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From: Exodus 11:10-12:14
[10] Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord har-
dened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
The Institution of the Passover
[11] In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet,
and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s passover.
[12] For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all, the gods of Egypt
I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. [13] The blood shall be a sign for you,
upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,
and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
[14] “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast
to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance for
ever.”
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Commentary:
12:1-14. This discourse of the Lord contains a number of rules for celebrating the
Passover and the events commemorated in it; it is a kind of catechetical-liturgical
text which admirably summarizes the profound meaning of that feast.
The Passover probably originated as a shepherds’ feast held in springtime, when
lambs are born and the migration to summer pastures was beginning; a new-born
lamb was sacrificed and its blood used to perform a special rite in petition for the
protection and fertility of the flocks. But once this feast became connected with
the history of the Exodus it acquired a much deeper meaning, as did the rites at-
taching to it.
Thus, the “congregation” (v. 3) comprises all the Israelites organized as a reli-
gious community to commemorate the most important event in their history, de-
liverance from bondage.
The victim will be a lamb, without blemish (v. 5) because it is to be offered to
God. Smearing the doorposts and lintel with the blood of the victim (vv. 7. 13),
an essential part of the rite, signifies protection from dangers. The Passover is
essentially sacrificial from the very start.
The meal (v. 11) is also a necessary part, and the manner in which it is held is
a very appropriate way of showing the urgency imposed by circumstances: there
is no time to season it (v. 9); no other food is eaten with it, except for the bread
and desert herbs (a sign of indigence); the dress and posture of those taking part
(standing, wearing sandals and holding a staff) show that they are on a journey.
In the later liturgical commemoration of the Passover, these things indicate that
the Lord is passing among his people.
The rules laid down for the Passover are evocative of very ancient nomadic desert
rites, where there was no priest or temple or altar. When the Israelites had settled
in Palestine, the Passover continued to be celebrated at home, always retaining
the features of a sacrifice, a family meal and, very especially, a memorial of the
deliverance the Lord brought about on that night.
Our Lord chose the context of the Passover Supper to institute the Eucharist:
“By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover
meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus’ passing over
to his Father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in
the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover
and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom”
(”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 1340).
12:2. This event is so important that it is going to mark the starting point in the
reckoning of time. In the history of Israel there are two types of calendar, both
based on the moon—one which begins the year in the autumn, after the feast of
Weeks (cf. 23:16; 34:22), and the other beginning it in spring, between March
and April. This second calendar probably held sway for quite a long time, for we
know that the first month, known as Abib (spring) — cf. 13:4; 23:18; 34:18 — was
called, in the post-exilic period (from the 6th century BC onwards) by the Baby-
lonian name of Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esther 3:7). Be that as it may, the fact that this
month is called the first month is a way of highlighting the importance of the
event which is going to be commemorated (the Passover).
12:11. Even now it is difficult to work out the etymology of the word “Passover”.
In other Semitic languages it means “joy” or “festive joy” or also “ritual and fes-
tive leap”. In the Bible the same root means “dancing or limping” in an idolatrous
rite (cf. 1 Kings 18:21, 26) and “protecting” (cf. Is 31:5), so it could mean “punish-
ment, lash” and also “salvation, protection”. In the present text the writer is provi-
ding a popular, non-scholarly etymology, and it is taken as meaning that “the
Lord passes through”, slaying Egyptians and sparing the Israelites.
In the New Testament it will be applied to Christ’s passage to the Father by
death and resurrection, and the Church’s “passage” to the eternal Kingdom: “The
Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when
she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection” (”Catechism of the Catholic
Church”, 677).
12:14. The formal tone of these words gives an idea of the importance the Pass-
over always had. If the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings)
hardly mention it, the reason is that they allude only to sacrifices in the temple
and the Passover was always celebrated in people’s homes. When the temple
ceased to be (6th century BC), the feast acquired more prominence, as can be
seen from the post-exilic biblical texts (cf Ezra 6:19-22; 2 Chron 30:1-27; 35:1-
19) and extra-biblical texts such as the famous “Passover papyrus Elephantine”
(Egypt) of the 5th century BC. In Jesus’ time a solemn passover sacrifice was
celebrated in the temple the passover meal was held at home.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 12:1-8
The Question of the Sabbath
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Commentary:
2. “The Sabbath”: this was the day the Jews set aside for worshipping God. God
Himself, the originator of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3), ordered the Jewish people to
avoid certain kinds of work on this day (Exodus 20:8-11; 21:13; Deuteronomy 5:
14) to leave them free to give more time to God. As time went by, the rabbis com-
plicated this divine precept: by Jesus’ time they had extended to 39 the list of
kinds of forbidden work.
The Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath. In the casuistry
of the scribes and the Pharisees, plucking ears of corn was the same as harves-
ting, and crushing them was the same as milling—types of agricultural work for-
bidden on the Sabbath.
