Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
9:32–35
32. As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.
33. And when the devil was east out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.
34. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.
35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
REMIGIUS. Observe the beautiful order of His miracles; how after He had given sight to the blind, He restored speech to the dumb, and healed the possessed of the dæmon; by which He shews Himself the Lord of power, and the author of the heavenly medicine. For it was said by Isaiah, Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, and the tongue of the dumb loosed. (Is. 35:6.) Whence it is said, When they were gone forth, they brought unto him a man dumb, and possessed with a dæmon.
JEROME. The Greek word here (κωφὸς) is more frequent in common speech in the sense of ‘deaf,’ but it is the manner of Scripture to use it indifferently as either.
CHRYSOSTOM. This was not a mere natural defect; but was from the malignity of the dæmon; and therefore he needed to be brought of others, for he could not ask any thing of others as living without voice, and the dæmon chaining his spirit together with his tongue. Therefore Christ does not require faith of him, but immediately healed his disorder; as it follows, And when the dæmon was cast out, the dumb spake.
HILARY. The natural order of things is here preserved; the dæmon is first cast out, and there the functions of the members proceed. And the multitude marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.
CHRYSOSTOM. They set Him thus above others, because He not only healed, but with such ease, and quickness; and cured diseases both infinite in number, and in quality incurable. This most grieved the Pharisees, that they set Him before all others, not only those that then lived, but all who had lived before, on which account it follows, But the Pharisees said, He casteth out dæmons through the Prince of dæmons.
REMIGIUS. Thus the Scribes and Pharisees denied such of the Lord’s miracles as they could deny; and such as they could not they explained by an evil interpretation, according to that, In the multitude of thy excellency thy enemies shall lie unto thee. (Ps. 66:3.)
CHRYSOSTOM. What can be more foolish than this speech of theirs? For it cannot be pretended that one dæmon would cast out another; for they are wont to consent to one another’s deeds, and not to be at variance among themselves. But Christ not only cast out dæmons, but healed the lepers, raised the dead, forgave sins, preached the kingdom of God, and brought men to the Father, which a dæmon neither could nor would do.
RABANUS. Figuratively; As in the two blind men were denoted both nations, Jews and Gentiles, so in the man dumb and afflicted with the dæmon is denoted the whole human race.
HILARY. Or; By the dumb and deaf, and dæmoniae, is signified the Gentile world, needing health in every part; for sunk in evil of every kind, they are afflicted with disease of every part of the body.
REMIGIUS. For the Gentiles were dumb; not being able to open their mouth in the confession of the true faith, and the praises of the Creator, or because in paying worship to dumb idols they were made like unto them. They were afflicted with a dæmon, because by dying in unbelief they were made subject to the power of the Devil.
HILARY. But by the knowledge of God the frenzy of superstition being chased away, the sight, the hearing, and the word of salvation is brought in to them.
JEROME. As the blind receive light, so the tongue of the dumb is loosed, that he may confess Him whom before he denied. The wonder of the multitude is the confession of the nations. The scoff of the Pharisees is the unbelief of the Jews, which is to this day.
HILARY. The wonder of the multitude is followed up by the confession, It was never so seen in Israel; because he, for whom there was no help under the Law, is saved by the power of the Word.
REMIGIUS. They who brought the dumb to be healed by the Lord, signify the Apostles and preachers, who brought the Gentile people to be saved before the face of divine mercy.
AUGUSTINE. (De Cons. Ev. ii. 29.) This account of the two blind men and the dumb dæmon is read in Matthew only. The two blind men of whom the others speak are not the same as these, though something similar was done with them. So that even if Matthew had not also recorded their cure, we might have seen that this present narrative was of a different transaction. And this we ought diligently to remember, that many actions of our Lord are very much like one another, but are proved not to be the same action, by being both related at different times by the same Evangelist. So that when we find cases in which one is recorded by one Evangelist, and another by another, and some difference which we cannot reconcile between their accounts, we should suppose that they are like, but not the same, events.
9:36–38
36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
37. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
CHRYSOSTOM. The Lord would refute by actions the charge of the Pharisees, who said, He casteth out dæmons by the Prince of the dæmons; for a dæmon having suffered rebuke, does not return good but evil to those who have not shewn him honour. But the Lord on the other hand, when He has suffered blasphemy and contumely, not only does not punish, but does not utter a hard speech, yea He shews kindness to them that did it, as it here follows, And Jesus went about all their towns and villages. Herein He teaches us not to return accusations to them that accuse us, but kindness. For he that ceases to do good because of accusation, shews that his good has been done because of men. But if for God’s sake you do good to your fellow-servants, you will not cease from doing good whatever they do, that your reward may be greater.
