The Sermon on the Mount, The Beatitudes

Chapter 23
MATT. 5:l-l6; LUKE 6:20-26

SITTING DOWN IN THE MIDST OF THE MULTITUDE on the mountainside, Jesus began the discourse which we call the Sermon on the Mount. First He enumerated the virtues which must be pursued by the members of His kingdom; then He told them that they must extend their own holiness to all mankind. Speaking primarily to His disciples, but also to the crowd, He said:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when men reproach you, and persecute you, and, speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you,
for My sake. Rejoice and exult, because your reward is great
in heaven; for so did they persecute the prophets who were
before you. But woe to you rich! for you are now having your
comfort. Woe to you who are filled! for you shall hunger. Woe;
to you who laugh now! for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to
you when all men speak well of you! In the selfsame manner
their fathers used to treat the prophets."
Referring especially to His apostles, He continued:
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its strength, what shall it be salted with? It is no longer of any use but to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a lamp and put it under the measure, but upon the lamp-stand, so as to give light to all the house. Even so let your light shine before men, in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

The first beatitude concerns poverty. The attitude we take towards money and the things it will buy is a good index to the depth of our faith. If we are unhappy because we do not have all the wealth enjoyed by a neighbor, if we think often of adding to our material possessions, if we are always eager to increase our fortune (even if we would do nothing dishonest), we have deserted the ideal presented in the first beatitude. Christian poverty is a liberation from the enslaving desire for temporal riches. Only the man who is poor, at least in spirit, can give his heart to God.

Choosing the Apostles

Chapter 22
MATT. 4:24-25;10:1-4;12:15-21;MARK 3:7-19;LUKE 6:12-19
WHEN THE PHARISEES went to the officials of Herod and began conspiring with them to do away with Jesus, He withdrew from Capharnaum to a hilly region some distance down the Galilean shore. The first night He spent in prayer on the mountainside, and at dawn the next day He summoned His disciples and chose from them twelve men whom He called Apostles, who were to aid in establishing His kingdom. The Apostles were Simon, whom Jesus renamed Peter; Simon's brother, Andrew; James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael), who had followed Him from Judea; Matthew (Levi), the former tax-collector of Capharnaum; James, Jude Thaddeus, and Simon, all sons of Alpheus; Thomas; and Judas, a native of Carioth in Judea, who was to betray Jesus.
These men whom Jesus had chosen as His aides and intimate companions were, for the most part, rude and uneducated. They were obtuse, jealous, revengeful, provincial, cowardly, ambitious, and weak-willed. But they were endowed with basic virtues which were to develop steadily during their long companionship with Jesus. With the exception of Judas, they were all to prove themselves worthy of the trust He placed in them.
Having chosen His Apostles, Jesus led them and His other disciples down the east side of the mountain to a level stretch overlooking the sea. A great multitude gathered there. They had brought their sick and afflicted to be healed by Jesus. And He cured them, but He warned those whom He cured not to reveal what He had wrought, fulfilling what the prophet Isaias had said of Him: "Behold, My Servant, whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will declare judgment to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle, nor cry aloud, neither will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking wick He will not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory; and in His name will the Gentiles hope."

One of the mysteries of divine providence is the wonderful use God can make of seemingly defective creatures. The apostles furnish a striking example. Ordinary men with ordinary talents and only meager education, they were given the task of spreading Christ's message throughout the world. They appeared to be unlikely choices. But all of them, the unhappy Judas excepted, lived up to their calling, because they co-operated with the graces given them by God. God can use us, too. In fact, He wants to use us in the spread of His kingdom on earth.