3-8. Jesus rebuts the Pharisees’ accusation by four arguments—the example of
David, that of the priests, a correct understanding of the mercy of God and Jesus’
own authority over the Sabbath.
The first example which was quite familiar to the people, who were used to liste-
ning to the Bible being read, comes from 1 Samuel 21:2-7: David, in flight from
the jealousy of King Saul, asks the priest of the shrine of Nob for food for his men;
the priest gave them the only bread he had, the holy bread of the Presence; this
was the twelve loaves which were placed each week on the golden altar of the
sanctuary as a perpetual offering from the twelve tribes of Israel (Leviticus 24:5-9).
The second example refers to the priestly ministry to perform the liturgy, priests
had to do a number of things on the Sabbath but did not thereby break the law of
Sabbath rest (cf. Numbers 28:9). On the other two arguments, see the notes on
Matthew 9:13 and Mark 2:26-27, 28.
[The notes on Matthew 9:13 states:
13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic style. A
more faithful translation would be: “I desire mercy more than sacrifice”. It is not
that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer Him: He is stressing that every
sacrifice should come from the heart, for charity should imbue everything a Chris-
tian does — especially his worship of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Matthew 5:
23-24).]
[The notes on Mark 2:26-27, 28 states:
26-27. The bread of the Presence consisted of twelve loaves or cakes placed
each morning on the table in the sanctuary, as homage to the Lord from the
twelve tribes of Israel (cf. Leviticus 24:5-9). The loaves withdrawn to make room
for the fresh ones were reserved to the priests. Abiathar’s action anticipates what
Christ teaches here. Already in the Old Testament God had established a hierar-
chy in the precepts of the Law so that the lesser ones yielded to the main ones.
This explains why a ceremonial precept (such as the one we are discussing)
should yield before a precept of the natural law. Similarly, the commandment
to keep the Sabbath does not come before the duty to seek basic subsistence.
Vatican II uses this passage of the Gospel to underline the value of the human
person over and above economic and social development: “The social order and
its development must constantly yield to the good of the person, since the order
of things must be subordinate to the order of persons and not the other way a-
round, as the Lord suggested when He said that the Sabbath was made for man
and not man for the Sabbath. The social order requires constant improvement:
it must be founded in truth, built on justice, and enlivened by love” (”Gaudium
Et Spes”, 26).
Finally in this passage Christ teaches God’s purpose in instituting the Sabbath:
God established it for man’s good, to help him rest and devote himself to Divine
worship in joy and peace. The Pharisees, through their interpretation of the Law,
had turned this day into a source of anguish and scruple due to all the various
prescriptions and prohibitions they introduced.
By proclaiming Himself ‘Lord of the Sabbath’, Jesus affirms His divinity and His
universal authority. Because He is Lord he has the power to establish other
laws, as Yahweh had in the Old Testament.
28. The Sabbath had been established not only for man’s rest but also to give glo-
ry to God: that is the correct meaning of the expression “the Sabbath was made
for man.” Jesus has every right to say He is Lord of the Sabbath, because He is
God. Christ restores to the weekly day of rest its full, religious meaning: it is not
just a matter of fulfilling a number of legal precepts or of concern for physical well-
being: the Sabbath belongs to God; it is one way, suited to human nature, of ren-
dering glory and honor to the Almighty. The Church, from the time of the Apostles
onwards, transferred the observance of this precept to the following day, Sunday
— the Lord’s Day — in celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
“Son of Man”: the origin of the messianic meaning of this expression is to be
found particularly in the prophecy of Dan 7:13ff, where Daniel, in a prophetic vi-
sion, contemplates ‘one like the Son of Man’ coming down on the clouds of Hea-
ven, who even goes right up to God’s throne and is given dominion and glory and
royal power over all peoples and nations. This expression appears 69 times in
the Synoptic Gospels; Jesus prefers it to other ways of describing the Messiah—
such as Son of David, Messiah, etc.—thereby avoiding the nationalistic overtones
those expressions had in Jewish minds at the time (cf. “Introduction to the Gos-
pel According to St. Mark”, p. 62 above.]
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
First reading |
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Exodus 11:10-12:14 © |
Psalm |
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Psalm 115:12-13,15-18 © |
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps26:11 |
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Or | Jn10:27 |
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Gospel | Matthew 12:1-8 © |
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We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.
Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.
Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.
Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.
O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.
Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests
This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.
The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.
The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.
Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.
St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.
1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)
5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
6. Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.
Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.
End with the Hail Holy Queen:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Final step -- The Sign of the Cross
The Mysteries of the Rosary By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary. The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.
