Aquinas’ Catena Aurea on Luke 7:11-17

Ver  11. And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.12. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.13. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, Weep not.14. And he came and touched the boy: and they that bore him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, Arise.15. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.16. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God has visited his people.17. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the region round about.

CYRIL; The Lord joins one miracle upon another. In the former instance He came indeed when called for, but in this He came self-invited; as it is said, And it came to pass the day after that he went into a city called Nain.

THEOPHYL; Nain is a city of Galilee, within two miles of mount Tabor. But by the divine counsel there were large multitudes accompanying the Lord, that there might be many witnesses of so great a miracle. Hence it follows, And his disciples went with him, and much people.

GREG. NYSS. Now the proof of the resurrection we learn not so much from the words as from the works of our Savior, who, beginning His miracles with the less wonderful, reconciled our faith to far greater. First indeed in the grievous sickness of the centurion’s servant, He verged upon the power of resurrection; afterwards with a higher power he led men to the belief in a resurrection, when He raised the widow’s son, who was carried out to be buried; as it is said, Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother.

TITUS BOST. But some one will say of the centurion’s servant, that he was not going to die. That such an one might restrain his rash tongue, the Evangelist explains that the young man whom Christ came upon was already dead, the only son of a widow. For it follows, And she was a widow, and much people of the city was with her.

GREG. NYSS. He has told us the sum of misery in a few words. The mother was a widow, and had no further hope of baring children, she had no one upon whom she might look in the place of him that was dead. To him alone she had given suck, he alone made her home cheerful. All that is sweet and precious to a mother, was he alone to her.

CYRIL; These were sufferings to excite compassion, and which might well affect to mourning and tears, as it follows, And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, saying, Weep not.

THEOPHYL; As if He said, Cease to weep for one as dead, whom you shall soon see rise again alive.

CHRYS. But when He bids us cease from weeping Who consoles the sorrowful, He tells us to receive consolation from those who are now dead, hoping for their resurrection. But life meeting death stops the bier, as it follows, And he came.

CYRIL; He performs the miracle not only in word, but also touches the bier, to the end that you might know that the sacred body of Christ is powerful to the saving of man. For it is the body of Life and the flesh of the Omnipotent Word, whose power it possesses. For as iron applied to fire does the work of fire, so the flesh, when it is united to the Word, which quickens all things, becomes itself also quickening, and the banisher of death.

TITUS BOST. But the Savior is not like to Elias mourning over the son of the widow of Sarepta, nor as Elisha who laid his own body upon the body of the dead, nor as Peter who prayed for Tabitha, but is none other than He who calls those things which be not, as though they were, who can speak to the dead as to the living, as it follows, And he said, Young man.

GREG. NYSS. When He said, Young man, He signified that he was in the flower of his age, just ripening into manhood, who but a little while before was the sight of his mothers eyes, just entering upon the time of marriage, the scion of her race, the branch of succession, the staff of her old age.

TITUS BOST. But straightway he arose to whom the command was made. For the Divine power is irresistible; there is no delay, no urgency of prayer, as it follows, And he that was dead sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother. These are the signs of a true resurrection, for the lifeless body cannot speak, nor would the mother have carried back to her house her dead and lifeless son.

THEOPHYL; But well does the Evangelist testify that the Lord is first moved with compassion for the mother, and then raises her son, that in the one case He might set before us for our imitation an example of piety, in the other He might build up our belief in His wonderful power. Hence it follows, And there came a fear upon all, and they glorified God, &c.

CYRIL; This was a great thing in an insensible and ungrateful people. For in a short time afterward they would neither esteem Him as a prophet, nor allow that He did aught for the public good. But none of those that dwelt in Judea were ignorant of this miracle, as it follows, And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea.

MAXIM. But it is worthy of remark, that seven resurrections are related before our Lord’s, of which the first was that of the son of the widow of Sarepta, the second of the Shunamite’s son, the third which was caused by the remains of Elisha, the fourth which took place at Nain, as is here related, the fifth of the ruler of the Synagogue’s daughter, the sixth of Lazarus, the seventh at Christ’s passion, for many bodies of the saints arose. The eighth is that of Christ, who being free from death remained beyond for a sign that the general resurrection which is to come in the eighth age shall not be dissolved by death, but shall abide never to pass away.

THEOPHYL; But the dead man who was carried without the gate of the city in the sight of many’ signifies a man rendered senseless by the deadening power of mortal sin, and no longer concealing his soul’s death within the folds of his heart, but proclaiming it to the knowledge of the world, through the evidence of words or deeds as through the gate of the city. For the gate of the city, I suppose, is some one of the bodily senses. And he is well said to be the only son of his mother, for there is one mother composed of many individuals, the Church, but every soul that remembers that it is redeemed by the death of the Lord, knows the Church to be a widow.

