36.Having concluded our commentary on Jesus' discourse
to the Jews on the occasion of the miracle of the curing of the paralytic
at the pool of Bethesda, we follow in the steps of the Divine Master.On
Thursday the 23rd of April, that is after the Passover, accompanied by His
Divine Mother, His disciples, and some pious women, Jesus left the home of
Lazarus and Martha in Bethany for Galilee, crossing the northern part of
Judea through Shilo; and once in Samaria He passed through Sichem, and
from there to Abel-Mehola.Now within the territory of Decapolis, He
crossed this region by the route that passes through Bethsan as far as
Beth Yerah.Once in Galilee, skirting the western side of the Lake, He
reached Capharnaum on the 30th of April.
37.The Evangelists Saint Matthew (XII, 1-8), Saint Mark
(II, 23-28) and Saint Luke (VI, 1-5) refer to the episode of the spikes of
grain torn off and eaten by the disciples onthe Sabbath, which event we
affirm to have occurred on the outskirts of Capharnaum on the 2nd of May
in the year 32.Saint Luke says that this took place "on
the second first Sabbath" which we interpret to have been the
first Sabbath of the second Jewish month, and this agrees with the
calculations of our Gospel chronology, since the 2nd of May in the year 32
was the first Sabbath of the second Jewish month.The three Evangelists
agree to a large extent in their narration of the event, and also
complement one another.We fix our attention on the reply given by Jesus to
the pharisees when they censured the disciples for having satisfied their
hunger by eating grains of the spikes plucked on the Sabbath, which was
considered by those pharisees as unlawful since, given their arbitrary and
small-minded interpretation of the Law, they placed it on the same level
as the work of harvesting.Jesus teaches magisterially, therefore, the true
interpretation of the Law, pointing to the mercy implied in it and taught
also in Holy Scripture, as in the case of David (I Kings XXI, 4), who out
of extreme necessity ate of the loaves of proposition, without thereby
profaning them, when only the priests were allowed to eat of them; and
also showing how these, on many occasions, killed victims destined for
sacrifice in the Temple on the Sabbath, without sinning
thereby.Furthermore, to show them the true spirit of the Law, He says to
them, quoting the prophet Osee (VI, 6): "And
if you knew what meaneth: I will have merry, and not sacrifice: you would
never have condemned the innocent" (Matthew XII, 7), that is,
what Christ wished of them was greater compassion for the sick and needy,
and not that they condemn works of mercy performed on the Sabbath.He
reproached them also for their pharisaical way of living, full of
superficial observances and sacrifices self-imposed through vainglory,
and, consequently, contrary to the love of God.At the same time that He
justified the innocence of His disciples, who for having plucked some
spikes of grain had not broken the Sabbath law, He also tells the
pharisees that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath,
and that the Son of Man was Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew XII, 8; Mark II,
27-28; Luke VI, 5).By all of which He wished to show them that the law of
the Sabbath was given for the greater spiritual as well as corporal
benefit of man.Which is to say, in order that he dedicate himself more
particularly to God on this day, without the impediment of temporal
occupations, all of which redounds as well to the relief of the body.And
that man was subject to the Sabbath law as long as there were no just
reasons for not complying with it.Also that He, as Supreme Lawgiver, had
full power to dispense from, or change, the Sabbath law.
38.The same three Evangelists (Matthew XII, 9-14; Mark
III, 1-6; Luke VI, 6-11) go on to speak of how Jesus, in a synagogue, on
the Sabbath, cured a man who had a withered hand.And from Saint Luke (VI,
6) we know it was the Sabbath after the incident of the spikes of
grain.Hence we affirm that this miracle took place on the 9th of May in
Capharnaum.Coordinating the three Gospel texts we see how the wickedness
of the pharisees was wisely parried by Christ; since they, with thedesire
to make Him fall into the trap in order afterwards to condemn Him, asked
Him in the presence of the sick man and those assembled if it were lawful
to heal on the Sabbath (Matthew XII, 10), and thus not only to cause an
argument, but also to provoke the Divine Master to heal the sick man, and
so denounce Him later.But Jesus, without replying immediately, let them
see their evil intentions by asking them if it were lawful to do good or
evil on the Sabbath day, to save life or to take it (Mark III, 4; Luke VI,
9).He thus also made them understand that what they were seeking was a
pretext to kill Him, even though it were on the Sabbath.This question of
Jesus placed the pharisees in an awkward situation before all, since if
they said that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, they would support
His divine conduct.But if they said the contrary, they would lose
prestige, since to do good is always pleasing to God.Thus confused, they
were unable to reply to Him.But in order that all present should better
understand that it was lawful to cure on the Sabbath, Jesus presented them
the example of the sheep that falls into the pit on the Sabbath.And He
said to them decisively: "Therefore
it is lawful to do a good deed on the Sabbath days", after which
He cured the sick man.Disarmed by Jesus' course of action, full of fury,
the pharisees left the synagogue and gathered in council with the
Herodians to plot His death.The term "Herodians"
referred to in the Gospel designates the political and non-religious sect
of the Jews which supported the dynasty of Herod, was in secret opposition
to the Roman yoke, and an open enemy of Christ.
