Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 14-February-2025

Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 7
31.	And again going out of the coasts of Tyre, he came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.	Et iterum exiens de finibus Tyri, venit per Sidonem ad mare Galilææ inter medios fines Decapoleos.	και παλιν εξελθων εκ των οριων τυρου και σιδωνος ηλθεν προς την θαλασσαν της γαλιλαιας ανα μεσον των οριων δεκαπολεως
32.	And they bring to him one deaf and dumb; and they besought him that he would lay his hand upon him.	Et adducunt ei surdum, et mutum, et deprecabantur eum, ut imponat illi manum.	και φερουσιν αυτω κωφον μογγιλαλον και παρακαλουσιν αυτον ινα επιθη αυτω την χειρα
33.	And taking him from the multitude apart, he put his fingers into his ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue:	Et apprehendens eum de turba seorsum, misit digitos suos in auriculas ejus : et exspuens, tetigit linguam ejus :	και απολαβομενος αυτον απο του οχλου κατ ιδιαν εβαλεν τους δακτυλους αυτου εις τα ωτα αυτου και πτυσας ηψατο της γλωσσης αυτου
34.	And looking up to heaven, he groaned, and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened.	et suscipiens in cælum, ingemuit, et ait illi : Ephphetha, quod est, Adaperire.	και αναβλεψας εις τον ουρανον εστεναξεν και λεγει αυτω εφφαθα ο εστιν διανοιχθητι
35.	And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right.	Et statim apertæ sunt aures ejus, et solutum est vinculum linguæ ejus, et loquebatur recte.	και ευθεως διηνοιχθησαν αυτου αι ακοαι και ελυθη ο δεσμος της γλωσσης αυτου και ελαλει ορθως
36.	And he charged them that they should tell no man. But the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it.	Et præcepit illis ne cui dicerent. Quanto autem eis præcipiebat, tanto magis plus prædicabant :	και διεστειλατο αυτοις ινα μηδενι ειπωσιν οσον δε αυτος αυτοις διεστελλετο μαλλον περισσοτερον εκηρυσσον
37.	And so much the more did they wonder, saying: He hath done all things well; he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.	et eo amplius admirabantur, dicentes : Bene omnia fecit : et surdos fecit audire, et mutos loqui.	και υπερπερισσως εξεπλησσοντο λεγοντες καλως παντα πεποιηκεν και τους κωφους ποιει ακουειν και τους αλαλους λαλειν

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

Mark CHAP. 7

7:31–37

31. And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

32. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.

33. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;

34. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

35. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

36. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;

37. And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

THEOPHYLACT. The Lord did not wish to stay in the parts of the Gentiles, lest He should give the Jews occasion to say, that they esteemed Him a transgressor of the law, because He held communion with the Gentiles, and therefore He immediately returns; wherefore it is said, And again departing from the coasts of Tyre, he came through Sidon, to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.

BEDE. (in Marc. 2, 31) Decapolis is a region of ten cities, across the Jordan, to the east, over against Galilee.c When therefore it is said that the Lord came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis, it does not mean that He entered the confines of Decapolis themselves; for He is not said to have crossed the sea, but rather to have come to the borders of the sea, and to have reached quite up to the place, which was opposite to the midst of the coasts of Decapolis, which were situated at a distance across the sea. It goes on, And they bring him one that was deaf and dumb, and they besought him to lay hands upon him.

THEOPHYLACT. Which is rightly placed after the deliverance of one possessed with a devil, for such an instance of suffering came from the devil. There follows, And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears.

PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) He takes the deaf and dumb man who was brought to Him apart from the crowd, that He might not do His divine miracles openly; teaching us to cast away vain glory and swelling of heart, for no one can work miracles as he can, who loves humility and is lowly in his conduct. But He puts His fingers into his ears, when He might have cured him with a word, to shew that His body, being united to Deity, was consecrated by Divine virtue, with all that He did. For since on account of the transgression of Adam, human nature had incurred much suffering and hurt in its members and senses, Christ coming into the world shewed the perfection of human nature in Himself, and on this account opened ears with His fingers, and gave the power of speech by His spittle. Wherefore it goes on, And spit, and touched his tongue.