AMBROSE; For this widow surrounded by a great multitude of people seems to be more than the woman who was thought worthy by her tears to obtain the resurrection of her only son, because the Church recalls the younger people from the funeral procession to life by the contemplation of her tears, who is forbid to weep for him to whom resurrection was promised.

THEOPHYL; Or the dogma of Novatus is crushed who ho endeavoring to do away with the purifying of the penitent, denies that the mother Church, weeping for tile spiritual extinction of her sons, ought to be consoled by tile hope of their restoration to life.

AMBROSE; This dead man was borne on the bier by the four material elements to the grave, but there was a hope of his rising again because he was borne on wood, which though before it did not benefit us, yet after Christ had touched it, began to profit to life, that it might be a sign that salvation was to be extended to the people by the wood of the cross. For we lie lifeless on the bier when either the fire of immoderate desire bursts forth, or the cold moisture breaks out, and through the sluggish state of our earthly body the vigor of our minds waxes dull.

THEOPHYL; Or the coffin on which the dead is carried is the ill at ease conscience of a desperate sinner. But they who carry him to be buried are either unclean desires, or the allurements of companions, who stood when our Lord touched the bier, because the conscience, when touched by dread of the judgment from on high, often checking its carnal lusts, and those who unjustly praise, returns to itself, and answers its Savior’s call to life.

AMBROSE; If then your sin is so heavy that by your penitential tears you can not yourself wash it out, let the mother Church weep for you, the multitude standing by; soon shall you rise from the dead and begin to spear; the words of life; they all shall fear, (for by the example of one all are corrected;) they shall also praise God who has given us such great remedies for escaping death.

THEOPHYL; But God has visited His people not only by the one incarnation of His Word, but by ever sending It into our hearts.

THEOPHYL. By the widow also you may understand a soul that has lost her husband in the divine word. Her son is the understanding, which is carried out beyond the city of the living. Its coffin is the body, which some indeed have called the tomb. But the Lord touching him raises him up, causing him to become young, and rising from sin he begins to speak and teach others. For before he would not have been believed.

Cornelius a Lapide on Galatians 5:25-26, 6:1-10

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

If we live in the Spirit. I fwe have this inward life of grace, let us live outwardly as the Spirit dictates. The Greek word used here denotes to follow a settled plan or order. Cf. notes to chap iv. 25. But according to Chrysostom and Theophylact, it is an exhortation to follow the rule of the Spirit of Christ, and not deviate into the ways of Judaism.

Gal 5:26  Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Let us not be made desirous of vain glory. Whoever seeks the praises of men seeks a vain thing. He pursues a bubble, swollen by wind, but void of all substance. The only true and lasting glory which alone can satisfy the mind, is with God.  S. Jerome says: “They are desirous of solid glory who seek the approval of God, and that praise which is due to virtue.”

Provoking one another. To broils, lawsuits, and other contests. The thirst for praise and eminence gives birth to these rivalries and to envy: while Pompey will not brook an equal, nor Caesar a superior.

Gal 6:1  Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, &c. The Apostle enjoins here the brotherly correction of any fault, but with a special reference to sins committed through the eyes, as Jerome correctly observes—the sin of Judaism, against which the whole Epistle is directed, being of that character. He bids them correct the Judaisers, but in a brotherly manner. There is a parallel to this passage in Rom. xiv. 1, where a man overtaken in a fault is described as weak in the faith. There he is to be received, here he is to be instructed. This is another instance of the close connection between these two Epistles, which I have so often pointed out. In the earlier chapters of both Epistles he vigorously attacks the tenets of the Judaisers, and in the latter he moderates his tone.

S. Paul is not speaking here of those who are obstinate in their evil doing. These, as S. Gregory insists, because they sin deliberately, are to be rebuked sternly. Their hard hearts, as Tertullian says, must be broken, not soothed.  S. Paul is referring to those who, being weak in the faith, have been seduced into Judaism, have been overtaken before they could resist. The Greek word rendered fault denotes an accidental fall, as when one through inadvertence stumbles over a stone, or falls into a ditch.

Instruct. Ephrem renders this raise; the Vulgate, instruct; and Vatablus [with the A.V.], restore. Erasmus, indeed, but wrongly, thinks the instruite of the Vulgate is a copyist’s error for instaurate. The texts, however, are against this. The difference in meaning, in any case, is not important. The restoring of a man in faith and morals is the same as the instructing him in them.

In the spirit of meekness. Gently, tenderly, kindly. Spirit here is used to denote the gift of the Spirit, as Chrysostom observes. The Spirit, by the words of admonishment He inspires men to use, breathes into him who uses them His own mildness and benignity. Rebuke is like a bitter medicine, bearing away the disease; hence it is to be sugared over with mild words and sympathetic temper, that its bitterness may not be tasted.

