From: Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
Celebration of the Sabbath
Celebration of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread
Celebration of the First Fruits
Celebration of the Feast of Weeks
Celebration of the Day of Atonement
Celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles
[37] “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim
as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire,
burnt offerings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each
on its proper day.”
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Commentary:
23:1-4. Some of the feats mentioned in this calendar are also to be found in
other books (cf. Ex 23:14-19; 34:18-26; Deut 16:1). It deals first with the
sabbath, which becomes the paradigm for all the other feasts, especially as
far as rest is concerned. Such importance was given to what could or could
not be done on the sabbath that all sorts of absurd and formalistic
exaggerations developed. More than once Jesus criticized the severe
interpretations devised by the scribes—a complicated and intolerable
casuistry (cf. Mt 15:1-9; 23:41 Acts 15:10).
23:5-8. The Passover is also dealt with in Exodus 12:1-14:21-28 and 13:3-10.
The first month was called Nisan; earlier on it was called Abib, “spring” or
“ears (of grain)”. The feast began at sundown. Here it is depicted as a
preparation for the feast of the unleavened bread, which began the following
day, 15 Nisan, and lasted seven days, during which bread was eaten
unleavened. The religious assembly took place on the first day and the last.
During these assemblies various sacrifices were offered and a sacred meal
took place. We recall that it was during this feast that Jesus instituted
the Eucharist, doing so in the context of the passover supper. And it was
during the Passover that Jesus was sacrificed on the altar of the cross. St
John tells us that the sacrifice of Christ began at the sixth hour on the
day of Preparation, the exact time that the passover lambs were sacrificed.
This makes the beginning of a new Passover, in which a new victim is
sacrificed, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (cf. Jn
1:29, 36; 19:14).
23:9-14. The feast of the first fruits, although the date is not a fixed
one, is connected with the Passover. In the Jordan valley grain was already
ripe for harvest by this time (cf. Num 28:26-31). The offering of first
fruits is based on the conviction that everything comes from God. In
recognition of that divine sovereignty the first sheaf to ripen was offered
in sacrifice—a tradition which developed to the point that no one could eat
the crop without first making this offering to God. The “morrow” after the
sabbath was thought by some to have been the first sabbath after 14 Nisan.
Other scholars think that the sabbath was 15 Nisan and then the offering of
the first fruits took place on 16 Nisan. The “morrow” was the base day for
reckoning the start of feast of Pentecost, seven weeks later. The offering
of the first sheaves was accompanied by the sacrifice of a year-old lamb and
two tenths of an ephah of flour (cf. the note on Ex 29:38-46) that is,
approximately 4.2 liters, and a quarter of a hin of wine (approximately one
litre or two pints).
23:15-22. This feast, too, has elements connected with the grain harvest.
Later on it became linked with the giving the Law at Sinai. It was called
Pentecost because it came fifty days after Passover. In Hebrew it was called
Aseret, the “great convocation” or assembly. Another name for it is the
feast of Weeks (a reference to the seven weeks which had passed since the
Passover). The offering of the loaves of bread made from the first sheaf
expressed thanksgiving and joy for the harvest recently completed. The
various sacrifices were offered as a sign of repentance for and as an act of
adoration for the greatness of God who had blessed the work of his people.
From a Christian point of view, it is interesting that it was on the feast
of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles. For one thing,
that Pentecost marked the start of a new stage with another Law, a much more
perfect one, written not on stones but in the depths of men’s hearts (cf. 2
Cor 3:3). For another, because it also seems significant that it was at the
moment when the fruits of the earth were being harvested that the Church
should receive the most precious fruit of Christ’s death on the cross, the
strength of the Spirit who purifies and sanctities men with his divine
grace.
23:23-44. In the Bible the number seven had a sacred character; symbolizing
in some way the perfection of God. Therefore the seventh month, as also the
seventh year, had special significance in Israel. Thus, in the seventh month
(in Hebrew, Tishre) three feasts were held. The first was the feast of
Trumpets, which took place on the seventh day. It began with the sounding
of trumpets; hence its name. Trumpets were also used to greet the appearance
of the new moon. These details probably reflect traces of astral cults;
however, by becoming incorporated into the liturgy, they became purified and
raised to a new plane, to express at different times and different ways a
deep feeling of attachment to the Creator of heaven and earth.
