Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 29-Jan-2022;

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Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

Mark CHAP. 4

4:35–41

35. And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

36. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.

37. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

38. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

39. And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

41. And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

PSEUDO-JEROME. After His teaching, they come from that place to the sea, and are tossed by the waves. Wherefore it is said, And the same day, when the even was come, &c.

REMIGIUS. For the Lord is said to have had three places of refuge, namely, the ship, the mountain, and the desert. As often as He was pressed upon by the multitude, he used to fly to one of these. When therefore the Lord saw many crowds about Him, as man, He wished to avoid their importunity, and ordered His disciples to go over to the other side. There follows: And sending away the multitudes, they took him, &c,

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. in Matt. 28) The Lord took the disciples indeed, that they might be spectators of the miracle which was coming, but He took them alone, that no others might see that they were of such little faith. Wherefore, to shew that others went across separately, it is said, And there were also with him other ships. Lest again the disciples might be proud of being alone taken, He permits them to be in danger; and besides this, in order that they might learn to bear temptations manfully. Wherefore it goes on, And there arose a great storm of wind; and that He might impress upon them a greater sense of the miracle which was to be done, He gives time for their fear, by sleeping. Wherefore there follows, And he was himself in the hinder part of the ship, &c. For if He had been awake, they would either not have feared, nor have asked Him to save them when the storm arose, or they would not have thought that He could do any such things.

THEOPHYLACT. Therefore He allowed them to fall into the fear of danger, that they might experience His power in themselves, who saw others benefitted by Him. But He was sleeping upon the pillow of the ship, that is, on a wooden one.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. in Matt. 28) Shewing His humility, and thus teaching us many lessons of wisdom. But not yet did the disciples who remained about Him know His glory; they thought indeed that if He arose He could command the winds, but could by no means do so reposing or asleep. And therefore there follows, And they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

THEOPHYLACT. But He arising, rebukes first the wind, which was raising the tempest of the sea, and causing the waves to swell, and this is expressed in what follows, And he arose, and rebuked the wind; then He commands the sea; wherefore it goes on, And he said to the sea, Peace, be still.

GLOSS. (non occ.) For from the troubling of the sea there arises a certain sound, which appears to be its voice threatening danger, and therefore, by a sort of metaphor, He fitly commands tranquillity by a word signifying silence: just as in the restraining of the winds, which trouble the sea with their violence, He uses a rebuke. For men who are in power are accustomed to curb those, who rudely disturb the peace of mankind, by threatening to punish them; by this, therefore, we are given to understand, that, as a king can repress violent men by threats, and by his edicts sooth the murmurs of his people, so Christ, the King of all creatures, by His threats restrained the violence of the winds, and compelled the sea to be silent. And immediately the effect followed, for it continues, And the wind ceased, which He had threatened, and there arose a great calm, that is, in the sea, to which He had commanded silence.

THEOPHYLACT. He rebuked His disciples, for not having faith; for it goes on, And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have not faith? For if they had had faith, they would have believed that even when sleeping, He could preserve them safe. There follows, And they feared with a great fear, and said one to another, &c. For they were in doubt about Him, for since He stilled the sea, not with a rod like Moses, nor with prayers as Elisha at the Jordan, nor with the ark as Joshua, the son of Nun, on this account they thought Him truly God, but since He was asleep, they thought Him a man.

