Providence Archives

Sunday Bible Readings August 28 2011 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thursday, August 25th, 2011 at 4:53 am 
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22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Official Readings available at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Jeremiah 20:7-9
DR Challoner

Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, and I am deceived: thou hast been stronger than I, and thou hast prevailed.[1] I am become a laughingstock all the day, all scoff at me. For I am speaking now this long time, crying out against iniquity, and I often proclaim devastation: and the word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision all the day.[2] Then I said: I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name: and there came in my heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I was wearied, not being able to bear it.[3]

Responsorial Psalm 62:2-6, 8-9 (Ps 63 NAB/Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only

O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day.
For thee my soul hath thirsted;
for thee my flesh, O how many ways!
In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water:
so in the sanctuary have I come before thee,
to see thy power and thy glory.
For thy mercy is better than lives:
thee my lips will praise.
Thus will I bless thee all my life long:
and in thy name I will lift up my hands.
Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness:
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
If I have remembered thee upon my bed,
I will meditate on thee in the morning:
Because thou hast been my helper.
And I will rejoice under the cover of thy wings:
My soul hath stuck close to thee:
thy right hand hath received me.

The Epistle of St. Paul, The Apostle, to the Romans 12:1-2
Haydock New Testament

I BESEECH[4] you, therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,[5] holy, pleasing to God, your reasonable service.[6] And be not conformed to this world: but be reformed in the newness of your mind: that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.[7]

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 16:21-27
Haydock New Testament

Get Thee Behind Me, Satan

From that time forth Jesus began to shew to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and the Scribes, and the chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again.[8] And Peter taking him, began to rebuke him, saying:

Lord, be it far from thee; this shall not be unto thee.[9]

But he turning, said to Peter:

Go after me, Satan,[10] thou art a scandal unto me: because thou dost not relish the things that are of God, but the things that are of men.[11]

Then Jesus said to his disciples:

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.[12] For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.[13] For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?[14] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels:[15] and then will he render to ever man according to his works.

 

 

Footnotes    (↵ returns to text)
  1. Thou hast deceived, &c.  The meaning of the prophet is not to charge God with any untruth; but what he calls deceiving, was only the concealing from him, when he accepted of the prophetical commission, the greatness of the evils which the execution of that commission was to bring upon him.  Ch. — Heb. “thou hast enticed me,” when I declined the office.  T. — God never promised that he should suffer no persecution.  H. — Jeremias might also have supposed that he was to be sent to the Gentiles.  C. i. 5.  S. Jer. in C. xxv. 18. — The oriental languages are much more lofty than ours, and express common things in the strongest manner.  C. — We may perceive the different emotions of fear and joy (D.) with which the prophet was actuated, like S. Paul, and our Saviour himself.  The saints evince the weakness of man and the power of divine grace.  C. — Heb. “If thou, Lord, hast deceived me, I am,” &c.  Tournemine.↵
  2. Day.  They keep asking where are these enemies from the north, the plagues? &c.  C. — He is sorry to see the word of God despised, (Theod.) and is guilty of a venial pusillanimity, concluding that his words had no good effect.  M.↵
  3. And there, or “for,” &c.  I was grieved continually.  Sanctius. — I could not however refrain from speaking.  Acts xvii. 16. and 1 Cor. ix. 16.  Job xxxii. 18.↵
  4. With this chapter S. Paul begins his second part, in which he gives us most excellent lessons of morality, after which every Christian should aim to form his life, and thus resemble Jesus Christ and his saints.  A.↵
  5. That you present your bodies a living sacrifice.  And how must this be done? says S. Chrys. hom. xx.  Let the eye abstain from sinful looks and glances, and it is a sacrifice; the tongue from speaking ill, and it is a sacrifice, &c.↵
  6. Your reasonable service, or worship,[1] from you; nothing being more reasonable, than for men to serve God with their souls and bodies, &c.  Wi.↵
  7. Take care, lest you imitate the practices of worldlings.  Let your heart, your ambition, carry you to heaven: ever despise those things which the world admires, that every one may see by your actions that you are not of the society of worldlings, and have neither regard nor friendship for them.  Calmet. — Transform yourselves into new men, by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern on all occasions, what is most perfect, most pleasing and acceptable to God.  V.↵
  8. From that time, &c.  Now when the apostles firmly believed that Jesus was the Messias, and the true Son of God, he saw it necessary to let them know he was to die an infamous death on the cross, that they might be disposed to believe that mystery; (Wi.) and that they might not be too much exalted with the power given to them, and manifestation made to them.  A.↵
  9. Peter taking him, &c. out of a tender love, respect and zeal for his honour, began to expostulate with him, and as it were to reprehend him,[3] saying, Lord, far be it from thee, God forbid, &c.  Wi.↵
  10. Go after me, Satan.[4]  The words may signify, begone from me; but out of respect due to the expositions of the ancient fathers, who would have these words to signify come after me, or follow me, I have put, with the Rheims translation, go after me.  Satan is the same as an adversary: (Wi.) and is here applied to Peter, however, unknowingly or innocently, raised an opposition against the will of God, against the glory of Jesus, against the redemption of mankind, and against the destruction of the devil’s kingdom.  He did not understand that there was nothing more glorious than to make of one’s life a sacrifice to God.  V.↵
  11. Thou dost not, i.e. thy judgment in this particular is not conformable with that of God.  Hence our separated brethren conclude that Christ did not, in calling him the rock in the preceding verses, appoint him the solid and permanent foundation of his Church.  This conclusion, however, is not true, because, as S. Augustine and theologians affirm Peter could fall into error in points regarding morals and facts, though not in defining or deciding on points of faith.  Moreover, S. Peter was not, as S. Jerom says, appointed the pillar of the Church till after Christ’s resurrection.  T. — And it was not till the night before Christ suffered that he said to Peter: Behold, Satan hath desired to have thee; but I have prayed for thee, that “thy faith fail not,” and thou being once converted confirm thy brethren.  Luke xxii. 31.  A.↵
  12. If any man will come.  S. Chry. Euthymius, and Theophylactus, shew that free will is confirmed by these words.  Do not expect, O Peter, that since you have confessed me to be the Son of God, you are immediately to be crowned, as if this were sufficient for salvation, and that the rest of your days may be spent in idleness and pleasure.  For, although by my power, as Son of God, I would free you from every danger and trouble, yet this I will not do for your sake, that you may yourself contribute to your glory, and become the more illustrious.  S. Chry. hom. lvi.↵
  13. Whosoever will save his life.  Lit. his soul.  In the style of the Scriptures, the word soul is sometimes put for the life of the body, sometimes for the whole man.  Wi. — Whosoever acts against duty and conscience to save the life of his body, shall lose eternal life; and whoever makes the sacrifice of his life, or the comforts and conveniences of life for conscience sake, shall be rewarded with life eternal.↵
  14. And lose his own soul.  Christ seems in these words to pass from the life of the body to that of the soul.  Wi.↵
  15. Shall come in the glory.  Jesus Christ wishing to shew his disciples the greatness of his glory at his future coming, reveals to them in this life as much as it was possible for them to comprehend, purposely to strengthen them against the scandal of his ignominious death.  S. Chry.↵

