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Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 03-22-15, Fifth Sunday of Lent
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 03-22-15 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 03/21/2015 6:29:53 PM PDT by Salvation

March 22, 2015

Fifth Sunday of Lent

 

 

Reading 1 Jer 31:31-34

The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15

R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Reading 2 Heb 5:7-9

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Verse Before the Gospel Jn 12:26

Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord;
and where I am, there will my servant be.

Gospel Jn 12:20-33

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered and said,
“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.



TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Prayer; Worship
KEYWORDS: catholic; jn12; lent; prayer
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Arlington Catholic Herald

GOSPEL COMMENTARY¬ JN 12:20-33

Drawn to Christ on the cross

FR. PAUL D. SCALIA

Little Lucette was inexplicably drawn to the man on the cross. Inexplicably, because she had no idea who He was or why He was crucified. Her parents had banished from her life any knowledge of or reference to God. But a gift catalog had slipped through their defenses, and Lucette found in those pages a little crucifix. By an interior grace she knew that He had died for others — for her. She secretly tore out the page and would often gaze devoutly — and covertly — at the man on the cross. Over the years her devotion matured into love, she learned who the man on the cross is, and she gave herself to Him in religious life, dying not too long ago as Mother Veronica Namoyo of the Poor Clares.

As amazing as the story is, told by Mother herself in A Memory for Wonders (Ignatius Press), it seems to be just what Our Lord promised: “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (Jn 12:33). For two weeks in a row Mother Church puts before us this curious phrase: “lifted up” (cf. Jn 3:14; 12:33). In John’s Gospel it is the phrase Jesus uses to describe His Crucifixion: "He said this indicating the kind of death He would die" (Jn 12:33). Being nailed to the cross and then raised is indeed being “lifted up.” The original Greek word has the sense of being raised up in order to be seen — of being exalted (exaltatus in the Latin). As we heard last week, He is exalted “so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:15).

His Crucifixion is indeed a form of exaltation. Like the raising of a trophy or medal, the “lifting up” of Our Lord announces victory. It proclaims God’s mercy and the sacrifice that reconciles us with Him. Christ upon the cross reveals the God powerful enough to allow Himself to be pierced, powerful enough to be merciful. We encounter Jesus’ greatness not so much in His miracles and teachings as in the sacrifice to which they point and from which they derive all meaning and power. Thus the apostle resolves “to know nothing ... except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2).

By this exaltation, He promises, “I will draw everyone to myself.” And so indeed we are drawn to Christ crucified. We place the crucifix on our walls and wear it about our necks. Despite the horror of public execution and of that particular form, we find the crucifix attractive. Something about Christ on the cross draws us, makes us view it as good and beautiful. What draws us, of course, is the self-giving and self-sacrifice we find there. In looking upon Christ crucified we see His words embodied and confirmed: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son (Jn 3:16) ... No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).

Being drawn to Christ on the cross implies also being drawn away from something. One commentary observes that the Greek word for “draw” implies a certain forcefulness, that this drawing is also a snatching away from someone. Indeed, Our Lord on the Cross — in the power of His humiliation — snatches us away from the evil one. The exaltation of Christ crucified is a strong weapon against vice and the devil. The more we gaze upon the one who died for us, the more we leave sin behind and cling to Him.

And on the cross He draws everyone to Himself. Christ crucified is the unifying principle of our faith, what makes the church one. Impolite though it may be to observe, we do not gather at Mass because we are friends or even acquaintances. No, Christian unity goes deeper than worldly connections. We come together because we come to Him as sinners in need of salvation. Every single one of us must come to the cross of Christ. We come first in sorrow, placing ourselves before the judgment seat of Christ, where all our sins are laid bare. But then we come to Him in joy, giving thanks for the sacrifice that has set us free from sin and snatched us from the evil one.

“Behold the wood of the cross, on which hung the salvation of the world.” We will hear those words in a few weeks, as the cross is lifted up — exalted — in the Good Friday liturgy of the Lord's Passion. Then we will be drawn to Christ on the cross, crying out, “Come let us adore.” Let us pray now to be freed from what still ensnares us so that we can be more fully drawn to Him.

Fr. Scalia is Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s delegate for clergy.


21 posted on 03/21/2015 7:14:49 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

**Fr. Scalia is Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s delegate for clergy.**

Yes, Fr. Paul Scalia is Justice Antonin Scalia’s son.


22 posted on 03/21/2015 7:15:28 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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The Work of God

Year B  -  Fifth Sunday of Lent

Unless a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies

John 12:20-30

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.
21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
23 Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27 "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say -- 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

My reputation grew very quickly and people from other countries were attracted to my teachings and the miracles that I was performing. They were pagans who would be transformed by my words and become my followers.

I asked my Heavenly Father to glorify his name, then my Father responded saying: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” Those who heard the voice thought they were hearing thunder, some thought an angel was speaking to me.
My Father made His presence felt in order to give faith to the unbelievers, to attest that I was the Son of the Living God, His eternal Word that must be heard, so that everyone can be saved.

The hour had come for the Son of God to be glorified, but it was hard for them to understand that I had to die to be glorified as the Savior of the world, the one who gives eternal life to those who are dead in their sins. I illustrated how, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. In the same way I had to suffer and die for the sins of humanity, so that with my death I would destroy sin, the devil and death in order to share the power of the resurrection with everyone who follows me.

I said, those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world, for my sake, will keep it for eternal life. The man who loves his life and lives for the flesh and the pleasures of this world will lose his life. The man who mortifies his senses for the sake of his soul, who denies himself and carries the cross of my will, will savor eternal life as his reward.

Dear soul, if you truly love me, have no fear of death. Death is the door to eternal life and I am standing there to receive your soul and bless you for eternity. Therefore live your life with contempt for the world, purify yourself with heavenly thoughts, aspire to posses the kingdom of heaven in your heart, accept the will of God and pray constantly because your liberation is near.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary


23 posted on 03/21/2015 7:17:10 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Archdiocese of Washington

The Cross Always Wins – A Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

http://blog.adw.org/wp-content/uploads/Take-Up-Your-Cross.jpg

The Gospel today is, to the world and those who are perishing, utter madness, utter foolishness. For Christ, in effect, declares that dying (to this world) is the only way to true life. While the world’s so-called wisdom declares to us that the way to life is power, prestige, possessions, and popularity, Jesus says we should die to all that in order to find true life.

The word “paradox” refers to something that is contrary to the usual way of thinking. And the true gospel (not the watered down, compromised one) is a real insult to the world.

Indeed, most of us struggle to understand and accept what the Lord is saying. But the Lord can give us a heart for what really matters, a heart for God, for love, and for the things waiting for us in Heaven. And the way to this new life is through the Cross. Jesus had to go to the Cross and die to give us this new life. And we, too, must go to the Cross and die with Him to this world’s agenda in order to rise to new life.

To those who would scoff at this way of the Cross, there is only one thing to say, “The Cross wins; it always wins.”

Let’s examine the Lord’s paradoxical plan to save us and bring us to new life.

I. The Plan of Salvation That Is Acclaimed - As the Gospel opens we hear of a rather strange incident. The text says,  Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

What is odd is Jesus’ apparent overreaction to the simple fact that some Greeks wished to speak to Him. From this seemingly simple and unremarkable (to us) fact, Jesus senses that His “hour” has now come. Yes, now is the time for His glorification to take place, that is, His suffering, death, and resurrection. Later He goes on to say, “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

Yes, all this from the simple fact that certain Greeks (i.e., Gentiles) wish to speak to Him.

Even more remarkable is that nothing in the text indicates that Jesus goes over to speak to them. Although He has just given this stunning soliloquy and announced that the drama is about to unfold, there is no evidence that He went over to the Greeks to evangelize them. We will see why in a moment.

But first let us examine why this simple request “throws the switch” for Holy Week to unfold. In effect, the arrival of the Gentiles fulfills a critical prophecy about the Messiah wherein He would gather the nations unto Himself and make of fractured humanity one nation, one family. Consider two prophesies:

  1. I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the Lord in clean vessels. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites says the Lord … All mankind shall come to worship before me says the Lord (Is 66:18, 23).
  2. And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples (Is 56:6-7).

Thus we see that one of the principle missions of the Messiah would be to save not only the Jewish People but all people and to draw them into right worship and unity in the one Lord. Jesus explicitly states elsewhere his intention to gather the Gentiles:

I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd (John 10:14).

And so it is that this apparently simple request of the Greeks (Gentiles) to see Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, carries such significance for Him (and for us).

But why not run and greet them at once? Simply put, the call to and salvation of the Gentiles must wait for the death and resurrection of Jesus to be accomplished. It will be His atoning death that will reunite us with the Father and with one another. A simple sermon or slogan like “Can’t we all just get along” isn’t going to accomplish the deeper unity necessary. Only the Blood of Jesus can bring true Shalom with the Father and with one another; only the blood of Jesus can save us.

Consider this text from Ephesians:

But now in Christ Jesus you [Gentiles] who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made us both [Jews and Gentiles] one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Eph 2:13ff).

Thus nothing but the Blood of Jesus can make us whole, can save us or make us one either with the Father or with one another. There is no true unity apart from Christ. He secures it by His blood and the power of His Cross. Only by baptism into the Paschal mystery do we become members of the Body of Christ and find true and lasting unity, salvation, and peace.

