Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Gospel : St. Matthew IX. 1-8.

At that time: “Jesus, entering into a boat, passed over the water and came into His own city. And behold they brought to Him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold some of the scribes said within themselves:  He blasphemeth. And Jesus, seeing their, thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to the man sick of the palsy:) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And he arose, and went into his house. And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men. ”

Q. What city was that which Jesus went to?

A. It was the city of Capharnaum, on the west bank of the river Jordan, a little before it flows into the Sea of Tiberias, also called the Lake of Genesareth and the Sea of Galilee. This was a rich commercial city, and the emporium of all Judea on account of its great population, its extensive trade, and the concourse of strangers.

Q. Why does the Evangelist call Capharnaum the city of Jesus, saying: “He came into His own city”?

A. The home of Jesus was Nazareth, but St. John Chrysostom and many others are of the opinion that He cherished a special affection for Capharnaum, so that St. Matthew called it His city. In Capharnaum there was a house where Christ was accustomed to meet with His apostles, and in this city He began to preach the kingdom of God, to correct the prevailing- vices, to teach virtue, and worked many astounding miracles.

Q. What miracles did Christ perform in Capharnaum?

A. He healed the paralytic mentioned in the Gospel, He restored sight to two blind persons, and healed the deaf and dumb man who was possessed by the devil, of which mention is made in the Gospel for the third Sunday in Lent. He also cured the servant of the centurion, the woman who was suffering from a loss of blood, and the son of Regulus, who was dying of fever. Besides these, He recalled to life the daughter of Jairus.

Q. Of whom was this paralytic a figure?

A. He was a figure of the human race, which was sick on account of the sin of its first parent. This paralytic was in a pitiable condition; he could not take a step, or even stand. He could not use his hands, and he was incurable by natural means. In like manner the human race was reduced to a most deplorable condition; it could not withstand the power of the passions, it could not take a step or do anything by which to gain heaven, and no one could help it but Jesus Christ alone.

Q. Why did Jesus say to the man: “Be of good heart, thy sins are forgiven thee”?

A. The health of his body would have been of little account to him if he had not received with it the health of his soul; therefore Jesus first gave him the most necessary grace, that is, the health of his soul, and then that of less importance, the health of his body.

Q. What are we to learn from this?

A. We are to learn that when we are sick our first thought should be to place ourselves in the grace of God, thus healing our soul first, because diseases are very often a punishment for sins committed; hence a cure can scarcely be hoped for if the cause has not first been removed by repentance.

Q. What are we to think of those who said that Jesus blasphemed when He said, “Thy sins are for-given thee”?

A. We need not be surprised at this. Ignorant people call all things they do not understand blunders and folly; so also do unbelievers and the wicked call blasphemy every truth of faith which they do not comprehend or which they do not like. Those scribes did not know, or did not want to know, that Jesus was God, and when He said that the sins of the paralytic were forgiven him, these words seemed to them to be a horrible blasphemy. How many Christians also accuse the ministers of the altar of rigorism, scrupulosity, and ignorance, when they announce truths that are not according to the taste of their corrupt hearts, or which appear new to them, because they never learned their religion as they should.

Q. Why did Jesus rebuke their secret thoughts?

A. This appears to be a rebuke, but in reality it was for them a great charity, because, as God alone can penetrate the secrets of the heart and mind, Jesus, by showing that He knew their secret thoughts, gave them a convincing proof that He was truly God. Sinners also may learn from this that no matter how much they strive to hide themselves before men, God always knows them, for He searches the innermost recesses of the heart.

Q. What else did Christ show in this case?

A. By the fact itself He showed that, on account of His divinity and the merits of His passion, He had the power of forgiving sins and of assisting sinners by His grace to obtain the victory over their passions and to walk on the road to heaven, like the paralytic who arose healthy and sound, took up his bed, and went into his house.

Q. Of what, therefore, was the paralytic a figure on this occasion?

A. He was a figure of mankind restored to grace by Jesus Christ, risen again from the weakness to which it had been reduced by the sin of its first parent, fortified against its passions, and rendered able to walk on the way of salvation toward its home, paradise.

Q. Of what was he more particularly an image?

A. St. Gregory says: The bed upon which the paralytic lay prostrate and unable to move signified the carnal passions in which the soul of a sinner lies abandoned and unable to do any good. The paralytic, in carrying his bed and going into his house, is a figure of the sinner who, being converted and placed in the state of grace, rises from the mire of his passions, carries triumphantly the weight of temptations, strives in works of penance, walks in the path of justice, and returns to that house which is prepared for him in heaven by the merits of Jesus Christ.

Q. What are we to learn from this Gospel?

A. The miserable condition of the paralytic teaches us to fear the misery to which our sinful passions can reduce us. The kindness with which the Divine Redeemer treated the sick man invites us to have great confidence in God, and to trust in His mercy even if we are great sinners. The greatness of the miracle causes us to admire the great power conferred by Jesus Christ on the priests in order that they may use it in a spiritual manner in the sacrament of penance; and the whole history teaches us to fear, to give thanks, and to glorify God, and Him Whom He sent to dwell among us, Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.

