Catholic lectionary for 9 July 2018

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

Hosea, Chapter 2, verses 16-18, 21-22

¹⁴ His promises of reconciliation with them

¹⁶And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

¹⁷For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

¹⁸And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
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²¹And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

²²And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

Read more:Hosea, Chapter 2

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2 The prophet charges the people with their idolatry, and threatens them with the judgments of God, Hos 2:1-13.
Promises of mercy, Hos 2:14-23.

2:16 Thou shalt call - Both by words, affections, and obedience, shall own me as thy husband, and delight to call me so.Baali - That is, my Lord.

2:17 For - I will abolish the memory of Baalim.Baalim - This great idol for all others. And they - These false gods.By their name - Their names perishing with them.

2:18 For them - The Israel of God. With the beasts - With all the creatures that might either serve or hurt them. It is a full and gracious promise of abundance of peace, safety, and love, through the creation. Safely - This was in some measure made good to the Jews returning out of captivity. But the full accomplishment will be to the church of Christ.

Matthew, Chapter 9, verses 18-26

¹⁴ defendeth his disciples for not fasting, ²⁰ cureth the bloody issue, ²³ raises from death Jairus' daughter

¹⁸While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

¹⁹And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

²¹For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.

²²But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

²³And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,

²⁴He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

²⁵But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

²⁶And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.

Read more:Matthew, Chapter 9

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9

9:18 Just dead - He had left her at the point of death, Mar 5:23. Probably a messenger had now informed himshe was dead. Mar 5:22; Luk 8:41.

9:20 Coming behind - Out of bashfulness and humility.

9:22 Take courage - Probably she was struck with fear, when he turned and looked upon her, Mar 5:33; Luk 8:47; lest she should have offended him, by touching his garment privately; and the more so, because she was unclean according to the law, Lev 15:25.

9:23 The minstrels - The musicians. The original word means flute players. Musical instruments were used by the Jews as well as the heathens, in their lamentations for the dead, to soothe the melancholy of surviving friends, by soft and solemn notes. And there were persons who made it their business to perform this, while others sung to their music. Flutes were used especially on the death of children; louder instruments on the death of grown persons.

9:24 Withdraw - There is no need of you now; for the maid is not dead - Her life is not at an end; but sleepeth - This is only a temporary suspension of sense and motion, which should rather be termed sleep than death.

9:25 The maid arose - Christ raised three dead persons to life; this child, the widow's son, and Lazarus: one newly departed, another on the bier, the third smelling in the grave: to show us that no degree of death is so desperate as to be past his help.

NOTES

The story of the woman who suffered from a flow of blood and was healed by touching the edge of Jesus' garment differs somewhat from other stories of healings. First of all, what stands out here is that the woman does not address Jesus at all, asks Him for nothing, but only...

The story of the woman who suffered from a flow of blood and was healed by touching the edge of Jesus' garment differs somewhat from other stories of healings. First of all, what stands out here is that the woman does not address Jesus at all, asks Him for nothing, but only silently touches Him. In another version of this account, however, Jesus does notice her, but He does so on His own initiative, while the woman, on the contrary, tries as far as possible to remain unnoticed.

It would appear that such a desire to obtain what one wants as if secretly, without asking anything of the One from whom one expects help, should rather speak against such a person. But on closer examination everything turns out not to be so simple: the woman who suffered from a flow of blood was considered unclean, and by touching anyone at all she inevitably defiled the one she touched. It is quite understandable how a person defiled in this way would react. The risk was great and was justified only by the woman's hope for a miracle, for healing. In the case of healing there would no longer be any question of defilement: the disease had retreated, the bleeding was gone, and therefore there was nothing defiling. The healed woman would only have to perform the purification ritual and offer the prescribed sacrifice. But if healing had not occurred, the woman could have been accused of a rather serious offense.

Despite this, she resolved to act without asking permission. She evidently understood very well that by her request she would have placed the One to whom she appealed in an ambiguous position: He quite likely would not have wanted to refuse her, but by agreeing He risked defiling Himself if the healing did not take place, which would have been at least unpleasant for Him. And He could still, as the woman probably thought, simply refuse, not wanting extra problems. So she resolves to act at her own risk, fully trusting the One from whom she sought healing, and yet wanting to reduce possible problems for Him to a minimum. As we can see, she fully trusts this stranger, believes in His power, and receives her reward, being healed of the disease from which she had suffered for many years.

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