Reading through the Song of Songs

This is a difficult one. Still on the Bible tour. The Song of Songs is probably the hardest to understand in its place in the canon of Sacred Scripture, even more so than Ecclesiastes. It seems to be a series of love letters thrown back and forth between various couples, with no obvious point. Could it be taken as words between the human soul and the God Who pursues it and draws it continually to Himself? Could it represent the Blessed Virgin herself who, as the spouse of the Holy Ghost, is mystically the Sulamite girl who is the focus of much of this set of poems? Let's have a look. This book is attributed generally to the Israelite king Solomon, so I'll stick his picture to the end of this post:

"A kiss from those lips!" Thus it begins, and already it would have the youngsters giggling in secondary school. It is well known that King Solomon had a harem of thousands of women. Being one of the most glamorous of the monarchs of the Levant in his time, he would certainly have had. And the women in the harem would probably vie among themselves for the attentions of the king. 

"Dark of skin, and yet I have beauty, daughters of Jerusalem. Black are the tents they have in Cedar; black are Solomon’s own curtains; then why not I? Take no note of this Ethiop colour; it was the sun tanned me, when my own brothers, that had a grudge against me, set me a-watching in the vineyards. I have a vineyard of my own that I have watched but ill." - Song of Songs, 1: 4-5

There's nothing wrong with having a semi-permanent tan, even if I do say so myself. And the king himself doesn't seem to mind it, whether this is an actual woman of the harem or if some young lady is dreaming the whole thing. 

"Still bewildered, fairest of womankind? Nay, if thou wilt, wander abroad, and follow with the shepherds’ flocks; feed, if thou wilt, those goats of thine beside the shepherds’ encampment. My heart’s love, prized above all my horsemen, with Pharao’s wealth of chariots behind them! Soft as doves are thy cheeks, thy neck smooth as coral. Chains of gold that neck must have, inlaid with silver." - Song of Songs, 1: 7-10 

A little later, his affection for this one lady is given with the line:

"A lily, matched with these other maidens, a lily among the brambles, she whom I love!" - Song of Songs, 2: 2

I have seen some of these lines used of the Blessed Virgin, the Virgin most fair, in such devotions as the Holy Rosary, in the meditations for the final mysteries of the Assumption and the Coronation of the Virgin. So, arise, arise, she must be raised to heaven:

"I can hear my true love calling to me: 'Rise up, rise up quickly, dear heart, so gentle, so beautiful, rise up and come with me. Winter is over now, the rain has passed by. At home, the flowers have begun to blossom; pruning-time has come; we can hear the turtle-dove cooing already, there at home. There is green fruit on the fig-trees; the vines in flower are all fragrance. Rouse thee, and come, so beautiful, so well beloved, still hiding thyself as a dove hides in cleft rock or crannied wall. Shew me but thy face, let me but hear thy voice, that voice sweet as thy face is fair.'" - Song of Songs, 2: 10-14

In some of the poetry of the Catholic mystics, such as the great Saint John of the Cross and his Dark Night of the Soul, we hear strong echoes of the pining of the human soul for the God that completes her, and often finding Him elusive, even as in these lines from chapter three. 

"In the night watches, as I lay abed, I searched for my heart’s love, and searched in vain. Now to stir abroad, and traverse the city, searching every alley-way and street for him I love so tenderly! But for all my search I could not find him. I met the watchmen who go the city rounds, and asked them whether they had seen my love; then, when I had scarce left them, I found him, so tenderly loved; and now that he is mine I will never leave him, never let him go, till I have brought him into my own mother’s house, into the room that saw my birth." - Song of Songs, 3: 1-4

Blush we past the intimacy of chapter four and some of chapter five to find that the gentleman lover has departed once more. In Catholic spiritual theology, we find the Saints often talking about sequences of consolations and desolations. This is a strong theme in the teachings of Saint Ignatius Loyola of the Jesuits and also among the works of the great Carmelites of the sixteenth century. The very real sentiment of the presence of God in the soul is often followed swiftly by a strong intimation of his having departed. This is what we mean when we talk about the dark night of the soul. The dark night of desolation, when God has apparently left is experienced for different amounts of time, and for such as Saint Teresa of Calcutta (aka. Mother Teresa) it has lasted decades. After the high intoxication of the presence of God, this period of apparent draught can be extremely painful:

"I rose up to let him in; but my hands dripped ever with myrrh; still with the choicest myrrh my fingers were slippery, as I caught the latch. When I opened, my true love was gone; he had passed me by. How my heart had melted at the sound of his voice! And now I searched for him in vain; there was no answer when I called out to him. As they went the city rounds, the watchmen fell in with me, that guard the walls; beat me, and left me wounded, and took away my cloak. I charge you, maidens of Jerusalem, fall you in with the man I long for, give him this news of me, that I pine away with love." - Song of Songs, 5: 5-8

The rest of chapter five is a wistful memory of what is lost. The next chapter is the quiet appreciation of the hidden gentleman lover for this one lady, fairest of all, who is searching him out. If we consider that, especially in the several prophecies, God is always given as a husband to the nation of Israel, which is his bride, we may understand why this little book of poetry has been retained in the canon of Sacred Scripture. And this has been carried over by Apostles such as Saint Paul to the Christian Church. And there is another aspect at which I have hinted earlier: Catholic theology calls every human soul female, in that she is betrothed to her Saviour.

"Who is this, whose coming shews like the dawn of day? No moon so fair, no sun so majestic, no embattled array so awes men’s hearts. But when I betook me to the fruit garden, to find apples in the hollows, to see if vine had flowered there, and pomegranate had budded, all unawares, my heart misgave me... beside the chariots of Aminadab. Come back, maid of Sulam, come back; let us feast our eyes on thee. Maid of Sulam, come back, come back!" - Song of Songs, 6: 9-12

And I shall end with this end of the book. What is more precious than this relationship of love between husband and wife, between God and people, which is sung about throughout the Bible? Ask a Saint of the Church what they would want the most of all. The great Dominican sage, Saint Thomas of Aquino, had this answer: 'Non nisi Te, Domine.' None other than Thyself, Lord. [link]

"Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon; and when he gave the care of it to vine-dressers, each of these must pay a thousand silver pieces for the revenue of it. A vineyard I have of my own, here at my side; keep thy thousand pieces, Solomon, and let each vine-dresser have his two hundred; not mine to grudge them. Where is thy love of retired garden walks? All the countryside is listening to thee. Give me but the word to come away, thy bridegroom, with thee; hasten away like gazelle or fawn that spurns the scented hill-side underfoot." - Song of Songs, 8: 11-14

Reading through the Book of Ecclesiastes (aka. Qoheleth)

Coasting towards the end of the Bible read, here's the end of the slightly controversial book called Ecclesiastes, or Qoheleth. The word ecclesia in Greek means 'assembly' and the other book called Ecclesiasticus were designed to be read to an assembly. As indeed was most of the New Testament. The Hebrew word Q'hel has a similar meaning, but scholars seem often to treat 'Qoheleth' as a proper name. My own Bible translation, the Knox version, translates it as Spokesman, which of course is accurate. This 'spokesman' identifies himself as son of King David and one-time king of Jerusalem and therefore the book is traditionally given to be the work of King Solomon. It is a Wisdom book - it glorifies divine Wisdom and finally the commandments of God. I called it controversial because it is quite unlike any other book in the Bible in that it hardly ever refers to God, and the few references are often seen by scholars as later additions to engraft this rather odd book into the canon of Scripture. The Spokesman describes himself as a student of human nature and an observer of all things under the sun, the words 'under the sun' repeated multiple times throughout. That makes this a book part of a general study of science, and we know that King Solomon was devoted to the study of the natural world, alongside everything else (III Kings, 4: 32-34). So, let's jump right in with some general observations about this book.

"I was a king in my day, I, the Spokesman; Israel my realm, Jerusalem my capital. And it was my resolve to search deep and find out the meaning of all that men do, here under the sun; all that curse of busy toil which God has given to the sons of Adam for their task. All that men do beneath the sun I marked, and found it was but frustration and lost labour, all of it; there was no curing men’s cross-grained nature, no reckoning up their follies." - Ecclesiastes, 1: 12-15

The whole book almost is an expression of frustration, and so in a way discouraging. No matter what you do, says the writer, if you practice virtue or live in sin, you still end your life in the same way, with death and the grave. The book evidently has no understanding of the life beyond, reward beyond this life and any pleasure in virtue aside from the life of virtue itself - there is no apparent gain one may have from any action performed here below that can be carried beyond the grave. Therefore, what's the point in trying? Hence, the frustration. A scientist studies systems to discover their ends - what they were intended to produce and enable - and when he cannot find this design result, after long investigation, he lapses into frustration. This is the spirit I find in this book.

