We have in these days often thought of the word that we found as part of our celebration of the transitus, the Pascha Domini, Singularitas Sum Ego Donae Transia. I am alone, shut up in myself, as it were, until I share and enter into the Passover of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm alone until I pass over.

[01:03]

And that is evident also in the, and makes in some way, forms the message of the octave of Christmas, especially today, the Easter Saturday. The Lord brought forth his people with joy, alleluia, and his chosen ones with gladness. Alleluia, alleluia. And then in the following text of the Mass, we find the inner spirit of the people of the Lord explained. In the epistle, especially dearly beloved, laying away all malice and all guile and dissimulations and envies and all detractions, as newborn babes desire the rational milk, that thereby you may grow unto salvation. If so be, you have tasted that the Lord is sweet, unto whom coming as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen and made honorable by God, be you also as living stones built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

[02:26]

Therefore it is said in the scripture, behold, I lay inside a chief cornerstone, elect precious, and he that shall believe in him shall not be confounded. So we want to just add a few thoughts about this beautiful and basic truth that passing, we pass through, with Christ through death into life to become a living house of God, a spiritual house of God. That in this way the Easter days is the holy triduum as well as the following days, the octave, and the following feasts are only the fulfillment of of what has been indicated already in the Old Testament.

[03:30]

And really a fulfillment of what we see in the second chapter of the book of Genesis. The web was built into a woman, and she is now bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman. for from man she has been taken. And for this reason a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh. Already it seems to me that in these words the double character or two-fold character of what the people of God is, what that community is into which we are redeemed and freed through the death of Christ. Because here it is Adam who fell into that deep sleep of his death and then the rib was taken from him and was built into a woman.

[04:44]

The woman is taken from man. So built by God, out, not created, that is so important, and not made by God, but built, built from the material which the first Adam, which man, the first son of God, offers. from him out of his substance, God builds, forms, builds, not creates, not makes, the woman. So this building and this forming of the woman, that is the characteristic way in which the church has been formed.

[05:48]

She is built. not created and not made, built from the material which Adam, the man, offers. And therefore, because the woman is taken from man in her whole essence, therefore man will leave father and mother and he will claim it to his wife, part of himself. and the two become one flesh, one mystical body. And that is realized in the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. There Adam, the second Adam, dies again, and out of his substance, that blood and that water which pours forth from his side, the woman, the ecclesia, is built.

[06:52]

Christ builds his ecclesia by dying for it, by giving his life for the ecclesia. And I think that is so important that we realize that meaning of the word building. It's really in this context it means and therefore also we should remember that with that, of course, the word edifying and edification is connected. The new temple of God is being built. How is it being built? To be built means to be formed out of a material being. which is being offered by Adam in the first place. I mean, the original, typical situation.

[07:55]

It is the bone of his bone, the flesh of his flesh, into which is built as the ecclesia, as the temple of God. So the building is always the idea of building, is always connected with the concept of being built out of a material. This material has to be offered. It's offered in the first place, in the building of Eve, by Adam put to sleep. And that picture is fulfilled in the crucifixion where Christ sleeps hands over his spirit, in that way dies, gives himself completely, and out of this, his complete gift, his body, his spirit, the church is built.

[09:02]

And this building therefore supposes, I repeated the concept of building, Supposes not creation, not simply a making, but the taking and therefore the offering to God of the material out of which then this new building is made. And that therefore the term building comprehends essentially that of complete giving. on the part of the material out of which it is built. And at the same time, the concept building also then includes the other idea that what is built is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. See, if something is not created out of nothing,

[10:05]

but is built out of something that exists already, then that what is built is similar, is equal to what precedes it, to the material out of which it is formed. And therefore these two things we have to keep in mind. One, the source of building is the one who gives and offers himself as the material. The result of the fruit of the building then is completely equal in substance to the one out of which it has been built. She is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. And therefore she shall be called woman. That means taken from man. Taken from man. But I repeat, to be taken from man, you have to have a man who is willing to give.

[11:10]

And the result then is, born of my born, that means the likeness of the one out of which it is built. And that is so important because then you can see in this word or term of building, which again, you know, is a word or a term of the divine agape. You can see that that term of building then applied to or realized in very specific activities. What is the building or how is the building being done or realized in the case of the church? And building is done through faith. Faith is one of the basic activity through which the church is built out of the flesh of Christ, the second Adam.

