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The Adoration
of the Golden Calf by Nicolas Poussin
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MEDITATION VI
FIRST FRIDAY OF ADVENT
Jesus
enlightens the World and glorifies God.
Creavit
Dominus novum super terram.
The Lord hath
created a new thing upon the earth. Jer. xxxi. 22
Before the coming of the Messias the world was buried in a dark night
of ignorance and sins. The true God was hardly known, save in one single corner
of the earth, that is to say, in Judea alone: In Judea God is known. But
everywhere else men adored as gods devils, beasts, and stones. Everywhere there
reigned the night of sin, which blinds souls, and fills them with vices, and
hides from them the sight of the miserable state in which they are living, as
enemies of God and condemned to hell: Thou hast appointed darkness, and it is
night; in it shall all the beasts of the wood go about?
From this darkness, Jesus
came to deliver the world: To them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death,
light is risen. He delivered it from idolatry by making known to
them the light of the true God; and he delivered them from sin by the light of
his doctrine and of his divine example: For this purpose the Son of God appeared that He might
destroy the works of the devil. The
prophet Jeremias foretold that God should create a new child to be the Redeemer
of men: The
Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth. This new child was
Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, who is the object of the love of all the
saints in paradise, and is the love of the Father himself, who thus speaks of
him: This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
And this Son is he who made himself man. A new child, because he has given more
glory and honor to God in the first moment of his creation than all the angels
and saints together have given him, or shall give him for all eternity. And
therefore did the angels at the birth of Jesus sing, Glory to God in the highest. The
child Jesus has rendered more glory to God than all the sins of men have
deprived him of.
Let us therefore, poor
sinners, take courage; let us offer to the eternal Father this Infant; let us
present to him the tears, the obedience, the humility, the death, and the
merits of Jesus Christ, and we shall make compensation to God for all the
dishonor that we have caused him by our offences.
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Detail of the Return
of the Prodigal Son by Pompeo Batoni
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Affections and Prayers
My eternal God, I have dishonored Thee by so often preferring my will
to Thine, and my vile and miserable pleasures to Thy holy grace. What hope of
pardon would there be for me, if Thou hadst not given me Jesus Christ on
purpose that he might be the hope of us miserable sinners? He is a propitiation for our sins. Yes; for Jesus Christ, in sacrificing his life in
satisfaction for the injuries we have done Thee, has given Thee more honor than
we have dishonor by our sins. Receive me, therefore, O my Father, for the love
of Jesus Christ. I repent, O infinite Goodness, of having outraged Thee: Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and before Thee: I am not worthy to be called Thy son.
I am not worthy of forgiveness; but Jesus Christ is worthy to be heard
favorably by Thee. He prayed once for me on the cross, Father, forgive; and
even now in heaven he is constantly begging Thee to receive me as a son: We
have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who ever intercedes for us? Receive an
ungrateful son, who once forsook Thee, but now returns, resolved to desire to
love Thee. Yes, my Father, I love Thee, and will always love Thee. O my Father,
now that I know the love that Thou hast borne me, and the patience Thou hast
shown me for so many years, I trust no longer to live without loving Thee. Give
me a great love, that may make me constantly lament the displeasure I have
given Thee, who art so good a Father; cause me ever to burn with love towards
Thee, who art so loving a Father. My Father, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love
Thee! O Mary! God is my Father, and thou art my mother. Thou canst do all
things with God; help me; obtain for me holy perseverance and his holy love.
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