Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 19-July-2025

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

12:14–21

14. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

15. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

16. And charged them that they should not make him known:

17. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

18. Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

19. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

20. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

21. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

HILARY. The Pharisees are moved with jealousy at what had been done; because beholding the outward body of a man, they did not recognize the God in His works; The Pharisees went out and sought counsel against him, how they might destroy him.

RABANUS. He says, went out because their mind was alien from the Lord. They took counsel how they might destroy life, not how themselves might find life.

HILARY. And He knowing their plots withdrew, that He might be far from the counsels of the evil hearted, as it follows, Jesus knowing it departed thence.

JEROME. Knowing, that is, their designs against Him withdrew Himself, that He might remove from the Pharisees all opportunity of sin.

REMIGIUS. Or, He withdrew from thence as avoiding the designs of His own when they persecuted Him; or because that was not the time or place for Him to suffer, for It cannot he that a Prophet should perish out of Jerusalem, (Luke 13:33) as He Himself spake. The Lord also shunned those who persecuted Him through hatred, and went thither where He found many who were attached to Him from affection, whence it follows, And there followed him many. Him whom the Pharisees with one consent plotted against to destroy, the untaught multitude with one consent love and follow; whence they soon received the fulfilment of their desires, for it follows, And he healed them all.

HILARY. On those whom He healed He enjoined silence, whence it follows, And he charged them that they should not make him known. For his restored health was a witness to each man. And by commanding them to hold their peace, He avoids all ostentation of Himself, and at the same time notwithstanding affords a knowledge of Himself in that very admonition to hold their peace; for the observance of silence proceeds from that very thing which is to be kept silent.

RABANUS. In this also He instructs us, that when we have done any thing great we are not to seek praise abroad.

REMIGIUS. And He also gives them command that they should not make Him known, that they might not by persecuting Him be put into a worse state.

CHRYSOSTOM. And that you may not be troubled at those things which are done, and at the incredible madness of the Pharisees, He introduces the Prophet’s words. For such was the carefulness of the Prophets, that they had not omitted even this, but had noted all His ways and movements, and the meaning with which He did this; that you might learn that He spoke all things by the Holy Spirit, for if it be impossible to know the thoughts of men, much more to know the meaning of Christ, unless the Holy Spirit revealed it. Therefore it follows, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the Prophet, saying, Behold my servant whom I have chosen.

REMIGIUS. The Lord Jesus Christ is called the servant of the Almighty Godb, not in respect of His divinity, but in respect of the dispensation of the flesh which He took upon Him, because by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit He took flesh of the Virgin without stain of sin. Some books have, Elect, whom I have chosen, for He was chosen by God the Father, that is, predestinated that He should be the Son of God, proper, not adopted.

RABANUS. Whom I have chosen, he says, for a work which none else has done, that He should redeem the human race, and make peace between God and the world. It follows, My beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased, for He alone is the Lamb without spot of sin, of whom the Father speaks, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mat. 17:5)

REMIGIUS. That he says, My soul, is not to be understood as though God the Father had a soul, but by way of adaptation, shewing how God is disposed towards Him. And it is no wonder that a soul is ascribed to God in this manner, seeing that all other members of the body are likewise.

CHRYSOSTOM. This the Prophet puts in the beginning, that you might learn that that which is here said was according to the counsel of the Father. For he that is beloved does according to his will who loveth him. And again, he that is chosen, does not as an enemy break the law, nor as one being an adversary of the legislator, but as one in agreement with Him. Because therefore He is beloved, I will put my Spirit upon him.

REMIGIUS. Then also God the Father put His Spirit upon Him, when by the working of the Holy Spirit He took flesh of the Virgin; and as soon as He became man, He took the fulness of the Holy Spirit.

JEROME. But the Holy Spirit is put, not on the Word of God, but on the Only-Begotten, who came forth from the bosom of the Father; on Him, that is, of whom it is said, Behold my servant. And what He will do by Him He adds, And he shall declare judgment to the Gentiles.

AUGUSTINE. (De Civ. Dei, xx. 30.) Seeing He preached the judgment to come which was hidden from the Gentiles.

