Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
10:25–28
25. And, behold, a certain Lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26. He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27. And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
BEDE. Our Lord had told His disciples above that their names were written in Heaven; from this it seems to me the lawyer took occasion of tempting our Lord, as it is said, And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. For there were in fact certain men who then went about the whole country of the Jews bringing charges against Christ, and saying that He spoke of the commands of Moses as useless, and Himself introduced certain strange doctrines. A lawyer then, wishing to entrap Christ into saying something against Moses, comes and tempts Him, calling Him Master, though not bearing to be His disciple. And because our Lord was wont to speak to those who came to Him concerning eternal life, the lawyer adopts this kind of language. And since he tempted Him subtly, he receives no other answer than the command given by Moses; for it follows, He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
AMBROSE. For he was one of those who think themselves skilled in the law, and who keep the letter of the law, while they know nothing of its spirit. From a part of the law itself our Lord proves them to be ignorant of the law, shewing that at the very first the law preached the Father and the Son, and announced the sacraments of the Lord’s Incarnation; for it follows, And he answering said, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.
BASIL. (in Ps. 44.) By saying, with all thy mind, he does not admit of any division of love to other things, for whatever love you cast on lower things necessarily takes away from the whole. For as a vessel full of liquid, whatever flows therefrom must so much diminish its fulness; so also the soul, whatever love it has wasted upon things unlawful, has so much lessened its love to God.
GREGORY OF NYSSA. (de Hom. Opif. c. 8.) the soul is divided into three faculties; one merely of growth and vegetation, such as is found in plants; another which relates to the senses, which is preserved in the nature of irrational animals; but the perfect faculty of the soul is that of reason, which is seen in human nature. By saying then the heart, He signified the bodily substance, that is, the vegetative; by the soul the middle, or the sensitive; but by saying the mind, the higher nature, that is, the intellectual or reflective faculty.
THEOPHYLACT. We must hereby understand that it becomes us to submit every power of the soul to the divine love, and that resolutely, not slackly. Hence it is added, And with all thy strength.
MAXIMUS. To this end then the law commanded a threefold love to God, that it might pluck us away from the threefold fashion of the world, as touching possessions, glory, and pleasure, wherein also Christ was tempted.
BASIL. (Reg. fus. ad int. 2.) But if any one ask how the love of God is to be obtained, we are sure that the love of God cannot be taught. For neither did we learn to rejoice in the presence of light, or to embrace life, or to love our parents and children; much less were we taught the love of God, but a certain seminal principle was implanted in us, which has within itself the cause, that man clings to God; which principle the teaching of the divine commands is wont to cultivate diligently, to foster watchfully, and to carry on to the perfection of divine grace. For naturally we love good; we love also what is our own, and akin to us; we likewise of our own accord pour forth all our affections on our benefactors. If then God is good, but all things desire that good, which is wrought voluntarily, He is by nature inherent in us, and although from His goodness we are far from knowing Him, yet from the very fact that we proceeded forth from Him, we are bound to love Him with exceeding love, as in truth akin to us; He is likewise also a greater benefactor than all whom by nature we love here. (ad int 3.). And again. The love of God then is the first and chief command, but the second, as filling up the first and filled up by it, bids us to love our neighbour. Hence it follows, And thy neighbour as thyself. But we have an instinct given us by God to perform this command, as who does not know that man is a kind and social animal? For nothing belongs so much to our nature as to communicate with one another, and mutually to need and love our relations. Of those things then of which in the first place He gave us the seed, He afterwards requires the fruits.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. 32. in 1 Cor.) Yet observe how, almost to the same extent of obedience he requires the performance of each command, For of God he says, with all thy heart. Of our neighbour, as thyself. Which if it were diligently kept, there would be neither slave nor free man, neither conqueror nor conquered, (or rather, neither prince nor subject,) rich nor poor, nor would the devil be even known, for the chaff would rather stand the touch of fire than the devil the fervour of love; so surpassing all things is the constancy of love.
GREGORY. (19. Moral. c. 14.) But since it is said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, how is he merciful in taking compassion upon another, who still, by unrighteous living, is unmerciful to himself?
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. When the lawyer had answered the things contained in the law, Christ, to whom all things were known, cuts to pieces his crafty nets. For it follows, And he said to him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
ORIGEN. From these words it is undoubtingly gathered, that the life which is preached according to God the Creator of the world, and the Scriptures given by Him, is life everlasting. For the Lord Himself bears testimony to the passage from Deuteronomy, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; (Deut. 6:5.) and from Leviticus, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Lev. 19:18.) But these things were spoken against the followers of Valentinus, Basil, and Marcion. For what else did he wish us to do in seeking eternal life, but what is contained in the Law and the Prophets?
