From: John 6:24-35
The People Look for Jesus
[22] On the next day the people who remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone. [23] However, boats from Tiberias came near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. [24] So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
The Discourse on the Bread of Life
[25] When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?" [26] Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. [27] Do not labor for the food which perishes, but the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you; for on Him has God the Father set His seal." [28] Then they said to Him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" [29] Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him He has sent."
[30] So they said to Him (Jesus), "Then what sign do You do, that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? [31] Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread from Heaven to eat.'" [32] Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven; My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven. [33] For the bread of God is that which comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world." [34] They said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
[35] Jesus said them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."
__________
Commentary:
26. Our Lord begins by pointing out that their attitudes are wrong: if they have the right attitude they will be able to understand His teaching in the eucharistic discourse. "You seek me", St. Augustine comments, "for the flesh, not for the spirit. How many seek Jesus for no other purpose than that He may do them good in this present life! [...] Scarcely ever is Jesus sought for Jesus' sake" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 25, 10).
This verse marks the beginning of the discourse on the bread of life which goes up to verse 59. It opens with an introduction in the form of a dialogue between Jesus and the Jews (verses 26-34), in which our Lord reveals Himself as the bringer of the messianic gifts. Then comes the first part of the discourse (verses 35-47), in which Jesus presents Himself as the Bread of Life, in the sense that faith in Him is food for eternal life. In the second part (verses 48-59) Christ reveals the mystery of the Eucharist: He is the Bread of Life who gives Himself sacramentally as genuine food.
27. Bodily food helps keep us alive in this world; spiritual food sustains and develops supernatural life, which will last forever in Heaven. This food, which only God can give us, consists mainly in the gift of faith and sanctifying grace. Through God's infinite love we are given, in the Blessed Eucharist, the very author of these gifts, Jesus Christ, as nourishment for our souls.
"On Him has God the Father set His seal": our Lord here refers to the authority by virtue of which He can give men the gifts He has referred to: for, being God and man, Jesus' human nature is the instrument by means of which the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity acts. St. Thomas Aquinas comments on this sentence as follows: "What the Son of Man will give He possesses through His superiority over all other men in His singular and outstanding fullness of grace. ... When a seal is impressed on wax, the wax receives the complete form of the seal. So it is that the Son received the entire form of the Father. This occurred in two ways; eternally (eternal generation), which is not referred to here because the seal and the sealed are different in nature from one another; what is referred to here is the other manner, that is, the mystery of the Incarnation, whereby God the Father impressed on human nature the Word, who is the reflection and the very stamp of God's nature, as Hebrews 1:3 says" ("Commentary on St. John, in loc.").
28-34. This dialogue between Jesus and His hearers is reminiscent of the episode of the Samaritan woman (cf. John 4:11-15). On that occasion Jesus was speaking about water springing up to eternal life; here, He speaks of bread coming down from Heaven to give to the world. There, the woman was asking Jesus if He was greater than Jacob; here the people want to know if He can compare with Moses (cf. Exodus 16:13). "The Lord spoke of Himself in a way that made Him seem superior to Moses, for Moses never dared to say that he would give food which would never perish but would endure to eternal life. Jesus promises much more than Moses. Moses promised a kingdom, and a land flowing with milk and honey, good health and other temporal blessings [...], plenty for the belly, but food which perishes; whereas Christ promised food which never perishes but which endures forever" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 25:12).
These people know that the manna--food which the Jews collected every day during the journey through the wilderness (cf. Exodus 16:13ff) -- symbolized messianic blessings; which was why they asked our Lord for a dramatic sign like the manna. But there was no way they could suspect that the manna was a figure of a great supernatural messianic gift which Christ was bringing to mankind -- the Blessed Eucharist. In this dialogue and in the first part of the discourse (verses 35-47), the main thing Jesus is trying to do is bring them to make an act of faith in Him, so that He can then openly reveal to them the mystery of the Blessed Eucharist--that He is the bread "which comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world" (verse 33). Also, St. Paul explains that the manna and the other marvels which happened in the wilderness were a clear prefiguring of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:3-4).
The disbelieving attitude of these Jews prevented them from accepting what Jesus revealed. To accept the mystery of the Eucharist, faith is required, as Paul VI stressed: "In the first place we want to remind you that the Eucharist is a very great mystery; strictly speaking, to use the words of sacred liturgy, it is 'the mystery of faith'. This is something well known to you but it is essential to the purpose of rejecting any poisonous rationalism. Many martyrs have witnessed to it with their blood. Distinguished Fathers and Doctors of the Church in unbroken succession have taught and professed it. [...] We must, therefore, approach this mystery, above all, with humble reverence, not following human arguments, which ought to be hushed, but in steadfast adherence to divine revelation" ("Mysterium Fidei").
35. Going to Jesus means believing in Him, for it is through faith that we approach our Lord. Jesus uses the metaphor of food and drink to show that He is the one who really meets all man's noblest aspirations: "How beautiful is our Catholic faith! It provides a solution for all our anxieties, calms our minds and fills our hearts with hope" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 582).
___________________________
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, August 01, 2009
2nd Reading, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Ephesians 4:17, 20-24
Spiritual Renewal
[17] Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. [20] You did not so learn Christ!--[21] assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. [22] Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, [23] and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, [24] and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
_________
Commentary:
17-19. The Christian, who has been configured to Christ by Baptism, is called to holiness and therefore should not lead a dissolute life alienated from God, as the Gentiles do. The "futility of their minds" has led them away from God, the source of all truth (cf. Rom 1:18-32). Hence it is that when man is put in the place of God the mind operates in a vacuum and the resulting knowledge produces nothing but mere illusion and total deceit.
As St Paul tells the Romans, people who act in that way are those "who by their wickedness suppress the truth" (Rom 1:18). It is true that the human mind is capable of recognizing God as the creator of all things; but when people give their passions full rein, their will becomes weakened; they thus suppress the truth and their minds easily tend to adopt wrong ideas. All this is a result of arrogance and pride which makes man unwilling to accept God and acknowledge his own limitations as a creature: this eventually leads to the "ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart" (v. 18).
Impurity opens the way to a whole series of vices and disorders connected with greed (cf. notes on Rom 1:29-31 and Rom 1:32). The term "callous" is used to indicate that these people lost their desire to try to lead a good life and even lose their very sense of morality.
22-24. The sacred text emphasizes two basic points--one's duty to put off one's "old nature" (the "old man") and, in parallel with that, the urgent need to put on the "new nature" (the "new man"). These two expressions refer directly to the symbolism of Christian Baptism, which effects the transition from the life of sin to the life of grace, thanks to the merits of Christ (cf. Rom 6:3-11).
In Baptism we have "put on Christ" (Gal 3:27) and become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4). From that moment onwards a Christian's life is so radically different that to revert to one's previous--pagan--conduct is the greatest insult we could offer the body of Christ. St Paul, therefore, is not just exhorting people to root out this or that defect, but to strip themselves of the "old nature" entirely.
The "old nature" is the carnal man, vitiated from conception by original sin and become the slave of his own passions; whereas, the "new man" has been born again through the Holy Spirit at Baptism: he is no longer ruled by sin, although he is still subject to passions which have been made unruly by sin. That is why the Apostle urges us to put off the "old nature" by fighting against disordered desires and their evil effects (cf. Rom 6:12-14; 8:5-8) and by being conscious that the renewal brought about by the Holy Spirit helps the baptized person to see each and every event in his life from a new, supernatural perspective, as befits the "new man".