[12:23]

Because faith is that activity through which The one who believes becomes bone of Christ's bone, flesh of Christ's flesh. Faith is that activity through which I am being built into the likeness of Christ. Faith is not something original. Faith is not a creation. Faith is not an auto-suggestion. Faith is not wishful thinking, not imagined. But faith is the taking of a material which is there, which is given, the accepting of a divine gift, and the building into the likeness

[13:28]

of the archetype. That is faith. It's an imitation, essentially, of Christ. And the beginning of the imitation of Christ. It's important, I think, if we understand this idea and activity of believing, of faith, in that way. That faith, there must be very clear to us that Christian faith is not simply accepting a certain truth on a certain, let us say, incomplete evidence. Faith is much more, something much more central, something much more vital. Faith is the first way in which the whole heart of man, transit, passes over from holding onto himself into the complete acceptance of Christ as his father and as his brother.

[14:50]

And that is, of course, is only possible if that faith See, it is the acceptance of the water and of the blood which comes from the heart of Jesus Christ. That is the essence of faith. In other words, what I would like you to realize is that Christian faith, far from being simply an intellectual acceptance, has in itself all the traits of the sacramental life of the church. It leads to the sacrament. It doesn't lead in that way of the fruit, let us say, of faith. The formulation of faith is not the creed. a sum total or a series of sentences.

[15:57]

But faith leads to the supplement. In the whole world, when we went through Lent, we could see that clearly. The whole preparation of Lent, the introduction, the building up of the faith. But what was this faith leading to? To our being bearers? and our rising with Christ. And that fall of being buried and of rising with Christ, that's the inner fall of our faith. The decisive thing in our faith, we can see that so clearly if we compare ourselves as Christians, say, with the Jews. The decisive thing in our faith is, first of all, that we accept that the Son of God became man and died for us willingly, out of his own will.

[16:59]

That he died for us out of his own will. As in that way, he was not killed against his will, not the victim of fatal circumstances. And that's the, if you read the Gospel of St. John, the story of the Passion of St. John, that is the one thing. Our faith is to see, penetrate into the mystery of our Lord's death, as the voluntary sacrifice that he offers to the Father. That Christ dying for us is the Lamb of God. That's the one aspect of our faith. Therefore, Saint Ignatius of Antioch is daring enough to call our faith the blood of Christ in us. So true, our faith, the blood of Christ in us. Because it is that this gesture of the ecclesia which stands beneath the cross and receives into the chalice the blood of Christ.

[18:10]

That is the picture of our faith. Anybody who believes holds up the chalice of his soul, of his heart, desires for redemption to receive the blood of Christ for him. And then, of course, not only the blood of Christ in that way as the acceptance of Christ's death for us, but the other aspect of faith is that it is the death that conquers the world. It cannot be the death that conquers the world if this our faith has not for its sacred constituent the resurrection of Christ. The act of faith is in itself Christ's death for us and Christ's resurrection for us. Those two things. That's the essence of our faith as a living, vital act.

[19:13]

So in that way, faith is the imitation of Christ in the sphere in the, let us say, psychological sphere, let us say, of the complete acceptance of the sacrifice and the resurrection of Christ. That are the two things, therefore, the Jews are called perfidy, Judae, because they are the two things that the Jews reject. Christ's death was not a voluntary sacrifice. But the punishment, just punishment for his crimes, and Christ never rose from the dead. So that is the first Pascha, is our faith. And singularitas om ego donae tansia. I remain shut up in myself until, tansia, until I pass over God.

[20:17]

In these two ways, acceptance of the death of Christ, the Lamb of God, and his resurrection. And in this way, as I say, that is the characteristic act of building. That is edificatio, because there, this act of faith, I become bone of Christ's bone, flesh of Christ's flesh. Therefore then to the believing soul is the one for whom Christ leaves the glory of the Father and with whom he becomes God-flesh. There is Yes, that is also so beautiful. It just came to my mind in thinking about these things today that in Jeremiah 31.3, Jeremiah 31.3, you have a wonderful commentary to the words of Genesis where the prophecy runs this way.

[21:39]

I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee, and I will build thee again, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel. And I will build thee again, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel. A word which is an evident allusion to Genesis 22 and 23. I will build thee again. That means the act of dissecting agape. That means the opening of the side, the pouring forth of the blood and of the water. That means the giving of himself, of the second Adam who died. I will build thee again.

[22:41]

And you shall be built, O Virgin of Israel. The Virgin of Israel is built in and through faith. Faith is the act in which the Virgin of Israel, the Ecclesia, and the individual soul is being built by the divine anger. And therefore you see also what a deep meaning it has if on this background then we reach the words of our Lord himself. You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my church. That word has to be seen and has to be understood in this connection. Genesis 2, 22, Isaiah 31, 3. and then Matthew 16, 17. Upon this rock I shall build my church.

