Catholic lectionary for 10 February 2006

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

1 Kings, Chapter 11, verses 26-32

²⁶ and Jeroboam, to whom Ahijah prophesied

²⁶And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.

²⁷And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.

²⁸And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

²⁹And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:

³⁰And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:

³¹And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

³²(But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)

Read more:1 Kings, Chapter 11

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11 Solomon's many wives turn his heart from God, Ki1 11:1-8.
God reproves and threatens him, Ki1 11:9-13.
Stirs up Hadad and Rezon against him, Ki1 11:14-25.
An account of Jeroboam, Ki1 11:26-40.
Solomon's death and burial, Ki1 11:41-43.

11:28 Charge - The taxes and tributes.

11:29 Went - Probably to execute his charge. Were alone - Having gone aside for private conference; for otherwise it is most likely that hehad servants attending him, who, though they hear not the words, yet mightsee the action, and the rending of Jeroboam's coat; and thus it came toSolomon's ears, who being so wise, could easily understand the thing bywhat he heard of the action, especially when a prophet did it.

1 Kings, Chapter 12, verse 19

¹⁶ Ten tribes, revolting, kill Adoram and make Rehoboam to flee

¹⁹So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

Read more:1 Kings, Chapter 12

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12 Rehoboam succeeds and Jeroboam returns out of Egypt, Ki1 12:1-2.
The peoples petition to Rehoboam, and his answer, Ki1 12:3-15.
Ten tribes revolt and make Jeroboam king, Ki1 12:16-20.
God forbids Rehoboam to make war upon them, Ki1 12:21-24.
Jeroboam sets up two golden calves, Ki1 12:25-33.

12:19 Rebelled - Their revolt was sinful, as they did not this in compliance with God's counsel, but to gratify their own passions.

Mark, Chapter 7, verses 31-37

³¹ and one that was deaf and stammered in his speech

³¹And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

³²And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.

³³And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;

³⁴And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

³⁵And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

³⁶And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;

³⁷And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Read more:Mark, Chapter 8

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7

7:31 Mat 15:29.

7:33 He put his fingers into his ears - Perhaps intending to teach us, that we are not to prescribe to him (as they who brought this man attempted to do) but to expect his blessing by whatsoever means he pleases: even though there should be no proportion or resemblance between the means used, and the benefit to be conveyed thereby.

7:34 Ephphatha - This was a word of SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY, not an address to God for power to heal: such an address was needless; for Christ had a perpetual fund of power residing in himself, to work all miracles whenever he pleased, even to the raising the dead, Joh 5:21, Joh 5:26.

7:36 Them - The blind man and those that brought him.

NOTES

Faith and long-suffering are symbols of Christian steadfastness in trials. When the Lord helps us, when all suffering ends, we often begin telling everyone about what has happened. And at...

Jesus forbids the healed man and those who accompanied him to spread the report of the miracle that had taken place, of which they had become witnesses. And this is not the first time He has proclaimed such a prohibition. It looks very much as though...

Jesus forbids the healed man and those who accompanied him to spread the report of the miracle that had taken place, of which they had become witnesses. And this is not the first time He has proclaimed such a prohibition. It looks very much as though Jesus wanted the event of healing, the event of divine intervention in a person's fate, to remain a mystery, a secret between Jesus and the one who had been healed. And all for the simple reason that a miracle can happen only on the personal level; and only on that level, in that inward and hidden dimension, does God reveal Himself to a person. For any miracle, in the end, whether healing, rescue in the midst of mortal danger, or something else, if it is, of course, perceived as a miracle and not as a random coincidence, is a flash of divine light in our life. And such a flash is our personal, intimate glimpse into the depths of life, into the depths of God, the appearance or sharpening of the ability to hear the "harmony of Heaven."

As for outside observers, for them everything "miraculous" is most often perceived as some kind of divine trick, or as the deeds of a good magician providing for the material well-being of his charges. It was precisely from this perception that Jesus wanted to protect everyone who might hear the story of the miracle or see someone they knew healed. After all, in the final analysis, the purpose of every word and action of Jesus, and therefore of God acting through Him, is to open a person's eyes to his real disastrous condition and, what is still more important, to show the path of liberation: liberation from being fixated on one's own problems, from attempts to get rid of them by one's own strength and to be happy at the expense of others and only for oneself... Incidentally, this may be why the witnesses of the healing of the deaf-mute also turn from amazed outside observers into active participants in the miracle. For they meet God in the act of their compassion and active care for their maimed fellow tribesman, whom they "brought to Jesus."

As the Gospel testifies, crowds of people in need of help followed Jesus...

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