The change from the old to the new nature St Paul describes in terms of creation (v. 24). It does not involve any external change, as when someone changes his clothes, but rather an inner renewal, whereby the Christian, by becoming a new creature in Jesus Christ, is enabled to practice righteousness and holiness in a manner that exceeds his natural human capacity. It is not enough, then, for one to have simply a veneer of piety. "Entering the church and venerating sacred images and crosses is not sufficient for pleasing God, just as washing one's hands does not make one clean all over. What truly pleases God is that a person flees from sin and gets rid of his stains by means of confession and penance. Let him break the chains of his faults by being humble of heart" (St Anastasius of Sinai, "Sermon on the Holy Synaxis").
This inner renewal of the person is something which takes a lifetime. "The power of God is made manifest in our weakness and it spurs us on to fight, to battle against our defects, although we know that we will never achieve total victory during our pilgrimage on earth. The Christian life is a continuous beginning again each day. It renews itself over and over" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 114).
___________________________
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.
Spiritual Renewal
[17] Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. [20] You did not so learn Christ!--[21] assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. [22] Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, [23] and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, [24] and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
_________
Commentary:
17-19. The Christian, who has been configured to Christ by Baptism, is called to holiness and therefore should not lead a dissolute life alienated from God, as the Gentiles do. The "futility of their minds" has led them away from God, the source of all truth (cf. Rom 1:18-32). Hence it is that when man is put in the place of God the mind operates in a vacuum and the resulting knowledge produces nothing but mere illusion and total deceit.
As St Paul tells the Romans, people who act in that way are those "who by their wickedness suppress the truth" (Rom 1:18). It is true that the human mind is capable of recognizing God as the creator of all things; but when people give their passions full rein, their will becomes weakened; they thus suppress the truth and their minds easily tend to adopt wrong ideas. All this is a result of arrogance and pride which makes man unwilling to accept God and acknowledge his own limitations as a creature: this eventually leads to the "ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart" (v. 18).
Impurity opens the way to a whole series of vices and disorders connected with greed (cf. notes on Rom 1:29-31 and Rom 1:32). The term "callous" is used to indicate that these people lost their desire to try to lead a good life and even lose their very sense of morality.
22-24. The sacred text emphasizes two basic points--one's duty to put off one's "old nature" (the "old man") and, in parallel with that, the urgent need to put on the "new nature" (the "new man"). These two expressions refer directly to the symbolism of Christian Baptism, which effects the transition from the life of sin to the life of grace, thanks to the merits of Christ (cf. Rom 6:3-11).
In Baptism we have "put on Christ" (Gal 3:27) and become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4). From that moment onwards a Christian's life is so radically different that to revert to one's previous--pagan--conduct is the greatest insult we could offer the body of Christ. St Paul, therefore, is not just exhorting people to root out this or that defect, but to strip themselves of the "old nature" entirely.
The "old nature" is the carnal man, vitiated from conception by original sin and become the slave of his own passions; whereas, the "new man" has been born again through the Holy Spirit at Baptism: he is no longer ruled by sin, although he is still subject to passions which have been made unruly by sin. That is why the Apostle urges us to put off the "old nature" by fighting against disordered desires and their evil effects (cf. Rom 6:12-14; 8:5-8) and by being conscious that the renewal brought about by the Holy Spirit helps the baptized person to see each and every event in his life from a new, supernatural perspective, as befits the "new man".
The change from the old to the new nature St Paul describes in terms of creation (v. 24). It does not involve any external change, as when someone changes his clothes, but rather an inner renewal, whereby the Christian, by becoming a new creature in Jesus Christ, is enabled to practice righteousness and holiness in a manner that exceeds his natural human capacity. It is not enough, then, for one to have simply a veneer of piety. "Entering the church and venerating sacred images and crosses is not sufficient for pleasing God, just as washing one's hands does not make one clean all over. What truly pleases God is that a person flees from sin and gets rid of his stains by means of confession and penance. Let him break the chains of his faults by being humble of heart" (St Anastasius of Sinai, "Sermon on the Holy Synaxis").
This inner renewal of the person is something which takes a lifetime. "The power of God is made manifest in our weakness and it spurs us on to fight, to battle against our defects, although we know that we will never achieve total victory during our pilgrimage on earth. The Christian life is a continuous beginning again each day. It renews itself over and over" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 114).
___________________________
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.
1st Reading, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15, 31a
The Manna and the Quails
[2] And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, [3] and said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
[4] Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
[12] "I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God."'
[13] In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp. [14] And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake like thing, fine as hoar frost on the ground. [15] When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat."
[31a] Now the house of Israel called its name manna.
_________
Commentary:
16:1-36. The prodigy of the manna and the quails was a very important sign of God's special providence towards his people while they were in the desert. It is recounted here and in Numbers 11, but in both accounts facts are interwoven with interpretation of same and with things to do with worship and ethics.
Some scholars have argued that the manna is the same thing as a sweet secretion that comes from the tamarisk ("tamarix mannifera") when punctured by a particular insect commonly found in the mountains of Sinai. The drops of this resin solidify in the coldness of the night and some fall to the ground. They have to be gathered up early in the morning because they deteriorate at twenty-four degrees temperature (almost eighty degrees Celsius). Even today desert Arabs collect them and use them for sucking and as a sweetener in confectionery.
As we know, quails cross the Sinai peninsula on their migrations back and forth between Africa and Europe or Asia. In May or June, when they return from Africa they usually rest in Sinai, exhausted after a long sea crossing; they can be easily trapped at this point.
Although these phenomenon can show where the manna and the quail come from, the important thing is that the Israelites saw them as wonders worked by God. The sacred writer stops to describe the impact the manna had on the sons of Israel. They are puzzled by it, as can be seen from their remarks when it comes for the first time: "What is it?" they ask, which in Hebrew sounds like "man hu", that is, manna (v. 15), which is how the Greek translation puts it. Indeed, the need to collect it every day gave rise to complaints about some people being greedy (v. 20) and who did not understand the scope of God's gift (v. 15). And just as manna is a divine gift to meet a basic human need (nourishment), so too the divine precepts, specifically that of the sabbath, are a free gift from the Lord (v. 28). So, obedience is not a heavy burden but the exercise of a capacity to receive the good things that God gives to those who obey him.
The prodigy of the manna will resound right through the Bible: in the "Deuteronoic" tradition it is a test that God gives his people to show them that "man does not live by bread alone, but [...] by everything that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord" (Deut 8:3). The psalmist discovers that manna is "the bread of the strong" ("of angels", says the Vulgate and the RSV), which God sent in abundance (Ps 78:23ff; cf. Ps 105:40). The book of Wisdom spells out the features of this bread from heaven "ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste" (Wis 16:20-29). And the New Testament reveals the full depth of this "spiritual" food (1 Cor 10:3), for, as the "Catechism" teaches, "manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, 'the true bread from heaven' (Jn 6:32)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 1094).
16:2-3. The complaining that usually precedes the desert prodigies (cf. 14:11; 15:24; 17:3; Num 11:1, 4; 14:2; 20:2; 21:4-5) brings into focus the chosen people's lack of faith and hope, and (by contrast) the faithfulness of God, who time and again alleviates their needs even though they do not deserve it. At the same time, just as Moses and Aaron listened patiently to complaints, God too is always ready to dialogue with the sinner, sometimes listening to his complaints and sorting them out, and sometimes simply giving him a chance to repent: "Although God could inflict punishment on those whom he condemns without saying anything, he does not do so; on the contrary, up to the point when he does condemn, he speaks with the guilty person and lets him talk, so as to help him avoid condemnation" (Origen, "Homiliae in leremiam", 1, 1).