THEOPHYLACT. That He might shew that all the members of His sacred body are divine and holy, even the spittle which loosed the string of the tongue. For the spittle is only the superfluous moisture of the body, but in the Lord all things are divine. It goes on, And looking up to heaven, he groaned, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) He looked up to heaven, that He might teach us that thence is to be procured speech for the dumb, hearing for the deaf, health for all who are sick. And He sighed, not that it was necessary for Him to beg any thing from His Father with groaning, for He, together with the Father, gives all things to them who ask, but that He might give us an example of sighing, when for our own errors and those of our neighbours, we invoke the guardianship of the Divine mercy.

PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) He at the same time also groaned, as taking our cause upon Himself, and pitying human nature, seeing the misery into which it had fallen.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) But that which He says, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened, belongs properly to the ears, for the ears are to be opened for hearing, but the tongue to be loosed from the bonds of its impediment, that it may be able to speak. Wherefore it goes on, And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. Where each nature of one and the same Christ is manifestly distinct, looking up indeed into Heaven as man, praying unto God, He groaned, but presently with one word, as being strong in the Divine Majesty, He healed. It goes on, And he charged them that they should tell no man.

PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) By which He has taught us not to boast in our powers, but in the cross and humiliation. He also bade them conceal the miracle, lest He should excite the Jews by envy to kill Him before the time.

PSEUDO-JEROME. A city, however, placed on a hill cannot be hid, and lowliness always comes before glory. Wherefore it goes on, But the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it.

THEOPHYLACT. By this we are taught, when we confer benefits on any, by no means to seek for applause and praise; but when we have received benefits, to proclaim and praise our benefactors, even though they be unwilling.

AUGUSTINE. (ap. Aug. non occ. sed ap. Bed. ubi sup.) If however He, as one Who knew the present and the future wills of men, knew that they would proclaim Him the more in proportion as He forbade them, why did He give them this command? If it were not that He wished to prove to men who are idle, how much more joyfully, with how much greater obedience, they whom He commands to proclaim Him should preach, when they who were forbidden could not hold their peace.

GLOSS. (non occ.) From the preaching however of those who were healed by Christ, the wonder of the multitude, and their praise of the benefits of Christ, increased. Wherefore it goes on, And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

PSEUDO-JEROME. Mystically, Tyre is interpreted narrowness, and signifies Judæa, to which the Lord said, (v. Isa. 28:20) “For the bed is grown too narrow,” and from which he turns himself to the Gentiles. Sidon means ‘hunting,’ for our race is like an untamed beast, and ‘sea,’ which means a wavering inconstancy. Again, the Saviour comes to save the Gentiles in the midst of the coasts of Decapolis, which may be interpreted, as the commands of the Decalogue. Further, the human race throughout its many members is reckoned as one man, eaten up by varying pestilence, in the first created man; it is blinded, that is, its eye is evil; it becomes deaf, when it listens to, and dumb when it speaks, evil. And they prayed Him to lay His hand upon him, because many just men, and patriarchs, wished and longed for the time when the Lord should come in the flesh.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) Or he is deaf and dumb, who neither has ears to hear the words of God, nor opens his mouth to speak them, and such must be presented to the Lord for healing, by men who have already learned to hear and speak the divine oracles.

PSEUDO-JEROME. Further, he who obtains healing is always drawn aside from turbulent thoughts, disorderly actions, and incoherent speeches. And the fingers which are put into the ears are the words and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, This is the finger of God. (Exod. 8:19) The spittle is heavenly wisdom, which loosens the sealed lips of the human race, so that it can say, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and the rest of the Creed. And looking up to heaven, he groaned, (Cf. Mat. 12:20. Luke 11:20) that is, He taught us to groan, and to raise up the treasures of our hearts to the heavens; because by the groaning of hearty compunction, the silly joy of the flesh is purged away. But the ears are opened to hymns, and songs, and psalms; and He looses the tongue, that it may pour forth the good word, which neither threats nor stripes can restrain.

