Second reading
From a sermon on the Song of Songs by Saint Bernard, abbot
Where sin abounded grace has overflowed

Where can the weak find a place of firm security and peace, except in the wounds of the Savior? Indeed, the more secure is my place there, the more he can do to help me. The world rages, the flesh is heavy, and the devil lays his snares, but I do not fall, for my feet are planted on firm rock. I may have sinned gravely. My conscience would be distressed, but it would not be in turmoil, for I would recall the wounds of the Lord: he was wounded for our iniquities. What sin is there so deadly that it cannot be pardoned by the death of Christ? And so if I bear in mind this strong, effective remedy, I can never again be terrified by the malignancy of sin.

Surely the man who said: My sin is too great to merit pardon, was wrong. He was speaking as though he were not a member of Christ and had no share in his merits, so that he could claim them as his own, as a member of the body can claim what belongs to the head. As for me, what can I appropriate that I lack from the heart of the Lord who abounds in mercy? They pierced his hands and feet and opened his side with a spear. Through the openings of these wounds I may drink honey from the rock and oil from the hardest stone: that is, I may taste and see that the Lord is sweet.

He was thinking thoughts of peace, and I did not know it, for who knows the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? But the piercing nail has become a key to unlock the door, that I may see the good will of the Lord. And what can I see as I look through the hole? Both the nail and the wound cry out that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The sword pierced his soul and came close to his heart, so that he might be able to feel compassion for me in my weaknesses.

Through these sacred wounds we can see the secret of his heart, the great mystery of love, the sincerity of his mercy with which he visited us from on high. Where have your love, your mercy, your compassion shone out more luminously than in your wounds, sweet, gentle Lord of mercy? More mercy than this no one has than that he lay down his life for those who are doomed to death.

My merit comes from his mercy; for I do not lack merit so long as he does not lack pity. And if the Lord’s mercies are many, then I am rich in merits. For even if I am aware of many sins, what does it matter? Where sin abounded grace has overflowed. And if the Lord’s mercies are from all ages for ever, I too will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. Will I not sing of my own righteousness? No, Lord, I shall be mindful only of your justice. Yet that too is my own; for God has made you my righteousness.

RESPONSORY Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24

He was pierced through for our offenses,
he was crushed for our sins; upon him lies the chastisement that gives us peace;
— by his wounds we are healed.

Christ took our sins upon his own body,
and was nailed to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for holiness.
— By his wounds we are healed.

Second reading
From a sermon on the Song of Songs by Saint Bernard, abbot
Where sin abounded grace has overflowed

Where can the weak find a place of firm security and peace, except in the wounds of the Savior? Indeed, the more secure is my place there, the more he can do to help me. The world rages, the flesh is heavy, and the devil lays his snares, but I do not fall, for my feet are planted on firm rock. I may have sinned gravely. My conscience would be distressed, but it would not be in turmoil, for I would recall the wounds of the Lord: he was wounded for our iniquities. What sin is there so deadly that it cannot be pardoned by the death of Christ? And so if I bear in mind this strong, effective remedy, I can never again be terrified by the malignancy of sin.

Surely the man who said: My sin is too great to merit pardon, was wrong. He was speaking as though he were not a member of Christ and had no share in his merits, so that he could claim them as his own, as a member of the body can claim what belongs to the head. As for me, what can I appropriate that I lack from the heart of the Lord who abounds in mercy? They pierced his hands and feet and opened his side with a spear. Through the openings of these wounds I may drink honey from the rock and oil from the hardest stone: that is, I may taste and see that the Lord is sweet.

He was thinking thoughts of peace, and I did not know it, for who knows the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? But the piercing nail has become a key to unlock the door, that I may see the good will of the Lord. And what can I see as I look through the hole? Both the nail and the wound cry out that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The sword pierced his soul and came close to his heart, so that he might be able to feel compassion for me in my weaknesses.

Through these sacred wounds we can see the secret of his heart, the great mystery of love, the sincerity of his mercy with which he visited us from on high. Where have your love, your mercy, your compassion shone out more luminously than in your wounds, sweet, gentle Lord of mercy? More mercy than this no one has than that he lay down his life for those who are doomed to death.

My merit comes from his mercy; for I do not lack merit so long as he does not lack pity. And if the Lord’s mercies are many, then I am rich in merits. For even if I am aware of many sins, what does it matter? Where sin abounded grace has overflowed. And if the Lord’s mercies are from all ages for ever, I too will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. Will I not sing of my own righteousness? No, Lord, I shall be mindful only of your justice. Yet that too is my own; for God has made you my righteousness.

RESPONSORY Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24

He was pierced through for our offenses,
he was crushed for our sins; upon him lies the chastisement that gives us peace;
— by his wounds we are healed.

Christ took our sins upon his own body,
and was nailed to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for holiness.
— By his wounds we are healed.

1 Corinthians 1:23 proclaim Christ crucified

1 Corinthians 1:23 proclaim Christ crucified

When one is thirsty one quenches one’s thirst by drinking, not by reading books which treat of this condition. 

The desire to know does but increase this thirst. 

Therefore when one thirsts after sanctity, the desire to know about it only drives it further away. 

Speculation must be laid aside, and everything arranged by God as regards actions and sufferings must be accepted with simplicity, for those things that happen at each moment by the divine command or permission are always the most holy, the best and the most divine for us.

When one is thirsty one quenches one’s thirst by drinking, not by reading books which treat of this condition. 

The desire to know does but increase this thirst. 

Therefore when one thirsts after sanctity, the desire to know about it only drives it further away. 

Speculation must be laid aside, and everything arranged by God as regards actions and sufferings must be accepted with simplicity, for those things that happen at each moment by the divine command or permission are always the most holy, the best and the most divine for us.

Jesus works interiorly

He is the only teacher capable of acting directly on the souls, the minds, and the wills of his pupils.

Jesus moves our souls interiorly to accept his teachings and to put them into practice. 

The truths Jesus teaches are divine mysteries; therefore, we cannot master them by the art of human reasoning. 

To accept them, our minds must be equipped with a new supernatural light and power, the light and power of faith. 

Faith comes to us through Jesus as a fruit of his redemptive work: he is the “author and perfecter of faith” (Heb 12:2), and since he has merited it, he therefore infuses it in us.

Jesus has no need of books or teachers to instruct souls; he teaches without the noise of words.

Jesus interiorly teaches souls who know how to listen to him, and he teaches them above all by his Holy Spirit, according to what he had promised. 

Jesus and the Father are always sending the Holy Spirit from heaven into our souls; this divine Spirit makes us understand the profound meaning of our Lord’s teaching and suggests practical applications for our daily life. 

Jesus teaches us through the authority of the Church, to which he has entrusted the task of preserving his doctrine and transmitting it unchanged to all the faithful. 

When we accept Jesus as our Teacher, we must also accept all his teachings: the written words of the Gospel, the living word of the Church, and the mysterious, secret word by which he teaches our souls individually. 

If his word is to be truly a treasure, it is not enough for us merely to hear it; we must in humility obey the word of Jesus to its depths.

The disciple is bound by a grave obligation toward Christ his Master ever more adequately to understand the truth received from him; an understanding that is acquired by study, but which is deepened through prayer and meditation.