Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
10:13–16
13. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.
15. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
16. He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
AMBROSE. Our Lord warns us that they will meet with a heavier punishment who have refused to follow the Gospel than those who have chosen to break the law; saying, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!
BEDE. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, Tiberias also which John mentions, are cities of Galilee situated on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret, which is called by the Evangelists the sea of Galilee or Tiberias. Our Lord thus mourns over these cities which after such great miracles and wonders repented not, and are worse than the Gentiles who break through the law of nature only, seeing that after despising the written law, they feared not to despise also the Son of God and His glory. Hence it follows, For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes, &c. By sackcloth, which is woven together from the hairs of goats, he signifies a sharp remembrance of previous sin. But by ashes, he hints at the consideration of death, by which we are reduced to dust. Again, by the sitting down, he implies the lowliness of our conscience. Now we have seen in this day the word of the Saviour fulfilled, since Chorazin and Bethsaida, though our Lord was present among them, believed not, and Tyre and Sidon were friendly both to David and Solomon, (1 Kings 5.) and afterwards believed in the disciples of Christ who preached the Gospel there.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 38. in Matt.) Our Lord mourns over these cities for our example, because shedding tears and bitter lamentations over those who are insensible to grief, is no slight antidote, tending both to the correction of the insensible, and to the remedy and consolation of those who mourn over them. Again, He draws them over to what is good, not only by lamenting over them, but also by alarming them. Hence it follows, But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, &c. This we ought also to listen to. For not upon them alone, but upon us also, He hath passed sentence, if we receive not the guests who come to us, since He commanded them to shake off the very dust from their feet. And in another place: Now when our Lord had done many mighty works in Capernaum, and had Himself dwelt there, it seemed to be exalted above the other cities, but through unbelief fell to destruction. Hence it follows, And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell; that, in fact, the judgment might be in proportion to the honour.
BEDE. This sentence admits of two meanings: Either for this reason shalt thou be thrust down into hell, because thou proudly resisted My preaching; that in truth she might be understood to have raised herself up to heaven by her pride. Or, because thou art exalted to heaven by My dwelling in thee, and by My miracles, shalt thou be beaten with more stripes, since even these thou refusedst to believe. And that no one should suppose that this interpretation applied only either to the cities or the persons who, seeing our Lord in the flesh despised Him, and not to all also who now despise the words of the Gospel, He proceeds to add these words, He that heareth you, heareth me.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. Whereby He teaches, that whatever is said by the holy Apostles must be received, since he who heareth them heareth Christ, and an inevitable punishment therefore hangs over heretics who neglect the words of the Apostles; for it follows, and he who despises you despises me.
BEDE. That is, that every one indeed on hearing or despising the preaching of the Gospel might learn that he is not despising or hearing the mere individual preacher, but our Lord and Saviour, nay the Father Himself; for it follows, And he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me. For the Master is heard in His disciple, the Father honoured in His Son.
AUGUSTINE. (Serm. 102.) But if the word of God reaches to us also, and appoints us in the Apostles place, beware of despising us, lest that reach unto Him which you have done unto us.
BEDE. It may also be understood as follows, He who despiseth you, despiseth me, that is, he who shews not mercy to one of the least of My brethren, neither shews it to Me. But he who despiseth me, (refusing to believe on the Son of God,) despiseth him that sent me. (Matt. 25:40.) For I and my Father are one. (John 10:30.)
TITUS BOSTRENSIS. But at the same time He herein consoles His disciples, as if He said, Say not why are we about to suffer reproach. Let your speech be with moderation. I give you grace, upon Me your reproaches fall.
Catena Aurea Luke 10
Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
Matthew CHAP. 11
11:28–30
28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
CHRYSOSTOM. By what He had said, He brought His disciples to have a desire towards Him, shewing them His unspeakable excellence; and now He invites them to Him, saying, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.
AUGUSTINE. (Serm. 69. 1.) Whence do we all thus labour, but that we are mortal men, bearing vessels of clay which cause us much difficulty. But if the vessels of flesh are straitened, the regions of love will be enlarged. To what end then does He say, Come unto me, all ye that labour, but that ye should not labour?
HILARY. He calls to Him those that were labouring under the hardships of the Law, and those who are burdened with the sins of this world.