Catena Aurea Mark 7

Who are Ss. Cyril and Methodius, the other Feb. 14 saints?

On Feb. 14, Christians and non-Christians alike remember St. Valentine, a priest who suffered a martyr’s death in Rome.

And it is fitting to do so, for he is among the saints of the day in the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, the most recent edition of the church’s official listing of the saints — who are honored throughout the universal church — and the blesseds, whose liturgical veneration is permitted in certain places following beatification.

Not as widely known in the United States as St. Valentine are two other saints at the top of the list on Feb. 14, and recent popes have repeatedly sought to draw greater attention to them. Pope Leo XIII (1880) and St. John Paul II (1985) devoted encyclicals to them; Pope Pius XI (1927), St. John XXIII (1963), St. Paul VI (1969) and Pope Francis (2013) wrote letters about them; and Pope Benedict XVI (2009) devoted a Wednesday general audience to them. In 1980, St. John Paul declared them co-patrons of Europe.

Their names are Constantine and Michael, two Greek brothers better known as Cyril and Methodius, the names they took upon becoming monks. In evangelizing the Slavs, they changed the course of history.

Methodius was born around 815 in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, the second most important city of the Byzantine Empire. Following in the footsteps of his father, who was an important government official, he became a leading provincial administrator in northeastern Greece, an area that had a significant Slavic population. He abandoned his career, however, to become a monk in what is now northwestern Turkey, and later he became an abbot.

Cyril, the youngest of Methodius’ six siblings, was born around 827. Educated in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, he became known for his high intelligence. When a professor attempted to arrange a marriage to a prominent woman, Cyril demurred. He also decided not to embark on a political career.

Instead, he was ordained to the priesthood, became librarian at the famed church of Hagia Sophia, and was appointed secretary to the patriarch of Constantinople, two centuries before the Great Schism between East and West.

In time, Cyril, too, became attracted to the monastic life and slipped out of Constantinople to pray at a monastery.

Six months later, he was found; he returned to the imperial capital to teach and became known as “the philosopher.” The emperor and the patriarch later sent Cyril, who had great linguistic gifts, on a diplomatic mission to the caliph of Baghdad, the most prominent Muslim ruler of the day.

Eventually, Cyril was able to join his brother at his monastery.

There they might have remained for the rest of their lives if the emperor had not sent Cyril, joined by Methodius, on a mission to the Khazars on the northern edge of the Black Sea around 861.

During their mission, they discovered the relics of St. Clement I, the fourth pope, who had been exiled to the region at the end of the first century and had died a martyr.

During Cyril and Methodius’ childhood, Great Moravia, a territory that included the modern Czech Republic and Slovakia, had been evangelized by Franco-German clergy. Three decades after this initial evangelization, Duke Rastislav of Great Moravia wrote to the Byzantine emperor that “since our people rejected paganism, they have embraced the Christian law; but we do not have a teacher who can explain the true faith to us in our own language.” In response, the emperor sent Cyril and Methodius, who had returned from their mission to the Khazars.

They arrived around 863 and translated the Bible and liturgical texts into the people’s language, Old Slavonic, with Cyril devising its alphabet.

“It was a crucial event for the development of the Slav civilization in general,” Pope Benedict XVI said in 2009. “Cyril and Methodius were convinced that the individual peoples could not claim to have received the Revelation fully unless they had heard it in their own language and read it in the characters proper to their own alphabet.”

The brothers’ decision to celebrate the liturgy in Old Slavonic provoked opposition, and they traveled to Rome to defend themselves. Stopping in Venice, they debated churchmen who believed that the liturgy should only be celebrated in Hebrew, Latin or Greek.

Bearing St. Clement’s relics, they arrived in Rome and met Pope Adrian II, who approved their mission and the translation of the liturgy into Old Slavonic.

Cyril soon became ill, entered a monastery in Rome and died Feb. 14, 869.

Methodius, now an archbishop and papal legate to the Slavs, traveled to Great Moravia and Pannonia, which included portions of Hungary, Austria and several Balkan nations. Again facing opposition from Franco-German political and church leaders, he was imprisoned for two years and released in 873 at the intervention of Pope John VIII, Pope Adrian’s successor.

