Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
8:10–21
10. And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.
11. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.
12. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
13. And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.
14. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
15. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.
17. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?
18. Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
19. When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.
20. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.
21. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
THEOPHYLACT. After that our Lord had worked the miracle of the loaves, He immediately retires into another spot, lest on account of the miracle, the multitudes should take Him to make Him a king; wherefore it is said, And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.
AUGUSTINE. (de Con. Evan. 2. 51) Now in Matthew we read that He entered into the parts of Magdala1. But we cannot doubt that it is the same place under another name; for several manuscripts even of St. Mark have only Magdala. It goes on, And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.
BEDE. (in Marc. 2, 33) The Pharisees, then, seek a sign from heaven, that He, Who had for the second time fed many thousands of men with a few loaves of bread, should now, after the example of Moses, refresh the whole nation in the last time with manna sent down from heaven, and dispersed amongst them all.
THEOPHYLACT. Or they seek for a sign from heaven, that is, they wish Him to make the sun and moon stand still, to bring down hail, and change the atmosphere; for they thought that He could not perform miracles from heaven, but could only in Beelzebub perform a sign on earth.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) When, as related above, He was about to refresh the believing multitude, He gave thanks, so now, on account of the foolish petition of the Pharisees, He groans; because, bearing about with Him the feelings of human nature, as He rejoices over the salvation of men, so He grieves over their errors. Wherefore it goes on, And he groaned in spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, If a sign shall be given to this generation. That is, no sign shall be given; as it is written in the Psalms, (Ps. 89:36) I have sworn once by my holiness, if I shall fail David, that is, I will not fail David.
AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Let no one, however, be perplexed that the answer which Mark says was given to them, when they sought a sign from heaven, is not the same as that which Matthew relates, namely, that concerning Jonah. He says that the Lord’s answer was, that no sign should be given to it; by which we must understand such an one as they asked for, that is, one from heaven; but he has omitted to say, what Matthew has related.
THEOPHYLACT. Now the reason why the Lord did not listen to them was, that the time of signs from heaven had not arrived, that is, the time of the second Advent, when the powers of the heaven shall be shaken, and the moon shall not give her light. But in the time of the first Advent, all things are full of mercy, and such things do not take place.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) For a sign from heaven was not to be given to a generation of men, who tempted the Lord; but to a generation of men seeking the Lord, He shews a sign from heaven, when in the sight of the Apostles He ascended into heaven. It goes on, And he left them, and entering into a ship again, he departed to the other side.
THEOPHYLACT. The Lord indeed quits the Pharisees, as men uncorrected; for where there is a hope of correction, there it is right to remain; but where the evil is incorrigible, we should go away. There follows: Now they had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) Some may ask, how they had no bread, when they had filled seven baskets just before they embarked in the ship. But Scripture relates that they had forgotten to take them with them, which is a proof how little care they had for the flesh in other things, since in their eagerness to follow the Lord, even the necessity of refreshing their bodies had escaped from their mind.
THEOPHYLACT. By a special providence1 also the disciples forgot to take bread, that they might be blamed by Christ, and thus become better, and arrive at a knowledge of Christ’s power. For it goes on, And he charged them, saying, Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Matthew says, of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees; Luke, however, of the Pharisees only. All three, therefore, name the Pharisees, as being the most important of them, but Matthew and Mark have each mentioned one of the secondary sects; and fitly has Mark added of Herod, as a supplement to Matthew’s narrative, in which they were left out. But in saying this, He by degrees brings the disciples to understanding and faith.
THEOPHYLACT. He means by leaven their hurtful and corrupt doctrine, full of the old malice, for the Herodians were the teachers, who said that Herod was the Christ.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) Or, the leaven of the Pharisees is making the decrees of the divine law inferior to the traditions of men, preaching the law in word, attacking it in deed, tempting the Lord, and disbelieving His doctrine and His works; but the leaven of Herod is adultery, murder, rash swearing, a pretence of religion, hatred to Christ and His forerunner.
