Wednesday, November 9 : Saint Aelred of Rielvaux

We have often heard that, after he had led Israel out of Egypt, Moses built a tabernacle in the desert, a tent of sanctuary, thanks to the gifts of the sons of Jacob. … We need to see clearly that all this was a symbol, as the apostle Paul says (1 Cor 10:6) … It is you, my brethren, who are now God’s tabernacle, God’s temple, as the apostle explains: “The temple of God is holy, and that temple is you”. His Temple, where God reigns eternally, you are also his tent since he is with you on the journey: he thirsts in you, he hungers in you. This tent is still being carried … in the desert of this life until we come to the Promised Land. Then will the tent become Temple and the true Solomon will carry out its dedication “for seven days and again for seven days more” (1 Kgs 8:65), namely the twofold repose… of immortality for the body and blessedness for the soul. For now, however, if we are truly Israel’s spiritual children, if we have spiritually left Egypt, then let each one of us carry out the offerings for the construction of the tabernacle…: “For each of us has a particular gift from God, one of one kind, one of another” (1 Cor 7:7) … So let everything be common to all … Let no one consider the gift they have received from God to be their own property; let no one be jealous of whatever gift their neighbor may have received. But let each one think of what they have as belonging to all their brethren and let them not hesitate to consider as their own what belongs to their brother. God acts towards us according to his merciful design in such a way that each needs the other: whatever one person lacks can be found in his brother … “Though many, we are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another” (Rom 12:5).
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team