Collect: O God, who wonderfully chose the Priest Saint John Eudes to proclaim the unfathomable riches of Christ, grant us, by his example and teachings, that, growing in knowledge of you, we may live faithfully by the light of the Gospel. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
o Wayside Inn Pie
o Religion in Daily Life
o The Immaculate Heart
o Salutation to Mary
o Prayer of St. John Eudes
o Saint John Eudes | Pope Benedict XVI
· Ordinary Time: August 19th
· Optional Memorial of St. John Eudes, priest
Old Calendar: St. John Eudes, confessor; St. Louis of Toulouse, bishop
St. John Eudes (1601-1680) was born in Ri and died in Caen, France. Despite the prevailing rigors of Jansenism, he received First Communion when only a child. He studied in Paris and was ordained a priest in 1625. He soon became an outstanding missionary among his plague-stricken countrymen, living an irreproachable life and devoting all his energies to the cause of Christ. In 1643 he founded the Society of Jesus and Mary to preach missions to the people, direct seminaries, and conduct retreats for the clergy. He was a great opponent of the Jansenistic heresy, and always showed an unchanging devotion to the Holy See.
Today the Church commemorates St. Bernard Tolomei, founder of the Olivetan Congregation of Benedictines.
Historically today is the feast of St. Louis of Toulouse, the son of Charles II of Anjou, king of Naples. Great-nephew of Saint Louis IX, and of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. He grew up in Provence (in modern France) and spent seven years as a hostage for his father at Barcelona and Tarragona in Spain. He was ordained at age 23.
St. John Eudes
Born on a farm in northern France, St. John was a religious, a parish missionary, founder of two religious communities and a great promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He joined the religious community of the Oratorians and was ordained a priest at twenty-four. During severe plagues in 1627 and 1631, he volunteered to care for the stricken in his own diocese. Lest he infect his fellow religious, he lived in a huge cask in the middle of a field during the plague.
At age thirty-two, John became a parish missionary. His gifts as preacher and confessor won him great popularity. He preached over one hundred parish missions, some lasting from several weeks to several months.
In his concern with the spiritual improvement of the clergy, he realized that the greatest need was for seminaries. He had permission from his general superior, the bishop and even Cardinal Richelieu to begin this work, but the succeeding general superior disapproved. After prayer and counsel, John decided it was best to leave the religious community. The same year he founded a new one, ultimately called the Eudists (Congregation of Jesus and Mary), devoted to the formation of the clergy by conducting diocesan seminaries. The new venture, while approved by individual bishops, met with immediate opposition, especially from Jansenists and some of his former associates. John founded several seminaries in Normandy, but was unable to get approval from Rome (partly, it was said, because he did not use the most tactful approach).
In his parish mission work, John was disturbed by the sad condition of prostitutes who sought to escape their miserable life. Temporary shelters were found but arrangements were not satisfactory. A certain Madeleine Lamy, who had cared for several of the women, one day said to him, "Where are you off to now? To some church, I suppose, where you'll gaze at the images and think yourself pious. And all the time what is really wanted of you is a decent house for these poor creatures." The words, and the laughter of those present, struck deeply within him. The result was another new religious community, called the Sisters of Charity of the Refuge.
He is probably best known for the central theme of his writings: Jesus as the source of holiness, Mary as the model of the Christian life. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary led Pius XI to declare him the father of the liturgical cult of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He was also the author of several books which served his work, e.g., The Ideal Confessor and The Apostolic Preacher. He died at the age of seventy-nine.
Excerpted from the Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.
Symbols: Priest with or presenting the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Things to Do:
St. Louis of Toulouse
St. Louis's father was King Charles II of Naples and Sicily. Charles, then a prince, was imprisoned by the King of Aragon; as a condition of Charles' release in 1288, Louis and two brothers were sent to Barcelona as hostages. There Louis was cheerful and took part in sports with other prisoners. He was also influenced by the Franciscans, and he prayed with them at night. Louis was given his freedom after seven years when a treaty was concluded with King James II of Aragon. It was proposed that Louis marry King James' sister, but he refused both marriage and the crown of Naples. He received a papal dispensation to be ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop at the age of 23. Louis went to Rome in 1296, and five days after being professed among the Franciscans, he was consecrated Bishop of Toulouse. AT Toulouse, Louis was modest, wearing an old Franciscan habit, and his devotion was an inspiration to his flock. Within a few months, however, he asked for permission to resign his office, which he had accepted out of obedience, since he felt that its duties were more than he could handle. He died in 1297, not yet 24 years of age.
