O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and on Mount Sinai gave him your law. Come, and with outstretched arm redeem us.
This antiphon comes from the dialogue of the LORD and Moses in which we find the LORD making clear his identity and that of Moses as well:
Exodus 3:2: “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed”, and Exodus 6:6: “Therefore say to the Israelites: I am Yahweh. I will free you from the enforced labor of the Egyptians and will deliver you from their slavery. I will rescue you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment”.
“Adonai” is Hebrew for “my Lord”, and was substituted by devout Jews for the name “YHWH”, out of reverence. Our Pope has instructed us to recover this ancient reverence for the unspeakable Name of the LORD. We are no longer to use it in singing or in translating the Scriptures. With this second antiphon we progress from creation to the familiar story of God manifesting himself by name to Moses and giving his law to Israel as their way of life. We are also reminded of the Israelites’ deliverance from bondage under pharaoh – a foreshadowing of our own redemption from sin. The image of God’s arm outstretched in power to save his chosen people also brings to mind the later scene of Jesus with his arms outstretched for us on the cross. These two images dominate the front wall of our monastic refectory. Behind the Abbot’s Table is a Crucifix in front of a mural of the LORD giving the commandments to Moses on the Holy Mountain. Our monastic life is governed by these same Ten Words given to the great prophet Moses and by the seventy-two chapters of the Rule given to our holy father Saint Benedict. We cannot live this monastic covenant without the revelation and wisdom of the Word in Scripture and in the Holy Rule. Everything we do in the Refectory and throughout the day is done under the guidance of the Lord our God, The One Who First Loved Us. ?
(Quoted and adapted from Jeanne Kun)
Isaiah 11:4-5 speaks an advent word to us:
“But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins.”
Indeed, the rod of his mouth has struck the earth and the breath of his lips has slain the wicked. Our earth has been struck with the wood of the cross, and now we hear his voice in the Reproaches of Good Friday: “My people how have I offended you? What more could I have done for you? Tell me!” Indeed, the breath of his lips has slain the wicked. It is the Holy Spirit who has come forth to slay our only true enemy: sin and vice. We rejoice in his overwhelming power to save us from our own failure and weakness.
Isaiah 33:22 continues to instruct our Advent hearts:
“For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king” and there is no other!
Saint Benedict is our Father in Christ, so he is our new lawgiver. He takes the severity of monastic life at his time and makes it live able and loveable. In his wisdom Saint Benedict writes let us not make a rule too easy for the strong or too difficult for the weak. Thank God for such moderation and such compassion; this has enabled the Rule of Our Holy Father Saint Benedict to not only survive, but to thrive throughout the centuries.
O Adonai
Unsayable, you chose to speak one tongue
Unseeable, you gave yourself away,
The Adonai, the Tetragramaton
Grew by a wayside in the light of day.
O you who dared to be a tribal God,
O own a language, people and a place,
Who chose to be exploited and betrayed,
If so you might be met with face to face,
Come to us here, who would not find you there,
Who chose to know the skin and not the pith,
Who heard no more than thunder in the air,
Who marked the mere events and not the myth.
Touch the bare branches of our unbelief
And blaze again like fire in every leaf.
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