Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings. 05-16-08

Reading 1
Jas 2:14-24, 26

What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,”
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed someone might say,
“You have faith and I have works.”
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
You believe that God is one.
You do well.
Even the demons believe that and tremble.
Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works
when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?
You see that faith was active along with his works,
and faith was completed by the works.
Thus the Scripture was fulfilled that says,
Abraham believed God,
and it was credited to him as righteousness,
and he was called the friend of God.
See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
For just as a body without a spirit is dead,
so also faith without works is dead.

Responsorial Psalm
112:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (see 1b) Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.
Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his generosity shall endure forever.
Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just man shall be in everlasting remembrance.
R. Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.

Gospel
Mk 8:34–9:1

Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
What could one give in exchange for his life?
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this faithless and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of
when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

He also said to them,
“Amen, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power.”

May Devotion: Blessed Virgin Mary

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. Toward the end of the eighteenth century a zealous Jesuit priest, Father Lalomia, started among the students of the Roman college of his Society the practice of dedicating May to Our Lady. The devotion, which others had promoted in a small way, soon spread to other Jesuit Colleges and to the entire Latin church and since that time it has been a regular feature of Catholic life.

INVOCATIONS

Thou who wast a virgin before thy delivery, pray for us. Hail Mary, etc.
Thou who wast a virgin in thy delivery, pray for us. Hail Mary, etc.
Thou who wast a virgin after thy delivery, pray for us. Hail Mary, etc.

My Mother, deliver me from mortal sin.
Hail Mary (three times).

Mother of love, of sorrow and of mercy, pray for us.

Remember, O Virgin Mother of God, when thou shalt stand before the face of the Lord, that thou speak favorable things in our behalf and that He may turn away His indignation from us.
Roman Missal

Thou art my Mother, O Virgin Mary: keep me safe lest I ever offend thy dear Son, and obtain for me the grace to please Him always and in all things.

FOR THE HELP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

May we be assisted, we beseech Thee, 0 Lord, by the worshipful intercession of Thy glorious Mother, the ever-Virgin Mary; that we, who have been enriched by her perpetual blessings, may be delivered from all dangers, and through her loving kindness made to be of one heart and mind: who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
Roman Missal

THE SALVE REGINA

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus! O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Roman Breviary

PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

O blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay thee thy just dues of praise and thanksgiving, thou who by the wondrous assent of thy will didst rescue a fallen world? What songs of praise can our weak human nature recite in thy honor, since it is by thy intervention alone that it has found
the way to restoration? Accept, then, such poor thanks as we have here to offer, though they be unequal to thy merits; and, receiving our vows, obtain by thy prayers the remission of our offenses. Carry thou our prayers within the sanctuary of the heavenly audience, and bring forth from it the antidote of our reconciliation. May the sins we bring before Almighty God through thee, become pardonable through thee; may what we ask for with sure confidence, through thee be granted. Take our offering, grant us our requests, obtain pardon for what we fear, for thou art the sole hope of sinners. Through thee we hope for the remission of our sins, and in thee, 0 blessed Lady, is our hope of reward. Holy Mary, succour the miserable, help the fainthearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for thy people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God; may all who keep thy holy commemoration feel now thy help and protection. Be thou ever ready to assist us when we pray, and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it thy continual care to pray for the people of God, thou who, blessed by God, didst merit to bear the Redeemer of the world, who liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen.
Saint Augustine

PETITION TO MARY

Most holy Virgin Immaculate, my Mother Mary, to thee who art the Mother of my Lord, the queen of the universe, the advocate, the hope, the refuge of sinners, I who am the most miserable of all sinners, have recourse this day. I venerate thee, great queen, and I thank thee for the many graces thou hast bestowed upon me even unto this day; in particular for having delivered me from the hell which I have so often deserved by my sins. I love thee, most dear Lady; and for the love I bear thee, I promise to serve thee willingly for ever and to do what I can to make thee loved by others also. I place in thee all my hopes for salvation; accept me as thy servant and shelter me under thy mantle, thou who art the Mother of mercy. And since thou art so powerful with God, deliver me from all temptations, or at least obtain for me the strength to overcome them until death. From thee I implore a true love for Jesus Christ. Through thee I hope to die a holy death. My dear Mother, by the love thou bearest to Almighty God, I pray thee to assist me always, but most of all at the last moment of my life. Forsake me not then, until thou shalt see me safe in heaven, there to bless thee and sing of thy mercies through all eternity. Such is my hope. Amen.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Magnificat Prayer
My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit finds joy in God my savior,
For he has looked upon his servant in her lowliness; all ages to come shall call me blessed.
God who is mighty has done great things for me,
holy is his name; His mercy is from age to age on those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm; he has confused the proud in their inmost thoughts. He has deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places. The hungry he has given every good thing, while the rich he has sent empty away. He has upheld Israel his servant, ever mindful of his mercy; Even as he promised our fathers, promised Abraham and his descendants forever.
(Lk 1:46-55)