39.Saint Matthew and Saint Mark continue the above
Gospel narrative.The former says: "But
Jesus knowing it, retired from thence" (Matthew XII, 15); which
is to say that knowing of the evil intentions of the pharisees, He left
Capharnaum.Saint Mark says: "But
Jesus retired with His disciples to sea" (Mark III, 7a).Both
Evangelists agree in that the multitude followed when He left the
synagogue (Matthew, XII 15; Mark II, 7b--8).Saint Matthew, referring to
the crowds, adds: "And He charged them that they should not make Him known"
(Matthew XII, 16), and Saint Mark (III, 7b-8) specifies the origin of many
of them.Harmonizing the following Gospel texts correctly (Matthew XII, 15;
Mark III, 10), we understand also that all the sick who approached Jesus
with faith were cured, and that these were many.Saint Mark says that the
unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out,
saying that He was the Son of God; and that He charged them to keep silent
so as not to make Him known (Mark III, 11-12).As we know, what they
intended was to find out from Jesus if He was the Son of God.On the other
hand, Saint Matthew quotes the text of Isaias (XLII, 1--4): "That
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the prophet, saying:
Behold My Servant Whom I have chosen, My beloved in Whom My Soul hath been
well pleased.I will put My spirit upon Him: and He shall shew judgement to
the Gentiles.He shall not contend nor cry out: neither shall any man hear
His voice in the streets.The bruised reed He shall not break: and smoking
flax He shall not extinguish: till He send forth judgement unto
victory.And inHis name the Gentiles shall hope" (Matthew XII,
17-21).The Prophet Isaias speaks of Jesus as the Chosen One of God, and
foretells, among other things, the present event of Jesus' withdrawal from
the public to avoid confrontation with the pharisees in
Capharnaum.Besides, he exalts Jesus' infinite patience with His enemies in
permitting them to live with the elect even to the day of His Second
Coming, now victorious in the Final Judgement.Up to the last day He will
permit the cockle which is the "bruised
reed" and the "smoking
flax", to grow alongside the wheat, which is those who believe in
His Name.Saint Mark (III, 9) completes the narrative saying that Jesus
commanded His disciples to have a boat prepared, lest the throng of people
press upon Him.
40.The Evangelists Saint Matthew (X, 1-4), Saint Mark
(III, 13-19) and Saint Luke (VI, 12-16) refer to the election of the
twelve Apostles.Harmonizing and interpreting these texts, we present the
following teaching.Once Jesus went aboard the boat which, as we said
beforehand, He had ordered His disciples to prepare, He moved away from
the throng of people that followed Him; and after navigating a little
towards the south of the Lake of Genesareth, He disembarked with those who
accompanied Him, and then made for a mountain, not far from Capharnaum,
known today in Galilee as the Mount of the Beatitudes.From thence He
ordered many others of His disciples to be called, those who at that
moment were not accompanying Him.It is to this that Saint Mark refers when
he says: "And going up into a
mountain, He called unto Him those whom He wished: and they came to
Him" (Mark III, 13).He remained in their company, removed from
the crowds, from the evening of the 9th of May until after the 14th of the
same month in the year 32, on which latter date there took place the
election of the twelve Apostles.Saint Luke, referring to those days during
which Jesus lived alone with His disciples, adds: "And
it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray:
and He passed the whole night in the prayer of God" (Luke VI,
12).That is to say, that during the retreat, on the night of the 13th,
which preceded the election of the Apostles, He went off alone to a place
even more withdrawn, and passed it in prayer, as He was accustomed to do
particularly before great events.The same Evangelist (Luke VI, 13)
continues, saying that when day was come he called His disciples, that is,
He once more joined them, and chose twelve, whom He named Apostles.Saint
Mark (III, 14-15) adds that He chose twelve so that they might be with Him
and that He might send them to preach giving them power to cure the sick
and to cast out devils.Saint Matthew gives another detail about this
election: "And having called
His twelve disciples together, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to
cast them out and to heal all manner of diseases and all manner of
infirmities" (X, 1).That is, having chosen the Apostles, He
rejoined them in the presence of the rest of the disciples, and instituted
the Apostolic College with Peter as head, appointing the twelve Apostles
chief columns of His Church, and giving them at that moment the power to
cast out evil spirits, to comfort souls in their spiritual afflictions,as
well as to heal bodily sufferings and illnesses.Finally, the three
Evangelists mentioned (Matthew X, 2-4; Mark III, 16-19; Luke VI, 14-16)
give the names of the twelve Apostles.But Saint Mark's list, which we now
present, is that which corresponds to the order in which they were chosen:
Peter, James the Great, John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James the Less, Judas Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean and Judas
Iscariot.By the election of the twelve Apostles, Jesus once and for all
dispensed with the hierarchy of the Jewish Church.
