I will sing to my God a new song: O Lord, you are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible. Let all your creatures serve you, for you spoke, and they were made. You sent forth your Spirit, and it formed them; there is none that can resist your voice. For the mountains shall be shaken to their foundations with the waters; at your presence the rocks shall melt like wax, but to those who fear you you will continue to show mercy. --Judith 16:13-15 吟詠新詩稱揚上主，* 高呼祂的聖名。 祂是消除戰爭的天主，* 祂的名號是上主。 我們要歌頌上主，* 高唱新歌讚美天主： 上主，祢實在偉大，實在光榮， * 祢的德能超羣出眾，戰無不勝。 願祢所創造的萬物都服事祢，* 因爲祢一發言，萬物造成。 祢一噓氣，一切形成，* 祢一出命，無人抗拒。 羣山基礎隨水流動，* 磐石在祢面前，像蠟熔化。 祢對敬畏祢的人， 仍然大發慈悲。 Cantábo Deo meo hymnum novum:† Dómine, magnus es tu et clarus,* mirábilis in virtúte et insuperábilis. 14 Tibi sérviat omnis creatúra tua,* quóniam dixísti, et facta sunt, misísti spíritum tuum, et ædificáta sunt,* et non est, qui resístat voci tuæ. 15 Montes enim a fundaméntis agitabúntur cum aquis,* petræ autem a fácie tua tamquam cera liquéscent. Illis autem qui timent te* propítius adhuc eris. --Judith 16:13-15
"I am the Lord, unrivalled"
Isaiah 45:1-13 ©
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he has taken by his right hand to subdue nations before him and strip the loins of kings, to force gateways before him that their gates be closed no more:
I will go before you levelling the heights. I will shatter the bronze gateways, smash the iron bars. I will give you the hidden treasures, the secret hoards, that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
It is for the sake of my servant Jacob, of Israel my chosen one, that I have called you by your name, conferring a title though you do not know me. I am the Lord, unrivalled; there is no other God besides me. Though you do not know me, I arm you that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that, apart from me, all is nothing.
I am the Lord, unrivalled, I form the light and create the dark. I make good fortune and create calamity, it is I, the Lord, who do all this.
Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down. Let the earth open for salvation to spring up. Let deliverance, too, bud forth which I, the Lord, shall create.
Can it argue with the man who fashioned it, one vessel among earthen vessels? Does the clay say to its fashioner, ‘What are you making?’, does the thing he shaped say, ‘You have no skill’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a woman, ‘To what have you given birth?’
Thus says the Lord, the Holy One, he who fashions Israel: Is it for you to question me about my children and to dictate to me what my hands should do? I it was who made the earth, and created man who is on it. I it was who spread out the heavens with my hands and now give orders to their whole array. I it was who roused him to victory, I levelled the way for him. He will rebuild my city, will bring my exiles back without ransom or indemnity, so says the Lord of Hosts.
恭讀依撒意亞先知 書 45,1-13
以色列藉居魯士得救
上主這樣對祂的受傅者居魯士 說：——我牽著他的右手，使他 降伏列國，解除列王的武裝；我 在他前開啟城門，使門戶不再關 閉：「我要走在你前面，把崎嶇 的路修平；我要把銅門打破，將 鐵閂擊碎，把隱藏的錢財和秘密 的寶物賜給你，為使你知道：是 我上主，以色列的天主，指著你 的名召叫了你。為了我的僕人雅 格和我所揀選的以色列的緣故， 我指著你的名召叫了你，給你起 了這個稱號，縱然你還不認識 我。我是上主，再沒有另一個； 除我以外，沒有別的神；雖然你 還不認識我，我却武裝了你，為 使從日出到日落之地的人都知 道：除我之外，再沒有另一個。 我是上主，再沒有另一個；是我 造了光明，造了黑暗；造了幸 福，降了災禍；是我上主造成了 這一切。」諸天哪！請滴下甘 露，願彩雲降下義人，願大地裂 開生出救恩，願正義一同出生！ 我上主創造了這事。
禍哉，那與自己的製造者爭辯 的！瓦器豈能與製造者爭辯？陶 器豈能對陶工說：「你做的是什 麼啊！」或說：「你手製的不精 美！」禍哉！那向父親說：「你 為什麼生子？」或向母親說： 「你為什麼生育？」的人！以色 列的聖者，安排將來的上主這樣 說：「關於我子女的事，你們要 質問我嗎？或者對我手中的工 作，你們有所吩咐嗎？是我造了 大地，又造了地上的人；是我親 手展開了諸天，佈置了天上的星 辰；是我由於仁義喚起了他；我 要修平他的道路，他要修建我的 城池，遣回我的俘虜，而不索取 贖金，也不要求報酬。」這是萬 軍上主說的。
Not for destruction but for upbuilding
... according to the power that the Lord has given me for upbuilding, and not for destruction.