Seen above is the Blessed Virgin Mary, portrayed as Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
It was she who was chosen by God, to provide His Son with His Sacred Humanity.
She did so in humble and total cooperation with the Holy Spirit and the Divine will of the Holy Trinity; providing God's Son with the Blood He shed for us on the Cross.

TO MARY, REFUGE OF SINNERS
Hail, most gracious Mother of mercy, hail, Mary, for whom we fondly yearn, through whom we obtain forgiveness! Who would not love thee? Thou art our light in uncertainty, our comfort in sorrow, our solace in the time of trial, our refuge from every peril and temptation. Thou art our sure hope of salvation, second only to thy only-begotten Son; blessed are they who love thee, our Lady! Incline, I beseech thee, thy ears of pity to the entreaties of this thy servant, a miserable sinner; dissipate the darkness of my sins by the bright beams of thy holiness, in order that I may be acceptable in thy sight.

FOR THE GRACE OF LOVE
O Mary, my dear Mother, how much I love thee! And yet in reality how little! Thou dost teach me what I ought to know, for thou teachest me what Jesus is to me and what I ought to be for Jesus. Dearly beloved Mother, how close to God thou art, and how utterly filled with Him! In the measure that we know God, we remind ourselves of thee. Mother of God, obtain for me the grace of loving my Jesus; obtain for me the grace of loving thee!
Cardinal Merry del Val

TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY FOR MAY

O most august and blessed Virgin Mary! Holy Mother of God! glorious Queen of heaven and earth! powerful protectress of those who love thee, and unfailing advocate of all who invoke thee! look down, I beseech thee, from thy throne of glory on thy devoted child; accept the solemn offering I present thee of this month, specially dedicated to thee, and receive my ardent, humble desire, that by my love and fervor I could worthily honor thee, who, next to God, art deserving of all honor. Receive me, 0 Mother of Mercy, among thy best beloved children; extend to me thy maternal tenderness and solicitude; obtain for me a place in the Heart of Jesus, and a special share in the gifts of His grace. 0 deign, I beseech thee, to recognize my claims on thy protection, to watch over my spiritual and temporal interests, as well as those of all who are dear to me; to infuse into my soul the spirit of Christ, and to teach me thyself to become meek, humble, charitable, patient, and submissive to the will of God.

May my heart bum with the love of thy Divine Son, and of thee, His blessed Mother, not for a month alone, but for time and eternity; may I thirst for the promotion of His honor and thine, and contribute, as far as I can, to its extension. Receive me, 0 Mary, the refuge of sinners! Grant me a Mother's blessing and a Mother's care, now, and at the hour of my death. Amen.

TO OUR LADY

Saint John Vianney, better known as the Cure of Ars, when asked how long he had loved Mary, said: "I loved her almost before I could know her." In this prayer he expresses that love.
O thou most holy virgin Mary, who dost evermore stand before the most holy Trinity, and to whom it is granted at all times to pray for us to thy most beloved Son; pray for me in all my necessities; help me, combat for me, and obtain for me the pardon of all my sins. Help me especially at my last hour; and when I can no longer give any sign of the use of reason, then do thou encourage me, make the sign of the cross for me, and fight for me against the enemy. Make in my name a profession of faith; favor me with a testimony of my salvation, and never let me despair of the mercy of God. Help me to overthrow the wicked enemy. When I can no longer say: "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I place my soul in your hands," do thou say it for me; when I can no longer hear human words of consolation, do thou comfort me. Leave me not before I have been judged; and if I have to expiate my sins in purgatory, oh! pray for me earnestly; and admonish my friends to procure for me a speedy enjoyment of the blessed sight of God. Lessen my sufferings, deliver me speedily, and lead my soul into heaven with thee: that, united with all the elect, I may there bless and praise my God and thee for all eternity. Amen.
Saint John Vianney