The Lord of the Sabbath

Chapter 11
MATT. 12:1-14; MARK 2:23-36; LUKE 6:1-11

ONE SABBATH Jesus was passing through a wheat field, and His hungry disciples began plucking a few grains from the stands of wheat, nibbling as they walked. At once some Pharisees ran up to ask Jesus why they were breaking the Pharisaic law against harvesting on the Sabbath. And Jesus replied:
Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? How he entered the house of God and ate the loaves of proposition which neither he nor those with him could lawfully eat, but only the priests? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath days the priests in their temple break the Sabbath and are guiltless? But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. But if you knew what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would never have condemned the innocent. The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
On another Sabbath, when Jesus came to the synagogue there was a man present who had a withered hand. The sectarians had noted this circumstance and were watching Jesus to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man:
"Stand forth into the midst."
Then, turning to the Pharisees, He said:
"Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil? to save a life, or to destroy it?"
They did not answer, and He added:
"What man is there among you who, if he has a single sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? How much better is a man than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
He looked at them thoughtfully for a moment, in anger and in sorrow. Then He said to the afflicted man:
"Stretch forth thy hand."
The hand was immediately healed. But the Pharisees went out and plotted with the Herodians to kill Christ.

The Pharisees watched Our Lord and His disciples to try to catch them in some violation of the Law. Their purpose was to discredit and to injure Him. But they veiled their attempt behind a feigned zeal for exact observance of God's Law. This was hypocrisy. They pretended to be serving God; in reality they were trying to trap the Son of God. How often do I pretend to have lofty motives for my harsh and severe strictures of others?

The Call of Matthew; A Sermon on Fasting

Chapter 20
MATT. 9:9-17; MARK 2:13-22; LUKE 5:27-39
AFTER THE CURE OF THE PARALYTIC, JESUS LEFT THE HOUSE
and went down to the shore of the lake, where He spoke for some time to the crowds that habitually sought Him out.
Then, continuing His walk along the shore, He passed the station of the customs officers. There was a man sitting there named Levi, a tax-collector, whom Jesus had marked for His own, and He called to him as He passed:
"Follow Me."
Without asking any questions as to why he should do so, this new disciple left all and followed Christ.
Subsequently, Levi, whom we know better as Matthew (a name probably given him by Christ), offered an elaborate dinner in honor of Jesus. He invited some of his cronies in the tax office and a number of other people whom the Jews regarded as public sinners, and many of these were followers of Christ. Grumbling at this lack of discrimination, the Scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus why He dined with such men, and Jesus replied that His mission was to these sinful outcasts:
"It is not the healthy who need a physician, but they who are sick. But go, and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I have come to call sinners, not the just."
Now the Pharisees and the disciples of John were fasting that day, and they came to Jesus asking why His disciples did not fast, also. But Jesus said:
"Can the wedding guests fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a patch of raw cloth on an old garment; else the new patch tears away from the old, and a worse rent is made. And no one pours new wine into old wine-skins; else the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is spilt, and the skins will be ruined. But the new wine must be put into fresh skins, and both are saved. And no man after drinking old wine immediately desires new; for he says 'The old is better.' "

Matthew or Levi was a tax collector. To the Jews of his day he was the representative of a foreign power, a despicable man who worked for the conqueror. Yet Christ called him and made him one of His twelve intimates; and he became the author of one of the four Gospels. Christ wants all men, not just the "respectable" members of society; He died for all; He loves all. If my love for my fellow-men is to mirror Christ's love, can I exclude anyone for reasons of class, nationality, or race?

Cure of a Paralytic at Capharnaum

Chapter 19
MATT. 9:1-8; MARK 2:1-12; LUKE 5:17-26
AT THE BEGINNING OF JUNE Jesus was again back in Capharnaum, probably in the house of Simon and Andrew, which seems to have been His customary residence when He was in Capharnaum. At this time occurred the first of a series of incidents in which the Pharisees openly opposed or disputed with Christ.
The news that Christ had returned to the city created great excitement; the street before His house was soon filled with people, while crowds filled the house itself and blocked the entrance. Pharisees and Doctors of the Law from all the villages of Galilee and Judea had come to hear Jesus, and Jerusalem also had sent its delegates.
While Jesus sat and spoke to this distinguished audience, four men came up to the house, carrying on a litter a paralytic who hoped to be cured by Jesus. When the bearers found the street entrance blocked by the crowds of curious onlookers, they climbed with the litter to the roof of the house and, having removed a number of the tiles or shingles from the roof, carefully lowered the litter through the opening, depositing the paralytic in the midst of the crowd that surrounded Jesus in the room below.
Jesus was touched by the faith of this man and of the bearers, who had gone to such pains to bring their friend before Him. He was going to heal this invalid, but first He said:
"Son, thy sins are forgiven thee."
He said this to make clear His claim to divine power, the power to forgive sins as well as to heal those ills which the Pharisees regarded as the punishment of sin. The Pharisees then began muttering within themselves that He blasphemed, but Jesus read their minds and said:
"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee,' or to say, 'Arise, and take up thy pallet, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins—I say to thee, arise, take up thy pallet, and go to thy house."
And the sick man arose and walked off, while all present praised God for what they had witnessed.

Each of us has a sick friend like the paralytic, although it may be paralysis of the soul rather than the body that afflicts him. He is unable, by himself, to reach Christ. Will we extend a helping hand and lead him to Christ? The common attitude is to "let the other fellow do it." But the four friends of the paralytic did not pass the responsibility to someone else. For their friend they worked, and they succeeded. Would I do as much to bring a friend of mine to Christ?

The "Our Father"

Christ taught the "Our Father," the model for all prayer

AFTER A NIGHT spent in prayer, our Lord called His disciples around Himself and chose twelve of them to be His Apostles. Then, in company with these Apostles and a large group of disciples, He descended to a spot on the mountain where a great crowd was waiting. In the sermon He delivered that morning there were words for both intimate followers and chance listeners; both groups had vague notions about Christ and His mission on earth. The sermon was a rich sampling of Christ's teachings and maxims. But it was not a complete exposition, for it included, for instance, no references the coming Redemption, to the Church or the Sacraments. Nevertheless, the effect of what He said that morning must have been tremendous. The Gospel itself tells us that there was great admiration and astonishment at the clearness, the novelty, the depth and beauty of this teaching.
Such would have been the reaction to His words on prayer. Ostentation in praying, Christ pointed out, will have no reward from God. As a model for the Christian's prayer He gave us the "Our Father," in which we pray, first of all, that God may be glorified. We should pray also for material needs, "our daily bread," with all that it implies for our bodily, mental, and moral well being. Finally, we should pray to be delivered from any evils that might impede our service of God.
Christ, with His disciples around Him, taught the perfect prayer. Today, mothers gather their children around them and teach them to pray. The "Our Father" can always be the model of all prayer for young and old.
"In this manner therefore shall you pray."
MATT. 6:9

THE inspired pages of the Bible contain, in addition to the "Our Father," some of the finest prayers ever composed. One of the most beautiful is the "Magnificat," Our Lady's own hymn of praise and thanksgiving.
THE MAGNIFICAT
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid,
for behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed,
Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name;
And His mercy is from generation to generation
toward those who fear Him.
He has shown might with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones
and has exalted the lowly.
The hungry He has filled with good things
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has given help to Israel His servant,
mindful of His mercy,
As He promised our fathers,
toward Abraham and his descendants forever.
LUKE 1:46-55

Jesus Cures a Leper

Chapter 18
MATT. 4:23; 8:1-4; MARK 1:35-45; LUKE 4:42-44; 5:12-16
THE DAY AFTER THIS STRENUOUS SABBATH in Capharnaum Jesus rose early, long before dawn, and went out to pray in a deserted place near the town. When the people heard the mysterious healer had disappeared, they were dismayed and began searching for Him. But the disciples found Him first. When they told Jesus that the whole town was searching for Him, He said:
"Let us go into the neighboring villages and towns, that there also I may preach. For this is why I have come."
Thus began a long circling tour of evangelizing in Galilee. In the course of this journey, which occupied most of the month of May, Jesus visited practically every town and village in the region, preaching in the synagogues, healing the sick, and driving out devils from those possessed.
In one of the towns a leper threw himself down before Jesus and begged Him to heal him. He was "full of leprosy": the disease was in an advanced stage and had begun to eat away the flesh. An outcast according to the Law of Moses, he was trespassing in this very act of approaching Jesus; for the Law forbade lepers to come within six feet of a healthy person. From the time the disease first appeared on their bodies, they were required to live apart from other men, condemned, so the rabbis said, to a living death in punishment for their sins.
Jesus had compassion on the wretch before Him. Stretching forth His hand, He touched him and said:
"I will; be thou made clean."
At once the leprosy vanished, and after urging him to tell no one what had happened, Jesus sent the man to the priest to have his cure certified, saying:
"Go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift for thy purification, as Moses commanded, for a witness to them."
But the former leper told all of his cure. Consequently, Jesus could no longer enter the cities openly, but crowds came to Him even when He withdrew to the desert.

