Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 15-Nov-2021

Luke
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Luke 18
35.	Now it came to pass, when he drew nigh to Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the way side, begging.	Factum est autem, cum appropinquaret Jericho, cæcus quidam sedebat secus viam, mendicans.	εγενετο δε εν τω εγγιζειν αυτον εις ιεριχω τυφλος τις εκαθητο παρα την οδον προσαιτων
36.	And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant.	Et cum audiret turbam prætereuntem, interrogabat quid hoc esset.	ακουσας δε οχλου διαπορευομενου επυνθανετο τι ειη τουτο
37.	And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.	Dixerunt autem ei quod Jesus Nazarenus transiret.	απηγγειλαν δε αυτω οτι ιησους ο ναζωραιος παρερχεται
38.	And he cried out, saying: Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.	Et clamavit, dicens : Jesu, fili David, miserere mei.	και εβοησεν λεγων ιησου υιε δαυιδ ελεησον με
39.	And they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on me.	Et qui præibant, increpabant eum ut taceret. Ipse vero multo magis clamabat : Fili David, miserere mei.	και οι προαγοντες επετιμων αυτω ινα σιωπηση αυτος δε πολλω μαλλον εκραζεν υιε δαυιδ ελεησον με
40.	And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he asked him,	Stans autem Jesus jussit illum adduci ad se. Et cum appropinquasset, interrogavit illum,	σταθεις δε ο ιησους εκελευσεν αυτον αχθηναι προς αυτον εγγισαντος δε αυτου επηρωτησεν αυτον
41.	Saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see.	dicens : Quid tibi vis faciam ? At ille dixit : Domine, ut videam.	λεγων τι σοι θελεις ποιησω ο δε ειπεν κυριε ινα αναβλεψω
42.	And Jesus said to him: Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole.	Et Jesus dixit illi : Respice, fides tua te salvum fecit.	και ο ιησους ειπεν αυτω αναβλεψον η πιστις σου σεσωκεν σε
43.	And immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.	Et confestim vidit, et sequebatur illum magnificans Deum. Et omnis plebs ut vidit, dedit laudem Deo.	και παραχρημα ανεβλεψεν και ηκολουθει αυτω δοξαζων τον θεον και πας ο λαος ιδων εδωκεν αινον τω θεω

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

18:35–43

35. And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:

36. And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.

37. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.

38. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

39. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

40. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,

41. Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

42. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.

43. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

GREGORY. (Hom. 2. in Ev.) Because the disciples being yet carnal were unable to receive the words of mystery, they are brought to a miracle. Before their eyes a blind man receives his sight, that by a divine work their faith might be strengthened.

THEOPHYLACT. And to shew that our Lord did not even walk without doing good, He performed a miracle on the way, giving His disciples this example, that we should be profitable in all things, and that nothing in us should be in vain.

AUGUSTINE. We might understand the expression of being nigh to Jericho, as if they had already gone out of it, but were still near. It might, though less common in this sense, be so taken here, since Matthew relates, that as they were going out of Jericho, two men received their sight who sat by the way side. There need be no question about the number, if we suppose that one of the Evangelists remembering only one was silent about the other. Mark also mentions only one, and he too says that he received his sight as they were going out of Jericho; he has given also the name of the man and of his father, to let us understand that this one was well known, but the other not so, so that it might come to pass that the one who was known would be naturally the only one mentioned. But seeing that what follows in St. Luke’s Gospel most plainly proves the truth of his account, that while they were yet coming to Jericho, the miracle took place, we cannot but suppose that there were two such miracles, the first upon one blind man when our Lord was coming to that city, the second on two, when He was departing out of it; Luke relating the one, Matthew the other.

PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. de cæco et Zacchæo) There was a great multitude gathered round Christ, and the blind man indeed knew Him not, but felt a drawing towards Him, and grasped with his heart what his sight embraced not. As it follows, And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what it was. And those that saw spoke indeed according to their own opinion. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. But the blind man cried out. He is told one thing, he proclaims another; for it follows, And he cried out, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Who taught thee this, O man? Hast thou that art deprived of sight read books? Whence then knowest thou the Light of the world? Verily the Lord giveth sight to the blind. (Ps. 146:8.)