On the tenth of the same month the day of atonement was celebrated—Yom
Kippur. It was a day of penance and expiation. It began at sundown, with the
start of the sabbath rest. The grave penalties imposed for transgressions
show the importance this day had, and still has today, in Jewish liturgy.
The other great feast is that of Tabernacles, celebrated over seven days,
beginning on 15 Tisre. In the Code of the Covenant it is called the feast of
ingathering (cf. Ex 23:16). The last of the harvest was saved around this
time, particularly the grape harvest. The feast marked the close of the
agricultural year; it was a most joyful least. It was also regarded as
preparation for the new period which would start immediately with the new
sowing. Prayers were offered for early rains, which were so crucial to
starting the work. This was why the rite of water was so much to the fore.
Water was borne in procession from the pool of Siloe and then poured round
the altar of the temple. In Jesus’ time a bunch of myrtle and acacia
branches (from trees growing on the river bank) was shaken during the
procession, thereby invoking the divine blessing of rain. In the times of
Ezra and Nehemiah. in the middle of the 5th century BC, huts made from
branches of trees were set up on the terfaces of houses or in the
countryside, and the people camped in them over the days of the feast, in
memory of the pilgrimage of the people of Israel in the desert, when they
lived in tents. This custom still survives in the Jewish religion.
The Gospel of St John has much to say about this feast and about Jesus’
activity in connection with it (cf. Jn 7:2ff), including the, important
revelations our Lord made apropos of its rites: it was on this feast that
Jesus proclaimed that from his heart rivers of living water would flow, a
reference to “the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive”
(Jn 7:39).
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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 13:54-58
No One is a Prophet in His Own Country
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Commentary:
53-58. The Nazarenes’ surprise is partly due to people’s difficulty in
recognizing anything exceptional and supernatural in those with whom
they have been on familiar terms. Hence the saying, “No one is a
prophet in his own country.” These old neighbors were also jealous
of Jesus. Where did He acquire this wisdom? Why Him rather than
us? They were unaware of the mystery of Jesus’ conception; surprise
and jealousy cause them to be shocked, to look down on Jesus and
not to believe in Him: “He came to His own home, and His own people
received Him not” (John 1:11).
“The carpenter’s son”: this is the only reference in the Gospel to St.
Joseph’s occupation (in Mark 6:3 Jesus Himself is described as a
“carpenter”). Probably in a town like Nazareth the carpenter was a
general tradesman who could turn his hand to jobs ranging from
metalwork to making furniture or agricultural implements.
For an explanation of Jesus’ “brethren”, see the note on Matthew
12:46-47.
[The note of Matthew 12:46-47 states:
46-47. “Brethren”: ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and other languages had
no special words for different degrees of relationship, such as are found
in more modern languages. In general, all those belonging to the same
family, clan and even tribe were “brethren”.
In the particular case we have here, we should bear in mind that Jesus
had different kinds of relatives, in two groups—some on His mother’s
side, others on St. Joseph’s. Matthew 13:55-56 mentions, as living in
Nazareth, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (”His brethren”) and
elsewhere there is reference to Jesus’ “sisters” (cf. Matthew 6:3). But
in Matthew 27:56 we are told that James and Joseph were sons of a
Mary distinct from the Blessed Virgin, and that Simon and Judas were
not brothers of James and Joseph, but seemingly children of a brother
of St. Joseph.
Jesus, on the other hand, was known to everyone as “the son of Mary”
(Mark 6:3) or “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55).
The Church has always maintained as absolutely certain that Jesus had
no brothers or sisters in the full meaning of the term: it is a dogma
that Mary was ever-Virgin (cf. note on Matthew 1:25).]
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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.
Thanks Salvation. First Friday bump!
May the Heart of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time.