10:29–37
29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30. And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31. And by chance there came down a certain Priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34. And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37. Aud he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. The lawyer, when praised by our Saviour for having answered right, breaks forth into pride, thinking that he had no neighbour, as though there was no one to be compared to him in righteousness. Hence it is said, But he willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? For somehow first one sin and then another takes him captive. From the cunning with which he sought to tempt Christ, ho falls into pride. But here when asking, who is my neighbour, he proves himself to be devoid of love for his neighbour, since he did not consider any one to be his neighbour, and consequently of the love of God; for he who loves not his brother whom he sees, cannot love God whom he does not see. (1 John 4:20.)
AMBROSE. He answered that he knew not his neighbour, because he believed not on Christ, and he who knows not Christ knows not the law, for being ignorant of the truth, how can he know the law which makes known the truth?
THEOPHYLACT. Now our Saviour defines a neighbour not in respect of actions or honour, but of nature; as if He says, Think not that because thou art righteous thou hast no neighbour, for all who partake of the same nature are thy neighbours. Be thou also their neighbour, not in place, but in affection and solicitude for them. And in addition to this, he brings forward the Samaritan as an example. As it follows, And Jesus answering him said, A certain man went down, &c.
GREEK EXPOSITOR. (Severus) He has well used the general term. For He says not, “a certain one went down,” but, a certain man, for his discourse was of the whole human race.
AUGUSTINE. (de Ev. l. ii. q. 19.) For that man is taken for Adam himself, representing the race of man; Jerusalem, the city of peace, that heavenly country, from the bliss of which he fell. Jericho is interpreted to be the moon, and signifies our mortality, because it rises, increases, wanes, and sets.
PSEUDO-AUGUSTINE. (Hypognos. lib. 3.) Or by Jerusalem, which is by interpretation “the sight of peace,” we mean Paradise, for before man sinned he was in sight of peace, that is, in paradise; whatever he saw was peace, and going thence he descended (as if brought low and made wretched by sin) into Jericho, that is, the world, in which all things that are born die as the moon.
THEOPHYLACT. Now he says not “descended,” but “was descending.” For human nature was ever tending downwards, and not for a time only, but throughout busied about a life liable to suffering.
BASIL. This interpretation corresponds to the places, if any one will examine them. For Jericho lies in the low parts of Palestine, Jerusalem is seated on an eminence, occupying the crest of a mountain. The man then came from the high parts to the low, to fall into the hands of the robbers who infested the desert. As it follows, And he fell among thieves.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. in loc. Ed. Lat.) First, we must needs pity the ill fortune of the man who fell unarmed and helpless among robbers, and who was so rash and unwise as to choose the road in which he could not escape the attack of robbers. For the unarmed can never escape the armed, the heedless the villain, the unwary the malicious. Since malice is ever armed with guile, fenced round with cruelty, fortified with deceit, and ready for fierce attack.
AMBROSE. But who are those robbers but the Angels of night and darkness, among whom he had not fallen, unless by deviating from the divine command he had placed himself in their way.
CHRYSOSTOM. (ubi sup.) At the beginning of the world then the devil accomplished his treacherous attack upon man, against whom he practised the poison of deceit, and directed all the deadliness of his malice.
AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) He fell then among robbers, that is, the devil and his angels, who through the disobedience of the first man, stripped the race of mankind of the ornaments of virtue, and wounded him, that is, by ruining the gift of the power of free will. Hence it follows, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, for to that man sinning he gave a wound, but to us many wounds, since to one sin which we contract we add many.
AUGUSTINE. (de q. Ev. l. ii. q. 19.) Or they stripped man of his immortality, and wounding him (by persuading to sin) left him half dead; for wherein he is able to understand and know God, man is alive, but wherein he is corrupted and pressed down by sins, he is dead. And this is what is added, leaving him half dead.
PSEUDO-AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) For the half dead has his vital function (that is, free will) wounded, in that he is not able to return to the eternal life which he has lost. And therefore he lay, because he had not strength of his own sufficient to rise and seek a physician, that is, God, to heal him.
THEOPHYLACT. Or man after sin is said to be half dead, because his soul is immortal, but his body mortal, so that the half of man is under death. Or, because his human nature hoped to obtain salvation in Christ, so as not altogether to lie under death. But in that Adam had sinned death entered in the world, (Rom. 5:12.) in the righteousness of Christ death was to be destroyed.
AMBROSE. Or they stripped us of the garments which we have received of spiritual grace, and so are wont to inflict wounds. For if we keep the unspotted garments we have put on, we can not feel the wounds of robbers.
BASIL. Or it may be understood that they stripped us after first inflicting wounds; or wounds precede nakedness, as sin precedes the absence of grace.
BEDE. But sins are called wounds, because the perfectness of human nature is violated by them. And they departed, not by ceasing to lie in wait, but by hiding the craft of their devices.