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. Having been brought up a Jew, he was not ignorant that of the seed of David should God be born according to the flesh, and therefore he addresses Him as God, saying, Have mercy upon me. Would that those might imitate him who divide Christ into two. For he speaks of Christ as God, yet calls Him Son of David. But they marvel at the justice of his confession, and some even wished to prevent him from confessing his faith. But by checks of this kind his ardour was not damped. For faith is able to resist all, and to triumph over all. It is a good thing to lay aside shame in behalf of divine worship. For if for money’s sake some are bold, is it not fitting when the soul is at stake, to put on a righteous boldness? As it follows, But he cried out the more, Son of David, & c. The voice of one invoking in faith stops Christ, for He looks back upon them who call upon Him in faith. And accordingly He calls the blind man to Him, and bids him draw nigh, that he in truth who had first laid hold on Him in faith, might approach Him also in the body. The Lord asks this blind man as he drew near, What will thou that I shall do? He asks the question purposely, not as ignorant, but that those who stood by might know that he sought not money, but divine power from God. And thus it follows, But he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Chrys. ut sup.) Or because the Jews perverting the truth might say, as in the case of him who was born blind, This is not he, but one like unto to him, (John 9:8.) He wished the blind first to make manifest the infirmity of his nature, that then he might fully acknowledge the greatness of the grace bestowed upon him. And as soon as the blind man explained the nature of his request, with words of the highest authority He commanded him to see. As it follows, And Jesus said to him, Receive thy sight. This served only still more to increase the guilt of unbelief in the Jews. For what prophet ever spoke in this way? Observe moreover what the physician claims from him whom he has restored to health. Thy faith hath saved thee. For faith then mercies are sold. Where faith is willing to accept, there grace abounds. And as from the same fountain some in small vessels draw little water, while others in large draw much, the fountain knowing no difference in measure; and as according to the windows which are opened, the sun sheds more or less of its brightness within; so according to the measure of a man’s motives does he draw down supplies of grace. The voice of Christ is changed into the light of the afflicted. For He was the Word of true light. And thus it follows, And immediately he said. But the blind man as before his restoration he shewed an earnest faith, so afterwards did he give plain tokens of his gratitude; And he followed him, glorifying God.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. From which it is clear, that he was released from a double blindness, both bodily and intellectual. For he would not have glorified Him as God, had he not truly seen Him as He is. But he also gave occasion to others to glorify God; as it follows, And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

BEDE. Not only for the gift of light obtained, but for the merit of the faith which obtained it.

PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Chrys. ubi sup.) We may here well inquire, why Christ forbids the healed demoniac who wished to follow Him, but permits the blind man who had received his sight. There seems to be a good reason for both the one case and the other. He sends away the former as a kind of herald, to proclaim aloud by the evidence of his own state his benefactor, for it was indeed a notable miracle to see a raving madman brought to a sound mind. But the blind man He allows to follow Him, since He was going up to Jerusalem about to accomplish the high mystery of the Cross, that men having a recent report of a miracle might not suppose that He suffered so much from helplessness as from compassion.

AMBROSE. In the blind man we have a type of the Gentile people, who have received by the Sacrament of our Lord the brightness of the light which they had lost. And it matters not whether the cure is conveyed in the case of one or two blind men, inasmuch as deriving their origin from Ham and Japhet, the sons of Noah, in the two blind men they put forward two authors of their race.

GREGORY. (Hom. 2. in Ev.) Or, blindness is a symbol of the human race, which in our first parent knowing not the brightness of heavenly light, now suffers the darkness of his condemnation. Jericho is interpreted ‘the moon,’ whose monthly wanings represent the feebleness of our mortality. While then our Creator is drawing nigh to Jericho, the blind is restored to sight, because when God took upon Him the weakness of our flesh, the human race received back the light which it had lost. He then who is ignorant of this brightness of the everlasting light, is blind. But if he does no more than believe in the Redeemer who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life; (John 13:6.) he sits by the way side. If he both believes and prays that he may receive the everlasting light, he sits by the way side and begs. Those that went before Jesus, as He was coming, represent the multitude of carnal desires, and the busy crowd of vices which before that Jesus comes to our heart, scatter our thoughts, and disturb us even in our prayers. But the blind man cried out the more; for the more violently we are assailed by our restless thoughts, the more fervently ought we to give ourselves to prayer. As long as we still suffer our manifold fancies to trouble us in our prayers, we feel in some measure Jesus passing by. But when we are very stedfast in prayer, God is fixed in our heart, and the lost light is restored. Or to pass by is of man, to stand is of God. The Lord then passing by heard the blind man crying, standing still restored him to sight, for by His humanity in compassion to our blindness He has pity upon our cries, by the power of His divinity He pours upon us the light of His grace.

Now for this reason He asks what the blind man wished, that He might stir up his heart to prayer, for He wishes that to be sought in prayer, which He knows beforehand both that we seek and He grants.

AMBROSE. Or, He asked the blind man to the end that we might believe, that without confession no man can be saved.

GREGORY. (ubi sup.) The blind man seeks from the Lord not gold, but light. Let us then seek not for false riches, but for that light which together with the Angels alone we may see, the way whereunto is faith. Well then was it said to the blind, Receive thy sight; thy faith hath saved thee. He who sees, also follows, because the good which he understands he practises.

