Catholic lectionary for 5 September 2021

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

Isaiah, Chapter 35, verses 4-7

³ The weak are encouraged by the virtues and privileges of the Gospel

⁴Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

⁶Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

⁷And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Read more:Isaiah, Chapter 35

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35 The joyful flourishing of Christ's kingdom, Isa 35:1-2.
The weak he strengthens and comforts, Isa 35:3-4.
His miracles, Isa 35:5-6.
The prosperity and peace of his people, Isa 35:7-10.

35:4 Your God - Tho' he seems to be departed, he will come to you, and abide with you. He will shortly come in the flesh, to execute vengeance upon the enemies of God.

35:5 Then - The poor Gentiles, who before were blind and deaf, shall now have the eyes and ears of their minds opened to see God's works, and to hear and receive his word.

35:7 Streams - The most dry and barren places shall be made moist and fruitful; which is principally meant of the plentiful effusion of God's grace upon such persons and nations, as had been wholly destitute of it.Rushes - Those dry and parched deserts, in which dragons have their abode, shall yield abundance of grass, and reeds, and rushes, which grow only in moist ground.

James, Chapter 2, verses 1-5

¹ It is not agreeable to Christian profession to regard the rich, and to despise the poor brethren

¹My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

²For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

³And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

⁴Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

⁵Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Read more:James, Chapter 2

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2

2:1 My brethren - The equality of Christians, intimated by this name, is the ground of the admonition. Hold not the faith of our common Lord, the Lord of glory - Of which glory all who believe in him partake. With respect of persons - That is, honour none merely for being rich; despise none merely for being poor.

2:2 With gold rings - Which were not then so common as now.

2:3 Ye look upon him - With respect.

2:4 Ye distinguish not - To which the most respect is due, to the poor or to the rich. But are become evil - reasoning judges - You reason ill, and so judge wrong: for fine apparel is no proof of worth in him that wears it.

2:5 Hearken - As if he had said, Stay, consider, ye that judge thus. Does not the presumption lie rather in favour of the poor man? Hath not God chosen the poor - That is, are not they whom God hath chosen, generally speaking, poor in this world? who yet are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom - Consequently, the most honourable of men: and those whom Godso highly honours, ought not ye to honour likewise?

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."

If God intervenes in what happens in this world, the consequences of such intervention are truly...

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