CHRYSOSTOM. Further, to shew His lowliness, He says, He shall not strive; and so He was offered up as the Father had willed, and gave Himself willingly into the hands of His persecutors. Neither shall he cry; so He was dumb as a lamb before his shearer. Nor shall any hear voice in the streets.

JEROME. For the way is broad and wide which leads to destruction, and many walk in it; and being many, they will not hear the voice of the Saviour, because they are not in the narrow but in the broad way.

REMIGIUS. The Greek πλατεῖα, is in Latin called ‘latitudo.’ No one therefore has heard His voice in the streets, because He has not promised pleasant things in this world to those that love Him, but hardships.

CHRYSOSTOM. The Lord sought to heal the Jews by this mildness. But though they rejected Him, yet He did not resist them by destroying them; whence the Prophet, displaying His power and their weakness, says, A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoking flax he shall not quench.

JEROME. He that holds not out his hand to a sinner, nor bears his brother’s burden, he breaks a bruised reed; and he who despises a weak spark of faith in a little one, he quenches a smoking flax.

AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup) So He neither bruised nor quenched the Jewish persecutors, who are here likened to a bruised reed which has lost its wholeness, and to a smoking flax which has lost its flame; but He spared them because He was not come to judge them, but to be judged by them.

AUGUSTINE. (Quæst. Ev. i. 3.) In the smoking flax it is observed, that when the flame is out it causes a stink.

CHRYSOSTOM. Or this, He shall not break a bruised reed, shews that it was as easy for Him to break them all, as to break a reed, and that a bruised reed. And, He shall not quench a smoking flax, shews that their rage was fired, and that the power of Christ was strong to quench such rage with all readiness; hence in this is shewn the great mercy of Christ.

HILARY. Or, he means this bruised reed that is not broken, to shew that the perishing and bruised bodies of the Gentiles, are not to be broken, but are rather reserved for salvation. He shall not quench a smoking flax, shews the feebleness of that spark which though not quenched, only moulders in the flax, and that among the remnants of that ancient grace, the Spirit is yet not quite taken away from Israel, but power still remains to them of resuming the whole flame thereof in a day of penitence.

JEROME. (Ep. 121.2.) Or, the reverse, He calls the Jews a bruised reed, whom tossed by the wind and shaken from one another, the Lord did not immediately condemn, but patiently endured; and the smoking flax He calls the people gathered out of the Gentiles, who, having extinguished the light of the natural law, were involved in the wandering mazes of thick darkness of smoke, bitter and hurtful to the eyes; this He not only did not extinguish, by reducing them to ashes, but on the contrary from a small spark and one almost dead He raised a mighty flame.

CHRYSOSTOM. But one might say, What then, shall these things be always thus? Will He endure for ever those who thus lay snares, and are mad against Him? Far from it; when His own work shall be all complete, then shall He work these things also. And. this He signifies, saying, Until he shall send forth judgment to victory; as much as to say, When He shall have accomplished all things which are of Himself, then shall He bring in perfect vengeance; then shall they receive punishment when He has made his victory illustrious, that there be not left to them any irreverent opportunity of contradiction,

HILARY. Or, Until he shall send forth judgment to victory, that is, Until He shall take away the power of death, and bring in judgment and the return of His splendour.

RABANUS. Or, Until that judgment which was being done in Him should come forth to victory. For after that by His resurrection He had overcome death, and driven forth the prince of this world, He returned as conqueror to His kingdom to sit on the right hand of the Father, until He shall put all His enemies under His feet.

CHRYSOSTOM. But the things of this dispensation will not rest in this only, that they who have not believed should be punished, but He will also draw the world to Him; whence it follows, And in his name shall the Gentiles hope.

AUGUSTINE. (De Civ. Dei, xx. 30.) This last we now see fulfilled; and thus this which cannot be denied establishes the truth of that which some have denied through ignorance, the last judgment namely, which He will hold upon earth, when he Himself shall come from heaven. For who could have expected that the Gentiles would have hope in Christ’s name, when He was in the hands of His enemies, when He was bound, scourged, set at nought, and crucified; when even His disciples had lost that hope which they had begun to have in Him? That which one thief hardly hoped on the cross, the nations scattered far and wide now hope. And that they may not die for ever, they are marked with that very cross on which he died. Let none then doubt that the last judgment will be by Christ Himself.

