Advent at the School of St. Bernard (16)
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple - Ambrogio Lorenzetti
It is fitting, my Brothers, that we should celebrate the advent of Our Lord with all possible devotion, that so great a consolation fill us with happiness, that such great grace fill us with astonishment, and that such charity inflame us with love.
But do not just think of His first advent, when He came to seek and save that which was lost, but also think of the second, by which He will come again and will take us to Himself. Ah! I would that you keep these two advents constantly in your thoughts, that you would endlessly meditate on these two advents, pondering in your souls all that He did in the first and all that He promises in the second. I would like to see you fall asleep in the meditation of this double heritage. For these two comings of the Lord are the two arms of the Bridegroom, in which the Bride was resting when she said: “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me” (Ct 2:6).
Indeed, “Length of days is in (His) right hand, and in (His) left hand riches and glory” (Pr. 3:16).
So in His left hand are wealth and glory; do you hear, son of Adam, an ambitious and greedy race? How about the riches of the earth and temporal glory; they are neither true nor yours? What are gold and silver? Is it not the red earth and the white earth that the error of men alone makes or rather considers to be precious? True riches therefore do not consist in treasures but in virtues, for it is only this that the conscience takes with it and which makes it rich forever.
Présentation de Jésus au Temple - Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Illustration :
Title : Présentation de Jésus au Temple
Artist : Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Date : 1342