PSEUDO-JEROME. Mystically, however, the hinder part of the ship is the beginning of the Church, in which the Lord sleeps in the body only, for He never sleepeth who keepeth Israel; for the ship with its skins of dead animals keeps in the living, and keeps out the waves, and is bound together by wood, that is, by the cross and the death of the Lord the Church is saved. The pillow is the body of the Lord, on which His Divinity, which is as His head, has come down. But the wind and the sea are devils and persecutors, to whom He says Peace, when He restrains the edicts of impious kings, as He will. The great calm is the peace of the Church after oppression, or a contemplative after an active life.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) Or else the ship into which He embarked, is taken to mean the tree of His passion, by which the faithful attain to the security of the safe shore. The other ships which are said to have been with the Lord, signify those, who are imbued with faith in the cross of Christ, and are not beaten about by the whirlwind of tribulation; or who, after the storms of temptation, are enjoying the serenity of peace. And whilst His disciples are sailing on, Christ is asleep, because the time of our Lord’s Passion came on His faithful ones, when they were meditating on the rest of His future reign. Wherefore it is related, that it took place late, that not only the sleep of our Lord, but the hour itself of departing light, might signify the setting of the true Sun. Again, when He ascended the cross, of which the stern of the ship was a type, His blaspheming persecutors rose like the waves against Him, driven on by the storms of the devils, by which, however, His own patience is not disturbed, but His foolish disciples are struck with amazement. The disciples awake the Lord, because they sought, with most earnest wishes, the resurrection of Him whom they had seen die. Rising up, He threatened the wind, because when He had triumphed in His resurrection, He prostrated the pride of the devil. He ordered the sea to be still, that is, in rising again, He cast down the rage of the Jews. The disciples are blamed, because after His resurrection, He chid them for their unbelief. And we also when being marked with the sign of the Lord’s cross, we determine to quit the world, embark in the ship with Christ; we attempt to cross the sea; but, He goes to sleep, as we are sailing amidst the roaring of the waters, when amidst the strivings of our virtues, or amidst the attacks of evil spirits, of wicked men, or of our own thoughts, the flame of our love grows cold. Amongst storms of this sort, let us diligently strive to awake Him; He will soon restrain the tempest, pour down peace upon us, give us the harbour of salvation.

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

From: 2 Samuel 12:1-17

David’s Repentance
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[1] And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. [2] The rich man had very many flocks and herds; [3] but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his morsel, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. [4] Now there came a traveller to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” [5] Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; [6] and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

[7] Nathan said to David, “You are the man. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul; [8] and I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. [9] Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. [10] 'Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. [12] For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'" [13] David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. [14] Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child that is born to you shall die.” [15] Then Nathan went to his house.

And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became sick. [16] David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in and lay all night upon the ground, [17] And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground; but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

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Commentary:

12:1-25. Nathan’s intervention (vv. 1-15), David’s repentance (vv. 16-19), and the birth of Solomon (vv. 20-25) are the main subjects in this chapter. Nathan makes an appeal to David with one of the most beautiful parables in the Old Testament and gets the king to condemn his own conduct: “the man who has done this deserves to die” (v. 5). In reply, Nathan tells him the penalty the Lord has decreed, which in line with the law of vengeance or retaliation has three parts to it, corresponding to David's triple crime--murder, adultery and the fact that the victim was a blameless man. On account of the murder, the sword will not depart from David’s house (V. 10): this punishment will affect his eldest sons, Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah, who will die violent deaths. For the adultery, his wives will be violated in public (v. 11), which will happen when Absalom takes his father’s harem (cf. 16:20-23). And for the killing of an innocent man, his own recently born son will not survive (v. 14).

David’s repentance is exemplary (vv. 16-19): he weeps for his sin, and fasts and pleads for his little son: so, in spite of his weaknesses and sins, he still trusts in the Lord and shows himself to be “a man after (the Lord’s) own heart” (1 Sam 13:14). David is a model of penance because, by acknowledging his sin, he obtained divine forgiveness. His repentance finds expression in Psalm 51, which so beautifully and piously records the sinful king’s supplication to the Lord: “Have mercy on me, 0 God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (Ps 51:1-2).

The birth of a new son (vv. 20-25) brings this account to an end and makes it clear that Solomon was born within marriage; his birth causes David great joy and he is given a second name in a message from Nathan--"Jedidiah" (v. 25); beloved of the Lord. This means that, from birth, Solomon is the one chosen by God to advance his plan of salvation for Israel.