Scripture Readings August 21 2011 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday, August 21st, 2011 at 2:10 am 
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21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Official Readings available at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Isaiah 22:19-23
DR Challoner

And I will drive thee out from thy station, and depose thee from thy ministry. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliacim[1] the son of Helcias, And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle,[2] and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda.

And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder:[3] and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a peg[4] in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father.

Responsorial Psalm 137:1-3, 6, 8
DR Challoner Text Only

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart:
for thou hast heard the words of my mouth.
I will sing praise to thee in the sight of the angels:
I will worship towards thy holy temple,
and I will give glory to thy name.
For thy mercy, and for thy truth:
for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all.
In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me:
thou shalt multiply strength in my soul.
For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low:
and the high he knoweth afar off.
The Lord will repay for me:
thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever:
O despise not the works of thy hands.

The Epistle of St Paul to the Romans 11:33-36
Haydock New Testament

O the depth of the riches, of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God![5] How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him? For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen.[6]

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 16:13-20
Haydock New Testament

And Jesus came into the parts of Cæsarea Philippi:[7] and he asked his disciples saying:

Whom do men say that the Son of man is?

But they said:

Some John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.[8]

But Jesus saith to them:

But whom do you say that I am?[9]

Simon Peter answering said:[10]

Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God.[11]

And Jesus answering, said to him:

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona:[12] because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father, who is in heaven. And I say to thee:[13] That thou art Peter;[14] and upon this rock I will build my church,[15] and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.[16] And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.[17] And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven:[18] and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.[19]

Then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.[20]