Excepted from the Saints Calendar & Daily Planner, Tan Books
St. Bernard Tolomei
Bernardo Tolomei son of Mino Tolomei, was born in Siena on the 10th of May 1272. At his baptism he was given the name Giovanni. He was probably educated by the Dominicans at their College of San Domenico di Camporegio in Siena. He was knighted by Rodolfo I d’Absburgo (d.1291). While studying law in his home town, he was also a member of the Confraternity of the Disciplinati di Santa Maria della Notte dedicated to aiding the sick at the hospital della Scala. Due to a progressive and almost total blindness, he was forced to give up his public career. In 1313, in order to realize a more radical Christian and ascetic ideal, together with two companions, (Patrizio di Francesco Patrizi d.1347 and Ambrogio di Nino Piccolomini d.1338) both noble Sienese merchants and members of the same Confraternity, he retired to Accona on a property belonging to his family, about 30km south-east of the city. It was here that Giovanni, who in the mean time had taken the name Bernardo out of veneration for the holy Cistercian abbot, together with his two companions, lived a hermitic penitential life characterized by prayer, manual work and silence.
Towards the end of 1318, or the beginning of 1319, while deep in prayer, he saw a ladder on which monks in white habits ascended, helped by angels, and awaited by Jesus and Mary.
In order to secure the legal position of his group, Bernardo, together with Patrizio Patrizi, visited the bishop of Arezzo, Guido Tarlati di Pietramala (1306-c.1327) under whose jurisdiction Accona fell at the time. On the 26th March 1319 he was given a Decree authorizing him to build the future monastery of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto, and instituted “sub regula sancti Benedicti”, with certain privileges and exemptions. Through his legate, the bishop received their monastic profession. In choosing the Rule of St. Benedict, Bernardo accepted Benedictine coenobitism and, wishing to honour Our Lady, the founders wore a white habit. Welcoming the small group of monks, the bishop said: “Since your fellow citizens glory in placing themselves under the patronage of the Virgin, and because of the virginal purity of the glorious Mother, it pleases you to wear a white monastic habit, therefore showing outwardly that purity which you harbor within.” (Antonio di Barga, Cronaca 5). The white habit characterized various forms of medieval monasticism, amongst which the Camaldolese, Carthusians, Cistercians and the monks of Montevergine.
With the laying of the first stone of the church on the 1st of April 1319, the monastery of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto Maggiore was born. The hermits became monks according to the Rule of St Bendict to which they made some institutional changes. The most characteristic element of this institutional change recorded in an episcopal document 28th March 1324, was the temporariness of the abbatial office, and the abbot-elect would have to be confirmed by the bishop of Arezzo. When the time came to elect an abbot, Bernardo succeeded in withdrawing himself from those eligible because of his infirmity of sight. Therefore, Patrizio Patrizi was elected first abbot (1st of September 1319). Two other abbots followed: Ambrogio Piccolomini (1st of September 1320) and Simone di Tura (1st of September 1321). On the 1st of September 1322, Bernardo could no longer oppose the wishes of his brethren and so became the fourth abbot of the Monastery he founded, remaining abbot until his death. An Act dated 24th September 1326 attests that the Apostolic Legate, Cardinal Giovanni Caetani Orsini (†1339), dispensed abbot Bernardo from the Canonical impediment of Infirmity of Sight, hence validating his election. From Avignone, with three Bulls dated 21st January 1344 (Significant Vestrae Sanctitati: acknowledges the foundation and requests pontifical privileges; Vacantibus sub religionis: canonical approval of the new community; Solicitudinis pastoralis officium: the faculty to erect new monasteries in Italy) Clemente VI approved the Congregation which numbered ten monasteries. Bernardo did not go to Avignone himself, but sent two monks: Simone Tendi and Michele Tani.