[23:46]

And by saying, Christ saying that, I shall build my church, he fulfills or he declares as fulfilled in himself the word of Jeremiah. And I will build thee again and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel. So that in this world our Lord himself takes on the prerogatives of Yahweh, of the redeeming, saving God of Israel. The passage which I just read to you, unto whom coming as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen and made honorable by God, be you also as living stones built up a spiritual house to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

[24:53]

The background of this word seems to me is Genesis 28, 20. Well, We find Jacob, Jacob resting on the stone. Then suddenly the presence of God is being revealed to him. He was standing there. And Jacob waking up says, this is the house of God. And I did not know it. And then he takes the stone upon which he was lying during the night, where he had this revelation, this dream, the presence of the realization of the presence of God, of God with him, God with him. And he takes that stone and he pours oil over it.

[25:56]

He consecrates that stone. It's now alone and exclusively God's possession, God's presence, therefore, God's sanctuary, the consecration. And then this very act of consecrating the stone seems to me Jacob then immediately realizes that, or let us say puts it in practice in himself. Because what is the stone? He himself is the stone. The stone out of which the house of God will be built. That means he is the father of the twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel. And these twelve sons are the twelve foundation stones of the house of God. Therefore, he is the central foundation stone.

[26:58]

So then Jacob therefore says, while he consecrates the stone, makes that solemn vow, the first vow in Holy Scripture. And of course, vow is, what is the meaning of the vow? Vow is a complete consecration to God. It's the meaning of a vow. And he puts it in this way, he says, If the Lord is with me and protects me on my present journey and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear and a safe return to my father's house, the Lord shall be my God. And this store, which I have set up as a memorial, shall be the house of God. And I will offer faithfully a tenth part of everything you give me.

[28:07]

It would be completely wrong to understand this as a kind of a do-do, a kind of a clever deal that Jacob makes. by saying, now if you protect me and so on and bring me back and so on, then I shall take you, Yahweh, on as my God. Sometimes people explain it that way, it's one of Jacob's pious trickles. And a vow in that way is then very often interpreted as being a kind of a low form of religious attitude and so on. Of course it isn't, because what does Jacob really say? He only says, if the Lord is with me and protects me on my present journey, gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, and a safe return to my father's house, the Lord shall be my God.

[29:15]

It's not. Yeah, it's the condition, but it's a temporal condition. If I come back, Paul, you see, then I shall give myself He doesn't say, but if the Lord doesn't do that, then I have nothing to do with it. No, it's only he cannot dedicate his life to God. That's really the meaning of it. Yahweh shall be my God. Yahweh is the Savior God. Yahweh is the Mercy God. Yahweh is the Curious. Yahweh is Jesus. If he shall be my God, my God. If I come back, of course, if I don't come back, then nothing can be done. The temple condition is, of course, that I come back safe and God shall be there, my God.

[30:20]

And then he continues, and this stone, which I have set up as a memorial, shall be the house of God. Now it's very interesting that the Jews already understood this as symbolic of the Messiah. The anointed stone is a symbol of the Messiah. And it is said here that this stone shall be the house of God. That means the stone shall develop into a house. The stone shall become a house. How does the stone become a house? Now in this way, unto whom coming as to a living stone, be you also as living stones built up into a spiritual house. A holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, doing exactly what Jacob pledged.

[31:24]

So it seems to me that here, really, and especially also in this deep allusion, in this prophecy, this stone shall be the house of God, is indicated just this mystery, that the house of God is built on a stone, but that's a living stone. This stone is God's anointed one. Symbolized in the stone, anointed with oil. God's anointed one. And this living stone, on this living stone, we are all built. And again, of course, now, we have to take, you know, also the whole meaning again of building and of being built out of material. This building up is done by faith. It's made so clear also in the text that we have today in the epistle.

[32:25]

It is said, therefore, in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief stone, and he that shall believe in him shall not be confounded. And he that shall believe in him shall not be confounded. Therefore, the way in which we as living stones are being built upon that living stone is through faith. Faith is the, as it were, the mortar which makes us one with the foundation stone, our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, again, what I wanted to say here is that Jacob's stone, you know, sees the stone, anointing the stone, and then he himself makes himself the living stone. Not, you know, making a vow which, let us say, prescribes to God the conditions under which alone he would dedicate himself to God.

[33:38]

That would be a mean interpretation of it, really. But what Jacob expresses is that he wishes not to die. He wishes, he expresses the one wish that he may return to his father's house. I see also in that, I see, I mean, I don't know if that's right, but I see in that too such a wonderful inner feature in which also the essence of faith again is revealed. Because Jacob had left and had to leave his father's house. Why? Because of his sin. Because he wanted, instead of acting in a spirit of faith, he threw his, by giving to Rebecca's devices, you know, and her little devious ways, violated the essence of faith.