S. Chrysostom (Hom. 52 ad. Populum) says, with equal truth and beauty, that our speech becomes the speech of Christ, if, throughout it all, we imitate His benignity. S. Dionysius (Ep. 8 ad Demophilum) says that it was the meekness of Moses which won for him his special intimacy with God, and says that if pastors feed Christ’s flock with similar meekness, they will show thereby that they love Christ above all things, and will be so accepted by Him. Towards the end of the letter, S. Dionysius relates a striking proof of this, drawn from a vision, vouchsafed to S. Carpus, when he was bitterly enraged against some heathen who had seduced two Christians from the faith. Christ, chiding him, said: “Strike Me, for I am ready to suffer again for man’s salvation, and to suffer gladly, if only other men do not sin.”

Hence, too, S. Augustine lays down the mode in which correction should be ministered: “The task of rebuking others’ sins is never to be undertaken, except when after self-examination our conscience assures us in the presence of God that we do it simply out of love of the offender. Love, and then say what you will. In no way will that which sounds like a curse be a curse indeed, if you recollect and feel throughout that your only wish in using the sword of the word of the Lord is to be the deliverer of your brother from the snares of sin.” If, however, any feeling of impatience or anger do assail us while we are administering our rebuke, let us, he says, bear in mind, “that we ought not to be rigid towards sinners, since we ourselves sin even while rebuking sin, inasmuch as we feel angry with the sinner more readily than we feel pity for his misery.” So too S. Basil (Reg. 51), urges that Superiors, and all who engage in the work of healing spiritual diseases, should take a lesson from physicians, and not be angry with the patient, but attack his disease.

Considering thyself, lest Thou also be tempted. S. Paul passes from the distributive plural to each individual—from brethren to thou. It would have been offensive to address the whole community, and to insinuate that it might as a whole be tempted and fall. His appeal was likely to be more effectual if addressed to any individual member, to remind him that God suffers those to fall who are hard towards others. Often, in the “Lives of the Fathers,” we read that older men, who had reproved with excessive severity their juniors for lust or other sin, were themselves smitten with the same passion, that they might learn to have mercy on others.

Cassian relates (de Instit. lib. v.) the saying of an abbot, that in three things he had judged his brethren, and through the same three things he had fallen, in order that the heathen might know themselves to be but men. Another of the Fathers was wont to exclaim, weeping, whenever he heard of any one falling: “He today, and I tomorrow.” In the same way, whenever we hear of the fall of any neighbour, let us each say: “I am a man, and nothing that is human is foreign to me.” As S. Gregory says (Hom. 34 in Evang.), “True righteousness is merciful, false is unforgiving.” Cassian relates (Collat. ii. c. 13) that a certain young monk, who was grievously assaulted by the desire of fornication, went to an older monk, who was uncouth and void of discretion, and who forthwith scolded him bitterly for his impure imaginings. On this the young monk lost heart, and determined to return to the world, and to marry. Abbot Apollo, however, perceived what was amiss, and with gentle words induced him to remain true to his vow. Then going to the cell of the older monk, he prayed that God would subject him to the same temptation as that of the younger man. Soon the prayer was granted, and the older man became as one distracted. On perceiving this, Apollo went to the old man, and told him that God had sent him that temptation that he might learn to feel for those who were younger, so as not to drive them to despair, as he had recently done in the case of the younger monk who came to him. Cf. Isa. 1. 4; xlii. 3; S. Matt. xii. 20.

S. Augustine (Serm. Dom. in Monte., lib. ii. c. 20) has these three excellent rules for the correction of our neighbour: “Great care must be taken that, when duty compels us to correct any one, we think—(1.) whether the fault is such as we have never committed in the past, nor are subject to at the moment. (2.) If we have been addicted to it, and now are not, let some thought of human weakness touch the mind, so that our reproaches may spring not from hatred but from pity; and, whether our efforts succeed in reforming the offender, or only avail to confirm him in evil (for the issue is uncertain), in either case we may be certain that our own eye is single. (3.) If, however, we find on reflection that we ourselves are guilty of the same fault as he whom we undertake to correct, let us not rebuke him nor scold him, but only mourn together, and invite him not to obey us, but to unite with us in guarding against the common enemy.”

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens: and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ.

Bear ye one another’s burdens.

• 1. Let each bear with the weaknesses of others. Do you bear another’s irritability and hasty words, and let him put up with your moroseness and sluggish temperament. Reflect that your neighbour’s failings are a greater trouble to himself than they are to you, and sympathise with him accordingly.

• 2. A better interpretation, and as being more general, is that burdens stands for whatever oppresses our neighbour—his illnesses, his cares, his vices—which call for compassion, help, and comfort. Be a foot to the lame, eye to the blind, staff to the aged. Cf. S. Augustine (Enarr. in Ps. 76.).

• 3. S. Basil’s interpretation (Reg. Brev. reg. 278) is still more to the point: “Sin is a burden pressing on the soul, nay, weighing it down, and dragging it down to hell.” As a beast sinks under a burden too heavy for him, so does the soul, burdened with sin, sink down to hell, without power of itself to raise itself. The fault of the preceding verse shows the nature of the burden here referred to, as does verse 5, following.

