Saturday, July 8 : Saint John Henry Newman

Such is the hidden kingdom of God; and, as it is now hidden, so in due season it shall be revealed. Men think that they are lords of the world, and may do as they will… At present, “all things,” to appearance, “continue as they were from the beginning of the creation;” and scoffers ask, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2Pt 3,4) but at the appointed time there will be a “manifestation of the sons of God,” and the hidden saints “shall shine out as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Rm 8,19; Mt 13,43). When the Angels appeared to the shepherds, it was a sudden appearance… The night had before that seemed just like any other night; as the evening on which Jacob saw the vision seemed like any other evening (Gen 28,11). They were keeping watch over their sheep; they were watching the night as it passed. The stars moved on,—it was midnight. They had no idea of such a thing when the Angel appeared. Such are the power and virtue hidden in things which are seen, and at God’s will they are manifested… Who could conceive two or three months before, that it was possible that the face of nature, which then seemed so lifeless, should become so splendid and varied?… So it is with the coming of that Eternal Spring, for which all Christians are waiting. Come it will, though it delay; yet though it tarry, let us wait for it, “because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Heb 10,37). Therefore we say day by day, “Thy kingdom come;” which means: “O Lord, show Thyself; manifest Thyself; Thou that sittest between the cherubim, show Thyself; stir up Thy strength and come and help us” (Ps 79, 2-3). The earth that we see does not satisfy us; it is but a beginning; it is but a promise of something beyond it; even when it is gayest, with all its blossoms on, and shows most touchingly what lies hid in it, yet it is not enough. We know much more lies hid in it than we see… What we see is the outward shell of an eternal kingdom; and on that kingdom we fix the eyes of our faith.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team