"Next, I thought to give the rein to my desires, and enjoy pleasure, until I found that this, too, was labour lost. Wouldst thou know how I learned to find laughter an empty thing, and all joy a vain illusion; how I resolved at last to deny myself the comfort of wine, wisdom now all my quest, folly disowned? For I could not rest until I knew where man’s true good lay, what was his life’s true task, here under the sun." - Ecclesiastes, 2: 1-4

So, the writer has discovered that even bodily pleasures are vain and unfulfilling, so he took up a severe asceticism and made the study of wisdom his primary activity. But even this seemed useless, for it profited nothing to the wise man to transcend the common end of all mortal beings. The writer makes the same observation we've seen in books like Job - that evil men thrive and good men suffer - and asks what's the point of practising virtue at all. We're all being driven towards the grave anyway, along with every other kind of mortal being.

"I marked, too, how wrong was done instead of right, injustice instead of justice, there under the sun’s eye; and I told myself that God would give judgement one day between the just and the sinners, and all things would reach their appointed end then. I told myself that God’s purpose with the sons of men was to test them …… And that they might see they were only like the beasts … After all, man comes to the same ending as the beasts; there is nothing to choose between his lot and theirs; both alike are doomed to die. They have but one principle of life; what has man that the beasts have not? Frustration everywhere; we are all making for the same goal; of earth we were made, and to earth we must return." - Ecclesiastes, 3: 16-20

Dear me, it's all dismal. The Spokesman decides that the best we can do with our lives is to enjoy ourselves while we still can. Does this sound familiar? It's the song of our nihilist society today. How is this position drawn into the conventional Hebrew faith of trust in God and the quest for justice? There must be some reason the Fathers have retained this book in our canon of Sacred Scripture. At this point, we discover some good advice for social living:

" Better to be in partnership with another, than alone; partnership brings advantage to both. If one falls, the other will give support; with the lonely it goes hard; when he falls, there is none to raise him. Sleep two in one bed, each shall warm the other; for the lonely, there is no warmth. Two may withstand assault, where one is no match for it; a triple cord is not lightly broken. There is more hope for a wise servant that is in hard straits, than for a dotard king that foresight has none... Look well what thou art doing when thou goest into God’s house; present thyself there in a spirit of obedience. Obedience is far better than the sacrifice made by fools, that are guilty of unwitting sacrilege." - Ecclesiastes, 4: 9-13, 17

Ahah - the first reference to God. The next chapters continues the theme of honouring God, and sounds vaguely similar to Christ warning us not to use many words in prayer, for God knows what we need already. This fifth chapter notes that injustice committed is still watched over by the Eternal One. There is certainly a moral element here, for although the writer again states that man can do no more than take enjoyment from the work of his hands in this life, he speaks of the futility of hoarding one's money away when one cannot take it beyond the grave. Could he mean that the wealth should be shared? Anyhow, the ongoing theme is the unfulfilling nature of riches and wealth, what chapter six calls 'a full mouth and an empty belly.' Frustration, frustration, all around. What is the point of living and working? Chapter seven begins a typical set of instructions for the wise, which we would recognise from the books of Proverbs and of the Wisdom of Solomon. Keep man's final end always in mind, search for wisdom, control your tongue, accept your station in life as given by God, avoid evil, fear God and cultivate the traditions of the past (piety), etc. It seems that all this must be honoured without looking for a reward, material or otherwise. 

"Whatever lies in thy power, do while do it thou canst; there will be no doing, no scheming, no wisdom or skill left to thee in the grave, that soon shall be thy home. Then my thought took a fresh turn; man’s art does not avail, here beneath the sun, to win the race for the swift, or the battle for the strong, a livelihood for wisdom, riches for great learning, or for the craftsman thanks; chance and the moment rule all. Nor does man see his end coming; hooked fish or snared bird is not overtaken so suddenly as man is, when the day of doom falls on him unawares." - Ecclesiastes, 9: 10-12

Do what you can, while you have the opportunity. For we cannot plan our opportunities. Above all, we do not know when we ultimately lose all opportunities, when death takes us, as it will inevitably do. Chapter ten is a long ridicule of foolishness and idleness in the face of the above advice to use every opportunity. So, the effect so far is the value of the virtue of diligence without the hope of reward. This type of activity performed during youth will stand one in good stead when the illness and infirmity of old age make such things more difficult and frustration increases (as may have happened to the writer himself). 

"Only be thy years never so many, never so happy, do not forget the dark days that are coming, the long days, when frustration will be the end of it all. While thou art young, take thy fill of manhood’s pride, let thy heart beat high with youth, follow where thought leads and inclination beckons, but remember that for all this God will call thee to account. Rid thy heart, then, of resentment, thy nature of ill humours; youth and pleasures, they are so quickly gone!" - Ecclesiastes, 11: 8-10

The final chapter speaks of the increasing physical and mental dissipation of old age, and the flight from this life on earth. How would I sum up this book? It is a call to duty to God and to society, working while there is still time to work and hoping for no reward for it. If reward does come, take enjoyment of it but do not hoard away, for nobody can take wealth beyond the grave. And all will finally fall before the judgement of God. This is the summary of the book, given by the book itself:

"Fear God, and keep his commandments; this is the whole meaning of man. No act of thine but God will bring it under His scrutiny, deep beyond all thy knowing, and pronounce it good or evil." - Ecclesiastes, 12: 13-14

Feast day of Saint Mark (25th of April)

It's a pity indeed that we bypass entirely the feast day of the Evangelist Saint Mark in the very year when we honour Holy Scripture and focus on Saint Mark's Gospel. But such is the nature of the Lord's Day, which liturgically blots out almost every other anniversary and observance. I thought we could make a quick memorial today. Here then is a translation of the Roman Martyrology entry for tomorrow:

"Festival of Saint Mark, Evangelist, who at Jerusalem first followed Blessed Paul into the apostolate, then attaching himself to the ministry of Blessed Peter was called by him a son, and whose (Peter's) catechism on the Gospel to the Romans he (Mark) composed into a Gospel, and finally is traditionally given to have founded the Church in Alexandria."

Roman Martyrology, the 25th of April

Mark appears first in the Acts of the Apostles (12: 12), as a near relation of the Cypriot Apostle Saint Barnabas, who was one of the earliest associates of the Twelve. As such, he joined Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas on their first journey together, which included Cyprus itself. Following a later disagreement with Paul (Acts, 15: 37-40), Mark left his company and must then have attached himself to Saint Peter. That Peter called him son is clear from the end of the first letter of Saint Peter that we have in our New Testament.

"The church here in Babylon, united with you by God’s election, sends you her greeting; so does my son, Mark. Greet one another with the kiss of fellowship. Grace be to all of you, friends in Christ Jesus. Amen."

I Peter, 5: 13-14

It is a long tradition in the Roman Church that the Gospel of S. Mark is composed from the memories of the Apostle S. Peter himself, as mentioned in the martyrology entry above. Mark is traditionally given to have remained in the Roman Curia, as that might have existed under Saint Peter as the first Roman bishop. Therefore, when Peter bent his mind towards the growing number of Christians in the City of Alexandria in lower Egypt, he sent Mark out to establish the See and Patriarchate there that is today identified with the Coptic Church. The Coptic Church was therefore originally a daughter church of Rome. Tomorrow, April the 25th, the Roman Church remembers the second patriarch of Alexandria as well, Mark's successor. This is his entry in the martyrology:

"Commemoration of Saint Anianus, bishop of Alexandria in Egypt, who according to the testimony of Eusebius and in the eighth year of the emperor Nero, received as the first after Saint Mark the bishopric of this City and held it for twenty-two years, being a man accepted by God and admirable in every way."

Roman Martyrology, the 25th of April

So, let us remember the Coptic churches today, Catholic and non, as the children of those first two exceptional bishops and patriarchs. They are persecuted today as they have been persecuted for some thirteen centuries. May they be always blessed.