 Taken from Analysis of the Gospel of the Sundays of the year. From the Italian of Angelo Cagnola.  By Rev. L. A. Lambert, LL.D.

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SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

 Gospel : St. Matthew xxii. 35-46.

AT that time, the Pharisees came nigh to Jesus: “And one of them, a doctor of the law, asked Him, tempting Him: Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying: What think you of Christ? Whose son is He? They say to Him: David's. He saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord : Sit on My right hand until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son? And no man was able to answer Him a word; neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions. ”

Q. In what sense was the question of the Pharisee a temptation?

A. To understand the force and the malice of this question of the Pharisee, which the Gospel calls a temptation, it is necessary to know that in Christ’s time there was a question which was the greater obligation: to love God or to offer in the temple the sacrifices commanded by the law. Many were of the opinion that the first and greatest commandment was that of offering sacrifice in the temple. On this account the doctor of the law asked Jesus Christ which was the greatest commandment of the law, with the intention to induce Him to decide the question, with the danger to Himself of displeasing one or the other party, if He did not support His assertion by undeniable proof.

Q. What was Christ’s answer?

A. He answered that the first and greatest commandment was to love God above all things, with our whole heart, with our whole soul, and with all our strength.

Q. What do you think of this precept?

A. There is nothing more reasonable and just. God is perfection itself, the fountain and the source of all good; therefore He must be loved for what He is in preference to all other things, and He must be loved with our whole heart and with our whole soul, cost us what it may. God has created us for the sole purpose that we may love Him, and hereafter enjoy Him for all eternity as a reward of this love; therefore we are bound by the law of nature to love Him. God is the absolute Lord of our life and of all we have on this earth; therefore we are bound in justice to love Him. God has bestowed on us innumerable natural and supernatural benefits, and continues to do so; therefore we are bound to love Him out of gratitude, and if man would not love Him He would be worse than the brute animals, that show themselves grateful to those who feed them.

Q. Why did Christ say that the precept to love God is the first and greatest commandment?

A. Because charity is the greatest of the virtues, the root, the support, and the crown of all the others. Without charity, all the acts of devotion are nothing; without charity, patience, generosity, meekness, chastity, and all other good qualities avail nothing; without charity, we are objects of hatred in the sight of God. Hence St. Paul says: “If I should speak with the tongues of angels, if I possessed all knowledge, if I should distribute all my goods to the poor, if I worked miracles, if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, I am nothing more than a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal ” (i. Cor. xiii.).

Q. Which is the second great commandment?

A. Christ has told us what it is. It is to love our neighbour as ourselves; that is, we must love him sincerely, ardently, and effectively, but always for the love of God.

Q. How are we to practise this love?

A. The same divine Teacher taught us the way to practise it, when He said: “Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.” Hence St. Augustine, explaining this maxim, says: “Whatever good we wish for ourselves, the same we must procure for our neighbour, and the evil that we fear we must prevent from befalling our neighbour. ”

Q. Does he who treats his neighbour kindly and generously, but without reference to God, fulfil the commandment?

A. God has commanded us to love our neighbour as ourselves, but always for love of Him, in regard to Him, with eyes fixed on Him alone. Therefore he who loves and gives abundantly to his neighbour through human sensibility, through natural goodness of heart, or through philanthropy, would not satisfy the precept. He would deserve the praise and the gratitude of men, but he would merit no supernatural reward.

Q. Why did Jesus say that “on these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets” ?

A. He said this because all the other precepts of the law and the teachings of the prophets, that is, of those who speak to us in God’s name, are founded on the commandment of the love of God and of our neighbour, and all flow therefrom in such a manner that he whose heart is animated by charity observes the whole law; but when this virtue, which constitutes the essence of a Christian, is wanting, the whole law is transgressed.

Q. After Christ had taught such a wholesome lesson, what else, according to the Gospel, did He do?

A. Wishing to render good for evil, He took the occasion to enlighten and to lead His tempters and His enemies to behold in His person the promised Messias, by asking them what they thought of Him Whom they all expected, and whose son they believed He was to be.

Q. Did the Pharisees give a correct answer when they said that the Christ was to be the son of David?

A. They answered correctly in part, but not in full. The Messias was true God and true man, and hence they should have said: As God, the Christ was the son of the Eternal Father; and as man, He was a descendant of the house of David. But the Pharisees either did not know or did not want to believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ; therefore they gave only a partial answer. The Divine Master, however, did not omit to place this great truth before them, and convinced them in such a manner that no one was able to answer Him a word.

Q. With what argument did He silence them?

A. By showing them that David, inspired by the Holy Ghost, called the Christ his Lord, thus giving Him a title which he would not have given Him if he had not known Him to be greater than he himself, because He was the Son of God, Who was to make His enemies His footstool. In this way He proved His divinity and showed them the triumph which He was to have over them.