JEROME. Observe how equally in villages, cities, and towns, that is to great as well as small, He preaches the Gospel, not respecting the might of the noble, but the salvation of those that believe. It follows, Teaching in their synagogues; this was His meat, going about to do the will of His Father, and saving by His teaching such as yet believed not.
GLOSS. (non occ.) He taught in their synagogues the Gospel of the Kingdom, as it follows, Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.
REMIGIUS. Understand, ‘of God;’ for though temporal blessings are also proclaimed, yet they are not called The Gospel. Hence the Law was not called a Gospel, because to such as kept it, it held out not heavenly, but earthly, goods.
JEROME. He first preached and taught, and then proceeded to heal sicknesses, that the works might convince those who would not believe the words. Hence it follows, Healing every sickness and every disease, for to Him alone nothing is impossible.
GLOSS. (ap. Anselm.) By disease we may understand complaints of long standing, by sickness any lesser infirmity.
REMIGIUS. It should be known that those whom He healed outwardly in their bodies, He also healed inwardly in their souls. Others cannot do this of their own power, but can by God’s grace.
CHRYSOSTOM. Nor does Christ’s goodness rest here, but He manifests His care for them, opening the bowels of His mercy towards them; whence it follows, And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion upon them.
REMIGIUS. Herein Christ shews in Himself the disposition of the good shepherd and not that of the hireling. Why He pitied them is added, Because they were troubled1, and sick1 as sheep that have no shepherd—troubled either by dæmons, or by divers sicknesses and infirmities.
GLOSS. (ap. Anselm.) Or, troubled by dæmons, and sick, that is, benumbed and unable to rise; and though they had shepherds, yet they were as though they had them not.
CHRYSOSTOM. This is an accusation against the rulers of the Jews, that being shepherds they appeared like wolves; not only not improving the multitude, but hindering their progress. For when the multitude marvelled and said, It was never so seen in Israel, these opposed themselves, saying, He casteth out dæmons by the prince of the dæmons. (vid. Ps. 102:19.)
REMIGIUS. But when the Son of God looked down from heaven upon the earth, to hear the groans of the captives, straight a great harvest began to ripen; for the multitude of the human race would never have come near to the faith, had not the Author of human salvation looked down from heaven; and it follows, Then said he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few.
GLOSS. (ap. Anselm.) The harvest are those men who can be reaped by the preachers, and separated from the number of the damned, as grain is beaten out from the chaff that it may be laid up in granaries.
JEROME. The great harvest denotes the multitude of the people; the few labourers, the want of instructors.
REMIGIUS. For the number of the Apostles was small in comparison of so great crops to be reaped. The Lord exhorts His preachers, that is, the Apostles and their followers, that they should daily desire an increase of their number; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
CHRYSOSTOM. He privately insinuates Himself to be the Lord; for it is He Himself who is Lord of the harvest. For if He sent the Apostles to reap what they had not sown, it is manifest that He sent them not to reap the things of others, but what He had sown by the Prophets. But since the twelve Apostles are the labourers, He said, Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he would send labourers into his harvest; and notwithstanding He added none to their number, but rather He multiplied those twelve many times, not by increasing their numbers, but by giving them more abundant grace.
REMIGIUS. Or, He then increased their number when He chose the seventy and two, and then when many preachers were made what time the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers.
CHRYSOSTOM. He shews us that it is a great gift that one should have the power of rightly preaching, in that He tells them that they ought to pray for it. Also we are here reminded of the words of John concerning the threshing-floor, and the fan, the chaff, and the wheat.
HILARY. Figuratively; When salvation was given to the Gentiles, then all cities and towns were enlightened by the power and entrance of Christ, and escaped every former sickness and infirmity. The Lord pities the people troubled with the violence of the unclean Spirit, and sick under the burden of the Law, and having no shepherd at hand to bestow on them the guardianship of the Holy Spirit. But of that gift there was a most abundant fruit, whose plenty far exceeded the multitude of those that drank thereof; how many soever take of it, yet an inexhaustible supply remains; and because it is profitable that there should be many to minister it, He bids us ask the Lord of the harvest, that God would provide a supply of reapers for the ministration of that gift of the Holy Spirit which was made ready; for by prayer this gift is poured out upon us from God.
