Monday of the Second Week of Advent
December 5, 2011
Isaiah 35:1-10 Luke 5:17-26
Commentary for the first reading from the Aquinas Study Bible
35:1 He calls it “thirsty,” because it has not received prophetic irrigation, and “desert” because it has not received the agricultural effort contributed by God. He invites it to rejoice and imitate the flower of the lily. Now the flower of the lily alludes to purity which the All-Holy Spirit obtains for us through baptism. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
35:2 He shows that the desert flourishes and that the floods of the Jordan irrigate it; for those floods are the first to have received the grace of the Holy Spirit and their mention constitutes a revelation of the all-holy baptism. He says, moreover, that the renown of Lebanon and the glory of Carmel are passed on to the desert. Now, as we have often said, he calls Judea “Carmel,” for it was full of prophetic fruits in former times. As for “Lebanon,” it is the name the Scripture often gives to Jerusalem. “A great eagle with large wings, spreading them out very far, with many claws, which has the design of entering into Lebanon- and he took the choice branches of the cedar and of the cypress” (cf. Ez 17:3, 12, 13). The interpretation that follows given by Ezekiel informs that Lebanon is Jerusalem, the eagle is Babylon and the royal scion “the branches of the cedar.” And my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of God”. Even in the present life, those who have believed see the glory of the Lord; they will contemplate it even more brilliantly at the time of His Second Coming. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
35:4 The first manifestation of our Savior has obtained the salvation of mankind. He has even declared in person, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” Jn 3:17. It is, therefore, against the demons who wage war with us that he has set to work His judgment, while having deemed us deserving pity and benevolence. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
35:5-6 The Savior has applied this healing to the body, as he continually applies it to souls; He has caused recovery of sight to the world which was blind and has rendered fit to run towards Him the world which was lame; although it refused to listen to the divine teachings, He has persuaded it to run towards the divine teachings; although it spoke with difficulty and stammered copiously over the title of God, He has instructed it to speak correctly and has rendered it fit to praise God with tongue untied and with resonant voice. “For water has burst forth in the desert, and a channel of water in a thirsty land.” For the proclamation of the doctrine has filled the world. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
35:7 The text has clearly indicated the abundance of irrigation. The Lord has declared similarly on the holy Gospels: “he who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” Jn 7:38. “There shall there be the joy of birds,” not of crows and of other vultures, but of those that possess a winged spirit and that have acquired a divine thought. “Lairs of siren”. He has clearly designated by these words the teachers who charm the eyes of their disciples. “And there will be reeds and marshes.” This seems strange and surprising in an arid land; but he has written this to give proof of the abundance of water. He calls those who have the Faith “reeds” and “marshes”. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
35:8 He calls those who serve idols “impure”: the divine assembly, he says, has been freed from them. “But the dispersed shall walk on it, and they shall not go astray.” In my opinion, these are the holy apostles who are, in the present case, called “those who have been dispersed,” for he dispersed them over the entire world in a manner to transmit the message of salvation; nevertheless, despite their dispersion, they made their way without straying; for they have as guide the grace of the Spirit. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
35:9 In my opinion, he is calling the devil a “lion”; for Scripture says “your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8). By “savage beast” he is designating the demons that are subject to him, from which the assembly making up the Church has been delivered according to the divine prediction. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
35:10 Although charity is now the cause of sorrow for sin, yet the saints in heaven will be so full of joy, that they will have no room for sorrow; and so they will not grieve for their sins, but rather will they rejoice in the Divine mercy, whereby their sins are forgiven them. Even so do the angels rejoice now in the Divine justice whereby those whom they guard fall headlong into sin through being abandoned by grace. and whose salvation none the less they eagerly watch over. (St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica 3.87.3.r3)
Commentary for the Gospel reading from the Aquinas Study Bible
5:17 Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by: Because it was necessary where so great a number of Scribes and Pharisees had come together, that something should be done to attest His power before those men who slighted Him, He performed the miracle on the man with the palsy, who since medical art seemed to fail, was carried by his kinsfolk to a higher and heavenly Physician. (St. Cyril of Alexandria) in every town: Matthew here speaks of “his own city,” (St. Augustine) Sedulius thinks Bethlehem is meant because he was born there. St. Jerome, with more probability, understands Nazareth, where He was brought up. The best opinion is that of St. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Maldonatus, and many others, who say, Capernaum is to be understood, in which Christ often dwelt. And Matthew 4:13 says that, leaving Nazareth, Christ dwelt there. And Mark 2:13 teaches that the healing of the paralytic, which is now to be related, took place at Capernaum. As Christ ennobled Bethlehem by His birth, Nazareth by his education, Egypt by His flight, Jerusalem by His Passion, so he adorned Capernaum, by His dwelling, preaching, and working miracles there. (Cornelius a Lapide)