41.The Evangelist Saint Luke now continues the Gospel
narrative for us with the following text: "And
coming down with them, He stood in a plain place: and the company of His
disciples and a very great multitude of people from all Judea and
Jerusalem and the sea coast, both of Tyre and Sidon, who were come to hear
Him and to be healed of their diseases.And they that were troubled with
unclean spirits were cured.And all the multitude sought to touch Him: for
virtue went out from Him and healed all" (Luke VI, 17-19).Saint
Matthew, too, gives us an idea of the great crowds gathered this occasion,
as well as of the many miracles performed by Christ, saying: "And
His fame went throughout all Syria: and they presented to Him all the sick
that were taken with divers diseases and torments and such as were
possessed by devils and lunatics and those that had the palsy: and He
cured them.And much people followed Him from Galilee and from Decapolis
and from Jerusalem and from Judea and from beyond the Jordan"
(Matthew IV, 24 -25).We enrich and clarify the above mentioned texts,
teaching that the day following the election of the Apostles, that is, the
15th of May in the year 32, in the early hours of the morning, Jesus
descended the Mount in the company of the Apostles and the rest of the
disciples, to a spot of level ground near the convent of His Divine Mother
and the other pious women.Here there awaited Him a great multitude of
people, who had not disturbed the solitude of His retreat during the days
He was the Mount, thanks to the fact that the Divine Mary, by Jesus'
express desire, had attended to them in the meantime, and, besides, had
taken care of the sick, and filled all with hope and consolation.After
Jesus had drawn near to them and healed all the sick, He prepared Himself
in a most special way to teach them.To this end He considered it
convenient to ascend the Mount of Beatitudes once more, and all
accompanied Him.That is why Saint Matthew, before commencing the narrative
of this Sermon, goes to say: "And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain.And when He
was set down His disciples came unto Him.And opening His mouth, He taught
them saying..." (Matthew V, 1-2).Saint Luke prefaces the same
Sermon with the following words: "And
He, lifting up His eyes His disciples, said..."(Luke VI, 20),
from which we interpret that once Jesus had ascended the Mount of
Beatitudes, He sat in a place visible to all, close to the edge of the
slope, and that beside Him sat His Divine Mother.After seeing the Apostles
and other disciples standing either side, He commenced the transcendental
Sermon, in which He solemnly promulgated the Evangelical Law.The immense
audience that heard His Divine Word accommodated itself on theslopes of
the majestic cathedral.
42.The so-called Sermon the Mount, given the 15th of
May in the year 32, is the compendium of all Gospel teaching: With the
eight Beatitudes Jesus first announces of what fundamentally consists the
Kingdom of God promised to the victorious, since in these Beatitudes there
is admirably condensed the grandeurs of Eternal Happiness, where we shall
reign forever with Christ as reward for our triumph over the enemies of
the soul, and enjoy eternally the beatific vision promised to the sons of
God, forever inundated with divine consolation, and our hunger and thirst
for holiness more than satisfied by our having obtained mercy once and for
all.Jesus then promulgates the Evangelical Law, thereby completing and
perfecting the Law of Moses, from which He removes certain concessions
permitted on account of the hardness of heart of the Jewish People, and
which He purifies of pharisaical interpretations, elevating it to the
highest degree of excellence.With the promulgation of this new Law, Christ
most lovingly commands us to fulfil its precepts in order to attain
Eternal Happiness and besides, already in this valley of tears, through
Grace to be partakers of heavenly glory in the measure here
possible.Finally Jesus amplifies to an extraordinary degree the content of
the Beatitudes and of the Law with maxims, in some of which He commands us
to fulfil the Law to the extent that its precepts demand, as well as to
give testimony of the truth, and in others exhorts us to greater
perfection.Saint Matthew (V, 3-12), in language profound and sublime, is
the only Evangelist who transmits to us the eight Beatitudes of the Sermon
the Mount.The other who mentions them is Saint Luke (VI, 20-23), but he
mentions only four, and does so in a form more understandable to all, Jews
and Gentiles alike.This Evangelist includes also the respective
maledictions for those who contravene them (Luke VI, 25-26).With respect
to the teachings the Law and the other maxims given by Jesus this
memorable day, Saint Matthew and Saint Luke present them in the following
texts: Matthew V, 13-48; VI, 1-34; VII, 1-27; Luke VI, 27-49.Jesus
frequently repeated these same teachings during His lifetime, on this same
Mount as well as in many other places, as the Evangelist make clear when
narrating other sermons given by Him on different occasions treating the
same material, as we shall proceed to mention in pages to come.
43.We shall now discuss some of the maxims pronounced
in the Sermon the Mount.Addressing more particularly the Apostles, with
respect above all to their future mission as priests, Jesus says to them: "You
are the salt of the earth.But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall
it be salted?It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out and to be
trodden by men" (Matthew V, 13).With this He announces the
mission of the Priest, which is to season souls supernaturally so that
they relish the life of Grace and spread abroad the Divine savour and
odour of virtue, and besides to preserve them from vice, urging them daily
to greater holiness. That is why the priest's life must ever be permeated
by Christ, from Whom comes the savour of the salt; for if the priest
becomes worldly, he loses this supernatural salt, which he will find
difficult to recover, and then, instead of being a minister of salvation,
he will be the cause of perdition for many, and as a result he will find
himself rejected by God and despised by men.
