From: Ezekiel 2:2-5
The Prophet’s mission
[2] And when he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. [3] And he said to me, "Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels, who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. [4] The people also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them; and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God.' [5] And whether they ear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that there has been a prophet among them.
____________
Commentary:
2:1-3:3. The vision by the river Chebar is all about the grandeur and glory of God, who is sovereign over all things; whereas the account given of the call of Ezekiel tells us about the prophet and about the people of Israel, for whom the message is meant. The prophet is described as a son of man, whom the Spirit moves, a prophet among the people; and they are a rebellious people. The account takes the form of an address by the Lord containing a command to pass his word on to the people (2: 1-7) and a symbolic action in which Ezekiel eats the scroll given to him by God (2:8-3:3).
2:1. “Son of man”: this title is used repeatedly in these opening chapters. It occurs later on, too, more than ninety times; but it has special significance here, which is the first time it is used. Because Ezekiel is living in exile in a foreign and therefore unclean country, he cannot be given grand titles. He is an ordinary mortal, one creature among many, on an infinitely lower level than the Lord; one more among his people, like them an exile, a person brought low, but also someone who has hope in his heart. St Gregory the Great explains the title like this: “He is brought up often into heaven and his soul rejoices at great and beautiful mysteries which remain invisible to us. But it is fitting that he be called "son of man" while he contemplates those hidden wonders, so that he will not forget who he is or glory in the splendour that has been revealed to him” ("Homiliae in Ezechielem prophetam", 1, 12, 22).
2:2. “The Spirit set me upon my feet”. In the vision of God’s glory, the word “spirit” has three meanings. It is a natural thing -- a stormy wind, breath, spirit (1:4; cf. 13:11). From this comes the second meaning: "spirit" is an inner, superhuman strength which guides the actions of living creatures and cherubim, deciding when they should move and where they should go (cf. 1:12, 20, 21). But in the account of the call of Ezekiel, “spirit” has a third meaning: it is lifeforce, reminiscent of the “breath of life” that God breathed into man at the moment of creation (cf. Gen 2:7); this meaning will be seen more clearly in the vision of the bones brought back to life (cf. 37:5, 6, 8, 10). As a life-force, every time that the spirit affects Ezekiel, it is to ‘‘set him on his feet’’ (cf. 2:1; 3:20), to “lift him up’’ (cf. 3:12, 14, 24), so that he is better able to hear the word of God and to see what is happening in the temple of Jerusalem cf. 8:3; 11:1; 43: 5) or in Babylon (cf. 11:24). It is therefore an inner energy that transforms the prophet and helps him to hear or see things that he could not if left on his own, for he is a mere “son of man”.
2:3. Israel is a “nation of rebels” or, as it is put a little further on in the text, a “rebellious house” (2:8). The book defines the people of Israel in this negative way (cf. 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9) because it sums up the sinful history of their forebears and their own hostility towards God. Their rebelliousness involves arrogance towards God, rejection of his commandments, and refusal to listen to what he says. It makes them stubborn: one can even see it in their faces. Time and again Ezekiel tells them that their sin is grave, for they have freely chosen to adopt this attitude. They “will not listen to you”, the Lord says to Ezekiel, “for they are not willing to listen to me” (3:7). Precisely because sin requires a free act of the will, the prophet puts special emphasis on personal responsibility. Each individual will be punished for his or her sins, not for those of their forebears (cf. 18:1 32). Because the people are so rebellious, God wants the prophet to he especially docile: “Do not be rebellious” (2:8). The Lord asks him to listen carefully to the word of God and to accept it joyfully. The gesture of eating the scroll shows what docility requires. Even though the scroll contains “words of lamentation and mourning and woe” (2:10), the prophet will find it “sweet as honey” when he does what he is told.
2:4. “Thus says the Lord God”: this makes it clear that the prophet is not speaking on his own behalf. It is usually termed a “messenger formula” (words a messenger uses to preface his message), and occurs often in other prophetical books, particularly Isaiah and Jeremiah. However, in Ezekiel, where it appears almost 130 times, the name of God is reinforced (“Lord God”), to signal the infinite majesty of the Lord who speaks with full authority. The people’s stubbornness in rejecting God’s word is an act of rebellion, and the docility shown by the prophet is an almost obligatory act of submission. Ezekiel never resists the voice of the Lord, never raises any personal objection or difficulty unlike Isaiah and Jeremiah. On the contrary, knowing that he is passing on a divine message, not inventing one of his own, he must do this bravely, and never flag, even if the people refuse to listen (cf. 2:6-7; 3:11). “True prophets are those who say the words that God has spoken to them; the prophet of God is the one who delivers the words of God to men who cannot or do not deserve to understand God himself” (St Augustine, "Quaestiones in Heptateuchum", 2, 17).
2:5. “They will know that there has been a prophet among them”: a formal confirmation that Ezekiel is indeed a prophet. At a time when there was no king (for he was the prisoner of Nebuchadnezzar) and no temple (for it had been profaned and destroyed) and no social or religious institutions among the Jews, prophets acquired increased status. The prophet was God’s only representative among the people; he was the only one with authority to demand that they listen to his message.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
2nd Reading for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Visions and Revelations
[7] And to keep me [Paul] from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. [8] Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; [9] but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hard- ships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
______________
Commentary:
7-10. Displaying admirable humility, St Paul now refers to the weakness God allowed him to experience to ensure his supernatural gifts did not make him proud. It is impossible to say what exactly the "thorn in his flesh" was. Some Fathers- St Augustine, for example--and modern commentators think that it was some particularly painful and humiliating physical ailment, possibly the same one as he refers to in Galatians 4:13f, where he also speaks in general terms. Others, like St John Chrysostom, are of the view that he is referring to the pain which continual persecution caused him. Others--from St Gregory the Great onwards --opt for an ascetical interpretation; they say he is referring to temptations to do with conscience; but the supporters of the two other theses argue, for example, that it is unlikely that St Paul would have mentioned anything of that kind, because it could have given his enemies ammunition for further attacks.
St Paul asked God to take this "thorn" away, but the heavenly answer he received is very revealing: God's grace is enough to enable him to cope with this difficulty--which serves to reveal God's power. And so it is that he boasts of and is content with his weaknesses and the persecution he suffers: in these circumstances he is stronger than ever, thanks to God's supernatural help.
When commenting on this passage, St Thomas explains that God sometimes permits certain kinds of evil in order to draw out greater good: for example, in order to protect people from pride--the root of all vices -- he sometimes allows his chosen ones to be humiliated by an illness, or a defect, or even by mortal sin, in order that "the person who is humbled in this way might recognize that he cannot stand firm by his own efforts alone. Hence it is said in Romans 8:28, 'We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him'--not of course that God seeks the sin but [the sinner's] turning to him" ("Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.").
7. "A messenger of Satan", an angel of Satan: this is how he describes the humiliating "thorn". This suggests that the disability could have been seen as an obstacle to his work of evangelization--which the devil, logically, would have been keen to frustrate (cf. 2:11; 11:14f).
8-10. Christians can learn a great deal about the ascetical struggle from these words. They remind us, on the one hand, of the need to ask the Lord to help us when we experience difficulties, and at the same time to be full of trust and to abandon ourselves to God, who knows what is best for us. "The Lord is good", St Jerome teaches, "because he often does not give us what we desire, in order to give us something we would prefer" ("Epist. ad Paulinum").
The passage also shows us what attitude we should take to our own weakness: "We have to glory", St Alphonsus says, "in the knowledge of our own weakness in order to acquire the strength of Jesus Christ, which is holy humility", without "giving in to lack of confidence, as the devil wants, and falling into more serious sins" ("Treasury of Preaching Material", II, 6).
At the same time this passage teaches us that awareness of our personal shortcomings should lead us to put all our trust in God: "We have to cry out ceaselessly with a strong and humble faith, 'Lord, put not your trust in me. But I, I put my trust in you. ' Then, as we sense in our hearts the love, the compassion, the tenderness of Christ's gaze upon us (for he never abandons us) we shall come to understand the full meaning of those words of St Paul, "virtus in infirmitate perficitur" (2 Cor 12:9). If we have faith in our Lord, in spite of our failings -- or rather, with our failings--we shall be faithful to our Father, God; his divine power will shine forth in us, sustaining us in our weakness" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 194).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Visions and Revelations
[7] And to keep me [Paul] from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. [8] Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; [9] but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hard- ships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
______________
Commentary:
7-10. Displaying admirable humility, St Paul now refers to the weakness God allowed him to experience to ensure his supernatural gifts did not make him proud. It is impossible to say what exactly the "thorn in his flesh" was. Some Fathers- St Augustine, for example--and modern commentators think that it was some particularly painful and humiliating physical ailment, possibly the same one as he refers to in Galatians 4:13f, where he also speaks in general terms. Others, like St John Chrysostom, are of the view that he is referring to the pain which continual persecution caused him. Others--from St Gregory the Great onwards --opt for an ascetical interpretation; they say he is referring to temptations to do with conscience; but the supporters of the two other theses argue, for example, that it is unlikely that St Paul would have mentioned anything of that kind, because it could have given his enemies ammunition for further attacks.
St Paul asked God to take this "thorn" away, but the heavenly answer he received is very revealing: God's grace is enough to enable him to cope with this difficulty--which serves to reveal God's power. And so it is that he boasts of and is content with his weaknesses and the persecution he suffers: in these circumstances he is stronger than ever, thanks to God's supernatural help.
When commenting on this passage, St Thomas explains that God sometimes permits certain kinds of evil in order to draw out greater good: for example, in order to protect people from pride--the root of all vices -- he sometimes allows his chosen ones to be humiliated by an illness, or a defect, or even by mortal sin, in order that "the person who is humbled in this way might recognize that he cannot stand firm by his own efforts alone. Hence it is said in Romans 8:28, 'We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him'--not of course that God seeks the sin but [the sinner's] turning to him" ("Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.").
7. "A messenger of Satan", an angel of Satan: this is how he describes the humiliating "thorn". This suggests that the disability could have been seen as an obstacle to his work of evangelization--which the devil, logically, would have been keen to frustrate (cf. 2:11; 11:14f).
8-10. Christians can learn a great deal about the ascetical struggle from these words. They remind us, on the one hand, of the need to ask the Lord to help us when we experience difficulties, and at the same time to be full of trust and to abandon ourselves to God, who knows what is best for us. "The Lord is good", St Jerome teaches, "because he often does not give us what we desire, in order to give us something we would prefer" ("Epist. ad Paulinum").
The passage also shows us what attitude we should take to our own weakness: "We have to glory", St Alphonsus says, "in the knowledge of our own weakness in order to acquire the strength of Jesus Christ, which is holy humility", without "giving in to lack of confidence, as the devil wants, and falling into more serious sins" ("Treasury of Preaching Material", II, 6).
At the same time this passage teaches us that awareness of our personal shortcomings should lead us to put all our trust in God: "We have to cry out ceaselessly with a strong and humble faith, 'Lord, put not your trust in me. But I, I put my trust in you. ' Then, as we sense in our hearts the love, the compassion, the tenderness of Christ's gaze upon us (for he never abandons us) we shall come to understand the full meaning of those words of St Paul, "virtus in infirmitate perficitur" (2 Cor 12:9). If we have faith in our Lord, in spite of our failings -- or rather, with our failings--we shall be faithful to our Father, God; his divine power will shine forth in us, sustaining us in our weakness" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 194).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Gospel for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 6:1-6
No Prophet Is Honored In His Own Country
[1] He (Jesus) went away from there and came to His own country; and His disciples followed Him. [2] And on the Sabbath He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard Him were astonished saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to Him? What mighty works are wrought by His hands! [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judah and Simon, and are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. [4] And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." [5] And He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them. [6] And He marvelled because of their unbelief.