Reading through the second letter of the Apostle Saint Peter

Coasting towards the end of the great Bible-read, here is the second letter of the Apostle Saint Peter, sent much later in his ministry as bishop of Rome, for he hints at his upcoming death. The Apostle here demonstrates a high theology of grace, the benefit on the Church of her embracing the God-Man, whose humanity is the channel for all of us of the immense bounty of God's grace, which manifests in us a life of virtue:

"See how all the gifts that make for life and holiness in us belong to His divine power; come to us through fuller knowledge of Him, whose own glory and sovereignty have drawn us to Himself! Through Him God has bestowed on us high and treasured promises; you are to share the divine nature, with the world’s corruption, the world’s passions, left behind. And you too have to contribute every effort on your own part, crowning your faith with virtue, and virtue with enlightenment, and enlightenment with continence, and continence with endurance, and endurance with holiness, and holiness with brotherly love, and brotherly love with charity." - II Peter, 1: 3-7

The graces we receive and the virtues they produce in turn enable us to grow in our knowledge of Christ and of God. The first part of the letter is therefore a rousing call to the life of virtue. Very touching here, as the Apostle speaks of his life now coming to an end, is his memory of the glory of Christ, that he and the two sons of Zebedee had witnessed on the mountain at the Transfiguration. This is the voice of the Apostles as witnesses, when they tell us what they saw and heard and that we cannot see and hear ourselves.

"We were not crediting fables of man’s invention, when we preached to you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and about His coming; we had been eye-witnesses of His exaltation. Such honour, such glory was bestowed on Him by God the Father, that a voice came to Him out of the splendour which dazzles human eyes; 'This,' it said, 'is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; to Him, then, listen.' We, His companions on the holy mountain, heard that voice coming from heaven, and now the word of the prophets gives us more confidence than ever. It is with good reason that you are paying so much attention to that word; it will go on shining, like a lamp in some darkened room, until the dawn breaks, and the day-star rises in your hearts." - II Peter, 1: 16-19

Yes, indeed, the Apostolic account of the Transfiguration is one of the most memorable accounts in the Gospels. Following this claim of true Apostolic witness, the Apostle reminds us that there exists false witness as well, men who claim to know more about Christ than His own Apostles. We're all too familiar with people today who claim to know better than Holy Church what Christ would think about this, that and the other. Thus, the Apostle says:

"So, among you, there will be false teachers, covertly introducing pernicious ways of thought, and denying the Master who redeemed them, to their own speedy undoing. Many will embrace their wanton creeds, and bring the way of truth into disrepute, trading on your credulity with lying stories for their own ends. Long since, the warrant for their doom is in full vigour; destruction is on the watch for them. God did not spare the angels who fell into sin; he thrust them down to hell, chained them there in the abyss, to await their sentence in torment." - II Peter, 2: 1-4

God allows even His angels to rebel against him and their punishment is instantaneous. What then of the men who dare the same type of rebellion? Or try to justify sinful lifestyles, while sneering at the teaching of the Church, which they do not understand.

"Such men, like dumb creatures that are born to be trapped and destroyed, sneer at what they cannot understand, and will soon perish in their own corruption; they will have the reward their wickedness has deserved. To live in luxury while the day lasts is all their pleasure; what a stain they are, what a disfigurement, when they revel in the luxury of their own banquets, as they fare sumptuously at your side! Their eyes feast on adultery, insatiable of sin; and they know how to win wavering souls to their purpose, so skilled is all their accursed brood at gaining its own ends." - II Peter, 2: 12-14

The Apostle is speaking here not generally about worldly men, but particularly about Christians who, having been baptised, have fallen back upon their old lives. Here's some language that we would be less likely than Saint Peter to use of Catholics who have fallen away from the Faith:

"That they should have been rescued, by acknowledging our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, from the world’s pollution, and then been entangled and overpowered by it a second time, means that their last state is worse than the first. Better for them, never to have found their way to justification, than to have found it, and then turned their backs on the holy law once handed down to them. What has happened to them proves the truth of the proverb, The dog is back at his own vomit again. Wash the sow, and you find her wallowing in the mire." - II Peter, 2: 20-22

The use of the words 'their last sate is worse than the first' takes us back to the horrifying picture Christ Himself drew of the exorcised soul that was re-inhabited by the devil that had once possessed it and by some of his fellows to boot.

"The unclean spirit, which has possessed a man and then goes out of him, walks about the desert looking for a resting-place, and finds none; and it says, I will go back to my own dwelling, from which I came out. And it comes back, to find that dwelling empty, and swept out, and neatly set in order. Thereupon, it goes away, and brings in seven other spirits more wicked than itself to bear it company, and together they enter in and settle down there; so that the last state of that man is worse than the first." - Gospel of S. Matthew, 12: 43-45

At the end, the Apostle deals with the accusation that the Church does not know the exact moment of the return of Christ, and the associated mockery. He states that time means nothing to God, and suggests perhaps that the question of when and how should not concern us as much as should the certainty of the arrival of that dreadful Day of the Lord and the perfection that we should struggle to acquire in the waiting.

"But one thing, beloved, you must keep in mind, that with the Lord a day counts as a thousand years, and a thousand years count as a day. The Lord is not being dilatory over His promise, as some think; He is only giving you more time, because His will is that all of you should attain repentance, not that some should be lost. But the day of the Lord is coming, and when it comes, it will be upon you like a thief. The heavens will vanish in a whirlwind, the elements will be scorched up and dissolve, earth, and all earth’s achievements, will burn away. All so transitory; and what men you ought to be! How unworldly in your life, how reverent towards God, as you wait, and wait eagerly, for the day of the Lord to come, for the heavens to shrivel up in fire, and the elements to melt in its heat!" - II Peter, 3: 8-12

And there I might end. The letter is a call to virtue and to adherence to the Church, and so to work towards acquiring the promises made to her by Christ. May the holy Apostle S. Peter pray for us.

The English Martyrs on the 20th of April

Looking through the Roman Martyrology (pictured above), which is a lengthy Church liturgical calendar, we usually have a light dusting of English martyrs across the year, but on some days the Elizabethan government outdid itself for a calendar day in its blood-lust for the rather intrepid Catholic priests who kept trying to enter these countries to minister to the several Catholics living their faith in hiding. We shouldn't ignore the witness of these men and women, who stood up to the government and died for the Church. There are often laymen listed, such as Blessed John Finch, below.

Let's list, as an exercise, every one of the martyrs for today. Here are translations of the martyrology entries, almost a whole page in the book. I shall link the names to other information I can find online:

At Lancaster in England, Blessed James Bell and Blessed John Finch, martyrs, the first of whom a priest, after twenty years belonging to another confession (read, the 'New Religion' of Anglicanism), having been reconciled at the encouragement of a certain woman with the Catholic Church, the second a family-man, farmer and catechist, persevering in the Faith after many years in prison, starved and tortured; the both at the same time and under Queen Elizabeth I arrived at eternal joy.

Roman Martyrology, April the 20th

At London in England, Blessed Richard Sargeant and Blessed William Thomson, priests and martyrs, who condemned to death for entering England as priests and daring to remain, suffered torture and death at Tyburn.

Roman Martyrology, April the 20th

At Clona in Ireland, Blessed Mauritius MacKenraghty, priest and martyr, who having spent two years in prison and yet did not wish to recognise the supremacy of Queen Elizabeth I, was handed over to the tortures of the scaffold.

Roman Martyrology, April the 20th

At York in England, Blessed Anthony Page, priest and martyr, who being a mild and honest man, was condemned to torture (and death) on account of his priesthood.

Roman Martyrology, April the 20th

At London in England, Blessed Francis Page of the Society of Jesus, and Blessed Robert Watkinson, priests and martyrs, who at the same time under Queen Elizabeth I were made to ascend the scaffold at Tyburn on account of their priesthood, Francis having only been entered into the Society one month (in prison).

Roman Martyrology, April the 20th

 

The prophet Ezechiel and the Good Shepherd

This coming Sunday, the fourth of Easter, is called by us Good Shepherd Sunday, because of the Gospel from Saint John. It is usual for us on Good Shepherd Sunday to pray for our shepherds in the Church hierarchy, to thank God for the good men who have inspired us and done us much good, and to pray for those men who have been more unhelpful, have caused grave harm to many in Church, and sadly continue to do so. In all of this, we keep an eye on the Good Shepherd Himself, remembering why we are Catholics, and why we continue to come to Mass. Here is something seen recently on social media:

The hierarchy is absolutely essential, for the elders of the Church hand on her traditions and, as priests of the New Covenant, administer the cult of the Sacraments, and especially the Holy Mass. But they are always ever standing in the shoes of the Good Shepherd, and hardly ever fill those shoes well. Let us pray for our priests, and let us pray for Vocations to the priesthood, young men, good and holy, to take up the role of the Good Shepherd for a new generation of Catholics.