ACT OF REPARATION

O blessed Virgin, Mother of God, look down in mercy from heaven, where thou art enthroned as Queen, upon me, a miserable sinner, thine unworthy servant. Although I know full well my own unworthiness, yet in order to atone for the offenses that are done to thee by impious and blasphemous
tongues, from the depths of my heart I praise and extol thee as the purest, the fairest, the holiest creature of all God's handiwork. I bless thy holy name, I praise thine exalted privilege of being truly Mother of God, ever virgin, conceived without stain of sin, co-redemptrix of the human race. I bless the Eternal Father who chose thee in an especial way for His daughter; I bless the Word Incarnate who took upon Himself our nature in thy bosom and so made thee His Mother; I bless the Holy Spirit who took thee as His bride. All honor, praise and thanksgiving to the ever-blessed Trinity, who predestined thee and loved thee so exceedingly from all eternity as to exalt thee above all creatures to the most sublime heights. 0 Virgin, holy and merciful, obtain for all who offend thee the grace of repentance, and graciously accept this poor act of homage from me thy servant, obtaining likewise for me from thy divine Son the pardon and remission of all my sins. Amen.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

Memorare of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed Virgin Mary

Remember O Most Gracious Virgin Mary!

That never was it known
That anyone who fled to thy protection,
Implored thy help or sought thy intercession
Was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto Thee!
O Virgin of virgins, My Mother!

To Thee I come before Thee I stand,
Sinful and Sorrowful,
Oh Mother of the Word Incarnate,
Despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy,
Hear and answer me.

Amen

May Devotion: Blessed Virgin Mary

From: James 2:14-24, 26

Faith Without Good Works Is Dead

[14] What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not
works? Can this faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack
of daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and
filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?
[17] So faith, by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

[18] But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your
faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. [19] You
believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.

Examples from the Bible

[20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is
barren? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his
son Isaac upon the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works,
and faith was completed by works, [23] and the scripture was fulfilled which says,
“Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he
was called the friend of God. [24] You see that a man is justified by works and
not by faith alone. [26] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith
apart from works is dead.

********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

14-26. This passage forms the core of the letter. The sapiential method (often
used in the Old Testament) and pedagogical style of the passage help to engrave
the message on the readers’ minds: unless faith is accompanied by works, it is
barren, dead. This basic message, with different variances, is stated up to five
times (verses 14, 17, 18, 20, 26), in a cyclical, repetitive way.

The initial rhetorical question (verse 14) and the simple, vivid example of a person
who is content with giving good advice to someone in urgent need of the bare
essentials (verses 15-16), catch the disciples’ attention and predispose them to
accept the core message, which is couched in the form of a sapiential maxim
(verse 17).

The narrative retains its conventional tone, with a series of questions; we are
given three examples of faith: firstly (a negative example), the faith of demons,
which is of no avail (verses 18-19); contrasting with this, the faith of Abraham,
the model and father of believers (verses 20-23); and finally, the faith of a sinner
whose actions won her salvation, Rabah, the prostitute (verses 24-25). The last
sentence once again repeats the essential idea: “faith apart from works is dead”
(verse 26).

14. This teaching is perfectly in line with that of the Master: “Not every one who
says to Me, `Lord, Lord’, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does
the will of My Father who is in Heaven” (Matthew &;21).

A faith without deeds cannot obtain salvation: “Even though incorporated into
the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He
remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but `in body’ not `in heart’. All
children of the Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition
results not from their own merits but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to res-
pond in thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved,
but they shall be the more severely judged” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 14).

In the Christian life, therefore, there needs to be complete consistency between
the faith we profess and the deeds we do. “Unity of life”, one of the key features
of the spirituality of Opus Dei, tries to counter the danger of people leading a
double life, “on the one hand, an inner life, a life related to God; and on the other,
as something separate and distinct, their professional, social and family lives,
made up of small earthly realities [...]. There is only one life, made of flesh and
spirit. And it is that life which has to become, in both body and soul, holy and
filled with God: we discover the invisible God in the most visible and material
things” ([St] J. Escriva, “In Love with the Church”, 52).

15-16. This very graphic example is similar to that in the First Letter of St. John:
“If any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his
heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17); and the
conclusion is also along the same lines: “Little children, let us not love in word
or speech but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). St. Paul gives the same tea-
ching: “the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power” (1 Corinthians
4:20). Actions, works, measure the genuineness of the Christian life; they show
whether our faith and charity are real.