CHRYSOSTOM. (ubi sup.) Here then was man (that is, Adam) lying destitute of the aid of salvation, pierced with the wounds of his sins, whom neither Aaron the high priest passing by could advantage by his sacrifice; for it follows, And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Nor again could his brother Moses the Levite assist him by the Law, as it follows, And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Or by the Priest and the Levite, two times are represented, namely, of the Law and the Prophets. By the Priest the Law is signified, by which the priesthood and sacrifices were appointed; by the Levites the prophecies of the Prophets, in whose times the law of mankind could not heal, because by the Law came the knowledge not the doing away of sin.
THEOPHYLACT. But He says, passed by, (Rom. 3:20; 8:3.) because the Law came and stood till its time foreordained, then, not being able to cure, departed. Mark also that the Law was not given with this previous intention that it should cure man, for man could not from the beginning receive the mystery of Christ. And therefore it is said, And by chance there came a certain priest, which expression we use with respect to those things which happen without forethought.
AUGUSTINE. (Serm. 171.) Or it is said, passed by, because the man who came down from Jerusalem to Jericho is believed to have been an Israelite, and the priest who came down, certainly his neighbour by birth, passed him by lying on the ground. And a Levite also came by, likewise his neighbour by birth; and he also despised him as he lay.
THEOPHYLACT. They pitied him, I say, when they thought about him, but afterwards, overcome by selfishness, they went away again. For this is signified by the word, passed him by.
AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) A Samaritan coming by, far removed by birth, very near in compassion, acted as follows, But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was, &c. In whom our Lord Jesus Christ would have Himself typified. For Samaritan is interpreted to be keeper, and it is said of him, He shall not slumber nor sleep who keeps Israel; (Ps. 128:4.) since being raised from the dead he dieth no more. (Rom. 6:9.) Lastly, when it was said to him, Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil, (John 8:48.) He said He had not a devil, for He knew Himself to be the caster out of devils, He did not deny that He was the keeper of the weak.
GREEK EXPOSITOR. (Severus.) Now Christ here fully calls Himself a Samaritan. For in addressing the lawyer who was glorying in the Law, He wished to express that neither Priest nor Levite, nor all they who were conversant with the Law, fulfilled the requirements of the Law, but He came to accomplish the ordinances of the Law.
AMBROSE. Now this Samaritan was also coming down. For who is he that ascended upon into heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven (John 3:13.).
THEOPHYLACT. But He says, journeying, as though He purposely determined this in order to cure us.
AUGUSTINE. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, therefore 1 near to him, as it were, in likeness.
GREEK EXPOSITOR. Or He came by the way. For He was a true traveller, not a wanderer; and came down to the earth for our sakes.
AMBROSE. Now when He came He was made very near to us by His taking upon Himself our infirmities, He became a neighbour by bestowing compassion. Hence it follows, And when he saw him he was moved with compassion.
PSEUDO-AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Seeing him lying down weak and motionless. And therefore was He moved with compassion, because He saw in him nothing to merit a cure, but He Himself for sin condemned sin in the flesh. (Rom. 8:3.) Hence it follows, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine.
AUGUSTINE. (Serm. 171.) For what so distant, what so far removed, as God from man, the immortal from the mortal, the just from sinners, not in distance of place, but of likeness. Since then He had in Him two good things, righteousness and immortality, and we two evils, that is unrighteousness, and mortality, if He had taken upon Him both our evils He would have been our equal, and with us have had need of a deliverer. That He might be then not what we are, but near us, He was made not a sinner, as thou art, but mortal like unto thee. By taking upon Himself punishment, not taking upon Himself guilt, He destroyed both the punishment and the guilt.
AUGUSTINE. (Quæst. Ev. ii. 19.) The binding up of wounds is the checking of sins; oil is the consolation of a good hope, by the pardon given for the reconciliation of man; wine is the incitement to work fervently in spirit.
AMBROSE. Or, He binds up our wounds by a stricter commandment, as by oil he soothes by the remission of sin, as by wine he pricks to the heart by the denunciation of judgment.
GREGORY. (20. Moral. c. 8.) Or in the wine he applies the sharpness of constraint, in the oil the softness of mercy. By wine let the corrupt parts be washed, by oil let the healing parts be assuaged; we must then mix gentleness with severity, and we must so combine the two, that those who are put under us be neither exasperated by our excessive harshness, nor be relaxed by too much kindness.
THEOPHYLACT. Or else, intercourse with man is the oil, and intercourse with God is the wine which signifies divinity, which no one can endure unmixed unless oil be added, that is, human intercourse. Hence he worked some things humanly, some divinely. He poured then in oil and wine, as having saved us both by His human and His divine nature.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. in loc.) Or, he poured in wine, that is, the blood of His passion, and oil, that is, the anointing of the chrism, that pardon might be granted by His blood, sanctification be conferred by the chrism. The wounded parts are bound up by the heavenly Physician, and containing a salve within themselves, are by the working of the remedy restored to their former soundness. Having poured in wine and oil, he placed him upon His beast, as it follows, and placing him upon his beast, &c.