Footnotes    (↵ returns to text)
  1. Eliacim, who had been displaced, v. 15. He acted as regent after the departure of Manasses, who always followed his counsels at his return. Judith iv. 5. The priesthood was not then incompatible with civil and military functions.↵
  2. Girdle, the badge of power. Job xii. 18.↵
  3. Shoulder. Here the marks of dignity were worn. Eliacim was appointed master of the palace, over all the other servants. C. — Thus we may gather what power Christ conferred on S. Peter, when he gave him the keys of heaven. Mat. xvi. 19. Apoc. iii. 7. H.↵
  4. Peg, on which whatever is placed shall be secure. 1 Esd. ix. 8.↵
  5. O the depth, &c. After he hath spoken of the mysteries of God’s grace and predestination, of his mercy and justice, which we must not pretend to dive into, he concludes this part of his epistle, by an exclamation, to teach us submission of our judgment, as to the secrets of his providence, which we cannot comprehend.↵
  6. How incomprehensible are his judgments, &c. — Who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him? That is, no one, by any merit on his part, can first deserve God’s favours and mercy, by which he prevents us. — For of him, from God, or from Jesus Christ, as God, and by him, who made, preserves, and governs all things, and in him, is our continual dependance: for in him we live, we move, and exist. In the Greek, it is unto him,[3] to signify he is also our last end. See the notes, John c. i. Wi. — All things are from God, as their first cause and creator; all things are by God, as the ruler and governor of the universe; and all things are in God, or (as the Greek has it) for God, because they are all directed to his honour and glory. For the hath made all things for himself. Ps. xvi. S. Basil, lib. de Spiritu sto. c. 5.↵
  7. Cæarea Philippi, was first called Paneades, and was afterwards embellished and greatly enlarged by Philip the tetrarch, son of Herod the great, and dedicated in honour of Augustus, hence its name. There was moreover another Cæsarea, called Straton, situated on the Mediterranean: and not in this, but in the former, did Christ interrogate his disciples. He first withdrew them from the Jews, that they might with more boldness and freedom deliver their sentiments. S. Chry. hom. lv. — The Cæsarea here mentioned continued to be called by heathen writers Panea, from the adjoining spring Paneum, or Panium, which is usually taken for the source of the Jordan.↵
  8. Some say, &c. Herod thought that Christ was the Baptist, on account of his prodigies. S. Mat. xiv. 2. Others that he was Elias: 1st. because they expected he was about to return to them, according to the prophecy of Malachias; behold I will send you Elias; 2d. on account of the greatness of his miracles; 3d. on account of his invincible zeal and courage in the cause of truth and justice. Others again said he was Jeremias, either on account of his great sanctity, for he was sanctified in his mother’s womb; or, on account of his great charity and love for his brethren, as it was written of Jeremias: he is a lover of his brethren. Or, again, one of the prophets, viz. Isaias, or some other noted for eloquence; for it was the opinion of many of the Jews, as we read in S. Luke, that one of the ancient prophets had arisen again. Dion. Carth.↵
  9. Whom do you say that I am? You, who have been continually with me; you, who have seen me perform so many more miracles; you, who have yourselves worked miracles in my name? From this pointed interrogation, Jesus Christ intimates, that the opinion men had formed of him was very inadequate to the exalted dignity of his person, and that he expects they will have a juster conception of him. Chry. hom. lv.↵
  10. Simon Peter answering. As Simon Peter had been constituted the first in the college of apostles, (Matt. x. 2.) and therefore surpasseth the others in dignity as much as in zeal, without hesitation, and in the name of all, he answers: thou art the Christ, the Redeemer promised to the world, not a mere man, not a mere prophet like other prophets, but the true and natural Son of the living God. Thus SS. Chrys. Cyril, Ambrose, Austin, and Tirinus. When our Saviour inquired the opinion of him, Peter, as the mouth of the rest, and head of the whole college, steps forth, and prevents the others. Chrys. hom. lv.↵
  11. Tu es Christus, filius Dei vivi; or, as it is in the Greek, ο χριστος, ο υιος; The Christ, the Son, the Christ formerly promised by the law and the prophets, expected and desired by all the saints, the anointed and consecrated to God: ο υιοσ, the Son, not by grace only, or an adoptive filiation like prophets, to whom Christ is here opposed, but by natural filiation, and in a manner that distinguishes him from all created beings. — Thou art[1] Christ, the Son of the living God, not by grace only, or by adoption, as saints are the sons of God, but by nature, and from all eternity, the true Son of the living God. Wi.↵
  12. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona. Σιμον is undoubtedly Συμεων, as written 2 Pet. i. 1. Βαριωνα is son of Jona, or John, an abridgment for Βαριωαννα. Bar, in Chaldaic, is son; hence S. Peter is called, in John xi, 16. and 17, Simon, son of John. It was customary with the Jews to add to a rather common name, for the sake of discrimination, a πατρωνυμικον, or patronymic, as appears from Matt. x. 3. and xxiii. 35. Mark ii. 14. John vi. 42. P.↵
  13. Κἀγὼ. And I say to thee, and tell thee why I before declared, (John i. 42.) that thou shouldst be called Peter, for thou art constituted the rock upon which, as a foundation, I will build my Church, and that so firmly, as not to suffer the gates (i.e. the powers) of hell to prevail against its foundation; because if they overturn its foundation, (i.e. thee and thy successors) they will overturn also the Church that rests upon it. Christ therefore here promises to Peter, that he and his successors should be to the end, as long as the Church should last, its supreme pastors and princes. T. — In the Syriac tongue, which is that which Jesus Christ spoke, there is no difference of genders, as there is in Latin, between patra, a rock, and Petrus, Peter; hence, in the original language, the allusion was both more natural and more simple. V.↵
  14. Thou art Peter;[2] and upon this (i.e. upon thee, according to the literal and general exposition of the ancient Fathers) I will build my church. It is true S. Augustine, in one or two places, thus expounds these words, and upon this rock, (i.e. upon myself:) or upon this rock, which Peter hath confessed: yet he owns that he had also given the other interpretation, by which Peter himself was the rock. Some Fathers have also expounded it, upon this faith, which Peter confessed; but then they take not faith, as separated from the person of Peter, but on Peter, as holding the true faith. No one questions but that Christ himself is the great foundation-stone, the chief corner-stone, as S. Paul tells the Ephesians; (C. ii, v. 20.) but it is also certain, that all the apostles may be called foundation-stones of the Church, as represented Apoc. xxi. 14. In the mean time, S. Peter (called therefore Cephas, a rock) was the first and chief foundation-stone among the apostles, on whom Christ promised to build his Church. Wi. — Thou art Peter, &c. As S. Peter, by divine revelation, here made a solemn profession of his faith of the divinity of Christ, so in recompense of this faith and profession, our Lord here declares to him the dignity to which he is pleased to raise him: viz. that he, to whom he had already given the name of Peter, signifying a rock, (John i. 42.) should be a rock indeed, of invincible strength, for the support of the building of the church; in which building he should be next to Christ himself, the chief foundation-stone, in quality of chief pastor, ruler, and governor; and should have accordingly all fulness of ecclesiastical power, signified by the keys of the kingdom of heaven.↵
  15. Upon this rock, &c. The words of Christ to Peter, spoken in the vulgar language of the Jews, which our Lord made use of, were the same as if he had said in English, Thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my church. So that, by the plain course of the words, Peter is here declared to be the rock, upon which the church was to be built; Christ himself being both the principal foundation and founder of the same. Where also note, that Christ by building his house, that is, his Church, upon a rock, has thereby secured it against all storms and floods, like the wise builder. Matt. vii. 24, 25.↵
  16. The gates of hell, &c. That is, the powers of darkness, and whatever Satan can do, either by himself or his agents. For as the Church is here likened to a house, or fortress, the gates of which, i.e. the whole strength, and all the efforts it can make, will never be able to prevail over the city or Church of Christ. By this promise we are fully assured, that neither idolatry, heresy, nor any pernicious error whatsoever shall at any time prevail over the Church of Christ. Ch. — The gates, in the Oriental style, signify the powers; thus, to this day, we designate the Ottoman or Turkish empire by the Ottoman port. The princes were wont to hold their courts at the gates of the city. V.↵
  17. And I will give to thee the keys, &c. This is another metaphor, expressing the supreme power and prerogative of the prince of the apostles. The keys of a city, or of its gates, are presented or given to the person that hath the chief power. We also own a power of the keys, given to the other apostles, but with a subordination to S. Peter and to his successor, as head of the Catholic Church.↵
  18. And whatsoever thou shalt bind, &c. All the apostles, and their successors, partake also of this power of binding and loosing, but with a due subordination to one head invested with the supreme power. Wi.↵
  19. Loose on earth. The loosing the bands of temporal punishments due to sins, is called an indulgence: the power of which is here granted. Ch. — Although Peter and his successors are mortal, they are nevertheless endowed with heavenly power, says S. Chry. nor is the sentence of life and death passed by Peter to be attempted to be reversed, but what he declares is to be considered a divine answer from heaven, and what he decrees, a decree of God himself. He that heareth you, heareth me, &c. The power of binding is exercised, 1st. by refusing to absolve; 2d. by enjoining penance for sins forgiven; 3d. by excommunication, suspension or interdict; 4th. by making rules and laws for the government of the Church; 5th. by determining what is of faith by the judgments and definitions of the Church. T. — The terms binding and loosing, are equivalent to opening and shutting, because formerly the Jews opened the fastenings of their doors by untying it, and they shut or secured their doors by tying or binding it. V. — Dr. Whitby, a learned Protestant divine, thus expounds this and the preceding verse: “As a suitable return to thy confession, I say also to thee, that thou art by name Peter, i.e. a rock; and upon thee, who art this rock, I will build my making laws to govern my Church.” (Tom. i, p. 143.) Dr. Hammond, another Protestant divine, explains it in the same manner. And p. 92, he says: ” What is here meant by the keys, is best understand by Isaias xxii. 22, where they signified ruling the whole family or house of the king: and this being by Christ accommodated to the Church, denotes the power of governing it.”↵
  20. Tell no one that he was Jesus, the Christ. In some MSS. both Greek and Latin, the name Jesus is not here found, and many interpreters think it superfluous in this place. The Greek expressly says the Christ adjoining the article, which the Latin tongue does not express. V. — “In a preceding part of Scripture, Jesus sending his apostles, commanded them to publish his coming; but here he seems to give a contrary mandate, tell no one, &c. but in my opinion it is one thing to preach the Christ, and another to preach Christ Jesus; for Christ is a name of dignity, but Jesus is the particular name of the Redeemer.” S. Jer. — He did not forbid them to teach that there was a Messias a Redeemer, but to declare then that he was the person; 2d. the disciples (Matt. x,) are not sent to preach the gospel, strictly speaking, but only to prepare the minds and hearts of the people for the coming of the Messias, as is evident from Mat. x. 23. See Mark xiv. 61. and 62. John v. 18. and viii. 58. and x. 30. and xi. 27. But why did he lay this injunction? To avoid the envy of the Scribes, and not to appear to raise his own glory. He wished the people to be induced to own him for their Messias, not from the testimony of his retainers, but from his miracles and doctrines; and lastly, because as his time was not yet come, the apostles were not yet fit to deliver, nor the people to receive, this grand tenet. Mat. Polus. — It might moreover have proved a hinderance to his death.↵

