Wednesday, June 5 : Saint Augustine

The God who could not be seen was speaking to him by means of what his eyes could see, and the hidden God was using what could be seen as his instrument. So when God said, lam who am, and You shall say to the children ofIsrael: He who is has sent me to you; as though he was incapable of understanding what I am who am could mean, not to mention He who is has sent me to you immediately after the name ofsubstance, he told him his name of mercy. It’s as though he said to Moses, “You can’t grasp what I said, lam who am. Your mind doesn’t stand still, you are not unchangeable together with me, nor is your mind unchangeable. You have heard what I am; now hear what you can grasp, hear what you can hope in.” God said again to Moses, lam the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Ex 3:15).” “You cannot grasp the name of my substance; grasp the name of my mercy. l am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” But what I am is eternal; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, indeed, are eternal; or rather I shouldn’t say eternal, but made eternal by him. At any rate, this was how the Lord himself refuted the misrepresentations of the Sadducees; as they denied the resurrection, he gave them the testimony of scripture from this passage: Read what the Lord said to Moses in the bush: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God ofJacob. He is not the God of the dead, but ofthe living; for all are alive for him (Lk 20:37-38). It was when he said I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, that he added This is my name for ever. As though to say, “Why be afraid because of the mortality of the human race? Is what you’re dreading, perhaps, that when you’ve died, you won’t exist anymore? This is my name forever. The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God ofJacob couldn’t be a name for ever, unless Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived for ever.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team