___________________________
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.
The Manna and the Quails
[2] And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, [3] and said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
[4] Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
[12] "I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God."'
[13] In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp. [14] And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake like thing, fine as hoar frost on the ground. [15] When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat."
[31a] Now the house of Israel called its name manna.
_________
Commentary:
16:1-36. The prodigy of the manna and the quails was a very important sign of God's special providence towards his people while they were in the desert. It is recounted here and in Numbers 11, but in both accounts facts are interwoven with interpretation of same and with things to do with worship and ethics.
Some scholars have argued that the manna is the same thing as a sweet secretion that comes from the tamarisk ("tamarix mannifera") when punctured by a particular insect commonly found in the mountains of Sinai. The drops of this resin solidify in the coldness of the night and some fall to the ground. They have to be gathered up early in the morning because they deteriorate at twenty-four degrees temperature (almost eighty degrees Celsius). Even today desert Arabs collect them and use them for sucking and as a sweetener in confectionery.
As we know, quails cross the Sinai peninsula on their migrations back and forth between Africa and Europe or Asia. In May or June, when they return from Africa they usually rest in Sinai, exhausted after a long sea crossing; they can be easily trapped at this point.
Although these phenomenon can show where the manna and the quail come from, the important thing is that the Israelites saw them as wonders worked by God. The sacred writer stops to describe the impact the manna had on the sons of Israel. They are puzzled by it, as can be seen from their remarks when it comes for the first time: "What is it?" they ask, which in Hebrew sounds like "man hu", that is, manna (v. 15), which is how the Greek translation puts it. Indeed, the need to collect it every day gave rise to complaints about some people being greedy (v. 20) and who did not understand the scope of God's gift (v. 15). And just as manna is a divine gift to meet a basic human need (nourishment), so too the divine precepts, specifically that of the sabbath, are a free gift from the Lord (v. 28). So, obedience is not a heavy burden but the exercise of a capacity to receive the good things that God gives to those who obey him.
The prodigy of the manna will resound right through the Bible: in the "Deuteronoic" tradition it is a test that God gives his people to show them that "man does not live by bread alone, but [...] by everything that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord" (Deut 8:3). The psalmist discovers that manna is "the bread of the strong" ("of angels", says the Vulgate and the RSV), which God sent in abundance (Ps 78:23ff; cf. Ps 105:40). The book of Wisdom spells out the features of this bread from heaven "ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste" (Wis 16:20-29). And the New Testament reveals the full depth of this "spiritual" food (1 Cor 10:3), for, as the "Catechism" teaches, "manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, 'the true bread from heaven' (Jn 6:32)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 1094).
16:2-3. The complaining that usually precedes the desert prodigies (cf. 14:11; 15:24; 17:3; Num 11:1, 4; 14:2; 20:2; 21:4-5) brings into focus the chosen people's lack of faith and hope, and (by contrast) the faithfulness of God, who time and again alleviates their needs even though they do not deserve it. At the same time, just as Moses and Aaron listened patiently to complaints, God too is always ready to dialogue with the sinner, sometimes listening to his complaints and sorting them out, and sometimes simply giving him a chance to repent: "Although God could inflict punishment on those whom he condemns without saying anything, he does not do so; on the contrary, up to the point when he does condemn, he speaks with the guilty person and lets him talk, so as to help him avoid condemnation" (Origen, "Homiliae in leremiam", 1, 1).
___________________________
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 - August 2
To Those In Doubt
If there are some who are worried at the thought that they are unable to realize the doctrine and efficacy of supernatural charity in their lives, it will be well for them to remember the following.
First, it is a gift higher than sense.
Secondly, even when we are not conscious of it, our good thoughts and acts are divinely graced, and spread the sweet perfume of Christ throughout the world.
Thirdly, if our intentions are consciously referred to our Lord, their worth thereby is still more increased. Better still, if we practise the presence of God, attend Mass and go to Communion.
-M. C. D'Arcy, S.J.
_________________
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 there are some who are worried at the thought that they are unable to realize the doctrine and efficacy of supernatural charity in their lives, it will be well for them to remember the following.
First, it is a gift higher than sense.
Secondly, even when we are not conscious of it, our good thoughts and acts are divinely graced, and spread the sweet perfume of Christ throughout the world.
Thirdly, if our intentions are consciously referred to our Lord, their worth thereby is still more increased. Better still, if we practise the presence of God, attend Mass and go to Communion.
-M. C. D'Arcy, S.J.
_________________
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 August 2
EVEN holy things may do us harm; in the good they work in a salutary way, in the bad they are instruments of judgement.
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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
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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-August 2
CONFORMITY to God's will implies a will docile and pliant in all things...Were a pencil to resist the hand of the painter - if, when drawn to the right, it should turn to the left; if, when drawn downwards, it should seek to move upwards - what would the painter do? Would he not instantly cast it into the fire?
_________________
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
Friday, July 31, 2009
Gospel for Aug 1, Memorial: St Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor
Saturday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Matthew 14:1-12
The Death of John the Baptist
[1] At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus; [2] and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist, he has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him." [3] For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; [4] because John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." [5] And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. [6] But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and pleased Herod, [7] so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. [8] Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter." [9] And the king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given; [10] he sent and had John beheaded in the prison, [11] and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. [12] And his disciples came and took the body and buried it; and they went and told Jesus.
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Commentary:
1. Herod the tetrarch, Herod Antipas (see the note on Mt 2:1), is the same Herod as appears later in the account of the Passion (cf. Lk 23:7ff). A son of Herod the Great, Antipas governed Galilee and Perea in the name of the Roman emperor; according to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian ("Jewish Antiquities", XVIII, 5, 4), he was married to a daughter of an Arabian king, but in spite of this he lived in concubinage with Herodias, his brother's wife. St. John the Baptist, and Jesus himself, often criticized the tetrarch's immoral life, which was in conflict with the sexual morality laid down in the Law (Lev 18:16;20:21) and was a cause of scandal.
3-12. Towards the end of the first century Flavius Josephus wrote of these same events. He gives additional information--specifying that it was in the fortress of Makeronte that John was imprisoned (this fortress was on the eastern bank of the Dead Sea, and was the scene of the banquet in question) and that Herodias' daughter was called Salome.
9. St Augustine comments: "Amid the excesses and sensuality of the guests, oaths are rashly made, which then are unjustly kept" ("Sermon 10").
It is a sin against the second commandment of God's Law to make an oath to do something unjust; any such oath has no binding force. In fact, if one keeps it--as Herod did--one commits an additional sin. The Catechism also teaches that one offends against this precept if one swears something untrue, or swears needlessly (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", III, 3, 24). Cf. note on Mt 5:33-37.
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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 14:1-12
The Death of John the Baptist
[1] At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus; [2] and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist, he has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him." [3] For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; [4] because John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." [5] And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. [6] But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and pleased Herod, [7] so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. [8] Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter." [9] And the king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given; [10] he sent and had John beheaded in the prison, [11] and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. [12] And his disciples came and took the body and buried it; and they went and told Jesus.