Daily Scripture Readings Wednesday August 17 2011 20th Week in Ordinary Time Cycle I

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 at 12:01 am 
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Wednesday 20th Week in Ordinary Time Cycle I
Official Readings available at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Let me know if you like or dislike the new style of the footnotes. They’re still the Haydock notes, but they are noted within the text to match the notes more accurately according to the text, and so that you can hover over them to see the notes as you are reading the Scripture readings. I’m not sure if I can keep doing them that way since it takes quite a bit of time, but I tried to make it easier to study the text with the notes.

Judges 9:6-15
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the families of the city of Mello:[1] and they went and made Abimelech king,[2] by the oak[3] that stood in Sichem. This being told to Joatham, he went, and stood on[4] the top of Mount Garizim:[5] and lifting up his voice, he cried, and said:

Hear me, ye men of Sichem, so may God hear you.

The trees went to anoint a king over them: and they said to the olive tree:

Reign thou over us.[6]

And it answered:

Can I leave[7] my fatness, which both gods and men make use of,[8] to come to be promoted[9] among the trees?

And the trees said to the fig tree:

Come thou and reign over us.

And it answered them:

Can I leave my sweetness[10], and my delicious fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?

And the trees said to the vine:

Come thou and reign over us.

And it answered them:

Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth God and men,[11] and be promoted among the other trees?

And all the trees said to the bramble:[12]

Come thou and reign over us.

And it answered them:

If, indeed, you mean to make me king, come ye, and rest under my shadow:[13] but if you mean it not, let fire[14] come out from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus.

Psalm 20:2-7 (Ps 21 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

In thy strength, O Lord, the king shall joy;
and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly.
Thou hast given him his heart’s desire:
and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips.
For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness:
thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.
He asked life of thee: and thou hast given him
length of days for ever and ever.
His glory is great in thy salvation:
glory and great beauty shalt thou lay upon him.
For thou shalt give him to be a blessing for ever and ever:
thou shalt make him joyful in gladness with thy countenance.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 20:1-16
Haydock New Testament

Jesus said to his disciples:

The kingdom[15] of heaven is like to a master of a family, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.[16] And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day,[17] he sent them into his vineyard. And going about the third hour,[18] he saw others standing idle in the market-place,[19] And he said to them,  

Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just.[20]

 

Jesus Sits by the Seashore and Preaches

And they went their way.  And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them:

Why stand you here all the day idle?

They say to him:

Because no man hath hired us.[21]

He saith to them:

Go you also into my vineyard.

And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward:

Call the labourers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first.

When therefore they came, who had come about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should have receive more: and they likewise received every man a penny. And receiving it,[22] they murmured against the master of the house, Saying:

These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats.

But he answering one of them, said,

Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give[23] to this last even as to thee. Or is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye evil, because I am good?