REMIGIUS. And it should be known, that the meaning not only of this passage, but of many others also, is supported by this testimony from the Prophet. The words, Behold my servant, may be referred to the place in which the Father had said above, This is my Son. (Mat. 3:17.) The words, I will put my Spirit upon him, is referred to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Lord at His baptism; He shall declare judgment to the Gentiles, to that which He says below, When the Son of Man shall sit in the seat of his Majesty. (Mat. 25:31) What he adds, He shall not strive nor cry, refers to the Lord how He answered but little to the Chief Priests, and to Pilate, but to Herod nothing at all. He shall not break the bruised reed, refers to His shunning His persecutors that they might not be made worse; and that In his name shall the Gentiles hope, refers to what Himself says below, Go ye, and teach all nations. (Mat. 28:19)

Catena Aurea Matthew 12

Macrina the Younger: A Forgotten Mother of the Church

Johnathan Arnold | September 26, 2022

Much is said of the church fathers, but little of the church mothers. An oft-forgotten mother of the church, and one of the most remarkable women in church history, is Macrina the Younger (ca. 327–379), sister of Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. Though Macrina vowed celibacy at twelve years old and spent her life caring for her mother and contemplating divine things in a remote monastery, she left a lasting impact on her brothers and all who knew her. When Macrina died, the nuns in her convent erupted into wailing so great that Gregory had to shout over them to make himself heard, and crowds flooded in from neighboring districts to share their grief. Gregory’s words still ring true: “she who had raised herself through philosophy to the highest limit of human virtue should not pass along this way veiled and in silence.”

The Fourth Cappadocian

Macrina’s brothers Basil of Caesarea (ca. 329–379) and Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335–394), along with their friend Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 330–390), are known as the Cappadocian Fathers, after their home region of Cappadocia in modern-day Turkey. The Three Cappadocians are renowned among the Greek or Eastern Fathers and celebrated as saints in both the East and the West. Though born after the Council of Nicaea (325), they defended Nicene orthodoxy and had a formative influence on the enlargement of the Nicene Creed at the Council of Constantinople in 381.

The inestimable influence of the Cappadocian brothers is owed in part to their older sister and teacher, Macrina.

The inestimable influence of the Cappadocian brothers is owed in part to their older sister and teacher, Macrina. Historian Justo González notes that when speaking of the Cappadocians, “justice requires that we deal with another person just as worthy, although often forgotten by historians who tend to ignore the work of women.” Macrina deserves to be called the Fourth Cappadocian, as she is depicted in the icon that hangs in my office (see the header image).

Much of what we know about Macrina is recorded in the Life of Saint Macrina, a biographical letter written by her brother Gregory between 380 and 383. Nearly two-thirds of the narrative describes Gregory’s final visit to Macrina and the events surrounding her saintly death. Gregory’s work On the Soul and the Resurrection is a dialogue with Macrina based on their conversations at that time. She appears as “the teacher,” a theologian in her own right, with insights so deep, clear, and uplifting that she speaks, by his estimation, “as if she were inspired by the Holy Spirit.”

The Early Life of Macrina

Macrina was born around 327 to a wealthy Cappadocian family with an inspiring Christian heritage. Her grandmother and namesake, Macrina the Elder, had “suffered bravely” in the Great Persecution under Diocletian (303–313). When she was being born, Gregory claims that their mother Emmelia had a vision of an angelic visitor who called the child Thekla (or Thecla), after the legendary virgin in the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla. Whatever the case, Macrina was an extraordinary child, excelling in all her studies, steeped in the Scriptures, and devoted to reciting the Psalms from morning to night.

