of Israel. But the people would not listen to reason. They threatened to put Josue and Caleb to death.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared over the Ark, and God said to Moses: “How long will this people detract Me? How long will they not believe Me for all the signs that I have wrought before them? I will strike them, therefore, with pestilence, and consume them.” Moses interceded for the people, saying: “Forgive, I beseech Thee, the sin of the people, according to the greatness of Thy mercy.”

The Lord answered: “I have forgiven, according to thy word. But yet, all the men that have seen the signs that I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now ten times, shall not see the land. You shall wander forty years in the desert, and faint away and die in the desert; but your children shall possess the land.”

After pronouncing this sentence on the rebellious Israelites, the Lord struck dead the ten spies who had excited them to sedition. But Josue and Caleb were spared and blessed. In spite of the divine sentence “that they should not see the land”, the rebellious Israelites determined to enter at once. Moses warned them, saying: “Go not up, for the Lord is not with you; it shall not succeed prosperously with you”; and he remained with the ark in the camp, while they in their blindness set out and were routed by the Amalekites and Chanaanites. After this the Israelites returned once more into the interior of the desert towards the Red Sea.

Explanation:

The Justice, Mercy, and Wisdom of God. Almighty God had borne for a long time with the murmuring, refractory Israelites; but at last His divine patience was exhausted, and His justice demanded that they should be punished. The people of Israel were condemned to wander about the desert for forty years, and of the 600,000 fighting men who left Egypt, only two entered the Promised Land. But even while He punished, God showed mercy; for at the request of Moses He so far forgave the people that He did not destroy them. He excluded all those who were grown up from the Promised Land, which, however, He explicitly promised anew to the younger generation. By the wisdom of Divine Providence the forty years of wandering served this end, that the Israelites put aside all the heathen ideas and customs which they had imbibed in Egypt, and grew accustomed to the observance of the law of God and obedience to those whom He had placed over them, and were trained to be a valiant, warlike people.

 In the story you have just heard the Israelites sinned against the First Commandment by their want of faith, hope, and charity. They sinned against the Second Commandment by cursing and blaspheming, and speaking and acting as if God were not the one, true, almighty Lord. These sins were all the more grievous, because God was ever before their eyes, and was constantly working wonderful miracles for their benefit. They sinned against the Fourth Commandment, by rising against Moses, the servant of God; and also against the Fifth Commandment, by trying to kill the true and faithful spies, Josue and Caleb.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.

Friday

[Numb. 16–17]

ONE day, whilst the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath-day, and they brought him to Moses and Aaron, who put him in prison, to see how he should be punished. But the Lord said to Moses: “Let that man die; let all the multitude stone him without the camp.” So it was done.

Some time after, two hundred and fifty men, belonging partly to the tribe of Reuben, and partly to the tribe of Levi, and having for leaders Core, a Levite, and Dathan and Abiron, both of the tribe of Reuben—all these rose up against Moses and Aaron. They were envious of the high position of Moses and Aaron, and accused them of tyranny and ambition. They said: “All the people are holy; why do ye raise yourselves above the people of God?” Moses, hearing this, and knowing that it was a revolt against God Himself, was much afflicted, and fell flat on his face.

He afterwards spoke to the rebellious Levites, saying: “Is it because God has chosen you to serve near the Tabernacle, that you wish to usurp the dignity of the priesthood also? To-morrow the Lord will make known who they are that belong to Him. Prepare, then, and stand each with his censer on one side, and Aaron will stand on the other.”

On the following day, when the two hundred and fifty men were to appear before the Lord with their censers, Moses ordered the leaders of the revolt to come forth from their tents. But they impudently replied: “We will not come.” Then Moses went himself to their tents, accompanied by Aaron, and told the people to separate themselves from those wicked men, lest they should perish with them. Moses said: “If these men die the common death of men, the Lord did not send me; but if the earth, opening her mouth, swallow them down, and they go down alive into hell, you shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord.”

Hardly had Moses ended these words, when lo! the earth opened under the feet of these hardened sinners, and swallowed them up, with their tents, and all that belonged to them, and they went down alive into hell. At the same time fire came down from heaven and destroyed the two hundred and fifty men who had taken sides with Core, Dathan and Abiron.

After this, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod, by their kindreds, of all the princes of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of every man upon his rod; and lay them up in the Tabernacle of the Covenant. Whomsoever of these I shall choose, his rod shall blossom.” Moses did as the Lord had commanded.

Next day, when Moses entered into the Tabernacle, he found that the rod of Aaron had budded and blossomed. He then brought out all the rods of the children of Israel, and each one received back his own rod. But the rod of Aaron he placed in the Ark of the Covenant.

Explanation: God, by entrusting the highest spiritual and the highest temporal authority to the two brothers, Aaron and Moses, gave it to be understood that in all ages spiritual and temporal authority, Church and State, ought to work together for the good of mankind.

Holy angel of the Lord by guardian, pray to God for me.

Saturday

[Numb. 10–11]

IN the beginning of the fortieth year of their wanderings, the Israelites—the children of those that had died in the desert—suffered from the want of water, and began to murmur against the Lord. Then the Lord appeared in glory, and said to Moses: “Speak to the rock, and it shall yield waters.” Then Moses, taking the rod from the Tabernacle, assembled the people before the rock, which he was about to strike. Then he raised the rod and struck; but doubting a little he struck a second time.

That momentary diffidence, which was only a venial sin, and which made Moses strike the rock a second time, was displeasing to the Lord, and He told Moses and Aaron: “Because you have not believed Me, you shall not bring these people into the land which I will give them.”

Thence the Israelites removed their camp and came to Mount Hor, where Aaron died, and Eleazar, his son, became High Priest. Some time later, the Israelites, tired of their incessant wanderings in the desert, began to murmur against the Lord and Moses. Wherefore fiery serpents were sent amongst them, by whose deadly bite a great number were killed.

Then the people, knowing that the serpents had been sent in punishment of their sins, came to Moses and said: “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that He may take away these serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people. Whereupon the Lord said to him: “Make a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: whosoever, being struck, shall look on it, shall live.” Moses, therefore, made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign which healed all those that looked upon it.

Explanation:

The sinful people knew well that they did not deserve that their petition should be heard by God; therefore they begged His faithful servant, Moses, to intercede for them, and to him God hearkened. For this same reason we call on the Saints in heaven, the friends of God, to intercede for us.

The brazen serpent, a type of our crucified Lord. The brazen serpent set up on a pole is a type of our Divine Saviour. He Himself, in His discourse with Nicodemus, told him that it was so (New Test. XV): “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” As the brazen serpent was raised up on high, so Jesus Christ (who, by the mouth of David, said of Himself: “I am a worm and no man”; Ps. 21:6) was raised up on the Cross. Whoever was bitten by a poisonous snake was cured by turning his eyes in faith to the brazen serpent. So we, when our souls are wounded by the infernal serpent, shall be healed of our sins, if we, being full of faith, turn our eyes to our crucified Saviour.

With the Saints, give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Thy servants, where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sighing, but life everlasting.