44.Referring principally to the Apostles, Jesus also
says to them that they are the light of the world, and that this light
must not be hidden, but rather must it shine before men so that, seeing
their good works, they give glory to God (Matthew V, 14-16).From the above
mentioned Gospel texts we select the following teaching: Being infinite
clarity, Christ called Himself the Light of the world (John VIII, 12); and
He also called His Apostles the same, they who, as future priests, would
be new Christs par excellence, since the priest, by ordination, receives
in his mystical heart the Light in form of a Cross,- the Soul of Christ,-
in virtue of which the light of salvation is treasured by him, as
minister, every time he celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.And it
is communicated by him as well to men, above all by means of the
Sacraments.For by Baptism the priest engenders new sons of the Light, and
in Confirmation he enlightens them further.In Confession he ransoms them
from darkness, converting them once more into sons of the Light.In Holy
Communion he gives them as sustenance the Light itself.In Extreme Unction
he strengthens them for their entry into the Kingdom of Light.Through Holy
Orders he furnishes those called to this Sacrament with capacity to be
transmitters of the Light.And in Matrimony he sanctifies the union that is
to multiply subjects capable of the Light.Besides, the priest has the
sacred duty to spread and defend the Light of Truth by preaching, as well
as publicly to condemn errors.Consequently, the Light of salvation - must
shine steadfast in the world through the heroic exercise of the priestly
ministry, so that men, vivified by the Light of Truth, glorify God.Since,
if the priest obscures the clarity of the Light by bad use of his
ministry, he makes way for darkness.
45.The lay faithful, too, must be salt of the earth and
light of the world.Their common priesthood, impressed at Baptism, obliges
them seriously to be so, since every son of the Church, as a new Christ,
ought to salify the insipid by giving testimony of the Light with his
apostolate and the example of his virtues.
46.With respect to the fulfillment of the Law of God,
Jesus says in the Sermon the Mount: "Do
not think that I am come to destroy the Law or the prophets.I am not come
to destroy but to fullfil.For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall not pass of the Law, till all be
fulfilled" (Matthew V, 17-18).In order better to understand this
teaching, within positive Divine Law we distinguish:
a) The
immutable Fundamental Law,- the Decalogue -, directly promulgated by God
Himself.
b) The Law of Moses,- the imperfect application of the
Decalogue -, which contains provisional precepts, as for example those
governing worship and the exercise of justice, repealed by Christ; as well
as others of a permanent character.
c) The Evangelical Law,- promulgated directly by Christ -, the most perfect applications of the Commandments of the Decalogue, and consequently binding forever in its entirety.
When Jesus affirms that "till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall not pass
of the Law, till all be fulfilled", He teaches us that the
Commandments of the Decalogue, as well as the permanent precepts of the
Law of Moses, and the Evangelical Law, will continue to be imposed men
until there be exterminated forever the power of Satan over the earth and,
in general, over the universe, the latter represented by the word "heaven"in the Gospel text.This will occur at the advent
of the Messianic Kingdom, in which there will exist a new heaven and a new
earth with most perfect charity and order, without need of any positive
law.As we see, the Divine Law of the Decalogue was first applied in an
imperfect way by Moses, corresponding to a period of imperfect economy of
grace, and it was Christ Who applied it in all its perfection; hence
Christ did not repeal the Law but gave it plenitude, elevating it to the
perfection that had been assigned to it by God, its Author.From our
teaching above it follows that all the applicable precepts of the
Commandments, both those referring to the Law of Moses, as well as to the
Evangelical Law, are contained explicitly or implicitly in the
Decalogue.Holy Mother Church, without changing the contents of the Ten
Commandments, has adapted their wording to the Evangelical Law.
47.Continuing our interpretation of the Sermon the
Mount we teach that once Jesus had alluded to the Old Law and to its
perfect application in the evangelical era, He recited the Commandments of
the Decalogue in the presence of all, as is made clear by the following
text of Saint Matthew: "He
therefore that shall break one of these least Commandments and shall so
teach men shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.But he that
shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.For
I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the
pharisees, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven"(Matthew
V, 19-20).Christ demands the observance of the Decalogue in its entirety,
that is, of all the Commandments, even in the least detail, thus putting
an end to the partial observance of these percepts by many of the Jews,
for many limited themselves to the public fulfillment of the letter of the
Law, but despised its spirit.The expression "He...shall
be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven" means that he will not
enter the Kingdom of Heaven, since with these words Christ refers to those
who seriously spurn any of the Commandments.