So the door has opened from the Gentiles’ side. But Jesus knows that the way through the door goes by way of the Cross. His apparent delay in rushing to greet the Gentiles makes sense in this light. Only after His resurrection will He say, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19). For then there is the power through baptism to make all one in Christ. The price of our salvation, our new life, our peace with one another and the Father, is the death and Resurrection of Jesus. And thank the Lord that Jesus paid that price. An old songs says, “Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan! Oh, the grace that brought it down to man! Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span! At Calvary!”

II. The Plan of Salvation Applied – Jesus goes on to say, Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

Now while it is true that Jesus pays the price for our peace and unity with the Father and with one another, it is also true that He sets forth and prescribes a pattern for us. Note that Jesus says, Amen, Amen I say to YOU … and then he says, Whoever serves me must follow me.

Thus the pattern of His dying and rising to new life must also be applied to the pattern of our lives. If we seek unity and peace and to enjoy this new life with the Father, we must die in order to rise again. We must follow in the footsteps of Jesus. If we want peace we have to be willing to accept the pattern of dying for it and rising to it.

How must we die for this? Well we have to die to

  1. Our ego
  2. Our desire for revenge
  3. Our hurts from the past
  4. Our desire to control everything
  5. Our sinful and unbiblical agendas
  6. Our irrational fears rooted in ego and exaggerated notions
  7. Our hatreds
  8. Our unrealistic expectations
  9. Our stubbornness
  10. Our inflexibility
  11. Our impatience
  12. Our unreasonable demands
  13. Our greed
  14. Our worldliness

Yes, we have to be willing to make some sacrifices for unity and to obtain new life. We have to let the Lord put a lot of sinful and unhealthy drives to death in us. New life does not just occur; peace and unity do not just happen. We have to journey to them through Calvary. We, too, must allow the Lord to crucify our sinful desires and thereby rise to new life.

But remember, the Cross wins; it always wins.

III. The Plan of Salvation at Day’s End – Jesus speaks of a great promise of new life but presents it in a very paradoxical way. He says, Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.

In other words, if we are not willing to follow the pattern He sets forth of dying to ourselves and to this world, we cannot truly live. If we go on clinging to our worldly notions of life, if we live only for ourselves, for power, possessions, popularity, and prestige, we are already dead. For indeed, if we live only for the things of this world (and many do), ours will be a cruel fate, for we will die and lose everything. Yes, we’ll be total losers.

But if we allow the Lord to help us die to this world’s agenda and its pathetic charms, then and only then do we pass increasingly to real life, to true unity with the Father, and to deeper unity with one another in Christ. Only then does a newer, deeper life dawn upon us.  Only then do we see our lives dramatically transformed from day to day.

Jesus had to die to give this to us. And in order to have it bestowed on us, we must be configured to Christ’s death to this world in order to live in Him and find this new life. We die to a sinful and overrated world so that we can live in a whole new way, in a life open to something richer than we can ever imagine.

Note, too, that Jesus calls this new life “eternal life.” But eternal life means far more than living forever. While not excluding the notion of endless length, eternal more deeply means “fully alive.”

For those who know Christ this process has already begun. At my age (past 50), my bodily life has suffered setbacks. But spiritually I am more alive than I ever was at 20; and just wait until I’m 80! If we love and trust Christ, though our bodies decline with age our souls grow younger, more vibrant, and more fully alive with the years. Yes, I am now more joyful, more serene, more confident, less sinful, less angry, less anxious, more compassionate, more patient, … more alive!

But all of this comes from dying to this world little by little and thus having more room for the life Christ offers.

What is the price of our peace and our new life? Everything! For we shall only attain it by dying to this world. And while our final physical death will “seal the deal,” there are the thousands of “little deaths” along the way that usher in this new life. Our physical death is but the final component of a lifelong journey in Christ. For those who know Christ, the promise will then be fulfilled. For those who rejected Him, the loss will be total.

An old song says, “Now I’ve given Jesus everything, Now I gladly own Him as my King, Now my raptured soul can only sing Of Calvary!”

Yes, the promise is real but it is paradoxically obtained. The world calls all this foolishness. But you decide. Choose either the “wisdom of this world” or the folly of Christ. As for me, I’d be fine if you call me a fool, but make sure you add that I was a fool for Christ; I do not mind. The Cross wins; it always wins.

This song says,

Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.

Refrain:
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.

Now I’ve given Jesus everything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary!

Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!


24 posted on 03/21/2015 7:22:05 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Video
25 posted on 03/21/2015 7:24:32 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Sunday Gospel Reflections

5th Sunday of Lent
April 6, 2003
Reading I: Jeremiah 31:31-34 II: Hebrews 5:7-9


Gospel
John 12:20-33

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
21 So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-sa'ida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.
27 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
29 The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.
31 Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out;
32 and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
33 He said this to show by what death he was to die.


Interesting Details
One Main Point

The main part of this Gospel speaks of the necessity of the death of Jesus for universal salvation. Only by the surrender of his life could Christ bear fruit, that is to bring all people to salvation, Jews and Gentiles alike.


Reflections
  1. Try to put yourself at the moment when you heard what God the Father has said: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again (v.28)". Jesus said that the message is intended for you. He looks at you. What do you think God the Father means to tell you? What kind of response do you present to Him?
  2. Does this Gospel passage challenge you against your present way of living? Did you ever introduce anyone to Jesus? What will be your response when someone told you they were wondering about the meaning of life?
  3. The thought of death saddens Jesus (v.27), but He turns to the Father in prayer. Are you saddened by Jesus' call to follow Him? To hate your life? And to be buried like the grain of wheat into the ground? What is your answer to his call?

27 posted on 03/21/2015 7:30:18 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.

My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.

My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.

-- Saint Nicholas of Flüe from a prayer attributed to him

28 posted on 03/21/2015 7:31:31 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Just A Minute Just A Minute (Listen)
Some of EWTN's most popular hosts and guests in a collection of one minute inspirational messages. A different message each time you click.

29 posted on 03/21/2015 7:32:43 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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The Angelus 

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: 
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word. 

Hail Mary . . . 

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. 

Hail Mary . . . 


Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let us pray: 

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen. 


30 posted on 03/21/2015 7:33:56 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Information: Bl. Clemens August von Galen

Feast Day: March 22

Born: 16 March 1878 at Dinklage Castle, Lower Saxony, Germany

Died: 22 March 1946 at Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Beatification: 9 October 2005, Saint Peter's Plaza, Vatican, by Pope Benedict XVI

31 posted on 03/22/2015 8:35:31 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Deogratias

Feast Day: March 22
Died: 457

In the year 439, the city of Carthage was taken over by barbarian armies called the Vandals. They arrested the bishop and priests and put them on a large, old wooden raft and set it adrift at sea. By some miracle they reached the port of Naples and were saved. But Carthage was left without a bishop for fourteen years.

Emperor Valentinian in Rome asked Genseric, the leader of the Vandals, to allow another bishop to be appointed for Carthage. Genseric agreed and a young priest of that city was chosen. He was respected by the conquerors and loved by the Christians.

His name in Latin was "Deogratias," which, in English, means "thanks be to God." Bishop Deogratias worked hard, teaching his people the faith and looking after their well-being.

Then Genseric attacked Rome. He returned to Africa with hundreds of slaves - men, women and children. Whole families were kidnapped and divided up among the Vandals and Moors. Genseric cruelly sold family members individually and separated from their loved ones.

Bishop Deogratias heard about the tragedy. When the slave ships docked at Carthage, he bought back as many slaves as he could. He raised the money by selling the gold and silver church vessels, works of art, vestments (rich robes) and ornaments.

He tried especially to buy and keep together whole families and was able to free many slaves. He found living quarters for them. When the houses were filled up, he used two of his largest churches, Basilica Fausti and Basilica Novarum and turned them into dormitories and hospitals.

He bought bedding and other necessary items so that these refugees would feel at home in their new surroundings. When his duties gave him the time, he worked in the sick wards.

The Vandals tried many times to kill him but could not. Bishop Deogratias died in his own bed after only three years as Carthage's bishop. He was totally worn out from his life of self-sacrifice and loving service. The people he helped would never forget him. He died in 457.

After the death of Bishop Deogratias, the Vandals refused to let Carthage have a bishop for another twenty-three years.