It is rather a joke in the Western world that Catholic priests are corrupt, and for some time now, even bishops have been held by Catholics in grave suspicion, for one reason or another. Whether or not there is any basis for such suspicions, it seems almost inevitable that some wretched men will find a way to abuse their authority, and lead people astray. We needn't look any further than the Holy Bible itself, which certainly aggrandises the Hebrew priesthood (men only) and exalts these priests of the family of Aaron, brother of Moses. They are the Aaronites, and no individual from any other family is permitted to perform priestly functions in the tabernacle and the Temples of the Hebrew nation. That type of privilege is not difficult to exploit, and I now move to the prophet Ezechiel, through whom and through the other prophets God scolded the priests for failing the people. So, chapter thirty-four.

"Word came to me from the Lord: Now, son of man, prophesy doom to the rulers of Israel, the shepherds of my flock. This be thy message from the Lord God: Out upon Israel’s shepherds, that had a flock to feed, and fed none but themselves; the milk drank, the wool wore, the fat lambs slaughtered, but pastured these sheep of Mine never at all! The wasted frame went unnourished, the sick unhealed; nor bound they the broken limb, nor brought strayed sheep home, nor lost sheep found; force and constraint were all the governance they knew. So My sheep fell a-wandering, that shepherd had none; every wild beast fell a-preying on them, and they scattered far and wide. All over the mountains they strayed, all over the high hills were scattered, this flock of Mine, and no search was made for them, no search at all."

Ezechiel, 34: 1-6

Now, remember that our Lord styled Himself the Son of Man, setting Himself therefore square in the tradition of the prophets Ezechiel and Daniel. He often enough bring up themes that these prophets began, but His authority (as observed by the Gospels) was obviously far greater than that of the rulers of the people in His time. And the people knew it, and rejoiced in it. Christ's complaint against the priests and scribes of His own time is similar to Ezechiel's. The following curse or doom of God on the priests Ezechiel was addressing is therefore similar to that of Christ Himself when He said, 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, still murdering the prophets, and stoning the messengers that are sent to thee, how often have I been ready to gather thy children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings; and thou didst refuse it! Behold, your house is left to you, a house uninhabited. Believe me, you shall see nothing of me henceforward, until the time when you will be saying, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.' (Gospel of S. Matthew, 23: 37-39)

"This doom, then, the Lord pronounces on yonder shepherds: As I am a living God, I will have a reckoning for sheep of Mine carried off, sheep of Mine the wild beasts have preyed on, while they went all untended, with shepherds that would not go in search of them, shepherds that no flock would feed, but themselves only. A word, shepherds, for your hearing, a message from the Lord God: Out upon yonder shepherds! I will hold them answerable for the flock entrusted to them, and they shall have charge of it no more, feed themselves out of its revenues no more. From their greedy power I will rescue it; no longer shall it be their prey."

Ezechiel, 34: 7-10

And here comes the basis for Christ's own Good Shepherd discourse (Gospel of S. John, 10), for God had a plan to shepherd His people in person. He had appointed men and they had failed him. Ezechiel doesn't mean only priests; he meant the rulers of the people, kings and nobility, as well. Note when Ezechiel states that a dark mist had fallen upon the sheep of God's pasture, because of the bad influence of their rulers. This would now be undone by the light of Christ. Remember when Saint Zacharias, the father of Saint John the Baptist, when he became aware of the arrival of the Messiah, sang that, 'Such is the merciful kindness of our God, which has bidden Him come to us, like a dawning from on high, to give light to those who live in darkness, in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Gospel of S. Luke, 1: 78-79) The Gospels tend to be about light shining in the darkness, and baptism is about enlightening the newly baptised.

"This is what the Lord God says: I mean to go looking for this flock of mine, search it out for Myself. As a shepherd, when he finds his flock scattered all about him, goes looking for his sheep, so will I go looking for these sheep of Mine, rescue them from all the nooks into which they have strayed when the dark mist fell upon them. Rescued from every kingdom, recovered from every land, I will bring them back to their own country; they shall have pasture on the hill-sides of Israel, by its watercourses, in the resting-places of their home. Yes, I will lead them out into fair pastures, the high mountains of Israel shall be their feeding-ground, the mountains of Israel, with soft grass for them to rest on, rich feed for them to graze. Food and rest, says the Lord God, both these I will give to my flock. The lost sheep I will find, the strayed sheep I will bring home again; bind up the broken limb, nourish the wasted frame, keep the well-fed and the sturdy free from harm; they shall have a true shepherd at last. And what of you, My flock? I mean to do justice, the Lord God says, among the beasts themselves, give redress against the rams and the buck-goats."

Ezechiel, 34: 11-17

The best part of this chapter of the prophecy of Ezechiel is the continuation of this Messianic passage. Yes, God would come Himself, to shepherd his flock in person. But also, He would put the flock in the charge of one shepherd, and that shepherd would be King David, or a David-like person, probably a descendant of the King. Passages like this created the expectation that the Messiah-to-come would be a descendant of David. And, as we know, Christ was not only a descendant of David, because of Mary His Mother, but that He was well-known to be a descendant of David. It was both this claim of His to the ancient Hebrew royal family and His claim to be the Messiah that made Him a threat to the political status quo in His time - from his infancy, when Herod tried to kill Him, to His trial before Pilate, when the priests used His royal ties to force Pilate to have Him executed.

"This is what the Lord God says: I mean to see justice done between fat beast and lean. Thrust back with side and shoulder, gored with the horn, all the weaker of them have been driven away; but now I mean to protect this flock of Mine against your greed, give beast redress against its fellow... They shall have a single shepherd to tend all of them now; who should tend them but my servant David? He shall be their shepherd, and I, the Lord, will be their God, now that he rules them on earth; such is My divine promise to them. Such a covenant I will make as shall grant them security; beasts of prey there shall be none, safe resting, now, in the desert, safe sleeping in the woods; on My hill-sides they shall dwell, a blessed people in a blessed home, rain in its season fall on them, and blessings all the while. Wild trees their fruit, the earth its crops shall afford; undisturbed they shall dwell on their own lands, acknowledging My power at last, My power that severed strap of yoke, rescued them from the tyrant’s hand. Forgotten, the enemies that despoiled, the wild beasts that preyed on them; they will live sheltered from all alarms. Once more their renown shall burgeon; never again the land starve with drought, never the alien’s taunts be heard."

Ezechiel, 34: 20-29

Whose greed would God wish to protect His sheep from? Worldly leaders, worldly rulers, kings and priests, naturally. God would protect His own from abuse. Then he speaks of the new covenant that He would make with them, when they had been shepherded by the new David - a new covenant with endless blessing attached to it. These Messianic segments in prophecies such as of Isaias and here are so dreamy. In a sense, we are still waiting for the accomplishment of this promise of God's. The chapter ends with the touching claim of God over His flock, His beloved. 'Flocks of MY pasturing, flocks of MINE.'

"None shall doubt that I, the Lord their God, am at their side, and they are My own people, the race of Israel, the Lord God says. Flock of Mine, the Lord God says, flock of My pasturing, you are but men, yet I, the Lord, am your God."

Ezechiel, 34: 30-31

 

Reading through the Book of Job

The journey through the Bible carries on through the so-called 'Wisdom literature,' now at the end of the Book of Job and jumping into the laconic Ecclesiastes tomorrow. As I said a few posts ago, within a month or so, when I have reached the end of the Bible read, I shall bend my energy towards better furnishing the parish website, so this blog will halt at least for a while.

Now, however, let's get through the excellent book of Job, so useful to those of us who suffer greatly and without remedy, and find it difficult to understand why the good God doesn't arrive with some relief at the very least, or even complete healing? Doesn't God wish our happiness at all times? Well, the theme of the book seems to be that suffering and personal calamity can be rather arbitrary, rather than (as the ancient mind was accustomed to think) representing God's vengeance descending to punish somebody for his or her sins or, indeed, the sins of his or her parents, grandparents, etc. To set up the scene, the book of Job presents the character of Job as specifically Just in the Hebrew sense - one who obeys the Law of God in every respect, and actually goes a step further and attempts to make satisfaction not only for his own personal sins, but for the sins of his children. He strained therefore to keep his family safe spiritually, and always at one with God. And then, when his integrity and his faith were called into question - as lasting only as long as he is prosperous and enjoys divine blessing - God decides to test Job and prove his love. And Job's first reaction is quite famous; having lost all his possessions and his children, he is patient.