_______________________
Commentary:
1-3. Jesus is here described by His occupation and by the fact that He is the son of Mary. Does this indicate that St. Joseph is dead already? We do not know, but it is likely. In any event, the description is worth underlining: in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke we are told of the virginal conception of Jesus. St. Mark's Gospel does not deal with our Lord's infancy, but there may be an allusion here to His virginal conception and birth, in His being described as "the son of Mary."
"Joseph, caring for the Child as he had been commanded, made Jesus a craftsman, transmitting his own professional skill to him. So the neighbors of Nazareth will call Jesus both "faber" and "fabri filius": the craftsman and the son of the craftsman" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 55). This message of the Gospel reminds us that our vocation to work is not marginal to God's plans.
"The truth that by means of work man participates in the activity of God Himself, his Creator, was 'given particular prominence by Jesus Christ'--the Jesus at whom many of His first listeners in Nazareth 'were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to Him?... Is not this the carpenter?'" (Mark 6:23). For Jesus not only proclaimed but first and foremost fulfilled by His deeds the 'Gospel', the word of eternal Wisdom, that had been entrusted to Him. Therefore this was also 'the gospel of work', because 'He who proclaimed it was Himself a man of work', a craftsman like Joseph of Nazareth (cf. Matthew 13:55). And if we do not find in His words a special command to work--but rather on one occasion a prohibition against too much anxiety about work and life--(Matthew 6:25-34)--at the same time the eloquence of the life of Christ is unequivocal: He belongs to the `working world', He has appreciation and respect for human work. It can indeed be said the 'He looks with love upon human work' and the different forms that it takes, seeing in each one of these forms a particular facet of man's likeness with God, the Creator and Father" (John Paul II, "Laborem Exercens", 26).
St. Mark mentions by name a number of brothers of Jesus, and refers in general to His sisters. But the word "brother" does not necessarily mean son of the same parents. It can also indicate other degrees of relationship--cousins, nephews, etc. Thus in Genesis 13:8 and 14:14 and 16 Lot is called the brother of Abraham (translated as "kinsman" in RSV), whereas we know that he was Abraham's nephew, the son of Abraham's brother Haran. The same is true of Laban, who is called the brother of Jacob (Genesis 29:15) although he was his mother's brother (Genesis 29:15); there are other instances: cf. 1 Chronicles 23:21-22, etc. This confusion is due to the poverty of Hebrew and Aramaic language: in the absence of distinct terms, the same word, brother, is used to designate different degrees of relationship.
From other Gospel passages we know that James and Joses, who are mentioned here, were sons of Mary of Clophas (John 19:25). We know less about Judas and Simon: it seems that they are the Apostles Simon the Cananaean (Matthew 10:4) and Judas the son of James (Luke 6:16), the author of the Catholic Epistle, in which he describes himself as "brother" of James. In any event, although James, Simon and Judas are referred to as brothers of Jesus, it is nowhere said they were "sons of Mary"--which would have been the natural thing if they had been our Lord's brothers in the strict sense. Jesus always appears as an only son: to the people of Nazareth, He is "the son of Mary" (Matthew 13:55). When He was dying Jesus entrusted His mother to St. John (cf. John 19:26-27), which shows that Mary had no other children. To this is added the constant belief of the Church, which regards Mary as the ever-virgin: "a perfect virgin before, while, and forever after she gave birth" (Paul IV, "Cum Quorumdam").
5-6. Jesus worked no miracles here: not because He was unable to do so, but as punishment for the unbelief of the townspeople. God wants man to use the grace offered him, so that, by cooperating with grace, he become disposed to receive further graces. As St. Augustine neatly puts it, "He who made you without your own self, will not justify you without yourself" ("Sermon" 169).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
No Prophet Is Honored In His Own Country
[1] He (Jesus) went away from there and came to His own country; and His disciples followed Him. [2] And on the Sabbath He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard Him were astonished saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to Him? What mighty works are wrought by His hands! [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judah and Simon, and are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. [4] And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." [5] And He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them. [6] And He marvelled because of their unbelief.
_______________________
Commentary:
1-3. Jesus is here described by His occupation and by the fact that He is the son of Mary. Does this indicate that St. Joseph is dead already? We do not know, but it is likely. In any event, the description is worth underlining: in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke we are told of the virginal conception of Jesus. St. Mark's Gospel does not deal with our Lord's infancy, but there may be an allusion here to His virginal conception and birth, in His being described as "the son of Mary."
"Joseph, caring for the Child as he had been commanded, made Jesus a craftsman, transmitting his own professional skill to him. So the neighbors of Nazareth will call Jesus both "faber" and "fabri filius": the craftsman and the son of the craftsman" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 55). This message of the Gospel reminds us that our vocation to work is not marginal to God's plans.
"The truth that by means of work man participates in the activity of God Himself, his Creator, was 'given particular prominence by Jesus Christ'--the Jesus at whom many of His first listeners in Nazareth 'were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to Him?... Is not this the carpenter?'" (Mark 6:23). For Jesus not only proclaimed but first and foremost fulfilled by His deeds the 'Gospel', the word of eternal Wisdom, that had been entrusted to Him. Therefore this was also 'the gospel of work', because 'He who proclaimed it was Himself a man of work', a craftsman like Joseph of Nazareth (cf. Matthew 13:55). And if we do not find in His words a special command to work--but rather on one occasion a prohibition against too much anxiety about work and life--(Matthew 6:25-34)--at the same time the eloquence of the life of Christ is unequivocal: He belongs to the `working world', He has appreciation and respect for human work. It can indeed be said the 'He looks with love upon human work' and the different forms that it takes, seeing in each one of these forms a particular facet of man's likeness with God, the Creator and Father" (John Paul II, "Laborem Exercens", 26).
St. Mark mentions by name a number of brothers of Jesus, and refers in general to His sisters. But the word "brother" does not necessarily mean son of the same parents. It can also indicate other degrees of relationship--cousins, nephews, etc. Thus in Genesis 13:8 and 14:14 and 16 Lot is called the brother of Abraham (translated as "kinsman" in RSV), whereas we know that he was Abraham's nephew, the son of Abraham's brother Haran. The same is true of Laban, who is called the brother of Jacob (Genesis 29:15) although he was his mother's brother (Genesis 29:15); there are other instances: cf. 1 Chronicles 23:21-22, etc. This confusion is due to the poverty of Hebrew and Aramaic language: in the absence of distinct terms, the same word, brother, is used to designate different degrees of relationship.
From other Gospel passages we know that James and Joses, who are mentioned here, were sons of Mary of Clophas (John 19:25). We know less about Judas and Simon: it seems that they are the Apostles Simon the Cananaean (Matthew 10:4) and Judas the son of James (Luke 6:16), the author of the Catholic Epistle, in which he describes himself as "brother" of James. In any event, although James, Simon and Judas are referred to as brothers of Jesus, it is nowhere said they were "sons of Mary"--which would have been the natural thing if they had been our Lord's brothers in the strict sense. Jesus always appears as an only son: to the people of Nazareth, He is "the son of Mary" (Matthew 13:55). When He was dying Jesus entrusted His mother to St. John (cf. John 19:26-27), which shows that Mary had no other children. To this is added the constant belief of the Church, which regards Mary as the ever-virgin: "a perfect virgin before, while, and forever after she gave birth" (Paul IV, "Cum Quorumdam").
5-6. Jesus worked no miracles here: not because He was unable to do so, but as punishment for the unbelief of the townspeople. God wants man to use the grace offered him, so that, by cooperating with grace, he become disposed to receive further graces. As St. Augustine neatly puts it, "He who made you without your own self, will not justify you without yourself" ("Sermon" 169).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Principles and Practices - July 5
Ideal of Prayer
It is well to bear in mind that in commanding us to pray always our Saviour did not mean actual prayer, as that would be an impossibility. The desire to glorify God by all our actions suffices for the rigorous fulfilment of this precept, if this desire be habitual and permanent. 'You pray often,' says St. Augustine, 'if you often have a desire to pay homage to God by your actions: you pray always if you always have this desire, no matter how you may be otherwise employed.'
-Quadrupani.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
It is well to bear in mind that in commanding us to pray always our Saviour did not mean actual prayer, as that would be an impossibility. The desire to glorify God by all our actions suffices for the rigorous fulfilment of this precept, if this desire be habitual and permanent. 'You pray often,' says St. Augustine, 'if you often have a desire to pay homage to God by your actions: you pray always if you always have this desire, no matter how you may be otherwise employed.'
-Quadrupani.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
Thoughts of St Augustine for July 5
I WILL go beyond this power of mine, which is called memory, in my wish to reach thee whence thou mayest be reached, and to cleave to thee if so it may be.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-July 5
THE priestly dignity surpasses the dignity of the angels. Not all the angels in heaven can absolve from a single sin. The guardian angels procure grace for the souls committed to their care to have recourse to a priest that he may absolve them.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
The Paradox of Liberty
There is a paradox at the heart of liberty, a tension between our desiring what is good and our willingness to sacrifice true happiness for fleeting satisfaction. “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom,” abolitionist Wendell Phillips said. Lord Acton echoed the idea, calling liberty, “the delicate fruit of a mature civilization.”...Continued at Catholic Exchange here.
Happy Independence Day - Some Quotes to Ponder
Below are some quotes worth reading as our country is being attacked from within and de-Christianization, with its inherent demoralizing effects, is standard operating procedure by an out-of-control federal government which has become tyranical and dictatorial in scope and action:
You may want to re-read our American Founding Documents. This is, after all, why we celebrate today.
Please reflect on what this day truly means and ponder if, were you in the same situation, would you risk life, liberty, and property (as did our Founding Fathers) to oppose and revolt against the heavy hand of tyranny?
May God bless you and our country! And please pray for our military - past, present and future!
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."May you have a most happy and blessed Independence Day!
--Patrick Henry, The Trumpet Voice of Freedom: Patrick Henry of Virginia, p. iii.
"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual....Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us."
--John Hancock, History of the United States of America, Vol. II, p. 229.
He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.
--Thomas Paine
"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God."
--Adams wrote this on June 28, 1813, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event."
--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, p. 237.
"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian."
--George Washington, The Writings of Washington, pp. 342-343.
"The Gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations!"
--Benjamin Rush, The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, pp. 165-166.
"Christianity is the only true and perfect religion, and that in proportion as mankind adopts its principles and obeys its precepts, they will be wise and happy."
--Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical, published in 1798.
"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth--that God Governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"
--Ben Franklin, Congressional Congress, 1787
You may want to re-read our American Founding Documents. This is, after all, why we celebrate today.
Please reflect on what this day truly means and ponder if, were you in the same situation, would you risk life, liberty, and property (as did our Founding Fathers) to oppose and revolt against the heavy hand of tyranny?
May God bless you and our country! And please pray for our military - past, present and future!
Friday, July 03, 2009
Story of the First Weekly TLM in Fitchburg, Massachusetts
The first weekly Mass in the Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass) at Immaculate Conception Church in Fitchburg was held on Sunday, June 28th. The Missa Cantata was very well attended by people of all ages. The superb acoustics in the large Romanesque Church accentuated the Latin prayers intoned by the celebrant, Reverend Father David Phillipson, as well as the traditional Gregorian chants and motets sung by the choir directed by Sam Schmitt, an organist, singer, conductor and composer who holds a Doctorate in musicology and other graduate degrees in liturgical music and music history. The seven altar boys in attendance added much to the reverent and transcendent atmosphere of the Solemn Liturgy: the incense from the thurible, the candlelight from the torches carried by the boys, and the sound of the bells rung at key points.