____________________________
Commentary:
1. Herod the tetrarch, Herod Antipas (see the note on Mt 2:1), is the same Herod as appears later in the account of the Passion (cf. Lk 23:7ff). A son of Herod the Great, Antipas governed Galilee and Perea in the name of the Roman emperor; according to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian ("Jewish Antiquities", XVIII, 5, 4), he was married to a daughter of an Arabian king, but in spite of this he lived in concubinage with Herodias, his brother's wife. St. John the Baptist, and Jesus himself, often criticized the tetrarch's immoral life, which was in conflict with the sexual morality laid down in the Law (Lev 18:16;20:21) and was a cause of scandal.
3-12. Towards the end of the first century Flavius Josephus wrote of these same events. He gives additional information--specifying that it was in the fortress of Makeronte that John was imprisoned (this fortress was on the eastern bank of the Dead Sea, and was the scene of the banquet in question) and that Herodias' daughter was called Salome.
9. St Augustine comments: "Amid the excesses and sensuality of the guests, oaths are rashly made, which then are unjustly kept" ("Sermon 10").
It is a sin against the second commandment of God's Law to make an oath to do something unjust; any such oath has no binding force. In fact, if one keeps it--as Herod did--one commits an additional sin. The Catechism also teaches that one offends against this precept if one swears something untrue, or swears needlessly (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", III, 3, 24). Cf. note on Mt 5:33-37.
___________________________
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 - August 1
In Return
Alas! we know Thy Love Divine
Had ne'er its like below, above;
And shall there be in heart of mine
For Love so great no answering love?
-St. Margaret Mary.
_________________
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
Alas! we know Thy Love Divine
Had ne'er its like below, above;
And shall there be in heart of mine
For Love so great no answering love?
-St. Margaret Mary.
_________________
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 August 1
CHAFF has a likeness to wheat; it proceeds from the same seed, grows in one field, is nourished by the same rain, has the same reaper, goes through the same process of threshing, has the same harvest, but it does not replenish the same garner.
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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-August 1
SOME people resemble the hedgehog. They seem all calmness and meekness as long as they remain untouched. But no sooner does a superior or friend touch them, by an observation on something they have done imperfectly, than they forthwith become all prickles.
_________________
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 30, 2009
News Updates, 7/31
St Louis Catholic priest busted in sex sting in STL County
A Catholic priest was nabbed Wednesday night in an FBI sting aimed at men who wanted to rent young girls for sex, federal court documents filed Thursday show...
Transsexual attacks priest during Mass in Italy
Brazilian stripped naked in front of the altar
Teaching Kids to Kill Embryos
A New Generation of Stem Cell Workers
Report: 13 million abortions in China each year
State media blames problem on lack of sex education
Vietnamese police want 'No Catholic Zone' in city
Violence prompts many parishioners to flee for their safety
Inquiry called for after priest's death in India
Cleric was assassinated and left naked by the roadside
Unknown assailants rob Argentinean bishop, priests
Two gunmen stormed diocesan chancery offices
Pope's home becomes solar-power generator
580 square feet of photovoltaic solar panels donated
Forced abortion issue could unite Pope, Obama
Italians presented UN with resolution against practice
Pope's World Peace Day will focus on environment
'If you want to cultivate peace, safeguard creation'
Mexico jails gunman implicated in cardinal's murder
Drug-cartel gangster 'El Popeye' sentenced to just 11 years
=========
Other Issues
=========
GDP In Pictures: The Truth
The pumpers in the media will burn in Hell for dragging you (the sheeple) back into this market. Here's the truth on GDP, in pictures:
...You're being lied to. Again.
Rudy to Obama: 'Shut Up'
Rudy Giuliani, who has returned as a leading Republican spokesman, condemned Obama's health care plan in an interview with Sean Hannity. He also offered, in response to the president's hope that the Gates arrest would be a "teachable moment," this: "He's actually right. It is teachable. Here's the lesson: Shut up."
Democrats resist subpoenaing records
House Democrats have declined to subpoena available records that might reveal whether other members of Congress got discounted VIP mortgages from subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp. similar to the sweetheart deals given Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad...
The next great bailout: Social Security (the day of reckoning may finally be here)
Perhaps as early as this year, Social Security, at $680 billion the nation's biggest social program, will be transformed from an operation that's helped finance the rest of the government for 25 years into a cash drain that will need money from the Treasury. In other words, a bailout...
Govt to suspend 'cash for clunkers'
Blue Dogs Roll Over
In exchange for a vague promise of cuts in the cost of health care "reform," a few fiscally conservative Democrats agree to release the bill to a September floor vote. Have the pit bulls become Chihuahuas?
'THEY ARE THE VILLIANS': Pelosi lashes out against insurance companies
HEALTH SCARE: Police called on retirees at Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office
Liberal Democrats threaten to reject House healthcare deal
Dozens say they'll vote against a plan that includes concessions to Blue Dogs. The dispute could jeopardize a long-held goal of progressives.
===========
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.
-Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishment, quoted by Thomas Jefferson in Commonplace Book, 1774-1776
A Catholic priest was nabbed Wednesday night in an FBI sting aimed at men who wanted to rent young girls for sex, federal court documents filed Thursday show...
Transsexual attacks priest during Mass in Italy
Brazilian stripped naked in front of the altar
Teaching Kids to Kill Embryos
A New Generation of Stem Cell Workers
Report: 13 million abortions in China each year
State media blames problem on lack of sex education
Vietnamese police want 'No Catholic Zone' in city
Violence prompts many parishioners to flee for their safety
Inquiry called for after priest's death in India
Cleric was assassinated and left naked by the roadside
Unknown assailants rob Argentinean bishop, priests
Two gunmen stormed diocesan chancery offices
Pope's home becomes solar-power generator
580 square feet of photovoltaic solar panels donated
Forced abortion issue could unite Pope, Obama
Italians presented UN with resolution against practice
Pope's World Peace Day will focus on environment
'If you want to cultivate peace, safeguard creation'
Mexico jails gunman implicated in cardinal's murder
Drug-cartel gangster 'El Popeye' sentenced to just 11 years
=========
Other Issues
=========
GDP In Pictures: The Truth
The pumpers in the media will burn in Hell for dragging you (the sheeple) back into this market. Here's the truth on GDP, in pictures:
...You're being lied to. Again.
Rudy to Obama: 'Shut Up'
Rudy Giuliani, who has returned as a leading Republican spokesman, condemned Obama's health care plan in an interview with Sean Hannity. He also offered, in response to the president's hope that the Gates arrest would be a "teachable moment," this: "He's actually right. It is teachable. Here's the lesson: Shut up."
Democrats resist subpoenaing records
House Democrats have declined to subpoena available records that might reveal whether other members of Congress got discounted VIP mortgages from subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp. similar to the sweetheart deals given Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad...
The next great bailout: Social Security (the day of reckoning may finally be here)
Perhaps as early as this year, Social Security, at $680 billion the nation's biggest social program, will be transformed from an operation that's helped finance the rest of the government for 25 years into a cash drain that will need money from the Treasury. In other words, a bailout...
Govt to suspend 'cash for clunkers'
Blue Dogs Roll OverIn exchange for a vague promise of cuts in the cost of health care "reform," a few fiscally conservative Democrats agree to release the bill to a September floor vote. Have the pit bulls become Chihuahuas?
'THEY ARE THE VILLIANS': Pelosi lashes out against insurance companies
HEALTH SCARE: Police called on retirees at Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office
Liberal Democrats threaten to reject House healthcare deal
Dozens say they'll vote against a plan that includes concessions to Blue Dogs. The dispute could jeopardize a long-held goal of progressives.