Although every sin is here called a burden, yet the Apostle specially refers to that of Judaism, which was called a yoke of bondage in chap. v. 1. Hence the exhortation, strictly speaking, is that if any one be found sinking under the burden of Judaising ceremonies, he is not to be harshly censured, but gently and sympathetically lifted up, and restored to the Church. Just as an ass that has fallen under its load is able to rise when the load is taken from its back, so the sinner is able to rise from his sin when another, by his gentleness and kindness, shares the burden with him, and so removes it from him. So says S. Basil: “We remove this burden one from another as often as we take the trouble to bring to a better mind those who have sinned and fallen.” Cf. Isa_53:4.

We bear our neighbour’s burden then—(1.) by sympathetic correction of him; (2.) by prayer that God will take it from him; (3.) and most completely by penances, when, after Christ’s example, we bear others’ sins by undergoing in expiation of them voluntary fasts and hair-shirts, and other modes of discipline.

• 1. Sin is the heaviest burden man can be called on to bear. S. Augustine (Hom. 22 in, Loco) says: “See the man laden with the burden of avarice; see him sweating under it, gasping, thirsty, and making his load the heavier. What do you look for, 0 miser, as the reward for this so great labour of yours? Why do you toil thus? What do you long for? Merely to satisfy your avarice. It can oppress you, but you cannot satisfy it. Is it by any chance not grievous? So much so that you have even lost the power of feeling? Is not avarice grievous? If not, why is it that it wakes you from sleep, and sometimes prevents you from sleeping at all? Perhaps too with it you have a second load of indolence, and so two most evil burdens pulling you in different directions. They do not give you the same orders. Indolence says, ‘Sleep;’ avarice says, ‘Rise.’ Indolence says, ‘Avoid the cold;’ avarice says, ‘Bear even the storms of the sea.’ The one says, ‘Rest;’ the other, so far from allowing rest, bids you cross the sea, and venture on unknown lands.” S. Augustine adds that Christ takes away this burden of lust, and puts in its place His own yoke of charity, which does not weigh down, but, like wings added to a bird, enables its possessor to rise.

• 2. It is the proper office of charity to teach us how to bear these burdens in turn, as S. Augustine points out from the beautiful image of stags (Hom. 21 in Eadem Verba) “It is the office of love to bear others’ burdens in turns. It has been said that stags when crossing water are accustomed to help each other, by those in front carrying the weight of the heads of those behind. The foremost stag, having, no one on whom to rest his head, is relieved in turns by some stag who is less fatigued. Bearing one another’s burdens, in this way they cross over the water, and so reach dry land once more. Perhaps Solomon was alluding to this peculiarity of stag life when he said, ‘Let the friendly stag, and the young of thy thanksgiving, speak with thee; for nothing is such a test of a friend as his willingness to bear his friend’s burdens.’ You will bear your friend’s bad temper by being not angry with him; and then when you are in your turn vexed, he will remain undisturbed. So too if one has mastered his own loquacity but not his obstinacy, while another on the other hand has overcome his own obstinacy but not his loquacity, let each bear the other’s burdens until both be healed. So too did S. Paul write: ‘Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others, adding: ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,’ meaning that, as the Word became incarnate and took our sins upon Him, so should we, like Him, bear the burdens of others. Let us then show to those who are in trouble what we should wish shown to us, if our positions were reversed. ‘I am made all things to all men, that I might gain all,’ says S. Paul. He was made all things to all men by regarding it as possible that he himself might have been in the position of the man he was anxious to set free.”Those who support the weaknesses and burdens of others are happily compared to bones by S. Basil, when explaining the words of Psa_34:20: “He keepeth all His bones:” “Just as bones are given us to support the weakness of the flesh, so in the Church there are some whose functions it is by their fortitude to strengthen the weaker brethren. And as the bones are fitly jointed, and formed into a unity by nerves and ligaments, so in the Church of God does charity bind all together into a perfect whole. It is of the solution of this continuity that the Prophet speaks when he cries, ‘All my bones are out of joint.’ And again it is of some internal weakness that he complains when he prays, ‘Heal me, 0 Lord; for my bones, are sore troubled.’ And it is of their preservation that he says, ‘Not one of them shall be broken.’ And when they are worthy to give honour and praise to Gad, he exclaims, ‘All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto Thee?’ “

• 3. From this it follows that those who feel for others’ woes are strong in virtue, like bones, and have, therefore, the tokens of a perfect Christian, while, on the contrary, those who are devoid of sympathy are self-convicted of some concealed viciousness of character. This is what Cassian says (Collat. xi. c. 11): “It is an evident mark of a soul not yet freed from the dregs of wickedness that it does not compassionate the sinner, but judges him harshly. For how can he be perfect who wants that which fulfils the law, which bears others’ burdens, which is not wrathful, is not puffed up, which thinketh no evil, which beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things? The righteous man hath regard for the life of his beasts, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Therefore it is certain that the monk who judges others harsher is himself under the power of the same sins as the man he condemns.” For other illustrations of this subject, see the notes to Num_11:12.