The following impressions from one of the attendees are typical of the responses expressed:
"I think it's fair to call this the beginning of the restoration of the immemorial Holy Mass codified by St. Pius V to the church of the Immaculate Conception. I'm glad to say that our (my family's) hopes were high, but we were entirely unprepared for the palpably sacred ambience that persisted in the church throughout the sacred liturgy and which accompanied us right out the door and into the church hall (where I spent most of my time talking about the Mass, I think). It brought back a flood of memories of the best days I'd seen when I was a boy and the blessed years we had the privilege of going to Mass at Holy Trinity in Boston (where our two girls were baptized). I had the distinct impression that Father, the altar servers, and the choir were actually praying (not acting out roles) as they solemnly carried out their offices with unaffected reverence. I trust that everyone could plainly see how beautiful the church is with its French blue and gold, especially in the magnificent statue of Our Lady, and the organ filling every corner, at times with sounds of reflection, at others with those of majesty; but even now when I recall the ensemble of those impressions, I'm overwhelmed. I think one cannot really overestimate the beguiling power of the truly sacred.
"My family thanks you and all those who worked so long, so hard, and with such loving devotion to bring the truly extraordinary Holy Mass back to Immaculate Conception Church. May Our Lord and His holy Mother and ours bless you abundantly with their most excellent graces here on Earth and forever in Heaven.
All are invited to experience worship in this Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite which will be offered every Sunday at 8AM as a Sung High Mass when possible (or else as a Low Mass). The Sacrament of Confession takes place before the Mass from 7:15 to 7:50AM, and the Rosary is recited at 7:30AM. For more information, visit the website which is under construction at www.immaculateconceptionfitchburg.com.
Father David Phillipson was trained to offer the Ancient Roman Rite by the Fraternity of St. Peter and has worked in traditional parishes for several years. Father will also hold spiritual conferences and traditional devotions, and administer the Sacraments according to the Extraordinary Form. "Together with the Latin Mass Community, I wish to thank Bishop McManus and Father Thien for making available the celebration of Mass in the Ancient Rite in this beautiful Church. I look forward to serving the community and invite all to attend and experience Mass in the Ancient Usage. I am happy to help anyone to learn to follow the missal or to answer any questions they may have. Any priests who would like assistance in learning this rite are welcome to contact me: frdavidphil4@gmail.com."
Contributions to help with the start up costs for this endeavor are very welcome and may be sent to the Church at 59 Walnut Street in Fitchburg 01420. Please make your tax deductible donation to Immaculate Conception Church EF (EF designating the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite).
###
Submitted by (and a Special Thanks to) Todd Tabbaa of Leominster, MA
Submitted by (and a Special Thanks to) Todd Tabbaa of Leominster, MA
Gospel for Saturday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial: St Elizabeth of Portugal
Optional Memorial: Our Lady's Saturday
From: Matthew 9:14-17
The Call of Matthew (Continuation)
[14] Then the disciples of John (the Baptist) came to Him (Jesus), saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" [15] And Jesus said them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. [16] And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. [17] Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
____________________
Commentary:
14-17. This passage is interesting, not so much because it tells us about the sort of fasting practised by the Jews of the time--particularly the Pharisees and John the Baptist's disciples--but because of the reason Jesus gives for not requiring His disciples to fast in that way. His reply is both instructive and prophetic. Christianity is not a mere mending or adjusting of the old suit of Judaism. The redemption wrought by Jesus involves a total regeneration. Its spirit is too new and too vital to be suited to old forms of penance, which will no longer apply.
We know that in our Lord's time Jewish theology schools were in the grip of a highly complicated casuistry to do with fasting, purifications, etc., which smothered the simplicity of genuine piety. Jesus' words point to that simplicity of heart with which His disciples might practise prayer, fasting and almsgiving (cf. Matthew 6:1-18 and notes to same). From apostolic times onwards it is for the Church, using the authority given it by our Lord to set out the different forms fasting should take in different periods and situations.
15. "The wedding guests": literally, "the sons of the house where the wedding is being celebrated"--an __expression meaning the bridegroom's closest friends. This is an example of how St. Matthew uses typical Semitic turns of phrase, presenting Jesus' manner of speech.
This "house" to which Jesus refers has a deeper meaning; set beside the parable of the guests at the wedding (Matthew 22:1 ff), it symbolizes the Church as the house of God and the body of Christ: "Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ was faithful over God's house as a son. And we are His house if we hold fast our confidence and pride in our hope" (Hebrews 3:5-6).
The second part of the verse refers to the violent death Jesus would meet.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Optional Memorial: Our Lady's Saturday
From: Matthew 9:14-17
The Call of Matthew (Continuation)
[14] Then the disciples of John (the Baptist) came to Him (Jesus), saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" [15] And Jesus said them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. [16] And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. [17] Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
____________________
Commentary:
14-17. This passage is interesting, not so much because it tells us about the sort of fasting practised by the Jews of the time--particularly the Pharisees and John the Baptist's disciples--but because of the reason Jesus gives for not requiring His disciples to fast in that way. His reply is both instructive and prophetic. Christianity is not a mere mending or adjusting of the old suit of Judaism. The redemption wrought by Jesus involves a total regeneration. Its spirit is too new and too vital to be suited to old forms of penance, which will no longer apply.
We know that in our Lord's time Jewish theology schools were in the grip of a highly complicated casuistry to do with fasting, purifications, etc., which smothered the simplicity of genuine piety. Jesus' words point to that simplicity of heart with which His disciples might practise prayer, fasting and almsgiving (cf. Matthew 6:1-18 and notes to same). From apostolic times onwards it is for the Church, using the authority given it by our Lord to set out the different forms fasting should take in different periods and situations.
15. "The wedding guests": literally, "the sons of the house where the wedding is being celebrated"--an __expression meaning the bridegroom's closest friends. This is an example of how St. Matthew uses typical Semitic turns of phrase, presenting Jesus' manner of speech.
This "house" to which Jesus refers has a deeper meaning; set beside the parable of the guests at the wedding (Matthew 22:1 ff), it symbolizes the Church as the house of God and the body of Christ: "Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ was faithful over God's house as a son. And we are His house if we hold fast our confidence and pride in our hope" (Hebrews 3:5-6).
The second part of the verse refers to the violent death Jesus would meet.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Principles and Practices - July 4
The Soul's Detachment
My soul is so detached, so denuded, lonely, so estranged from all created things, in heaven and earth; it has become so recollected in Thee, that nothing whatever can come within sight of that most intimate joy which I have in Thee. That is, there is nothing whatever that can cause me pleasure with its sweetness, or disgust with its vileness, for my soul is so far removed from all such things, absorbed in such profound delight in Thee, that nothing can behold me.
-St. John of the Cross.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
My soul is so detached, so denuded, lonely, so estranged from all created things, in heaven and earth; it has become so recollected in Thee, that nothing whatever can come within sight of that most intimate joy which I have in Thee. That is, there is nothing whatever that can cause me pleasure with its sweetness, or disgust with its vileness, for my soul is so far removed from all such things, absorbed in such profound delight in Thee, that nothing can behold me.
-St. John of the Cross.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
Thoughts of St Augustine for July 4
WHAT then shall I do, O my God, my true life? I will go beyond this power of mine which is called memory, I will go beyond it that I may reach thee, my sweet Light. What sayest thou to me? Behold me ascending through my own soul to thee who dwellest above me.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-July 4
AT the Council of Nice, the Emperor Constantine wished to sit in the last place, after all the priests, and on a seat lower than that which they occupied; he would not even sit down without their permission.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Thursday, July 02, 2009
News Updates, 7/3
The Recife Case. Rome Has Spoken, But the Dispute Has Not Ended [Chiesa]
The controversy over the abortion for the child-mother is becoming increasingly heated. The Brazilian archdiocese is threatening a canonical denunciation against the president of the pontifical academy for life. The indictment of Michel Schooyans, which ends with an appeal to the pope
Archbishop Carlson Saved Loome Theological Booksellers
St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson once saved Loome Theological Booksellers from the "out with the old, in with the new" spirit of Vatican II hardliners in the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis...
[Interesting story...BTW, Loome has some great books]
Obama cites influence of Cardinal Bernardin, prepares to meet pope
Barack Obama told a round table of religion writers July 2 that he continues to be profoundly influenced by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, whom he came to know when he was a community organizer in a project partially funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development...
[First, I want to know the year and the recipient to determine IF this is even possibly true! Second, who is feeding Obongo this tripe? Kmiec? This makes me want to barf, he is such a lying phony and people actually believe him!]
Apostolic visit to Legionaries of Christ to begin July 15
After the announcement on March 31 that Pope Benedict XVI had ordered an Apostolic Visitation of the Legionaries of Christ, many wondered when it would begin. Vatican watcher Sandro Magister has answered the question by reporting it will begin on July 15 and that five bishops have been charged with the task
=========
Other Issues
=========
Palin Quits, Transfers Power to Lt. Governor
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday that she would not seek a second term, setting up a potential run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
Small businesses vital to economic recovery go bankrupt
Congress's Travel Tab Swells
Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galápagos Islands...
{Up 50% since Dems took over Congress! Thieves - the imates are running the asylum!]
Banking system like South Sea bubble, says B o E official
A senior Bank of England official today compared the banking system over the last 20 years to the South Sea bubble of the early 18th century and said bankers had merely "resorted to the roulette wheel" to keep up with each other.
CDC: U.S. may need 600 million swine flu vaccine doses
Woman Obama Hugged at Town Hall Was His Volunteer
Debby Smith, the woman who Obama hugged during yesterday's town hall meeting and promised to help after she described her difficulties getting treatment for a tumor, "is a volunteer for Organizing for America, Obama's political operation within the Democratic National Committee" who "obtained her ticket through the White House."
[Scheming, lying, deceiving fraud! I still maintain that this thug is a spawn of Satan!]
Lear announces bankruptcy reorganization plan
Lear Corp. said today it will soon file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as the seat maker, reliant on the Detroit 3 for nearly 40 percent of sales, succumbed to the worst vehicle sales environment in nearly 30 years.
The controversy over the abortion for the child-mother is becoming increasingly heated. The Brazilian archdiocese is threatening a canonical denunciation against the president of the pontifical academy for life. The indictment of Michel Schooyans, which ends with an appeal to the pope
Archbishop Carlson Saved Loome Theological Booksellers
St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson once saved Loome Theological Booksellers from the "out with the old, in with the new" spirit of Vatican II hardliners in the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis...
[Interesting story...BTW, Loome has some great books]
Obama cites influence of Cardinal Bernardin, prepares to meet pope
Barack Obama told a round table of religion writers July 2 that he continues to be profoundly influenced by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, whom he came to know when he was a community organizer in a project partially funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development...
[First, I want to know the year and the recipient to determine IF this is even possibly true! Second, who is feeding Obongo this tripe? Kmiec? This makes me want to barf, he is such a lying phony and people actually believe him!]