At twelve years of age, Macrina’s “famed” and “blessed beauty” attracted “a great swarm of suitors.” Her father, Basil the Elder, arranged for Marcina to marry a young lawyer, but when he died unexpectedly, Macrina determined never to marry another. She reasoned that her “husband” was not really dead, but “living in God because of the hope of the resurrection,” and since he was “simply away from home on a journey and not a dead body,” “it was improper not to keep faith with a husband who was away on a journey”! Though a peculiar thing for anyone to think, let alone a girl of twelve, Macrina’s decision “was more firmly rooted than one might have expected in one of her age,” and within God’s providence, it would shape the future of one of history’s most important families.

Within God’s providence, Macrina’s determination not to marry would shape the future of one of history’s most important families.

Freed from the concern of marriage, Marcina became wholly devoted to her mother Emmelia, who soon faced the death of Macrina’s father. The young Macrina “took an active part helping her mother in all her pressing concerns,” including the instruction of her siblings, “taking an equal share in her worries and alleviating the burden of her sufferings.” When Marcina’s brother Naucratius died in a hunting accident, Emmelia was overcome with grief, and “then above all,” Gregory thought, “the sublime and exalted soul of the young girl made itself manifest.” Despite her own suffering, she lifted her mother up and held the family together.

Towards Monasticism

The family’s wealth made it possible for Macrina’s brother Basil to receive a superb education abroad, but when he returned home from Athens, Basil was puffed up with his new knowledge. “It was then,” writes González, “that Macrina intervened. She bluntly told her brother that he had become vain, acting as if he were the best inhabitant of the city, and that he would do well in quoting fewer pagan authors and following more of the advice of Christian ones.” Basil shrugged her off until the death of Naucratius, which shook him so badly that “he resigned his teaching position and all other honors, and he asked Macrina to teach him the secrets of religious life.” González explains that “Macrina sought to console her family by leading their thoughts to the joys of religious life. Why not withdraw to their holdings in nearby Annesi, and live there in renunciation and contemplation?”

Macrina, her mother, and several other women withdrew to Annesi while Basil, following the desires of his sister, left for Egypt in order to learn more about the monastic life. Since Basil eventually became the great teacher of monasticism in the Greek-speaking church, and since it was Macrina who awakened his interest in it, it could be said that she was the founder of Greek monasticism.

Macrina’s simple, prayerful way of life seemed to transcend description, and Macrina herself, Gregory thought, seemed to “rise above human nature.” She made her maids into “sisters and equals instead of slaves and servants,” and gave away all that she owned, including her share of the inheritance, which she committed to the priest to distribute as he saw fit. In famine, she took those “who had been left prostrate along the roadways” and “she picked them up, nursed them, brought them back to health and guided them personally to the pure, uncorrupted life.” Her deeds were the fruit of her all-consuming philosophy, or love of wisdom, which meant a mind and heart consumed with divine realities, free of worldly fetters.

Contemplating Divine Things to the End

Gregory’s duties as a bishop kept him away from his sister for many years, but at last he determined to visit “the great Macrina” at the “the remote spot in which she spent her angelic, heavenly life.” To his dismay, he found that Macrina was “caught in the grip of a grievous sickness.” Though racked with pain, Macrina did not want to trouble her younger brother, and “tried to stifle her groans and forced herself somehow to hide her tortured gasping for breath.” Determined “to create a more cheerful mood,” Macrina turned the conversation to divine things.

Macrina’s deeds were the fruit of her all-consuming philosophy, or love of wisdom, which meant a mind and heart consumed with divine realities, free of worldly fetters.

Macrina “kept her mind unhindered in the contemplation of divine things,” and spoke of everything from divine providence to the afterlife, “her philosophy of the soul,” the reason for man’s existence, and the resurrection of the dead. Gregory was mesmerized by his sister’s teachings, “uplifted as it was by her words and set down inside the heavenly sanctuaries by the guidance of her discourse.” Twice he notes that she spoke “as if she were inspired by the Holy Spirit.”