So shall the last be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen.[24]

 

 

Footnotes    (↵ returns to text)
  1. Mello.  We know of no such city in the vicinity of Sichem.  Heb. “all the house of Millo:” which some take to be the town-house of Sichem, full of the chief citizens, as Mello signifies “filled up;” (Vatable) or it might designate some part of the city which had been levelled, like the deep valley at Jerusalem, (3 K. ix. 15.  H.) and where some powerful family, probably the father of Abimelech’s mother, might dwell.  C.↵
  2. This family would interest itself the most in the advancement of the tyrant, v. 3.  H.↵
  3. Oak.  Heb. “the plain, or oak of the statue,” (alluding to the monument which was left here by Josue, v. 37.  Josue xxiv. 26) or Sept. “of the station,” as those of Sichem might assemble here to deliberate on public affairs, (C.) in memory of the solemn covenant between God and the people.  H.↵
  4. Stood on.  As Abimelech was a figure of Antichrist, who will reign for a time, so Joatham denotes the pastors of the church, who shall stand up for the truth.  W.↵
  5. Garizim.  At the foot of this mountain Sichem was built.  Joatham addressed the people of the city, probably during the absence of Abimelech, (C.) when, Josephus (v. 9.) says, a great festival was celebrated.↵
  6. Us.  By this parable, Joatham expostulates with the men of Sichem, who had so basely requited the labours of Gedeon, and had given the preference to the son of a servant, who was of the most savage temper.  H. — In a spiritual sense, which the Fathers chiefly regard, heretics and schismatics act in this manner, and choose rather to be governed by those who will allow them to follow their passions, than by such governors as God has appointed, though the latter be endued with the grace of the Holy Ghost, and with all virtues, signified by the olive and other fruit trees.  They prefer the bramble, or the worst dispositions, like Nemrod, Mahomet, Antichrist, &c. who, after persecuting the virtuous, and Catholics for a time, 2 Thess. ii.) will, in the end, prove their ruin, though they themselves be involved in the common destruction.  “Fire shall rise (says V. Bede, q. 6.) against this bramble, Antichrist, and shall devour him, and all his together.”  W. — The use of parables has been very general.  M. — Agrippa brought the Roman plebeians, who had retired to the sacred mount, to a sense of their duty, and to a love of mutual harmony with the nobles, by observing that the members once refused to supply the wants  of the belly, because it did not labour like the rest.  Livy ii. — In the application of these parables, Maimonides justly remarks, that we must consider their general scope, and not pretend to explain every circumstance; (More. Neboc.) a remark which Origen had already made.  Many things are only added for the sake of ornament.  H. — Thus we need not imagine that the people of Sichem offered the sovereign authority to many, who refused to accept of it, and at last only prevailed upon Abimelech.  Gedeon had, indeed, rejected a similar offer, (C. viii. 22.) and his other sons not endeavouring to retain the authority of their father, the Sichemites acceded to the petition of Abimelech, to anoint him king.  This expression does not always imply a material unction, though such was used among the Jews.  It signifies the granting of all the power of a king; in which sense it is applied to foreign princes, (Isa. lxv. 1.) and to Jesus Christ, (Dan. ix. 24.) who received the reality of that sovereign dominion, of which this unction was only a figure.  C.↵
  7. Leave.  But, would this advancement prove any disadvantage?  The king is bound to give himself up wholly for the good of the public, so that he must frequently be full of anxiety and care. C.↵
  8. Use of.  The olive-tree is introduced, speaking in this manner, because oil was used, both in the worship of the true God, and in that of the false gods, whom the Sichemites served.  Ch. — The pagans burnt lamps in honour of their idols, and anointed their statues: unguentoque lares humescere nigro.  Prud. c. Sym. 1. — They also anointed their military standards at Rome.  Plin. xiii. 3. — The same author observes, that “two sorts of liquor are very delightful to the bodies of men: wine to drink and oil for the outside: intus vini, foris olei.  B. xiv. 22. — Men use oil to strengthen and foment their bodies, as well as to give them light.  C. — It spiritually denotes the grace of God, which establishes the peace of the soul, as the fig-tree signifies the sweetness of God’s law, producing good works, and the vine shews forth those noble actions, which are performed without the affection of outward show; and which are therefore, most agreeable both to God and to men.  W.↵
  9. Promoted.  Some translate the Heb. “to put myself in motion for.”  Syr. &c.  We might also render, “which honoureth the gods, (or the judges) and men to come to be promoted among (or disquieted on account of) the trees.”↵
  10. Sweetness.  The fig is the sweetest of fruits, and is regarded as the symbol of sweetness.  Aristop.  Bonfrere.↵
  11. Cheereth God and men.  Wine is here represented as agreeable to God, because he had appointed it to be offered up with his sacrifices.  But we are not obliged to take these words, spoken by the trees in Joatham’s parable, according to the strict rigour of divinity; but only in a sense accommodated to the design of the parable expressed in the conclusion of it.  Ch. — The same word, Elohim, which is translated God may also signify any powerful man, as in v. 9.  H. — Yet wine may be said to cheer God, in the same figurative sense, as the odour of victims is sweet and delightful to him.  C. — He is pleased with the devotion of men, and requires these things as a testimony of their love and fidelity.  H. — Joatham might speak according to the notions of the idolaters, who thought that their gods really fed on ambrosia and nectar, and were pleased with the smell of victims and of perfumes.  That wine cheereth the heart of man needs no proof.  Ps. ciii. 15. — Tunc veniunt risus, tunc pauper cornua sumit.—Tunc dolor et curæ rugaque frontis abit.  Ovid.↵
  12. Bramble.  Sept. rhamnos, “the white, or hawthorn.”  Some suppose that atad means “a wild rose, (Vatab.) thistle,” &c.  C. — It is here put for any base and ambitious man.  W.↵
  13. Shadow or protection, Ps. xvi. 8.  Baruc. i. 12.  C. — Joatham hints at the insolence of Abimelech, (H.) and foretels that he and his foolish subjects will soon be at variance, and destroy each other.↵
  14. Fire is often put for war.  The people of Sichem began soon to despise their new king, and he made war upon them, and destroyed their city; though the people afterwards took ample revenge, v. 20.  C. — Tyrants promise much, but their rage soon falls upon the more wealthy and powerful citizens, (H.) here signified by the cedars.  M.↵