AUGUSTINE. (de Quæst. Ev. l. ii. qu. 48.) If we interpret Jericho to mean the moon, and therefore death, our Lord when approaching His death commanded the light of the Gospel to be preached to the Jews only, who are signified by that one blind man whom Luke speaks of, but rising again from the dead and ascending to heaven, to both Jews and Gentiles; and these two nations seem to be denoted by the two blind men whom Matthew mentions.

Catena Aurea Luke 18

Saint Albert the Great’s Story

Albert the Great was a 13th-century German Dominican who decisively influenced the Church’s stance toward Aristotelian philosophy brought to Europe by the spread of Islam.

Students of philosophy know him as the master of Thomas Aquinas. Albert’s attempt to understand Aristotle’s writings established the climate in which Thomas Aquinas developed his synthesis of Greek wisdom and Christian theology. But Albert deserves recognition on his own merits as a curious, honest, and diligent scholar.

He was the eldest son of a powerful and wealthy German lord of military rank. He was educated in the liberal arts. Despite fierce family opposition, he entered the Dominican novitiate.

His boundless interests prompted him to write a compendium of all knowledge: natural science, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, ethics, economics, politics, and metaphysics. His explanation of learning took 20 years to complete. “Our intention,” he said, “is to make all the aforesaid parts of knowledge intelligible to the Latins.”

He achieved his goal while serving as an educator at Paris and Cologne, as Dominican provincial, and even as bishop of Regensburg for a short time. He defended the mendicant orders and preached the Crusade in Germany and Bohemia.

Albert, a Doctor of the Church, is the patron of scientists and philosophers.

Reflection

An information glut faces us Christians today in all branches of learning. One needs only to read current Catholic periodicals to experience the varied reactions to the findings of the social sciences, for example, in regard to Christian institutions, Christian life-styles, and Christian theology. Ultimately, in canonizing Albert, the Church seems to point to his openness to truth, wherever it may be found, as his claim to holiness. His characteristic curiosity prompted Albert to mine deeply for wisdom within a philosophy his Church warmed to with great difficulty.

Saint Albert the Great is a Patron Saint of:

Educators/Teachers
Medical Technicians
Philosophers
Scientists

franciscanmedia.org

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

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

From: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63

Alexander the Great and His Successors (Continuation)
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[10] From them (the descendants of Alexander the Great's officers) came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king; he had been a hostage in Rome. He began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

Many Jews are Led Astray
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[11] In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us.” [12] This proposal pleased them, [13] and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles. [14] So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, [15] and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.

Observance of the Law is Proscribed
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[41] Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, [42] and that each should give up his customs. [43] All theGentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath.

The Temple Profaned, the Books of the Law Set on Fire. Religious Persecution
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[54] Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering. They also built altars in the surrounding cities of Judah, [55] and burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets. [56] The books of the law which they found they tore to pieces and burned with fire. [57] Where the book of the covenant was found in the possession of any one, or if any one adhered to the law, the decree of the king condemned him to death.

[62] But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. [63] They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die.

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Commentary:

1:1-64 Greek domination was a terrible trial for the Jewish people. During the Greek period they stayed loyal to the Covenant that God made with the patriarchs, defending it against the Greek religion and culture which were imposed on the East as a result of Alexander the Great’s conquests. Pagan customs were introduced into Jerusalem and Judah, firstly, through the infidelity of many Jews who were attracted by the novelty and splendor of Hellenistic culture, and, secondly, because Antiochus Epiphanes tried to weld his territories together politically by imposing Greek civilization and religion. To do this in Judea he attacked the three pillars of the Jewish religion--the temple of Jerusalem; religious customs, particularly circumcision and the sabbath observance; and the books of the Law of Moses. It seemed inevitable that Judaism would disappear or else be merged with the Greek world, as happened in other Eastern nations influenced by Hellenism. But, in fact, Israel kept its religious identity thanks to a special providence of God; this enabled it to continue to be the chosen people from whom would be born the Messiah, Jesus Christ. That is the message of the books of the Maccabees, a message perceived by Church tradition when it acknowledged them as being part of Holy Scripture. When speaking about these books, St Augustine was well aware that the Jews did not regard them as being on the same level as the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, “but they [these books] will not have been received by the Church in vain if they are read or listened to calmly, and especially those parts that deal with the Maccabees themselves who, for the sake of God’s Law, were true martyrs and suffered terrible and humiliating things” (St Augustine,"Contra Gaudentium", 1, 31, 38).