So you shall fulfil the law of Christ. The law of Christ is love. Cf. S. John xxiv. 35; xv. 12. The most difficult act of love, and the one most expected by Christ, is that we bear one another’s burdens. If we do this, we do our duty to our neighbour, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Again, we fulfil this law when we supply by charity others’ breaches of the law. If one breaks the law by the use of angry words, let another supply his defects, and keep the law in his stead, by patience and sympathy. Or, what is more to the immediate purpose of the Apostle, if any bear with a Judaiser and bring him to a better mind, he supplies what the latter lacks, and so fulfils the law of Christ. S. Bernard (de Præcept. et Dispens.) says that a man who has sinned and then repented, and prayed for forgiveness, fulfils the law which he had previously broken.

Gal 6:3  For if any man think himself to be some thing, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

If a man is proud of his superior spirituality, and despises his brother, and treats him harshly for sinning—especially for Judaising—he is nothing, and so he deceiveth himself.

Gal 6:4  But let every one prove his own work: and so he shall have glory in himself only and not in another.

But let everyone prove his own work. Let no one treat his neighbour as the Pharisee the publican, but rather take heed to his own works, and see whether the motive of them be pure. He will probably find many faults, and so will not think himself to be something. But even if he finds none, or very few, then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone—that is, in his own conscience—and this will be in the Lord, who gave him the power to do all his good deeds. He will not rejoice because he finds himself good by comparison with others, i.e., he will not have rejoicing in another, as S. Paul expresses it. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm.

S. Jerome says well: “The meaning is this: You who think yourself spiritual, and superior to another’s weakness, ought to consider, not his weakness, but your own strength; for he does not make you a perfect Christian by any inability of his to pass from Judaism to Christianity. If indeed your own conscience does not reprove you, you have whereof to glory in yourself, but not in comparison with him. An athlete is not necessarily strong because he has overcome a competitor who was feeble. If he really is strong, he rejoices in his strength, not in his rival’s weakness. Or we may understand the Apostle’s words as meaning: If a man on due consideration finds nothing to reproach himself with, he is not to go and trumpet the fact abroad, that he may win the applause of men, but keep his knowledge to himself, and say, ‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But the first interpretation is closer to the text.

Gal 6:5  For every one shall bear his own burden.

For every man shall bear his own burden. This seems primâ facie in conflict with ver. 2.  Jerome harmonises the two by referring ver. 2 to the present, and ver. 5 to the future, i.e., to the day of judgment. In the world we can help each other, but at the dread Tribunal neither Job, Daniel, nor Noah can free the souls of their own sons even, but each shall bear his own iniquities. Cf. Eze_14:14. Christ will examine us, not as to the doings of others, but as to our own. Let us prove our own doings, therefore, to make sure that they will be able to stand the last great trial.

The Protestants therefore are wrong in twisting these words into an argument against purgatory, and against the prayers we offer for souls there. The Apostle is not speaking of purgatory, but of the day of judgment, and then he says each shall bear his own burden. Before that day, however, we can, as required by the article of the Communion of Saints, help one another, whether those we help be living or in purgatory.

Observe that each of us, as he leaves this life, takes with him nothing but his own works. These works are, as it were, burdens that we carry as we travel towards the judgment-seat of Christ, which, when examined, will show whether our destiny is heaven or hell. As is the burden, so will the bearer be declared, and so will be the burden of reward or punishment.

Gal 6:6  And let him that is instructed in the word communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things.

Let him that is instructed in the word, &c. S. Ambrose understands this to refer to him who is taught through the word of a teacher or catechist.  S. Jerome agrees with him in referring the duty of communicating good to the catechumen, who is to assist his benefactor, the catechist. Marcion, according to S. Jerome, explained these words to order the former to communicate with the latter in prayer, holy living, and all good spiritual things.

The word rendered him that is instructed shows the antiquity of catechising. In the earliest days indeed it was regarded as impious to divulge Christian mysteries, and all teaching was accordingly oral.  S. Paul refers to the practice in 1 Cor. xiv. 19. The Apostles were followed by the Fathers, witness the catechetical lectures of S. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Liber de Catechizandis Rudibus of S. Augustine, and the great Catechetical Oration of Gregory of Nyssa. John Gerson, Chancellor of Paris, following this primitive custom, took delight in teaching the young and in hearing their confessions, as many men of religion, and many doctors, still do, to the great profit of the Church. While so many unlettered and ignorant men are in the Church, who do not know anything of the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, of the Incarnation, and of the redemption wrought by Christ, and who repeat their Creed like a parrot his “Good morning,” the work of catechising will never be obsolete. See the decree on this point drawn up by the Council of Trent. Session xxiv. c. 4 and 7.

