“But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous, and gave him Isaac.” (Joshua 24:3.)
Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:
“The Septuagint has translated “And I took your father Abraham from across the river and led him into all the earth.” A literal reading of the Hebrew would be “And I led him into the land of Canaan.” It is astonishing, therefore, that the translators of the Septuagint would have wished to insert “the whole earth” instead of “land of Canaan,” unless they were considering the prophecy so much that they accepted as already done what was still at the time a promise from God. For it was announced beforehand in very clear terms what would take place concerning Christ and the church and that the true seed of Abraham would not be among the children of the flesh but among the children of the promise.” (Questions on Joshua, 25.)
Collect
O God,
Who filled the Priest and Martyr
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
with a burning love for the Immaculate Virgin Mary
and with zeal for souls and love of neighbor,
graciously grant, through his intercession,
that, striving for your glory by eagerly serving others,
we may be conformed, even until death, to your Son.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Who filled the Priest and Martyr
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
with a burning love for the Immaculate Virgin Mary
and with zeal for souls and love of neighbor,
graciously grant, through his intercession,
that, striving for your glory by eagerly serving others,
we may be conformed, even until death, to your Son.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