5:18-19 This man was carried by four men, as Mark says (Mk. 2:3-12), who lowered him through the roof, a fact which Matthew omits. (Theophylact)
5:20 Your sins are forgiven you: As Jerome observes: "We are hereby given to understand that ailments of the body are frequently due to sin: for which reason, perhaps, first are his sins forgiven, that the cause of the ailment being removed, health may return." Wherefore, also in Jn. 4:14, it is said: "Sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to you." Whence, says Chrysostom, "we learn that his sickness was the result of sin." Nevertheless, as Chrysostom says on Mat. 9:5: "By how much a soul is of more account than a body, by so much is the forgiving of sins a greater work than healing the body; but because the one is unseen He does the lesser and more manifest thing in order to prove the greater and more unseen." (St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica 3.44.3.r3)
5:21 Thus they thought, supposing Christ was not God, but a mere man. This was their perpetual and obstinate error, which led them perpetually to persecute Him, even unto the death of the Cross. (Cornelius a Lapide)
5:22 By knowing their thoughts, Jesus shows that He is God. (Theophylact)
5:23-24 As if to say "But by healing the body, I shall guarantee that the soul has been healed as well. By doing the lesser deed, though it appears to be more difficult, I shall also confirm the remission of sins, which is indeed something great even though it appears easier to you since it is not visible to the eye." (Theophylact) According to the holy Fathers, and especially to St. Augustine, it is more difficult to remit sin and justify a man, than to create heaven and earth. (Bishop John McEvilly)
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Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent
December 6, 2011
Isaiah 40:1-11 Matthew 18:12-14
Commentary for the first reading from the Aquinas Study Bible
40:2 It is worthwhile to admire the kindness of the Master at this point: because He is good and His compassion is unfathomable, and though He inflicted a punishment less than equal to the sin, He says, by reason of great benevolence, that this lesser punishment is double the amount of the sin. Now that the chastisement was less than the sin, the same Prophet has cried in testimony: “Your chastising was to us with small affliction” Is 26:16. Nevertheless, because He tempers His justice with infinite mercy, the lesson that the victims of the chastisement call mall, the judge has called double the amount of the sin. Then he teaches the comforters the means of comfort. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
40:3-4 The true consolation, the genuine comfort and the real deliverance from the iniquities of men is the incarnation of our God and Savior. Now the first who acted as herald of this event was the inspired John the Baptist. Accordingly, the prophetic text proclaims the realities that relate to him in advance: for that is what the three blessed Gospel writers have taught us and that the most divine Mark has even made the prologue of his work. (Theodoret of Cyrus) Orderly is the arrangement of the teachings of God; in Isaiah: make right his path. [Is. 40:3] Crooked is deviance from the teachings of God; in Isaiah: and they were crooked in order and rough in the level ways. [Is. 40:4] Obedience to the teachings of God is smooth; in Isaiah: the same as above. Disobedience is, in contrast, harsh and bristly; in Isaiah: the same as above. (Eucharius of Lyons Formulae Bk 8)
40:5 All flesh, that is, every man can not see the salvation of God in Christ in this life. The Prophet therefore stretches his eye beyond to the last day of judgment, when all men both the elect and the reprobate shall equally see Him. (St. Gregory the Great)
40:9 It is the Apostles that the prophetic text raises here. It is precisely for this reason that after expressing this exhortation in the singular it shifts into the plural and says, “Lift up the voice, fear not.” In the same way, in His return, Christ our Master, said to them, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” Mt 10:28. And again, after having the words of this life (cf Acts 5:17-20). Moreover, he calls mountains the summit of the knowledge of God. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
40:10 These words are a glimpse of the Second Coming of Christ our Savior. It is then He will give the laborers their reward and “He will reward each according to his works“ Mt 16:27. According to the word of the apostle “For the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one‘s work, of what sort it is" 1 Cor 3:13. This is the proclamation that the Lord has ordained to the holy apostles to make in their turn: “Go, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and as you go, preach, saying The kingdom of heaven is at hand“ Mt 10:6-7. One can therefore see that the oracles of the Prophet are thus in accord with the words of the Gospel. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
40:11 He calls us lambs, the Spirit by the mouth of Isaiah is an unimpeachable witness, using the figurative appellation of lambs, which are still more tender than sheep, to express simplicity. (St. Clement of Alexandria The Instructor 1.5)
Commentary for the Gospel Reading from the Aquinas Study Bible