John Gerson wrote a tract in praise of the custom and in defence of his practice. “It seems to many a work so unworthy of a doctor and a famous man of letters, or a dignitary of the Church, to catechise the young, that it has been made a reproach even against me that I have engaged in it. But they should be convicted of their error by the words of Christ, who said, ‘Suffer little children to come unto Me.’ 0 most holy Jesu, who after this can be ashamed of his condescension to children, when Thou, who art God, stoopest to receive their embraces? Give me a man who is spiritual, who seeks not his own but the things of Christ Jesus, who is filled with charity and humility, in whom is no place for vanity or covetousness, whose conversation is in heaven, who is as an angel of God, moved by neither blessing or cursing, whom no bodily delight can goad or entice, who dwells in the highest citadel of contemplation, and is learned in the science of souls. Such a man will understand what I mean. But people say that my position as Chancellor calls me to higher tasks. I do not know what can be a higher work than to snatch souls from hell, and to plant them and tend them as good plants in the fair garden of the Church. They retort that I should do this better by public preaching. This may indeed be a more imposing work, but in any judgment not so fruitful. The cask will long retain the perfume that it once acquired in its early days. Come then to me, children; I will teach you what is true: you shall repay me with your prayers. So shall we in turns rejoice our guardian angels.”

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived: God is not mocked.

Be not deceived. Do not, says Anselm, excuse yourselves from the duty of helping your catechists on the plea of poverty or family calls. This may deceive men; it cannot deceive God. So Jerome and Theophylact.

These words, however, may perhaps be better referred to ver. 4 Let every one prove his works honestly before God. In this let him not err. He may throw dust in the eyes of men; he will not elude the vigilance of God. The words that follow show that this clause is to be taken in the wider sense.
God is not mocked. The Greek word here is very vivid. It denotes the action of those who turn their back on a person, and then put out the tongue or point the finger at him.

Gal 6:8  For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.

For what things a man shall sow. Our life is the seed-time; the future life is the harvest. What we sow now we shall reap then in blessing or in cursing.

For he that soweth in his flesh of the flesh also shall reap corruption. He who does carnal works, and casts them as it were seed into his flesh, shall of this carnal seed reap death now and hereafter. The reference is chiefly to sins of gluttony and impurity. On the other hand, those who sow spiritual things strengthen the spirit within, and shall reap life everlasting.

But although the phrase is couched in general terms, the Apostle’s immediate reference is to the works of beneficence done by catechumens for their teachers. In either case the meaning is the same.

Gal 6:9  And in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing.

In due time we shall reap, not failing. The “due time” is the Day of Judgment. If we are not tired here of doing well, we shall attain that perfect peace where fatigue cannot come.

Gal 6:10  Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Let us work goodto all men. While the time of sowing lasts, let us do good to all—not only to catechists, but to all—even to the heathen, though specially to our fellow-Christians, who are members of the same household of God.  S. Jerome relates a beautiful example of this in the Apostle S. John: “When he was living at Ephesus in his extreme old age, and was with difficulty carried into the Church in the arms of his disciples, nor could find breath for many words, he would say nothing time after time but, ‘Little children, love one another.’ At length, his hearers being tired of hearing nothing else, asked him, ‘Master, why do you always repeat the same exhortation?’ He replied in a sentence worthy of him: ‘Because it is the Lord’s command; and if this be done all is done.’ ” To this Jerome adds: “Brief is the course of this world. Titus, the son of Vespasian, was wont to say at evening, if he could recollect no good action during the day, ‘I have lost a day.’ We do not reflect that we lose an hour, a day, a moment, time, eternity, whenever we speak an idle word, for which we shall have one day to give an account.”

Posidippus, and, following him, Blessed Thomas More and Giraldus (Syntag. 1), happily describe this opportunity (καιρός): “‘Who art thou?—’I am time, who destroys all things.’—’Why do you hasten by so quickly?’—’I am always in motion.’—’Why with wings on your feet?’—’I travel as does the light breeze.’—’Why carry razors in your hand?’—’To show that nothing is keener than I.’—’Why does a lock hang over your forehead?’—’That you may lay hold of me as I approach.’—’Why bald behind?’—’To show that when I have once flown by no one can bring me back, however much he may wish it.’ ”

Would that we would reflect how short is the time of our trial, how time flies never to return, how on each moment hangs eternity! How zealous should we then be in all good works. What we now neglect, we shall never regain; for in a short time all opportunity for living, acting, meriting, will vanish away. Cf. Rev. x. 6. When time shall be no more, eternity will be with us. “Short is the time given us in this present life. Unless we employ it on needful things, what shall we do when we pass into the next world?” (S. Chrysostom, Hom. 17 in Joan.). The pagan Seneca (Ep. i.) can say the same: “It is a disgrace to lose time through mere carelessness; and if you will notice it, you will see that a great part of life glides by with those who do evil, the greatest part with those who do nothing, and the whole with those who do anything else.”

