Posted on 08/06/2007 8:42:09 AM PDT by Salvation
So do you pray the liturgy of the hours?
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O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
| This is an excellent moment for an examination of conscience. In a communal celebration of Compline, one of the penitential acts given in the Missal may be recited. |
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 85 (86) |
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| A poor man's prayer in time of trouble |
| Lord God, you are full of mercies, patient and true. |
| Turn your ear to me, Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and destitute. Keep my life safe, for I am faithful; O God, save your servant, who trusts in you. Take pity upon me, O Lord, for I call to you all the day long. Make your servant’s heart glad, for to you, O Lord, I have raised it. For you, Lord, are gentle and mild: you are kind to all those who call on you. Let your ears hear my prayer, O Lord! Turn to the voice of my pleading! In my time of trouble I call on you, for you, O Lord, will hear me. No other god is like you, O Lord, and nothing compares with your works. All people – all nations you made – will come and worship before you; they will give glory to your name. For you are great, you work wonders: you alone are God. O Lord, teach me your paths, and I will come to your truth. Make my heart simple and guileless, so that it honours your name. I will proclaim you, Lord my God, and give you praise with all my heart. I will give glory to your name for ever, for your great kindness is upon me: you have rescued me from the deepest depths. O God, the proud rise against me, in the meetings of the powerful they seek my life: they do not keep you in their sight. And you, Lord, are a God of compassion, full of mercies, patient and true. Look upon me, have mercy upon me, give your strength and protection to your servant your servant, the child of your handmaid. Give me a sign of your goodness, let my enemies see it and be confounded; because you, O Lord, have helped me and given me comfort. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Lord God, you are full of mercies, patient and true. |
| Reading | 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 |
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| God chose that we should receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us; so that, asleep or awake, we should still live with him. | |
| Short Responsory | ? |
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| Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. - Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed us, Lord, God of faithfulness. - Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. - Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. |
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| Canticle | Nunc Dimittis |
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| Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace. | |
| Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace. You have fulfilled your promise. My own eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples. A light to bring the Gentiles from darkness; the glory of your people Israel. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
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| Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace. | |
| Prayer | |
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| Let us pray. Give our bodies rest, Lord, to restore them; and let the seeds sown by our labours today grow and yield an eternal harvest. Through Christ our Lord, Amen. |
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| May the almighty Lord grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. |
| A M E N |
From: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Daniel’s Vision (Continuation)
[13] I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there
came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was
presented before him. [14] And to him was given dominion and glory and
kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
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Commentary:
7:9-14. Divine judgment is passed on the kingdoms in this scene. God
is depicted as being seated on a throne in heaven, his glory flashing
out and angels all around. Judgment is about to take place, and it will
be followed by execution of the sentence. The books (v. 10) contain all
the actions of men (cf. Jer 17:1; Mal 3:16; Ps 56:8; Rev 20:12). The
seer is shown history past (not laid out according to chronology: all the
empires are included in one glance), and he notes that a more severe
sentence is passed on the blasphemous horn than on the other beasts.
They had their lives extended (v. 12), that is, their deprivation of power
did not spell the end; but the little horn is destroyed forthwith.
“Following
in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the
judgment of the Last Day in his preaching (cf. Dan 7:10; Joel 3-4; Mal
3:19; Mt 3:7-42)” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 678).
The one “like a son of man” who comes with the clouds of heaven and
who, after the judgment, is given everlasting dominion over all the earth,
is the very antithesis of the beasts. He has not risen from a turbulent
sea like them; there is nothing ferocious about him. Rather, he has been
raised up by God (he comes with the clouds of heaven) and he shares
the human condition. The dignity of all mankind is restored through this
son of man’s triumph over the beasts. This figure, as we will discover
later, stands for ‘the people of the saints of the Most High’ (7:27), that
is, faithful Israel. However, he is also an individual (just as the winged
lion was an individual, and the little horn), and insofar as he is given a
kingdom, he is a king. What we have here is an individual who
represents the people. In Jewish circles around the time of Christ, this
“son of man” was interpreted as being the Messiah, a real person (cf.
“Book of the Parables of Enoch”); but it was a title that became linked
to the sufferings of the Messiah and to his resurrection from the dead
only when Jesus Christ applied it to himself in the Gospel. “Jesus
accepted Peter’s profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be
the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man
(cf. Mt 16:23). He unveiled the authentic content of his messianic
kingship both in the transcendent identity of the Son of Man ‘who
came down from heaven’ (Jn 3:13; cf. Jn 6:62; Dan 7:13), and in his
redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: ‘The Son of Man came
not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’
(Mt 20:28; cf. Is 53:10-12)” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 440).
When the Church proclaims in the Creed that Christ is seated at the
right hand of the Father, she is saying that it was to Christ that
dominion was given; “Being seated at the Father’s right hand signifies
the inauguration of the Messiah’s kingdom, the fulfillment of the prophet
Daniel’s vision concerning the Son of man; ‘To him was given domination
and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should
serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed’ (Dan 7:14). After
this event the apostles became witnesses of the ‘kingdom [that] will have
no end’ (Nicene Creed)” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 664).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: 2 Peter 1:16-19
The Transfiguration, an Earnest of the Second Coming
Prophecy and the Second Coming
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Commentary:
16-18. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ, at which the voice of God
the Father was heard (verses 16-18), and the testimony of the Old
Testament prophets (verses 19-21) are a guarantee of the doctrine of
Christ’s second coming.