"Then rose up Job, and rent his garments about him; and he shaved his head bare, and fell down to earth to do reverence. 'Naked I came,' said he, 'when I left my mother’s womb, and whence I came, naked I must go. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; nothing is here befallen but what was the Lord’s Will; blessed be the Name of the Lord.' In all this, Job guarded his lips well, nor challenged with human folly God’s wisdom." - Job, 1: 20-22

But this was before Job lost his health and could hardly sit up for pain. Then, in great despair, he still defended God before his own wife:

"Little comfort his own wife gave him; 'What,' she said, 'still maintaining thy innocence? Better thou shouldst renounce God, and have done with living.' 'Spoken like a foolish wife,' Job answered. 'What, should we accept the good fortune God sends us, and not the ill?' So well, even now, did Job guard his lips." - Job, 2: 9-10

For, you see, of one thing Job was certain - he had committed no sin against the Law of God and did not therefore deserve any punishment. Like his friends, who now visited him - Eliphaz the Themanite, Baldad the Suhite, and Sophar the Naamathite - Job still saw all suffering as retribution from God for sins committed. These friends of his seem determined, therefore, to convict Job of sin or to get him to confess that he has sinned. This repeated onslaught, that travels across almost the whole book, finally breaks Job's patient suffering - feeling forced to defend his innocence, he starts to question the justice of God Himself, in inflicting punishment with no provocation. He ends up attempting to, in the words of C. S. Lewis, put God in the dock. Let's summarise the position of Eliphaz the Themanite:

"'No more we hear now of that fear of God, that life perfectly lived, which once gave thee confidence, gave thee strength to endure! And, sure enough, ruin never fell yet on the innocent; never yet was an upright soul lost to memory. The men that traffic in wrong-doing, that sow a crop of mischief they themselves must reap at last, these I have seen undone; one breath, one blast of the divine anger withers them quite, and they are gone." - Job, 4: 6-9

It's an odd thing to say: that those innocent of wrong-doing have never suffered ruin. Really? Which community was he living in? It does go on and on a bit. Job responds by asking the three to convict him of sin, even in the midst of his wretchedness. If he had been guilty of wrongdoing, Job asks rhetorically, why wouldn't God simply forgive him, a poor little nothing in the grand scheme of things...? Then Baldad the Suhite jumps in and his position is not unlike that of Eliphaz - Job must be guilty of sin, he must make satisfaction, and God will bless him once more, as before.

"'Can sentence undeserved come from God, unjust award from the Almighty? What if these children of thine committed some fault, and He allowed justice to take its course? For thyself, thou hast but to keep early tryst with God, make thy plea to His omnipotence. Then, if thou comest before Him innocent and upright, He will give thee audience betimes; He will establish thee in thy possessions again, as one that enjoys His favour. A poor thing thy old prosperity will seem, matched with the abundance He gives thee now.'" - Job, 8: 3-7

And Job retorts that he knows all of that, as one who has ever feared God and worked hard to remain innocent and upright. Job now begins to challenge God's justice, as applied to his particular case. At this point (chapter nine), he doesn't feel ready to challenge God's judgement/condemnation, but he wishes to protest the severity of the sentence; he says that the suffering imposed is far in excess of any sin he may have committed. So, what says Sophar the Naamathite? Well, you know it...

"'Ready to speak should be ready to listen; glibness will not make an innocent man of thee. Must all keep silence till thou hast done; shall none make answer to thy raillery? Still thou wilt have it that all thy dealings are upright, that thy heart, as God sees it, is pure. Would He but speak one word in thy ear, make thee His confidant! Would He but reveal to thee the secrets of His Wisdom, in its ordered variety! Then wouldst thou learn that the penalty He is exacting of thee is less, far less, than thy sins deserve.'" - Job, 11: 2-6

Well, poor Job. He still knows that he has done nothing that warrants punishment according to the Law of God. At this point now, he again calls God forth to defend either Job, or to defend the infliction of suffering upon Job as a punishment. For how is it that an innocent man must suffer when wicked men live in great comfort?

"'...a man such as I will still cry upon God, and have Him answer the summons; the simplicity of the upright was ever a laughing-stock, and indeed, it is but a rushlight, despised by shrewd and prosperous folk, but it waits its turn. Meanwhile, see how well the robbers store their houses, braving God’s anger, and yet in all things He lets them have their way! Dost thou doubt it? The very beasts will tell thee, the birds in air will be thy counsellors; the secret is known in every cranny of the earth, the fish in the sea will make it known to thee; none doubts, I tell thee, that all this is the Lord’s doing...'" - Job, 12: 4-9

Yes, indeed, God permits evil and the comforts of wicked men. The Bible often mentions this. The question posed here is whether God can be questioned about this as being a matter of His execution of justice. If God permits injustice to exist, is God Himself unjust? Job wants God to answer for this situation, and to answer personally (chapter thirteen). Now, the three visitors, who had at first tried to convict Job of sin, begin to treat Job's daring to call God to account for injustice. Job calls them out for tossing words around, and not bothering to share or assist with his grief.

"But Job answered: 'Old tales and cold comfort; you are all alike. Words are but wind; there is no end to them, and they cost thee nothing. Believe me, I could do as well, were you in my case, talk the language of consolation, and mock you all the while, speak of encouragement; my lips should tremble with a show of pity. But here is grief words cannot assuage, nor silence banish; grief that bows me down till my whole frame is lifeless; these furrowed cheeks are the witness of it. And now a false accuser dares me to my face and baits me!" - Job, 16: 1-9

That false accuser is the one Scripture calls Satan. Job is still protesting his innocence and seems to be annoyed that his friends will not accept his claim. He still wants an answer from God for the injustice of his condition. Chapter nineteen is a wonderfully long Leave me alone to his friends, and yet they persist. Eliphaz would have Job repent and fall in with seemingly unjust punishments for sins Job must acknowledge, even if he is convinced that he is innocent (chapter twenty-two). Their position is given altogether by Baldad in the short:

"Then answered Baldad the Suhite: 'Ay, but what power, ay, but what terrors He wields, who reigns peacefully, there in high heaven! He, the Lord of countless armies, He, whose light dazzles every eye! And shall man, born of woman, win his suit, prove his innocence, when he is matched with God? Dim shews the moon, tarnished the stars, under His eye; and what is man but waste and worm in his presence?" - Job, 25

So, should we be permitted to question God in the matter of undeserved suffering? We now have Job's final address, calling upon God to account for his suffering.

"'As sure as He is a living God, He, the Omnipotent, who so refuses me justice, who makes my lot in life so bitter; while life is in me, while He still grants me breath, never shall these lips justify the wrong, never this tongue utter the lie! Gain your point with me you shall not; I will die sooner than abandon my plea of innocence. That claim, once made, I will not forgo; not one act in all my life bids conscience reproach me. Count him a knave that is my enemy, every detractor of mine a friend of wrong!'" - Job, 27: 2-7

Chapter twenty-eight is a discourse on divine Wisdom, and the joy of acquiring it/her, such as we have already had from the Wisdom of Solomon and parts of Ecclesiasticus. But the most compelling part of this final discourse of Job's is his self-defence, as he describes his works of mercy in detail (chapter thirty-one). This then is how he ends:

"'O that my cause might be tried; that He, the Almighty, would grant my request, that He, my judge, would write my record down; how proudly I would bear it with me, shoulder-high, wear it as a crown! I would proclaim it wherever I went, fit for a king’s eyes to read. Can these lands of mine bear testimony against me, can their furrows tell a sad tale of harvests enjoyed, and no price paid for them, of labourers cruelly treated? Then thistles for wheat, thorns for barley may it yield me." - Job, 31: 35-40

I still don't think that Job has ever yet committed any act of disrespect toward the God he loves. He remains faithful, in spite of everything. What he does of course is declare that he is innocent (which he is, as per the story), that his reduced condition is an unfair and unjust reward for his life of virtue, and he asks Almighty God to account for this by defending this treatment of Job. Job knows that all things happen because God permits them, so God is ultimately responsible for Job's state in life, and Job wants to know why he has suffered so much. Daring he is, but has he committed a sin? The suddenly-introduced Eliu the Buzite son of Barachel certainly thinks he has. Appearing out of nowhere in chapter thirty-two, Eliu condemns the three friends of Job as not having treated Job's arguments well, or his challenge to God. Eliu seems to me to be the voice of the Old Testament when he says that Job cannot expect to match himself against God in any type of court scene.

