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 on the 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 the
desire 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 in His 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 the
slopes 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.