AUGUSTINE. (de Quæst. Ev. ii. q. 19.) His beast is our flesh, in which He has condescended to come to us. To be placed on the beast is to believe in the incarnation of Christ.
AMBROSE. Or, He places us on His beast in that He bears our sins, and is afflicted for us, (Isai. 53:4, LXX) for man hath been made like to the beasts, (Ps. 49:12) therefore He placed us on His beast, that we might not be as horse and mule, (Ps. 32:9.) in order that by taking upon Him our body, He might abolish the weakness of our flesh.
THEOPHYLACT. Or He placed us on His beast, that is, on His body. For He hath made us His members, and partakers of His body. The Law indeed did not take in all the Moabites, and the Ammonites shall not enter into the Church of God; (Deut. 23:3.) but now in every nation he that feareth the Lord is accepted by Him, who is willing to believe and to become part of the Church. Wherefore He says, that he brought him to an inn.
CHRYSOSTOM. (ut sup.) For the Inn is the Church, which receives travellers, who are tired with their journey through the world, and oppressed with the load of their sins; where the wearied traveller casting down the burden of his sins is relieved, and after being refreshed is restored with wholesome food. And this is what is here said, and took care of him. For without is every thing that is conflicting, hurtful and evil, while within the Inn is contained all rest and health.
BEDE. And rightly He brought him placed on His beast, since no one, except he be united to Christ’s body by Baptism, shall enter the Church.
AMBROSE. But as the Samaritan had not time to stay longer on the earth, he must needs return to the place whence he descended, as it follows, And on the morrow he took out two pence, &c. (Ps. 118:24.) What is that morrow, but perchance the day of our Lord’s resurrection? of which it was said, This is the day the Lord hath made. But the two pence are the two covenants, which bear stamped on them the image of the eternal King, by the price of which our wounds are healed.
AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Or the two pence are the two commandments of love, which the Apostles received from the Holy Spirit to preach to others; or the promise of the present life, and that which is to come.
ORIGEN. Or the two pence seem to me to be the knowledge of the sacrament, in what manner the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, which is given as a reward by the Angel to the Church that she may take more diligent care of the man entrusted to her whom in the shortness of the time He Himself had also cured. And it is promised that whatever she should spend on the cure of the half dead man, should be restored to her again, And whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee.
AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) The inn-keeper was the Apostle, who spent more either in giving counsel, as he says, Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment; (1 Cor. 7:15.) or, in working even with his own hands, that he might not trouble any of the weak in the newness of the Gospel, (2 Thess. 3:8) though it was lawful for him to be fed from the Gospel. (1 Cor. 9:14.) Much more also did the Apostles spend, but those teachers also in their time have spent more who have interpreted both the Old and New Testament, for which they shall receive their reward.
AMBROSE. Blessed then is that inn-keeper who is able to cure the wounds of another; blessed is he to whom Jesus says, Whatsoever thou hast spent more, when I come again I will repay thee. But when wilt thou return, O Lord, save on the Judgment day? For though Thou art ever every where, and though standing in the midst of us, art not perceived by us, yet the time will be in which all flesh shall behold Thee coming again. Thou wilt then restore what Thou owest to the blessed, whose debtor Thou art. Would that we were confident debtors, that we could pay what we had received!
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. After what has gone before, our Lord fitly questions the lawyer; Which of these three thinkest thou was neighbour to him who fell among thieves? But he said, He that shewed mercy on him. For neither Priest nor Levite became neighbour to the sufferer, but he only who had compassion on him. For vain is the dignity of the Priesthood, and the knowledge of the Law, unless they are confirmed by good works. Hence it follows, And Jesus saith unto him, Go and do thou likewise.
CHRYSOSTOM. (in Heb. Hom. 10.) As if He said, If thou seest any one oppressed, say not, Surely he is wicked; but be he Gentile or Jew and need help, dispute not, he has a claim to thy assistance, into whatever evil he has fallen.
AUGUSTINE. (de. Doc. Chris. lib. i. c. 30.) Hereby we understand that he is our neighbour, to whomsoever we must shew the duty of compassion, if he need it, or would have shewn if he had needed it. From which it follows, that even he who must in his turn shew us this duty, is our neighbour. For the name of neighbour has relation to something else, nor can any one be a neighbour, save to a neighbour; but that no one is excluded to whom the office of mercy is to be denied, is plain to all; as our Lord says, Do good to them that hate you. (Matt. 5:44.) Hence it is clear, that in this command by which we are bid to love our neighbour, the holy angels are included, by whom such great offices of mercy are bestowed upon us. Therefore our Lord Himself wished also to be called our neighbour, representing Himself to have assisted the half dead man who lay in the way.
AMBROSE. For relationship does not make a neighbour, but compassion, for compassion is according to nature. For nothing is so natural as to assist one who shares our nature.