  15. For the kingdom.  The participle for, is found in the Greek, and connects the present parable with the last verse of the preceding chapter: indeed it is a comment on that text, and describes to us the gospel dispensation.  Thus the conduct of God in the choice he makes of members for his spiritual kingdom, the Church, and of his elect for the kingdom of heaven, is not unlike that of the father of a family, who hires workmen to labour in his vineyard.  There are various opinions respecting who are meant by the first, and by the last, in this parable.  Many of the fathers suppose that the saints of different states and degrees are here designed, whose reward will suffer no diminution from the circumstances of their having come to the service of Christ at a late age of the world, according to SS. Hilary, Gregory, and Theophylactus; or, at a late age of life, according to SS. Basil, Jerom, and Fulgentius.  In the latter case, however, we must understand that their greater fervour in co-operating with divine grace, in the latter part of their life, has supplied and compensated for the defect of their preceding negligence; hence it may sometimes happen that the reward of such as enter late in life on the service of God, will exceed that of the less fervent who have entered at an earlier period.  But as Christ rather seems to speak here of his militant than his triumphant Church, many commentators explain the parable of the Jews and Gentiles.  For the Jews, after bearing the yoke of the Mosaic law for so many ages, received nothing more than what was promised to the observance of that law; whilst Christians receive a more plentiful reward for their more easy labour under the sweet yoke of the gospel.  In which sense Christ says to the Jews, Luke xiii. 29: Publicans and harlots shall go before you into the kingdom of heaven.  “And, strangers shall come from the east, and from the west, and the north, and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.  And behold they are last that shall be first, and they are first that shall be last.”  Ibid. 30. — Hence the Jews may be supposed to murmur, that they who are first in their vocation to be the people of God, and first in the observance of his law, should not be preferred to others, who in these respects have been far posterior to them.  T.↵
  16. By the vineyard, says S. Chrysostom, we here understand, the commandments of God.  The time for labour is the present life.  In the first, third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours, i.e. in infancy, youth, manhood, declining years, and extreme decrepitude of age, many individuals, yielding to the effective call of God, labour in the exact performance of the divine commandments.  Hom. lxv.↵
  17. The Roman penny, or denarius, was the 8th part of an ounce; which, at the rate of 5s. per ounce, is 7½d. It is put here for the usual hire of a day-labourer.↵
  18. About the third hour.  As the Jews divided their nights into four watches, each watch comprehending three hours, so they divided their days into four greater hours, from sunrise to sunset, and each of these great hours contained three lesser hours; so that the whole day from sunrise to sunset, consisted of 12 hours, as also did the night.  The first of the great hours, comprehending the three first lesser hours, contained half of the space betwixt the rising of the sun and mid-day; and the end of this time was called the third hour.  The next great hour was from that time till mid-day, called the sixth hour.  The following great hour contained half of the time betwixt noon and the setting of the sun, the end of which was called the ninth hour.  The fourth great hour comprehended the last three lesser hours remaining till sunset, so that at the end of the eleventh hour, mentioned here, v. 6, began the last lesser hour of the twelve hours of the day; of which our Saviour said, (Jo. xi. 9,) are there not twelve hours in the day? — As to the moral sense of the parable, by the day is commonly expounded all the time from the creation to the end of the world, and so the third hour is reckoned from Adam to Noe; the sixth from Noe to Abraham; the ninth from Abraham to Moses; and from the ninth to the eleventh, was from Moses till Christ’s coming; and the time from Christ to the end of the world, is the 12th hour.  Other interpreters, by the day understand human life; and by the different hours, infancy, youth, the age of manhood, old age, and the last hour man’s decrepit age.  God is master and disposer of all, who by his grace calls some sooner, some later.↵
  19. The market-place, in which men are so often found idle, as to the great concern of their eternal salvation, is the world.  The design of this parable was to shew that the Gentiles, though called later than the Jews, should be made partakers of the promises made to the Jews; this is also the meaning of verse 16, where it is said: the last shall be first, and the first last.  Wi.↵
  20. I will give you what shall be just.  The prospect of a reward is therefore a good motive, authorized here by Christ himself.↵
  21. No man hath hired us.  S. Chrys. again puts us in mind, that in parables all the parts are not significant, but some things are to be taken as mere ornaments of parabolical discourses, as here murmurings, which cannot be found in heaven: nor can men pretend they are not hired into God’s service; God hath given lights, called, hired, and promised heaven to all.  The rewards in heaven are also different.  And they who are last called, if they labour with greater fervour, may deserve a greater reward than others called before them.  Wi. — The Greek text finishes with, you shall receive what is reasonable. — We must observe here, says S. Chrys. on the words, because no man hath hired us, that this is the voice of the labourers only, in excuse for their not having entered upon their work before this late hour; for the master of the vineyard had shewn his willingness to hire them all, by going out early for that purpose.  Though the fault was their own, he does not upbraid them, but abstains from all harshness and severity, that he may the more easily engage them.  Hom. lxv.↵
  22. And when they received it.  By those who laboured all the day in the vineyard, we are to understand such as have spent their whole lives in the service of God; but we are not thence to infer, that in the kingdom of heaven, where all receive their just reward, there is envy, discontent, or any complaint.  By these words, Christ wishes to convey to our minds an idea of the immense honours that will be heaped upon all such as return with sincerity, though at the decline or even verge of life, to the Almighty.  So exceeding great will be their reward, that it would excite envy, were it possible, even in the elect.  S. Chrys. hom. lxv.↵
  23. I will also give.  Some are called to the service of their God, and to a life of virtue, from their infancy, whilst others, by a powerful call from above, are converted late in life, that the former may have no occasion to glory in themselves, or to despise those who, even in the 11th hour, enter upon the path of rectitude; and that all might learn that there is time sufficient, however short, left them to repair by their diligence and fervour their past losses.  S. Chry. hom. lxv. — Jesus Christ does not count so much the number of years, as the fervour and diligence we employ in his service.  Calvin is rather unhappy in his choice of this parable to prove his favourite tenet, that salvation is not the reward of good works, but of faith alone, or predestination, since Jesus Christ represents heaven as given wholly as a just reward of meritorious labour in the vineyard, though some labour a shorter, and others a longer time, and God of his great goodness may give more to some than to others, while to all He gives at least their due.  And a truly humble Christian will be ever satisfied with his lot, without envying that of others.  A. — As star differeth from star in glory in the firmament, (1 Cor. xv. 41,) so will there be different degrees of glory in heaven.  S. Aug. de virgin. c. xxvi.↵
  24. Few chosen: only such as have not despised their caller, but followed and believed him; for men believed not, but of their own free will.  S. Aug. l. i, ad Simplic. q. ii.  B. — Hence the rejection of the Jews and of negligent Christians, and the conversion of strangers, who come and take their place, by a conversion both of faith and morals.  On the part of God all are called.  Mat. xi. 28.  Come to me all, &c.  In effect, many after their call, have attained to faith and justification; but few in comparison are elected to eternal glory, because the far greater part do not obey the call, but refuse to come, whilst many of those who come fall away again; and thus very few, in comparison with those that perish, will at the last day be selected for eternal glory.  T.↵