The time came when Macrina stopped speaking to those gathered at her bedside and fixed her attention on God alone. Gregory wrote down her beautiful final prayer:

You have released us, O Lord, from the fear of death.
You have made the end of life here on earth
a beginning of true life for us.
You let our bodies rest in sleep in due season
and you awaken them again
at the sound of the last trumpet.
You entrust to the earth our bodies of earth
which you fashioned with your own hands
and you restore again what you have given,
transforming with incorruptibility and grace
what is mortal and deformed in us.
You redeemed us from the curse and from sin,
having become both on our behalf.
You have crushed the heads of the serpent
Who had seized the man in his jaws
because of the abyss of our disobedience.
You have opened up for us a path
to the resurrection,
having broken down the gates of hell
and reduced to impotence
the one who had power over death.
You have given to those who fear you
a visible token, the sign of the holy cross,
for the destruction of the Adversary
and for the protection of our life.

God Eternal,
Upon whom I have cast myself from my mother’s womb,
Whom my soul has loved with all its strength,
To whom I have consecrated flesh and soul
from my infancy up to this moment,
Put down beside me a shining angel
to lead me by the hand to the place of refreshment
where is the water of repose near the lap of the holy fathers.
You who have cut through the flame
of the fiery sword and brought to paradise
the man who was crucified with you,
who entreated your pity,
remember me also in your kingdom,
for I too have been crucified with you,
for I have nailed my flesh out of reverence for you
and have feared your judgments.
Let not the dreadful abyss separate me
from your chosen ones.
Let not the Slanderer stand against me on my journey.
Let not my sin be discovered before your eyes
if I have been overcome in any way
because of our nature’s weakness
and have sinned in word or deed or thought.
You who have on earth the power to forgive sins,
forgive me, so that I may draw breath again
and may be found before you
in the stripping off of my body
without stain or blemish in the beauty of my soul,
but may my soul be received
blameless and immaculate into your hands
as an incense offering before your face.

The other Gregory, Nazianzen, would eulogize Macrina:

The dust holds the illustrious virgin Macrina, if you have heard something of her,
the first born of the great Emmelia.
But who kept herself from the eyes of all men,
is now on the tongues of all and has a greater glory than any.

The Miracles of Macrina

After her death, Gregory heard more stories of Macrina’s faith and piety. “Do not let the greatest wonder accomplished by this holy lady pass by unrecorded,” said Vetiana, a woman from the monastery. She recounted how a painful, life-threatening growth had miraculously disappeared from Macrina’s breast after she went to the sanctuary, spent “all night long prostrate before the God of healing,” and asked her mother to make the sign of the cross over the tumor. Sebastopolis, a distinguished military man, reported that he and his wife visited the monastery, “that powerhouse of virtue,” and when they left, their daughter’s severe eye disease was cured by Macrina’s prayers, “the true medicine with which she heals diseases.”

Gregory also reports that in a time of famine, “grain was distributed according to need and showed no sign of diminishing.” But Gregory refuses to name the “other miracles still more extraordinary, the cure of sicknesses, the casting out of demons, true prophecies of things to come,” because he believes that many will consider them “outside the realm of what can be accepted.”

Macrina was a true saint and lover of Christ, venerated for her piety and intellect by all who knew her.

While some think that Gregory’s account is idealistic and embellished, Natalie Carnes notes that “he takes pains to assure the reader that the Macrina she meets in his text is, indeed, Macrina the Younger of Annisa. All the stories in his text come from personal experience, and he insists he delivers them in an unstudied and unstylized manner.” There can be no doubt that Macrina was a true saint and lover of Christ, venerated for her piety and intellect by all who knew her. In death as in life, “it was really towards her beloved that she ran, and no other of life’s pleasures turned her eye to itself away from her beloved.”

Chronology

303–313: Diocletianic Persecution; Macrina the Elder suffers bravely
325: Council of Nicaea condemns Arianism
ca. 327: Macrina the Younger is born in Caesarea, Cappadocia
328: Athanasius succeeds Alexander as bishop of Alexandria
ca. 329: Macrina’s brother Basil is born
340: Macrina’s father, Basil the Elder, dies
ca. 335: Macrina’s brother Gregory is born
341: Macrina’s brother Peter is born
352: Macrina founds the monastery at Annisa by the Iris River
370: Macrina’s mother, Emmelia, dies
ca. 379: Macrina dies at Annisa
ca. 380/383: Gregory writes Life of Saint Macrina, a biography of Macrina
381: Gregory writes On the Soul and the Resurrection, a dialogue with Macrina
holyjoys.org

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY(RSV)

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

First Reading:

From: Exodus 12:37-42

The Sons of Israel Leave Egypt
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[37] And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. [38] A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very many cattle, both flocks and herds. [39] And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any provisions.