Catena Aurea Matthew 9
Saint Maria Goretti's StoryOne of the largest crowds ever assembled for a canonization—250,000—symbolized the reaction of millions touched by the simple story of Maria Goretti. She was the daughter of a poor Italian tenant farmer, had no chance to go to school, never learned to read or write. When Maria made her First Communion not long before her death, she was one of the larger and somewhat backward members of the class.
On a hot afternoon in July, Maria was sitting at the top of the stairs of her house, mending a shirt. She was not quite 12 years old, but physically mature. A cart stopped outside, and a neighbor, 18-year-old Alessandro, ran up the stairs. He seized her and pulled her into a bedroom. She struggled and tried to call for help. “No, God does not wish it,” she cried out. “It is a sin. You would go to hell for it.” Alessandro began striking at her blindly with a long dagger.
Maria was taken to a hospital. Her last hours were marked by the usual simple compassion of the good—concern about where her mother would sleep, forgiveness of her murderer (she had been in fear of him, but did not say anything lest she cause trouble to his family), and her devout welcoming of Viaticum, her last Holy Communion. She died about 24 hours after the attack.
Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison. For a long time he was unrepentant and surly. One night he had a dream or vision of Maria gathering flowers and offering them to him. His life changed. When he was released after 27 years, his first act was to beg the forgiveness of Maria’s mother.
Devotion to the young martyr grew, miracles were worked, and in less than half a century she was canonized. At her beatification in 1947, her 82-year-old mother, two sisters, and her brother appeared with Pope Pius XII on the balcony of St. Peter’s. Three years later, at Maria's canonization, a 66-year-old Alessandro Serenelli knelt among the quarter-million people and cried tears of joy.
Reflection
Maria may have had trouble with catechism, but she had no trouble with faith. God’s will was holiness, decency, respect for one’s body, absolute obedience, total trust. In a complex world, her faith was simple: It is a privilege to be loved by God, and to love him—at any cost.
Saint Maria Goretti is the Patron Saint of:
Catholic Youth
Girls
Teenagers
franciscanmedia.org Additionally, patronage of victims of rape.
NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Genesis 32:23-33 (New American Bible)
Genesis 32:22-32 (Revised Standard Version)
Jacob Wrestles with the Angel of the Lord
------------------------------------------------------
[22] The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. [23] He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. [24] And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. [25] When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. [26] Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said. "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." [27] And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." [28] Then he said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." [29] Then Jacob asked him, "Tell me, I pray, your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. [30] So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel," saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." [31] The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh. [32] Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip.
***********************************************************************
Commentary:
32:22-29. In spite of the danger and even though he feels afraid, Jacob takes an important decision on his journey towards the land of Canaan--to cross the river, bringing his nearest and dearest with him. From the text we do not know which side of the river Jacob himself was on after that decision, but he was clearly alone when God mysteriously came out to meet him and transformed him. The account tells us that God revealed himself to Jacob and made him Israel and gave him a blessing which extended to all his people. The concept of God in this passage has clearly anthropomorphic features. Jacob's strength is highlighted: God fails to defeat him in this struggle and he dislocates his thigh. This fact and the fact that God wants to leave before daybreak allow Jacob to recognize God in the person he is wrestling; taking advantage of his strength and the time constraint, he asks for a blessing. First, however, Jacob has to identify himself; then God changes his name: now he is Israel.
In the context of the narrative the sacred writer explains what the name Israel means--"he who has striven with God". This shows one of the key features of the personality of the father of the chosen people--his struggle to hold on to God, trying to discover his name and obtain his blessing. This is also a defining feature of the religious nature of the people of God. We discover the significance of Jacob's attempt to discover the name of his "rival", and all that that implied as regards having some power over him. But God does not identify himself. He remains shrouded in mystery, yet he does give Jacob his blessing. This will also be a feature which should define Israel--the continuous search for the name of God, that is, for his innermost Being and his Mystery, yet realizing that God can never be encompassed within the meaning of any name.
The features whereby the patriarch Jacob-Israel is described also apply to the people that bears his name. The prophet Hosea will apply this episode to the way Israel resists God over the course of its history (Hos 12:4-6). This aspect can also be seen in the patriarch's life: in spite of his resistance, God advances his salvific plans for his people through him and through his life. We can see this in what Hosea has to say about the people of Israel and about Jacob himself.
