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From: Matthew 9:14-15

The Call of Matthew (Continuation)

[14] Then the disciples of John (the Baptist) came to Him (Jesus),
saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not
fast?" [15] And Jesus said them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long
as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the
bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."

Commentary:

14-17. This passage is interesting, not so much because it tells us
about the sort of fasting practised by the Jews of the
time--particularly the Pharisees and John the Baptist's disciples--but
because of the reason Jesus gives for not requiring His disciples to
fast in that way. His reply is both instructive and prophetic.
Christianity is not a mere mending or adjusting of the old suit of
Judaism. The redemption wrought by Jesus involves a total
regeneration. Its spirit is too new and too vital to be suited to old
forms of penance, which will no longer apply.

We know that in our Lord's time Jewish theology schools were in the
grip of a highly complicated casuistry to do with fasting,
purifications, etc., which smothered the simplicity of genuine piety.
Jesus' words point to that simplicity of heart with which His disciples
might practise prayer, fasting and almsgiving (cf. Matthew 6:1-18 and
notes to same). From apostolic times onwards it is for the Church,
using the authority given it by our Lord to set out the different forms
fasting should take in different periods and situations.

15. "The wedding guests": literally, "the sons of the house where the
wedding is being celebrated"--an expression meaning the bridegroom's
closest friends. This is an example of how St. Matthew uses typical
Semitic turns of phrase, presenting Jesus' manner of speech.

This "house" to which Jesus refers has a deeper meaning; set beside the
parable of the guests at the wedding (Matthew 22:1 ff), it symbolizes
the Church as the house of God and the body of Christ: "Moses was
faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that
were to be spoken later, but Christ was faithful over God's house as a
son. And we are His house if we hold fast our confidence and pride in
our hope" (Hebrews 3:5-6).

The second part of the verse refers to the violent death Jesus would
meet.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Marian Apparitions
Question from Adam on 06-23-2003:

Dear Mr. Bunson, What are some of the approved Marian apparitions? Adam

Answer by Matthew Bunson on 06-25-2003:

The Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared throughout the world and throughout history. The seven best-known Marian apparitions are:

Banneux, near Liège, Belgium, in 1933. She appeared to an 11-year-old peasant girl, Mariette Beco, in a garden behind the family cottage in Banneux. She called herself the Virgin of the Poor, and has since been venerated as Our Lady of the Poor, the Sick, and the Indifferent.

Beauraing, Belgium, in 1932 and 1933. She appeared to five children in the garden of a convent school in Beauraing.

Fátima, Portugal, in 1917; one of the most famous of apparitions. Our Lady appeared to three children (Lucia dos Santos, 10, who is now a Carmelite nun; Francisco Marto, 9, who died in 1919; and his sister Jacinta, 7, who died in 1920; Jacinta and Francisco were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000) in a field called Cova da Iria near Fátima.

Guadalupe, Mexico, in 1531. Our Lady appeared to an Indian, Juan Diego (declared Blessed in 1990 and canonized in 2002), on Tepeyac hill outside of Mexico City.

La Salette, France, in 1846. Mary appeared as a sorrowing and weeping figure to two peasant children, Melanie Matthieu, 15, and Maximin Giraud, 11, at La Salette.

Lourdes, France, in 1858. Mary, identifying herself as the Immaculate Conception, appeared 18 times to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous (canonized in 1933) at the grotto of Massabielle near Lourdes.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, France, in 1830. Mary appeared three times to Catherine Labouré (canonized in 1947) in the chapel of the motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Rue de Bac, Paris.

Finally, mention should be made of the alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to six young people of Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The apparitions were first reported in June 1981, initially in the neighboring hillside field, subsequently in the village church of St. James and even distant places. In 1987, the bishops of Yugoslavia declared: “On the basis of research conducted so far, one cannot affirm that supernatural apparitions are involved” at Medjugorje. Currently, the events remain under on-going investigation by the Holy See to determine their authenticity. Nevertheless, the site of Medjugorje remains a popular destination for Catholic pilgrims from Europe and the United States.