Monday Bible Readings August 15 2011 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Vigil Mass

Monday, August 15th, 2011 at 1:50 am 
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August 15 2011 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Vigil
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

1 Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2 (Paralipomenon)
DR Challoner Text

ark brought to JerusalemAnd he gathered all Israel together into Jerusalem, that the ark of God might be brought into its place, which he had prepared for it. And the sons of Aaron also, and the Levites. And the sons of Levi took the ark of God as Moses had commanded, according to the word of the Lord, upon their shoulders, with the staves. And David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites, to appoint some of their brethren to be singers with musical instruments, to wit, on psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, that the joyful noise might resound on high.

So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent, which David had pitched for it: and they offered holocausts, and peace offerings before God. And when David had made an end of offering holocausts, and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm 131:6-7, 9-10, 13-14 (Ps 132 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Behold we have heard of it in Ephrata:
we have found it in the fields of the wood.
We will go into his tabernacle:
we will adore in the place where his feet stood.
Let thy priests be clothed with justice:
and let thy saints rejoice.
For thy servant David’s sake,
turn not away the face of thy anointed.
For the Lord hath chosen Sion:
he hath chosen it for his dwelling.
This is my rest for ever and ever:
here will I dwell, for I have chosen it.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57
Haydock New Testament

For this corruptible must put on incorruption: and this mortal must put on immortality. And when this mortal has put on immortality, then shall everything come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

Now the sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Woman Cries Out in a Crowd

A Woman Cries Out in a Crowd

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 11:27-28
Haydock New Testament

And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, that a certain woman, from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him:

Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck.

But he said:

Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.

Haydock Commentary 1 Chronicles (Paralipomenon) 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

  • CHAP. 16 Ver. 2. Lord, wishing them all felicity, and making them presents, like the master of a family, v. 43, and 2 K. vi. 18. C. — Any superior may bless. W.

Haydock Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

  • Ver. 54. Death is swallowed up in victory, in regard of the saints and the elect, so that it may be said, O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? over which the saints shall triumph, and also over sin and hell. Wi.

Haydock Commentary Luke 11:27-28

  • Ver. 28. Menounge, imo vero, yes indeed. Our Saviour does not here wish to deny what the woman had said, but rather to confirm it: indeed how could he deny, as Calvin impiously maintained, that his mother was blessed? By these words, he only wishes to tell his auditors what great advantage they might obtain by attending to his words. For the blessed Virgin, as S. Augustine says, was more happy in having our Saviour in her heart and affections, than in having conceived him in her womb. Tirinus.

Sunday Bible Readings August 14 2011 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday, August 14th, 2011 at 1:28 am 
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20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Official Readings available at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Note: I also recommend checking the official readings in the link above. There are good notes in the NABRE, especially for the newly revised Old Testament translation, which is now available on the USCCB website.

Isaiah 56:1, 6-7
DR Challoner

Thus saith the Lord:

Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my justice to be revealed. And the children of the stranger that adhere to the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name, to be his servants: every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast my covenant: I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts, and their victims shall please me upon my altar: for my house shall be called the house of prayer, for all nations.

Responsorial Psalm 66:2-3, 5, 6, 8 (Ps 67 NAB/Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only

May God have mercy on us, and bless us:
may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us,
and may he have mercy on us.
That we may know thy way upon earth:
thy salvation in all nations.
Let the nations be glad and rejoice:
for thou judgest the people with justice,
and directest the nations upon earth.
Let the people, O God, confess to thee:
let all the people give praise to thee:
May God bless us:
and all the ends of the earth fear him.

Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
Haydock New Testament

For I say to you, Gentiles: As long, indeed, as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I will honour my ministry, If by any means I may provoke emulation of those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. For if the loss of them be the reconciliation of the world: what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. For as you also in times past did not believe God, but now have obtained mercy, through their unbelief: So these also now have not believed for your mercy, that they also obtain mercy. For God hath concluded all in unbelief, that he may have mercy on all.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 15:21-28
Haydock New Testament

And Jesus went from thence, and retired into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Chanaan, who came out of those parts, crying out, said to him:

Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil.

But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying:

Send her away, for she crieth after us:

And he answering, said:

I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.

But she came and worshipped him, saying:

Lord, help me.

But he answered, and said:

It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.

But she said:

Yea, Lord: for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.

Then Jesus answering, said to her:

O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee as thou wilt. And her daughter was cured from that hour.

