“Ephraim! What more have I to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will take note of him. I am like a verdant cypress tree. From me fruit will be found for you!” (Hosea 14:9.)
Saint Cyril of Alexandria comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:
“It is only by deeply considering the matters in the divinely inspired Scriptures that we shall find the hidden truth. It would be fitting for us when looking into the dark shadows of the law to say what one of the holy prophets rightly said, “Whoever will be wise will understand these things; and whoever will be prudent will know them.” “For the law is but a shadow of the good things to come, and not the exact image of the objects,” as it is written. Yet the shadows bring forth the truth, even if they do not contain the whole truth in themselves. Because of this, the divinely inspired Moses placed a veil upon his face and spoke thus to the children of Israel, all but shouting by this act that a person might behold the beauty of the utterances made through him, not in outwardly appearing figures but in meditations hidden within us.” (Letter 41)
Collect
Pour Your grace into our hearts,
we pray, O Lord,
that we may be constantly
drawn away from unruly desires
and obey by Your own gift
the heavenly teaching You give us.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
we pray, O Lord,
that we may be constantly
drawn away from unruly desires
and obey by Your own gift
the heavenly teaching You give us.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
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
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