48.Another of the themes of the Sermon the Mount which
calls for clarification is that related to the Our Father.However, let us
first set forth the true doctrinal meaning of the following words
expounded by Jesus as an introduction to the teaching of this prayer par
excellence: "But thou when thou
shalt pray, enter into thy chamber and, having shut the door, pray to thy
Father in secret: and thy Father Who seeth in secret will repay thee"
(Matthew VI, 6).With this He does not disapprove of public prayer in
church, since common petition is the most efficacious, but teaches us that
in prayer we must proceed with the greatest rectitude of intention,
considering that we are in the presence of God our Father, to Whom we must
humbly direct our petition, with recollection and with confidence; for
true prayer is that which breaks forth from the depths of our hearts, and
which is not mere display of words devoid of spirit.That is why Jesus
adds: "And when you are
praying, speak not much, as the heathens.For they think that in their much
speaking they may be heard" (Matthew VI, 7).He thus condemns the
verbosity proper to the Gentiles; not however prolonged prayer, when this
possesses the conditions of true prayer, for it is very necessary.This
Jesus Himself teaches us other occasions, as for example in the Gospel of
Saint Luke: "We ought always to
pray and not to faint" (Luke XVIII, 1), for the Gentiles offer
their prayers before their idols with many words and extravagant gestures,
because their hearts lack the filial confidence felt by one who prays to
the true God Who, as Father, is aware of our needs, although He wishes
that we implore Him continually.Therefore Jesus also says: "Be
not you therefore like to them: for your Father knoweth what is needful
for you, before you ask Him"(Matthew VI, 8).Crowning His teaching
how to pray, Jesus, in the very Sermon the Mount itself, once more recited
the Our Father in public to show us that this has to be our fundamental
prayer (Matthew VI, 9-13).only two Evangelists relate the Our Father: one
is Saint Luke (XI, 2-4), who does so incompletely, although Jesus had
already taught it in full to four of His disciples at the start of His
public life, as we already have made clear in the previous chapter.The
other Evangelist is Saint Matthew, who sets it forth whole and entire in
the Sermon the Mount (Matthew VI, 9- 13).Regarding this text of the Our
Father in the Vulgate, we make due clarification of the following phrase: "Panem
nostrum supersubstialem da nobis hodie","give
us this day our supersubstantial bread" (Matthew VI, 11).The
expression "supersubstantial
bread" has the same meaning as Saint Luke's: "Our
daily bread" (Luke XI, 3); for the word "supersubstantial" is due to an overliteral translation of
the Greek word "Epiousios",
which signifies sufficient for every day or daily.Therefore what we
beseech God in this verse of the Our Father is that each day we lack
neither the graces necessary for salvation, nor the Eucharistic food for
the nourishment of our soul, nor material bread for our bodily sustenance.
49.Now we select other verses of the Sermon the Mount
for greater clarification.Jesus says: "The
light of thybody is thy eye.If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be
lightsome.But if thy eye be evil, thy eye be evil, thy whole body shall be
darkness: the darkness itself how great shall it be?"(Matthew VI,
22-23).With the word "eye"
Jesus alludes to the intention in our actions.If our intention is upright,
through Grace we shall be a shining example of virtue.However, if our
intention is evil, there will be no place for Grace in us, and our works
will be perverse.The word "lightsome"
indicates the opportunities which God gives men to lead them to
salvation.If we reject them in order to give free rein to the pleasures of
the world, or worse still, if we use them to combat good, we submerge
ourselves in an abyss of darkness, since for greater grace God demands
greater correspondence, and if we do not act thus, greater will be our
disgrace.
50.Having finished our brief commentary on the Sermon
the Mount, we continue the historical narrative of the Gospel, taking
Saint Matthew as the starting point: "And
it came to pass when Jesus had fully ended these words, the people were in
admiration at His doctrine.For He was teaching them as one having power:
and not as the scribes and pharisees" (Matthew VII, 28-29).The
Evangelist continues: "And when
He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him"
(Matthew VIII, 1).Saint Luke also relates: "And
when He had finished all His words in the hearing of the people, He,
entered into Capharnaum" (Luke VII, 1), coinciding with Saint
Matthew, who after the Sermon the Mount also says that Jesus entered
Capharnaum (Matthew VIII, 5).The miracle of the curing of the leper, which
this latter Evangelist places between the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus'
entry into Capharnaum, did not take place at that particular time, but a
previous occasion, as we have already related in Chapter XXX.
51.Saint Matthew (VIII, 5-13) and Saint Luke (VII, 2-
10) narrate the healing of the centurion's servant when Jesus, after the
Sermon on the Mount, had entered Capharnaum, and which we affirm was
Friday the 15th of May in the year 32.The Evangelists mutually complement
each other in the narrative, although they apparently differ in some
aspects.We arrange and clarify the events in accordance with our
interpretation: The centurion's servant being seriously ill (Luke VII, 2),
the former sends some elders of the Jews to Jesus, beseeching Him through
them that He deign to cure his servant (Luke VII, 3).When they came to
Jesus they urged Him, saying besides: "He
is worthy that Thou shouldest do this for him.For he loveth our nation;
and he hath built us a synagogue" (Luke VII, 4-5).Jesus went with
them towards the sick man's house and, when not far away, some of the
centurion's friends approached and entreated Him anew to come and heal the
servant (Luke VII, 6).The centurion, feeling himself unworthy to come into
His presence, was awaiting Jesus at the door of his home.When he saw Him
draw near he went towards Him and bended knee said: "Lord,
my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy and is grievously
tormented" (Matthew VII, 6).To which Jesus replied, "I
will come and heal him" (Matthew VIII, 7).The centurion,however,
replied <
52.In her revelations, the eminent Doctor Saint Anne
Catherine Emmerich says that the centurion's name was Cornelius, and this
has given us cause to examine the Acts of the Apostles (Chapters X and