===========
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.
-Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishment, quoted by Thomas Jefferson in Commonplace Book, 1774-1776
Gospel for July 31, Memorial: St Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Friday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Matthew 13:54-58
No One is a Prophet in His Own Country
[54] And coming to His (Jesus') own country He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? [55] Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? [56] And are not all His sisters with us? Where then did this Man get all this?" [57] And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." [58] And He did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
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Commentary:
53-58. The Nazarenes' surprise is partly due to people's difficulty in recognizing anything exceptional and supernatural in those with whom they have been on familiar terms. Hence the saying, "No one is a prophet in his own country." These old neighbors were also jealous of Jesus. Where did He acquire this wisdom? Why Him rather than us? They were unaware of the mystery of Jesus' conception; surprise and jealousy cause them to be shocked, to look down on Jesus and not to believe in Him: "He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not" (John 1:11).
"The carpenter's son": this is the only reference in the Gospel to St. Joseph's occupation (in Mark 6:3 Jesus Himself is described as a "carpenter"). Probably in a town like Nazareth the carpenter was a general tradesman who could turn his hand to jobs ranging from metalwork to making furniture or agricultural implements.
For an explanation of Jesus' "brethren", see the note on Matthew 12:46-47.
[The note of Matthew 12:46-47 states:
46-47. "Brethren": ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and other languages had no special words for different degrees of relationship, such as are found in more modern languages. In general, all those belonging to the same family, clan and even tribe were "brethren".
In the particular case we have here, we should bear in mind that Jesus had different kinds of relatives, in two groups--some on His mother's side, others on St. Joseph's. Matthew 13:55-56 mentions, as living in Nazareth, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas ("His brethren") and elsewhere there is reference to Jesus' "sisters" (cf. Matthew 6:3). But in Matthew 27:56 we are told that James and Joseph were sons of a Mary distinct from the Blessed Virgin, and that Simon and Judas were not brothers of James and Joseph, but seemingly children of a brother of St. Joseph.
Jesus, on the other hand, was known to everyone as "the son of Mary" (Mark 6:3) or "the carpenter's son" (Matthew 13:55).
The Church has always maintained as absolutely certain that Jesus had no brothers or sisters in the full meaning of the term: it is a dogma that Mary was ever-Virgin (cf. note on Matthew 1:25).]
___________________________
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 13:54-58
No One is a Prophet in His Own Country
[54] And coming to His (Jesus') own country He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? [55] Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? [56] And are not all His sisters with us? Where then did this Man get all this?" [57] And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." [58] And He did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
______________________________
Commentary:
53-58. The Nazarenes' surprise is partly due to people's difficulty in recognizing anything exceptional and supernatural in those with whom they have been on familiar terms. Hence the saying, "No one is a prophet in his own country." These old neighbors were also jealous of Jesus. Where did He acquire this wisdom? Why Him rather than us? They were unaware of the mystery of Jesus' conception; surprise and jealousy cause them to be shocked, to look down on Jesus and not to believe in Him: "He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not" (John 1:11).
"The carpenter's son": this is the only reference in the Gospel to St. Joseph's occupation (in Mark 6:3 Jesus Himself is described as a "carpenter"). Probably in a town like Nazareth the carpenter was a general tradesman who could turn his hand to jobs ranging from metalwork to making furniture or agricultural implements.
For an explanation of Jesus' "brethren", see the note on Matthew 12:46-47.
[The note of Matthew 12:46-47 states:
46-47. "Brethren": ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and other languages had no special words for different degrees of relationship, such as are found in more modern languages. In general, all those belonging to the same family, clan and even tribe were "brethren".
In the particular case we have here, we should bear in mind that Jesus had different kinds of relatives, in two groups--some on His mother's side, others on St. Joseph's. Matthew 13:55-56 mentions, as living in Nazareth, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas ("His brethren") and elsewhere there is reference to Jesus' "sisters" (cf. Matthew 6:3). But in Matthew 27:56 we are told that James and Joseph were sons of a Mary distinct from the Blessed Virgin, and that Simon and Judas were not brothers of James and Joseph, but seemingly children of a brother of St. Joseph.
Jesus, on the other hand, was known to everyone as "the son of Mary" (Mark 6:3) or "the carpenter's son" (Matthew 13:55).
The Church has always maintained as absolutely certain that Jesus had no brothers or sisters in the full meaning of the term: it is a dogma that Mary was ever-Virgin (cf. note on Matthew 1:25).]
___________________________
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.
Reading for July 31, Memorial: St Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Friday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
Celebration of the Sabbath
[1] The Lord said to Moses, [4] "These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them."
Celebration of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread
[5] "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the Lord's passover. [6] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. [7] 0n the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. [8] But you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord seven days; on the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work."
Celebration of the First Fruits
[9] And the Lord said to Moses, [10] "Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest; [11] and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it."
Celebration of the Feast of Weeks
[15] "And you shall count from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be, [16] counting fifty days to the morrow after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord."
Celebration of the Day of Atonement
[27] "On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord."
Celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles
[34b] "On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the feast of booths to the Lord. [35] On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. [36] Seven days you shall present offerings by fire to the Lord; on the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work."
[37] "These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire, burnt offerings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day."
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Commentary:
23:1-4. Some of the feats mentioned in this calendar are also to be found in other books (cf. Ex 23:14-19; 34:18-26; Deut 16:1). It deals first with the sabbath, which becomes the paradigm for all the other feasts, especially as far as rest is concerned. Such importance was given to what could or could not be done on the sabbath that all sorts of absurd and formalistic exaggerations developed. More than once Jesus criticized the severe interpretations devised by the scribes--a complicated and intolerable casuistry (cf. Mt 15:1-9; 23:41 Acts 15:10).
23:5-8. The Passover is also dealt with in Exodus 12:1-14:21-28 and 13:3-10. The first month was called Nisan; earlier on it was called Abib, "spring" or "ears (of grain)". The feast began at sundown. Here it is depicted as a preparation for the feast of the unleavened bread, which began the following day, 15 Nisan, and lasted seven days, during which bread was eaten unleavened. The religious assembly took place on the first day and the last. During these assemblies various sacrifices were offered and a sacred meal took place. We recall that it was during this feast that Jesus instituted the Eucharist, doing so in the context of the passover supper. And it was during the Passover that Jesus was sacrificed on he altar of the cross. St John tells us that the sacrifice of Christ began at the sixth hour on the day of Preparation, the exact time that the passover lambs were sacrificed. This makes the beginning of a new Passover, in which a new victim is sacrificed, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29, 36; 19:14).
23:9-14. The feast of the first fruits, although the date is not a fixed one, is connected with the Passover. In the Jordan valley grain was already ripe for harvest by this time (cf. Num 28:26-31). The offering of first fruits is based on the conviction that everything comes from God. In recognition of that divine sovereignty the first sheaf to ripen was offered in sacrifice--a tradition which developed to the point that no one could eat the crop without first making this offering to God. The "morrow" after the sabbath was thought by some to have been the first sabbath after 14 Nisan. Other scholars think that the sabbath was 15 Nisan and then the offering of the first fruits took place on 16 Nisan. The "morrow" was the base day for reckoning the start of feast of Pentecost, seven weeks later. The offering of the first sheaves was accompanied by the sacrifice of a year-old lamb and two tenths of an ephah of flour (cf. the note on Ex 29:38-46) that is, approximately 4.2 liters, and a quarter of a hin of wine (approximately one litre or two pints).