Catena Aurea Luke 10
From: Colossians 1:12-20Hymn in Praise of Christ as Head of All Creation
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[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation;
[16] for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.
[17] He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
[18] He is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning; the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
[19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things.
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Commentary:
15-20. Now we come to a very beautiful hymn in praise of Christ's sublime dignity as God and as man. This was a truth deserving emphasis in view of the danger to the faith which the false apostles' teaching represented (cf. note on vv. 7-8). However, quite apart from the particular situation in Colossae, the sublime teaching contained in this canticle holds good for all times; it is one of the most important Christological texts in St Paul's writings.
The real protagonist of this passage is the Son of God made man, whose two natures, divine and human, are always linked in the divine person of the Word. However, at some points St Paul stresses his divinity (vv. 16, 17, 18b and 19) and at others his humanity (vv. 15, 18a, 18c and 20). The underlying theme of the hymn is Christ's total pre-eminence over all creation.
We can distinguish two stanzas in the hymn. In the first (vv. 15-17) Christ's dominion is stated to embrace the entire cosmos, stemming as it does from his action as Creator: "in him all things were created" (v. 16). This same statement is made in the prologue to the fourth Gospel (cf. Jn 1:3), and it is implied in the Book of Genesis, which tells us that creation was effected by God's word (cf. Gen 1:3, 6, 9, etc.). Since Christ is the Word of God, he is above all things, and therefore St Paul stresses that all angels--irrespective of their hierarchy or order--come under his sway.
Christ's pre-eminence over natural creation is followed by his primacy in the economy of supernatural salvation, a second creation worked by God through grace. The second stanza (vv. 18-20) refers to this further primacy of Christ: by his death on the cross, Christ has restored peace and has reconciled all things--the world and mankind--to God. Jews and Gentiles both are called to form part of one body, the Church, of which Christ is the head; and all the celestial powers are subject to his authority.
This passage is, then, a sublime canticle celebrating Christ, the head by virtue of his surpassing excellence and his salvific action. "The Son of God and of the Blessed Virgin", Pius XII teaches, "must be called the head of the Church for the special reason of his preeminence. For the head holds the highest place. But none holds a higher place than Christ as God for he is the Word of the Eternal Father and is therefore justly called 'the first-born of all creation'. None holds a higher place than Christ as man, for he, born of the immaculate Virgin, is the true and natural Son of God, and by reason of his miraculous and glorious resurrection by which he triumphed over death he is 'the first-born from the dead'. And none stands higher than he who, being the 'one mediator between God and man' (1 Tim 2:5), admirably unites earth with heaven; who, exalted on the Cross as on his throne of mercy, has drawn all things to himself" ("Mystici Corporis", 15).
15. By the unaided use of reason man can work out that God exists, but he could never, on his own, have grasped the essence of God: in this sense God is said to be invisible (cf. St Thomas, "Commentary on Col, ad loc."). This is why it is said in St John's Gospel that "no one has ever seen God" (Jn 1:18).
In Sacred Scripture we are told that man was created "in the image of God" (Gen 1:26). However, only the second person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son, is the perfect image and likeness of the Father. "The image [likeness] of a thing may be found in something else in two ways; in one way it is found in something of the same specific nature--as the image of the king is found in his son; in another way it is found in something of a different nature, as the king's image on the coin. In the first sense the Son is the image of the Father; in the second sense man is called the image of God; and therefore in order to express the imperfect character of the divine image in man, man is not simply called 'the image' but is referred to as being 'according to the image', whereby is expressed a certain movement or tendency to perfection. But it cannot be said that the Son of God is 'according to the image', because he is the perfect image of the Father" ("Summa Theologiae", I, q. 35, a. 2 ad 3). And so, "for something to be truly an image, it has to proceed from another as similar to it in species, or at least in some aspect of the species" ("Summa Theologiae", I, q. 35, a. 1, c.) To say that the Son is "image of the invisible God" means that the Father and the Son are one-in-substance--that is, both possess the same divine nature--, with the nuance that the Son proceeds from the Father. It also conveys the fact that they are two distinct persons, for no one is the image of himself.
The supreme revelation of God is that effected by the Son of God through his Incarnation. He is the only one who can say, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). His sacred humanity, therefore, reflects the perfections of God, which he possesses by virtue of the hypostatic union--the union of divine nature and human nature which occurs in his person, which is divine. The second Person of the Trinity restored man to his original dignity. The image of God, imperfect though it be, which there is in every man and woman, was blurred by Adam's sin; but it was restored in Christ: God's true self-image takes on a nature the same as ours, and thanks to the redemption wrought by his death, we obtain forgiveness of sins (v. 14).
Jesus Christ is the "first-born of all creation" by virtue of the hypostatic union. He is, of course, prior to all creation, for he proceeds eternally from the Father by generation. This the Church has always believed, and it proclaims it in the Creed: "born of the Father before time began ..., begotten, not made, of one being [consubstantial] with the Father" ("Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed").