S. Gregory Nazianzen says, in his Iambics, that life is a market in which we can procure all wealth, i.e., all virtues; but when it is closed, there remains no more chance of buying. The time for buying is short, nay, it is a single day, when compared with eternity.

Resources For Sunday Mass, September 5

Note: This post will contain resources for both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite. At present it contains very little relating to EF but I hope to have all resources up by Friday evening.

ORDINARY FORM: Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Readings From the NAB.

Pope John Paul II on Psalm 90.

Aquinas’ Catena Aurea on the Gospel, Luke 14:25-33.

Cornelius a Lapide on the Gospel, Luke 14:25-33.

Navarre Bible Commentary:

• First Reading/Commentary.
• Second Reading/Commentary.
• Gospel Reading/Commentary.

Haydock Bible Commentary. Text of the readings in the Douay Rheims translation followed by notes from the old Haydock Commentary.

Word Sunday:

• MP3 PODCAST In this week’s audio podcast, we ask the question: is the label “Christian” merely a descriptive label we wear on Sundays, or is it a sign to a deep commitment?
• FIRST READING The author of the Book of Wisdom asked a question. How can we know the will of God in a turbulent world? His answer: seek wisdom from God. Wisdom will show us divine guidance.
• PSALM Psalm 90 was a cry of one in depression. The author cried out to God for help when none seemed to be found. Yet, he did not give up on God, even in his time of hopelessness.
• SECOND READING In his personal letter to Philemon, St. Paul asked him to act like a Christian toward his slave, Onesimus. Yes, Philemon had rights as the owner of Onesimus, but he had a duty to treat him as a fellow believer.
• GOSPEL In Luke 14, Jesus addressed the cost of discipleship. One does not become a Christian on a whim. No, the decision of faith is one that must be taken seriously AND deliberately.
• CHILDREN’S READINGS In the story for the first reading, Joey and Crystal arrived in the desert to see the stars. They were in awe of the sight the Milky Way brings. This is the same awe we can feel before God’s creation. This is the kind of awe wisdom brings us. In the story for the gospel, Randy faced a hard choice: should he play soccer or stay with his Cub Scout Pack. He thought long and hard at his choice. This is the same attitude we should show in making a hard, even life changing decision. Faith demands this sort of attention, for it is truly life changing.

Dr Scott Hahn Podcast. Brief. Focuses on the Gospel and relates the other readings to it. Text also available.

Word On Fire. Podcast sermon by Father Robert Barron on the Cost of Discipleship.

Lector Notes. Brief, helpful notes providing historical and theological background.

Thoughts From the Early Church. Excerpt from John Cassian on Renunciation of possessions.

EXTRAORDINARY FORM: 15th Sunday After Pentecost. Please note that the Scripture readings in the EF differ from those in the OF.

Cornelius a Lapide on Galatians 5:25-26, 6:1-10.

Aquinas Catena Aurea on Luke 7:11-16.

Aquinas’ Catena Aurea on Luke 4:38-44

Ver 38. And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever: and they besought him for her.39. And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever: and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered to them.

AMBROSE; Luke having first introduced a man delivered from an evil spirit, goes on to relate the healing of a woman. For our Lord had come to heal each sex, and he ought first to be healed who was first created. Hence it is said, And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house.

CHRYS. For He honored His disciples by dwelling among them, and so making them the more zealous.

CYRIL; Now, see how Christ abides in the house of a poor man, suffering poverty of His own will for our sakes, that we might learn to visit the poor, and despise not the destitute and needy. It follows: And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever: and they besought him for her.

THEOPHYL; At one time at the request of others, at another of his own accord, our Savior cures the sick, showing that He is far aloof from the passions of sinners, and ever grants the prayer of the faithful, and what they in themselves little understand He either makes intelligible, or forgives their not understanding it. As, Who understands his errors? Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults.

CHRYS. Because Matthew is silent on the point of asking Him, he does not differ from Luke, or it matters not, for one Gospel had brevity in view, the other accurate research. It follows: And he stood over her, &c.

ORIGEN; Here Luke speaks figuratively, as of a command given to a sensible being, saying, that the fever was commanded, and neglected not the work of Him who commanded it. Hence it follows: And she arose, and ministered to them.

CHRYS. For since the disease was curable, He shows His power by the manner of the cure, doing what ere could never do. For after the allaying of the fever, the patient needs much time ere he be restored to his former health, but at this time all took place at once.

AMBROSE; But if we weigh these things with deeper thoughts, we shall consider the health of the mind as well as the body; that the mind which was assailed by the wiles of the devil may be released first. Eve was not a hungered before the serpent beguiled her, and therefore against the author of evil himself ought the medicine of salvation first to operate. Perhaps also in that woman as in a type our flesh languished under the various fevers of crimes, nor should I say that the fever of love was less than that of bodily heat.