[34:40]

wanted the testamentum domini, the testament of his father Isaac, the testamentum partus, through, you know, some little, you know, clever device. Therefore, he had to leave. But he's wishing for the return to the father's house. The return is always, in Hebrew, the word for penance and repentance, teshuva, We turn into the Father's house. So in that way, Jacob there in this place, where he certainly realizes with fear, trembling, the presence of God within him is a place of repentance, is the exile of the sinner, the loneliness of the sinner. Singularitas om ego don et transia. I am alone until I pass away. And that Passover is the repentance, the return into the Father's house.

[35:47]

Father, I have sinned. So all that is here in this. And that is the way in which we are being built up. St. Augustine says that so beautifully. He speaks about this whole parable of building. He says, what is the first thing in this building? He says, to be broken out of the quarry. And how is the stone being broken out of the quarry? By the admonition to repentance. By the preaching of repentance from the part of those who announce the glad tidings that Christ is there. Metanoite was Christ's first word of preaching. Change your mind because the kingdom of God is on him. And then the second act is that this stone which is hewn out of the quarry, at which by the act of repentance is broken loose, has lost, let us say, its adherence to the old world,

[37:04]

that that stone, that is then being human, being put into form. How is that? That's the faith. That is the instruction. And that instruction leads to baptism. Faith and baptism, that is the way in which the stone is brought into a shape that he may be put into the building, and he can be put into the building. That is baptism, and the preaching, and the act of faith. And then, of course, the next thing is, the stone has to have endurance. What is that? Space, solidity. Through hope, we are furthered. And then the context and the connection with the others. What is that? Through charity, united.

[38:11]

So that is the building then of the house of God. But you see also he is still in the example of Jacob. The last thing is, of course, and then... this will become the house of god and for what does it to what does it serve i will offer faithfully a tenth part of everything you have given me that is then the last meaning that is what is being done in the house of god the offering of the titheless the tenth What does that mean? Everything that we have is recognized solemnly as being God's gift. We offer you, that is therefore said in the Eucharist, we offer you your own from your own. So in this way, this building, idea of building the house of God has so infinitely many relations and perspectives in various directions.

[39:23]

It's the beautiful words also that I wanted to just mention in this context of the prophet Zechariah in the sixth chapter, the twelfth verse. Behold a man, orient, shoot, spark, is his name. Under him it will spring up, and he shall build the temple of Japheth. And in fulfillment of this prophecy of Samuel, our Lord says in the Gospel to Saint John, in the second chapter and the 19th verse, destroy this temple, and in three days I shall raise it up. Destroy this temple, and in three days I shall raise it up. He shall build the temple of Jaffa, the Orient. That means the one who rises, the Al-Talib, the Dayspring.

[40:28]

He builds the temple. That means the one has died and who rose again. builds the temple. In three days I shall raise it up. And when he had died and rose again, the disciples remembered that he had said these words and that he had spoken of the temple of his body. In connection also with that is the other word that our Lord speaks to the Pharisees. who call themselves the builders. After he has spoken to them about the vinedressers who kill the air, he says, have you not read this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord this has been done, and it is perfect.

[41:30]

wonderful, marvelous in our eyes. Christ is the crowning stone. Why? Because you have rejected the stone. But this stone which you have rejected, whom you have killed, he has become the headstone. He has, by the law, this has been done. That means the resurrection. which is the great saving deed of God's omnipotence. And it is wonderful in our eyes. That is the essence of our faith. This stone, which has been rejected by the builders, the Pharisees, in the resurrection has been made the cornerstone. And that is wonderful in our eyes. Through this act of faith, we enter into that Passover.

[42:35]

So in this way, the church, as we read also in the Acts of the Apostles in 9.31, the church is being built up in the fear of the Lord. And it was filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. Such a beautiful description, really, of the essence of the Church. It's being built up in the fear of the Lord. But the Old Testament calls fear of the Lord, that is really fulfilled in the New Testament faith. And then that church is being built up in the fear of the Lord, is filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. And that consolation of the Holy Spirit which fills the church, that is so is visible in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

[43:43]

And therefore the act of building the church is really in the first Letter to Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 14, 26, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. When you come together, each of you has a healing or has an instruction or has a revelation. But let all things be done unto edification. There is really the edification of the church. There is the being taken in the Eucharist is the act in which the church really fully is being built, being constituted. There we as living stones come to the living stone, celebrating the holy sacrifice, receiving from the holy table Christ himself,

[44:47]

And there we are being built up into a holy temple and a holy priest offering sacrifices. So that is the beauty of the people of God that the Lord brings forth with joy and his chosen ones with gladness. And maybe that also our part, especially a monastery in that way is ecclesia and church in a very special way. And that was always thing also of our way, we are being built up really by in faith, corresponding in our lives to the vow with which we have consecrated ourselves.

[45:40]

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