The Sorrowful Mysteries
(Tuesdays and Fridays)
1. The Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46) [Spiritual fruit - God's will be done]
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1) [Spiritual fruit - Mortification of the senses]
3. The Crowning with Thorns (Matthew 27:27-30, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:2) [Spiritual fruit - Reign of Christ in our heart]
4. The Carrying of the Cross (Matthew 27:31-32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26-32, John 19:17) [Spiritual fruit - Patient bearing of trials]
5. The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-39, Luke 23:33-49, John 19:17-37) [Spiritual fruit - Pardoning of Injuries]
St. Michael the Archangel
~ PRAYER ~
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+
PLEASE JOIN US - Evening Prayer
Someone has said that if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.
Did you know that during WWII there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace?
There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central) (7:00 PM Mountain) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation. If you know anyone else who would like to participate, please pass this along. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Please forward this to your praying friends.
A Prayer for PriestsO my God, help those priests who are faithful to remain faithful; to those who are falling, stretch forth Your Divine Hand that they may grasp it as their support. In the great ocean of Your mercy, lift those poor unfortunate ones who have fallen, that being engulfed therein they may receive the grace to return to Your Great Loving Heart. Amen. Precious Blood of Jesus, protect them!
The Most Precious Blood of Jesus
July is traditionally associated with the Precious Blood of Our Lord. It may be customary to celebrate the votive Mass of the Precious Blood on July 1.
The extraordinary importance of the saving Blood of Christ has ensured a central place for its memorial in the celebration of this cultic mystery: at the centre of the Eucharistic assembly, in which the Church raises up to God in thanksgiving "the cup of blessing" (1 Cor 10, 16; cf Ps 115-116, 13) and offers it to the faithful as a "real communion with the Blood of Christ" (1 Cor 10, 16); and throughout the Liturgical Year. The Church celebrates the saving Blood of Christ not only on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also on many other occasions, such that the cultic remembrance of the Blood of our redemption (cf 1 Pt 1, 18) pervades the entire Liturgical Year. Hence, at Vespers during Christmastide, the Church, addressing Christ, sings: "Nos quoque, qui sancto tuo redempti sumus sanguine, ob diem natalis tui hymnum novum concinimus." In the Paschal Triduum, the redemptive significance and efficacy of the Blood of Christ is continuously recalled in adoration. During the adoration of the Cross on Good Friday the Church sings the hymn: "Mite corpus perforatur, sanguis unde profluit; terra, pontus, astra, mundus quo lavanturflumine", and again on Easter Sunday, "Cuius corpus sanctissimum in ara crucis torridum, sed et cruorem roesum gustando, Deo vivimus (194).
Catholic Word of the Day: LITANY OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD, 09-25-12
ST. GASPAR: Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood
Mass in the Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (London, 9/18)
Devotion to the Drops of Blood Lost by our Lord Jesus Christ on His Way to Calvary (Prayer/Devotion)
Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood
Catholic Word of the Day: PRECIOUS BLOOD, 12-03-11
The Traditional Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Catholic Caucus)
Devotion to the Precious Blood
DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,And More on the Precious Blood
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
NOTHING IS MORE POTENT AGAINST EVIL THAN PLEADING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
Pope's Intentions
Universal: Politics -- That political responsibility may be lived at all levels as a high form of charity.
Evangelization: The poor in Latin America-- That amid social inequalities, Latin American Christians may bear witness to love for the poor and contribute to a more fraternal society.
The New Law «written not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh» ( 2 Cor 3,3)
My brethren, consider the great mystery of the harmony and the difference of the two Laws and two peoples. The people of old celebrated Passover, not in the full light of day but in the shadow of that which was to come (Col 2,17), and fifty days after the Passover celebration
God gave it the Law written by his own hand on Mount Sinai
God came down on Mount Sinai in the midst of the fire, striking with terror the people who were standing far off, and with his finger he wrote the Law on stone, not in the heart (Ex 31,18). On the other hand, when the Holy Spirit came down to earth, the disciples were all assembled together in the same place and, instead of terrifying them from the height of the mountain, he entered the house where they had gathered (Acts 2,1f.). From the heights of heaven came an enormous noise like that of a strong wind approaching, but this noise did not frighten anybody.
You have heard the sound, see the fire, too. For on the mountain these two phenomena are to be distinguished: the noise and the fire. On Mount Sinai the fire was surrounded by smoke, but here, to the contrary, it has a shining clarity: There appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted. Was this a fire that stirred up fear? Not at all: they came to rest on each one of them
Listen to this tongue speaking and understand that it is the Spirit that writes not on stone but in the heart. Therefore the Law of the Spirit of life, written in the heart and not on stone, this Law of the Spirit of life which is in Jesus Christ, in whom the Passover has been celebrated in all truth (1Cor 5,7), has set you free from the Law of sin and death (Rm 8,2).
St. John Vianney
|
The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28) "Blessed are you among women, |
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