Day 18: The Unity of the Testaments

The Church, as early as apostolic times, and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God's works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son. Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. CCC 128-129

Interesting reading today about the unity of the Old & New Testaments, typology, and the exhortation for the clerics & all the faithful to read Scripture frequently. On the first, this makes perfect sense from a Christian perspective. Of course Christ is found in the Old Testament otherwise, this would neuter much of the New. By reading the Old "in the light of the Christ crucified and risen" typologically in this manner "discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament". The Catechism Companion, Volume I elaborates on this:

An example of typology is the Ark of the Covenant. Inside the Ark was the manna from the desert, the Ten Commandments, and Aaron's staff. Those three things symbolize the bread come down from heaven, the Word of God, and the priesthood. (p. 40)

A related example would be the Blessed Virgin Mary being named the "Ark of the New Covenant" or "Ark of the Bread of Life" as the Theotokos or Mater Dei.

As the Catechism tells us, the Old Testament retains its importance as divine revelation. The early Church valued this earlier Revelation and "made constant use of the Old Testament" in catechesis. I've heard this before and rather like the old saying quoted that "the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and Old Testament is unveiled in the New".

Finally, today's reading highlights the Church's call to the faithful "to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Closing with this quote from St. Jerome was apropos: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ."

Amen.