The mysterious nature of the one who wrestles with Jacob has been interpreted in many different ways in Christian tradition. Some Fathers, such as St Jerome and St Augustine, were of the view that he was a good angel, given that that was how God most often revealed himself in the Old Testament. Origen, however, thought that he was a bad angel, the demon. Others, such as St Justin and St Ambrose, suggested that he was the Son of God, the Word, who would later become man; or an angel who prefigured Christ.
The struggle depicted here can also be taken in a spiritual sense, as standing for the interior struggle and the efficacy of prayer, which overpowers even God (cf. Wis 10:12). "From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of faith and as the triumph of perseverance (cf. Gen 32:25-31; Lk 18:1-8)" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2573).
Along these lines St Ambrose writes: "What does fighting with God mean if not engaging in the combat of virtue and aspiring to the highest, making oneself, above all, an imitator of God? And because his faith and his devotion could not be overpowered, the Lord revealed to him the secret mysteries" (De Jacob et Vita Beata, 2,7, 30).
32:31. After the explanation of the meaning of the name of the place (Penuel) and the name of the person or people (Israel), we are now told about the origin of a dietary law. The hagiographer uses this tradition to confirm the truthfulness of the foregoing account, offering a proof taken from the customs of the people and also providing an explanation for that custom. Although this use of groundless folk explanation is a common device, it does not take from the point the writer is making: he wants to show that what he is teaching is true.
From: Matthew 9:32-38The Dumb Devil
--------------
[32] As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to Him (Jesus). [33] And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds marvelled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." [34] But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."
The Need for Good Shepherds
---------------------------
[35] And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. [36] When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; [38] pray therefore the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
***********************************************************************
Commentary:
35. The Second Vatican Council uses this passage when teaching about the message of Christian charity which the Church should always be spreading: "Christian charity is extended to all without distinction of race, social condition or religion, and seeks neither gain nor gratitude. Just as God loves us with a gratuitous love, so too the faithful, in their charity, should be concerned for mankind, loving it with that same love with which God sought man. As Christ went about all the towns and villages healing every sickness and infirmity, as a sign that the Kingdom of God had come, so the Church, through its children, joins itself with men of every condition, but especially with the poor and afflicted, and willingly spends herself for them" (Ad Gentes, 12).
36. "He had compassion for them": the Greek verb is very expressive; it means "He was deeply moved". Jesus was moved when He saw the people, because their pastors, instead of guiding them and tending them, led them astray, behaving more like wolves than genuine shepherds of their flock. Jesus sees the prophecy of Ezekiel 34 as now being fulfilled; in that passage God, through the prophet, upbraids the false shepherds of Israel and promises to send them the Messiah to be their new leader.
"If we were consistent with our faith when we looked around us and contemplated the world and its history, we would be unable to avoid feeling in our own hearts the same sentiments that filled the heart of our Lord" (St J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 133). Reflection on the spiritual needs of the world should lead us to be tirelessly apostolic.
37-38. After contemplating the crowds neglected by their shepherds, Jesus uses the image of the harvest to show us that that same crowd is ready to receive the effects of Redemption: "I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see now the fields are already white for harvest" (John 4:35). The field of the Jewish people cultivated by the prophets—most recently by John the Baptist--is full of ripe wheat. In farm work, the harvest is lost if the farmer does not reap at the right time; down the centuries the Church feels a similar need to be out harvesting because there is a big harvest ready to be won.
However, as in the time of Jesus, there is a shortage of laborers. Our Lord tells us how to deal with this: we should pray to God, the Lord of harvest, to send the necessary laborers. If a Christian prays hard, it is difficult to imagine his not feeling urged to play his part in this apostolate. In obeying this commandment to pray for laborers, we should pray especially for there to be no lack of shepherds, who will be able to equip others with the necessary means of sanctification needed to back up the apostolate.
In this connection [Pope] Paul VI reminds us: "the responsibility for spreading the Gospel that saves belongs to everyone--to all who have received it! The missionary duty concerns the whole body of the Church; in different ways and to different degrees, it is true, but we must all of us be united in carrying out this duty. Now let the conscience of every believer ask himself: Have I carried out my missionary duty? Prayer for the Missions is the first way of fulfilling this duty" (Angelus Address, 23 October 1977).
Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible Commentary