JEROME. That the burden of sin is heavy the Prophet Zachariah bears witness, saying, that wickedness sitteth upon a talent of lead. (Zech. 5:7.) And the Psalmist fills it up, Thy iniquities are grown heavy upon me. (Ps. 38:4)
GREGORY. (Mor. xxx. 15.) For a cruel yoke and hard weight of servitude it is to be subject to the things of time, to be ambitious of the things of earth, to cling to falling things, to seek to stand in things that stand not, to desire things that pass away, but to be unwilling to pass away with them. For while all things fly away against our wish, those things which had first harassed the mind in desire of gaining them, now oppress it with fear of losing them.
CHRYSOSTOM. He said not, Come ye, this man and that man, but All whosoever are in trouble, in sorrow, or in sin, not that I may exact punishment of you, but that I may remit your sins. Come ye, not that I have need of your glory, but that I seek your salvation. And I will refresh you; not, I will save you, only; but that is much greater, I will refresh you, that is, I will set you in all quietness.
RABANUS. (non occ.) I will not only take from you your burden, but will satisfy you with inward refreshment.
REMIGIUS. Come, He says, not with the feet, but with the life, not in the body, but in faith. For that is a spiritual approach by which any man approaches God; and therefore it follows, Take my yoke upon you.
RABANUS. The yoke of Christ is Christ’s Gospel, which joins and yokes together Jews and Gentiles in the unity of the faith. This we are commanded to take upon us, that is, to have in honour; lest perchance setting it beneath us, that is wrongly despising it, we should trample upon it with the miry feet of unholiness; wherefore He adds, Learn of me.
AUGUSTINE. (Serm. 69. 1.) Not to create a world, or to do miracles in that world; but that I am meek and lowly in heart. Wouldest thou be great? Begin with the least. Wouldest thou build up a mighty fabric of greatness? First think of the foundation of humility; for the mightier building any seeks to raise, the deeper let him dig for his foundation. Whither is the summit of our building to rise? To the sight of God.
RABANUS. We must learn then from our Saviour to be meek in temper, and lowly in mind; let us hurt none, let us despise none, and the virtues which we have shewn in deed let us retain in our heart.
CHRYSOSTOM. And therefore in beginning the Divine Law He begins with humility, and sets before us a great reward, saying, And ye shall find rest for your souls. This is the highest reward, you shall not only be made useful to others, but shall make yourself to have peace; and He gives you the promise of it before it comes, but when it is come, you shall rejoice in perpetual rest. And that they might not be afraid because He had spoken of a burden, therefore He adds, For my yoke is pleasant, and my burden light.
HILARY. He holds forth the inducements of a pleasant yoke, and a light burden, that to them that believe He may afford the knowledge of that good which He alone knoweth in the Father.
GREGORY. (Mor. iv. 33.) What burden is it to put upon the neck of our mind that He bids us shun all desire that disturbs, and turn from the toilsome paths of this world?
HILARY. And what is more pleasant than that yoke, what lighter than that burden? To be made better, to abstain from wickedness, to choose the good, and refuse the evil, to love all men, to hate none, to gain eternal things, not to be taken with things present, to be unwilling to do that to another which yourself would be pained to suffer.
RABANUS. But how is Christ’s yoke pleasant, seeing it was said above, Narrow is the way which leadeth unto life? (Mat. 7:14.) That which is entered upon by a narrow entrance is in process of time made broad by the unspeakable sweetness of love.
AUGUSTINE. (Serm. 70. 1.) So then they who with unfearing neck have submitted to the yoke of the Lord endure such hardships and dangers, that they seem to be called not from labour to rest, but from rest to labour. But the Holy Spirit was there who, as the outward man decayed, renewed the inward man day by day, and giving a foretaste of spiritual rest in the rich pleasures of God in the hope of blessedness to come, smoothed all that seemed rough, lightened all that was heavy. Men suffer amputations and burnings, that at the price of sharper pain they may be delivered from torments less but more lasting, as boils or swellings. What storms and dangers will not merchants undergo that they may acquire perishing riches? Even those who love not riches endure the same hardships; but those that love them endure the same, but to them they are not hardships. For love makes right easy, and almost nought all things however dreadful and monstrous. How much more easily then does love do that for true happiness, which avarice does for misery as far as it can?