THEOPHYL; For if we say that a man released from the devil represents morally the mind cleansed from unclean thoughts, consequently a woman vexed by fever, but cured at our Lord’s command, represents the flesh controlled by the rules of continence in the fury of its own lust.

CYRIL; Let us therefore receive Jesus. For when He has visited us, we carry Him in our heart and mind; He will then extinguish the flames of our unlicensed pleasures, and will make us whole, so that we minister to Him, that is, do things well-pleasing to Him.

Ver 40. Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.41. And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, You are Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

THEOPHYL. We must observe the zeal of the multitude, who after the sun had set bring their sick to Him, not deterred by the lateness of the day; as it is said, Now when the sun was setting, they brought their sick.

ORIGEN; It was ordered about sun-set, that is, when the day was gone, that they should bring them out, either because during the day they were employed about other things, or because they thought that it was not lawful to heal on the sabbath. But He healed them, as it follows, But he laid his hands upon every one of them.

CYRIL; But although as God He was able to drive away diseases by His word, He nevertheless touches them, showing that His flesh was powerful to apply remedies, since it was the flesh of God; for as fire, when applied to a brazen vessel, imprints on it the effect of its own heat, so the omnipotent Word of God, when He united to Himself in real assumption a living virgin temple, endued with understanding, implanted in it a participation of His own power. May He also touch us, nay rather may we touch Him, that He may deliver us from the infirmities of our souls as well as the assaults of the evil spirit and pride! For it follows, And devils also came out.

THEOPHYL; The devils confess the Son of God, and as it is afterwards said, they knew him to be Christ; for when the devil saw Him distressed by fasting, he perceived Him to be truly man, but when he prevailed not in his trial he doubted whether or not He were the Son of God, but now by the power of Christ’s miracles he either perceived or suspected Him to be the Son of God. He did not then persuade the Jews to crucify Him because he thought Him not to be Christ or the Son of God, but because he did not foresee that by this death he himself would be condemned. Of this mystery hidden from the world the Apostle says, that none of the princes of this world knew, for if they had known they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory.

CHRYS. But in what follows, And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak, mark the humility of Christ, who would not let the unclean spirits make Him manifest. For it was not fit that they should usurp the glory of the Apostolical office, nor did it become the mysteries of Christ to be made public by impure tongues.

THEOPHYL. Because, “praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner.” Or, because He did not wish to inflame the envy of the Jews by being praised of all.

THEOPHYL; But the Apostles themselves are commanded to be silent concerning Him, lest by proclaiming His divine Majesty, the dispensation of His Passion should be delayed.

Ver 42. And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came to him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.43. And he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.44. And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

CHRYS. When he had bestowed sufficient favor upon the people by miracles, it was necessary for Him to depart. For miracles are always thought greater when the worker is gone, since they themselves are then the more heeded, and have in their turn a voice; as it is said, But when it was as day, he departed, and went.

GREEK EX. He went also into the desert, as Mark says, and prayed; not that he needed prayer, but as an example to us of good works.

CHRYS. The Pharisees indeed, seeing how that the miracles themselves published His fame, were offended at His power. But the people hearing His words, assented and followed; as it is said, And the multitudes sought him, not indeed any of the chief priests, or scribes, but all those who had not been blackened with the dark stain of malice, and preserved their consciences unhurt.

GREEK EX. Now when Mark says that the Apostles came to him, saying, All seek you, but Luke, that the people came, there is no difference between them, for the people came to Him following in the footsteps of the Apostles. But the Lord rejoiced in being held back, yet bid them let Him go, that others also might partake of His teaching, as the time of His presence would not last long; as it follows, And he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, &c. Mark says, to this I came, showing the loftiness of His divine nature, and His voluntary emptying Himself of it. But Luke says, to this am I sent, showing His incarnation, and calling also the decree of the Father, a sending Him forth; and one simply says, To preach, the other added, the kingdom of God, which is Christ Himself.

CHRYS. Observe also, that He might, by abiding in the same place, have drawn all men over to Himself. He did not however do so, giving us an example to go about and seek those who are perishing, as the shepherd his lost sheep, and as the physician the sick. For by recovering one soul, we may be able to blot out a thousand sins. Hence also it follows, And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. He frequently indeed went to the synagogues, to show them that He was no deceiver. For if He were constantly to dwell in the desolate places, they would spread abroad that He was concealing Himself.

THEOPHYL; But if the sun-setting mystically expresses the death of our Lord, the returning day denotes His resurrection, (the light of which being made manifest, He is sought for by the multitudes of believers, and being found in the desert of the Gentiles He is held back by them, lest He should depart;) especially as this took place on the first day of the week, on which day the Resurrection was celebrated.