"'But there is no substance in thy plea; I tell thee, man cannot be matched with God. What, wouldst thou complain that He does not meet these charges of thine? Know, then, that God warns us once, but does not repeat His warning. Sometimes in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they lie abed, He speaks words of revelation, to teach them the lesson they need. This is one means by which He will turn a man away from his designs, purge him of his pride; and so the grave is disappointed, the sword misses its prey.'" - Job, 33: 12-18

So, all imposed suffering is instructive, to save men from a spiritual death. This was the lesson given us by the writers of the chronicles and by the prophets, especially during and after the exile of the Judaites to Babylon. So, Job, however innocent he may be, must be able to draw instruction from this episode of his life, rather than plead his innocence before God. Again, see this:

"'Listen to me, then, discerning hearts! From God, the Almighty, far removed is all wickedness, is every thought of wrong; He treats men only as they deserve, giving due reward to each. What, should Almighty God pervert justice by condemning the innocent? Is the care of the wide earth entrusted to some other; is not the Maker of the world Himself the world’s judge? He has but to turn His thought towards men, reclaiming the spirit He once breathed into them, and all life would fail everywhere; mankind would return to its dust.'" - Job, 34: 10-15

Eliu is uncovering here the flaw in Job's approach - that he is calling God to account - and Eliu calls this blasphemy. The rest of his address is a glorification of Almighty God. But chapter thirty-eight is what we've all been waiting for, for God appears in a whirlwind to answer Job's summons. Job seems to still be in the divine favour, for God calls him out for his daring, but still does show up in all His Majesty. God in a lengthy discourse declares that Job doesn't have the big picture, because he is not intimately involved in the working of the Creation, as God is. God repeats what Eliu already has - that no mortal man dares match himself with God and survive the ordeal. And Job promptly returns to his humble patience at the beginning of the book:

"All this the Lord said to Job, and added besides, 'What is this? One that would match himself with God, so easily put down! Nay, God thou didst challenge, God thou must refute.' And thus Job made the Lord answer: 'So vain a pleader, I have no suit to make; finger on lip I will listen. Once and again I have spoken the word I would fain unsay; more I dare not.'" - Job, 39: 31-35

Job's is finally the triumph, for he is vindicated in his innocence, and by God Himself, as he had requested, when accused of sin by his three friends. He is convicted only of his foolishness in calling God to account, but his humble retraction has made satisfaction. His friends (but not Eliu) are condemned for speaking badly about God, probably about the way divine Justice is administered. The books ends with Job being restored to prosperity in family and possessions. And like other similar books, like Tobit and Judith, he lives happily ever after, to long life. And that is the book of Job.

The resumption of the memorials of the Saints after Lent

During the high liturgical period of Lent, Holy Week and Easter week, most Saint days become invisible to the Church, although calendar dates are still marked down. But in the next few weeks, as we journey downhill from the great festival of Easter - the Christian Pasch - the Saints appear once more, like stars in the sky after twilight.

And today, we have two wonderful characters. First, there's the martyr pope, the Holy Father Martin I (d. AD 656). Here's the entry for him in the Roman Martyrology:

"Saint Martin the First, pope and martyr, who condemned the heresy of monothelitism at the Lateran synod, then by the command of the emperor Constans II and following an attack on the Lateran basilica by the exarch Calliopas was taken from his seat and led to Constantinople and there set to forced labour, before being removed to the Crimea, where after about two years he received the end of his suffering and his eternal crown."

The impious emperor, resident in Constantinople, had attacked the pope in his own cathedral in Rome, at the Lateran basilica. The pope had refused to back down when the emperor had decided to end the discussion about the number of wills in Christ. The Church had decided that Christ, having two natures divine and human, had two wills divine and human, but both perfectly united to each other. Mono-thel-itism declared that Christ had but one will. The pope's Lateran synod was determined to take a stand and had dared to condemn the emperor. So Constans sent soldiers to abduct the pope and Martin I was led to Constantinople and to months of prison, sickness and all-around ill-treatment. Then, he was exiled to the Crimea and utter poverty, deserted by all his friends, a martyr for the freedom of the Church from the tyranny of the political State. 

The Apostle Saint John and the Acts of the Apostles

I don't know about other people at church, but I'm getting a proper kick out of the conjunction of the readings from Acts and the readings from the Gospel of S. John, in these Easter days. When, for example, on Friday we had the last chapter of the Gospel and Christ appeared on the shore and arranged another extraordinary catch of fish, the Apostle S. John (who always calls himself 'the disciple whom Jesus loved') tells S. Peter, It is the Lord. And Peter leaps right in, of course, in his usual impetuous way:

"But when morning came, there was Jesus standing on the shore; only the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 'Have you caught anything, friends,' Jesus asked them, 'to season your bread with?' And when they answered 'No,' He said to them, 'Cast to the right of the boat, and you will have a catch.' So they cast the net, and found before long they had no strength to haul it in, such a shoal of fish was in it. Whereupon the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord.' And Simon Peter, hearing him say that it was the Lord, girded up the fisherman’s coat, which was all he wore, and sprang into the sea. The other disciples followed in the boat (they were not far from land, only some hundred yards away), dragging their catch in the net behind them." - Gospel of S. John, 21: 4-8

But there's another aspect to this. It's not just that Peter ran for the Lord, but that S. John and the other disciples (think, overseers/bishops) had a care for the boat and for the catch of fish (think, the Church). There's an element of hierarchy here, and we know that Christ arranged the Apostles themselves in tiers: at the top was Peter with the primacy, around Peter are the two who with him formed the trio of witnesses to such events as the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden. And then came the others. In Scripture, we see order and hiearchy in all the works of God and it is no accident that Christ ordered the Church in an hiearchy as well. Well, parallel with the Friday gospel reading was the Friday first reading. 

Now, keep in mind that the Apostle S. John was known to the high-priest Caiaphas and his household (Gospel of S. John, 18: 16). Now, after the first Christian Pentecost, the Apostles were greatly changed. Peter and John are still close fellow-workers in this story, even as they approach the same high-priest Caiaphas and his father-in-law the chief-priest Annas before whom Christ had been dragged, on trial as Christ had been and like Him unable to be condemned (they had committed no crime, either). And I don't think Caiaphas recognises John anymore. As in the Gospel stories, John always gives his superior the first place:

"Before they had finished speaking to the crowd, they were interrupted by the chief priests, the temple superintendent, and the Sadducees. These, indignant at their teaching the multitude and proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, laid hands on them, and put them in prison (for it was already evening) until the next day. (Meanwhile, many of those who had listened to their preaching had joined the believers, so that their numbers had now risen to five thousand men.) On the next day, there was a gathering of the rulers and elders and scribes in Jerusalem; the high priest Annas was there, and Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and all those who belonged to the high-priestly family. And they had Peter and John brought into their presence, and asked them, 'By what power, in whose name, have such men as you done this?' Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and said to them, 'Rulers of the people, elders of Israel, listen to me. If it is over kindness done to a cripple, and the means by which he has been restored, that we are called in question, here is news for you and for the whole people of Israel. You crucified Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, and God raised Him from the dead; it is through His Name that this man stands before you restored...'" - Acts of the Apostles, 4: 1-10

The story goes on to say that the priests were surprised at the eloquence of these men who were obviously unlearned. That doesn't necessarily mean they couldn't read and write; merely that they had had not had the benefit of a high standard of education. These descriptions are so very vivid that I often feel that the Apostolic times were only very recent, while the times of Saint Bede the Venerable, some eight hundred years later, are more obscure.

Reading through the Wisdom of Solomon (aka. the Book of Wisdom)

I'm going to keep saying now that I'm coming to the end of the marathon Bible-read because I quite am. Of all our seventy-three books, I have maybe eleven to go, although that includes the great Ecclesiasticus (aka. Sirach) and both the Acts of the Apostles and the Maccabean histories. The Wisdom of Solomon is traditionally attributed to the king of that name, although Scripture scholars have attempted to throw doubt on that (as Scripture scholars are wont to do). But let's use the traditional attribution to keep things simple. There are three great themes of the book: (i) the triumph of the Just (often used in Masses of the Dead, when we assume that the Deceased is numbered among the Just); (ii) the glory of personified Wisdom, usually given the aspect of a desirable woman, to be courted and embraced; and (iii) the action of Divine Wisdom in the history of the Israelite nation. Let's go through the whole thing, in summary fashion.