JEROME. And how is the Gospel lighter than the Law, seeing in the Law murder and adultery, but under the Gospel anger and concupiscence also, are punished? Because by the Law many things are commanded which the Apostle fully teaches us cannot be fulfilled; by the Law works are required, by the Gospel the will is sought for, which even if it goes not into act, yet does not lose its reward. The Gospel commands what we can do, as that we lust not; this is in our own power; the Law punishes not the will but the act, as adultery. Suppose a virgin to have been violated in time of persecution; as here was not the will she is held as a virgin under the Gospel; under the Law she is cast out as defiled.
NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
The Lord Speaks to Job
------------------------------------
[1] Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
[12] "Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
[13] that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
[14] It is changed like clay under the seal,
and it is dyed like a garment.
[15] From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
[16] Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
[17] Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
[18] Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
[19] Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
[20] that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
[21] You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
Job bows before God
------------------------------
[3] Then Job answered the Lord:
[4] Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer thee?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
[5] I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further."
****************************************************
Commentary:
38:1-42:6. The theophany and the Lord's discourse that follow it form the climax of the book: after each of the friends and the impertinent Elihu have opined on Job's attitude and on the meaning of suffering, and after Job himself has repeatedly called on God to pronounce judgment, God's intervention gives a perfect finish to the whole debate. The Lord upbraids the friends for rejecting the very idea that he would appear in person to reply to Job, and he commends Job for his desire to meet with Him.
The content of the Lord's speeches are along the lines of the previous Ones as regards created beings reflecting the power and wisdom of their Maker; but the tone is very different. The Lord does not take issue with Job's views or lament his misfortune, or even respond directly to Job's demand that his innocence be recognized; what he wants him to do is to watch a film documentary, as it were, recording the wonders of creation; to discover the beauty and endowments of created beings; and to acknowledge, in all simplicity, the sovereignty and wisdom of the Creator.
From a literary point of view, the Lord's discourses contain typical descriptions of all kinds of creatures, such as the ostrich (39:13-18), the warhorse (39:19-25), and Behemoth and Leviathan (40:15-41:26). These animals are depicted so expertly, with a mixture of realism and fantasy, that we don't know whether they belong to the world of reality or that of mythology. But they are all creatures of the Lord.
The theophany consists of two lengthy speeches by God (38:4-39:30; 40:15-41:26), each preceded by an appeal to Job (38:1-3; 40:6-14) and each followed by a grateful and humble response from Job (40:3-5; 42:1-6).
38:1-39:30. The Lord's first speech is very rich in language and very skillfully constructed, but the message is quite simple: God is present in places where Job or no one else has ever been; he has acted and does act where no human being ever could or can: he arranges things most wisely and takes the greatest care of created beings (stars, birds, animals) far beyond man's reach. In other words, God is infinitely more powerful than Job; yet here he is, inviting him to engage in conversation and join him in contemplating the wonders of the cosmos and of the animal world.
This speech cannot be described as a class in Creation Theology; and in fact in few places does it overlap with creation accounts in Genesis or in the book of Wisdom; it is rather, a sapiential description of the entire universe and of the way created beings operate; no account is taken of secondary causes or of the usefulness these beings may have for man.
The speech consists of an introduction (38:1-3) and two lengthy sections. The first of these focuses on the inanimate world (38:4-38), and the second on the animal world (38:39-39:30). The first has a certain logical order to it, ranging out from the better known to the more remote phenomena -- earth, sea, light, the ends of the earth, and the abyss, the elements, stars … But the animal section seems to have no particular order to it; instead, the writer uses devices found in wisdom literature: his list of animals runs to ten (ten being a number symbolizing completeness) – lion, raven, goat, deer, wild ass, wild ox, ostrich, horse, lark, eagle; by choosing undomesticated animals, he accentuates the power of God.