32 posted on 03/22/2015 8:49:22 AM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
John
  English: Douay-Rheims Latin: Vulgata Clementina Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
  John 12
20 Now there were certain Gentiles among them, who came up to adore on the festival day. Erant autem quidam gentiles, ex his qui ascenderant ut adorarent in die festo. ησαν δε τινες ελληνες εκ των αναβαινοντων ινα προσκυνησωσιν εν τη εορτη
21 These therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying: Sir, we would see Jesus. Hi ergo accesserunt ad Philippum, qui erat a Bethsaida Galilææ, et rogabant eum, dicentes : Domine, volumus Jesum videre. ουτοι ουν προσηλθον φιλιππω τω απο βηθσαιδα της γαλιλαιας και ηρωτων αυτον λεγοντες κυριε θελομεν τον ιησουν ιδειν
22 Philip cometh, and telleth Andrew. Again Andrew and Philip told Jesus. Venit Philippus, et dicit Andreæ ; Andreas rursum et Philippus dixerunt Jesu. ερχεται φιλιππος και λεγει τω ανδρεα και παλιν ανδρεας και φιλιππος λεγουσιν τω ιησου
23 But Jesus answered them, saying: The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Jesus autem respondit eis, dicens : Venit hora, ut clarificetur Filius hominis. ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις λεγων εληλυθεν η ωρα ινα δοξασθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου
24 Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, Amen, amen dico vobis, nisi granum frumenti cadens in terram, mortuum fuerit, αμην αμην λεγω υμιν εαν μη ο κοκκος του σιτου πεσων εις την γην αποθανη αυτος μονος μενει εαν δε αποθανη πολυν καρπον φερει
25 Itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal. ipsum solum manet : si autem mortuum fuerit, multum fructum affert. Qui amat animam suam, perdet eam ; et qui odit animam suam in hoc mundo, in vitam æternam custodit eam. ο φιλων την ψυχην αυτου απολεσει αυτην και ο μισων την ψυχην αυτου εν τω κοσμω τουτω εις ζωην αιωνιον φυλαξει αυτην
26 If any man minister to me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall my minister be. If any man minister to me, him will my Father honour. Si quis mihi ministrat, me sequatur, et ubi sum ego, illic et minister meus erit. Si quis mihi ministraverit, honorificabit eum Pater meus. εαν εμοι διακονη τις εμοι ακολουθειτω και οπου ειμι εγω εκει και ο διακονος ο εμος εσται και εαν τις εμοι διακονη τιμησει αυτον ο πατηρ
27 Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause I came unto this hour. Nunc anima mea turbata est. Et quid dicam ? Pater, salvifica me ex hac hora. Sed propterea veni in horam hanc : νυν η ψυχη μου τεταρακται και τι ειπω πατερ σωσον με εκ της ωρας ταυτης αλλα δια τουτο ηλθον εις την ωραν ταυτην
28 Father, glorify thy name. A voice therefore came from heaven: I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. Pater, clarifica nomen tuum. Venit ergo vox de cælo : Et clarificavi, et iterum clarificabo. πατερ δοξασον σου το ονομα ηλθεν ουν φωνη εκ του ουρανου και εδοξασα και παλιν δοξασω
29 The multitude therefore that stood and heard, said that it thundered. Others said: An angel spoke to him. Turba ergo, quæ stabat, et audierat, dicebat tonitruum esse factum. Alii dicebant : Angelus ei locutus est. ο ουν οχλος ο εστως και ακουσας ελεγεν βροντην γεγονεναι αλλοι ελεγον αγγελος αυτω λελαληκεν
30 Jesus answered, and said: This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Respondit Jesus, et dixit : Non propter me hæc vox venit, sed propter vos. απεκριθη [ο] ιησους και ειπεν ου δι εμε αυτη η φωνη γεγονεν αλλα δι υμας
31 Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Nunc judicium est mundi : nunc princeps hujus mundi ejicietur foras. νυν κρισις εστιν του κοσμου τουτου νυν ο αρχων του κοσμου τουτου εκβληθησεται εξω
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. Et ego, si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad meipsum. καγω εαν υψωθω εκ της γης παντας ελκυσω προς εμαυτον
33 (Now this he said, signifying what death he should die.) (Hoc autem dicebat, significans qua morte esset moriturus.) τουτο δε ελεγεν σημαινων ποιω θανατω εμελλεν αποθνησκειν

(*) "αυτος μονος μενει εαν δε αποθανη πολυν καρπον φερει" went to verse 25 in the translations.

33 posted on 03/22/2015 11:27:42 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex
20. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast.
21. The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
22. Philip comes and tells Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
23. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
24. Verily, verily, I say to you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit.
25. He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
26. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.

BEDE. The temple at Jerusalem was so famous, that on the feast days, not only the people near, but many Gentiles from distant countries came to worship in it; as that eunuch of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, mentioned in the Acts. The Gentiles who were at Jerusalem now, had come up for this purpose: And there were certain Gentiles among them who came to worship at the feast.

CHRYS. The time being now near, when they would be made proselytes. They hear Christ talked of, and wish to see Him: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired: him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.

AUG. Lo! the Jews wish to kill Him, the Gentiles to see Him. But they also were of the Jews who cried, Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord. So behold them of the circumcision, and them of the uncircumcision, once so wide apart, coming together like two walls, and meeting in one faith of Christ by the kiss of peace.

Philip comes and tells Andrew.

CHRYS. As being the elder disciple. He had heard our Savior say, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and therefore he communicates with his fellow-disciple, and the refer the matter to their Lord: And again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus

AUG. Listen we to the voice of the corner stone: And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Did He think Himself glorified, because the Gentiles wished to see? No. But He saw that after His passion and resurrection, the Gentiles in all lands would believe in Him; and took occasion from this request of some Gentiles to see Him, to announce the approaching fullness of the Gentiles, for that the hour of His being glorified was now at hand, and that after He was glorified in the heavens, the Gentiles would believe; according to the passage in the Psalm, Set up Yourself, O God, above the heavens, and your glory above all the earth (Ps 56 and 107).

But it was necessary that His exaltation and glory should be preceded by His humiliation and passion; wherefore He says, Verily, verily, I say to you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: out if it die, it brings forth much fruit. That corn was He, to be mortified in the unbelief of the Jews, to be multiplied in the faith of the Gentiles.

BEDE, He Himself, of the seed of the Patriarchs, was sown in the field of this world, that by dying, He might rise again with increase. He died alone; He rose again with many.

CHRYS. He illustrates His discourse by an example from nature. A grain of corn produces fruit, after it has cried. How much more then must the Son of God? The Gentiles were to be called after the Jews had finally offended; i.e. after His crucifixion. Now then that the Gentiles of their own accord offered their faith, He saw that His crucifixion could not be far off. And to console the sorrow of His disciples, which He foresaw would arise, He tells them that to bear patiently not only His death, but their own too, is the only way to good:

He that loves his life shall lose it.

AUG. This may be understood in two ways: 1. If you love it, lose it: if you would preserve your life in Christ, fear not death for Christ. 2. Do not love your life here, lest you lose it hereafter. The latter seems to be the more evangelical sense; for it follows, And he that hates his life in this world, shall keep it to life eternal.

CHRYS. He loves his life in this world, who indulges its inordinate desires; he hates it, who resists them. It is not, who cloth not yield to, but, who hates. For as we cannot bear to hear the voice or see the face of them whom we hate; so when the soul invites us to things contrary to God, we should turn her away from them with all our might.

THEOPHYL. It were harsh to say that a man should hate his soul; so He adds, in this world: i.e. for a particular time, not forever. And we shall gain in the end by so doing: shall keep it to life eternal.

AUG. But think not for an instant, that by hating your soul, is meant that you may kill yourself. For wicked and perverse men have sometimes so mistaken it, and have burnt and strangled themselves, thrown themselves from precipices, and in other ways put an end to themselves. This did not Christ teach; nay, when the devil tempted Him to cast Himself down, He said, Get you hence, Satan. But when no other choice is given you; when the persecutor threatens death, and you must either disobey God's law, or depart out of this life, then hate your life in this world, that you may keep it to life eternal.

CHRYS. This present life is sweet to them who are given up to it. But he who looks heavenwards, and sees what good things are there, soon despises this life. When the better life appears, the worse is despised. This is Christ's meaning, when He says, If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, i.e. imitate Me, both in My death, and life. For he who serves, should follow him whom he serves.

AUG. But what is it to serve Christ? The very words explain. They serve Christ who seek not their own things, but the things of Jesus Christ, i.e. who follow Him, walk in His, not their own v ways, do all good works for Christ's sake, not only works of mercy to men's bodies, but all others, till at length they fulfill that great work of love, and lay down their lives for the brethren. But what fruit, what reward? you ask. The next words tell you: And where I am, there shall also My servant be. Love Him for His own sake, and think it a rich reward for your service, to be with Him.

CHRYS. So then death will be followed by resurrection. Where I am, He says; for Christ was in heaven before His resurrection. Thither let us ascend in heart and in mind.

If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor. This must be understood as an explanation of the preceding. There also shall My servant be. For what greater honor can an adopted Son receive than to he where the Only Son is?

CHRYS. He says, My Father will honor him, not, I will honor him; because they had not yet proper notions of His nature, and thought Him inferior to the Father.

27. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say?
Father, save me from this hour?
But for this cause came I to this hour.
28. Father, glorify your name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
29. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spoke to him.
30. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
31. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me.
33. This he said, signifying what death he should die.

CHRYS. To our Lord's exhortation to His disciples to endurance, they might have replied that it was easy for Him, Who was out of the reach of human pain, to talk philosophically about death, and to recommend others to bear what He is in no danger of having to bear Himself. So He lets them see that He is Himself in an agony, but that He does not intend to decline death, merely for the sake of relieving Himself: Now is My soul troubled.

AUG. I hear Him say, He that hates his life in this world, shall keep it to life eternal; and I am ravished, I despise the world; the whole of this life, however long, is but a vapor in My sight; all temporal things are vile, in comparison with eternal. And again I hear Him say, Now is My soul troubled. You bid my soul follow You; but I see your soul troubled.

What foundation shall I seek, if the rock gives way? Lord, I acknowledge your mercy. you of your love was of your own will troubled, to console those who are troubled through the infirmity of nature; that the members of your body perish not in despair. The Head took upon Himself the affections of His members. He was not troubled by anything, but, as was said above, He troubled Himself.

