Characters of Lent: Moses and the Prophets

As we did during Advent, now in this Lenten season, we are going to focus on some of the individuals we encounter in the Scriptural readings throughout this time. In this first segment, we will examine Moses and some of the Prophets.

The "Symphony" of Salvation

Even those of us who know very little about classical music have heard of a symphony. In this form of music, there is generally an overture, which gives the listener a "taste" of what is to come, the movements themselves, which present the musical piece in all its beauty, and the crescendo, which brings the many themes together to a glorious conclusion. The history of salvation, opened to us in the Scriptures, is not unlike this type of musical piece. In Genesis, we find the "overture," with the creation and fall of our first parents, as well as the promise of a Savior. Throughout the history of God's relationship with His Chosen People, we see the revelation of the true God and His covenant with Israel. This covenant is often threatened by the people's infidelity and the Prophets are sent to call them back and to remind them of the coming of the Messiah. Finally, all of this comes to its "crescendo" in the Gospels, as the work of salvation is accomplished in Jesus Christ. The Second Vatican Council teaches: "The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He achieved his task principally by the paschal mystery of his blessed passion and resurrection from the dead, and the glorious ascension, whereby ‘dying, he destroyed our death and, rising, he restored our life'" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 12).

A Time of Preparation and Renewal

We know that the Lenten liturgy helps prepare both catechumens and those who are baptized to celebrate the paschal mystery. In this period, it is important for the catechumens to learn, and the baptized to renew, their knowledge of God's wonderful dealings with His people down through the ages: the promise of Genesis, the Covenant with Israel, and its fulfillment in Jesus.

We might call Moses the "agent of the covenant." It was he who received the message and offer of the one God, it was he who transmitted it to the people God had chosen, and it was he who brought the actions and prayers of this people back to God. In all this, he is the "type" or "figure" of Jesus, who would shed His own blood, sealing the "new and everlasting covenant." We read of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy: "no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face" (Deut. 34:10). Pope Saint Leo the Great tells us: "The writings of the two testaments support each other. As Saint John says: ‘The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.' In him the promise made through the shadows of prophecy stands revealed, along with the full meaning of the precepts of the law. He is the one who teaches the truth of prophecy through his presence, and makes obedience to the commandments possible through grace" (Sermon 51, 3-4).

One of the concepts we have been discussing in previous articles has been the concept of intimacy. One of the characteristics of intimacy is the ability to tell another what we expect of him or her. We will not ask this of a stranger or a casual acquaintance. In the giving over of the Law to His Chosen People, through Moses, God was sharing with them the intimacy of telling them what He expected of them. Since it was He presenting the expectations, these also took into account what was best for the people. In the book of Deuteronomy, speaking of God's commands, Moses tells the people: "Today you are making this agreement with the Lord: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments" (Deut 26:17-18).

The Call of the Prophets

Another theme that I have addressed recently has been that of the dignity of the human person. Throughout history, God Himself has respected that dignity in the freedom He placed within us at our creation. The same freedom that enabled our first parents to turn away from God also tempted the Chosen People to sin against the God who had revealed Himself so lovingly to them. It was the role of the prophet constantly to call the people to penance and conversion. These are also familiar themes during the Lenten season. In fact, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council states: "The season of Lent has a twofold character: primarily by recalling or preparing for baptism, and by penance it disposes the faithful, who more diligently hear the word of God and devote themselves to prayer, to celebrate the paschal mystery" (no. 109).

It is important to note that the word prophet comes from the Greek word "pro-phetes," meaning, "to speak on behalf of someone." In Hebrew, this is used in the religious sense of "one chosen by God to speak in his name." We not only read extensively from the prophetical books during Lent to trace the dealings of God with His people, we also do so because their constant calls to conversion, penance and fidelity mirror the liturgical message of Lent. Since we hear the prophets in the context of the Christian life, which has brought their message to fulfillment, we may be encouraged by an insight of Saint Thomas Aquinas: he reminds us that the gift of prophecy is something transitory. He points out that this is unlike our life of sanctifying grace, which is constantly present in the Church through the paschal mystery of Jesus. While hearing the call of conversion made by the prophets, we are assisted by the grace of Jesus to undergo that conversion in our individual lives. This is because our Baptism is not an event that happened long ago. It changes us so radically and permanently that we say we are "marked" or "branded" by what we call the character of Baptism, which remains forever.

Penance and the Prophets

Another way in which we unite our Christian Lent to the call of the Prophets is through the place of repentance in their message and in this liturgical season. Jesus tells us: "if you do not repent, you will all perish" (Luke 13:5). In saying this, He was echoing the constant message of the prophets.

In the Book of Daniel (9:4-19), we find Daniel's great penitential prayer. This prophet acknowledges the sins and infidelity of his people but he also "reminds" God that, while He has been just in His punishments, He is also known to be merciful. Although the people have not listened to the message of the prophets, Daniel speaking on their behalf implores mercy. The Second Vatican Council unites this sentiment with the needs of the faithful down through the ages, reminding us that the Church "embracing in her bosom sinners, at the same time holy and always in need of being purified, always follows the way of penance and renewal" (Lumen Gentium, 8).

Isaiah and the Song of the Suffering Servant

We are familiar, especially through the Liturgy of Good Friday, with that portion of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, which is called the fourth Song of the Servant. It is remarkable in so many ways, especially because it is the first time that the idea of "vicarious suffering," that is, suffering endured by one for another, is mentioned in the Scriptures. Our Lord equated Himself and His redemptive work with the suffering servant of Isaiah, quoting this concept on a number of occasions (Matthew 20:28; Luke 22:37, John 12:32, 37-38). The Epistles of Saint Paul likewise show the understanding of the early Church in equating the suffering servant of Isaiah with Jesus.

As we conclude our thoughts on the role of the prophets as "characters of Lent" with the image of Isaiah's suffering servant, we could do no better than to quote Pope John Paul II as a means of delving deeper into the paschal mystery of Jesus. Speaking of Isaiah, the Holy Father wrote: "The prophet, who has rightly been called ‘the fifth Evangelist,' presents in this Song an image of the sufferings of the Servant with a realism as acute as if he were seeing them with his own eyes: the eyes of the body and of the spirit. The Song of the Suffering Servant contains a description in which it is possible, in a sense, to identify the stages of Christ's Passion in their various details: the arrest, the humiliation, the blows, the spitting, the contempt for the prisoner, the unjust sentence, and then the scourging, the crowning with thorns and the mocking, the carrying of the Cross, the crucifixion and the agony" (Salvifici Doloris, 17).

With the gift of grace, won for us by His passion and death, we ask Jesus to help us discover this Lent the depth of those mysteries, which Saint Augustine calls in his Confessions "ever ancient and ever new!"

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