XI), which mention a centurion of the same name.It is evident in effect
that they refer to the same person, due to the coincidence of unmistakable
characteristics.The aforementioned sacred text relates that the centurion
was in Caesarea Maritime.We affirm that he moved there, from Capharnaum,
after Christ cursed the latter town in the year 33.Furthermore, from the
Acts of the Apostles it is clear that the centurion Cornelius referred to
was a Gentile, already baptized and eminently religious, since the sacred
text says that he was "a
religious man, and fearing God with all his house, giving much alms to the
people and always praying to God", (Acts X, 2).Further probing
the text mentioned, we teach that Cornelius, seeing the attitude of many
of the Christianized Jews against the evangelization of the Gentiles, and
in the face of Saint Peter's indecision, vehemently implored God that the
difficulties impeding the universal preaching of the Gospelcease.While
praying, there appeared to him an Angel Who, as can be discerned from the
Acts of the Apostles (X, 4) was Christ Himself, since he calls Him "Lord",
Who commanded him to invite the Apostle Saint Peter to his house.Thanks to
Cornelius' prayers, the Lord also made the first Pope understand more
clearly that His Most Precious Blood had been shed the Cross not only for
the Jews, but also for the Gentiles.This He first shows by way of a
symbolic vision (Acts X, 11-16), in which He commands him to kill and eat
of animals,- shown him in the vision -, animals declared unclean by the
Law.As Saint Peter refused to do so, the Lord said to him: "That
which God hath cleaned, do not thou call common" (Acts X, 15).God
manifests to Peter also His most vehement desire for the evangelization of
the Gentiles with the descent of the Holy Ghost the Christians converted
from heathendom assembled in Cornelius' house, in the presence of the
first Pope who, at such a transcendental event, exclaims: "Can
any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received
the Holy Ghost, as well as we?" (Acts X, 47).With the expression "as well as we", Saint Peter makes clear that the grace of
Confirmation which the Apostles, already baptized, received in the Jewish
Pentecost in Jerusalem, was received also by Cornelius and his household
in the Gentile Pentecost that took place in Cornelius' home; and that in
both cases the grace of Confirmation was conferred without the external
signs proper to the Sacrament.Besides, in the above words, the first Pope
refers to the urgent need for the evangelization of the Gentiles, but not
for that of the centurion Cornelius nor of his relatives and intimate
friends upon whom the Holy Ghost had descended, they having already been
baptized some time before and, therefore, as seen by the words which Saint
Peter addresses to them in the Acts of the Apostles, already evangelized
(Acts X, 36-39).We teach as well that Saint Peter, in this Papal visit to
Cornelius, ordained him priest, along with others, and moreover
consecrated him bishop, the Centurion thereby becoming the first episcopal
authority elected among the Gentiles, with See at Caesarea Maritime.We
read in the Acts of the Apostles too, that Saint Peter commanded "them
to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts X,
48), words by which is indicated that the first Pope, moved by an ardent
zeal, promulgated the Apostolic Law of the evangelization of the Gentiles,
and charged Bishop Cornelius and the new priests to devote themselves
fully to this important mission.They, that same day, baptized a number of
Gentiles who had visited the house learning of Peter's presence and of the
prodigy of this second Pentecost.In the Acts of the Apostles it can be
seen that the official evangelization of the Gentile world began from this
mandate of Saint Peter (Acts XI, 1).We clarify the true meaning of the
Angel's words to Cornelius when He commanded him to call Saint Peter to
his house: "Who shall speak to
thee words whereby thou shalt be saved, and all thy house" (Acts
XI, 14).That is, that by the papal decree of the evangelization of the
Gentiles, the latter, who were represented in Cornelius and his family,
would be saved.It is admirable how Christ, on the occasion of the healing
of the centurion's servant in Capharnaum mysteriously foretold years
beforehand thefuture mission of the evangelization of the Gentiles which
Cornelius would accomplish, when He said: "Amen
I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.And I say unto you
that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven: But the children of
the Kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness.There, shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew VIII, 10-12).It is said
in the Acts of the Apostles too (X, 1) that Cornelius was centurion of a
company called Italica, whereby we affirm that he was born in the ancient
Roman town of that name, situated close to Seville in Spain, the ruins of
which may still be seen.
53.After this digression, in which we have identified
the Centurion of Capharnaum as the Centurion Cornelius of the Acts of the
Apostles, we resume our Gospel narrative with the following text of Saint
Luke, which we affirm relates Jesus' journey to the Temple for the feast
of Pentecost: "And it came to
pass, when the days of His assumption were accomplishing, that He
steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke IX,
51).Concerning these mysterious words we teach that each time Jesus
decided to go to Jerusalem His Soul was overwhelmed by immense sorrow and
joy at the same time, for in that city He was to suffer, in the last year
of His public life, a most bloody Passion and Death, through which He
would make reparation to the Father and redeem mankind.However, as He had
been seriously threatened with death in Jerusalem during the last
Passover, at the thought of going there again for the feast of Pentecost,
His sorrow and joy were such that this journey appeared to Him more
especially as if it were already the way to His supreme immolation the
Cross, and this is the meaning of the word "assumption".Jesus
left Capharnaum the 16th of May in the year 32, accompanied by His Divine
Mother, the Apostles, a number of His disciples, as also some holy women
and other followers.His itinerary He passed along the western shore of the
Lake, and leaving Mount Thabor to one side, entered the town of Naim,
where Sunday the 17th of May He resuscitated Martial, the son of the widow
Maroni, a miracle recounted by Saint Luke (VII, 11-17).Jesus remained in
the town until the 24th of the same month accomplishing a great apostolate
and baptizing many.
