Second Reading from the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for Tuesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
From a sermon by St. Bernard, abbot
(Sermo 5 de diversis, 1-4: Opera omnia, Edit. Cisterc. 6, 1 [1970] 98-103)
I shall stand upon my watchtower to see what the Lord will say to me
We read in the gospel that when the Lord was teaching his disciples and urged them to share in his passion by the mystery of eating his body, some said: This is a hard saying; and from that time they no longer followed him. When he asked the disciples whether they also wished to go away, they replied: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
I assure you, my brothers, that even to this day it is clear to some that the words which Jesus speaks are spirit and life, and for this reason they follow him. To others these words seem hard, and so they look elsewhere for some pathetic consolation. Yet wisdom cries out in the streets, in the broad and spacious way that leads to death, to call back those who take this path.
Finally, he says: For forty years I have been close to this generation, and I said: They have always been fainthearted. You also read in another psalm: God has spoken once. Once, indeed, because for ever. His is a single, uninterrupted utterance, because it is continuous and unending.
He calls upon sinners to return to their true spirit and rebukes them when their hearts have gone astray, for it is in the true heart that he dwells and there he speaks, fulfilling what he taught through the prophet: Speak to the heart of Jerusalem.
You see, my brothers, how the prophet admonishes us for our advantage: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. You can read almost the same words in the gospel and in the prophet. For in the gospel the Lord says: My sheep hear my voice. And in the psalm blessed David says: You are his people (meaning, of course, the Lord's) and the sheep of his pasture. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Hear also the prophet Habakkuk. Far from hiding the Lord's reprimands, he dwells on them with attentive and anxious care. He says: I will stand upon my watchtower and take up my post on the ramparts, keeping watch to see what he will say to me and what answer I will make to those who try to confute me. I beg you, my brothers, stand upon our watchtower, for now is the time for battle. Let all our dealings be in the heart, where Christ dwells, in right judgment and wise counsel, but in such a way as to place no confidence in those dealings, nor rely upon our fragile defenses.
RESPONSORY - Psalm 18:23; 19:9; 1 John 2:5
The laws of the Lord are all before me,
and I have not failed to keep his statutes.
--The decrees of the Lord are upright
and bring joy to the heart.
The precepts of the Lord are clear
and enlighten the eyes.
The love of God reaches perfection
in those who are obedient to his word.
--The decrees of the Lord are upright
and bring joy to the heart.
The precepts of the Lord are clear
and enlighten the eyes.
PRAYER
God our Father,
you redeem us
and make us your children in Christ.
Look upon us,
give us true freedom
and bring us to the inheritance you promised.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Let us praise the Lord.
--And give him thanks.
Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct, but to find these reasons is no less an instinct.
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