THEOPHYLACT. But the disciples themselves thought that the Lord spoke of the leaven of bread. Wherefore it goes on, And they reasoned amongst themselves, saying, it is because we have no bread; and this they said, as not understanding the power of Christ, who could make bread out of nothing; wherefore the Lord reproves them; for there follows, And when Jesus knew it, he said unto them, Why reason ye because ye have no bread?
BEDE. (ubi sup.) Taking occasion then from the precept, which He had commanded, saying, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod, our Saviour teaches them what was the meaning of the five and the seven loaves, concerning which He adds, And do ye not remember, when I brake the five loaves amongst five thousand, and how many baskets full of fragments ye took up? For if the leaven mentioned above means perverse traditions, of course the food, with which the people of God was nourished, means the true doctrine.
Catena Aurea Mark 8
St. Catherine de Ricci
St. Catherine de Ricci is a famous mystical saint who was known for many miraculous and mysterious phenomena that are associated with her holiness, such as bilocation and the stigmata.
She was born in Florence in 1522 to a well-known family, and baptized with the name Alexandrina. She adopted the name Catherine when she joined a Dominican convent at the age of 13.
For several years, she suffered from a mysterious illness—efforts to care for her only made things worse. She bore the agonizing pain by meditating on the suffering of Jesus, and turned her discomfort into prayer.
Catherine was quickly promoted to leadership in her community, and when she was 30, she was appointed prioress of the convent until she died. She became well-known for her holiness and wisdom, and many people sought her out for advice, including princes, bishops, and three cardinals (all of whom became pope eventually).
Catherine was a mystic, and people described mysterious qualities about her. St. Philip Neri, for example, who was very cautious about validating visions, had in-person conversations with Catherine even though he was in Rome and she had never left Florence; witnesses confirmed her appearance.
She also frequently fell into ecstatic prayer—getting utterly lost in what she was experiencing in her meditation. In fact, once a week for 12 years, she fell into a trance during which she beheld and experienced Christ’s passion. She would lose consciousness every Thursday at noon and would only come to herself at 4 p.m. on Friday. During that time, she would move about, assuming the positions that Christ held during his passion (she held her hands out to be bound, just as he did when he was arrested in the garden, for example). During these raptures, she would take on the wounds of Christ according to the sequence in which he received them.
Crowds began to gather to witness her prayer and ecstasies, and it began to distract from the life of the convent. Catherine herself was embarrassed by all the attention. The community prayed that her wounds and experience would lessen in intensity so that they could go about the work of their common life together, and in 1554 the visions ceased.
Catherine was known to bear the stigmata—the wounds of Christ—in her hands, feet, side, and around her head. She is also known to have had a mystical ring appear around her finger: on Easter Sunday, 1542, she was visited by the Lord, and he gave her a gold ring with a diamond in it as a sign that she belonged to him. To the world, her finger appeared to have a hard ring just below the surface of her skin; at other times it looked like it had a red rash around it with peculiar markings. Catherine unequivocally saw and experienced it as a physical gold ring.
Apart from these fantastic mystical experiences, Catherine was holy in ordinary ways as well—she was a very healthy and whole person, virtuous, and a faithful administrator. She was an efficient worker and caring for the sick made her very happy.
Catherine died of natural causes, after a long illness, when she was 68 years old. She is patron saint of those who are sick, and her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. Her image comes from the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art on campus—it is an illustration by Luigi Gregori, the artist in residence who painted the murals in the Basilica.
St. Catherine of Ricci, you are the bi-locating mystic who is patron of sick people, pray for us!
Image credit:
Luigi Gregori (Italian, 1819-1896), Saint Catherine of Ricci, mid-19th century, chalk on paper. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art: Gift of the Artist, AA2009.056.365.
faith.nd.edu
NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: James 1:12-18
The Value of Suffering (Continuation)
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[12] Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.
The Source of Temptation
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[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one; [14] but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15] Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.
[16] Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. [17] Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. [18] Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.