Significant evidence of the spiritual personality of Bernardo consists in the fact that, even though the monks had decided not to re-elect an abbot at the end of his annual mandate, they decided to ignore this, re-electing Bernardo for twenty-seven consecutive years, until his death. Another act of trust in Bernardo’s paternity was seen in the General Chapter of the 4th of May 1347 when the monks granted him the faculty to govern without recourse to the Chapter and the brethren, trusting that he would do all in conformity to God’s Will and for the salvation of all.
Bernardo tried at least twice, in 1326 and 1342, to lay down the abbatial office, declaring to the Pope’s Legate and Jurists that he was not a priest but only in Minor Orders, also citing the existing dispensation from his function as abbot because of his persistent infirmity of vision. However his leadership was asserted fully legitimate even according to the canonical norms of the time. With the Pontifical Approbation of a new Benedictine Congregation named “Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto”, Bernardo is the initiator of a resolute Benedictine monastic movement.
Bernardo left his monks an example of a holy life, the practice of the virtues to a heroic level, an existence dedicated to the service of others, and to contemplation. During the Plague of 1348 Bernardo left the solitude of Monte Oliveto for the monastery of San Benedetto a Porta Tufi in Siena. In the city, the disease was particularly dire. On the 20th August 1348, while helping his plague-stricken monks, he himself, along with 82 monks, fell victim of the Plague.
This hero of penance and martyr of charity did not go by unnoticed, as Pius XII observed in a letter sent to Abbot General Dom Romualdo M. Zilianti on the 11th April 1948, to commemorate the forthcoming sixth centenary of the death of Blessed Bernardo. The venerable abbot was buried near the monastery church in Siena. All the plague-stricken bodies were put in a common pit of quick-lime outside the church. Unfortunately the search for the bodies of the victims of the plague, both in Siena and in and around the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, has been unsuccessful to this day.
Excerpted from the Vatican Website
Things to Do:
- See Communio for more information and prayers for the Mass
- Read this account of the life of St. Bernard Tolomei
- Visit the website of the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore
23. Then said Jesus to his disciples, I say to you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24. And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
26. But Jesus beheld them, and said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
GLOSS; The Lord took occasion from this rich man to, hold discourse concerning the covetous; Then said Jesus, to his disciples, I say to you, &c.
CHRYS; What He spoke was not condemning riches in themselves, but those who were enslaved by them; also encouraging His disciples that being poor they should not be ashamed by reason of their poverty.
HILARY; To have riches is no sin; but moderation is to be observed in our having. For how shall we communicate to the necessities of the saints, if we have not out of what we may communicate?
RABAN; But though there be a difference between having and loving riches, yet it is safer neither to have nor to love them.
REMIG; Whence in Mark the Lord expounding the meaning of this saying, speaks thus, It is hard for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of heaven. They trust in riches, who build all their hopes on them.
JEROME; Because riches once gained are hard to be despised, He said not it is impossible, but it is hard. Difficulty does not imply the impossibility, but points out the infrequency of the occurrence.
HILARY; It is a dangerous toil to become rich; and lack of guilt occupied in increasing its wealth has taken upon itself a sore burden; the servant of God gains not the things of the world, clear of the sins of the world. Hence is the difficulty of entering the kingdom of heaven.
CHRYS; Having said that it was hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, He now proceeds to show that it is impossible, And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
JEROME; According to this, no rich man can be saved. But if we read Isaiah, how the: camels of Midian and Ephah came to Jerusalem with gifts and presents, and they who once were crooked and bowed down by the weight of their sins, enter the gates of Jerusalem, we shall see how these camels, to which the rich are likened when they have laid aside the heavy load of sins, and the distortion of their whole bodies, may then enter by that narrow and strait way that leads to life.