First, there's an introduction to Wisdom in chapter one, and then there is the introduction to the Just Man, who is hated by schemers and villains, who wish to destroy him and humiliate him. This terrifying chapter two is brought to life by the treatment of Christ by his tormentors: the Temple priests (the Sadducees):

"Where is he, the just man? We must plot to be rid of him; he will not lend himself to our purposes. Ever he must be thwarting our plans; transgress we the law, he is all reproof, depart we from the traditions of our race, he denounces us. What, would he claim knowledge of divine secrets, give himself out as the son of God? The touchstone, he, of our inmost thoughts; we cannot bear the very sight of him, his life so different from other men’s, the path he takes, so far removed from theirs! No better than false coin he counts us, holds aloof from our doings as though they would defile him; envies the just their future happiness, boasts of a divine parentage. Put we his claims, then, to the proof; let experience shew what his lot shall be, and what end awaits him. If to be just is to be God’s son indeed, then God will take up his cause, will save him from the power of his enemies. Outrage and torment, let these be the tests we use; let us see that gentleness of his in its true colours, find out what his patience is worth. Sentenced let him be to a shameful death; by his own way of it, he shall find deliverance." - Wisdom, 2: 12-20

But such Just people, who suffer patiently and treasure Wisdom in their hearts, have a great reward coming their way, because although they seem to have succumbed to weakness, suffering and death, their life is hidden with God in heaven. For about the first time in the Old Testament, we find hints of resurrection, a life beyond the grave and eternal beatitude. This is one of the readings at funeral Masses:

"But the souls of the just are in God’s hands, and no torment, in death itself, has power to reach them. Dead? Fools think so; think their end loss, their leaving us, annihilation; but all is well with them. The world sees nothing but the pains they endure; they themselves have eyes only for what is immortal; so light their suffering, so great the gain they win! God, all the while, did but test them, and testing them found them worthy of Him. His gold, tried in the crucible, His burnt-sacrifice, graciously accepted, they do but wait for the time of their deliverance; then they will shine out, these just souls, unconquerable as the sparks that break out, now here, now there, among the stubble. Theirs to sit in judgement on nations, to subdue whole peoples, under a Lord whose reign shall last for ever. Trust Him if thou wilt, true thou shalt find Him; faith waits for Him calmly and lovingly; who claims His gift, who shall attain peace, if not they, His chosen servants?" - Wisdom, 3: 1-9

Of course, the men of this world do not understand all of this. For them, the death of the Just Man (of Woman), deprived as he is of worldly honours and worldly fortunes, is shameful and an object of contempt and derision. This was the curse that fell upon the Jewish priests after the Resurrection of Christ. Within forty years of the Ascension and the first Christian Pentecost (in AD 70), the Jerusalem Temple was no more and has never been rebuilt.

"Did they know it, the death of the just man, with its promise early achieved, is a reproach to the wicked that live yet in late old age. But what see they? Here is a man dead, and all his wisdom could not save him. That the Lord planned all this, and for the saving of him, does not enter their minds. What wonder if the sight fills them with contempt? And they themselves, all the while, are earning the Lord’s contempt; they themselves, doomed to lie there dishonoured among the dead, eternally a laughing-stock! How they will stand aghast, when he pricks the bubble of their pride! Ruins they shall be, overthrown from the foundation, land for ever parched dry; bitter torment shall be theirs, and their name shall perish irrecoverably." - Wisdom, 4: 16-19

Chapter five goes further into the rewards of the Just, and we can see in this some of the rewards Christ Himself promises to his disciples and primarily to the Apostles. Wearing crowns and judging the tribes of Israel, receiving very much in return for the sacrifice of family and property, etc. 

"It is the just that will live for ever; the Lord has their recompense waiting for them, the most high God takes care of them. How glorious is that kingdom, how beautiful that crown, which the Lord will bestow on them! His right hand is there to protect them, His holy arm to be their shield." - Wisdom, 5: 16-17

Chapter six begins the picture of Wisdom personified as a desirable woman, to be embraced at all cost, particularly by kings and governors, those who have the care of the people, as King Solomon did.

"The bright beacon of wisdom, that never burns dim, how readily seen by eyes that long for it, how open to their search! Nay, she is beforehand with these her suitors, ready to make herself known to them; no toilsome quest is his, that is up betimes to greet her; she is there, waiting at his doors. Why, to entertain the very thought of her is maturity of the mind; one night’s vigil, and all thy cares are over. She goes her rounds, to find men worthy of her favours; in the open street unveils that smiling face of hers, comes deliberately to meet them." - Wisdom, 6: 13-17

It is in chapter seven that the author seems to identify himself as Solomon, hence the book's attribution of authorship. This chapter points back to the beginning of the reign of King Solomon, when he had requested Wisdom from God as more desirable to him than anything worldly. The next two chapters and this one continues the glorification of Wisdom in the chapter six. Chapter ten begins the final phase of the book, which is an account of the history of the Israelite nation, from Abraham to Moses and the passage through the Red Sea and the period of wandering in the wilderness and being fed with manna, as being facilitated by divine Wisdom. I shall only put three quotes from this section down, but a complete reading would allow for a devotional meditation on the care of God for His people. First, we have Abraham and his nephew Lot:

"And when the nations went their several ways, banded in a single conspiracy of wickedness, of one man’s innocence she still took note; Abraham must be kept irreproachable in God’s service, and steeled against pity for his own child. Here was another innocent man, Lot, that owed his preservation to Wisdom, when godless folk were perishing all around him. Escape he should, when fire came down upon the Cities of the Plain; those five cities whose shame is yet unforgotten, while smoke issues from the barren soil, and never tree bears seasonable fruit, and the pillar of salt stands monument to an unbelieving soul. Fatal neglect of Wisdom’s guidance, that could blind their eyes to the claims of honour, and leave the world such a memorial of their folly, as should make the record of their sins unmistakable! But those who cherish her, Wisdom brings safely out of all their striving." - Wisdom, 10: 5-9

The rest of the book is about the plagues that were inflicted upon the Egyptians before the flight of the Israelites into the wilderness. The Egyptians are excoriated for their idolatry, and this is not infrequently given to be the cause of their treatment, quite apart from their abuse of the Israelites - worship animals and animals will be used by divine Wisdom to inflict injury upon you. Idolatry is the great foe, the great villain, of the people of the Old Testament, as it is even for us today. It is all too easy to find other things to worship and trust in than the God Who stands above all.

"For Israel, only a test of their faith; only a father’s correction; for Egypt, as from a king, stern scrutiny and stern doom. Tidings from far away, that racked the Egyptians no less than their own former sufferings; anguish redoubled, as they groaned over the memory of things past! That the same plague of thirst which had tortured themselves should be the source of Israel’s rejoicing! Then indeed they felt the Lord’s power, then indeed they wondered at the revenge time had brought; wondered at Moses, whom their insolence had long ago disinherited, when they exposed him with the other children. Thirst, that had been Egypt’s enemy, had no terrors for the just. So lost to piety were these Egyptians, such foolish reasonings led them astray, that they worshipped brute reptiles, and despicable vermin. And swarms of brute beasts thou didst send to execute thy vengeance, for the more proof that a man’s own sins are the instrument of his punishment. Thy power knows no restraint, the power that created an ordered world out of dark chaos. It had been easy to send a plague of bears upon them, or noble lions; or to form new creatures, of a ferocity hitherto unknown, breathing fiery breath, churning out foul fumes, terrible sparks darting from their eyes, so that men would die of fear at their very aspect, without waiting for proof of their power to do harm." - Wisdom, 11: 11-20

Chapter sixteen has a beautiful and wonder-filled description of the gift of manna, the material which fell from the sky and was baked into cakes for the people for forty long years. But in chapter seventeen, the gaze of the author returns to the Egyptians, and the whole chapter is about the superstitious and fear-filled darkness that engulfed that idolatrous nation, even as (chapter eighteen now) light shone on the Israelites, being cared for by divine Wisdom:

"Brightest of all, that light shone on Thy chosen people. These neighbours of theirs, heard but not seen, the Egyptians must congratulate on their escape from the common doom, thank them for letting vengeance be, and ask forgiveness for past ill-will. To these Thou gavest, not darkness, but a pillar of burning fire, to be the guide of their unfamiliar journey, a sun, all gracious welcome, that brought no harm. A fitting punishment it was for the Egyptians, this loss of light; fitting that they should be imprisoned in darkness, who had kept Thy own sons in prison; Thy own sons, through whom that Law, which is light unfailing, was to be given to the world." - Wisdom, 18: 1-4

And on that recommendation of the Torah - the Law of Moses - I shall end this post. What's the lesson of this book? Treasure Wisdom, embrace Wisdom, and Wisdom will embrace you, protect you, grant you virtues, such as prudence and right judgement. These virtues will colour your life upon earth, and will bring you the reward of the Just - a light-filled future life beyond this world.