38:1-3. The introduction to these speeches provides keys to their meaning. It uses the proper name of the God of Israel, the Lord (YHWH), as does the prologue (2:1-7) and epilogue (42:7-17) of the book itself, whereas in the preceding debate, as we have seen, the generic Greek name appears ('El, Eloah, Elohim, Shaddai). This serves to underline that genuine wisdom belongs to the God of Israel, and he communicates it to his people. The text keeps repeating that it is God who is speaking: "And the Lord said …", "the Lord answered." The theophany "out of the whirlwind" would alone have made this plain; it was a whirlwind that took Elijah up to heaven (2 Kings 2:1,11) and it figures in the eschatological appearances of the Lord (cf. Ezek 1:1-3; 15; Zech 9:14); even if God had made himself silently present, Job would have had his desire fulfilled: he would have met the Lord. But by responding to Job with words, God is bestowing on him the same sign of favour as he gave to the patriarchs and to Moses, with whom he spoke face to face. In this way the sacred writer shows how very worthy a person Job is.
"Who is this that darkens counsel" (v. 2): the Hebrew word translated as ''counsel"('esah) means God's plan, his purposes, which stay unchanged for all eternity (cf. Is 25:1) and are irrevocable (Is 14:24, 26). What the word primarily means here is governance of the universe, that is, divine providence: "Since human reason on its own cannot comprehend the truth of divine providence, the argument between Job and his friends needed to he resolved by divine authority [...]. So the Lord, as arbitrator of the dispute, criticizes the friends whose words do not judge Job fairly, and Elihu for his mistaken assumptions" (St Thomas Aquinas, “Expositio super lob,” 38, 2). But, given that in the Old Testament this word is always connected with divine intervention in the lives of nations and individuals (Jer 32:19), here it also applies to God's part in making Job's life so miserable. Job has raised objections to this. The Lord himself now invites him to view this counsel, these "plans", from the point of view of God, not man. Man's perspective is narrow and blurred.
"I will question you, and you shall declare to me" (v. 3). In keeping with the tone of irony that surfaces elsewhere in the speech (38:4, 18, 21), the Lord grants Job the status of interlocutor and implies that he is capable of answering all the great questions and of supplying the sort of sapiential argument he will use in his speech. At no point does God try to humiliate Job; he is simply encouraging him to accept with a good grace the teaching he is going to offer him.
38:4-15. The description of the earth (vv. 4-7), the sea (vv. 8-11) and the sunlight (vv. 12-15) contains a lot of symbolism. For example, the earth is depicted as an impressive building which the stars find awesome. St Gregory the Great does well to apply this description to the Church, God's beloved, built on the foundation of the apostles and with Christ as its cornerstone; earth and Church are a source of amazement to the angels (cf. “Moralia in lob,” 6:28, 5-7, 14-35).
The ocean, which was full of bluster in the high seas, becomes all mild when it reaches the shore, just as a restless baby becomes quiet when it is held and clothed. "The gates of the Holy Church", St Gregory explains, "may he battered by the waves of persecution, but they cannot he destroyed; the wave of persecution may rock the gates from without, but it cannot break through to the heart of the Church" (“Moralia in lob,” 6, 28, 18, 38).
The light of dawn dispels the darkness (vv. 12-13), which is an accomplice of evildoers, as Job previously acknowledged (cf. 24:13-17): "Evildoers love the dark of night, and flee in despair at the dawning of the day. For this reason he adds: "And you shook out the wicked", that is, you forced them to flee into hiding when the light of day stripped away their cover of darkness" (Fray Luis de Leon, “Expositio lob,” 38, 13).
38:16-38. The elements mentioned in this section were things that ancient man found difficult to fathom, so much so that they were often mythologized. First come earthly phenomena -- sea, the deeps, death, light-and-darkness (vv. 16-21); then weather phenomena -- snow, hail, ice, floods, lightning; and finally the constellations and heavenly bodies (vv. 31-38). But God knows them to perfection and controls them. In other words, all these things manifest his omnipotence; he has created them with wisdom and love; (cf. “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” 268).
The lesson is clear. We should believe in the sovereignty of God and in his kindly providence, even though we cannot fully grasp that human suffering and evil in general fit into the divine plan: "We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God's face to face' (1 Cor 13:12) will we fully know the ways by which -- even through the dramas of evil and sin -- God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest (cf. Gen 2:2) for which he created heaven and earth" (CCC, 314).
40:1-5. The Lord's speech is interrupted at this point by a short but significant exchange between God and Job. The style of sapiential dispute is employed again, and the author uses this literary device to retain the reader's attention at this decisive moment in the encounter between God and Job.