In Jewish culture, the first-born was first in honor and in law. When the Apostle calls Jesus "the first-born of all creation", he is referring to the fact that Christ has pre-eminence and headship over all created things, because not only does he pre-date them but they were all created "through him" and "for him" (v. 16).
16-17. Jesus Christ is God; this is why he has pre-eminence over all created things. The relationships between Christ and creation are spelled out by three prepositions. "In him all things were created": in Christ: he is their source, their center and their model or exemplary cause. "All things were created through him and for him": through him, in other words, God the Father, through God the Son, creates all things; and for him, because he is the last end, the purpose or goal of everything.
St Paul goes on to say that "in him all things hold together"; "the Son of God has not only created everything: he conserves everything in being; thus, if his sovereign will were to cease to operate for even an instant, everything would return into the nothingness from which he drew everything that exists" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on Col, ad loc.").
All created things, then, continue in existence because they share, albeit in a limited way, in Christ's infinite fullness of existence or perfection. His dominion extends not only over celestial things but also over all material things, however insignificant they may seem: it embraces everything in heaven and in the physical universe.
The sacred text also points to Christ's supremacy over invisible creation, that is, over the angels and celestial hierarchies (cf. Heb 1:5). If St Paul stresses this fact, it is to expose the errors of those who were depicting Jesus as a creature intermediary between corporeal beings and spiritual created beings, and, therefore, lower than the angels.
18. "He is the head of the body, the church": this image shows the relationship of Christ with the Church, to which he sends his grace in abundance, bearing life to all its members. 'The head," St Augustine says, "is our very Savior, who suffered under Pontius Pilate and now, after rising from the dead, is seated at the right hand of the Father. And his body is the Church [...] For the whole Church, made up of the assembly of the faithful--for all the faithful are Christ's members--has Christ, as its head, who rules his body from on high" ("Enarrationes in Psalmos", 56, 1).
St Paul unequivocally teaches that the Church is a body. "Now if the Church is a body it must be something one and undivided, according to the statement of St Paul: 'We, though many, are one body in Christ' (Rom 12:5). And not only must it be one and undivided, it must also be something concrete and visible, as our Predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, says in his Encyclical "Satis Cognitum": 'By the very fact of being a body the Church is visible.' It is therefore an aberration from divine truth to represent the Church as something intangible and invisible, as a mere 'pneumatic' entity joining together by an invisible link a number of communities of Christians in spite of their difference in faith.
"But a body requires a number of members so connected that they help one another. And, in fact, as in our mortal organism when one member suffers the others suffer with it, and the healthy members come to the assistance of those who are ailing, so in the Church individual members do not live only for themselves but also help one another, alleviating their suffering and helping to build up the entire body" (Pius XII, "Mystici Corporis", 7).
"He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead": this can be said because he was the first man to rise from the dead, never again to die (cf. 1 Cor 15:20; Rev 1:5), and also because thanks to him it enabled men to experience resurrection in glory (cf. 1 Cor 15:22; Rom 8:11), because they are justified through him (cf. Rom 4:25).
So, just as the previous verses looked to Christ's pre-eminent role in creations the hymn now focuses on his primacy in a new creation—the rebirth of mankind, and all creation in its train, in the supernatural order of grace and glory. Christ rose from the dead to enable us also to walk in newness of life (cf. Rom 6:4). Therefore, in every way Jesus Christ is "pre-eminent."
19. The word "pleroma" translated here as "fullness", has two meanings in Greek: one, an active meaning, describes something that "fills" or "completes"; for example, a ship's full load can be referred to as its "pleroma". The other meaning is passive, "that which is filled" or "that which is complete", so that a ship can be said to be "pleroma" when it is fully loaded. In this passage St Paul is using the word in both senses: Christ is the fullness (passive sense) of the Godhead (cf. Col 2:9), because he is full of all the perfections of the divine essence; and he is the fullness (active sense), because he fills the Church and all creation.
St John Chrysostom suggests that "the word 'fullness' is to be taken to mean the divinity of Jesus Christ [...]. This term has been chosen the better to show that the very essence of the godhead resides in Jesus Christ" ("Hom. on Col, ad loc.").
Since Christ possesses the divine nature, he also possesses the fullness of the supernatural gifts, for himself and for all mankind. Hence St Thomas' comment that pleroma "reveals the dignity of the head in so far as it has the fullness of all grace" (Commentary on Col, ad loc.). In this sense, Christ is the fullness of the Church, for as its head he vivifies his body with all kinds of unmerited gifts. Finally, the entire created universe can be termed the "fullness" ("pleroma") of Christ, because everything that exists in heaven and on earth has been created and is maintained in existence by him (cf. vv. 16-17); they are ever-present to him and are ruled by him (cf. Is 6:3; Ps 139:8; Wis 1:7; etc.). Thus, the world, which was created good (cf. Gen 1:31) tends towards its fulfillment insofar as it clearly reflects the imprint God gave it at the start of creation.