1:1-10. “The land of Kittim” (in Greek, "khettim"), originally referred to the island of Cyprus, but it also applied to Greece and Macedonia. Alexander the Great died in Babylonia in the year 323 BC. His successors, called the Diadochi, fought among themselves over the division of the empire. Ptolemy I gained control of Egypt, and founded the dynasty of the Lagids. Seleucus, the first of the Seleucid kings, took Babylon. To begin with, Palestine was part of the Ptolemy domains, but in the year 197 BC, after the battle of Baniyas in which Egypt was defeated, it came under the control of the Seleucids. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, son of Antiochus III and brother of Seleucus IV (cf. 2 Mac 4:7), had been sent to Rome by his father as a hostage (in accordance with the treaty of Apamea, 188 Bc). The one hundred and thirty-seventh year, counting from 312 BC when the Seleucid dynasty was founded, was 175 BC.

1:11-15. Conforming to Greek ways was equivalent in that situation to turning one’s back on the Lord and on the Covenant. Gymnasia were presided over by Greek gods, and “becoming like the Gentiles” involved disguising the signs of circumcision when taking part undressed in gymnasium sports. Belonging to the people of God entailed a moral lifestyle different from that of the Gentiles, just as being a member of the Church, the new people of God, requires a person to avoid practices and attitudes contrary to the natural law and Christian ethics.

Apropos of this, St Paul taught the first Christians: “We beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from immorality; that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like heathen who do not know God” (1 Thess 4:1-5). “Reject the deception of those who appease themselves with the pathetic cry of ‘Freedom! Freedom!’ Their cry often masks a tragic enslavement because choices that prefer error do not liberate. Christ alone sets us free, for he alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life" (St J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 26).

1:41-53. Up to this point the Jews have been governed by their own laws, which were both religious and civil. In order to unify his empire politically, Antiochus wants to impose a single form of religious practice. Those Jews who had a liking for things Greek had no difficulty in accepting the king’s laws: they were already conforming to them, and now they became formal apostates of Judaism. Other Jews, maybe majority, conformed out of fear. But there were others still, whom the sacred writer sees as the true Israel (v. 53), who were forced to go underground to stay loyal to their religion.

1:54-64. The author recalls with great sadness the exact day when an altar, or perhaps a statue, dedicated to Zeus Olympus was erected in the temple of Jerusalem--8 December 167 BC. The revulsion God-fearing Jews felt towards that object can be seen from the name used to describe it--”a desolating sacrifice” (“abominatio desolationis”, the abomination of desolation: cf. Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). ln Hebrew the words used sound like the name of the “Baal of the heavens”, the Canaanite idol which Israelites in ancient times found so attractive and against which the prophets strove (cf. 1 Kings 18:20-40). But the phrase also, literally, means something abominable which leads to total perdition. It is, in the last analysis, a symbol of idolatrous worship which seeks to impose itself by force on worship of the true God. Our Lord Jesus Christ will use the very same expression, “desolating sacrifice”, “abomination of desolation”, to announce the tribulation which will overwhelm Jerusalem (as it indeed did when the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD) and which will be a sign of the tribulations that will happen at the end of time (cf. Mt 24:15-25 and par.).

The events narrated briefly here and the violence done to the Jews, as also exemplary acts of fideIity,are reported in more detail in 2 Maccabees 6:1-11, 18, 31; 7:1-42. It was a very testing time for Israel, a time of purging and purification. When God allows persecution to happen, he does so to elicit fidelity: this is true for Israel and later for the Church.

From: Luke 18:35-43

The Cure of the Blind Man of Jericho
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[35] As He (Jesus) drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; [36] and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. [37] They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." [38] And he cried, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" [39] And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" [40] And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to Him; and when he came near, He asked him, [41] "What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me receive my sight." [42] And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." [43] And immediately he received his sight and followed Him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

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Commentary:

35-43. The blind man of Jericho is quick to use the opportunity presented by Christ's presence. We should not neglect the Lord's graces, for we do not know whether He will offer us them again. St. Augustine described very succinctly the urgency with which we should respond to God's gift, to His passing us on the road: "`Timeo Jesum praetereuntem et non redeuntem': I fear Jesus may pass by and not come back." For, at least on some occasion, in some way, Jesus passes close to everyone.

The blind man of Jericho acclaims Jesus as the Messiah--he gives Him the messianic title of Son of David--and asks Him to meet his need, to make him see. His is an active faith; he shouts out, he persists, despite the people getting in his way. And he manages to get Jesus to hear him and call him. God wanted this episode to be recorded in the Gospel, to teach us how we should believe and how we should pray—with conviction, with urgency, with constancy, in spite of the obstacles, with simplicity, until we manage to get Jesus to listen to us.

"Lord, let me receive my sight": this simple ejaculatory prayer should be often on our lips, flowing from the depths of our heart. It is a very good prayer to use in moments of doubt and vacillation, when we cannot understand the reason behind God's plans, when the horizon of our commitment becomes clouded. It is even a good prayer for people who are sincerely trying to find God but who do not yet have the great gift of faith.

Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible Commentary

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Readings at Mass

The persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes

'Son of David, have pity on me'

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas