1962 Missal - Commentary on the Mass Readings: Wed, Mar 11

0:0010 Wednesday, March 11. The lesson from Exodus, chapter 20, verses 12 through 24. Thus saith the Lord God, honor thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long lived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his. And all the people saw the voices and the flames and the sound of the trumpet and the mouth smoking. And being terrified and struck with fear, they stood afar off, saying to Moses, speak thou to us, and we will hear, let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die.

1:01And Moses said to the people, fear not, for God has come to prove you, and that the dread of him might be in you, and you should not sin. And the people stood afar off, but Moses went to the dark cloud wherein God was. And the Lord said to Moses, thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, you have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. You shalt not make gods of silver, nor shall you make to yourself gods of gold. You shalt make an altar of earth unto me, and you shalt offer upon it your holocausts and peace offerings, your sheep and oxen, in every place where the memory of my name shall be. 8. Commentary Honor thy father and thy mother. Love, respect, feed if requisite, support the infirmities of parents. They are ministers of God in the production of children, and those who offer an affront to his minister, irritate God. The promises are of a temporal nature, but they should bring to our reflection the eternal

2:02rewards which attend the virtuous. The duties of parents are not specified, as nature would show their extent, and as the obligations of parents and children are reciprocal. Thou shalt not kill. These precepts are to be taken in their full extent, as prohibiting not only the ultimate act, but everything which leads to it. Magistrates are authorized to inflict capital punishments. We are allowed also to defend ourselves against an unjust aggressor, but we must never intend to kill. The laws will not condemn us perhaps if we do, but God sees the heart and judges. Thou shalt not commit adultery. This precept is placed before the former one in the Septuagint. Every was punished with death, see Leviticus 20. All civilized nations have held it in abhorrence as destructive of all peace. All other impure actions are forbidden under different penalty. All other impure actions are also forbidden.

3:03Thou shalt not steal. By which words, fraud of every description is condemned. Some have erroneously restrained this prohibition to the stealing of men for slaves. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Calumniators were subjected to the law of retaliation, and were forced by the Egyptians and others to undergo the same punishment which they have inflicted upon others. This law is the guardian of good faith and honesty in all our dealings. The express prohibition of lustful and unjust desires might suffice to have obviated the mistake of Josephus and of the Jews in our Savior's time who looked upon them as indifferent, provided they were not carried into effect. They render us guilty in the sight of God whenever we consent to them. This people was prone to idolatry and stood in need of having the first commandment often inculcated. The Gospel from Matthew chapter 15 verses 1 through 20. At that time, the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,

4:05Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread? What he answering said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition? For God said, Honor thy father and mother, and he that shall curse father and mother, let him die the death. But you say, Pussoever shall say to father or mother, The gift whatsoever proceeded for me shall profit thee, and he shall not honor his father or his mother, and you have made void the commandment of God for your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well hath Isaiah prophesied of you, saying, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men. And having called together the multitudes unto him, he said to them, Hear ye and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth defy the the man, but what comeeth out of the mouth, this defy the the man. Then came his disciples and said to him, Does thou know that the Pharisees when they heard

5:06this word were scandalized? But he answering said, Every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted up, let them alone, they are blind and leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit. And Peter answering said to him, Expound to us this parable. But he said, Are you also yet without understanding, Do you not understand that whatsoever entereth into the mouth, goeth into the belly and is cast into the privy? Look at the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and those things defy the man. For from the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies, these are the things that defy the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defy the man. Haydokamateri The Pharisees observed a rigid and simple mode of life, disdaining all luxurious delicacies.

6:07They scrupulously followed the dictates of reason, and paid the greatest veneration and implicit obedience to the opinions and traditions of their seniors. It is a great proof of malice in the Pharisees and of irreproachable character in our Lord that they should be reduced to notice trifles, no ways connected with either piety or religion. They moreover betrayed their superstition by insisting on the observance of these outward ceremonies as essential parts of piety, which were not commanded by any law, or certainly of no divine origin, and which at most were duties of civility or emblems of interior purity. They do not say he transgresses the written law, which did not prescribe these washings of hands, cups, pots, beds, etc. These traditions came only from the doctors of their law, who were called elders. The Jews understanding the saying of the prophets, wash yourselves and be clean in a carnal manner, they made a precept of not eating without first washing their hands. So says venerable bead. The traditions they allude to, and which they called the oral law, were respected equally

7:11with the written law by all the Jews. They were collected in 72 books and composed the Kabbalah, and were kept by Gamalil and other heads of the Sanhedrin, till the destruction of Jerusalem. About 120 years after this, Rabbi Judas composed a book of them called Mishna, or Second Law. In other words, two supplements and explanations were given, namely the Talmud of Jerusalem and the Talmud of Babylon. By these, the Jews are still governed in ecclesiastical matters. The gift whatsoever preceded for me shall profit thee. There are two expositions of this verse that seem preferable to others. The first is, as if a son said to his father or mother, whatsoever was mine I have given, that is, promised to give to the temple. And being to keep this promise I need not or cannot now assist you. The second interpretation is, as if the son said to his father or mother, whatsoever gift I have made to God will be profitable to you as well as to me, and therefore I am no further obliged to assist you. That is, the offering that I shall make to God shall be instead of that which should

8:12be expended for thy prophet. This tradition of the Pharisees was calculated to enrich themselves by exempting children from giving any further assistance to their parents, if they once offered to the temple in the priests, that which should have been the support of their parents. But this was a violation of the law of God and of nature which our Savior here condemns. They committed a double crime, they neither offered the gift to God nor suckered their parents in their distress. So says Saint John Chrysostom. In vain they worship or think they worship God who neglect the divine commandments to observe the commands of men. We must not here suppose that Christ centers the commands of the church or the tradition of the apostles because these are in no wise contrary to the divine law but rather served to enforce it and reduce it to practice. Christ centers such as our merely human, such as those mentioned here, which are vain and futile as the superstitious washing of hands, or erroneous as that the soul is defiled by meat, or openly contrary to natural and divine law as the defrauding parents of their

9:13just support. It is evidently erroneous to argue from this text against apostolic traditions. Saint Paul tells the Thessalonians to stand fast and hold the traditions which they had been taught, whether by word of mouth or by epistles. Second Thessalonians 2, 14. As to the rules and ordinances of the holy church, touching fast, feast, etc. These are no ways repugnant to but highly agreeable to God's holy word and all Christian piety. Neither are they to be counted among the doctrines and commandments of men because they proceed not from mere human authority but from that which Christ has established in his church. No uncleanness in meat nor any dirt contracted by eating it with unwashed hands can defile the soul, but sin alone or a disobedience of the heart to the ordinance and will of God. And thus when Adam took the forbidden fruit, it was not the apple which entered into his mouth, but disobedience to the law of God which defiled him. The same is to be said if a Jew in the time of the old law had eaten swine's flesh,

10:17or a Christian convert in the days of the apostles contrary to their ordinance had eaten blood, or if any of the faithful at present should transgress the ordinance of God's church by breaking the fasts. For in all these cases the soul would be defiled not indeed by that which goeth into the mouth, but by the disobedience of the heart in willfully transgressing the ordinance of God. Jesus Christ by no means prohibits fasting and abstinence from certain food and at certain times, or he would have been immediately accused of contradicting the law. He only says that meat which they esteem unclean does not of itself and by its own nature defile the soul, which is what the Pharisees and before them Pythagoras and after them the Manakeans maintained and which St. Paul confutes in 1 Timothy 4-4. If a man gets intoxicated, inducing the same excuse that it is not what enter the mouth that defiles, is not the answer obvious that it is not the wine, but the intemperance contrary to the law of God which defiles him. Or drunkards shall not possess the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6-10.

11:19When the Pharisees had received our Lord's answer, they had nothing to reply. His disciples perceiving their indignation came and asked Jesus if he observed they were scandalized, that is, offended. It is probable that disciples were also a little hurt or afraid that his words were contrary to the law of Moses or the tradition of the ancients and took this occasion of having their scruples removed. He must be observed that Christ was not the direct cause of scandal to the Jews, for such scandal would not be allowable. He only caused it indirectly because it was his doctrine at which through their own perversity they took scandal. When Christ says let them alone, it must not be inferred that he desired not the conversion of the scribes and Pharisees. He only says, if through their own perversity they choose to take scandal, let them do it. We must not neglect to teach the truth, though it displeases men. St Gregory says, when we see scandal arise from our preaching truth, we must rather suffer to take place than desert the truth. Our Lord says they are blind, let us leave them, for the land which has often been watered

12:23with the do's of heaven and still continues barren is deserted. For although God never refuses man, grace sufficient to enable him to rise if he pleases, yet he sometimes denies such assistance as would render his rise easy. The state of a sinner is then desperate indeed when Christ tells his disciples to leave him.