23:15-22. This feast, too, has elements connected with the grain harvest. Later on it became linked with the giving the Law at Sinai. It was called Pentecost because it came fifty days after Passover. In Hebrew it was called Aseret, the "great convocation" or assembly. Another name for it is the feast of Weeks (a reference to the seven weeks which had passed since the Passover). The offering of the loaves of bread made from the first sheaf expressed thanksgiving and joy for the harvest recently completed. The various sacrifices were offered as a sign of repentance for and as an act of adoration for the greatness of God who had blessed the work of his people.
>From a Christian point of view, it is interesting that it was on the feast of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles. For one thing, that Pentecost marked the start of a new stage with another Law, a much more perfect one, written not on stones but in the depths of men's hearts (cf. 2 Cor 3:3). For another, because it also seems significant that it was at the moment when the fruits of the earth were being harvested that the Church should receive the most precious fruit of Christ's death on the cross, the strength of the Spirit who purifies and sanctities men with his divine grace.
23:23-44. In the Bible the number seven had a sacred character; symbolizing in some way the perfection of God. Therefore the seventh month, as also the seventh year, had special significance in Israel. Thus, in the seventh month (in Hebrew, Tishre) three feasts were held. The first was the feast of Trumpets, which took place on the seventh day. It began with the sounding of trumpets; hence its name. Trumpets were also used to greet the appearance of the new moon. These details probably reflect traces of astral cults; however, by becoming incorporated into the liturgy, they became purified and raised to a new plane, to express at different times and different ways a deep feeling of attachment to the Creator of heaven and earth.
On the tenth of the same month the day of atonement was celebrated--Yom Kippur. It was a day of penance and expiation. It began at sundown, with the start of the sabbath rest. The grave penalties imposed for transgressions show the importance this day had, and still has today, in Jewish liturgy.
The other great feast is that of Tabernacles, celebrated over seven days, beginning on 15 Tisre. In the Code of the Covenant it is called the feast of ingathering (cf. Ex 23:16). The last of the harvest was saved around this time, particularly the grape harvest. The feast marked the close of the agricultural year; it was a most joyful least. It was also regarded as preparation for the new period which would start immediately with the new sowing. Prayers were offered for early rains, which were so crucial to starting the work. This was why the rite of water was so much to the fore. Water was borne in procession from the pool of Siloe and then poured round the altar of the temple. In Jesus' time a bunch of myrtle and acacia branches (from trees growing on the river bank) was shaken during the procession, thereby invoking the divine blessing of rain. In the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. in the middle of the 5th century BC, huts made from branches of trees were set up on the terraces of houses or in the countryside, and the people camped in them over the days of the feast, in memory of the pilgrimage of the people of Israel in the desert, when they lived in tents. This custom still survives in the Jewish religion.
The Gospel of St John has much to say about this feast and about Jesus' activity in connection with it (cf. Jn 7:2ff), including the, important revelations our Lord made apropos of its rites: it was on this feast that Jesus proclaimed that from his heart rivers of living water would flow, a reference to "the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive" (Jn 7:39).
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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: Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
Celebration of the Sabbath
[1] The Lord said to Moses, [4] "These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them."
Celebration of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread
[5] "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the Lord's passover. [6] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. [7] 0n the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. [8] But you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord seven days; on the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work."
Celebration of the First Fruits
[9] And the Lord said to Moses, [10] "Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest; [11] and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it."
Celebration of the Feast of Weeks
[15] "And you shall count from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be, [16] counting fifty days to the morrow after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord."
Celebration of the Day of Atonement
[27] "On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord."
Celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles
[34b] "On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the feast of booths to the Lord. [35] On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. [36] Seven days you shall present offerings by fire to the Lord; on the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work."
[37] "These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire, burnt offerings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day."
__________
Commentary:
23:1-4. Some of the feats mentioned in this calendar are also to be found in other books (cf. Ex 23:14-19; 34:18-26; Deut 16:1). It deals first with the sabbath, which becomes the paradigm for all the other feasts, especially as far as rest is concerned. Such importance was given to what could or could not be done on the sabbath that all sorts of absurd and formalistic exaggerations developed. More than once Jesus criticized the severe interpretations devised by the scribes--a complicated and intolerable casuistry (cf. Mt 15:1-9; 23:41 Acts 15:10).
23:5-8. The Passover is also dealt with in Exodus 12:1-14:21-28 and 13:3-10. The first month was called Nisan; earlier on it was called Abib, "spring" or "ears (of grain)". The feast began at sundown. Here it is depicted as a preparation for the feast of the unleavened bread, which began the following day, 15 Nisan, and lasted seven days, during which bread was eaten unleavened. The religious assembly took place on the first day and the last. During these assemblies various sacrifices were offered and a sacred meal took place. We recall that it was during this feast that Jesus instituted the Eucharist, doing so in the context of the passover supper. And it was during the Passover that Jesus was sacrificed on he altar of the cross. St John tells us that the sacrifice of Christ began at the sixth hour on the day of Preparation, the exact time that the passover lambs were sacrificed. This makes the beginning of a new Passover, in which a new victim is sacrificed, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29, 36; 19:14).
23:9-14. The feast of the first fruits, although the date is not a fixed one, is connected with the Passover. In the Jordan valley grain was already ripe for harvest by this time (cf. Num 28:26-31). The offering of first fruits is based on the conviction that everything comes from God. In recognition of that divine sovereignty the first sheaf to ripen was offered in sacrifice--a tradition which developed to the point that no one could eat the crop without first making this offering to God. The "morrow" after the sabbath was thought by some to have been the first sabbath after 14 Nisan. Other scholars think that the sabbath was 15 Nisan and then the offering of the first fruits took place on 16 Nisan. The "morrow" was the base day for reckoning the start of feast of Pentecost, seven weeks later. The offering of the first sheaves was accompanied by the sacrifice of a year-old lamb and two tenths of an ephah of flour (cf. the note on Ex 29:38-46) that is, approximately 4.2 liters, and a quarter of a hin of wine (approximately one litre or two pints).
23:15-22. This feast, too, has elements connected with the grain harvest. Later on it became linked with the giving the Law at Sinai. It was called Pentecost because it came fifty days after Passover. In Hebrew it was called Aseret, the "great convocation" or assembly. Another name for it is the feast of Weeks (a reference to the seven weeks which had passed since the Passover). The offering of the loaves of bread made from the first sheaf expressed thanksgiving and joy for the harvest recently completed. The various sacrifices were offered as a sign of repentance for and as an act of adoration for the greatness of God who had blessed the work of his people.
>From a Christian point of view, it is interesting that it was on the feast of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles. For one thing, that Pentecost marked the start of a new stage with another Law, a much more perfect one, written not on stones but in the depths of men's hearts (cf. 2 Cor 3:3). For another, because it also seems significant that it was at the moment when the fruits of the earth were being harvested that the Church should receive the most precious fruit of Christ's death on the cross, the strength of the Spirit who purifies and sanctities men with his divine grace.
23:23-44. In the Bible the number seven had a sacred character; symbolizing in some way the perfection of God. Therefore the seventh month, as also the seventh year, had special significance in Israel. Thus, in the seventh month (in Hebrew, Tishre) three feasts were held. The first was the feast of Trumpets, which took place on the seventh day. It began with the sounding of trumpets; hence its name. Trumpets were also used to greet the appearance of the new moon. These details probably reflect traces of astral cults; however, by becoming incorporated into the liturgy, they became purified and raised to a new plane, to express at different times and different ways a deep feeling of attachment to the Creator of heaven and earth.