Reading through the Book of Jonas (aka. Jonah)

And thus the prophets of the Old Testament. My final stop is at the end of the book of Jonas, with its famous tale of the successful mission of the prophet to the Assyrians of the city of Nineve. Jonas runs from this mission at first, fleeing westward by ship. He is promptly arrested by a storm and chucked overboard by the crew of the ship, who have realised that he is the reason for the storm threatening their lives and property. Tossed in the sea, Jonas is swallowed by a large sea-creature. This story was famously used by Christ to describe his own three days in the tomb before His Resurrection (Gospel of S. Matthew, 12: 39-41), so that we could call Jonas' prayer from the belly of the beast to be Christ's own prayer. 

"Call I on the Lord in my peril, redress He grants me; from the very womb of the grave call I, Thou art listening to me! Here in the depths of the sea’s heart Thou wouldst cast me away, with the flood all about me, eddy of Thine, wave of Thine, sweeping over me, till it seemed as if I were shut out from Thy regard: yet life Thou grantest me; I shall gaze on Thy holy temple once again. Around me the deadly waters close, the depths engulf me, the weeds are wrapped about my head; mountain caverns I must plumb, the very bars of earth my unrelenting prison; and still, O Lord my God, Thou wilt raise me, living, from the tomb. Daunted this heart, yet still of the Lord I would bethink me; prayer of mine should reach Him, far away in His holy Temple! Let fools that court false worship all hope of pardon forgo; mine to do sacrifice in Thy honour, vows made and paid to the Lord, my Deliverer!" - Jonas, 2: 3-10

Here, all at once, we have a message of faith in the midst of a seemingly complete abandon and a typically Israelite condemnation of idolatry. Just for this prayer would I treasure this short book above other smaller books of prophecy in its vicinity in the Bible. After being spat out by the sea-beast, Jonas completed his word of prophecy to the Ninevites and, surprisingly, they hearken to the voice of this foreign prophet and take on the ancient forms of penitence. This third chapter is very suitable for the Christian season of Lent:

"With that, the Ninevites shewed faith in God, rich and poor alike, proclaiming a fast and putting on sackcloth; nay, the king of Nineve himself, when word of it reached him, came down from his throne, cast his robe aside, put on sackcloth, and sat down humbly in the dust. And a cry was raised in Nineve, at the bidding of the king and his nobles, 'A fast for man and beast, for herd and flock; no food is to be eaten, no water drunk; let man and beast go covered with sackcloth; cry out lustily to the Lord, and forsake, each of you, his sinful life, his wrongful deeds! God may yet relent and pardon, forgo His avenging anger and spare our lives.'" - Jonas, 3: 5-9

Naturally, God relents before this public show of repentance and foregoes His plans for the destruction of that city. Meanwhile, Jonas had climbed a hill to watch the destruction of the city, and is not impressed to find that nothing will happen. He had taken refuge under a favoured tree from the hot Assyrian sun, and the tree immediately withered away. Thus did God wish to show Jonas in his chagrin at losing his sunshade, that God's love for the Ninevites was far greater than Jonas' love for his favoured tree.

"'Why,' said the Lord, 'what anger is this over an ivy-plant?' 'Deadly angry am I,' Jonas answered, 'and no marvel either.' 'Great pity thou hast,' the Lord said, 'for yonder ivy-plant, that was not of thy growing, and no toil cost thee; a plant that springs in a night, and in a night must wither! And what of Nineve? Here is a great city, with a hundred and twenty thousand folk in it, and none of them can tell right from left, all these cattle, too; and may I not spare Nineve?'" - Jonas, 4: 9-11

And that is the Book of Jonas, probably a well-known and beloved story - given Christ's use of it - but also surprisingly revelatory of God's care of not one single people and nation, but for a whole world of peoples.

Reading through the prophecy of Joel

And here's the second-last of the prophets in my months-long read. Joel begins with a great calamity upon the nation: either some terrible invading army that is figured as swarms of locusts has destroyed the countryside, or else some terrible natural calamity (like several swarms of locusts) has devastated the fields and destroyed the crop and is likened to an terrible invading army. Either way, the prophet call for a general lamentation, a religious fast and a general penitential effort. Naturally, this call is familiar to us as the reading for Ash Wednesday, that brings on the fast of Lent.

"Mourn, priests, and lament; in mourners’ garb go about your work at the altar; ministers of God, to His presence betake you, and there, in sackcloth, keep vigil; your God’s house, that offering of bread and wine has none! Then proclaim a fast, assemble the folk together, ruler and commoner alike summon to the temple, and there for the Lord’s help cry lustily. Woe betide us this day! The day of the Lord is coming; His the dominion, His the doom." - Joel, 1: 13-15

The Day of the Lord, that awful day, that haunts the minds of Jew and Christian alike. In the midst of distress and turmoil, we await that day of judgement, when all injustice will be removed and mankind will be weighed in the scales of divine Justice. The second chapter goes on poetically to announce the Day of the Lord, again colourfully describing the attack of locust swarms. But in the midst of this, comes a call from God to contrition, for He alone is the Salvation of the people. This is again a Lent-type discourse for Ash Wednesday.

"Time now, the Lord says, to turn the whole bent of your hearts back to Me, with fasting and with mourners’ tears. It is your hearts, not the garments you wear, that must be torn asunder. Come back to the Lord your God; He is ever gracious and merciful, ever patient and rich in pardon; threatens He calamity, even now He is ready to forgive. Who knows but He will relent, and be appeased; cast one glance behind Him, and, enough for His own due of bread and wine-offering, spare us largesse yet?" - Joel, 2: 12-14

And after a new promise of restoration after the devastation that the prophet has been lamenting comes a wonderful prediction of the first Christian Pentecost and the spirit of prophecy falling upon the people. There are words of apocalypse in this, with the sun being darkened, the mood being bloodied, etc. which are used by Christ in the Gospels, when He speaks of the end of all things.

"Afterwards I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters will be prophets. Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men see visions; everywhere servants of Mine, handmaids of Mine, inspired to prophesy! I will shew wonders in heaven, and on earth blood, and fire, and whirling smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great, the terrible day. And never a soul shall call on the Lord’s Name but shall find deliverance; here on mount Sion, here in Jerusalem there shall be refuge; for a remnant, a remnant of the Lord’s own summoning, there shall be deliverance at last." - Joel, 2: 28-32

But where is this Jerusalem, that shall give refuge to a remnant? It seems to be a messianic Jerusalem, far beyond past history. The last chapter of Joel speaks of retribution for the loss of the Israelite families that were hauled away into distant slavery through the agency of their neighbours, who struck when they had the chance. These Gentiles would now suffer in like manner. 

"Into the valley of Josaphat I will herd the heathen folk, one and all, and there hold assize over them for the wrong they did to My people, to Israel, My own domain. People of Mine they scattered through the world, land of Mine they parcelled out between them. Must they be awarded by lot, such captives, and then sold cheap, boy-slave for a harlot’s hire, girl-slave for the draining of a wine-stoup? What, would you chaffer with Me, men of Tyre and Sidon, men from the pale of Philistia? Must there be barter and exchange between us? Nay, if you will have exchanges with Me, look to it that the reward does not fall on your own heads, swift and sudden! Would you carry off silver of mine and gold, lay up the choicest of My treasures in yonder temples? Citizens of Jerusalem, men of Juda’s breed, would you sell them to Grecian masters, far away from their home?" - Joel, 3: 2-6

There is a final vision of the graces that flow forth from the Temple in Jerusalem, turning the wilderness into greenery, as in the vision of Ezechiel. And that is a good point to end this post.

"Loud as roaring of lion speaks the Lord in thunder from His citadel at Jerusalem, till heaven and earth quake at the sound. To His own people, the sons of Israel, refuge He is and stronghold; doubt you shall have none thenceforward that I, the Lord your God, have My dwelling-place at Jerusalem; a holy city Jerusalem shall be, never again shall alien foe breach the walls of her. Drip now with sweet wine the mountain-slopes, bathed in milk the upland pastures; never a stream in all Juda but flows full and strong. What fountain is this that comes out from the Lord’s temple, and waters the dry valley of Setim?" - Joel, 3: 16-18