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Commentary:
12. These words, which expand on the idea contained in verses 2-4, echo our Lord's own words: "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven" (Matthew 5:11-12). The simile of the crown--a mark of victory and kingship--is used to convey the idea of definitive triumph with Christ: the Lord will appear crowned in glory (Revelation 14:14); the Woman of the Apocalypse, symbolizing the Church and the Blessed Virgin, is also described as crowned (cf. Revelation 12:1); and this reward is promised to those who stay true to God in this life (cf. Revelation 2:10; 3:11). It is also to be found in other New Testament passages to convey the idea of the ultimate reward of Heaven (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4).
This means that Christians should not be depressed or cowed by the difficulties which God permits them to experience; on the contrary, they should see them as a series of tests which with God's help they should surmount in order to receive the reward of Heaven. "The Lord does not allow His followers to experience these trials and temptations unless it be for their greater good," St. John of Avila comments. "[...] He disposed things in this way: endurance in adversity and struggle against temptation prove who His friends are. For the mark of a true friend is not that he keeps you company when times are good, but that he stands by you in times of trial [...]. Companions in adversity and later in the Kingdom, you should strive to fight manfully when you meet opposition that would separate you from God, for He is your help here on earth and your reward in Heaven" ("Audi, Filia", 29).
13-18. These verses identify the source of the temptations man experiences: they cannot come from God but are, rather, the effect of human concupiscence (verses 16-18).
Sometimes temptation means putting a person's faithfulness to the test; in this sense it can be said that God "tempts" certain people, as happened in the case of Abraham (cf. Genesis 22:1 ff). However, here the reference is to temptation in the strict sense of incitement to sin: God never tempts anyone in this way, He never encourages a person to do evil (cf. Sirach 15:11-20). Therefore, we cannot attribute to God our inclination to sin, nor can it be argued that by endowing us with freedom He is the cause of our sin. On the contrary, the natural and supernatural gifts we have received are resources which help us act in a morally good way.
14-15. St. James' teaching is that the source of temptation is to be found in our own passions. Elsewhere he says that the world (cf. 1:27; 4:4) and the devil (4:7) are causes of temptations; but to actually commit sin the complicity of one's own evil inclinations is always necessary.
Concupiscence ("desire"), here as elsewhere in the New Testament (cf., e.g., Romans 1:24; 7:7 ff; 1 John 2:16), means all the disordered passions and appetites which, as a result of original sin, have a place in men's hearts. Concupiscence as such is not a sin; but rather, according to the Council of Trent, "since it is left to provide a trial, it has no power to injure those who do not consent and who, by the grace of Jesus Christ, manfully resist"; and if it is sometimes called sin (cf. Romans 6:12 ff) it is "only because it is from sin and inclines to sin" ("De Peccato Originali", 5).
Using the simile of generation St. James describes the course of sin from the stage of temptation to that of the death of the soul. When one gives in to the seduction of concupiscence sin is committed; this in turn leads to spiritual death, to the soul's losing the life of grace. This is the opposite process to the one described earlier (cf. verses 2-12), which begins with trials (temptations in the broad sense: cf. note on 1:2-4) and ends up in Heaven; whereas in this passage, the process also begins with temptation but because of sin ends up with the death of the soul. [Pope] John Paul II describes the process as follows: "Man also knows, through painful experience, that by a conscious and free act of the will he can change course and go in a direction opposed to God's will, separating himself from God ("aversio a Deo"), rejecting loving communion with Him, detaching himself from the life-principle which God is, and consequently choosing "death" ("Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia", 17).
16-18. "The Father of lights": a reference to God as Creator of the heavenly bodies (cf. Genesis 1:14 ff; Psalm 136:7-9) and, in the symbolism of light, as the source of all good things, material and, especially, spiritual. Unlike heavenly bodies, which change position and cast shadows, there is no variation or shadow in God: no evil can be attributed to Him (cf. verse 13), but only good things.
"First fruits of His creatures": Christians, who have been recreated by God by "the word of truth" (the Gospel) already constitute the beginning of the New Heaven and the New Earth (cf. Revelation 21:1) and are a sign of hope for all mankind and for the whole of Creation (cf. Romans 9:19-23).