PSEUDO-CHRYS; The Gentile souls are likened to the deformed body of the camel, in which is seen the humpback of idolatry; for the knowledge of God is the exaltation of the soul. The needle is the Son of God, the fine point of which is His divinity, and the thicker part what He is according to His incarnation. But it is altogether straight and without turning; and through the womb of His passion, the Gentiles have entered into life eternal. By this needle is sewn the robe of immortality; it is this needle that has sewn the flesh to the spirit, that has joined together the Jews and the Gentiles, and coupled man in friendship with angels. It is easier therefore for the Gentiles to pass through the needle's eye, than for the rich Jews to enter into the kingdom of heaven. For if the Gentiles are with such difficulty withdrawn from the irrational worship of idols, how much more hardly shall the Jews be withdrawn from the reasonable service of God?
GLOSS; It is explained otherwise; That at Jerusalem there was a certain gate, called, The needle's eye, through which a camel could not pass, but on its bended knees, and after its burden had been taken off; and so the rich should not be able to pass along the narrow way that leads to life, till he had put off the burden of sin, and of riches, that is, by ceasing to love them.
GREG; Or, by the rich man He intends anyone who is proud, by the camel he denotes the right humility. The camel passed through the needle's eye, when our Redeemer through the narrow way of suffering entered in to the taking upon Him death; for that passion was as a needle which pricked the body with pain. But the camel enters the needle's eye easier than the rich man enters the kingdom of heaven; because if He had not first shown us by His passion the form of His humility, our proud stiffness would never have bent itself to His lowliness.
CHRYS; The disciples though poor are troubled for the salvation of others, beginning even now to have the bowels of doctors.
AUG; Whereas the rich are few in comparison of the multitude of the poor, we must suppose that the disciples understood all who wish for riches, as included in the number of the rich.
CHRYS; This therefore He proceeds to show is the work of God, there needing much grace to guide a man in the midst of riches; But Jesus beheld them, and said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. By the word beheld them, the Evangelist conveys that He soothed their troubled soul by His merciful eye.
REMIG; This must not be so understood as though it were possible for God to cause that the rich, the covetous, the avaricious, and the proud should enter into the kingdom of heaven; but to cause him to be converted, and so enter.
CHRYS; And this is not said that you should sit supinely, and let alone what may seem impossibilities; but considering the greatness of righteousness, you should strive to enter in with entreaty to God.
27. Then answered Peter and said to him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed you; what shall we have therefore?
28. And Jesus said to them, Verily I say to you, That you which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29. And everyone that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
30. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
ORIGEN; Peter had heard the word of Christ when He said, If you will be perfect, go and sell all that you have. Then he observer! that the young man had departed sorrowful, and considered the difficulty of riches entering into the kingdom of heaven; and thereupon he put this question confidently as one who had achieved no easy matter. For though what he with his brother had left behind them were but little things, yet were they not esteemed as little with God, who considered that out of the fullness of their love they had so forsaken those least things, as they would have forsaken the greatest things if they had had them. So Peter, thinking rather of his will than of the intrinsic value of the sacrifice, asked Him confidently, Behold, we have left all.
CHRYS; What was this all, O blessed Peter? The reeds, your net, and boat. But this he says, not to call to mind his own magnanimity, but in order to propose the case of the multitude of poor. A poor man might have said, If I have nothing, I cannot become perfect. Peter therefore puts this question that you, poor man, may learn that you are in nothing behind. For he had already received the kingdom of heaven, and therefore secure of what was already there, he now asks for the whole world. And see how carefully he frames his question after Christ's requirements: Christ required two things of a rich man, to give what he had to the poor, and to follow Him; wherefore he adds, and have followed you.
ORIGEN; It may be said, In all things which the Father revealed to Peter that the Son was, righteousness, sanctification, and the like, in all we have followed Thee. Therefore as a victorious athlete, he now asks what are the prizes of his contest.
JEROME; Because to forsake is not enough, he adds that which makes perfection, and have followed you. We have done what you commanded us, what reward will you then give us? What shall we have?
JEROME; He said not only, you who have left all, for this did the philosopher Crates, and many other who have despised riches, but added, and have followed me, which is peculiar to the Apostles and believers.
HILARY; The disciples had followed Christ in the regeneration, that is, in the layer of baptism, in the sanctification of faith, for this is that regeneration which the Apostles followed, and which the Law could not bestow.
