Opening Prayer:
O Lord, Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!
Adonai – Lord
O Come, O Come, Thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height in ancient times didst give the law, in cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Exodus 3:2
There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
Isaiah 33:22
For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our ruler, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
Isaiah 63:11-12
Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who put within them his holy spirit, who caused his glorious arm to march at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name
Acts 7:30-31
‘Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord:
Reflection by Father Michael Coutts
O Adonai
The First Antiphon gave us an image of creation, where Wisdom played a part as a master worker. Now the messianic title of Jesus is THE LORD. The Lord keeps the creation in order and harmony by giving us a law.
In the beginning of creation, there was darkness over the waters. There was chaos. God said let there be light. Darkness was dispelled and so was chaos.
Now there is need to have Order in another realm. The Hebrew people were in slavery. The Lord delivered them. The Hebrew people were united in one common cause: freedom from their slavery to the Egyptians. But now that they were free in the wilderness, all sorts of indiscipline, intrigue and stealing was prevalent. Was it out of sheer boredom and tedium or was it for a need of security. This security was gained by accumulating things? The result of this behaviour was jealousy, bitterness, infighting and anger, to name a few. So on Mount Sinai, God gave the Hebrew people a covenant. Now they could act according to the way of the Lord.
Jesus who was both the “instrument” of creation and its Lord, would now be the Lord of the Covenant. In the past covenants were made with
Noah – the symbol was the rainbow.
Abraham – his children would be innumerable.
Moses – the Hebrew people were given the Torah.
With this covenant, the people were told: “You will be my people and I will be your God.”
This plethora of covenants were only a prophecy of a Covenant, Jesus would make in the New Testament. In Greek : Testament or Diatheke – was a covenant that Jesus would make in his own blood. The New Commandment was to love one another according to the standard and model of Jesus himself.
Adonai was called to “rescue the people with mighty power” Jesus would rescue the people but not in the way the world would advise. When the world wants rescue “with a mighty power” – it means an increase in arms and nuclear strength. This was totally contrary to the “modus operandi” – the way of proceeding of Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Peter proceeded to use his sword, Jesus told him to put it away. Those who lived by the sword, would die by the sword. We have seen so many cases in real life – either personally or in the society in which we live.
Adonai – Jesus Christ – would rule the world in a different way: the blind would see, the deaf would hear, the lame would leap like lambs, the prisoners would be set free and the Good News would be proclaimed to the poor.
Examen: In what areas of your life is Jesus – the Lord? In what areas do you want Jesus to stay out? Jesus keeps the law. Matt 5 shows us how Jesus wants to keep us on the right track – so that the Kingdom of God – may be on earth as it is in heaven.