Great was David’s sin, and heartfelt his contrition. But God’s forgiveness is greatest of all. “In the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one reason to reveal himself to theirs, a single motive for choosing them from among all peoples as his special possession--his sheer gratuitous love. And thanks to the prophets Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped saving them and pardoning their unfaithfulness and sins” ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 218).

From: Mark 4:35-41

The Calming of the Storm
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[35] On that day, when evening had come, He (Jesus) said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." [36] And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him. [37] And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was already filling. [38] But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care if we perish?" [39] And He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [40] He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" [41] And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?"

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Commentary:

35-41. The episode of the calming of the storm, the memory of which must have often helped the Apostles regain their serenity in the midst of struggles and difficulties, also helps us never lose the supernatural way of looking at things: a Christian's life is like a ship: "As a vessel on the sea is exposed to a thousand dangers--pirates, quicksands, hidden rocks, tempests--so man in this life, is encompassed with perils, arising from the temptations of Hell, from the occasions of sin, from the scandals or bad counsels of men, from human respect, and, above all from the passions of corrupt nature [...]. This should not cause him to lose confidence. Rather [...] when you find yourself assaulted by a violent passion [...] take whatever steps you can to avoid the occasions [of sin] and place your reliance on God [...]: when the tempest is violent, the pilot never takes his eyes from the light which guides him to port. In like manner, we should keep our eyes always turned to God, who alone can deliver us from the many dangers to which we are exposed" (St. Augustine, "Sermon 51; for the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany).

Source: Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible Commentary

Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 4
35.	And he saith to them that day, when evening was come: Let us pass over to the other side.	Et ait illis in illa die, cum sero esset factum : Transeamus contra.	και λεγει αυτοις εν εκεινη τη ημερα οψιας γενομενης διελθωμεν εις το περαν
36.	And sending away the multitude, they take him even as he was in the ship: and there were other ships with him.	Et dimittentes turbam, assumunt eum ita ut erat in navi : et aliæ naves erant cum illo.	και αφεντες τον οχλον παραλαμβανουσιν αυτον ως ην εν τω πλοιω και αλλα δε πλοιαρια ην μετ αυτου
37.	And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that the ship was filled.	Et facta est procella magna venti, et fluctus mittebat in navim, ita ut impleretur navis.	και γινεται λαιλαψ ανεμου μεγαλη τα δε κυματα επεβαλλεν εις το πλοιον ωστε αυτο ηδη γεμιζεσθαι
38.	And he was in the hinder part of the ship, sleeping upon a pillow; and they awake him, and say to him: Master, doth it not concern thee that we perish?	Et erat ipse in puppi super cervical dormiens : et excitant eum, et dicunt illi : Magister, non ad te pertinet, quia perimus ?	και ην αυτος επι τη πρυμνη επι το προσκεφαλαιον καθευδων και διεγειρουσιν αυτον και λεγουσιν αυτω διδασκαλε ου μελει σοι οτι απολλυμεθα
39.	And rising up, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: Peace, be still. And the wind ceased: and there was made a great calm.	Et exsurgens comminatus est vento, et dixit mari : Tace, obmutesce. Et cessavit ventus : et facta est tranquillitas magna.	και διεγερθεις επετιμησεν τω ανεμω και ειπεν τη θαλασση σιωπα πεφιμωσο και εκοπασεν ο ανεμος και εγενετο γαληνη μεγαλη
40.	And he said to them: Why are you fearful? have you not faith yet? And they feared exceedingly: and they said one to another: Who is this (thinkest thou) that both wind and sea obey him?	Et ait illis : Quid timidi estis ? necdum habetis fidem ? et timuerunt timore magno, et dicebant ad alterutrum : Quis, putas, est iste, quia et ventus et mare obediunt ei ?	και ειπεν αυτοις τι δειλοι εστε ουτως πως ουκ εχετε πιστιν και εφοβηθησαν φοβον μεγαν και ελεγον προς αλληλους τις αρα ουτος εστιν οτι και ο ανεμος και η θαλασσα υπακουουσιν αυτω