JEROME; Or it may be constructed thus, you which have followed me, shall in the regeneration sit, &c.; that is, when the dead shall rise from corruption, incorrupt, you also shall sit on thrones of judges, condemning the twelve tribes of Israel, for that they would not believe when you believed.
AUG; Thus our flesh will be regenerated by incorruption, as our soul also shall be regenerated by faith.
PSEUDO-CHRYS; For it would come to pass, that in the day of judgment the Jews would allege, Lord, we knew Thee not to be the Son of God when you west in the flesh. For who can discern a treasure buried in the ground, or the sun when obscured by a cloud? The disciples therefore will then answer, We also were men, and peasants, obscure among the multitude, but you priests and scribes; but in us a right will became as it were a lamp of our ignorance, but your evil will became to you a blinding of your science.
CHRYS; He therefore said not the Gentiles and the whole world, but, the tribes of Israel, because the Apostles and the Jews had been brought up under the same laws and customs. So that when the Jews should plead that they could not believe in Christ, because they were hindered by their Law, the disciples will be brought forward, who had the same Law. But some one may say, What great thing is this, when both the Ninevites and the Queen of the South will have the same? He had before and will again promise them the highest rewards; and even now He tacitly conveys something of the same. For of those others He had only said, that they shall sit, and shall condemn this generation; but He now says to the disciples, When the Son of Man shall sit, you also shall sit.
It is clear then that they shall reign with Him, and shall share in that glory; for it is such honor and glory unspeakable that He intends by the thrones. How is this promise fulfilled? Shall Judas sit among them? By no means. For the law was as thus ordained of the Lord by Jeremiah the Prophet, I will speak it upon my people, and upon the kingdom, that I may build, and plant it. But if it do evil in my sight, then will I repent me of the good which I said I would do to them, as much as to say, If they make themselves unworthy of the promise, I will no more perform that I promised. But Judas showed himself unworthy of the preeminence; wherefore when He gave this promise to His disciples, He did not promise it absolutely, for He said not, you shall sit, but, you which have followed me shall sit; at once excluding Judas, and admitting such as should be in after time; for neither was the promise confined to them only, nor yet did it include Judas who had already shown himself undeserving.
HILARY; Their following Christ in thus exalting the Apostles to twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, associated them in the glory of the twelve Patriarchs.
AUG; From this passage we learn that Jesus will judge with His disciples; whence He says in another place to the Jews, Therefore shall they be your judges. And whereas He says they shall sit upon twelve thrones, we need not think that twelve persons only shall judge with Him. For by the number twelve is signified the whole number of those that shall judge; and that because the number seven which generally represents completeness contains the two numbers four and three, which multiplied together make twelve. For if it were not so, as Matthias was elected into the place of the traitor Judas, the Apostle Paul who labored more than they all should not have place to sit to judge; but he shows that he with the rest of the saints pertains to the number of judges, when he says, Know you not that we shall judge Angels?
ID; In the number of judges therefore are included all that have left their all and followed the Lord.
GREG; For whosoever, urged by the spur of divine love, shall forsake what he possesses here, shall without doubt gain there the eminence of judicial authority; and shall appear as judge with the Judge, for that he now in consideration of the judgment chastens himself by a voluntary poverty.
AUG; The same holds good, by reason of this number twelve, of those that are to be judged. For when it is said, Judging the twelve tribes, yet is not the tribe of Levi, which is the thirteenth, to be exempt from being judged by them; nor shall they judge this nation alone, and not also other nations.
PSEUDO-CHRYS; Or, by that, In the regeneration, Christ designs the period of Christianity that should be after His ascension, in which men were regenerated by baptism; and that is the time in which Christ sate on the throne of His glory. And hereby you may see that He spoke not of the time of the judgment to come, but of the calling of the Gentiles, in that He said not, When the Son of Man shall come sitting upon the throne of his majesty; but only, In the regeneration when he shall sit, which was from the time that the Gentiles began to believe on Christ; according to that, God shall reign over the heathen; God sit upon his holy throne. From that time also the Apostles have sat upon twelve thrones, that is, over all Christians; for every Christian who receives the word of Peter, becomes Peter's throne, and so of the rest of the Apostles. On these thrones then the Apostles sit, parceled into twelve divisions, after the variety of minds and hearts, known to God only.