Back in Great Moravia, Rastislav’s successor, Svatopluk I, opposed Methodius’ mission and spread rumors against him. Called to Rome in 880, Methodius defended himself, and Pope John ruled in his favor. Methodius then returned to Constantinople and “devoted the last years of his life principally to making further translations of the Sacred Scriptures, the liturgical books, the works of the Fathers of the Church and also the collection of ecclesiastical and Byzantine civil laws called the Nomocanon,” St. John Paul wrote in 1985.

Methodius also trained clergy who would continue his apostolate, and he died in Velehrad, a village in the Czech Republic, April 6, 885.

Methodius’ disciples faced intense opposition: Pope Benedict recalled that they were “persecuted and imprisoned; some of them were sold as slaves and taken to Venice where they were redeemed by a Constantinopolitan official.” Following their release, they went to Bulgaria, and five of them — Clement of Ohrid, Gorazd, Naum, Sabas and Angelarius — are recognized as saints.

In time, the apostolate launched by Ss. Cyril and Methodius would reach other Slavic peoples as well, from the Balkans to Russia.

“Cyril and Methodius are in fact a classic example of what today is meant by the term ‘inculturation’: every people must integrate the message revealed into its own culture and express its saving truth in its own language,” Pope Benedict observed. “The two holy brothers have left us a most important testimony of this.”

catholicreview.org

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

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

First Reading:

From: Genesis 3:1-8

Temptation and the First Sins
-----------------------------
[1] The serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" [2] And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; [3] but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" [4] But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." [6] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. [7] Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

[8] And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

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Commentary:

3:1-24. "The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place "at the beginning of the history of man". Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 390). The Bible is teaching us here about the origin of evil--of all the evils mankind experiences, and particularly the evil of death. Evil does not come from God (he created man to live a happy life and to be his friend); it comes from sin, that is, from the fact that man broke the divine commandment, thereby destroying the happiness he was created for, and his harmony with God, with himself, and with creation in general. "Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 397).

In his description of that original sin and its consequences, the sacred writer uses symbolic language (garden, tree, serpent) in order to convey an important historical and religious truth--that no sooner did he walk the earth than man disobeyed God, and therein lies the cause of evil. We can also see here how every sin happens and what results from it: "The eyes of our soul grow dull. Reason proclaims itself sufficient to understand everything, without the aid of God. This is a subtle temptation, which hides behind the power of our intellect, given by our Father God to man so that he might know and love him freely. Seduced by this temptation, the human mind appoints itself the center of the universe, being thrilled with the prospect that 'you shall be like gods' (Gen 3:15). So filled with love for itself, it turns its back on the love of God" (St. J. Escrivá, "Christ Is Passing By", 6).

3:1. The serpent symbolizes the devil, a personal being who tries to frustrate God's plans and draw man to perdition. "Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy (Wis 2:24). Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called 'Satan' or the 'devil'. The Church teaches what Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: 'The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing' (Fourth Vatican Council)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 391.).

3:2-5. The devil's temptation strategy is very realistically described here: he falsifies what God has said, raises suspicions about God's plans and intentions, and, finally, portrays God as man's enemy. "The analysis of sin in its original dimension indicates that, through the influence of the 'father of lies', "throughout the history of humanity there will be a constant pressure on man to reject God", even to the point of hating him: 'Love of self to the point of contempt for God,' as St Augustine puts it (cf. "De Civitate Dei", 14, 28). Man will be inclined to see in God primarily a limitation of himself, and not the source of his own freedom and the fullness of good. We see this confirmed in the modern age, when the atheistic ideologies seek "to root out religion" on the grounds that religion causes the radical "'alienation' of man", as if man were dispossessed of his own humanity when, accepting the idea of God, he attributes to God what belongs to man, and exclusively to man! Hence a process of thought and historico-sociological practice in which the rejection of God has reached the point of declaring his 'death'. An absurdity, both in concept and expression!" (John Paul II, "Dominum Et Vivificantem", 38).