CHRYS. As He draws near to the Cross, His human nature appears, a nature that did not wish to die, but cleaved to this present life. He shows that He is not quite without human feelings. For the desire of this present life is not necessarily wrong, any more than hunger. Christ had a body free from sin, but not from natural infirmities. But these attach solely to the dispensation of His humanity, not to His divinity.

AUG. Lastly, let the man who would follow Him, hear at what hour he should follow. A fearful hour has perhaps come: a choice is offered, either to do wrong, or suffer: the weak soul is troubled. Hear our Lord. What shall I say?

BEDE. i.e. What but something to confirm My followers?

Father, save Me from this hour.

AUG. He teaches you Whom you should call on, whose will prefer to your own. Let Him not seem to fall from His greatness, because He wishes you to rise from your meanness. He took upon Him man's infirmity, that He might teach the afflicted to say, Not what I will, but what you will.

Wherefore He adds, But for this cause came I to this hour.

Father, glorify your name: i.e. in My passion and resurrection.

CHRYS. As if He said, I cannot say why I should ask to be saved from it; For this cause came I to this hour. However you may be troubled and dejected at the thought of dying, do not run away from death. I am troubled, yet I ask not to be spared.

I do not say, Save Me from this hour, but the contrary, Glorify your name. To die for the truth was to glorify God, as the event showed; for after His crucifixion the whole world was to be converted to the knowledge and worship of God, both the Father and the Son. But this He is silent about.

Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

GREG. When God speaks audibly, as He does here, but no visible appearance is seen, He speaks through the medium of a rational creature: i.e. by the voice of an Angel.

AUG. I have glorified it, i.e. before I made the world; and will glorify it again, i.e. when you shall rise from the dead. Or, I have gloried it, when you were born of a Virgin, did work miracles, was made manifest by the Holy Ghost descending in the shape of a dove; and will glorify it again, when you shall rise from the dead, and, as God, be exalted above the heavens, and your glory above all the earth.

The people therefore that stood by and heard it, said that it thundered.

CHRYS. The voice though loud and distinct, soon passed off from their gross, carnal, and sluggish minds; only the sound remaining. Others perceived an articulate voice, but did not catch what it said: Others said, An Angel spoke to Him.

Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes.

AUG. i.e. It did not come to tell Him what He knew already, but them what they ought to know. And as that voice did not come for His sake, but for theirs, so His soul was not troubled for His sake, but for theirs.

CHRYS. The voice of the Father proved what they were so fond of denying, that He was from God. For He must be from God, if He was glorified by God. It was not that He needed encouragement of such a voice Himself, but He condescended to receive it for the sake of those who were by.

Now is the judgment of this world: this fits on to the preceding, as strewing the mode of His being glorified.

AUG. The judgment at the end of the world will be of eternal rewards and punishments. But there is another judgment, not of condemnation, but of selection, which is the one meant here; the selection of His own redeemed, and their deliverance from the power of the devil: Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

The devil is not called the prince of this world, in the sense of being Lord over heaven and earth; God forbid. The world here stands for the wicked dispersed over all the world. In this sense the devil is the prince of the world, i.e. of all the wicked men who live in the world. The world also sometimes stands for the good dispersed throughout the world: God, was in Christ reconciling the world, to Himself (2 Cor 5:19). These are they from whose, hearts the prince of this world shall be cast out.

Our Lord foresaw that after His passion and glorifying, great nations all over the world would be converted, in whom the devil was then, but from whose hearts, on their truly renouncing him, he would be cast out. But was he not cast out of the hearts of the righteous men of old?

Why is it, Now shall be cast out? Because that which once took place in a very few persons, was now to take place in whole nations. What then, does the devil not tempt at all the minds of believers? Yea, he never ceases to tempt them. But it is one thing to reign within, another to lay siege from without.

CHRYS. What kind of judgment it is by which the devil is cast out, I will explain by an example. A man demands payment from his debtors, beats them, and sends them to prison. He treats with the same insolence one who owes him nothing. The latter will take vengeance both for himself and the others too. This Christ does. He revenges what He has suffered at the devil's hands, and with Himself He revenges us too.

But that none may say, How will he be cast out, if he overcome you? He adds, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Me. How can He be overcome, who draws others to Him? This is more than saying, I shall rise again. Had He said this, it would not have proved that He would draw all things to Him; but, I shall draw, includes the resurrection, and this besides.

AUG. What is this all that He draws, but that from which the devil is cast out? He does not say, All men, but, All things; for all men have not faith. He does not mean then all mankind, but the whole of a man, i.e. spirit, soul, and body; by which respectively we understand, and live, and are visible. Or, if all means all men, it means those who are predestined to salvation: or all kinds of men, all varieties of character, excepting in the article of sin.

CHRYS. Why then did He say above, that the Father drew men? Because the Father draws, by the Son who draws. I shall draw, He says, as if men were in the grasp of some tyrant, from which they could not extricate themselves.

AUG. If I be lifted up from the earth, He says, i.e. when I shall be lifted up. He does not doubt that the work will be accomplished which He came to do. By His being lifted up, He means His passion on the cross, as the Evangelist adds: This He said, signifying by what death He should die.

Catena Aurea John 12
34 posted on 03/22/2015 11:28:31 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex


The Entombment of Christ

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

1636-39
Oil on canvas, 93 x 70 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