Almsgiving, for example, so often praised and recommended in Scripture (cf.,
e.g., Deuteronomy 15:11; Tobias 4:7-11; Luke 12:33; Acts 9:36; 2 Corinthians
8:9), is very often a duty. Christ “will count a kindness done or refused to the
poor as done or refused to Himself [...]. Whoever has received from the divine
bounty a large share of temporal blessings whether they be external or material,
or gifts of the mind, has received them for the purpose of using them for the per-
fecting of his own nature, and, at the same time, that he may employ them, as
the steward of God’s providence, for the benefit of others” (Leo XIII, “Rerum
Novarum”, 24).

17. As well as involving firm adherence to revealed truth, faith must influence a
Christian’s ordinary life and be a standard against which he measures his con-
duct. When one’s works are not in accordance with one’s beliefs, then one’s faith
is dead.

Christian teaching also describes as “dead faith” the faith of a person in mortal
sin: because he is not in the grace of God he does not have charity, which is as
it were the soul of all the other virtues. “Faith without hope and charity neither
perfectly unites a man with Christ nor makes him a living member of His body.
Therefore it is said most truly that `faith apart from works is dead’ (James 2:17ff)
and useless” (Council of Trent, “De Iustificatione”, 7).

18. The Apostle makes it crystal clear that faith without work makes no sense at
all. “The truth of faith includes not only inner belief, but also outward profession,
which is expressed not only by declaration of one’s belief, but also by the actions
by which a person shows that he has faith” (St. Thomas, “Summa Theologiae”,
II-II, q. 124, a. 5).

19. St. James goes as far as to compare a faith without works with the kind of
faith devils have, for they do believe: they are forced to believe by the evidence of
the signs (miracles and prophecies, for example) which support Christian teaching
(cf. “Summa Theologiae”, II-II, q. 5, a. 2). However, that faith is not saving faith;
on the contrary, it causes them to cringe by reminding them of divine justice and
eternal punishment.

Commenting on this verse, St. Bede says that it is one thing to believe God,
another thing to believe in God, and another to believe “towards” God (”credere
in illum”). “Believing Him is believing that what He says is true. Believing in Him
is believing that He is God. Believing `towards’ Him is loving Him. Many people,
even bad people, believe that God tells the truth; they believe it is the truth and
they do not want to, are too lazy to, follow the way truth points. Believing that
He is God is something the devils are able to do. But believing and tending
towards Him is true only of those who love God, who are Christians not in name
only but whose actions and lives prove them to be so. For without love faith is
of no avail. With love, it is the faith of a Christian; without love, it is the faith of
the devil” (”Super Iac. Expositio, ad loc.”).

20-26. The original addressees of the letter (Christians of Jewish background
steeped in Scripture) would have been very familiar with the two examples from
the Old Testament (Abraham and Rahab).

The patriarch Abraham is a model of faith (cf. especially Hebrews 11:8ff). St.
James highlights the fact that his faith was manifested in deeds (verse 22), so
much so that he was ready to sacrifice his own son when God, to test him,
asked him to do so (cf. Genesis 22:1ff). The text of Genesis 15:6 quoted here
(verse 23) is also used by St. Paul in his polemic against the Judaizers, to show
that “first justification” comes from faith and not from works of the Mosaic Law
(cf. Romans 4:1-25; Galatians 3:6-9); that is, Abraham was justified from the
very moment he believed in God; his works would not have any value without that
direct reference to God. In Abraham, as in every Christian who acts consistently,
faith and works totally imbue each other: works show forth faith, and faith inspires
and performs works (verses 22, 24).

The story of Rahab (verse 25) is told in the Book of Joshua (2:1-21; 6:17-25): this
woman, who was living among the Canaanites, saved the lives of two Israelite
spies whom Joshua had sent into Jericho, and for this reason she and her family
were saved when the Israelites took the city. Her actions showed her faith (cf.
Joshua 2:9-14; Hebrews 11:31), and led not only to her coming out unscathed and
becoming a member of the people of Israel; it also won her the honor of being one
of the four foreign women mentioned in the Gospel in our Lord’s ancestral tree (cf.
Matthew 1:5).

These two examples clearly show that God calls all men to believe and that all
can and should manifest their faith by exemplary living.