Apostolic visit to Legionaries of Christ to begin July 15
After the announcement on March 31 that Pope Benedict XVI had ordered an Apostolic Visitation of the Legionaries of Christ, many wondered when it would begin. Vatican watcher Sandro Magister has answered the question by reporting it will begin on July 15 and that five bishops have been charged with the task
=========
Other Issues
=========
Palin Quits, Transfers Power to Lt. Governor
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday that she would not seek a second term, setting up a potential run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
Small businesses vital to economic recovery go bankrupt
Congress's Travel Tab Swells
Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galápagos Islands...
{Up 50% since Dems took over Congress! Thieves - the imates are running the asylum!]
Banking system like South Sea bubble, says B o E official
A senior Bank of England official today compared the banking system over the last 20 years to the South Sea bubble of the early 18th century and said bankers had merely "resorted to the roulette wheel" to keep up with each other.
CDC: U.S. may need 600 million swine flu vaccine doses
Woman Obama Hugged at Town Hall Was His VolunteerDebby Smith, the woman who Obama hugged during yesterday's town hall meeting and promised to help after she described her difficulties getting treatment for a tumor, "is a volunteer for Organizing for America, Obama's political operation within the Democratic National Committee" who "obtained her ticket through the White House."
[Scheming, lying, deceiving fraud! I still maintain that this thug is a spawn of Satan!]
Lear announces bankruptcy reorganization plan
Lear Corp. said today it will soon file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as the seat maker, reliant on the Detroit 3 for nearly 40 percent of sales, succumbed to the worst vehicle sales environment in nearly 30 years.
Gospel for July 3, Feast: St. Thomas, Apostle
Old Calendar: St. Irenaeus, bishop and martyr; St. Leo II, pope and confessor (Hist)
From: John 20:24-29
Jesus Appears to the Disciples (Continuation)
[24] Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. [25] So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in His side, I will not believe."
[26] Eight days later, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." [27] Then He said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side; do not be faithless, but believing." [28] Thomas answered Him, "My Lord and my God!" [29] Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
_________________________
Commentary:
24-28. Thomas' doubting moves our Lord to give him special proof that His risen body is quite real. By so doing He bolsters the faith of those who would later on find faith in Him. "Surely you do not think", [Pope] St. Gregory the Great comments, "that is was a pure accident that the chosen disciple was missing; who on his return was told about the appearance and on hearing about it doubted; doubting, so that he might touch and believe by touching? It was not an accident; God arranged that it should happen. His clemency acted in this wonderful way so that through the doubting disciple touching the wounds in His Master's body, our own wounds of incredulity might be healed. [...] And so the disciple, doubting and touching, was changed into a witness of the truth of the Resurrection" ("In Evangelia Homiliae", 26, 7).
Thomas' reply is not simply an exclamation: it is an assertion, an admirable act of faith in the divinity of Christ: "My Lord and my God!" These words are an ejaculatory prayer often used by Christians, especially as an act of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist.
29. [Pope] St. Gregory the Great explains these words of our Lord as follows: "By St. Paul saying `faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen' (Hebrews 11:1), it becomes clear that faith has to do with things which are not seen, for those which are seen are no longer the object of faith, but rather of experience. Well then, why is Thomas told, when he saw and touched, `Because you have seen, you have believed?' Because he saw one thing, and believed another. It is certain that mortal man cannot see divinity; therefore, he saw the man and recognized Him as God, saying, `My Lord and my God.' In conclusion: seeing, he believed, because contemplating that real man he exclaimed that He was God, whom he could not see" ("In Evangelia Homiliae", 27, 8).
Like everyone else Thomas needed the grace of God to believe, but in addition to this grace he was given an exceptional proof; his faith would have had more merit had he accepted the testimony of the other Apostles. Revealed truths are normally transmitted by word, by the testimony of other people who, sent by Christ and aided by the Holy Spirit, preach the deposit of faith (cf. Mark 16:15-16). "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of Christ" (Romans 10:17). The preaching of the Gospel, therefore, carries with it sufficient guarantees of credibility, and by accepting that preaching man "offers the full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals, willingly assenting to the revelation given" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 5).
"What follows pleases us greatly: `Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.' For undoubtedly it is we who are meant, who confess with our soul Him whom we have not seen in the flesh. It refers to us, provided we live in accordance with the faith, for only he truly believes who practices what the believes" ("In Evangelia Homiliae", 26, 9).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
From: John 20:24-29
Jesus Appears to the Disciples (Continuation)
[24] Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. [25] So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in His side, I will not believe."
[26] Eight days later, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." [27] Then He said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side; do not be faithless, but believing." [28] Thomas answered Him, "My Lord and my God!" [29] Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
_________________________
Commentary:
24-28. Thomas' doubting moves our Lord to give him special proof that His risen body is quite real. By so doing He bolsters the faith of those who would later on find faith in Him. "Surely you do not think", [Pope] St. Gregory the Great comments, "that is was a pure accident that the chosen disciple was missing; who on his return was told about the appearance and on hearing about it doubted; doubting, so that he might touch and believe by touching? It was not an accident; God arranged that it should happen. His clemency acted in this wonderful way so that through the doubting disciple touching the wounds in His Master's body, our own wounds of incredulity might be healed. [...] And so the disciple, doubting and touching, was changed into a witness of the truth of the Resurrection" ("In Evangelia Homiliae", 26, 7).
Thomas' reply is not simply an exclamation: it is an assertion, an admirable act of faith in the divinity of Christ: "My Lord and my God!" These words are an ejaculatory prayer often used by Christians, especially as an act of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist.
29. [Pope] St. Gregory the Great explains these words of our Lord as follows: "By St. Paul saying `faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen' (Hebrews 11:1), it becomes clear that faith has to do with things which are not seen, for those which are seen are no longer the object of faith, but rather of experience. Well then, why is Thomas told, when he saw and touched, `Because you have seen, you have believed?' Because he saw one thing, and believed another. It is certain that mortal man cannot see divinity; therefore, he saw the man and recognized Him as God, saying, `My Lord and my God.' In conclusion: seeing, he believed, because contemplating that real man he exclaimed that He was God, whom he could not see" ("In Evangelia Homiliae", 27, 8).
Like everyone else Thomas needed the grace of God to believe, but in addition to this grace he was given an exceptional proof; his faith would have had more merit had he accepted the testimony of the other Apostles. Revealed truths are normally transmitted by word, by the testimony of other people who, sent by Christ and aided by the Holy Spirit, preach the deposit of faith (cf. Mark 16:15-16). "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of Christ" (Romans 10:17). The preaching of the Gospel, therefore, carries with it sufficient guarantees of credibility, and by accepting that preaching man "offers the full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals, willingly assenting to the revelation given" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 5).
"What follows pleases us greatly: `Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.' For undoubtedly it is we who are meant, who confess with our soul Him whom we have not seen in the flesh. It refers to us, provided we live in accordance with the faith, for only he truly believes who practices what the believes" ("In Evangelia Homiliae", 26, 9).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Principles and Practices - July 3
One With And In
Such is our union with Christ that we, and all Christians, are one not only with Christ, but in Christ. We belong to Christ. We are one in Christ Jesus: we are of Christ. Thus is the 'mystical Body' constituted: Christ and Christians form one sole moral person, one sole living orgacism.
-Dupperay-Burke.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
Such is our union with Christ that we, and all Christians, are one not only with Christ, but in Christ. We belong to Christ. We are one in Christ Jesus: we are of Christ. Thus is the 'mystical Body' constituted: Christ and Christians form one sole moral person, one sole living orgacism.
-Dupperay-Burke.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
Thoughts of St Augustine for July 3
ALL things which have entered memory by their own proper door are stored up in it with order and distinctness...Great, exceedingly great, is this power of memory, O my God, it is a measureless abode, who can fathom it?
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-July 3
THE priestly dignity is the most noble of all the dignities in the world. The power of kings extends only to temporal goods and to the bodies of men, but the power of the priest extends to spiritual goods and to the human soul.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
News Updates, 7/2
"We Bend the Rules on Sexual Abuse"
Another Lila Rose video exposes Planned Parenthood
Chairman Obama Meets With Catholic Press Thursday
Thursday morning at 10:45 Eastern time, [Chairman Obama] is hosting a round table at the White House for members of the Catholic press. The National Catholic Register’s publisher, Father Owen Kearns, will be among eight religion reporters and editors in attendance at that gathering. The purpose of the gathering, according to Chris Hensman, press secretary with the National Security Council, is a “preview of the pres__ent’s [ID missing] upcoming visit with Pope Benedict XVI.” Obama is meeting with the Pope on July 10.
NEA to consider full support of homosexual 'marriage'
The co-founder of the National Education Association (NEA) Conservative Educators Caucus says the NEA will consider adoption of a resolution supporting homosexual "marriage."
[This is nothing more than the "educational abuse" of children - the NEA, a big contributor to the Usurper in Chief, should be viewed as a group advocating the emotional and spiritual abuse of innocent children.]
IrishCentral's own Father Tim, a Jesuit missionary who has his own blog on the site, has written a very special column on the Church abuse scandal in Ireland. The (rather long) link to Father Tim's "Mother Mary, speaking words of wisdom" post is here.
Nuns In The U.S. Are Facing Scrutiny By The Vatican
The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition. Sister Sandra M. Schneiders has urged fellow nuns not to participate in the study that is being conducted by the Vatican...
Mexican drug lords target outspoken priests
1,000 Catholic clerics facing constant threats
Controversial Brazilian bishop retires
Excommunicated those involved in 9-year-old's abortion
Pope urges state aid for victims of extortion
Benedict XVI thanked Italian anti-usury group
Probe of Bridgeport diocese loses momentum
Attorney General advises ethics officials to desist
Church against legalizing homosexuality in India
Catholics already at odds with gov't over other issues
Did Canadian bishops issue a 'whitewash' report?
Catholic agency cleared of abortion-funding allegations
Paraguay bishop: no reason to reconsider celibacy
Saya Lugo 'is aware of the rules of the Catholic Church'
First Indian convicted in anti-Christian riots
Hindu fanatics continue to issue death threats in Orissa
'Sexualized' nun and priest ad banned by watchdog
Suggestion of a kiss offensive in ice cream campaign
Baltimore Archdiocese to Probe Whether 'Miracle' Cancer Cure Tied to 19th-Century Priest
The Archdiocese of Baltimore plans to investigate whether an Annapolis woman's cure from cancer was a miracle, a possible step toward sainthood for a 19th-Century priest.
=========
Other Issues
=========
Swine flu cases in Britain could soar to 100,000 A DAY by next month, Government warns
Buenos Aires mayor declares health emergency (Swine flu)
Texas Appellate Court Deals Blow to Islamist Lawfare -- Upholds Free Speech Rights
Yesterday, seven Texas-area Muslim organizations filed an appeal of the unanimous ruling of the Texas Second Court of Appeals at Forth Worth, which protected the free speech rights of internet journalists and at the same time dealt a blow to the legal jihad being waged by radical Muslim groups throughout the United States...
North Korea seen readying missiles
Harvard Economist Ferguson Sees No Green Shoots
Obama's biggest character flaw
The President of these United States recently expressed his love for "the Urdu poets," a piece of inspired BS that nobody in their right minds believed for a second. But then the P was narrowcasting to Pakistan, he thought, and Americans weren't supposed to be listening. Yet character is revealed in those little snippets of Obama's mind -- his glorious fantasy life, his everlasting hope that somebody will fall for another piece of schtick, and his essential fraudulence as a human being...
[Besides suffering from NPD, where's the proof that Obongo is a "natural born citizen"?]
Bank of America to accept IOU's from California
[An insolvent bank accepting IOU's from insolvent state...How long before other states start similar schemes???]