On the tenth of the same month the day of atonement was celebrated--Yom Kippur. It was a day of penance and expiation. It began at sundown, with the start of the sabbath rest. The grave penalties imposed for transgressions show the importance this day had, and still has today, in Jewish liturgy.
The other great feast is that of Tabernacles, celebrated over seven days, beginning on 15 Tisre. In the Code of the Covenant it is called the feast of ingathering (cf. Ex 23:16). The last of the harvest was saved around this time, particularly the grape harvest. The feast marked the close of the agricultural year; it was a most joyful least. It was also regarded as preparation for the new period which would start immediately with the new sowing. Prayers were offered for early rains, which were so crucial to starting the work. This was why the rite of water was so much to the fore. Water was borne in procession from the pool of Siloe and then poured round the altar of the temple. In Jesus' time a bunch of myrtle and acacia branches (from trees growing on the river bank) was shaken during the procession, thereby invoking the divine blessing of rain. In the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. in the middle of the 5th century BC, huts made from branches of trees were set up on the terraces of houses or in the countryside, and the people camped in them over the days of the feast, in memory of the pilgrimage of the people of Israel in the desert, when they lived in tents. This custom still survives in the Jewish religion.
The Gospel of St John has much to say about this feast and about Jesus' activity in connection with it (cf. Jn 7:2ff), including the, important revelations our Lord made apropos of its rites: it was on this feast that Jesus proclaimed that from his heart rivers of living water would flow, a reference to "the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive" (Jn 7:39).
___________________________
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 31
The Right Kind of Madness
Abbe Gayraud, then deputy for Finistere, was defending the Religious Congregations in the French Chamber; the question of their expulsion was being discussed and the Abbe was praising Religious and pointing out what greatness of soul it required to renounce the world, act as lightning-conductors for the anger of God and lead a life of self-immolation in union with Jesus Christ. The orator spoke of the Brothers of St. John of God who devote themselves to the service of the insane, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, whose food consists of what is left from the table of the old people they tend, and who, with them, live on what they beg from door to door.
A deputy of the Left, extremely anti-Catholic, exclaimed impatiently: 'They are all lunatics!'
'Yes, Monsieur Allemane,' quickly retorted the Abbe, drawing himself up to his full height, the better to mark the moral littleness of his interlocutor. 'Yes, they are lunatics. Their madness was diagnosed centuries ago by S. Paul as the "folly" of the Cross.'
-Raoul Plus, S.J.
_________________
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
Abbe Gayraud, then deputy for Finistere, was defending the Religious Congregations in the French Chamber; the question of their expulsion was being discussed and the Abbe was praising Religious and pointing out what greatness of soul it required to renounce the world, act as lightning-conductors for the anger of God and lead a life of self-immolation in union with Jesus Christ. The orator spoke of the Brothers of St. John of God who devote themselves to the service of the insane, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, whose food consists of what is left from the table of the old people they tend, and who, with them, live on what they beg from door to door.
A deputy of the Left, extremely anti-Catholic, exclaimed impatiently: 'They are all lunatics!'
'Yes, Monsieur Allemane,' quickly retorted the Abbe, drawing himself up to his full height, the better to mark the moral littleness of his interlocutor. 'Yes, they are lunatics. Their madness was diagnosed centuries ago by S. Paul as the "folly" of the Cross.'
-Raoul Plus, S.J.
_________________
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 31
FOR he shall be thought worthy to be glorified in Christ reigning who shall have learnt to glory in him crucified.
_________________________
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 31
GOD of beauty, Lord of light,
Thy good will is my delight;
Now henceforth thy will divine
Ever shall in all be mine.
_________________
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
Thy good will is my delight;
Now henceforth thy will divine
Ever shall in all be mine.
_________________
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, 7/30
U.S. Bishops Pass Liturgy Items
Not Unexpected, Says Helen Hitchcock
Catholic Bishops Wrong: Health Care Not a Right
Recently, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development released a statement made to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate stating that “health care is not a privilege but a right and a requirement to protect the life and dignity of each person.” They couldn’t be more wrong...To promote health care as a right under the aegis of Catholic morality by the USCCB is not the truth. As a matter of fact, it is not even charity because, as the Pope says, “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way.” Such carelessness with the truth, whether intentional or unintentional, by the USCCB undermines both the Catholic Church and American society.
[How can one have a "right" to something which must be provided by another? While we have a moral obligation to care for those less fortunate, they have no inherent "right" to enforce others to fulfill that obligation. This would effectively be "slavery," which is precisely what which the government wishes to impose.]
Let's Ask The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to Get Rid of Catholic Charities USA
Catholic Charities USA backs health-care reform; silent on abortion funding
As [Chairman] Obama presses for Congressional action on a sweeping health-care proposal that would include funding for abortion, the president of Catholic Charities USA has written to legislators urging them to "make comprehensive health care reform a top priority," without mentioning the heated debate over abortion coverage. In his July 22 letter, Father Larry Snyder does not specifically mention the Obama health-care proposal. And he does remind lawmakers that a Catholic approach to health care would "address health needs at all stages of life, from conception to natural death." But the thrust of his letter is clearly favorable to the Obama proposal. And a time when pro-life organizations are working diligently to strip abortion funding from the initiative, Father Snyder does not address that concern...
Archbishop: Canadian PM meant no disrespect
Non-Catholic took Communion during state funeral
Five sentenced to prison for anti-Christian violence
'It will go a long way in meting out justice' in India
Bank robber confesses to priest in church
Man hands priest $1200 he stole from credit union
Italians turning abandoned churches into homes
'You're very much part of the village if you want to be'
Nicaragua abortion ban called 'inhuman disgrace'
Amnesty Intl says law led to the rise in maternal deaths
Traces of Aramaic found on Shroud of Turin
Scientist discovers writing spelled with Hebrew letters
Gunman pleads not guilty to shooting abortionist
Tiller's family decided to close clinic permanently
Newsweek speculates on Pope Benedict successor
Wrist-breaking gets media in flurry of excitement
US Catholic bishops face health care dilemmas
Reforms must protect and respect life and human dignity
Obamacare and the 'Kill-Grandma' Crowd
Mandatory End of Life Consultations
Home Depot building a 'le-gay-cy' for children
Home Depot is helping to introduce children to the homosexual lifestyle.
=========
Other Issues
=========
Obama Denies Agenda Is Antibusiness
Barack Obama dismissed criticism that his policies aren’t friendly toward business and said he would like the corporate tax rate to be lower.
Dan Rather wants Obama to help save the news
No. 3 at Justice OK'd Black Panther reversal; Case involved polling place in Philadelphia
Military planning for possible H1N1 outbreak; Provide support for 'large-scale testing'
Not Unexpected, Says Helen Hitchcock
Catholic Bishops Wrong: Health Care Not a Right
Recently, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development released a statement made to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate stating that “health care is not a privilege but a right and a requirement to protect the life and dignity of each person.” They couldn’t be more wrong...To promote health care as a right under the aegis of Catholic morality by the USCCB is not the truth. As a matter of fact, it is not even charity because, as the Pope says, “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way.” Such carelessness with the truth, whether intentional or unintentional, by the USCCB undermines both the Catholic Church and American society.