22-24. The Magisterium of the Church quotes these verses when it teaches that
justification, righteousness, received as a free gift in the Sacrament of Baptism,
grows in strength as the Christian responds to grace by keeping the command-
ments of God and of the Church; the righteous, the just, “increase in the very
justice which they have received through the grace of Christ, their faith is com-
pleted by works (cf. James 2:22), and they are justified the more, as it is written,
`Let the righteous still do right’ (Revelation 22:11), [...] and again: `You see that
a man is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24)” (Council of
Trent, “De Iustificatione”, 10).

23. “It was reckoned to him as righteousness”: St. Paul (cf. Galatians 3:6 and
note) uses these words of Genesis 15:6 to explain that righteousness is attained
not just by Abraham’s descendants but by all who believe the word of God,
whether they be Jews or not; St. James, from another perspective, quotes this
text to show that Abraham’s faith made him righteous, that is, holy. Both tea-
chings are complementary. Abraham believed in the divine promise that he would
be the father of a great people despite his age and his wife’s sterility; but that
faith was reinforced and manifested when it met the test God set—that of sacri-
ficing his only son, while still believing in the earlier promise. The same thing
happens in the case of the Christian: his initial faith is strengthened by obedience
to the commandments, and he thereby attains holiness.

“The friend of God”: Scripture also gives this touching title to Abraham (cf. Isaiah
41:8; Daniel 3:35, New Vulgate) and our Lord uses it to describe His Apostles: “I
have called you friends” (John 15:15). These are not just isolated examples, for
God calls all to be His friends; He wishes to be as intimate with everyone as He
was with Abraham and the Apostles: “We do not exist in order to pursue just any
happiness. We have been called to penetrate the intimacy of God’s own life, to
know and love God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and to love
also—in that same love of the one God in three divine Persons—the angels and all
men” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 133).

26. In speaking of “the spirit” St. James is referring to the “breathe of life”, “brea-
thing”. The comparison (like all those in the letter) is very graphic: we recognize
a body to be alive by its breathing: if it is not breathing it is a corpse; similarly, a
faith that is alive expresses itself in actions, especially in the acts of charity.

“Just as when a body moves we know it is alive,” St. Bernard explains, “so too
good works show that faith is alive. The soul gives life to the body, causing it to
move and feel; charity gives life to faith, causing it to act, as the Apostle says,
`faith working through love’ (Galatians 5:6). Just as the body dies when its soul
leaves it, so faith dies when charity grows cold. Therefore, when you see some-
one who is active in good works and happy and eager in his conduct, you can
be sure that faith is alive in him: his life clearly proves it to be so” (”Second
Sermon on the Holy Day of Easter”, 1).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Mark 8:34-9:1

Christian Renunciation (Continuation)

[34] And He (Jesus) called to Him the multitude with His disciples, and said to
them, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow Me. [35] For whoever would save his life will lose it; and who-
ever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. [36] For what does
it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? [37] For what can a
man give in return for his life? [38] For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My
words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also
be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels”.

[1] And He said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come with power.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

35. “Life”: in the original text and the New Vulgate the word literally means
“soul.” But here, as in many other cases, “soul” and “life” are equivalent. The
word “life” is used, clearly, in a double sense: earthly life and eternal life, the life
of man hereon earth and man’s eternal happiness in Heaven. Death can put an
end to earthly life, but it cannot destroy eternal life (cf. Matthew 10:28), the life
which can only be given by Him who brings the dead back to life.

Understood in this way, we can grasp the paradoxical meaning of our Lord’s
phrase: whoever wishes to save his (earthly) life will lose his (eternal) life. But
whoever loses his (earthly) life for Me and the Gospel, will save his (eternal) life.
What, then, does saving one’s (earthly) life mean? It means living this life as if
there were no other—letting oneself be controlled by the lust of the flesh and the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life (cf. 1 John 2:16). And losing one’s (earthly)
life means mortifying, by continuous ascetical effort, this triple concupiscence—
that is, taking up one’s cross (verse 34)—and consequently seeking and savoring
the things that are God’s and not the things of the earth (cf. Colossians 3:1-2).