NY City Council backs closure of schools for Islamic Feast on Sept. 11thThe NY Times fails to mention that Eid al-Adha falls on Sunday, September 11 in the year 2016 and Eid al-Fitr will begin at sunset on September 9 and continue to sunset on Friday September 10 in the year 2010...
Treasury Ready to Throw Away Billions
The U.S. Treasury has apparently found another way to lose more taxpayer money. Perhaps $9 billion down the drain, unless changes are made soon...
UK scraps compulsory ID cards
Alan Johnson, the home secretary, has shelved plans for the eventual introduction of compulsory ID cards for British citizens, dealing another blow to the government’s controversial £4.9bn national identity scheme.
The 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Proved Freedom is not Free
It all began on July 4, 1776 in the city of Philadelphia when a small group of men, suffering under the restraints of a European power 3000 miles away, and acting as the Second Continental Congress, declared their 13 colonies to be free and independent of Great Britain. Knowing their proclamation would bring difficulties, they committed themselves and their constituents to what they believed was their “unalienable right” — freedom from tyranny...
_____________
Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.
-Ben Franklin.
Another Lila Rose video exposes Planned Parenthood
Chairman Obama Meets With Catholic Press Thursday
Thursday morning at 10:45 Eastern time, [Chairman Obama] is hosting a round table at the White House for members of the Catholic press. The National Catholic Register’s publisher, Father Owen Kearns, will be among eight religion reporters and editors in attendance at that gathering. The purpose of the gathering, according to Chris Hensman, press secretary with the National Security Council, is a “preview of the pres__ent’s [ID missing] upcoming visit with Pope Benedict XVI.” Obama is meeting with the Pope on July 10.
NEA to consider full support of homosexual 'marriage'
The co-founder of the National Education Association (NEA) Conservative Educators Caucus says the NEA will consider adoption of a resolution supporting homosexual "marriage."
[This is nothing more than the "educational abuse" of children - the NEA, a big contributor to the Usurper in Chief, should be viewed as a group advocating the emotional and spiritual abuse of innocent children.]
IrishCentral's own Father Tim, a Jesuit missionary who has his own blog on the site, has written a very special column on the Church abuse scandal in Ireland. The (rather long) link to Father Tim's "Mother Mary, speaking words of wisdom" post is here.
Nuns In The U.S. Are Facing Scrutiny By The Vatican
The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition. Sister Sandra M. Schneiders has urged fellow nuns not to participate in the study that is being conducted by the Vatican...
Mexican drug lords target outspoken priests
1,000 Catholic clerics facing constant threats
Controversial Brazilian bishop retires
Excommunicated those involved in 9-year-old's abortion
Pope urges state aid for victims of extortion
Benedict XVI thanked Italian anti-usury group
Probe of Bridgeport diocese loses momentum
Attorney General advises ethics officials to desist
Church against legalizing homosexuality in India
Catholics already at odds with gov't over other issues
Did Canadian bishops issue a 'whitewash' report?
Catholic agency cleared of abortion-funding allegations
Paraguay bishop: no reason to reconsider celibacy
Saya Lugo 'is aware of the rules of the Catholic Church'
First Indian convicted in anti-Christian riots
Hindu fanatics continue to issue death threats in Orissa
'Sexualized' nun and priest ad banned by watchdog
Suggestion of a kiss offensive in ice cream campaign
Baltimore Archdiocese to Probe Whether 'Miracle' Cancer Cure Tied to 19th-Century Priest
The Archdiocese of Baltimore plans to investigate whether an Annapolis woman's cure from cancer was a miracle, a possible step toward sainthood for a 19th-Century priest.
=========
Other Issues
=========
Swine flu cases in Britain could soar to 100,000 A DAY by next month, Government warns
Buenos Aires mayor declares health emergency (Swine flu)
Texas Appellate Court Deals Blow to Islamist Lawfare -- Upholds Free Speech Rights
Yesterday, seven Texas-area Muslim organizations filed an appeal of the unanimous ruling of the Texas Second Court of Appeals at Forth Worth, which protected the free speech rights of internet journalists and at the same time dealt a blow to the legal jihad being waged by radical Muslim groups throughout the United States...
North Korea seen readying missiles
Harvard Economist Ferguson Sees No Green Shoots
Obama's biggest character flaw
The President of these United States recently expressed his love for "the Urdu poets," a piece of inspired BS that nobody in their right minds believed for a second. But then the P was narrowcasting to Pakistan, he thought, and Americans weren't supposed to be listening. Yet character is revealed in those little snippets of Obama's mind -- his glorious fantasy life, his everlasting hope that somebody will fall for another piece of schtick, and his essential fraudulence as a human being...
[Besides suffering from NPD, where's the proof that Obongo is a "natural born citizen"?]
Bank of America to accept IOU's from California
[An insolvent bank accepting IOU's from insolvent state...How long before other states start similar schemes???]
NY City Council backs closure of schools for Islamic Feast on Sept. 11thThe NY Times fails to mention that Eid al-Adha falls on Sunday, September 11 in the year 2016 and Eid al-Fitr will begin at sunset on September 9 and continue to sunset on Friday September 10 in the year 2010...
Treasury Ready to Throw Away Billions
The U.S. Treasury has apparently found another way to lose more taxpayer money. Perhaps $9 billion down the drain, unless changes are made soon...
UK scraps compulsory ID cards
Alan Johnson, the home secretary, has shelved plans for the eventual introduction of compulsory ID cards for British citizens, dealing another blow to the government’s controversial £4.9bn national identity scheme.
The 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Proved Freedom is not Free
It all began on July 4, 1776 in the city of Philadelphia when a small group of men, suffering under the restraints of a European power 3000 miles away, and acting as the Second Continental Congress, declared their 13 colonies to be free and independent of Great Britain. Knowing their proclamation would bring difficulties, they committed themselves and their constituents to what they believed was their “unalienable right” — freedom from tyranny...
_____________
Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.
-Ben Franklin.
Gospel for Thursday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Sts. Processus and Martinian, martyrs; St. Swithin
From: Matthew 9:1-8
The Curing of a Paralytic
[1] And getting into a boat He (Jesus) crossed over and came to His own city. [2] And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith He said to the paralytic, "Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven." [3] And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." [4] But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? [5] For which is easier to say, `Your sins are forgiven', or to say, `Rise and walk'? [6] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--He then said to the paralytic-- "Rise, take up your bed and go home." [7] And He rose and went home. [8] When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
____________________________
Commentary:
1. "His own city": Capernaum (cf. Matthew 4:13 and Mark 2:1).
2-6. The sick man and those who bring him to Jesus ask Him to cure the man's physical illness; they believe in His supernatural powers. As in other instances of miracles, our Lord concerns Himself more with the underlying cause of illness, that is, sin. With divine largesse He gives more than He is asked for, even though people do not appreciate this. St. Thomas Aquinas says that Jesus Christ acts like a good doctor: He cures the cause of the illness (cf. "Commentary on St. Matthew", 9, 1-6).
2. The parallel passage of St. Mark adds a detail which helps us understand this scene better and explains why the text refers to "their faith": in Mark 2:2-5 we are told that there was such a crowd around Jesus that the people carrying the bed could not get near Him. So they had the idea of going up onto the roof and making a hole and lowering the bed down in front of Jesus. This explains His "seeing their faith".
Our Lord was pleased by their boldness, a boldness which resulted from their lively faith which brooked no obstacles. This nice example of daring indicates how we should go about putting charity into practice--as also how Jesus feels towards people who show real concern for others: He cures the paralytic who was so ingeniously helped by his friends and relatives; even the sick man himself showed daring by not being afraid of the risk involved.
St. Thomas comments on this verse as follows: "This paralytic symbolizes the sinner lying in sin"; just as the paralytic cannot move, so the sinner cannot help himself. The people who bring the paralytic along represent those who, by giving him good advice, lead the sinner to God" ("Commentary on St. Matthew", 9, 2). In order to get close to Jesus the same kind of holy daring is needed, as the Saints show us. Anyone who does not act like this will never take important decisions in his life as a Christian.
3-7. Here "to say" obviously means "to say and mean it", "to say producing the result which your words imply". Our Lord is arguing as follows" which is easier--to cure the paralytic's body or to forgive the sins of his soul? Undoubtedly, to cure his body; for the soul is superior to the body and therefore diseases of the soul are the more difficult to cure. However, a physical cure can be seen, whereas a cure of the soul cannot. Jesus proves the hidden cure by performing a visible one.
The Jews thought that any illness was due to personal sin (cf. John 9:1-3); so when they heard Jesus saying, "Your sins are forgiven", they reasoned in their minds as follows: only God can forgive sins (cf. Luke 5:21); this man says that He has power to forgive sins; therefore, He is claiming a power which belongs to God alone--which is blasphemy. Our Lord, however, forestalls them, using their own arguments: by curing the paralytic by saying the word, He shows them that since He has the power to cure the effects of sin (which is what they believe disease to be), then He also has power to cure the cause of illness (sin); therefore, He has divine power.
Jesus Christ passed on to the Apostles and their successors in the priestly ministry the power to forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:22-23). "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven" (Matthew 18:18). Priests exercise this power in the Sacrament of Penance: in doing so they act not in their own name but in Christ's--"in persona Christi", as instruments of the Lord.
Hence the respect, the veneration and gratitude with which we should approach Confession: in the priest we should see Christ Himself, God Himself, and we should receive the words of absolution firmly believing that it is Christ who is uttering them through the priest. This is why the minister does not say: "Christ absolves you...", but rather "I absolve you from your sins..." He speaks in the first person. So fully is he identified with Jesus Christ Himself (cf. "St. Pius V Catechism", II, 5, 10).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
From: Matthew 9:1-8
The Curing of a Paralytic
[1] And getting into a boat He (Jesus) crossed over and came to His own city. [2] And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith He said to the paralytic, "Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven." [3] And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." [4] But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? [5] For which is easier to say, `Your sins are forgiven', or to say, `Rise and walk'? [6] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--He then said to the paralytic-- "Rise, take up your bed and go home." [7] And He rose and went home. [8] When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
____________________________
Commentary:
1. "His own city": Capernaum (cf. Matthew 4:13 and Mark 2:1).
2-6. The sick man and those who bring him to Jesus ask Him to cure the man's physical illness; they believe in His supernatural powers. As in other instances of miracles, our Lord concerns Himself more with the underlying cause of illness, that is, sin. With divine largesse He gives more than He is asked for, even though people do not appreciate this. St. Thomas Aquinas says that Jesus Christ acts like a good doctor: He cures the cause of the illness (cf. "Commentary on St. Matthew", 9, 1-6).
2. The parallel passage of St. Mark adds a detail which helps us understand this scene better and explains why the text refers to "their faith": in Mark 2:2-5 we are told that there was such a crowd around Jesus that the people carrying the bed could not get near Him. So they had the idea of going up onto the roof and making a hole and lowering the bed down in front of Jesus. This explains His "seeing their faith".
Our Lord was pleased by their boldness, a boldness which resulted from their lively faith which brooked no obstacles. This nice example of daring indicates how we should go about putting charity into practice--as also how Jesus feels towards people who show real concern for others: He cures the paralytic who was so ingeniously helped by his friends and relatives; even the sick man himself showed daring by not being afraid of the risk involved.
