Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 13-February-2023

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

Mark CHAP. 8

8:10–21

10. And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.

11. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

12. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

13. And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.

14. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.

15. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.

17. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?

18. Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

19. When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.

20. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.

21. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

THEOPHYLACT. After that our Lord had worked the miracle of the loaves, He immediately retires into another spot, lest on account of the miracle, the multitudes should take Him to make Him a king; wherefore it is said, And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.

AUGUSTINE. (de Con. Evan. 2. 51) Now in Matthew we read that He entered into the parts of Magdala1. But we cannot doubt that it is the same place under another name; for several manuscripts even of St. Mark have only Magdala. It goes on, And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

BEDE. (in Marc. 2, 33) The Pharisees, then, seek a sign from heaven, that He, Who had for the second time fed many thousands of men with a few loaves of bread, should now, after the example of Moses, refresh the whole nation in the last time with manna sent down from heaven, and dispersed amongst them all.

THEOPHYLACT. Or they seek for a sign from heaven, that is, they wish Him to make the sun and moon stand still, to bring down hail, and change the atmosphere; for they thought that He could not perform miracles from heaven, but could only in Beelzebub perform a sign on earth.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) When, as related above, He was about to refresh the believing multitude, He gave thanks, so now, on account of the foolish petition of the Pharisees, He groans; because, bearing about with Him the feelings of human nature, as He rejoices over the salvation of men, so He grieves over their errors. Wherefore it goes on, And he groaned in spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, If a sign shall be given to this generation. That is, no sign shall be given; as it is written in the Psalms, (Ps. 89:36) I have sworn once by my holiness, if I shall fail David, that is, I will not fail David.

AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Let no one, however, be perplexed that the answer which Mark says was given to them, when they sought a sign from heaven, is not the same as that which Matthew relates, namely, that concerning Jonah. He says that the Lord’s answer was, that no sign should be given to it; by which we must understand such an one as they asked for, that is, one from heaven; but he has omitted to say, what Matthew has related.

THEOPHYLACT. Now the reason why the Lord did not listen to them was, that the time of signs from heaven had not arrived, that is, the time of the second Advent, when the powers of the heaven shall be shaken, and the moon shall not give her light. But in the time of the first Advent, all things are full of mercy, and such things do not take place.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) For a sign from heaven was not to be given to a generation of men, who tempted the Lord; but to a generation of men seeking the Lord, He shews a sign from heaven, when in the sight of the Apostles He ascended into heaven. It goes on, And he left them, and entering into a ship again, he departed to the other side.

THEOPHYLACT. The Lord indeed quits the Pharisees, as men uncorrected; for where there is a hope of correction, there it is right to remain; but where the evil is incorrigible, we should go away. There follows: Now they had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) Some may ask, how they had no bread, when they had filled seven baskets just before they embarked in the ship. But Scripture relates that they had forgotten to take them with them, which is a proof how little care they had for the flesh in other things, since in their eagerness to follow the Lord, even the necessity of refreshing their bodies had escaped from their mind.

THEOPHYLACT. By a special providence1 also the disciples forgot to take bread, that they might be blamed by Christ, and thus become better, and arrive at a knowledge of Christ’s power. For it goes on, And he charged them, saying, Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod.

PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Matthew says, of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees; Luke, however, of the Pharisees only. All three, therefore, name the Pharisees, as being the most important of them, but Matthew and Mark have each mentioned one of the secondary sects; and fitly has Mark added of Herod, as a supplement to Matthew’s narrative, in which they were left out. But in saying this, He by degrees brings the disciples to understanding and faith.

THEOPHYLACT. He means by leaven their hurtful and corrupt doctrine, full of the old malice, for the Herodians were the teachers, who said that Herod was the Christ.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) Or, the leaven of the Pharisees is making the decrees of the divine law inferior to the traditions of men, preaching the law in word, attacking it in deed, tempting the Lord, and disbelieving His doctrine and His works; but the leaven of Herod is adultery, murder, rash swearing, a pretence of religion, hatred to Christ and His forerunner.

THEOPHYLACT. But the disciples themselves thought that the Lord spoke of the leaven of bread. Wherefore it goes on, And they reasoned amongst themselves, saying, it is because we have no bread; and this they said, as not understanding the power of Christ, who could make bread out of nothing; wherefore the Lord reproves them; for there follows, And when Jesus knew it, he said unto them, Why reason ye because ye have no bread?

BEDE. (ubi sup.) Taking occasion then from the precept, which He had commanded, saying, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod, our Saviour teaches them what was the meaning of the five and the seven loaves, concerning which He adds, And do ye not remember, when I brake the five loaves amongst five thousand, and how many baskets full of fragments ye took up? For if the leaven mentioned above means perverse traditions, of course the food, with which the people of God was nourished, means the true doctrine.

