SAINT JOHN OF GOD
First Reading
| Exodus 10:21-11:10 © |
|---|
The
Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and let
darkness, darkness so thick that it can be felt, cover the land of
Egypt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and for three
days there was deep darkness over the whole land of Egypt. No one could
see anyone else or move about for three days, but where the sons of
Israel lived there was light for them.
Pharaoh summoned Moses. ‘Go and offer worship to the
Lord,’ he said ‘but your flocks and herds must remain here. Your
children may go with you too.’ Moses replied, ‘But you must let us have
means of offering sacrifices and holocausts to the Lord our God. Our
livestock, too, must go with us; not one head of cattle must be left
behind: it must be from our livestock that we provide for the worship of
the Lord our God; until we reach the place, we do not know ourselves
what worship we shall have to offer the Lord.’
But the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn, and he
refused to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Out of my sight! Take
care! Never appear before me again, for on the day you do, you die!’
Moses replied, ‘You yourself have said it: never again shall I appear
before you.’
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘One disaster more I
shall bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt, just one. After this he will let
you go from here... Indeed, he will drive you out! Instruct the people
that every man is to ask his neighbor, every woman hers, for silver
ornaments and gold.’ And the Lord gave the people prestige in the eyes
of the Egyptians, while Moses himself was a man of great importance in
the land of Egypt, and of high prestige with Pharaoh’s courtiers and
with the people.
Moses said, ‘This is the Lord’s message, “Towards
midnight I shall pass through Egypt. All the first-born in the land of
Egypt shall die: from the firstborn of Pharaoh, heir to his throne, to
the first-born of the maidservant at the mill, and all the first-born of
the cattle. And throughout the land of Egypt there shall be such a
wailing as never was heard before, nor will be again. But against the
sons of Israel, against man or beast, never a dog shall bark, so that
you may know that the Lord discriminates between Egypt and Israel. Then
all these courtiers of yours will come down to me and bow low before me
and say: Go away, you and all the people who follow you! After this, I
shall go.”’ And, hot with anger, Moses left Pharaoh’s presence.
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will not listen
to you; so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.’ All
these wonders Moses and Aaron worked in the presence of Pharaoh. But the
Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn, and he did not let the sons of
Israel leave his country.
Second Reading
| From a demonstration by Aphraates, bishop |
|---|
| Circumcision of the heart |
|---|
Law
and covenant have been entirely changed. God changed the first pact
with Adam, and gave a new one to Noah. He gave another to Abraham, and
changed this to give a new one to Moses. When the covenant with Moses
was no longer observed, he gave another pact in this last age, a pact
never again to be changed.
He established a new law for Adam, that he could not
eat of the tree of life. He gave to Noah the sign of the rainbow in the
clouds. He then gave Abraham, chosen for his faith, the mark and seal of
circumcision for his descendants. Moses was given the Passover lamb,
the propitiation for the people.
All these covenants were different from each other.
Moreover, the circumcision that is approved by the giver of those
covenants is of the kind spoken of by Jeremiah: Circumcise your hearts.
If God’s pact with Abraham was firm, so also is this covenant firm and
trustworthy, nor can any other law be laid down, whether it originates
outside the law or among those subject to the law.
God gave Moses a law together with his prescriptions
and precepts, and when it was no longer kept, he made the law and its
precepts of no avail. He promised a new covenant, different from the
first, though the giver of both is one and the same. This is the
covenant that he promised: All shall know me from the least to the greatest. In this covenant there is no longer any circumcision of the flesh, any seal upon the people.
We know, dearly beloved, that God established
different laws in different generations which were in force as long as
it pleased him. Afterward they were made obsolete. In the words of the
apostle: In former times the kingdom of God existed in each generation under different signs.
Moreover, our God is truthful and his commandments are
most trustworthy. Every covenant was proved firm and trustworthy in its
own time, and those who have been circumcised in heart are brought to
life and receive a second circumcision beside the true Jordan, the
waters of baptism that bring forgiveness of sins.
Jesus, son of Nun, renewed the people’s circumcision
with a knife of stone when he had crossed the Jordan with the
Israelites. Jesus, our Saviour, renews the circumcision of the heart for
the nations who have believed in him and are washed by baptism:
circumcision by the sword of his word, sharper than any two-edged sword.
Jesus, son of Nun, led the people across the Jordan
into the promised land. Jesus, our Saviour, has promised the land of the
living to all who have crossed the true Jordan, and have believed and
are circumcised in heart.
Blessed, then, are those who are circumcised in heart,
and have been reborn in water through the second circumcision. They
will receive their inheritance with Abraham, the faithful leader and
father of all nations, for his faith was credited to him for
righteousness.
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