St. Thomas comments on this verse as follows: "This paralytic symbolizes the sinner lying in sin"; just as the paralytic cannot move, so the sinner cannot help himself. The people who bring the paralytic along represent those who, by giving him good advice, lead the sinner to God" ("Commentary on St. Matthew", 9, 2). In order to get close to Jesus the same kind of holy daring is needed, as the Saints show us. Anyone who does not act like this will never take important decisions in his life as a Christian.
3-7. Here "to say" obviously means "to say and mean it", "to say producing the result which your words imply". Our Lord is arguing as follows" which is easier--to cure the paralytic's body or to forgive the sins of his soul? Undoubtedly, to cure his body; for the soul is superior to the body and therefore diseases of the soul are the more difficult to cure. However, a physical cure can be seen, whereas a cure of the soul cannot. Jesus proves the hidden cure by performing a visible one.
The Jews thought that any illness was due to personal sin (cf. John 9:1-3); so when they heard Jesus saying, "Your sins are forgiven", they reasoned in their minds as follows: only God can forgive sins (cf. Luke 5:21); this man says that He has power to forgive sins; therefore, He is claiming a power which belongs to God alone--which is blasphemy. Our Lord, however, forestalls them, using their own arguments: by curing the paralytic by saying the word, He shows them that since He has the power to cure the effects of sin (which is what they believe disease to be), then He also has power to cure the cause of illness (sin); therefore, He has divine power.
Jesus Christ passed on to the Apostles and their successors in the priestly ministry the power to forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:22-23). "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven" (Matthew 18:18). Priests exercise this power in the Sacrament of Penance: in doing so they act not in their own name but in Christ's--"in persona Christi", as instruments of the Lord.
Hence the respect, the veneration and gratitude with which we should approach Confession: in the priest we should see Christ Himself, God Himself, and we should receive the words of absolution firmly believing that it is Christ who is uttering them through the priest. This is why the minister does not say: "Christ absolves you...", but rather "I absolve you from your sins..." He speaks in the first person. So fully is he identified with Jesus Christ Himself (cf. "St. Pius V Catechism", II, 5, 10).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Principles and Practices - July 2
The Birth of Habit
If habit makes saints, it also makes sinners. Slowly and by degrees we are either saved or lost; and, having reached the gate of heaven or that of hell, we exclaim: So soon!
The point of departure is scarcely perceptible; it is like the little snowflake which, falling on the mountain, seemed ready to melt, but, having mingled with other flakes, has helped to form the avalanche which may soon crush us.
-Golden Grains.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
If habit makes saints, it also makes sinners. Slowly and by degrees we are either saved or lost; and, having reached the gate of heaven or that of hell, we exclaim: So soon!
The point of departure is scarcely perceptible; it is like the little snowflake which, falling on the mountain, seemed ready to melt, but, having mingled with other flakes, has helped to form the avalanche which may soon crush us.
-Golden Grains.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
Thoughts of St Augustine for July 2
Now, in so far as the soul takes pleasure in itself, and disregarding God, the centre of all souls, wishes to put itself, or others, in God's place, preferring its own dominion to His over all; in so far is it blameable.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-July 2
(THE VISITATION OF MARY)
THE house of Obededom was blessed when visited by the ark of God. But with how much greater blessings are those persons enriched who receive a loving visit from the living ark of God! For such was the divine Mother. This was abundantly experienced by the house of St John the Baptist; for Mary had scarcely entered it when she heaped graces and heavenly benedictions on the whole family. For this reason the Feast of the Visitation is commonly called that of "Our Blessed Lady of Graces."
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
THE house of Obededom was blessed when visited by the ark of God. But with how much greater blessings are those persons enriched who receive a loving visit from the living ark of God! For such was the divine Mother. This was abundantly experienced by the house of St John the Baptist; for Mary had scarcely entered it when she heaped graces and heavenly benedictions on the whole family. For this reason the Feast of the Visitation is commonly called that of "Our Blessed Lady of Graces."
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
News Updates, 7/1
Cardinal Rigali: You Can't Claim to be "Reducing Abortions" but Publicly Funding them in D.C.
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote to members of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday urging them not to fund abortions in the District of Columbia. Last week the House subcommittee that is considering the Financial Services appropriations bill for 2010 voted to permit direct public funding of abortion in the nation's capital...
[Rational thinking people understand this, but those whose minds are afflicted with liberalism, sin, murder, sexual deviance, etc., are incapable of understanding the most basic concepts of the natural moral law! They have even chosen to reject common sense!]
Pro-Abortion Hispanic Group Admits Sotomayor Set Policy
The president of a pro-abortion Hispanic group says Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor set policy but was not involved in pro-abortion legal briefs when she was on its board of directors. Sotomayor was on the board of the group now known as Latino Justice...
Renegade Catholic Priest Advises Others on How to Fight the Church
Knights of Columbus Targeted
[This so-called priest is as anti-Catholic as they come. He is a poisonous viper and is need of prayers and conversion]
Boston Archdiocese Cuts Benefits Of Sick, Retired Priests
The Boston Archdiocese has admitted that, within two years, it won’t have the money to pay for the care and housing of its elderly and sick priests, unless major changes are made to those benefits.
Cardinal: No room for pedophiles in Church
Vatican head claims it affects 'small percentage' of priests
At White House, Obama aims to reassure gays
President invites gay rights activists into East Room
Vatican unveils restored papal chapel
Pope's 'prayer space' was under scaffolding for 5 years
Irish religious orders feel betrayed by bishops
Congregations feel 'terrified,' 'ashamed,' and 'hurt'
New Irish report on clergy abuse scandal coming
Inquiry shows how 19 bishops handled allegations
Pope holds back key morality statement to hit G8
Summarizes 120 years' history of Church's social teaching
Chicago couple pleads guilty to scamming nuns
Bamboozled $1 million by posing as Kenyan refugees
Nearly one in five Italians trusts astrologers
consumer watchdog claims thousands scammed every day
Scottish cardinal: nuclear sub program 'immoral'
Says UK has its own weapons of mass destruction
France May Dissolve Church of Scientology
In a groundbreaking case, a Paris court will decide for the first time whether to dissolve the Church of Scientology in France, which is facing charges of organized fraud.
=========
Other Issues
=========
Feds could seize Calif. parks if closed by budget
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California governor's office says federal officials are threatening to seize six state parks if they are closed to help balance the state's budget...
UN tells Honduras to reinstate Honduran communist president
Honduras' ousted president won overwhelming international support Tuesday as he planned a high-profile return to his chaotic country. The politicians who sent soldiers to fly him into exile in his pajamas said he will be arrested for treason if he tries. The interim leader named by Congress, Roberto Micheletti, warned only an armed invasion could restore toppled President Manuel Zelaya...
[The UN is a corrupt behemoth - a union of tyrants and thugs - that needs to be eliminated]
Australia: El Nino weather event "very likely"
In Houston, Federal agents hunt for guns, one house at a time
In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day?...
ADP Services Says U.S. Lost 473,000 Jobs in June - Report (PDF)
California Misses Deadline to Avoid the Need for IOUs California is poised to issue more than $3 billion in IOUs to pay some bills after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to close a $24 billion budget deficit facing the most-populous U.S. state.
Administration sends Congress consumer legislation
Obama now wants to regulate contracts
_________
"Neither the wisest Constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt."
-Samuel Adams
“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...”
- Thomas Jefferson
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote to members of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday urging them not to fund abortions in the District of Columbia. Last week the House subcommittee that is considering the Financial Services appropriations bill for 2010 voted to permit direct public funding of abortion in the nation's capital...
[Rational thinking people understand this, but those whose minds are afflicted with liberalism, sin, murder, sexual deviance, etc., are incapable of understanding the most basic concepts of the natural moral law! They have even chosen to reject common sense!]
Pro-Abortion Hispanic Group Admits Sotomayor Set Policy
The president of a pro-abortion Hispanic group says Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor set policy but was not involved in pro-abortion legal briefs when she was on its board of directors. Sotomayor was on the board of the group now known as Latino Justice...
Renegade Catholic Priest Advises Others on How to Fight the Church
Knights of Columbus Targeted
[This so-called priest is as anti-Catholic as they come. He is a poisonous viper and is need of prayers and conversion]
Boston Archdiocese Cuts Benefits Of Sick, Retired Priests
The Boston Archdiocese has admitted that, within two years, it won’t have the money to pay for the care and housing of its elderly and sick priests, unless major changes are made to those benefits.
Cardinal: No room for pedophiles in Church
Vatican head claims it affects 'small percentage' of priests
At White House, Obama aims to reassure gays
President invites gay rights activists into East Room
Vatican unveils restored papal chapel
Pope's 'prayer space' was under scaffolding for 5 years
Irish religious orders feel betrayed by bishops
Congregations feel 'terrified,' 'ashamed,' and 'hurt'
New Irish report on clergy abuse scandal coming
Inquiry shows how 19 bishops handled allegations
Pope holds back key morality statement to hit G8
Summarizes 120 years' history of Church's social teaching
Chicago couple pleads guilty to scamming nuns
Bamboozled $1 million by posing as Kenyan refugees
Nearly one in five Italians trusts astrologers
consumer watchdog claims thousands scammed every day
Scottish cardinal: nuclear sub program 'immoral'
Says UK has its own weapons of mass destruction
France May Dissolve Church of Scientology
In a groundbreaking case, a Paris court will decide for the first time whether to dissolve the Church of Scientology in France, which is facing charges of organized fraud.
=========
Other Issues
=========
Feds could seize Calif. parks if closed by budget
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California governor's office says federal officials are threatening to seize six state parks if they are closed to help balance the state's budget...
UN tells Honduras to reinstate Honduran communist president
Honduras' ousted president won overwhelming international support Tuesday as he planned a high-profile return to his chaotic country. The politicians who sent soldiers to fly him into exile in his pajamas said he will be arrested for treason if he tries. The interim leader named by Congress, Roberto Micheletti, warned only an armed invasion could restore toppled President Manuel Zelaya...
[The UN is a corrupt behemoth - a union of tyrants and thugs - that needs to be eliminated]
Australia: El Nino weather event "very likely"
In Houston, Federal agents hunt for guns, one house at a time
In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day?...
ADP Services Says U.S. Lost 473,000 Jobs in June - Report (PDF)
California Misses Deadline to Avoid the Need for IOUs California is poised to issue more than $3 billion in IOUs to pay some bills after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to close a $24 billion budget deficit facing the most-populous U.S. state.
Administration sends Congress consumer legislation
Obama now wants to regulate contracts
_________
"Neither the wisest Constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt."
-Samuel Adams
“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...”
- Thomas Jefferson
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Gospel for Wednesday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial of Blessed Junipero Serra, priest (USA)
Old Calendar: Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
From: Matthew 8:28-34
The Demoniacs of Gadara
[28] And when He (Jesus) came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs met Him coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. [29] And behold, they cried out, "What have You to do with us, O Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" [30] Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. [31] And the demons begged Him, "If You cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine." [32] And He said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. [33] The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. [34] And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their neighborhood.
______________________
Commentary:
28. Most Gospel codexes and the New Vulgate say "Gadarenes"; but the Vulgate and parallel texts in Mark and Luke have "Gerasenes". Both names are possible; the two main towns in the area were Gerasa and Gadara. The event reported here could have happened close to both towns (limits were not very well-defined), though the swine running down into the lake or sea of Galilee makes Gadara somewhat more likely. "Gergesenes" was a suggestion put forward by Origen.
28-34. In this episode Jesus once more shows His power over the devil. That it occurred in Gentile territory (Gerasa and Gadara were in the Decapolis, east of Jordan) is borne out by the fact that Jews were forbidden to raise swine, which the Law of Moses declared to be unclean. This and other instances of expulsion of demons narrated in the Gospel are referred to in the Acts of the Apostles, when St. Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: "He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38). It was a sign that the Kingdom of God had begun (cf. Matthew 12:28).
The attitude of local people towards this miracle reminds us that meeting God and living a Christian life require us to subordinate personal plans to God's designs. If we have a selfish or materialistic outlook we fail to appreciate the value of divine things and push God out of our lives, begging Him to go away, as these people did.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Old Calendar: Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
From: Matthew 8:28-34
The Demoniacs of Gadara
[28] And when He (Jesus) came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs met Him coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. [29] And behold, they cried out, "What have You to do with us, O Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" [30] Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. [31] And the demons begged Him, "If You cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine." [32] And He said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. [33] The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. [34] And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their neighborhood.
______________________
Commentary:
28. Most Gospel codexes and the New Vulgate say "Gadarenes"; but the Vulgate and parallel texts in Mark and Luke have "Gerasenes". Both names are possible; the two main towns in the area were Gerasa and Gadara. The event reported here could have happened close to both towns (limits were not very well-defined), though the swine running down into the lake or sea of Galilee makes Gadara somewhat more likely. "Gergesenes" was a suggestion put forward by Origen.
28-34. In this episode Jesus once more shows His power over the devil. That it occurred in Gentile territory (Gerasa and Gadara were in the Decapolis, east of Jordan) is borne out by the fact that Jews were forbidden to raise swine, which the Law of Moses declared to be unclean. This and other instances of expulsion of demons narrated in the Gospel are referred to in the Acts of the Apostles, when St. Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: "He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38). It was a sign that the Kingdom of God had begun (cf. Matthew 12:28).
The attitude of local people towards this miracle reminds us that meeting God and living a Christian life require us to subordinate personal plans to God's designs. If we have a selfish or materialistic outlook we fail to appreciate the value of divine things and push God out of our lives, begging Him to go away, as these people did.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Principles and Practices - July 1
The Source of Strength
Nearer to God, His Will to serve,
Spirit Divine, my spirit draw;
Inflame my heart with love and awe:
From sinful thoughts my soul preserve.
Lord God, uplifted by Thy Might,
My faltering courage waxes bold
To front all ills that life may hold:
O Christ! my Love: O Christ! my Light.
-St. Catherine of Siena.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
Nearer to God, His Will to serve,
Spirit Divine, my spirit draw;
Inflame my heart with love and awe:
From sinful thoughts my soul preserve.
Lord God, uplifted by Thy Might,
My faltering courage waxes bold
To front all ills that life may hold:
O Christ! my Love: O Christ! my Light.
-St. Catherine of Siena.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
Thoughts of St Augustine for July 1
EVERY soul is pious, in so far as, less enamoured of itself, it fixes itself upon the universal law and is obedient to it. Divine wisdom is the universal law.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-July 1
My Jesus, who with spittle vile
Profaned thy sacred brow?
And whose unpitying scourge has made
Thy precious blood to flow?
'Tis I have thus ungrateful been,
Yet, Jesus, pity take;
Oh, spare and pardon me, my Lord,
For thy sweet mercy's sake.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Profaned thy sacred brow?
And whose unpitying scourge has made
Thy precious blood to flow?
'Tis I have thus ungrateful been,
Yet, Jesus, pity take;
Oh, spare and pardon me, my Lord,
For thy sweet mercy's sake.
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
Dr Edward Peters: L'OR and the Loss of Reason
Dr Peters writes:
For most of my life L'Osservatore Romano has been a sleepy Roman rag that arrived weeks after its publication date, printed in cheap ink that soiled the fingers of those who felt the need to read page after page of boilerplate remarks on the latest ambassador from anywhere… But lately, L'OR has decided to become relevant. God help us.Read more here
Having just emerged, battered moderately chastened after its embarrassingly naive and harmful editorial in praise of Pres. Obama, L’OR treats the world to a high-schoolish tribute to the highly talented and utterly pathetic entertainer Michael Jackson.
Has L'OR completely lost its reason?
Monday, June 29, 2009
News Updates, 6/30
New Discoveries. Why St. Paul Was Given a Philosopher's Face[Chiesa]
The oldest depiction of the apostle has been found just a short distance from his tomb, which is also the object of new investigations. The Church wanted to represent him as the Christian Plato. A daring decision. And still extremely relevant, even today
Dismembering a partly born child and crushing its skull
Federal appeals court upholds Virginia’s ban on partial-birth abortions
Ireland grants rights to same-sex partnerships
Bill stopped short of recognizing civil marriage
Holy See to decide future of Uruguayan bishop
Accused by clergy in his diocese of homosexual misconduct
Catholic school bars Muslim over face veil
Woman was asked to remove niqab for ID purposes
Parents can now hold model of their unborn child
New tech allows life-size replica based on ultrasound
Pope signs new encyclical on globalization
'Caritas in veritate' expected to be released soon
Church to oppose legalization of gay sex in India
Group: 86% of HIV-positive residents are homosexuals
Pope: No salvation without the healing of souls
Benedict XVI imposes pallium on 34 new archbishops
Rome catacomb reveals 'oldest' image of St Paul
Vatican archaeologists using laser technology
Pro-life office attacked in aftermath of murder
Operation Rescue complains that police are 'apathetic'
=========
Other Issues
=========
*** "Starve The Beast" - July 4th, 2009 ***
Obama Worked To Prevent Ouster of (Marxist) Honduras President
[The Honduran military removed the Communist because he was violating their Constitution. A lesson to be learned?]
Yemeni airliner crashes in Indian Ocean
General Mills Declares 9 Percent Dividend Increase
[Easy to do when selling less product in a bigger box and charging more]
_________
"Neither the wisest Constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt."
-Samuel Adams
“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...”
- Thomas Jefferson
The oldest depiction of the apostle has been found just a short distance from his tomb, which is also the object of new investigations. The Church wanted to represent him as the Christian Plato. A daring decision. And still extremely relevant, even today
Dismembering a partly born child and crushing its skull
Federal appeals court upholds Virginia’s ban on partial-birth abortions
Ireland grants rights to same-sex partnerships
Bill stopped short of recognizing civil marriage
Holy See to decide future of Uruguayan bishop
Accused by clergy in his diocese of homosexual misconduct
Catholic school bars Muslim over face veil
Woman was asked to remove niqab for ID purposes
Parents can now hold model of their unborn child
New tech allows life-size replica based on ultrasound
Pope signs new encyclical on globalization
'Caritas in veritate' expected to be released soon
Church to oppose legalization of gay sex in India
Group: 86% of HIV-positive residents are homosexuals
Pope: No salvation without the healing of souls
Benedict XVI imposes pallium on 34 new archbishops
Rome catacomb reveals 'oldest' image of St Paul
Vatican archaeologists using laser technology
Pro-life office attacked in aftermath of murder
Operation Rescue complains that police are 'apathetic'
=========
Other Issues
=========
*** "Starve The Beast" - July 4th, 2009 ***
Obama Worked To Prevent Ouster of (Marxist) Honduras President
[The Honduran military removed the Communist because he was violating their Constitution. A lesson to be learned?]
Yemeni airliner crashes in Indian Ocean
General Mills Declares 9 Percent Dividend Increase
[Easy to do when selling less product in a bigger box and charging more]
_________
"Neither the wisest Constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt."
-Samuel Adams
“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...”
- Thomas Jefferson
Principles and Practices - June 30
The Source of Strength
During a cruel persecution of the Christians in China, even the infidels themselves were obliged to acknowledge the wonderful power of the Holy Eucharist. Some of the martyrs were cruelly racked and scourged, their flesh was torn off with red-hot pincers, but they kept repeating the Holy Name of Jesus and professing their faith with undaunted courage. 'Truly,' said their persecutors, 'these men have been eating their enchanted bread, which casts a spell upon the soul.'
-Behold the Lamb.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
During a cruel persecution of the Christians in China, even the infidels themselves were obliged to acknowledge the wonderful power of the Holy Eucharist. Some of the martyrs were cruelly racked and scourged, their flesh was torn off with red-hot pincers, but they kept repeating the Holy Name of Jesus and professing their faith with undaunted courage. 'Truly,' said their persecutors, 'these men have been eating their enchanted bread, which casts a spell upon the soul.'
-Behold the Lamb.
_________________
From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930
Thoughts of St Augustine for June 30
So Peter says, "Bid me come to thee upon the waters." As a man I dare, but I call upon One who is more than man.
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
_________________________
Click here for more information.
From Thoughts of St Augustine for Every Day
by Kathleen Mary Balfe (© 1926)
Nihil Obstat: Georgius D. Smith, S.T.D
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont
Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day-June 30
WHAT does it profit us to mortify the exterior senses and to perform exercises of devotion, while at the same time we cherish in our hearts rancour, ambition, attachment to self-will and to self-esteem, or any other passion which brings ruin on the soul?
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
_________________
From Thoughts from St Alphonsus for Every Day
Compiled by Rev. C. McNeiry, C.SS.R.
Imprimatur: Joseph Hull, C.SS.R., Prov. Angl. Sup.
Nihil Obstat: Innocentlus Apap, O.P., S.T.M., Censor Deptutatus.
Imprimatur: Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius Generalis.
Westmonasterii, Die 9a Junii, 1927.
First published 1927
News Updates, 6/29
New archbishops find pallium shows their ties to pope, parishioners
Receiving the woolen pallium from the pope underlines an archbishop's unique ties to the vicar of Christ in Rome and to his own flock of parishioners back home, said a number of archbishops from the United States and Canada.
The Ark is not going to be revealed, says Gebremedhin
Yesterday, millions were waiting to watch eagerly the Ark of the Covenant revealed. A day passed but it was not made public. “No, the ark is not going to be revealed. Nobody could touch it. If you do so, God will smite you.”Abune Paulos Aba Gebremedhin said...
Diocese Paper Editor with Guts
Kansas City Takes on Jesuits
Lombard Demonstrates Why "Gays" Should Not be Allowed to Adopt
The on-line rape of his 5-year-old adopted son by Duke University's openly-gay, Frank Lombard, is no anomaly. Instead, Lombard's molestation fits the pattern that emerged in the latest review of the scientific literature about gay fathers.
SSPX defies Vatican, ordains priests in Germany
Priest: We're operating under 'grey area' in Church law
Family contesting woman's will giving all to Legion
Goddaughter: '...this is a cult that kept her isolated'
Bishop calls for Silvio Berlusconi to resign
Crisis of Italian PM's private life is out of control
Anglican bishop: Britain is no longer Christian
Church of England could die out within a generation
Pope: Scientific analysis done on St. Paul's bones
'Seems to confirm unanimous and uncontested tradition'
Pope Benedict prepares to close Pauline Year
Overlap: Year for Priests having begun last Friday
34 archbishops receive pallium from Pope
Investiture symbolizes concession of authority
$600K pledged to keep historic church open
Bishop closed parish despite high Mass attendance
Protestant groups agree to disarm in N. Ireland
Moving one step closer to permanent state of peace
=========
Other Issues
=========
Fed Buys More Time for Purchase Program With Schedule Changes
The Federal Reserve’s changes in its schedule for Treasury purchases likely mean the central bank now has until the second half of September before it exhausts the $300 billion pledged for the program, according to Jersey City, New Jersey-based research firm Wrightson ICAP LLC...
Cash for Clunkers site
Buying a New Car With 'Cash for Clunkers'
The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act, commonly referred to as "Cash for clunkers," has been signed into law by Pres__ent Barack Obama. But some new wrinkles in the program will mean consumers should be prepared to act quickly...