54.After leaving Naim He continued the journey
southward, and before reaching a town which we affirm to have been the
ancient Samaria or Sebaste, sent a messenger ahead of Him to obtain
lodgings.But Jesus was not received by the Samaritans, ill-disposed
because His journey was to Jerusalem.This event, interpreted by us, is
referred to by Saint Luke (IX, 52-53), who also mentions the anger of
James and John at the Samaritans as well as their desire for vengeance
they said: "Lord, wilt Thou
that we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them?";
words which prove the power the Apostles possessed to do extraordinary
things in the name of Jesus.He, however, reproached them on account of
their bad disposition, since they were forgetful of the love which they
owe inclusivelyto their enemies (Luke IX, 54-56) receiving no welcome in
Samaria, they all went to Sichem.That is why the Evangelist says: "And
they went into another town."
55.His mission here concluded, Jesus resumed His
journey to Jerusalem, passing through the towns of Gophna and Bethel
announcing the Kingdom of God wherever He went.During this journey there
took place the episode of the three candidates whose vocation Jesus put to
the test, as the Evangelist Saint Matthew (VIII, 19-22) tells us,
referring to two of them, as likewise the Evangelist Saint Luke (IX,
57-62), who confirms the two mentioned by Saint Matthew and speaks also of
a third.We present here the text of Saint Luke: "And
it came to pass, as they walked in the way, that a certain man said to
Him: I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.Jesus said to him: foxes
have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but Son of Man hath not where
to lay His head.But He said to another: Follow Me.And he said: Lord,
suffer me first to go and to bury my father.And Jesus said to him: Let the
dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God.And
another said: I will follow Thee, Lord; but let me first take my leave of
them that are at my house.Jesus said to him: No man putting his hand to
the plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God" (Luke
IX, 57-62).
56.On the 30th of May Jesus, with those accompanying
Him, reached Bethany, the home town of Lazarus and Martha, and as it
happened to be the Sabbath, He preached in the synagogue.Accompanied by
His Apostles, He visited the Temple daily, where He taught with authority
regardless of human respect, despite all the obstacles put in His way by
the scribes and pharisees,- who, however, dared not lay hands Him.During
this visit to Jerusalem many who believed in Jesus because of the moral
force of His teaching and because of His miracles were baptized by the
Apostles in the Cedron Brook.
57.Once they had fulfilled the precept of the Jewish
Pentecost in the Temple, which that year 32 was celebrated Friday the 5th
of June, the Divine Master, His Most Holy Mother, the Apostles and the
other companions, including Lazarus and Martha, left Bethany that same
day, and passed through the heart of the territory of Samaria.After
reaching Galilee, and when passing through the town of Magdala, Jesus was
invited by a pharisee named Simon to eat in his home (Luke VII, 36), where
took place the episode of the conversion of Mary Magdalen, sister of
Lazarus and Martha, related by Saint Luke (VII, 37-50).The town of Magdala
lay next to the Lake of Genesareth, a few kilometers to the north of
Tiberias.
58.It is Saint Luke who relates the conversion of Mary
Magdalen, although in his narrative he does not identify her by name, but
rather as a sinful woman (Luke VII, 37); nonetheless, a little later, in
another passage of his Gospel (Luke VIII, 2) he mentions, among the women
that followed Jesus, a certain Mary called Magdalen, from whom seven
devils had goneforth.Moreover, she appears in the Gospels with this name,
when they speak of the Death of Christ (John XIX, 25) and of His
Resurrection (Matthew XXVII, 56 etc.).Saint John (XI, 1-2) says that
Lazarus and Martha had a sister called Mary, and furthermore identifies
this Mary as the sinful woman referred to above by Saint Luke (VII,
37).Saint Matthew (XXVI, 7) and Saint Mark (XIV, 3) speak of a woman who
poured a precious balm over the head of Jesus; and Saint John (XII, 3),
narrating the same event, which occurred in Bethany, says that the woman
was Mary, and from the context she is seen to have been the sister of
Lazarus and Martha.The Gospels do not explicitly say that Mary Magdalen
was Mary the sister of Lazarus and Martha, but in Chapter XX of this
Treatise it was defined that in actual fact she was.Consequently, both the
woman sinner mentioned by Saint Luke (VII, 37) who anointed the feet of
the Lord, as well as the woman who anointed the head of the Lord at
Bethany (Matthew XXVI, 7; Mark XIV, 3), as likewise the woman known in the
Gospels as Mary Magdalen (Luke VIII, 2; John XIX, 25 etc.), are the same
person, that is to say, Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha.
59.Before speaking of the conversion of Mary Magdalen,
we present some details of her family, as well as of her infancy and
youth.The parents of the brother and sisters of Bethany were Syron and
Eucharia, both of noble birth, very rich and of great prestige among the
Jews, above all account of their exemplary virtues.Lazarus was the eldest
of the children, followed by Martha, with Mary the youngest.When their
parents died they inherited a great fortune, of which we give prominence
to the house of Bethany,- so often visited by Jesus -, a spacious and
comfortable mansion with gardens and with several outbuildings; and as
well the Castle of Magdala, inherited by Mary, to which she resorted in
her youth for her reckless pastimes.The mystical Doctor Saint Anne
Catherine Emmerich says that the family of Lazarus was already friendly
with the Holy Family during the infancy of Jesus, and we affirm this to be
true.Furthermore, in this Treatise it has already been defined that Noemi,
aunt of Lazarus of Bethany and his sisters, was the mistress of the Divine
Child Mary in the Temple, and that all were Essenes.We now teach that
Lazarus, when young, as well as Martha and Mary when still children, were
sanctified on the occasion of one of the visits made by the Holy Family to
their home at Bethany.