Catena Aurea Mark 8

HOMILY for St Catherine de Ricci OP

Heb 11:32-40; Ps 30; Mark 5:1-20

Today’s saint, Catherine de Ricci, is representative of the mystical tradition of the Dominican Order, and in this respect, her life mirrors that of her namesake, the great 14th-century Dominican saint, Catherine of Siena. Both saints were Italians, and both had a great love for Christ from their youth. At the age of just 14 in the year 1535, St Catherine, born of the noble and wealthy Florentine family of Ricci, entered a Dominican convent in Prato in Italy. Like the former St Catherine, today’s saint had spiritual visions of the Lord, and on Easter Sunday in 1542, she received a ring from Christ as a sign of his mystical union with her. This ring manifested itself as a red circle in her flesh on her ring finger. Like St Catherine of Siena, today’s saint loved to meditate on Christ Crucified, and, because she was united with Christ, she also bore the stigmata, physical wounds of Christ’s Passion on her own body from Easter of 1541.

From 1542 until 1554, St Catherine de Ricci received weekly ecstasies of the Lord’s Passion in which she physically shared in Christ’s suffering. For 12 years, every week, from noon on Thursday until 4pm on Friday, she experienced the Lord’s Passion, sharing in Christ’s emotional and physical anguish. Those who saw St Catherine at the end of these weekly mystical experiences would say: “It looks as if she has just been taken down from the cross” because her own body bore the marks of the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. She would later also receive the wounds of the crown of thorns, and her shoulder became indented with the weight of the Cross. As you can imagine, such a spectacle aroused much curiosity and disturbance to her community, so she begged the Lord to “deliver” her from these visible signs, so her stigmata became invisible although she bore the pain of them until she died on 2 February 1590.

Like St Catherine of Siena, today’s saint lived at a time of upheaval in the Church, for the 16th-century saw the Protestant fracture of the Church and the Catholic reforms of the Council of Trent. So, too, like her namesake, St Catherine de Ricci was a mystic dedicated to reforming the Church, and she wrote many letters, and saints, popes, and statesmen flocked to her for her prudent advice and counsel. Between 1552 and 1590, St Catherine herself was elected prioress of her community seven times, and she bore the burden of leadership in very turbulent times as a “martyrdom” she said. Her task, she said, was to make peace “in a world where everything is turned upside down”, and perhaps, we, too, can sometimes feel that our world or even, life in the Church, is turbulent and inverted. But St Catherine’s advice to the Dominican Provincial was that, “with patience we can overcome everything”.

Thus, today’s saint was seldom anxious, or much upset by her sufferings. For not only did she share the Lord’s Passion, but she also endured terrible sickness for much of her life. But despite all this, St Catherine was renowned for her joy. As a contemporary of hers said: “This blessed virgin is the source of immense happiness for the good and upright hearts that know her and of great joy in the Lord”. What is the source of such joy? Union with Christ which was manifest in her mystical experiences, so that even in the midst of great suffering, she had peace and joy, and a patient confidence in God’s love and goodness. Hence her great and simple lesson was this: “We must be content with everything it pleases our Creator to ordain”… “One must surrender oneself joyously to God” just as Christ willingly chose to endure the Passion for love of us sinners.

Perhaps these words of St Paul sum up St Catherine’s life, and can help us make sense of her experience and witness: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 6:22-24).

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NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

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

From: Genesis 4:1-15, 25

The First Children of Adam and Eve
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[1] Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” [2] And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.

Cain and Abel
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In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, [4] and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, [5] but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. [6] The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? [7] If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

[8] Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. [9] Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” [10] And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. [11] And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. [12] When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” [13] Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. [14] Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me.” [15] Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him.

The birth of Seth
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[25] And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him.”

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Commentary:

4:1. To refer to sexual intercourse between man and woman, the Bible uses the term “to know”, thereby signalling the human depth of that relationship: although it takes place via the body, it does so in a context of mind and will.

The name of Cain has an explanation in the biblical text: it echoes Eve’s exclamation, “I have gotten (in Hebrew, “qaniti”). This shows God’s part in the generation of her child. The Bible will keep on teaching that children are a gift from God, and that it is God who gives or witholds fertility. Consequently the Church reminds married couples of their duty “to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters’” (Vatican II, “Gaudium et spes”, 50).

4:3-8. We can see here how from the start God picks out particular people (without any merit on their part), sometimes giving preference to the youngest or the weakest: Isaac is preferred to Esau, for example; David to his brothers. The origin of Cain’s sin lies in the fact that he does not accept God’s preference for his younger brother, and he gives way to anger, envy (cf. Wis 10:3) and gloominess. Despite that, God loves Cain too and he invites him to master temptation (v. 7) by acting rightly; but Cain killed his brother Abel.

Cain is the prototype of the perverse and murderous man; Abel, of the just man who blamelessly suffers violent death. For this reason Abel is seen as a figure of Jesus Christ, whose blood spilt on the cross speaks even more eloquently than the blood of Abel: “But you have come [. . .] to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the spiritual blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel” (Heb 12:24). Cain, on the other hand, symbolizes every man who hates his neighbour, for hatred implies desiring that the other person should not exist. St John interprets the story of Cain in this sense when he writes: “This is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. [. . .] Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and we know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him’’ (Jn 3:11-12, 15).