36-37. Jesus promises eternal life to those who are willing to lose earthly life for
His sake. He has given us example: He is the Good Shepherd who lays down
His life for His sheep (John 10:15); and He fulfilled in His own case what He said
to the Apostles on the night before He died: “Greater love has no man than this
that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

38. Each person’s eternal destiny will be decided by Christ. He is the Judge
who will come to judge the living and the dead (Matthew 16:27). The sentence
will depend on how faithful each has been in keeping the Lord’s commandments
—to love God and to love one’s neighbor, for God’s sake. On that day Christ will
not recognize as His disciple anyone who is ashamed to imitate Jesus’ humility
and example and follow the precepts of the Gospel for fear of displeasing the
world or worldly people: he has failed to confess by his life the faith which he
claims to hold. A Christian, then, should never be ashamed of the Gospel (Ro-
mans 1:16); he should never let himself be drawn away by the worldliness around
him; rather he should exercise a decisive influence on his environment, counting
on the help of God’s grace. The first Christians changed the ancient pagan world.
God’s arm has not grown shorter since their time (cf. Isaiah 59:1). Cf. Matthew
10:32-33 and note on same.

1. The coming o the Kingdom of God with power does not seem to refer to the
second, glorious coming of Jesus at the end of time (the Parousia); it may, ra-
ther, indicate the amazing spread of the Church in the lifetime of the Apostles.
Many of those present here will witness this. The growth and spread of the
Church in the world can be explained only by the divine power God gives to the
mystical body of Christ. The Transfiguration of our Lord, which is recounted in
the next passage, is a sign, given to the Apostles, of Jesus’ divinity and of the
divine powers which He will give His Church.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mk 8:34-39
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
34	And calling the multitude together with his disciples, he said to them: If any man will follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.	et convocata turba cum discipulis suis dixit eis si quis vult post me sequi deneget se ipsum et tollat crucem suam et sequatur me
35	For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel, shall save it.	qui enim voluerit animam suam salvam facere perdet eam qui autem perdiderit animam suam propter me et evangelium salvam eam faciet
36	For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?	quid enim proderit homini si lucretur mundum totum et detrimentum faciat animae suae
37	Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?	aut quid dabit homo commutationem pro anima sua
38	For he that shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation: the Son of man also will be ashamed of him, when he shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.	qui enim me confusus fuerit et mea verba in generatione ista adultera et peccatrice et Filius hominis confundetur eum cum venerit in gloria Patris sui cum angelis sanctis
39	And he said to them: Amen I say to you, that there are some of them that stand here, who shall not taste death, till they see the kingdom of God coming in power.	et dicebat illis amen dico vobis quia sunt quidam de hic stantibus qui non gustabunt mortem donec videant regnum Dei veniens in virtute

34. And when he had called the people to him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35. For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it.
36. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37. Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38. Whoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

BEDE; After showing to His disciples the mystery of His passion and resurrection, He exhorts them, as well as the multitude, to follow the example of His passion. Wherefore it goes on; And when he had called the people to him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself.

CHRYS. As if He would in say to Peter, You indeed do rebuke Me, who am willing to undergo My passion, but I tell you, that not only is it wrong to prevent Me from suffering, but neither can you be saved unless you yourself die. Again He says, Whoever wished to come after me; as if He said, I call you to those good things which a man should wish for, I do not force you to evil and burdensome things; for he who does violence to his hearer, often stands in his way; but he who leaves him free, rather draws him to himself. And a man denies himself when He cares not for his body, so that whether it be scourged, or whatever of like nature it may suffer, he bears it patiently.

THEOPHYL. For a man who denies another, be it brother or father, does not sympathize with him, nor grieve at his fate, though He be wounded and die; thus we ought to despise our body, so that if it should be wounded or hurt in any way, we should not mind its suffering.

CHRYS. But He says not, a man should not spare himself, but what is more, that He should deny himself, as if He had nothing in common with himself, but face danger, and look upon such things as if another were suffering; and this is really to spare himself; for parents then most truly act kindly to their children, when they give them up to their masters, with an injunction not to spare them. Again, He shows the degree to which a man should deny himself, when He says, And take up his cross, by which He means, even to the most shameful death.

THEOPHYL. For at that time the cross appeared shameful, because malefactors were fixed to it.

PSEUDO-JEROME; Or else, as a skillful pilot, foreseeing a storm in a calm, wishes his sailors to be prepared; so also the Lord says, If any one will follow me, &c.

BEDE; For we deny r ourselves, when we avoid what we were of old, and strive to reach that point, whither we are newly called. And the cross is taken up by us, when either our body is pained by abstinence, or our soul afflicted by fellow-feeling for our neighbor.