$15.3M missing from Royal Canadian Mint: Deloitte
Vanished gold not due to miscount: Report
Supreme Court Overturns Sotomayer, rules for white firefighters over promotions
Obama Wants to Let Those Pesky Geezers Die
In a rare moment of candor, Barack Obama explained to an audience how government-run healthcare would work in America...
Toxic Assets (PPIP) Death Rattle
A look at why the program has stumbled underscores how difficult it has been to solve one of the economy's biggest problems: Mountains of bad debt sitting on the books of the nation's banks...
Chavez threatens military action over Honduras coup
Big Oil’s Answer to Carbon Law May Be Fuel Imports
175 California Hotels In Default
US TV Prepares for $2billion Ad Shortfall
WORLD BANKERS: Financial products should be treated as drugs
Boehner: Climate bill a 'pile of s--t'
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) had a few choice words about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) landmark climate-change bill after its passage Friday...
[Kudos for calling it what it is! And it will get a lot worse for a lot of people...Chairman Obongo and friends are intent on destroying this country!!!]
_________
"Neither the wisest Constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt."
-Samuel Adams
“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...”
- Thomas Jefferson
Receiving the woolen pallium from the pope underlines an archbishop's unique ties to the vicar of Christ in Rome and to his own flock of parishioners back home, said a number of archbishops from the United States and Canada.
The Ark is not going to be revealed, says Gebremedhin
Yesterday, millions were waiting to watch eagerly the Ark of the Covenant revealed. A day passed but it was not made public. “No, the ark is not going to be revealed. Nobody could touch it. If you do so, God will smite you.”
Diocese Paper Editor with Guts
Kansas City Takes on Jesuits
Lombard Demonstrates Why "Gays" Should Not be Allowed to Adopt
The on-line rape of his 5-year-old adopted son by Duke University's openly-gay, Frank Lombard, is no anomaly. Instead, Lombard's molestation fits the pattern that emerged in the latest review of the scientific literature about gay fathers.
SSPX defies Vatican, ordains priests in Germany
Priest: We're operating under 'grey area' in Church law
Family contesting woman's will giving all to Legion
Goddaughter: '...this is a cult that kept her isolated'
Bishop calls for Silvio Berlusconi to resign
Crisis of Italian PM's private life is out of control
Anglican bishop: Britain is no longer Christian
Church of England could die out within a generation
Pope: Scientific analysis done on St. Paul's bones
'Seems to confirm unanimous and uncontested tradition'
Pope Benedict prepares to close Pauline Year
Overlap: Year for Priests having begun last Friday
34 archbishops receive pallium from Pope
Investiture symbolizes concession of authority
$600K pledged to keep historic church open
Bishop closed parish despite high Mass attendance
Protestant groups agree to disarm in N. Ireland
Moving one step closer to permanent state of peace
=========
Other Issues
=========
Fed Buys More Time for Purchase Program With Schedule Changes
The Federal Reserve’s changes in its schedule for Treasury purchases likely mean the central bank now has until the second half of September before it exhausts the $300 billion pledged for the program, according to Jersey City, New Jersey-based research firm Wrightson ICAP LLC...
Cash for Clunkers site
Buying a New Car With 'Cash for Clunkers'
The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act, commonly referred to as "Cash for clunkers," has been signed into law by Pres__ent Barack Obama. But some new wrinkles in the program will mean consumers should be prepared to act quickly...
$15.3M missing from Royal Canadian Mint: Deloitte
Vanished gold not due to miscount: Report
Supreme Court Overturns Sotomayer, rules for white firefighters over promotions
Obama Wants to Let Those Pesky Geezers Die
In a rare moment of candor, Barack Obama explained to an audience how government-run healthcare would work in America...
Toxic Assets (PPIP) Death Rattle
A look at why the program has stumbled underscores how difficult it has been to solve one of the economy's biggest problems: Mountains of bad debt sitting on the books of the nation's banks...
Chavez threatens military action over Honduras coup
Big Oil’s Answer to Carbon Law May Be Fuel Imports
175 California Hotels In Default
US TV Prepares for $2billion Ad Shortfall
WORLD BANKERS: Financial products should be treated as drugs
Boehner: Climate bill a 'pile of s--t'
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) had a few choice words about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) landmark climate-change bill after its passage Friday...
[Kudos for calling it what it is! And it will get a lot worse for a lot of people...Chairman Obongo and friends are intent on destroying this country!!!]
_________
"Neither the wisest Constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt."
-Samuel Adams
“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...”
- Thomas Jefferson
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Gospel for June 29, Solemnity: Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles
From: Matthew 16:13-19:
Peter's Profession of Faith and His Primacy
[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?" [14] And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." [15] He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" [16] Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." [17] And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. [18] And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. [19] I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven."
____________________________
Commentary:
13-20. In this passage St. Peter is promised primacy over the whole Church, a primacy which Jesus will confer on him after His Resurrection, as we learn in the Gospel of St. John (cf. John 21:15-18). This supreme authority is given to Peter for the benefit of the Church. Because the Church has to last until the end of time, this authority will be passed on to Peter's successors down through history. The Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is the successor of Peter.
The solemn Magisterium of the Church, in the First Vatican Council, defined the doctrine of the primacy of Peter and his successors in these terms:
"We teach and declare, therefore, according to the testimony of the Gospel that the primacy of jurisdiction over the whole Church was immediately and directly promised to and conferred upon the blessed Apostle Peter by Christ the Lord. For to Simon, Christ had said, `You shall be called Cephas' (John 1:42). Then, after Simon had acknowledged Christ with the confession, `You are the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matthew 16:16), it was to Simon alone that the solemn words were spoken by the Lord: `Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of Hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and what you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven' (Matthew 16:17-19). And after His Resurrection, Jesus conferred upon Simon Peter alone the jurisdiction of supreme shepherd and ruler over His whole fold with the words, `Feed My lambs....Feed My sheep' (John 21:15-17) [...]
"(Canon) Therefore, if anyone says that the blessed Apostle Peter was not constituted by Christ the Lord as the Prince of all the Apostles and the visible head of the whole Church militant, or that he received immediately and directly from Jesus Christ our Lord only a primacy of honor and not a true and proper primacy of jurisdiction: let him be condemned.
"Now, what Christ the Lord, Supreme Shepherd and watchful guardian of the flock, established in the person of the blessed Apostle Peter for the perpetual safety and everlasting good of the Church must, by the will of the same, endure without interruption in the Church which was founded on the rock and which will remain firm until the end of the world. Indeed, `no one doubts, in fact it is obvious to all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, Prince and head of the Apostles, the pillar of faith, and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and the Redeemer of the human race; and even to this time and forever he lives,' and governs, `and exercises judgment in his successors' (cf. Council of Ephesus), the bishops of the holy Roman See, which he established and consecrated with his blood. Therefore, whoever succeeds Peter in this Chair holds Peter's primacy over the whole Church according to the plan of Christ Himself [...]. For this reason, `because of its greater sovereignty,' it was always `necessary for every church, that is, the faithful who are everywhere, to be in agreement' with the same Roman Church [...]
"(Canon) Therefore, if anyone says that it is not according to the institution of Christ our Lord himself, that is, by divine law, that St Peter has perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole Church; or if anyone says that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of St Peter in the same primacy: let him be condemned.
"We think it extremely necessary to assert solemnly the prerogative which the only-begotten Son of God deigned to join to the highest pastoral office. "And so, faithfully keeping to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God our Savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and for the salvation of Christian peoples, We, with the approval of the sacred council, teach and define that it is a divinely revealed dogma: that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks "ex cathedra", that is, when, acting in the office of shepherd and teacher of all Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, possesses through the divine assistance promised to him in the person of St. Peter, the infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed His Church to be endowed in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals; and that such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are therefore irreformable because of their nature, but not because of the agreement of the Church.
"(Canon) But if anyone presumes to contradict this our definition (God forbid him to do so): let him be condemned" (Vatican I, "Pastor Aeternus", Chaps. 1, 2 and 4).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Peter's Profession of Faith and His Primacy
[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?" [14] And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." [15] He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" [16] Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." [17] And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. [18] And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. [19] I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven."
____________________________
Commentary:
13-20. In this passage St. Peter is promised primacy over the whole Church, a primacy which Jesus will confer on him after His Resurrection, as we learn in the Gospel of St. John (cf. John 21:15-18). This supreme authority is given to Peter for the benefit of the Church. Because the Church has to last until the end of time, this authority will be passed on to Peter's successors down through history. The Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is the successor of Peter.
The solemn Magisterium of the Church, in the First Vatican Council, defined the doctrine of the primacy of Peter and his successors in these terms:
"We teach and declare, therefore, according to the testimony of the Gospel that the primacy of jurisdiction over the whole Church was immediately and directly promised to and conferred upon the blessed Apostle Peter by Christ the Lord. For to Simon, Christ had said, `You shall be called Cephas' (John 1:42). Then, after Simon had acknowledged Christ with the confession, `You are the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matthew 16:16), it was to Simon alone that the solemn words were spoken by the Lord: `Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of Hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and what you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven' (Matthew 16:17-19). And after His Resurrection, Jesus conferred upon Simon Peter alone the jurisdiction of supreme shepherd and ruler over His whole fold with the words, `Feed My lambs....Feed My sheep' (John 21:15-17) [...]
"(Canon) Therefore, if anyone says that the blessed Apostle Peter was not constituted by Christ the Lord as the Prince of all the Apostles and the visible head of the whole Church militant, or that he received immediately and directly from Jesus Christ our Lord only a primacy of honor and not a true and proper primacy of jurisdiction: let him be condemned.
"Now, what Christ the Lord, Supreme Shepherd and watchful guardian of the flock, established in the person of the blessed Apostle Peter for the perpetual safety and everlasting good of the Church must, by the will of the same, endure without interruption in the Church which was founded on the rock and which will remain firm until the end of the world. Indeed, `no one doubts, in fact it is obvious to all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, Prince and head of the Apostles, the pillar of faith, and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and the Redeemer of the human race; and even to this time and forever he lives,' and governs, `and exercises judgment in his successors' (cf. Council of Ephesus), the bishops of the holy Roman See, which he established and consecrated with his blood. Therefore, whoever succeeds Peter in this Chair holds Peter's primacy over the whole Church according to the plan of Christ Himself [...]. For this reason, `because of its greater sovereignty,' it was always `necessary for every church, that is, the faithful who are everywhere, to be in agreement' with the same Roman Church [...]
"(Canon) Therefore, if anyone says that it is not according to the institution of Christ our Lord himself, that is, by divine law, that St Peter has perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole Church; or if anyone says that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of St Peter in the same primacy: let him be condemned.
"We think it extremely necessary to assert solemnly the prerogative which the only-begotten Son of God deigned to join to the highest pastoral office. "And so, faithfully keeping to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God our Savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and for the salvation of Christian peoples, We, with the approval of the sacred council, teach and define that it is a divinely revealed dogma: that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks "ex cathedra", that is, when, acting in the office of shepherd and teacher of all Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, possesses through the divine assistance promised to him in the person of St. Peter, the infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed His Church to be endowed in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals; and that such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are therefore irreformable because of their nature, but not because of the agreement of the Church.
"(Canon) But if anyone presumes to contradict this our definition (God forbid him to do so): let him be condemned" (Vatican I, "Pastor Aeternus", Chaps. 1, 2 and 4).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.