35 posted on 03/22/2015 11:29:03 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: Salvation
John
  English: Douay-Rheims Latin: Vulgata Clementina Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
  John 11
1 NOW there was a certain man sick, named Lazarus, of Bethania, of the town of Mary and Martha her sister. Erat autem quidem languens Lazarus a Bethania, de castello Mariæ et Marthæ sororis ejus. ην δε τις ασθενων λαζαρος απο βηθανιας εκ της κωμης μαριας και μαρθας της αδελφης αυτης
2 (And Mary was she that anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair: whose brother Lazarus was sick.) (Maria autem erat quæ unxit Dominum unguento, et extersit pedes ejus capillis suis : cujus frater Lazarus infirmabatur.) ην δε μαρια η αλειψασα τον κυριον μυρω και εκμαξασα τους ποδας αυτου ταις θριξιν αυτης ης ο αδελφος λαζαρος ησθενει
3 His sisters therefore sent to him, saying: Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Miserunt ergo sorores ejus ad eum dicentes : Domine, ecce quem amas infirmatur. απεστειλαν ουν αι αδελφαι προς αυτον λεγουσαι κυριε ιδε ον φιλεις ασθενει
4 And Jesus hearing it, said to them: This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God: that the Son of God may be glorified by it. Audiens autem Jesus dixit eis : Infirmitas hæc non est ad mortem, sed pro gloria Dei, ut glorificetur Filius Dei per eam. ακουσας δε ο ιησους ειπεν αυτη η ασθενεια ουκ εστιν προς θανατον αλλ υπερ της δοξης του θεου ινα δοξασθη ο υιος του θεου δι αυτης
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus. Diligebat autem Jesus Martham, et sororem ejus Mariam, et Lazarum. ηγαπα δε ο ιησους την μαρθαν και την αδελφην αυτης και τον λαζαρον
6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he still remained in the same place two days. Ut ergo audivit quia infirmabatur, tunc quidem mansit in eodem loco duobus diebus ; ως ουν ηκουσεν οτι ασθενει τοτε μεν εμεινεν εν ω ην τοπω δυο ημερας
7 Then after that, he said to his disciples: Let us go into Judea again. deinde post hæc dixit discipulis suis : Eamus in Judæam iterum. επειτα μετα τουτο λεγει τοις μαθηταις αγωμεν εις την ιουδαιαν παλιν
8 The disciples say to him: Rabbi, the Jews but now sought to stone thee: and goest thou thither again? Dicunt ei discipuli : Rabbi, nunc quærebant te Judæi lapidare, et iterum vadis illuc ? λεγουσιν αυτω οι μαθηται ραββι νυν εζητουν σε λιθασαι οι ιουδαιοι και παλιν υπαγεις εκει
9 Jesus answered: Are there not twelve hours of the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world: Respondit Jesus : Nonne duodecim sunt horæ diei ? Si quis ambulaverit in die, non offendit, quia lucem hujus mundi videt : απεκριθη ιησους ουχι δωδεκα εισιν ωραι της ημερας εαν τις περιπατη εν τη ημερα ου προσκοπτει οτι το φως του κοσμου τουτου βλεπει
10 But if he walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him. si autem ambulaverit in nocte, offendit, quia lux non est in eo. εαν δε τις περιπατη εν τη νυκτι προσκοπτει οτι το φως ουκ εστιν εν αυτω
11 These things he said; and after that he said to them: Lazarus our friend sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Hæc ait, et post hæc dixit eis : Lazarus amicus noster dormit : sed vado ut a somno excitem eum. ταυτα ειπεν και μετα τουτο λεγει αυτοις λαζαρος ο φιλος ημων κεκοιμηται αλλα πορευομαι ινα εξυπνισω αυτον
12 His disciples therefore said: Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Dixerunt ergo discipuli ejus : Domine, si dormit, salvus erit. ειπον ουν οι μαθηται αυτου κυριε ει κεκοιμηται σωθησεται
13 But Jesus spoke of his death; and they thought that he spoke of the repose of sleep. Dixerat autem Jesus de morte ejus : illi autem putaverunt quia de dormitione somni diceret. ειρηκει δε ο ιησους περι του θανατου αυτου εκεινοι δε εδοξαν οτι περι της κοιμησεως του υπνου λεγει
14 Then therefore Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead. Tunc ergo Jesus dixit eis manifeste : Lazarus mortuus est : τοτε ουν ειπεν αυτοις ο ιησους παρρησια λαζαρος απεθανεν
15 And I am glad, for your sakes, that I was not there, that you may believe: but let us go to him. et gaudeo propter vos, ut credatis, quoniam non eram ibi, sed eamus ad eum. και χαιρω δι υμας ινα πιστευσητε οτι ουκ ημην εκει αλλα αγωμεν προς αυτον
16 Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples: Let us also go, that we may die with him. Dixit ergo Thomas, qui dicitur Didymus, ad condiscipulos : Eamus et nos, ut moriamur cum eo. ειπεν ουν θωμας ο λεγομενος διδυμος τοις συμμαθηταις αγωμεν και ημεις ινα αποθανωμεν μετ αυτου
17 Jesus therefore came, and found that he had been four days already in the grave. Venit itaque Jesus : et invenit eum quatuor dies jam in monumento habentem. ελθων ουν ο ιησους ευρεν αυτον τεσσαρας ημερας ηδη εχοντα εν τω μνημειω
18 (Now Bethania was near Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.) (Erat autem Bethania juxta Jerosolymam quasi stadiis quindecim.) ην δε η βηθανια εγγυς των ιεροσολυμων ως απο σταδιων δεκαπεντε
19 And many of the Jews were come to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Multi autem ex Judæis venerant ad Martham et Mariam, ut consolarentur eas de fratre suo. και πολλοι εκ των ιουδαιων εληλυθεισαν προς τας περι μαρθαν και μαριαν ινα παραμυθησωνται αυτας περι του αδελφου αυτων
20 Martha therefore, as soon as she heard that Jesus had come, went to meet him: but Mary sat at home. Martha ergo ut audivit quia Jesus venit, occurrit illi : Maria autem domi sedebat. η ουν μαρθα ως ηκουσεν οτι ιησους ερχεται υπηντησεν αυτω μαρια δε εν τω οικω εκαθεζετο
21 Martha therefore said to Jesus: Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Dixit ergo Martha ad Jesum : Domine, si fuisses hic, frater meus non fuisset mortuus : ειπεν ουν μαρθα προς τον ιησουν κυριε ει ης ωδε ο αδελφος μου ουκ αν ετεθνηκει
22 But now also I know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. sed et nunc scio quia quæcumque poposceris a Deo, dabit tibi Deus. αλλα και νυν οιδα οτι οσα αν αιτηση τον θεον δωσει σοι ο θεος
23 Jesus saith to her: Thy brother shall rise again. Dicit illi Jesus : Resurget frater tuus. λεγει αυτη ο ιησους αναστησεται ο αδελφος σου
24 Martha saith to him: I know that he shall rise again, in the resurrection at the last day. Dicit ei Martha : Scio quia resurget in resurrectione in novissimo die. λεγει αυτω μαρθα οιδα οτι αναστησεται εν τη αναστασει εν τη εσχατη ημερα
25 Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live: Dixit ei Jesus : Ego sum resurrectio et vita : qui credit in me, etiam si mortuus fuerit, vivet : ειπεν αυτη ο ιησους εγω ειμι η αναστασις και η ζωη ο πιστευων εις εμε καν αποθανη ζησεται
26 And every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever. Believest thou this? et omnis qui vivit et credit in me, non morietur in æternum. Credis hoc ? και πας ο ζων και πιστευων εις εμε ου μη αποθανη εις τον αιωνα πιστευεις τουτο
27 She saith to him: Yea, Lord, I have believed that thou art Christ the Son of the living God, who art come into this world. Ait illi : Utique Domine, ego credidi quia tu es Christus, Filius Dei vivi, qui in hunc mundum venisti. λεγει αυτω ναι κυριε εγω πεπιστευκα οτι συ ει ο χριστος ο υιος του θεου ο εις τον κοσμον ερχομενος
28 And when she had said these things, she went, and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: The master is come, and calleth for thee. Et cum hæc dixisset, abiit, et vocavit Mariam sororem suam silentio, dicens : Magister adest, et vocat te. και ταυτα ειπουσα απηλθεν και εφωνησεν μαριαν την αδελφην αυτης λαθρα ειπουσα ο διδασκαλος παρεστιν και φωνει σε
29 She, as soon as she heard this, riseth quickly, and cometh to him. Illa ut audivit, surgit cito, et venit ad eum ; εκεινη ως ηκουσεν εγειρεται ταχυ και ερχεται προς αυτον
30 For Jesus was not yet come into the town: but he was still in that place where Martha had met him. nondum enim venerat Jesus in castellum : sed erat adhuc in illo loco, ubi occurrerat ei Martha. ουπω δε εληλυθει ο ιησους εις την κωμην αλλ ην εν τω τοπω οπου υπηντησεν αυτω η μαρθα
31 The Jews therefore, who were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she rose up speedily and went out, followed her, saying: She goeth to the grave to weep there. Judæi ergo, qui erant cum ea in domo, et consolabantur eam, cum vidissent Mariam quia cito surrexit, et exiit, secuti sunt eam dicentes : Quia vadit ad monumentum, ut ploret ibi. οι ουν ιουδαιοι οι οντες μετ αυτης εν τη οικια και παραμυθουμενοι αυτην ιδοντες την μαριαν οτι ταχεως ανεστη και εξηλθεν ηκολουθησαν αυτη λεγοντες οτι υπαγει εις το μνημειον ινα κλαυση εκει
32 When Mary therefore was come where Jesus was, seeing him, she fell down at his feet, and saith to him: Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Maria ergo, cum venisset ubi erat Jesus, videns eum, cecidit ad pedes ejus, et dicit ei : Domine, si fuisses hic, non esset mortuus frater meus. η ουν μαρια ως ηλθεν οπου ην ο ιησους ιδουσα αυτον επεσεν αυτου εις τους ποδας λεγουσα αυτω κυριε ει ης ωδε ουκ αν απεθανεν μου ο αδελφος
33 Jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews that were come with her, weeping, groaned in the spirit, and troubled himself, Jesus ergo, ut vidit eam plorantem, et Judæos, qui venerant cum ea, plorantes, infremuit spiritu, et turbavit seipsum, ιησους ουν ως ειδεν αυτην κλαιουσαν και τους συνελθοντας αυτη ιουδαιους κλαιοντας ενεβριμησατο τω πνευματι και εταραξεν εαυτον
34 And said: Where have you laid him? They say to him: Lord, come and see. et dixit : Ubi posuistis eum ? Dicunt ei : Domine, veni, et vide. και ειπεν που τεθεικατε αυτον λεγουσιν αυτω κυριε ερχου και ιδε
35 And Jesus wept. Et lacrimatus est Jesus. εδακρυσεν ο ιησους
36 The Jews therefore said: Behold how he loved him. Dixerunt ergo Judæi : Ecce quomodo amabat eum. ελεγον ουν οι ιουδαιοι ιδε πως εφιλει αυτον
37 But some of them said: Could not he that opened the eyes of the man born blind, have caused that this man should not die? Quidam autem ex ipsis dixerunt : Non poterat hic, qui aperuit oculos cæci nati, facere ut hic non moreretur ? τινες δε εξ αυτων ειπον ουκ ηδυνατο ουτος ο ανοιξας τους οφθαλμους του τυφλου ποιησαι ινα και ουτος μη αποθανη
38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the sepulchre. Now it was a cave; and a stone was laid over it. Jesus ergo rursum fremens in semetipso, venit ad monumentum. Erat autem spelunca, et lapis superpositus erat ei. ιησους ουν παλιν εμβριμωμενος εν εαυτω ερχεται εις το μνημειον ην δε σπηλαιον και λιθος επεκειτο επ αυτω
39 Jesus saith: Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him: Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days. Ait Jesus : Tollite lapidem. Dicit ei Martha, soror ejus qui mortuus fuerat : Domine, jam fœtet, quatriduanus est enim. λεγει ο ιησους αρατε τον λιθον λεγει αυτω η αδελφη του τεθνηκοτος μαρθα κυριε ηδη οζει τεταρταιος γαρ εστιν
40 Jesus saith to her: Did not I say to thee, that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God? Dicit ei Jesus : Nonne dixi tibi quoniam si credideris, videbis gloriam Dei ? λεγει αυτη ο ιησους ουκ ειπον σοι οτι εαν πιστευσης οψει την δοξαν του θεου
41 They took therefore the stone away. And Jesus lifting up his eyes said: Father, I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me. Tulerunt ergo lapidem : Jesus autem, elevatis sursum oculis, dixit : Pater, gratias ago tibi quoniam audisti me. ηραν ουν τον λιθον ου ην ο τεθνηκως κειμενος ο δε ιησους ηρεν τους οφθαλμους ανω και ειπεν πατερ ευχαριστω σοι οτι ηκουσας μου
42 And I knew that thou hearest me always; but because of the people who stand about have I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. Ego autem sciebam quia semper me audis, sed propter populum qui circumstat, dixi : ut credant quia tu me misisti. εγω δε ηδειν οτι παντοτε μου ακουεις αλλα δια τον οχλον τον περιεστωτα ειπον ινα πιστευσωσιν οτι συ με απεστειλας
43 When he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth. Hæc cum dixisset, voce magna clamavit : Lazare, veni foras. και ταυτα ειπων φωνη μεγαλη εκραυγασεν λαζαρε δευρο εξω
44 And presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them: Loose him, and let him go. Et statim prodiit qui fuerat mortuus, ligatus pedes, et manus institis, et facies illius sudario erat ligata. Dixit eis Jesus : Solvite eum et sinite abire. και εξηλθεν ο τεθνηκως δεδεμενος τους ποδας και τας χειρας κειριαις και η οψις αυτου σουδαριω περιεδεδετο λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους λυσατε αυτον και αφετε υπαγειν
45 Many therefore of the Jews, who were come to Mary and Martha, and had seen the things that Jesus did, believed in him. Multi ergo ex Judæis, qui venerant ad Mariam, et Martham, et viderant quæ fecit Jesus, crediderunt in eum. πολλοι ουν εκ των ιουδαιων οι ελθοντες προς την μαριαν και θεασαμενοι α εποιησεν ο ιησους επιστευσαν εις αυτον

36 posted on 03/22/2015 11:30:21 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex
1. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
3. Therefore his sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.
4. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
5. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

BEDE. After our Lord had departed to the other side of Jordan, it happened that Lazarus fell sick: A certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany. In some copies the copulative conjunction precedes, to mark the connection with the words preceding. Lazarus signifies helped. Of all the dead which our Lord raised, he was most helped, for he had lain dead four days, when our Lord raised him to life.