60.Although Lazarus and his two sisters had received a
painstaking education from their parents, Mary Magdalen, of striking
beauty and passionate nature, nevertheless was from childhood already much
inclined to vanity and caprice, which in her youth led her - after the
death of her parents -, to abandon her virtuous brother and sister and
with her servants to remove to the luxurious Castle of Magdala, in a
beautiful Galilean setting close to the Lake of Genesareth, there giving
herself up to a licentious life.Lazarus and Martha prayed intensely for
the conversion of their sister and visited her on some occasions in an
attempt to persuade her to reform.However, as she turneda deaf ear to
their advice, they entrusted this difficult task to the Divine Virgin
Mary, Who frequently sent some of the pious women to visit her and to
speak to her of Jesus' teachings and miracles, and to invite her as well
to hear for herself the words of the Divine Master.As a result of this she
sometimes went out of curiosity, accompanied by her friends, to hear His
sermons.Little by little the rebellious attitude of Mary Magdalen
lessened, and the profound bitterness that overwhelmed her, caused by so
much vice, contributed to this in great part.
61.However, let us now see how this sinful woman
received the impulse needed for her conversion.Saint Anne Catherine
Emmerich says that Mary Magdalen, at the invitation of her sister Martha,
attended with some friends one of the sermons given by Jesus on a mount
close to the town of Magdala, and we affirm that it was Saturday the 13th
of June, when the Divine Master was passing through the town after the
celebration of Pentecost in Jerusalem.The mystical Doctor, whose teaching
we set forth in accordance with our interpretation, goes to say that when
Mary Magdalen heard Jesus speak of the Kingdom of God, of sin, of eternal
punishment and of the need for penance, she was deeply moved and began to
weep.Then when Jesus, addressing Himself benevolently to sinners, invited
them to come to Him if they truly desired to be healed in soul, Mary
trembled in suchwise that she was about to throw herself at His feet, but
restrained herself.The Divine Master, knowing the heart of the sinner,
said whilst looking at her: If only a spark of penance, of repentance, of
love, of faith, of hope, fall into a heart and bear fruit, I wish to care
for it and make it increase in order to take it to My Father.At which Mary
Magdalen was more deeply penetrated by repentance, her love for Jesus now
transpiercing her soul for having offended Him.It is here, by virtue of
perfect contrition, that Mary recovers Sanctifying Grace and is freed from
the seven devils who had possessed her and enslaved her to the seven
capital sins, and whom Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich saw departing like
dark shadows.
62.For our part as well, we teach that when Jesus had
finished speaking, Martha took the Magdalen to the Most Holy Virgin, and
the Magdalen besought Her to intercede before Her Divine Son and ask for
mercy and pardon.Meanwhile, Jesus had departed with His Apostles, Lazarus
and the other disciples for the home of Simon the pharisee who, as we
know, had invited Him to a banquet, at which a considerable number of
people partook.Mary Magdalen, brought by the Divine Mary and accompanied
by Martha and some of the pious women, arrived at the home of Simon the
pharisee.And, in face of the apprehension of the latter and of his table
companions, who knew her to be a public sinner, she went up to Jesus and,
as the Evangelist says, "standing
behind at His feet, she began to wash His feet with tears and wipe them
with the hairs of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with the
ointment" (Luke VII, 38).The Evangelist then refers to the hasty
judgement which Simon the pharisee made of Jesus as wellas to his inner
contempt of the Magdalen, when he said to himself: "This
Man, if He were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman
this is that toucheth Him, that she is a sinner" (Luke VII,
39).However, as Jesus knew his perverse thoughts,- we affirm too that
Simon despised the very woman with whom he had sinned many times -, He
corrected him by making him see, in the parable of the two debtors (Luke
VII, 39-46), the contrast between his small-mindedness and the generosity
of the sinner who, for her sublime display of love, received her well-
deserved public eulogy from Jesus.He, besides absolving her of her sins,
remitted all the temporal punishment due to them, and endowed her with a
special strength, through which Mary Magdalen never again sinned, neither
mortally or venially.That is why Jesus says of her to Simon the pharisee
that "many sins are forgiven
her, because she hath loveth much" (Luke VII, 47), with which He
left the following teaching to the Church: In the Sacrament of Penance
instituted by Him after His death, attrition at least, is required for the
forgiveness of sins.Nevertheless, in the Sacrament, perfect contrition
obtains more abundant graces for the penitent, since the measure of
remission of the temporal punishment due to one's sins as well as the
supernatural strength received in order to avoid relapses, is commensurate
with one's degree of love.That is the meaning of the second part of the
abovementioned verse: "But to
whom less is forgiven, he loveth less" (Luke VII, 47), the
doctrinal interpretation of which is: "To
him who loveth less, less is forgiven".Mary Magdalene was
baptized by Jesus the same day as her conversion, that is, the 13th of
June.Jesus then left for Capharnaum, accompanied by the group of His
followers as well as by Lazarus of Bethany with both his sisters.