[40] The time that the people of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. [41] And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. [42] It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

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Commentary:

12:37-42. Here we are given concrete details about the departure from Egypt. They headed towards Succoth, a city which modern excavations locate some 15 kms (nine miles) south-east of Rameses, in the Nile delta. It seems to make sense that they should have avoided trade routes, which would have been quieter but busier and patrolled by Egyptian armies--the coast road to the country of the Philistines (cf. 13:17), the road through the southern desert, which led to Beer-sheba, or the trading route linking Egypt and Arabia. Even in this little thing one can see God's special providence at work: he has no need of beaten tracks to show his people where to go.

The figure of 600,000 is an idealize one (cf. Num 1:46; 26:51), for it would imply a total population of three million people, women and children included. Maybe for the hagiographer's contemporaries this figure had a significance which escapes us today; or perhaps it is just a way of indicating that there were very many people--part of the epic style of the account, to highlight the power of God.

The figure of 430 years for the time the sons of Israel had been in Egypt (v. 40) is slightly different from the 404 years which appears more often in the Bible (cf, Gen 15:13; Acts 7:6; Gal 3:16-17). In the Pentateuch numbers often have a more symbolic than chronological meaning (cf. the note on Gen 5:1-32). The 400 years would mean that the chosen people lived in Egypt for ten generations (forty years per generation: cf. the note on Ex 7:9), that is, a complete period of the history of Israel.

"Night of watching" (v. 42): if the darkness causes any misgiving, God will transform it into a time of salvation. Because God looks out for them, the Israelites will also commemorate the night of their deliverance by keeping watch. Christian liturgy celebrates the Lords' resurrection with a solemn vigil, commemorating the deliverance of the Israelites, the redemption of Christians, and Christ's victory over death--three stages in God's intervention to save souls; as the Church sings: "This is the night when first you saved our fathers: you freed the people of Israel from their slavery. [...] This is the night when Christians everywhere (are) washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement. [...] This is the night when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave"("Roman Missal", Exultet).

From: Matthew 12:14-21

Jesus, the Suffering Servant of Yahweh
--------------------------------------
[14] But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how to destroy Him. [15] Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed Him, and He healed them all, [16] and ordered them not to make Him known. [17] This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: [18] "Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. [19] He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will any one hear His voice in the streets; [20] He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick, till He brings justice to victory; [21] and in His name will the Gentiles hope."

***********************************************************************
Commentary:

17-21. Once again the sacred text points out the contrast between the contemporary mistaken Jewish notion of a spectacular messianic kingdom and the discernment which Jesus asks of those who witness and accept His teaching and miracles. By providing this long quotation from Isaiah (42:1-4), the Evangelist is giving us the key to the teaching contained in Chapters 11 and 12: in Jesus the prophecy of the Servant of Yahweh is fulfilled: the lovable and gentle teacher has come to bring the light of truth.

When narrating the passion of our Lord, the Gospels will once again remind us of the figure of the Servant of Yahweh, to show that in Jesus the suffering and expiatory aspect of the death of the Servant finds fulfillment (cf. Matthew 27:30, with reference to Is 50:6; Matthew 8:17 and Isaiah 53:4; John 1:38 and Isaiah 53:9-12; etc.).

17. Isaiah 42:1-4 speaks of a humble servant, beloved of God, chosen by God. And in fact Jesus, without ceasing to be the Son of God, one in substance with the Father, took the form of a servant (cf. Philippians 2:6). This humility led him to cure and care for the poor and afflicted of Israel, without seeking acclaim.