AUG. The resurrection of Lazarus is more spoken of than any of our Lord's miracles. But if we hear in mind who He was who wrought this miracle, we shall feel not so much of wonder; as of delight. He who made the man, raised the man; and it is a greater thing to create a man, than to revive him. Lazarus was sick at Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. The place was near Jerusalem.

ALCUIN. And as there were many women of this name, He distinguishes her by her well-known act: It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick

CHRYS. First we are to observe that this was not the harlot mentioned in Luke, but an honest woman, who treated our Lord with marked reverence.

AUG. John here confirms the passage in Luke, where this is said to have taken place in the house of one Simon a Pharisee: Mary had done this act therefore on a former occasion. That she did it again at Bethany is not mentioned in the narrative of Luke, but is in the other three Gospels.

AUG. A cruel sickness had seized Lazarus; a wasting fever was eating away the body of the wretched man day by day: his two sisters sat sorrowful at his bedside, grieving for the sick youth continually. They sent to Jesus: Therefore his sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, behold he whom you love is sick.

AUG. They did not say, Come and heal; they dared not say, Speak the word there, and it shall be done here; but only, Behold, he whom you love is sick. As if to say, It is enough that you know it, you are not one to love and then to desert whom you love.

CHRYS. They hope to excite Christ's pity by these words, Whom as yet they thought to be a man only. Like the centurion and nobleman, they sent, not went, to Christ; partly from their great faith in Him, for they knew Him intimately, partly because their sorrow kept them at home.

THEOPHYL. And because they were women and it did not become them to leave their home if they could help it. Great devotion and faith is expressed in these words, Behold, he whom you love is sick. Such was their idea of our Lord's power, that they were surprised, that one, whom He loved, could be seized with sickness.

AUG. When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not to death. For this death itself was not to death, but to give occasion for a miracle; whereby men might be brought to believe in Christ, and so escape real death. It was for the glory of God, wherein observe that our Lord calls Himself God by implication, thus confounding those heretics who say that the Son of God is not God. For the glory of what God? Hear what follows, That the Son of God might be glorified thereby, i.e. by that sickness.

CHRYS. That here signifies not the cause, but the event. The sickness sprang from natural causes, but He turned it to the glory of God.

Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

AUG. He is sick, they sorrowful, all beloved. Wherefore they had hope, for they were beloved by Him Who is the Comforter of the sorrowful, and the Healer of the sick.

CHRYS. Wherein the Evangelist instructs us not to be sad, it sickness ever falls upon good men, and friends of God.

6. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
7. Then after that says he to his disciples, Let us go into Judea again.
8. His disciples say to him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone you; and you go there again?
9. Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbles not, because he sees the light of this world.
10. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him.

ALCUIN. Our Lord heard of the sickness of Lazarus, but suffered four days to pass before He cured it; that the recovery might be a more wonderful one. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the place where He was.

CHRYS. To give time for his death and burial, that they might say, he stinks, and none doubt that it was death, and not a trance, from which he was raised.

Then after that; He says to His disciples, let us go into Judea again.

AUG. Where He had just escaped being stoned; for this was the cause of His leaving. He left indeed as man: He left in weakness, but He returns in power.

CHRYS. He had not as yet told His disciples where He was going; but now He tells them, in order to prepare them beforehand, for they are in great alarm, when they hear of it: His disciples say to Him, Master, the Jews sought to stone you, and you go there again? They feared both for Him, and for themselves; for they were not yet confirmed in faith.

AUG. When men presumed to give advice to God, disciples to their Master, our Lord rebuked them: Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? He showed Himself to be the day, by appointing twelve disciples: i.e. reckoning Matthias in the place of Judas, and passing over the latter altogether.

The hours are lightened by the day; that by the preaching of the hours, the world may believe on the day. Follow Me then, says our Lord, if you wish not to stumble: If any man walk in the day, he stumbles not, because he sees the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night he stumbles, because there is no light in him.

CHRYS. As if to say, the upright need fear no evil: the wicked only have cause to fear. We have done nothing worthy of death, and therefore are in no danger. Or, If any one sees this world's light, he is safe; much more he who is with Me.

THEOPHYL. Some understand the day to be the time preceding the Passion, the night to be the Passion. In this sense, while it is day, would mean, before My Passion; You will not stumble before My Passion, because the Jews will not persecute you; but when the night, i.e. My Passion, comes, then shall you be beset with darkness and difficulties.

11. These things said he: and after that he says to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.
12. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13. Although Jesus spoke of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14. Then said Jesus to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15. And I am glad for your sakes I was not there, to the intent you may believe; nevertheless let us go to him.
16. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

CHRYS. After He had comforted His disciples in one way, He comforts them in another, by telling them that they were not going to Jerusalem, but to Bethany: These things says He and after that He says to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep: as if to say, I am not going to dispute again with the Jews, but to awaken our friend. Our friend, He says, to show how strongly they were bound to go.

AUG. It was really true that He was sleeping. To our Lord, he was sleeping; to men who could not raise him again, he was dead. Our Lord awoke him with as much ease from his grave, as you awake a sleeper from his bed. He calls him then asleep, with reference to His own power, as the Apostle says, But 1 would not have you to be ignorant, concerning them which are asleep.

Asleep, He says, because He is speaking of their resurrection which was to be. But as it matters to those who sleep and wake again daily, what they see in their sleep, some having pleasant dreams, others painful ones, so it is in death; every one sleeps and rises again with his own account.

CHRYS. The disciples however wished to prevent Him going to Judea: Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Sleep is a good sign in sickness. And therefore if he sleep, say they, what need to go and awake him.

AUG. The disciples replied, as they understood Him: Although Jesus spoke of his death; but they thought that He had spoken of taking rest in sleep.

CHRYS. But if anyone say, that the disciples could not but have known that our Lord meant Lazarus's death, when He said, that I may awake him; because it would have been absurd to have gone such a distance merely to awake Lazarus out of sleep; we answer, that our Lord's words were a kind of enigma to the disciples, here as elsewhere often.

AUG. He then declares His meaning openly: Then said Jesus to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

CHRYS. But He does not add here, I go that I may awake him. He did not wish to anticipate the miracle by talking of it; a hint to us to shun vain glory, and abstain from empty promises.

AUG. He had been sent for to restore Lazarus from sickness, not from death. But how could the death be hid from Him, into whose hands the soul of the dead had flown?

And 1 am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you might believe; i.e. seeing My marvelous power of knowing a thing I have neither seen nor heard. The disciples already believed in Him in consequence of His miracles; so that their faith had not now to begin, but only to increase. That you might believe, means, believe more deeply, more firmly.

THEOPHYL. Some have understood this place thus. I rejoice, He says, for your sakes; for if I had been there, I should have only cured a sick man; which is but an inferior sign of power. But since in My absence he has died, you will now see that I can raise even the dead putrefying body, and your faith will be strengthened.

CHRYS. The disciples, all dreaded the Jews; end especially Thomas; Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, to his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. But he who was now the most weak and unbelieving of all the disciples, afterwards became stronger than any. And he who dared not go to Bethany, afterwards went over the whole earth, in the midst of those who wished his death, with a spirit indomitable.

BEDE. The disciples, checked by our Lord's answer to them, dared no longer oppose; and Thomas, more forward than the rest, says, Let us also go that we may die with him. What an appearance of firmness! He speaks as if he could really do what he said; unmindful, like Peter, of his frailty.

17. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
18. Now Bethany was nigh to Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.
19. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
20. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21. Then said Martha to Jesus, Lord if you had been here, my brother had not died.
22. But I know, that even now, whatsoever you will ask of God, God will give it you.
23. Jesus says to her, Your brother shall rise.
24. Martha says to him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never; die. Believe you this?
27. She says to him, Yea, Lord: I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

ALCUIN. Our Lord delayed His coming for four days, that the resurrection of Lazarus might be the more glorious: Then when Jesus came, He found that He had lain in the grave four days already.

CHRYS Our Lord had stayed two days, and the messenger had come the day before; the very day on which Lazarus died. This brings us to the fourth day.