20. Since Christ is pre-eminent over all creation, the Father chose to reconcile all things to himself through him. Sin had cut man off from God, rupturing the perfect order which originally reigned in the created world. By shedding his blood on the cross, Christ obtained peace for us; nothing in the universe falls outside the scope of his peace-giving influence. He who in the beginning created all things in heaven and on earth has reestablished peace throughout creation.
This reconciliation of all things, ushered in by Christ, is fostered by the Holy Spirit who enables the Church to continue the process of reconciliation. However, we will not attain the fullness of this reconciliation until we reach heaven, when the entire created universe, along with mankind, will be perfectly renewed in Christ (cf. "Lumen Gentium", 48).
"The history of salvation--the salvation of the whole of humanity, as well as of every human being of whatever period--is the wonderful history of a reconciliation; the reconciliation whereby God, as Father, in the Blood and the Cross of his Son made man, reconciles the world to himself and thus brings into being a new family of those who have been reconciled.
"Reconciliation becomes necessary because there has been the break of sin from which derive all the other forms of break within man and about him. Reconciliation therefore, in order to be complete, necessarily requires liberation from sin, which is to be rejected in its deepest roots. Thus a close internal link unites "conversion" and "reconciliation". It is impossible to split these two realities or to speak of one and say nothing of the other (St Pope John Paul II, "Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia", 13).
Jesus Christ also counts on the cooperation of every individual Christian to apply his work of redemption and peace to all creation. The founder of Opus Dei says, in this connection: "We must love the world and work and all human things. For the world is good. Adam's sin destroyed the divine balance of creation; but God the Father sent his only Son to reestablish peace, so that we his children by adoption, might free creation from disorder and reconcile all things to God" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 112).
From: Luke 10:25-37Parable of the Good Samaritan
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[25] And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him (Jesus) to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" [26] He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read?" [27] And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind: and your neighbor as yourself." [28] And He said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live." [29] But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" [30] Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. [31] Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. [32] So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. [33] But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, [34] and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. [35] And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the inn-keeper, saying, "Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' [36] Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" [37] He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
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Commentary:
25-28. Our Lord's teaching is that the way to attain eternal life is through faithful fulfillment of the Law of God. The Ten Commandments, which God gave Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:1-17), express the natural law in a clear and concrete way. It is part of Christian teaching that the natural law exists, that it is a participation by rational creatures in the Eternal Law and that it is impressed on the conscience of every man when he is created by God (cf. Leo XIII, "Libertas Praestantissimum"). Obviously, therefore, the natural law, expressed in the Ten Commandments, cannot change or become outdated, for it is not dependent on man's will or on changing circumstances.
In this passage, Jesus praises and accepts the summary of the Law given by the Jewish scribe. This reply, taken from Deuteronomy (6:4ff), was a prayer which the Jews used to say frequently. Our Lord gives the very same reply when He is asked which is the principal commandment of the Law and concludes His answer by saying, "On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:40; cf. also Romans 13:8-9; Galatians 5:14).
There is a hierarchy and order in these two commandments constituting the double precept of charity: before everything and above everything comes loving God in Himself; in the second place, and as a consequence of the first commandment, comes loving one's neighbor, for God explicitly requires us to do so (1 John 4:21; cf. notes on Matthew 22:34-40 and 22:37-38).
[Note on Matthew 22:34-40 states: In reply to the question, our Lord points out that the whole law can be condensed into two commandments: the first and more important consists in unconditional love of God; the second is a consequence and result of the first, because when man is loved, St. Thomas says, God is loved, for man is the image of God (cf. "Commentary on St. Matthew", 22:4).
A person who genuinely loves God also loves his fellows because he realizes that they are his brothers and sisters, children of the same Father, redeemed by the same blood of our Lord Jesus Christ: "This commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also" (1 John 4:21). However, if we love man for man's sake without reference to God, this love will become an obstacle in the way of keeping the first commandment, and then it is no longer genuine love of our neighbor. But love of our neighbor for God's sake is clear proof that we love God: "If anyone says, `I love God', and hates his brother, he is a liar" (1 John 4:20).
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself": here our Lord establishes as the guideline for our love of neighbor the love each of us has for himself; both love of others and love of self are based on love of God. Hence, in some cases it can happen that God requires us to put our neighbor's need before our own; in others, not: it depends on what value, in light of God's love, needs to be put on the spiritual and material factors involved.