Assuming that Cain was ill-intentioned in his offerings, St Bede the Venerable comments that “men often are placated by gifts from those who have offended them; but God, who ‘discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart’ (Heb 4:12), lets himself be placated by no gift as much as by the pious devotion of the offerer. Once he has seen the purity of our heart, he will then also accept our prayers and our works” (“Hexaemeron 2: in Gen, 4:4-5).

4:9-16. The question God puts to Cain is one that is constantly being asked of all human beings as regards their fellows. And the death by violence of any innocent person cries for justice, a cry to which God is never indifferent. He burdens Cain’s conscience with the weight of his crime, even though he protects his life by putting a mark on him to prevent anyone taking revenge. In the context of this account, the mark is meant as a protection, not a sign of infamy. The fact that Cain, on account of what he has done, is sent out of God’s presence and has to wander on the earth symbolizes the break with God that sin causes.

“Human life is sacred,” the Church teaches, “because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being’’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258).

4:25-26. This is the part of mankind which retained its knowledge of the true God, who in due course will reveal himself to Abraham (cf. chap. 12) and Moses (cf. Ex 3:14). Seth’s name is given an etymological explanation, but now one connected not with cities and skills (cf. the note on 4:17-24) but with God: Seth gets his name because God gave him to Eve to take the place of Abel. This will be the line of descendants of Adam and Eve from which will come the chosen people, through the calling of Abraham. The fact that there is no mention of Seth’s descendants devoting themselves to trades may he designed to show that their specific contribution to mankind was their keeping the knowledge of the true God -- a greater contribution than that made by others.

“In a figurative manner,” St Bede explains, “Enoch, the son of Seth, stands for the Christian people who, through faith and the sacrament of the passion and resurrection of the Lord, is born every day, the world over, of water and the Holy Spirit. This people [. . .] in all that it does is always invoking the name of the Lord, saying, Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed by thy name” (Hexaemeron 2: in Gen, 4:25-26).

From: Mark 8:1-11

Second Miracle of the Loaves
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[1] In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, He (Jesus) called His disciples to Him, and said to them, [2] "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat; [3] and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way." [4] And His disciples answered Him, "How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?" [5] And He asked them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven." [6] And He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks He broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. [7] And they had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He commanded that these also should be set before them. [8] And they ate, and were satisfied; and took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. [9] And there were about four thousand people. [10] And He sent them away; and immediately He got into the boat with His disciples, and went to the district of Dalmanutha. [11] The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him (Jesus), seeking from Him a sign from Heaven, to test Him.

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Commentary:

1-9. Jesus repeats the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish: the first time (Mark 6:33-44) He acted because He saw a huge crowd like "sheep without a shepherd"; now He takes pity on them because they have been with Him for three days and have nothing to eat.

This miracle shows how Christ rewards people who persevere in following Him: the crowd had been hanging on His words, forgetful of everything else. We should be like them, attentive and ready to do what He commands, without any vain concern about the future, for that would amount to distrusting Divine Providence.

10. "Dalmanutha": this must have been somewhere near the Lake of Gennesaret, but it is difficult to localize it more exactly. This is the only time it is mentioned in Sacred Scripture. In the parallel passage in St. Matthew (15:39) Magadan (sometime Magdala) is mentioned.

11-12. Jesus expresses the deep sadness He feels at the hardheartedness of the Pharisees: they remain blind and unbelieving despite the light shining around them and the wonderful things Christ is doing. If someone rejects the miracles God has offered him, it is useless for him to demand new signs, because he asks for them not because he is sincerely seeking the truth but out of ill will: he is trying to tempt God (cf. Luke 16:27-31). Requiring new miracles before one will believe, not accepting those already performed in the history of salvation, amounts to asking God to account for Himself before a human tribunal (cf. Romans 2:1-11). Unfortunately, many people do act like this. But God can only be found if we have an open and humble attitude to Him. "I have no need of miracles: there are more than enough for me in the Gospel. But I do need to see you fulfilling your duty and responding to grace" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 362).

Source: Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible

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Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 8
11.	And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, asking him a sign from heaven, tempting him.	Et exierunt pharisæi, et cœperunt conquirere cum eo, quærentes ab illo signum de cælo, tentantes eum.	και εξηλθον οι φαρισαιοι και ηρξαντο συζητειν αυτω ζητουντες παρ αυτου σημειον απο του ουρανου πειραζοντες αυτον
12.	And sighing deeply in spirit, he saith: Why doth this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, a sign shall not be given to this generation.	Et ingemiscens spiritu, ait : Quid generatio ista signum quærit ? Amen dico vobis, si dabitur generationi isti signum.	και αναστεναξας τω πνευματι αυτου λεγει τι η γενεα αυτη σημειον επιζητει αμην λεγω υμιν ει δοθησεται τη γενεα ταυτη σημειον
13.	And leaving them, he went up again into the ship, and passed to the other side of the water.	Et dimittens eos, ascendit iterum navim et abiit trans fretum.	και αφεις αυτους εμβας παλιν εις πλοιον απηλθεν εις το περαν

Readings at Mass

The mark of Cain

No sign shall be given to this generation

Christian Art

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

Mark CHAP. 8