“The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”: this phrase sums up
the purpose of apostolic preaching: “power” indicates that Jesus Christ
is God and is almighty like the Father; the “coming (literally “Parousia”)
means the same as His manifestation in glory at the end of time. This
is not a matter of “myth”; it will be as real as His sojourn on this earth,
of which the Apostles are “eyewitnesses”. When speaking of the
Transfiguration, the sacred writer refers to the “majesty” of Jesus Christ
(an attribute which He always possesses, because He is God) and the
“voice” of the Father confirming Christ’s divine nature (cf. Matthew 17:5).
The simple line of argument is that if Jesus Christ allowed His divinity to
be glimpsed just for a moment, He will also be able to manifest it in its
fullness and forever at the end of time.
“On the holy mountain”: this wording indicates that he is referring to the
transfiguration and not to the baptism of our Lord (Matthew 3:16-17).
The mountain is described as “holy” because a theophany occurred
there; similarly, in the Old Testament Zion is called a “holy mountain”
because God revealed Himself there (cf. Psalm 2:6; Isaiah 11:9).
19-21. “The prophetic word” finds its complete fulfillment in Jesus
Christ (cf. Hebrews 1:1). This does not refer to a particular prophecy;
at that time “the prophetic word” meant the messianic prophecies or
(more usually) all the Old Testament insofar as it proclaims the
enduring salvation to come.
These verses encapsulate the whole notion of biblical prophecy—its
value, interpretation and divine origin. They also show the close
connection between the Old and the New Testaments. “The books
of the Old Testament, all of them caught up into the Gospel message,
attain and show forth their full meaning in the New Testament (cf.
Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:27; Romans 16:25-26; 2 Corinthians 3:14-16)
and, in their turn, shed light on it and explain it” (Vatican II, “Dei
Verbum”, 16).
By reaching their fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Old Testament
prophecies confirm the truthfulness of what Jesus said and did.
Together with the Transfiguration they constitute a guarantee of the
second coming of the Lord.
The comparison of prophecy to the morning star is a very good one,
for that star is designed to bring light and announce the coming of
day. Similarly, the fullness of Revelation which begins with the earthly
life of Christ will reach its climax when He comes in glory.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Mark 9:2-10
The Transfiguration (Continuation)
[9] And as they were coming down the mountain, He charged them
to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man should have
risen from the dead. [10] So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what the rising from the dead meant.”
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Commentary:
2-10. We contemplate in awe this manifestation of the glory of the Son
of God to three of His disciples. Ever since the Incarnation, the divinity
of our Lord has usually been hidden behind His humanity. But Christ
wishes to show, to these favorite disciples, who will later be pillars of the
Church, the splendor of His divine glory, in order to encourage them to
follow the difficult way that lies ahead, fixing their gaze on the happy goal
which is awaiting them at the end. This is why, as St. Thomas comments
(cf. “Summa Theologia”, III, q. 45, a. 1), it was appropriate for Him to give
them an insight into His glory. The fact that the Transfiguration comes
immediately after the first announcement of His passion, and His prophetic
words about how His followers would also have to carry His cross, shows
us that “through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God”
(Acts 14:22).
What happened at the Transfiguration? To understand this miraculous event
in Christ’s life, we must remember that in order to redeem us by His passion
and death our Lord freely renounced divine glory and became man, assuming
flesh which was capable of suffering and which was not glorious, becoming
like us in every way except sin (cf. Hebrew 4:15). In the Transfiguration,
Jesus Christ willed that the glory which was His as God and which His soul
had from the moment of the Incarnation, should miraculously become present
in His body. “We should learn from Jesus’ attitude in these trials. During His
life on earth He did not even want the glory that belonged to Him. Though He
had the right to be treated as God, He took the form of a servant, a slave (cf.
Philippians 2:6)” (St J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 62). Bearing in mind
WHO became man (the divinity of the person and the glory of His soul),
it was appropriate for His body to be glorious; given the PURPOSE of His
Incarnation, it was not appropriate, usually, for His glory to be evident. Christ
shows His glory in the Transfiguration in order to move us to desire the divine
glory which will be given us so that, having this hope, we too can understand
“that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory
that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
2. According to Deuteronomy (19:15), to bear witness to anything the evidence
of two or three much concur. Perhaps this is why Jesus wanted three Apostles
to be present. It should be pointed out that these three Apostles were specially
loved by Him; they were with Him also at the raising of the daughter of Jairus
(Mark 5:37) and will also be closest to Him during His agony at Gethsemane
(Mark 14:33). Cf. note on Matthew 17:1-13.
7. This is how St. Thomas Aquinas explains the meaning of the Transfiguration:
“Just as in Baptism, where the mystery of the first regeneration was proclaimed,
the operation of the whole Trinity was made manifest, because the Son Incarnate
was there, the Holy Spirit appeared under the form of a dove, and the Father
made Himself known in the voice; so also in the Transfiguration, which is the
sign of the second regeneration [the Resurrection], the whole Trinity
appears—the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, the Holy Spirit in the
bright cloud; for just as in Baptism He confers innocence, as signified by the
simplicity of the dove, so in the Resurrection will He give His elect the clarity
of glory and the refreshment from every form of evil, as signified by the bright
cloud” (”Summa Theologiae”, III, q. 45, 1.4 ad 2). For, really, the Transfiguration
was in some way an anticipation not only of Christ’s glorification but also of ours.
As St. Paul says, “it is the same Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow
heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be
glorified with Him” (Romans 8:16-17).
10. That the dead would rise was already revealed in the Old Testament (cf.
Daniel 12:2-3; 2 Maccabees 7:9; 12:43) and was believed by pious Jews (cf.
John 11:23-25). However, they were unable to understand the profound truth
of the death and Resurrection of the Lord: they expected a glorious and
triumphant Messiah, despite the prophecy that He would suffer and die (cf.
Isaiah 53). Hence the Apostles’ oblique approach; they too do not dare to
directly question our Lord about His Resurrection.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
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