18:12 This parable may be expounded and applied in these ways:—1. Generally, of angels and men. 2. Particularly, of men only. 3. Specially, of the little ones alone. Many generally, by the ninety-nine sheep feeding upon the mountains understand the holy angels, who have the fruition of God in Heaven, who have never sinned. By the hundredth sheep which went astray, they understand the whole human race which sinned in Adam, and which, that He might redeem, and bring it back into the way of salvation, Christ as it were left the angels, and came down from Heaven, and was made man. So St. Hilary, Theophylact, Anselm, in this passage; St. Gregory (Hom. 34 in Evang.); Cyril (Catech. 15); S. Ambrose in (in Apolog. David, c. 5); Irenæus (l. 3, c. 21); Origen (Hom. 2 in Genes.) and many others. Gather from hence how vast is the multitude of the angels, which as greatly exceeds the number of all the men who have been, or are, or ever will be, as ninety-nine exceeds one. (Cornelius a Lapide)
18:13 Our Redeemer does not say, of the shepherd or the man in question, that he loves or esteems one more than ninety-nine; but, that he feels greater actual, present, sensible joy, on finding the lost one than he felt for the remaining ninety-nine that were not lost, both, because of the pain the loss caused him, and the suddenness of the pleasure, arising from finding it. Great joy is preceded by great affliction. The greater the storm on sea, the greater our joy on safely reaching land; the greater the peril of the patient, the greater the joy of his friends on his restoration and recovery. A loving father rejoices more for the recovery of his son, who was on the point of death, than for the rest of his sons who enjoyed sound health, although he loves all equally well. Men are apt to rejoice more for some new and unexpected advantage, than for all their former acquisitions, although of greater value. (Bishop John McEvilly)
18:14 The whole drift of the parable is to show, that God the Father has the greatest solicitude and concern for His children, whom He wishes to gain heaven, and feels the greatest joy at their return, just as a man diligently searches for one of his lost sheep, and rejoices on finding it. (Bishop John McEvilly)
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Wednesday
December 7, 2011
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the Church
Isaiah 40:25-31 Matthew 11:28-30
Commentary for the first reading from the Aquinas Study Bible
40:26 He says, look at the sun, the moon, the movement of the stars, the cycle of the year, the changing of the seasons, the regular succession of night and day. For this is what he has added: “He who brings forth by number the order of the cosmos.” For He calls the setting in order of creation “the cosmos.” “He shall call them all by names.” He is ignorant of nothing, he says, but He knows all things with clarity, since it is He who has given a name equally to each and everything. “By means of the greatness of Your glory and by the power of Your might nothing has escaped You.” He has power above all, He is able to do all, He is ignorant of nothing that exits and He knows the very thoughts of men. (Theodoret of Cyrus) God, whose knowledge is simply manifold, and uniform in its variety, comprehends all incomprehensibles with so incomprehensible a comprehension, that though He willed always to make His later works novel and unlike what went before them, He could not produce them without order and foresight, nor conceive them suddenly, but by His eternal foreknowledge. (St. Augustine City of God)
40:28 Of the divine nature the prophet Isaiah said, “He shall neither be hungry nor weary” and so on. But the Evangelist says “Jesus being weary with his journey sat thus on the well;”John 4:6 and “shall not be weary” is contrary to “being weary.” Therefore the prophecy is contrary to the narrative of the gospels. But they are not contrary, for both are of one God. Not being weary is of the uncircumscribed nature which fills all things. But moving from place to place is of the circumscribed nature; and when that which moves is constrained to travel it is subject to the weariness of the wayfarer. Therefore what walked and was weary was a body, for the union did not confound the natures. God is impassible, and free from all want, but after the Incarnation He became capable of suffering. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
40:31 The soul runs swiftly to God and touches Him again and again; and it runs without fainting by reason of its hope. For here the love that has made it strong makes it to fly swiftly. Of this the prophet Isaiah speaks thus: ’ The saints that hope in God shall renew their strength;' (St. John of the Cross)
Commentary for the Gospel reading from the Aquinas Study Bible
11:28-29 For there is no one who does not labour under some disease, and need Christ’s medicine. Therefore Christ offers Himself to all, that they may receive from Him health and safety. Thus did He kindly correct and heal Magdalen, Matthew, Paul, and Peter. Thus even now, in the Eucharist, He invites all and says, Come unto me, you infirm, hungry, afflicted ones I will refresh you. (Cornelius a Lapide) These words are expounded by Hilary thus: "He calls to Himself all those that labor under the difficulty of observing the Law, and are burdened with the sins of this world." And further on He says of the yoke of the Gospel: "For My yoke is sweet and My burden light." Therefore the New Law is a lighter burden than the Old. (St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica 2.107.4)
11:29-30 The yoke of Christ is humility and meekness. For he who humbles himself before all men has rest and remains untroubled; but he who is vainglorious and arrogant is ever encompassed by troubles as he does not wish to be less than anyone but is always thinking how to be esteemed more highly and how to defeat his enemies. Therefore the yoke of Christ, which is humility, is light, for it is easier for our lowly nature to be humbled than to be exalted. But all the commandments of Christ are also called a yoke, and they are light because of the reward to come, even though for a time they appear heavy. (Theophylact)
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