18. See the note on Matthew 3:16.

[Note on Matthew 3:16 states: 16. Jesus possessed the fullness of the Holy Spirit from the moment of His conception. This is due to the union of human nature and divine nature in the person of the Word (the dogma of hypostatic union). Catholic teaching says that in Christ there is only one person (who is divine) but two natures (divine and human). The descent of the Spirit of God spoken of in the text indicates that just as Jesus was solemnly commencing His messianic task, so the Holy Spirit was beginning His action through Him. There are very many texts in the Old Testament which speak of the showing forth of the Holy Spirit in the future Messiah. This sign of the Spirit gave St. John the Baptist unmistakable proof of the genuineness of his testimony concerning Christ (cf. John 1:29-34). The mystery of the Holy Trinity is revealed in the baptism of Jesus: the Son is baptized; the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove; and the voice of the Father gives testimony about His Son. Christians must be baptized in the name of the Three Divine Persons. "If you have sincere piety, the Holy Spirit will descend on you also and you will hear the voice of the Father saying to you from above: "This was not My son, but now after Baptism he has been made My son" (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, "De Baptismo", 14). ]

19. The justice proclaimed by the Servant, who is filled with the Holy Spirit, is not a noisy virtue. We can see the loving, gentle way Jesus worked His miracles, performing righteousness in all humility. This is how He brings about the triumph of His Father's Justice, His plan of revelation and salvation--very quietly and very effectively.

20. According to many Fathers, including St. Augustine and St. Jerome, the bruised reed and the smoldering wick refer to the Jewish people. They also stand for every sinner, for our Lord does not seek the sinner's death but his conversion, and his life (cf. Ezekiel 33:11). The Gospels often bear witness to this reassuring truth (cf. Luke 15:11-32), the parable of the prodigal son; Matthew 18:12-24, the parable of the lost sheep; etc.).

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Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 12
14.	And the Pharisees going out made a consultation against him, how they might destroy him.	Exeuntes autem pharisæi, consilium faciebant adversus eum, quomodo perderent eum.	οι δε φαρισαιοι συμβουλιον ελαβον κατ αυτου εξελθοντες οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν
15.	But Jesus knowing it, retired from thence: and many followed him, and he healed them all.	Jesus autem sciens recessit inde : et secuti sunt eum multi, et curavit eos omnes :	ο δε ιησους γνους ανεχωρησεν εκειθεν και ηκολουθησαν αυτω οχλοι πολλοι και εθεραπευσεν αυτους παντας
16.	And he charged them that they should not make him known.	et præcepit eis ne manifestum eum facerent.	και επετιμησεν αυτοις ινα μη φανερον αυτον ποιησωσιν
17.	That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the prophet, saying:	Ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per Isaiam prophetam, dicentem :	οπως πληρωθη το ρηθεν δια ησαιου του προφητου λεγοντος
18.	Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul hath been well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.	Ecce puer meus, quem elegi, dilectus meus, in quo bene complacuit animæ meæ. Ponam spiritum meum super eum, et judicium gentibus nuntiabit.	ιδου ο παις μου ον ηρετισα ο αγαπητος μου εις ον ευδοκησεν η ψυχη μου θησω το πνευμα μου επ αυτον και κρισιν τοις εθνεσιν απαγγελει
19.	He shall not contend, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.	Non contendet, neque clamabit, neque audiet aliquis in plateis vocem ejus :	ουκ ερισει ουδε κραυγασει ουδε ακουσει τις εν ταις πλατειαις την φωνην αυτου
20.	The bruised reed he shall not break: and smoking flax he shall not extinguish: till he send forth judgment unto victory.	arundinem quassatam non confringet, et linum fumigans non extinguet, donec ejiciat ad victoriam judicium :	καλαμον συντετριμμενον ου κατεαξει και λινον τυφομενον ου σβεσει εως αν εκβαλη εις νικος την κρισιν
21.	And in his name the Gentiles shall hope.	et in nomine ejus gentes sperabunt.	και τω ονοματι αυτου εθνη ελπιουσιν

Readings at Mass

The sons of Israel leave Egypt hurriedly by night

He cured them all but warned them not to make him known

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