2 Corinthians 13:10
GOD'S POWER IN CREATING
1 The pride of the heavenly heights is the clear firmament, the appearance of heaven in a spectacle of glory. 2 The sun, when it appears, making proclamation as it goes forth, is a marvelous instrument, the work of the Most High. 3 At noon it parches the land; and who can withstand its burning heat? 4 A man tending* a furnace works in burning heat, but the sun burns the mountains three times as much; it breathes out fiery vapors, and with bright beams it blinds the eyes. 5 Great is the Lord who made it; and at his command it hastens on its course. 6 He made the moon also, to serve in its season* to make the times and to be an everlasting sign. 7 From the moon comes the sign for feast days, a light that wanes when it has reached the full. 8 The month is named for the moon, increasing marvelously in its phases, an instrument of the hosts on high shining forth in the firmament of heaven. 9 The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven, a gleaming array in the heights of the Lord. 10 At the command of the Holy One they stand as ordered, they never relax in their watches. 11 Look upon the rainbow, and praise him who made it, exceedingly beautiful in its brightness. 12 It encircles the heaven with its glorious arc; the hands of the Most High have stretched it out. 13 By his command he sends the driving snow and speeds the lightnings of his judgment. 14 Therefore the storehouses are opened, and the clouds fly forth like birds. 15 In his majesty he amasses the clouds, and the hailstones are broken in pieces. 16 At his appearing the mountains are shaken; at his will the south wind blows. 17 The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth; so do the tempest from the north and the whirlwind. He scatters the snow like birds flying down, and its descent is like locusts alighting. 18 The eye marvels at the beauty of its whiteness, and the mind is amazed at its falling. 19 He pours the hoarfrost upon the earth like salt, and when it freezes, it becomes pointed thorns. 20 The cold north wind blows, and ice freezes over the water; it rests upon every pool of water, and the water puts it on like a breastplate. 21 He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness, and withers the tender grass like fire. 22 A mist quickly heals all things; when the dew appears, it refreshes from the heat. 23 By his counsel he stilled the great deep and planted islands in it. 24 Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers, and we marvel at what we hear. 25 for in it are strange and marvelous works, all kinds of living things, and huge creatures of the sea. 26 Because of him his messenger finds the way, and by his word all things hold together. 27 Though we speak much we cannot reach the end, and the sum of our words is: "He is the all." 28 Where shall we find strength to praise him? For he is greater than all his works. 29 Terrible is the Lord and very great, and marvelous is his power. 30 When you praise the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for he will surpass even that. When you exalt him, put forth all your strength, and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough. 31 Who has seen him and can describe him? Or who can extol him as he is? 32 Many things greater than these lie hidden, for we have seen but few of his works. 33 For the Lord has made all things, and to the godly he has granted wisdom.
(Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 43)
How does one progress in hope?
- Reinforce the foundations, the motives the reasons. Meditate on God's power, his goodness and glorious promises.
- Effort: be on guard against presumption or despair.
- Voluntary detachment, daily renunciation, self-denial.
- Filial confidence in God: he didn't even spare his own Son (Romans 8:32-34)
- Implore the gift of final perseverance, with the help of the our Blessed Mother.
How does hope make us holy?
- On one hand, it draws us to God and on the other, detaches us from pride, power & wealth, and pleasure.
- It makes our prayer efficacious (cf Mark 2:1-12--the paralytic lowered from the roof; Matthew 9:29--the blind man of Jericho; Matthew 15:28--the Cananean woman).
- We honour God when we confide in his wisdom, goodness, power, and faithfulness.
- It is a principle of fruitful activitiy:
- It begets holy desires.
- It increases our energies.
- It infuses courage and endurance.
10 Et quomodo descendit imber et nix de caelo
et illuc ultra non revertitur,
sed inebriat terram et infundit eam
et germinare eam facit
et dat semen serenti et panem comedenti,
11 sic erit verbum meum, quod egredietur de ore meo:
non revertetur ad me vacuum,
sed faciet, quaecumque volui,
et prosperabitur in his, ad quae misi illud.
10* "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and return not thither but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
(Isaias 55:10-11)
16 Tuus est dies, et tua est nox,
tu fabricatus es luminaria et solem.
17 Tu statuisti omnes terminos terrae,
aestatem et hiemem, tu plasmasti ea.
16 Thine is the day, thine also the night;
thou hast established the luminaries and the sun.
17 Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth;
thou hast made summer and winter.
(Psalm 74:16-17)
20 ...Sed omnia in mensura et numero et pondere disposuisti.
21 Multum enim valere tibi soli subest semper,
et virtuti brachii tui quis resistet?
22 Quoniam tamquam momentum staterae,
sic est ante te totus orbis terrarum,
et tamquam gutta roris antelucani, quae descendit in terram.
23 Sed misereris omnium, quia omnia potes;
et dissimulas peccata hominum propter paenitentiam.
24 Diligis enim omnia, quae sunt,
et nihil odisti eorum, quae fecisti;
nec enim, si odisses, aliquid constituisses.
25 Quomodo autem posset aliquid permanere, nisi tu voluisses?
Aut, quod a te vocatum non esset, conservaretur?
26 Parcis autem omnibus, quoniam tua sunt,
Domine, qui amas animas.
2 Ideoque eos, qui exerrant, paulatim corripis
et, de quibus peccant, admones et corrigis,
ut, relicta malitia, credant in te, Domine.
20 ...But thou hast arranged all things by measure and number and weight.
21 For it is always in thy power to show great strength,
and who can withstand the might of thy arm?
22 Because the whole world
before thee is like a speck that tips the scales,
and like a drop of morning dew that falls upon the ground.
23 But thou art merciful to all, for thou canst do all things,
and thou dost overlook men's sins, that they may repent.
24 For thou lovest all things that exist,
and hast loathing for none of the things which thou hast made,
for thou wouldst not have made anything if thou hadst hated it.
25 How would anything have endured if thou hadst not willed it?
Or how would anything not called forth by thee have been preserved?
26 Thou sparest all things, for they are thine,
O Lord who lovest the living.
2 Therefore thou dost correct little by little those who trespass,
and dost remind and warn them of the things wherein they sin,
that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in thee, O Lord.
(Wisdom 11:20-26; 12:3)