Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
The Fathers of the Church meditated at great length on the scriptures, not only the New Testament scriptures, but the Old Testament scriptures as well. Doing so allowed them to appreciate Jesus Christ as foretold and foreshadowed from many angles. Just as Moses led the descendants of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, so, too, did Christ lead the spiritual descendants of Israel, i.e. the Church, out of slavery to sin and death. Just as Moses gave the law atop Mount Sinai, so, too, did Jesus Christ give the new law in his sermon on the Mount.
There are similarities even in the mysterious figure of Samson. Samson was one of the last of the judges of Israel, living in the time between Moses and King David, in about the 11th Century, B.C. Fathers of the Church, like St. Jerome and St. Caesarius of Arles, rightly censured Samson for some aspects of his life, but they, in turn, praised him for his successes, especially those that point ahead to the life of Jesus Christ. Samson was born, miraculously, to a barren woman, much like Jesus was born, miraculously, to a virgin woman. Samson had great physical strength and was a powerful warrior, and Jesus had great spiritual strength, and was a powerful spiritual warrior. Samson won his greatest battle when he seemed to be at his weakest. So did Jesus. After Samson had been betrayed by someone who claimed to love him, namely Delilah, he stretched out his arms, cross-like, and destroyed 3,000 of his enemies at once, even though he died in doing so. By this death, Samson saved his people from the utter destruction that menaced them at the hands of the Philistines. How curiously similar to Jesus Christ, indeed!
Like the Fathers of the Church, and like St. Ignatius Loyola, we must keep looking everywhere for Jesus in order to find God in all things.