AUG. Of the four days many things may be said. They refer to one thing, but one thing viewed in different ways. There is one day of death which the law of our birth brings upon us. Men transgress the natural law, and this is another day of death. The written law is given to men by the hands of Moses, and that is despised - a third day of death. The Gospel comes, and men transgress it - a fourth day of death. But Christ cloth not disdain to awaken even these.

ALCUIN. The first sin w as elation of heart, the second assent, the third act, the fourth habit.

Now Bethany was nigh to Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.

CHRYS. Two miles. This is mentioned to account for so many coming from Jerusalem:

And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. But how could the Jews be consoling the beloved of Christ, when they had resolved that whoever confessed Christ should be put out of the synagogue? Perhaps the extreme affliction of the sisters excited their sympathy; or they wished to show respect for their rank. Or perhaps they who came were of the better sort; as we find many of them believed. Their presence is mentioned to do away with all doubt of the real death of Lazarus.

BEDE. Our Lord had not yet entered the town, when Martha met Him: Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was t coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house.

CHRYS. Martha does not take her sister with her, because she wants to speak with Christ alone, and tell Him what has happened. When her hopes had been raised by Him, then she went her way, and called Mary.

THEOPHYL. At first she does not tell her sister, for fear, if she came, the Jews, present might accompany her. And she did not wish them to know of our Lord's coming.

Then says Martha to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died.

CHRYS. She believed in Christ, but she believed not as she ought. She did not speak as if He were God: If You had been here, my brother had not died.

THEOPHYL. She did not know that He could have restored her brother as well absent as present.

CHRYS. Nor did she know that He wrought His miracles by His own independent power: But I know that even now, whatsoever You will ask of God, God will give it to you. She only thinks Him some very gifted man.

AUG. She does not say to Him, Bring my brother to life again; for how could she know that it would be good for him to come to life again; she says, I know that You can do so, if You will but what You will do is for your judgment, not for my presumption to determine

CHRYS. But our Lord taught her the truths which she did not know: Jesus says to her, Your brother shall rise again. Observe, He does not say, I will ask God, that he may rise again, nor on the other hand does He say, I want no help, I do all things of Myself, a declaration which would have been too much for the woman; but something between the two, He shall rise again.

AUG. Shall rise again, is ambiguous: for He does not say, now. And therefore it follows: Martha says to Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day; of that resurrection I am certain; of this I am doubtful.

CHRYS. She had often heard Christ speak of the resurrection. Jesus now declares His power more plainly: Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He needed therefore none to help Him; for if He did, how could He be the resurrection. And if He is the life, He is not confined by place, but is everywhere, and can heal every where.

ALCUIN. I am the resurrection, because I am the life; as through Me he will rise at the general resurrection, through Me he may rise now.

CHRYS. To Martha's, Whatsoever You shall ask, He replies, He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: showing her that He is the Giver of all good, and that we must ask of Him. Thus He leads her to the knowledge of high truths; and whereas she had been inquiring only about the resurrection of Lazarus, tells her of a resurrection in which both she and all present would share.

AUG. He that believes in Me, though he were dead: i.e. though his flesh die, his soul shall live till the flesh rise again, never to die more. For faith is the life of the soul.

And whomsoever lives, in the flesh, and believes in Me, though he die for a time in the flesh, shall not die eternally.

ALCUIN. Because He has attained to the life of the Spirit, and to an immortal resurrection. Our Lord, from Whom nothing was hid, knew that she believed, but sought from her a confession to salvation: Do you believe this? She says to Him, Yea, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ the Son of God, which should come into the world.

CHRYS. She seems not to have understood His words; i.e. she saw that He meant something great, but did not see what that was. She is asked one thing, and answers another.

AUG When I believed that You were the Son of God, I believed that you were the resurrection, that You were life, and that he that believes in you, though he were dead, shall live.

28. And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calls for you.
29. And as soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came to him.
30. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31. The Jews then which were with her in the house and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goes to the grave to weep there.
32. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died.

CHRYS. Christ's words had the effect of stopping Martha's grief. In her devotion to her Master she had no time to think of her afflictions: And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly.

AUG. Silently, i.e. speaking in a low voice. For she did speak, saying, the Master is come, and calls for you.

CHRYS. She calls her sister secretly, in order not to let the Jews know that Christ was coming. For had they known, they would have gone, and not been witnesses of the miracle.

AUG. We may observe that the Evangelist has not said, where, or when, or how, the Lord called Mary, but for brevity's sake has left it to be gathered from Martha's words.

THEOPHYL. Perhaps she thought the presence of Christ in itself a call, as if it were inexcusable, when Christ came, that she should not go out to meet Him.

CHRYS. While the rest sat around her in her sorrow, she did not wait for the Master to come to her, but, not letting her grief detain her, rose immediately to meet Him; As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came to Him.

AUG. So we see, if she had known of His arrival before, she would not have let Martha go without her. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him.

CHRYS. He went slowly that He might not seem to catch at an occasion of working a miracle, but to have it forced upon Him by others asking Mary, it is said, arose quickly, and thus anticipated His coming.

The Jews accompanied her: The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she arose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goes to the grave to weep there.

AUG. The Evangelist mentions this to show how it was that so many were present at Lazarus' resurrection, and witness of that great miracle.

Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet.

CHRYS. She is more fervent than her sister. Forgetful of the crowd around her, and of the Jews, some of whom were enemies to Christ, she threw herself at her Master's feet. In His presence all earthly things were nothing to her; she thought of nothing but giving Him honor.

THEOPHYL. But her faith seems as yet imperfect: Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died.

ALCUIN. As if to say, Lord, while You were with us, no disease, no sickness dared to show itself, amongst those with whom the Life deigned to take up His abode.

AUG. O faithless assembly! While You are yet in the world, Lazarus your friend dies! If the friend cries, what will the enemy suppose? Is it a small thing that they will not serve You upon earth? Lo, hell has taken your beloved.

BEDE. Mary did not say so much as Martha, she could not bring out what she wanted for weeping, as is usual with persons overwhelmed with sorrow.

33. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
34. And said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see.
35. Jesus wept.
36. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
37. And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
38. Jesus therefore again groaning in himself comes to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, says to him, Lord, by this time he stinks: for he has been dead four days.
40. Jesus says to her, Said I not to you, that, if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?
41. Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid.

CHRYS. Christ did not answer Mary, as He had her; sister, on account of the people present. In condescension to them He humbled Himself, and let His human nature be seen, in order to gain them as witnesses to the miracle: When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in His spirit, and was troubled.

AUG. For who but Himself could trouble Him? Christ was troubled, because it pleased Him to be troubled; He hungered, because it pleased Him to hunger. It was in His own power to be affected in this or that way or not. The Word took up soul and flesh, and whole man, and fitted it to Himself in unity of person. And thus according to the nod and will of that higher nature in Him, in which the sovereign power resides, He becomes weak and troubled.

THEOPHYL. To prove His human nature He sometimes gives it free vent, while at other times He commands, and restrains it by, the power of the Holy Ghost. Our Lord allows His nature to be affected in these ways both to prove that He is very Man, not Man in appearance only; and also to teach us by His own example the due measures of joy and grief. For the absence altogether of sympathy and sorrow is brutal, the excess of them is womanly.

AUG. And said, Where have you laid him? He knew where but He asked to try the faith of the people.

CHRYS. He did not wish to thrust the miracle upon them, but to make them ask for it, and thus do away with all suspicions.

AUG. The question has an allusion too to our hidden calling. That, predestination by which we are called, is hidden; and the sign of its being so is our Lord asking the question. He being as it were in ignorance, so long as we are ignorant ourselves. Or because our Lord elsewhere shows that He knows not sinners, saying, I know you not, because in keeping His commandments there is no sin.

They said to Him, Lord, come and see.

CHRYS. He had not yet raised anyone from the dead; and seemed as if He came to weep, not to raise to life. Wherefore they say to Him, Come and see.

AUG. The Lord sees when He pities, as we read, Look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin.

Jesus wept.

ALCUIN. Because He was the fountain of pity. He wept in His human nature for him whom He was able to raise again by His divine.

AUG. Wherefore did Christ weep, but to teach men to weep?

BEDE. It is customary to mourn over the death of friends; and thus the Jews explained our Lord's weeping: Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him.

AUG. Loved him. Our Lord came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

And some of them said, Could not this Man which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? He was about to do more than this, to raise him from death.

CHRYS. It was His enemies who said this. The very works, which should have evidenced His power, they turn against Him, as if He had not really done them. This is the way that they speak of the miracle of opening the eyes of the man that was born blind. They even prejudge Christ before He has come to the grave, and have not the patience to wait for the issue of the matter.

Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself, comes to the grave. That He wept, and He groaned, are mentioned to show us the reality of His human nature. John who enters into higher statements as to His nature than any of the other Evangelists, also descends lower than any in describing His bodily affections.

AUG. And do you too groan in yourself, if you would rise to new life. To every man is this said, who is weighed down by any vicious habit. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. The dead under the stone is the guilty under the Law. For the Law, which was as given to the Jews, was as graven on stone. And all the guilty are under the Law, for the Law was not made for a righteous man.

BEDE. A cave is a hollow in a rock. It is called a monument, because it reminds us of the dead.

Jesus said, Take away the stone.