Haydock Commentary Isaias 56:1, 6-7
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

  • Ver. 1. Judgment, the right resolution to do God’s will, which justice executes. C. xxxii. W. — My justice. Sept. “mercy.” Christ is at hand. Prepare for your deliverance, by keeping the commandments.
  • Ver. 7. Prayer. So the temple is justly styled. H. — This shall be open to all nations. After the captivity, the Jews condescended to let the Gentiles have a court, and they even suffered some princes to go into the court of the priests. 2 Mac. iii. 33. Physcon wished to penetrate into the inner sanctuary, (3 Mac. Eccli. l.) which could not be granted.

 

Haydock Commentary Romans 11:13-15, 29-32

  • Ver. 11-15. Have they so stumbled, that they should fall? God forbid. That is, their fall is not irreparable, or so as never to rise again: but by their offending, salvation (through the liberal mercy of God) is come to the Gentiles, that they, the Jews, may be emulous of the Gentiles, and of their happiness, and so may be converted. Wi. — The nation of the Jews is not absolutely and without remedy cast off for ever; but in part only (many thousands of them having been at first converted) and for a time: which fall of theirs God has been pleased to turn to the good of the Gentiles. Ch. — How much more the fulness of them? As if he should say, if the obstinacy of so many Jews seem to be an occasion upon which God, whose mercy calls whom he pleaseth, hath bestowed the riches of his grace on other nations; and while the glory of the Jews, the elect people of God, has been diminished, the Gentiles have been made happy: how much more glorious will be the fulness of them? that is, according to the common interpretation, will be the re-establishment and conversion of the Jews hereafter, before the end of the world? See S. Chrys. om. iq. p. 164; S. Hilar. in Ps. lviii. S. Jer. in c. iii. Osee. Habac. iii. S. Aug. l. xx. de Civ. Dei. c. xxix. — Then (v. 15.) the receiving of them into the Church, and their conversion to Christ, shall be like life from the dead, when the Jewish nation in general, shall rise from the death of sin, and their hardened infidelity, to the life of faith and grace. These things I speak to you, Gentiles, to honour and comply with my ministry of being your apostle: yet endeavouring at the same time, if by a pious emulation, or by any other way, I may be able to bring any of my flesh, or of my brethren, the Jews, to be saved by the faith of Christ. Wi.
  • Ver. 30. &c. As you also in times past did not believe God, but now have obtained mercy through their unbelief, which was an occasion of God’s sending his preachers to you: but the cause of your salvation is God’s mercy. — That they also may obtain mercy. That is, God has permitted their incredulity, that being a greater object of pity, he may shew greater mercy in converting them by the free gift of his grace. — For God hath concluded[2] all, that is, has permitted at different times, both Gentiles and Jews, to fall into a state of unbelief, that the salvation of all may be known to come, not from themselves, but as an effect of his mercy and grace. Wi. — He hath found all nations, both Jews and Gentiles, in unbelief and sin; not by his causing, but by the abuse of their own free-will; so that their calling and election are purely owing to his mercy. Ch.

 

Haydock Commentary Matthew 15:21-28

  • Ver. 21. Confines of Tyre. It perhaps may be asked, why Jesus went among the Gentiles, when he had commanded his apostles to avoid those countries? One reason may be, that our Saviour was not subject to the same rules he gave his disciples; another reason may be brought, that he did not go then to preach; hence S. Matthew observes that he kept himself retired. S. Chry. — Tyre and Sidon were both situated on the Mediterranean sea, about 20 miles distant from each other, and the adjoining country to the west and north of Galilee was called the coast or territories of Tyre and Sidon. The old inhabitants of this tract were descendants of Chanaan, (for Sidon was his eldest son) and continued in possession of it much longer than they did of any other part of the country. The Greeks called it Phœnicia; and when, by right of conquest, it became a province of Syria, it took the name of Syrophœnician and Gentile; as being both by religion and language a Greek.
  • Ver. 22. It is probable that woman first cried out before the door, and assembled a crowd, and then went into the house. Have mercy on me. The great faith of the Chanaanæan woman is justly extolled. She believed him to be God, whom she calls her Lord, and him a man, whom she styles the Son of David. She lays no stress upon her own merits, but supplicates for the mercy of God; neither does she say, have mercy on my daughter, but have mercy on me. . . . To move him to compassion, she lays all her grief and sorrow before him in thee afflicting words: my daughter is grievously afflicted by a devil. Glossa.
  • Ver. 23. He answered her not. It must not be supposed that our Saviour refused to hear the woman through any contempt, but only to shew that his mission was in the first instance to the Jews; or to induce her to ask with greater earnestness, so as to deserve more ample assistance. Dion. Carth.
  • Ver. 26-7. And to cast it to the dogs; i.e. to Gentiles, sometimes so called by the Jews. Wi. — The diminutive word KunarioV, or whelp, is used in both these verses in the Septuagint. Our Lord crosses the wishes of the Chanaanæan, not that he intended to reject her, but that he might bring to light the hidden and secret treasure of her virtue. Let us admire not only the greatness of her faith, but likewise the profoundness of her humility; for when our Saviour called the Jews children, so far from being envious or another’s praise, she readily answers, and gives them the title of lords; and when Christ likened her to a dog, she presently acknowledges the meanness of her condition. S. Chry. hom. liii. He refused at first to listen to her petition, says the same saint, to instruct us with what faith, humility, and perseverance we ought to pray. To make his servants more sensible of his mercy, and more eager to obtain it, he often appears to pay no attention to their prayers, till he had exercised them in the virtues of humility and patience. Ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened to you. A.
  • Ver. 28. Be it done. Inn the beginning God said, Let there be light, and there was light; here Jesus Christ says, let it be done, &c. and her daughter was healed from that hour. So powerful with God is earnest and fervent prayer. Idem. hom. liii.

 

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