For as the Jewish nation was split into twelve tribes, so is the whole Christian people divided into twelve, so as that some souls are numbered with the tribe of Reuben, and so of the rest, according to their several qualities. For all have not all graces alike, one is excellent in this, another in that. And so the Apostles will judge the twelve tribes of Israel, that is, all the Jews, by this, that the Gentiles received the Apostles' word. The whole body of Christians are indeed twelve thrones for the Apostles, but one throne for Christ. For all excellencies are but one throne for Christ, for He alone is equally perfect in all virtues. But of the Apostles each one is more perfect in some one particular excellence, as Peter in faith; so Peter tests upon his faith, John on his innocence, and so of the rest.
And that Christ spoke of reward to be given to the Apostles in this world, is shown by what follows, And everyone that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, &c. For if these shall receive an hundred fold in this life, without doubt to the Apostles also was promised a reward in this present life.
CHRYS; Or; He holds out rewards in the future life to the Apostles, because they were already looking above, and desired nothing of things present; but to others He promises things present.
ORIGEN; Or otherwise; Whoever shall leave all and follow Christ, he also shall receive those things that were promised to Peter. But if he has not left all, but only those things in special here enumerated, he shall receive manifold, and shall possess eternal life.
JEROME; There are that take occasion from this passage to bring forward the thousand years after the resurrection, and say that then we shall have a hundred fold of the things we have given up, and moreover life eternal. But though the promise be in other things worthy, in the matter of wives it seems to have somewhat shameful, if he who has forsaken one wife for the Lord's sake, shall receive a hundred in the world to come. The meaning is therefore, that he that has forsaken carnal things for the Savior's sake, shall receive spiritual things, which in a comparison of value are as a hundred to a small number.
ORIGEN; And in this world, because for his brethren after the flesh he shall find many brethren in the faith; for parents, all the Bishops and Presbyters; for sons, all that have the age of sons. The Angels also are brethren, and all they are sisters that have offered themselves chaste virgins to Christ, as well they that still continue on earth, as they that now live in heaven. The houses and lands manifold more suppose in the repose of Paradise, and the city of God. And besides all these things they shall possess eternal life.
AUG; That He says, A hundred fold, is explained by the Apostle, when he says, As having nothing, and yet possessing all things. For a hundred is sometimes put for the whole universe.
JEROME; And that, And every one that has forsaken brethren, agrees with that He had said before, I am come to set a man at variance with his father. For they who for the faith of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel shall despise all the ties, the riches, and pleasures of this world, they shall receive an hundred fold, and shall possess eternal life.
CHRYS; But when He says, He that has forsaken wife, it is not to be taken of actual severing of the marriage tie, but that we should hold the ties of tile faith dearer than any other. And here is, I think, a covert allusion to times of persecution; for because there should be many who would draw away their sons to heathenism, when that should happen, they should be held neither as fathers, nor husbands.
RABAN; But because many with what zeal they take up the pursuit of virtue, do not with the same complete it; but either grow cool, or fall away rapidly; it follows, But many that are first shall be last, and the last first.
ORIGEN; By this He exhorts those that come late to the heavenly word, to have to ascend to perfection before many whom they see to have grown old in the faith. This sense may also overthrow those that boast to have been educated in Christianity by Christian parents, especially if those parents have filled the Episcopal see, or the office of Priests or Deacons in the Church; and hinder them from desponding who have entertained the Christian doctrines more newly. It has also another meaning; the first, are the Israelites, who become last because of their unbelief; and the Gentiles who were last become first. He is careful to say, Many; for not all who are first shall be last, nor all last first. For before this have many of mankind, who by nature are the last, been made by an angelic life above the Angels; and some Angels who were first have been made last through their sin.
REMIG; It may also be referred in particular to the rich man, who seemed to be first, by his fulfillment of the precepts of the Law, but was made last by his preferring his worldly substance to God. The holy Apostles seemed to be last, but by leaving all they were made first by the grace of humility. There are many who having entered upon good works, fall therefrom, and from having been first, become last.
Catena Aurea Matthew 19