CHRYS. But why did He not raise him without taking away the stone? Could not He who moved a dead body by His voice, much more have moved a stone? He purposely did not do so, in order that the miracle might take place in the sight of all; to give no room for saying, as they had said in the case of the blind man, This is not he. Now they might go into the grave, and feel and see that this was the man.

AUG. Take away the stone; mystically, take away the burden of the law, proclaim grace.

AUG. Perhaps those are signified who wished to impose the rite of circumcision on the Gentile converts; or men in the Church of corrupt life, who offend believers.

AUG. Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, though they had often seen Christ raise the dead, did not fully believe that He could raise their brother; Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said to Him, Lord, by this time he stinks, for he has been dead four days.

THEOPHYL. Martha said this from weakness of faith, thinking it impossible that Christ could raise her brother, so long after death.

BEDE. Or, these are not words of despair, but of wonder.

CHRYS. Thus everything tends to stop the mouths of the unbelieving. Their hands take away the stone, their ears hear Christ's voice, their eyes see Lazarus come forth, they perceive the smell of the dead body.

THEOPHYL. Christ reminds Martha of what He had told her before, which she had forgotten: Jesus said to her, Said I not to you, that, if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?

CHRYS. She did not remember what He said above, He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. To the disciples He had said That the Son of God might be glorified thereby; here it is the glory of the Father He speaks of. The difference is made to suit the different hearers. Our Lord could not rebuke her before such a number, but only says, You shall see the glory of God.

AUG. Herein is the glory of God, that he that stinks and has been dead four days, is brought to life again.

Then they took away the stone.

ORIGEN. The delay in taking away the stone was caused by the sister of the dead, who said, By this time he stinks, for he has been dead four days. If she had not said this, it would not be said, Jesus said, Take away the stone. Some delay had arisen; it is best to let nothing come between the commands of Jesus and doing them.

41. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42. And I knew that you hear me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that you have sent me.
43. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them, Loose him, and let him go.
45. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.

ALCUIN. Christ, as man, being inferior to the Father, prays to Him for Lazarus's resurrection; and declares that He is heard: And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

ORIGEN. He lifted up His eyes; mystically, He lifted up the human mind by prayer to the Father above. We should pray after Christ's pattern, Lift up the eyes of our heart, and raise them above present things in memory, in thought, in intention.

If to them who pray worthily after this fashion is given the promise in Isaiah, You shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am; what answer, think we, our Lord and Savior would receive? He was about to pray for the resurrection of Lazarus He was heard by the Father before He prayed; His request was granted before made. And therefore He begins with giving thanks; I thank You, Father, that You have heard Me.

CHRYS. i.e. There is no difference of will between Me and You. You have heard Me, does not show any lack of power in Him, or that He is inferior to the Father. It is a phrase that is used between friends and equals. That the prayer is not really necessary for Him, appears from the words that follow,

And I knew that You heard Me always: as if He said, I need not prayer to persuade You; for Ours is one will.

He hides His meaning on account of the weak faith of His hearers. For God regards not so much His own dignity, as our salvation; and therefore seldom speaks loftily of Himself, and, even when He does, speaks in an obscure way; whereas humble expressions abound in His discourses.

HILARY. He did not therefore need to pray: He prayed for our sakes, that we might know Him to be the Son: But because use of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me. His prayer did not benefit Himself, but benefited our faith. He did not want help, but we want instruction.

CHRYS. He did not say, That they may believe that I am inferior to You, in that I cannot do this without prayer, but, that You have sent Me. He says not, have sent Me weak, acknowledging subjection, doing nothing of Myself, but have sent Me in such sense, as that man may see that I am from God, not contrary to God; and that I do this miracle in accordance with His will.

AUG. Christ went to the grave in which Lazarus slept, as if He were not dead, but alive and able to hear, for He forthwith called him out of his grave. And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He calls him by name, that He may not bring out all the dead.

CHRYS. He does not say, Arise, but, Come forth, speaking to the dead as if he were alive. For which reason also He does not say, Come forth in My Father's name, or, Father, raise him, but throwing off the whole appearance of one praying, proceeds to show His power by acts. This is His general way. His words show humility, His acts power.

THEOPHYL. The voice which roused Lazarus, is the symbol of that trumpet which will sound at the general resurrection. (He spoke loud, to contradict the Gentile fable, that the soul remained in the tomb. The soul of Lazarus is called to as if it were absent, and a loud voice were necessary to summon it.)

And as the general resurrection is to take place in the twinkling of an eye, so did this single one: And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was as bound about with a napkin. Now is accomplished what was said above, The hour is coming, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.

ORIGEN. His cry and loud voice it was which awoke him, as Christ had said, I go to awake him. The resurrection of Lazarus is the work of the Father also, in that He heard the prayer of the Son. It is the joint work of Father and Son, one praying, the other hearing; for as the Father raises up the dead and quickens them, even so the Son quickens whom He will.

CHRYS. He came forth bound, that none might suspect that he was a mere phantom. Besides, that this very fact, viz. of coming forth bound, was itself a miracle, as great as the resurrection. Jesus said to them, Loose him, that by going near and touching him they might be certain he was the very person. And let him go. His humility is strewn here; He does not take Lazarus about with Him for the sake of display.

ORIGEN. Our Lord had said above, Because of the people that stand by I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me. It would have been ignorance of the future, if He had said this, and none believed, after all. Therefore it follows: Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him. But some of them went their way to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.

It is doubtful from these words, whether those who went to the Pharisees, were of those many who believed, and meant to conciliate the opponents of Christ; or whether they were of the unbelieving party, and wished to inflame the envy of the Pharisees against Him.

The latter seems to me the true supposition; especially as the Evangelist describes those who believed as the larger party. Many believed; whereas it is only a few who go to the Pharisees: Some of them went to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.

BEDE. By those who went and told the Pharisees, are meant those who seeing the good works of God's servants, hate them on that very account, persecute, and calumniate them.

AUG. Although according to the Gospel history, we hold that Lazarus was really raised to life, yet I doubt not that his resurrection is an allegory as well. We do not, because we allegorize facts, lose our belief in them as facts.

AUG. Everyone that sins, dies; but God, of His great mercy, raises the soul to life again, and does not suffer it to die eternally. The three miraculous resurrections in the Gospels, understand to testify, the resurrection of the soul.

GREG. The maiden is restored to life in the house, the young man outside the gate, Lazarus in his grave. She that lies dead in the house, is the sinner dying in sin: he that is carried out by the gate is the openly and notoriously wicked.

AUG. Or, it is death within; when the evil thought has not come out into action. But if you actually do the evil thing, you have as it were carried the dead outside the gate.

GREG. And one there is who lies dead in his grave, with a load of earth upon him; i.e. who is weighed down by habits of sin. But the Divine grace has regard even to such, and enlightens them.

AUG. Or we may take Lazarus in the grave as the soul laden with earthly sins.

AUG. And yet our Lord loved Lazarus. For had He not loved sinners, He would never have come down from heaven to save them. Well is it said of one of sinful habits, that He stinks. He has a bad report already, as it were the foulest odor.

AUG. Well may she say, He has been dead four days For the earth is the last of the elements. It signifies the pit of earthly sins, i.e. carnal lusts.

AUG. The Lord groaned, wept, cried with a loud voice. It is hard for Him to arise who is bowed down with the weight of evil habits. Christ troubles Himself, to signify to you that you should be troubled, when you are pressed and weighed down with such a mass of sin. Faith groans, he that is displeased with himself groans, and accuses his own evil deeds; that so the habit of sin may yield to the violence of repentance. When you say, I have done such a thing, and God has spared me; I have heard the Gospel, and despised it; what shall I do? Then Christ groans, because faith groans; and in the voice of your groaning appears the hope of your rising again.

GREG. Lazarus is bid to come forth, i.e. to come forth and condemn himself with his own mouth, without excuse or reservation: that so he that lies buried in a guilty conscience, may come forth out of himself by confession.

AUG. That Lazarus came forth from the grave, signifies the soul's deliverance from carnal sins. That he came bound up in grave clothes means, that even we who are delivered from carnal things, and serve with the mind the law of God, yet cannot, so long as we are in the body, be free from the besetments of the flesh.

That his face was bound about with a napkin means, that we do not attain to full knowledge in this life. And when our Lord says, Loose him, and let him go, we learn that in another world all veils will be removed, and that we shall see face to face.

AUG. Or thus: When you despise, you lie dead; when you confess, you come forth. For what is to come forth, but to go out, as it were, of your hiding place, and show yourself? But you cannot make this confession, except God move you to it, by crying with a loud voice, i.e. calling you with great grace.

But even after the dead man has come forth, he remains bound for some time, i.e. is as yet only a penitent. Then our Lord says to His ministers, Loose him, and let him go, i.e. remit his sins: Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

ALCUIN. Christ awakes, because His power it is which quickens us inwardly: the disciples loose, because by the ministry of the priesthood, they who are quickened are absolved.

Catena Aurea John 11
37 posted on 03/22/2015 11:31:02 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex

The Raising of Lazarus

12c.
St. Catherine monastery, Mt. Sinai

38 posted on 03/22/2015 11:32:09 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex


The Raising of Lazarus

Caravaggio

1608-09
Oil on canvas, 380 x 275 cm
Museo Regionale, Messina

39 posted on 03/22/2015 11:32:49 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex


The Raising of Lazarus

Alessandro Turchi

1617
Oil on slate, 36 x 27 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome

40 posted on 03/22/2015 11:33:36 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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