[How can one have a "right" to something which must be provided by another? While we have a moral obligation to care for those less fortunate, they have no inherent "right" to enforce others to fulfill that obligation. This would effectively be "slavery," which is precisely what which the government wishes to impose.]
Let's Ask The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to Get Rid of Catholic Charities USA
Catholic Charities USA backs health-care reform; silent on abortion funding
As [Chairman] Obama presses for Congressional action on a sweeping health-care proposal that would include funding for abortion, the president of Catholic Charities USA has written to legislators urging them to "make comprehensive health care reform a top priority," without mentioning the heated debate over abortion coverage. In his July 22 letter, Father Larry Snyder does not specifically mention the Obama health-care proposal. And he does remind lawmakers that a Catholic approach to health care would "address health needs at all stages of life, from conception to natural death." But the thrust of his letter is clearly favorable to the Obama proposal. And a time when pro-life organizations are working diligently to strip abortion funding from the initiative, Father Snyder does not address that concern...
Archbishop: Canadian PM meant no disrespect
Non-Catholic took Communion during state funeral
Five sentenced to prison for anti-Christian violence
'It will go a long way in meting out justice' in India
Bank robber confesses to priest in church
Man hands priest $1200 he stole from credit union
Italians turning abandoned churches into homes
'You're very much part of the village if you want to be'
Nicaragua abortion ban called 'inhuman disgrace'
Amnesty Intl says law led to the rise in maternal deaths
Traces of Aramaic found on Shroud of Turin
Scientist discovers writing spelled with Hebrew letters
Gunman pleads not guilty to shooting abortionist
Tiller's family decided to close clinic permanently
Newsweek speculates on Pope Benedict successor
Wrist-breaking gets media in flurry of excitement
US Catholic bishops face health care dilemmas
Reforms must protect and respect life and human dignity
Obamacare and the 'Kill-Grandma' Crowd
Mandatory End of Life Consultations
Home Depot building a 'le-gay-cy' for children
Home Depot is helping to introduce children to the homosexual lifestyle.
=========
Other Issues
=========
Obama Denies Agenda Is Antibusiness
Barack Obama dismissed criticism that his policies aren’t friendly toward business and said he would like the corporate tax rate to be lower.
Dan Rather wants Obama to help save the news
No. 3 at Justice OK'd Black Panther reversal; Case involved polling place in Philadelphia
Military planning for possible H1N1 outbreak; Provide support for 'large-scale testing'
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Gospel for Thursday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial: St Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor
From: Matthew 13:47-53
The Net
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [47] "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; [48] when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. [49] So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, [50] and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
[51] "Have you understood all this?" They said to Him, "Yes." [52] And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
[53] And when Jesus had finished these parables He went away from there.
___________________________
Commentary:
47. "Fish of every kind": almost all the Greek manuscripts and early translations say "All kinds of things". A dragnet is very long and about two meters wide; when it is extended between two boats it forms double or triple mesh with the result that when it is pulled in it collects all sorts of things in addition to fish--algae, weeds, rubbish, etc.
This parable is rather like the parable of the cockle, but in a fishing context: the net is the Church, the sea the world.
We can easily find in this parable the dogmatic truth of the Judgment: at the end of time God will judge men and separate the good from the bad. It is interesting to note our Lord's repeated references to the last things, especially Judgment and Hell: He emphasizes these truths because of man's great tendency to forget them: "All these things are said to make sure that no one can make the excuse that he does not know about them: this excuse would be valid only if eternal punishment were spoken about in ambiguous terms" (St. Gregory the Great, "In Evangelia Homilae", 11).
52. "Scribe": among the Jews a scribe was a religious teacher, a specialist in sacred Scripture and its application to life. Our Lord here uses this word to refer to the Apostles, who will have the role of teachers in His Church. Thus, the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops, are the "Ecclesia docens", the teaching Church; they have the authority and the mission to teach. The Pope and the Bishops exercise this authority directly and are also helped in this by priests. The other members of the Church form the "Ecclesia discens", the learning Church. However, every disciple of Christ, every Christian who has received Christ's teaching, has a duty to pass this teaching on to others, in language they can understand; therefore, he should make sure he has a good grasp of Christian doctrine. The treasure of Revelation is so rich that it can provide teaching which applies to all times and situations. It is for the word of God to enlighten all ages and situations--not the other way around. Therefore, the Church and its pastors preach, not new things, but a single unchanging truth contained in the treasure of Revelation: for the past two thousand years the Gospel has always been "good news".
___________________________
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 13:47-53
The Net
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [47] "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; [48] when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. [49] So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, [50] and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
[51] "Have you understood all this?" They said to Him, "Yes." [52] And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
[53] And when Jesus had finished these parables He went away from there.
___________________________
Commentary:
47. "Fish of every kind": almost all the Greek manuscripts and early translations say "All kinds of things". A dragnet is very long and about two meters wide; when it is extended between two boats it forms double or triple mesh with the result that when it is pulled in it collects all sorts of things in addition to fish--algae, weeds, rubbish, etc.
This parable is rather like the parable of the cockle, but in a fishing context: the net is the Church, the sea the world.
We can easily find in this parable the dogmatic truth of the Judgment: at the end of time God will judge men and separate the good from the bad. It is interesting to note our Lord's repeated references to the last things, especially Judgment and Hell: He emphasizes these truths because of man's great tendency to forget them: "All these things are said to make sure that no one can make the excuse that he does not know about them: this excuse would be valid only if eternal punishment were spoken about in ambiguous terms" (St. Gregory the Great, "In Evangelia Homilae", 11).
52. "Scribe": among the Jews a scribe was a religious teacher, a specialist in sacred Scripture and its application to life. Our Lord here uses this word to refer to the Apostles, who will have the role of teachers in His Church. Thus, the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops, are the "Ecclesia docens", the teaching Church; they have the authority and the mission to teach. The Pope and the Bishops exercise this authority directly and are also helped in this by priests. The other members of the Church form the "Ecclesia discens", the learning Church. However, every disciple of Christ, every Christian who has received Christ's teaching, has a duty to pass this teaching on to others, in language they can understand; therefore, he should make sure he has a good grasp of Christian doctrine. The treasure of Revelation is so rich that it can provide teaching which applies to all times and situations. It is for the word of God to enlighten all ages and situations--not the other way around. Therefore, the Church and its pastors preach, not new things, but a single unchanging truth contained in the treasure of Revelation: for the past two thousand years the Gospel has always been "good news".
___________________________
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 30
Is This Understood?
The least venial sin is a greater evil than all others, not excepting death or hell. The only inference to be drawn from its truth is that if by the smallest venial sin we could avert tbe greatest evils and obtain the most substantial and desirable goods for the whole human race, we should not thereby be justified in committing it. Oh! thou who makest light of venial sin, 'drinking iniquity like water,' would to Heaven that this 'were deeply graven on the stone of thy heart.'
-Bellecius, S.J.
_________________
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
The least venial sin is a greater evil than all others, not excepting death or hell. The only inference to be drawn from its truth is that if by the smallest venial sin we could avert tbe greatest evils and obtain the most substantial and desirable goods for the whole human race, we should not thereby be justified in committing it. Oh! thou who makest light of venial sin, 'drinking iniquity like water,' would to Heaven that this 'were deeply graven on the stone of thy heart.'
-Bellecius, S.J.
_________________
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 30
LET us then seek if we can, not for that which may ascend into our hearts, but whither our heart may be thought worthy to ascend.
_________________________
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
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