Q. What are we to learn from this Gospel?

A. We are to learn that our first and greatest duty is to love God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves. We are to learn further not to question of cavil with God on the maxims of religion. Lastly, we are to learn how great our confusion will be, if, like the Pharisees, we dare to impugn anything that redounds to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Taken from Analysis of the Gospel of the Sundays of the year. From the Italian of Angelo Cagnola.  By Rev. L. A. Lambert, LL.D.

 

 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

Gospel: St. Luke xiv. I-II.

AT that time: When Jesus went into the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees, on the Sabbath-day, to eat bread, they watched Him. And behold there was a certain man before Him that had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day? But they held their peace. But He, taking him, healed him, and sent him away. And answering them, He said: Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit and will not immediately draw him out on the Sabbath-day? And they could not answer Him to these things. And He spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him: and he that invited thee and him come and say to thee: Give this man place; and then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place: that when he who invited thee cometh he may say to thee : Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee. Because everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. ”

Q. How could Jesus accept the invitation to the table of a Pharisee?

A. It is true the Pharisees were bad men, but Jesus Christ did not refuse to enter the house of this man, who was one of the most distinguished among them, because He wished to take this opportunity to benefit them by His doctrines and miracles; thus teaching us not to repel or avoid sinners as long as there is any hope of doing them good.

Q. What miracle did Christ work, and what doctrines did He teach on this occasion ?

A. The Gospel relates that on this occasion He healed a man who had the dropsy, and He taught those present as well as us also that it is not forbidden to heal the sick on the Sabbath-day. Besides, He showed that we must avoid pride and cultivate humility.

Q. Of whom was the man that had the dropsy a figure?

A. St. Augustine says that he was a figure of the rich miser who the more he has the more he wants, after the manner of dropsical patients, who the fuller they are of water the more they want to drink.

Q. Is this man a figure of anything else?

A. According to St. Augustine, the dropsy of this man signified any other predominating passion of a sinner. Any passion, when it takes possession of the heart, becomes insatiable, and the more it is gratified the worse it becomes, like the thirst of one afflicted with dropsy. If we notice a drunkard, a proud man, a libertine, an ambitious woman, a miser, we see that the habitual debauch, the beastly excesses, the most extravagant fashions, and the greatest gain do not satisfy their desires, and, much as they may gratify their whims, they never have enough.

Q. How did Jesus prove that it was not forbidden to heal the sick on the Sabbath-day?

A. He proved it from the example of the Pharisees themselves, by saying that if they did not scruple to draw from the pit an ass or an ox that had fallen into it, because their interest required them to do so, much less should there be any difficulty in curing a sick person for charity’s sake and for the glory of God. Those Pharisees were impious men, says the venerable Bede. Through avarice they would violate the law of the Sabbath, and at the same time they accused Christ of violating the Sabbath because He cured a man through charity.

Q. Were the Pharisees convinced by this reasoning?

A. As the Gospel says, they felt that they were silenced, and held their peace. Yet, instead of being enlightened, they became more obstinate in finding fault with Christ, and, as St. John relates, they persecuted Him, telling the people that He was not a friend of God, because He did not observe the Sabbath.

Q. What else worthy of remark took place on this occasion ?

A. That happened which often happens in our day. The Pharisees who had been invited were full  of self-conceit. Each one of them had a high opinion of himself; each fancied that he was greater than the others, and each sought to be preferred and to have the first seat at the table.

Q. And what did Jesus Christ do then?

A. Jesus Christ, knowing the ambitious desires of their hearts, gave them the important advice to select the lowest place, so as not to expose themselves to the shame of being obliged to give up the highest place by the command of the host, who had destined it for one who was superior in merit.

Q. What did Christ mean by this counsel?

A. He wished to correct those proud men, by making them understand how improper their ambitious behaviour was in selecting the best places; at the same time He taught all future Christians to close their eyes to their own merits, not to exact attentions, and to believe themselves inferior to others, by always with sincerity of heart choosing the last place for themselves.

Q. With what promise did Christ confirm this lesson?

A. He confirmed it by saying that he who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.

Q. Before whom will the proud be humbled and the humble exalted?

A. Before God and men. Even the world despises the proud, and when it can humble them it does it with pleasure. On the other hand, it loves, esteems, and praises the truly humble, and is pleased when their merit is appreciated. God, says St. Hilary, will humble the pride of the ambitious and glorify the humble, if not in this life, certainly and forever in the next.

Q. In what does true humility consist?

A. It consists in considering ourselves as nothing before God and men, for indeed we are nothing, and all we have, in the order of nature or in the order of grace, comes from God, as also all we do, great or small, depends on His help and goodness.

Q. What are the degrees of Christian humility?

A. They are as follows: To know ourselves, our insufficiency, our natural misery, and hence to have a low opinion of ourselves. Secondly, to bear patiently and with fortitude humiliations, wherever they may come from. Finally, to rejoice in these humiliations and to say with David: It is good, O Lord, that Thou hast humbled me.

  Taken from Analysis of the Gospel of the Sundays of the year. From the Italian of Angelo Cagnola.  By Rev. L. A. Lambert, LL.D.

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