THEOPHYL. But because after the cross we must have a new strength, He adds, and follow me.

CHRYS. And this He says, because it may happen that a man may suffer and yet not follow Christ, that is, when he does not suffer for Christ's sake; for he follows Christ who walks after Him, and conforms himself to His death, despising those principalities and powers under whose power before the coming of Christ, he committed sin. Then there follows For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. I give you these commands, as it were to spare you; for whoever spares his son, brings him to destruction, but whoever does not spare him, saves him. It is therefore right to be always prepared for death; for if in the battles of this world, he who is prepared for death fights better than others, though none can restore him to life after death, much more is this the case in spiritual battle, when so great a hope of resurrection is set before him, since he who gives up his soul unto death saves it.

REMIG. And life is to he taken in this place for the present life, and not for the substance itself of the soul.

CHRYS. As therefore He had said, For whoever will save his life shall lose it, lest any one should suppose this loss to be equivalent to that salvation, He adds, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, &c As if He said, Think not that he has saved his soul, who has shunned the perils of the cross; for when a man , at the cost of his soul, that is, His life, gains the whole world, what has He besides, now that his soul is perishing? Has no another soil to give for His soil? For a man can give the price of his house in exchange for the house, but in losing his soul he has not another soul to give.

And it is with a purpose that He says, Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? for God, in exchange for our salvation, has given the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

BEDE; Or else He says this, because in the of persecution, our life is to be laid aside, but in time of peace, our earthly desires are to be broken, which He implies when He says, For what shall it profit a man, &c. But we are often hindered by a habit of shamefacedness from expressing with our voice the rectitude which we preserve in our hearts; and therefore it is added, For whoever shall confess me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, him also shall the Son of man confess, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

THEOPHYL. For that faith which only remains in the mind is not sufficient, but the Lord requires also the confession of the mouth; for when the soul is sanctified by faith, the body ought also to be sanctified by confession.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. He then who has learned this, is bound zealously to confess Christ without shame. And this generation is called adulterous, because it has left God the true Bridegroom of the soul, and has refused to follow the doctrine of Christ, but has prostrated itself to the devil and taken up the seeds of impiety, for which reason also it is called sinful. Whoever therefore amongst them has denied the kingdom of Christ, and the words of God revealed in the Gospel, shall receive a reward befitting His impiety, when He hears in the second ,advent, I know you not.

THEOPHYL. Him then who shall have confessed that his God was crucified, Christ Himself also shall confess, not here, where He is esteemed poor and wretched, but in His glory and with a multitude of Angels.

GREG. There are however some, who confess Christ, because they see that all men are Christian; for if the name of Christ were not at this day in such great glory, the Holy Church would not have so many professors. The voice of profession therefore is not sufficient for a trial of faith whilst the profession of the generality defends it from shame. In the time of peace therefore there is another way, by which we may be known to ourselves. We are ever fearful of being despised by our neighbors, we think it shame to bear injurious words; if perchance we have quarreled with our neighbor, we blush to be the first to give satisfaction; for our carnal heart, in seeking the glory of this life, disdains humility.

THEOPHYL. But because He had spoken of His glory, in order to show that His promises were not vain, He subjoins, Verily I say to you, That there be some of them that stand here who shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. As if He said, Some, that is, Peter, James, and John, shall not taste of death, until I show them, in my transfiguration, with what glory I am to come in my second advent; for the transfiguration was nothing else, but an announcement of the second coming of Christ, in which also Christ Himself and the Saints will shine.

BEDE; Truly it was done with a loving foresight, in order that they, having tasted for a brief moment the contemplation of everlasting joy, might with the greater strength bear up under adversity.

CHRYS. And He did not declare the names of those who were about to go up, lest the other disciples should feel some touch of human frailty, and He tells it to them beforehand, that they might come with minds better prepared to be taught all that concerned that vision.

BEDE; Or else the present Church is called the kingdom of God; and some of the disciples were to live in the body until they should see the Church built up, and raised against the glory of the world; for it was right to make some promises concerning this life to the disciples who were uninstructed, that they might be built up with greater strength for the time to come.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. But in a mystical sense, Christ is life, and the devil is death, and he tastes of death, who dwells in sin; even now every one, according as he has good or evil doctrines, tastes the bread either of life or of death. And indeed, it is a less evil to see death, a greater to taste of it, still worse to follow it, worst of all to be subject to it.

Catena Aurea Mark 8

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.