Obviously spiritual goods take absolute precedence over material ones, even over life itself. Therefore, spiritual goods, be they our own or our neighbor's, must be the first to be safeguarded. If the spiritual good in question is the supreme one for the salvation of the soul, no one is justified in putting his own soul into certain danger of being condemned in order to save another, because given human freedom we can never be absolutely sure what personal choice another person may make: this is the situation in the parable (cf. Matthew 25:1-13), where the wise virgins refuse to give oil to the foolish ones; similarly St. Paul says that he would wish himself to be rejected if that could save his brothers (cf. Romans 9:3)--an unreal theoretical situation. However, what is quite clear is that we have to do all we can to save our brothers, conscious that, if someone helps to bring a sinner back to the way, he will save himself from eternal death and cover a multitude of his own sins (James 5:20). From all this we can deduce that self-love of the right kind, based on God's love for man, necessarily involves forgetting oneself in order to love God and our neighbor for God. ]
[Note on Matthew 22:37-38 states: The commandment of love is the most important commandment because by obeying it man attains his own perfection (cf. Colossians 3:14). "The more a soul loves," St. John of the Cross writes, "the more perfect is it in that which it loves; therefore this soul that is now perfect is wholly love, if it may thus be expressed, and all its actions are love and it employs all its faculties and possessions in loving, giving all that it has, like the wise merchant, for this treasure of love which it has found hidden in God [...]. For, even as the bee extracts from all plants the honey that is in them, and has no use for them for aught else save for that purpose, even so the soul with great facility extracts the sweetness of love that is in all the things that pass through it; it loves God in each of them, whether pleasant or unpleasant; and being, as it is, informed and protected by love, it has neither feeling nor taste nor knowledge of such things, for, as we have said, the soul knows naught but love, and its pleasure in all things and occupations is ever, as we have said, the delight of the love of God" ("Spiritual Canticle", Stanza 27, 8). ]
This passage of the Gospel also included another basic doctrine: the Law of God is not something negative--"Do not do this"--but something completely positive--love. Holiness, to which all baptized people are called, does not consist in not sinning, but in loving, in doing positive things, in bearing fruit in the form of love of God. When our Lord describes for us the Last Judgment He stresses this positive aspect of the Law of God (Matthew 25:31-46). The reward of eternal life will be given to those who do good.
27. "Yes, our only occupation here on earth is that of loving God—that is, to start doing what we will be doing for all eternity. Why must we love God? Well, because our happiness consists in love of God; it can consist in nothing else. So, if we do not love God, we will always be unhappy; and if we wish to enjoy any consolation and relief in our pains, we will attain it only by recourse to love of God. If you want to be convinced of this, go and find the happiest man according to the world; if he does not love God, you will find that in fact he is an unhappy man. And, on the contrary, if you discover the man most unhappy in the eyes of the world, you will see that because he loves God he is happy in every way. Oh my God!, open the eyes of our souls, and we will seek our happiness where we truly can find it" (St. John Mary Vianney, "Selected Sermons", Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost).
29-37. In this moving parable, which only St. Luke gives us, our Lord explains very graphically who our neighbor is and how we should show charity towards him, even if he is our enemy. Following other Fathers, St. Augustine ("De Verbis Domini Sermones", 37) identifies the Good Samaritan with our Lord, and the waylaid man with Adam, the source and symbol of all fallen mankind. Moved by compassion and piety, He comes down to earth to cure man's wounds, making them His own (Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 3:5). In fact, we often see Jesus being moved by man's suffering (cf. Matthew 9:36; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13). And St. John says: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:9-11).
This parable leaves no doubt about who our neighbor is--anyone (without distinction of race or relationship) who needs our help; nor about how we should love him--by taking pity on him, being compassionate towards his spiritual and corporal needs; and it is not just a matter of having the right feelings towards him; we must do something, we must generously serve him.
Christians, who are disciples of Christ, should share His love and compassion, never distancing themselves from others' needs. One way to express love for one's neighbor is perform the "works of mercy", which get their name from the fact that they are not duties in justice. There are fourteen such works, seven spiritual and seven corporal. The spiritual are: To convert the sinner; To instruct the ignorant; To counsel the doubtful; To comfort the sorrowful; To bear wrongs patiently; To forgive injuries; To pray for the living and the dead. The corporal works are: To feed the hungry; To give drink to the thirsty; To clothe the naked; To shelter the homeless; To visit the sick; To visit the imprisoned; To bury the dead.
31-32. Very probably one reason why our Lord used this parable was to correct one of the excesses of false piety common among His contemporaries. According to the Law of Moses, contact with dead bodies involved legal impurity, from which one was cleansed by various ablutions (cf. Numbers 19:11-22; Leviticus 21:1-4, 11-12). These regulations were not meant to prevent people from helping the injured; they were designed for reasons of hygiene and respect for the dead. The aberration of the priest and the Levite in this parable consisted in this: they did not know for sure whether the man who had been assaulted was dead or not, and they preferred to apply a wrong interpretation of a secondary, ritualistic precept of the Law rather than obey the more important commandment of loving one's neighbor and giving him whatever help one can.