3:6 And so both of them, the man and the woman, disobeyed God's commandment. Genesis refers not to an apple but to a mysterious fruit: eating it symbolizes Adam and Eve's sin--one of disobedience.

The sacred writer leads us to the denouement by giving a masterly psychological description of temptation, dialogue with the tempter, doubt about God's truthfulness, and then yielding to one's sensual appetites. This sin, Pope John Paul II also commented, "constitutes "the principle and root of all the others". We find ourselves faced with the original reality of sin in human story and at the same time in the whole of the economy of salvation. [...] This original disobedience presupposes "a rejection", or at least "a turning away from the truth contained in the Word of God", who creates the world. [...] 'Disobedience' means precisely going beyond that limit, which remains impassable to the will and the freedom of man as a created being. For God the Creator is the one definitive source of the moral order in the world created by him. Man cannot decide by himself what is good and what is evil -- cannot 'know good and evil, like God'. In the created world "God" indeed remains the first and sovereign source "for deciding about good and evil", through the intimate truth of being, which is the reflection "of the Word", the eternal son, consubstantial with the Father. To man, created to the image of God, the Holy Spirit gives the gift of "conscience", so that in this conscience the image may faithfully reflect its model, which is both Wisdom and eternal Law, the source of the moral order in man and in the world. 'Disobedience', as the original dimension of sin, means the "rejection of this source", through man's claim to become an independent and exclusive source for deciding about good and evil" ("Dominum Et Vivificantem", 33-36).

3:7-13. This passage begins the description of the effects of the original sin. Man and woman have come to know evil, and it shows, initially, in a most direct way--in their own bodies. The inner harmony described in Genesis 2:25 is broken, and concupiscence rears its head. Their friendship with God is also broken, and they flee from his presence, to avoid their nakedness being seen. As if his Creator could not see them! The harmony between man and woman is also fractured: he puts the blame on her, and she puts it on the serpent. But all three share in the responsibility, and therefore all three are going to pay the penalty.

"The harmony in which they found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions (cf. Gen 3:7-16), their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man (cf. Gen 3:17, 19). Because of man, creation is now subject 'to its bondage to decay' (Rom 8:21). Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will 'return to the ground' (Gen 3:19), for out of it he was taken. "Death makes its entrance into human history" (cf. Rom 5:12)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 400).

Gospel Reading:

From: Mark 7:31-37

The Curing of a Deaf Man
------------------------
[31] Then He (Jesus) returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. [32] And they brought Him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought Him to lay His hand upon him. [33] And taking him aside from the multitude privately, He put His fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue; [34] and looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." [35] And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. [36] And He charged them to tell no one; but the more He charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. [37] And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well; He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."

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Commentary:

32-33. Sacred Scripture quite often shows the laying on of hands as a gesture indicating the transfer of power or blessing (cf. Genesis 48:14ff; 2 Kings 5:11; Luke 13:13). Everyone knows that saliva can help heal minor cuts. In the language of Revelation fingers symbolized powerful Divine action (cf. Exodus 8:19; Psalm 8:4; Luke 11:20). So Jesus uses signs which suit in some way the effect He wants to achieve, though we can see from the text that the effect--the instantaneous cure of the deaf and dumb man--far exceeds the sign used.

In the miracle of the deaf and dumb man we can see a symbol of the way God acts on souls: for us to believe, God must first open our heart so we can listen to His word. Then, like the Apostles, we too can proclaim the "magnalia Dei", the mighty works of God (cf. Acts 2:11). In the Church's liturgy (cf. the hymn "Veni Creator") the Holy Spirit is compared to the finger of the right hand of God the Father ("Digitus paternae dexterae"). The Consoler produces in our souls, in the supernatural order, effects comparable to those which Christ produces in the body of the deaf and dumb man.

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Readings at Mass

The fall of man

'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'

Since you have rejected the word of God, we must turn to the pagans

Your peace will rest on that man

Christian Art

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

Mark CHAP. 7

Who are Ss. Cyril and Methodius, the other Feb. 14 saints?