The leper had a disease of the body. Many suffer from leprosy of the soul—those numerous venial sins which eat away the will power. Our Lord is waiting in the Sacrament of Penance to say "be thou made clean." Will we go to Him, like the leper, and confess and beg pardon? When did I go to confession last?

Many Cures at Capharnaum

Chapter 17
MATT. 8:14-17; MARK 1:23-34; LUKE 4:33-41

WHILE JESUS WAS PREACHING in the synagogue at Capharnaum one Sabbath, a man in the congregation was suddenly seized with a demoniac fit and cried out, "What have we to do with Thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Hast Thou come to destroy us? I know who Thou art, the Holy One of God."
Clearly, the devil now realized that Jesus, the Messiah, was divine and that He had come to free men from the power of Satan. But it was not for Satan to proclaim Christ's mission, and He silenced the unclean spirit and drove him out saying;
"Hold thy peace, and go out of the man."

Shrieking and struggling until the man was convulsed, the evil spirit gave up possession of the body, which was found to be unharmed by the fiend it had sheltered.
Immediately the synagogue was in an uproar, everyone discussing with his neighbor this amazing power of Jesus over evil spirits. "What is this word?" they said. "For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." And the news of this remarkable event spread rapidly through Galilee.
Afterwards Jesus left the synagogue and went with His disciples to the house of Simon and Andrew, where He was staying. They found Simon's mother-in-law sick in bed with a severe fever, and the disciples asked Jesus to come to her assistance. Drawing near the sick bed, He took the woman by the hand and brought her to her feet. At the same instant the fever abated and she was able to go about preparing their meal.
By evening the story of this cure, as well as of the exorcism in the synagogue, had circulated through the town. All the sick and possessed persons in Capharnaum were brought to Jesus to be cured, and a large crowd gathered at the door of Simon's house.
Serene amidst this confusion, Jesus laid His hands on the afflicted ones and cured them, fulfilling what Isaias said: "He Himself took up our infirmities, and bore the burden of our ills." But He silenced the cast-out devils, for they knew He was the Christ.

Our Lord has complete control over devils He allows them to perform their evil work but when He wills it, He can put a stop to their activities. When we are tempted to make an unkind remark or perform an unkind action, we can ask God to help us overcome the devil; and He will. A sincere repetition of the aspiration "My Jesus, mercy,” for example, will bring His help in overcoming temptation.

The Miraculous Draught

Chapter 16
MATT. 4:13-22; 7:28-29; MARK l:l6-22; LUKE 4:31-32; 5:1-11
AFTER A BRIEF STAY AT NAZARETH Jesus went and settled at Capharnaum. This was better suited as a center for His public ministry, being a cosmopolitan city through which traffic from several countries moved. He preached regularly in the synagogue there and the people were strongly impressed by His teaching, for He spoke with authority, and did not constantly resort to rabbinic precedents, as did the Scribes.
Along the Galilean shore Jesus found Simon, Andrew, James, and John, who had first joined Him in Judea and who had temporarily returned to their trade of fishermen. They had moored their boats and were washing and mending nets.
A crowd of people had followed Jesus, and in order to speak to them more conveniently He entered Simon's boat and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then, sitting in the little fishing vessel, He began teaching the throngs who stood waiting on the narrow beach. When He had finished speaking, He said to Peter:
"Put out into the deep, and lower your nets for a catch."
"Master," said Simon, "the whole night through we have toiled and have taken nothing; but at Thy word I will lower the net." Thereupon he and his companions pushed out some distance from the shore and began to lower the net. Almost at once it was filled to the breaking point. Simon and his crew were unable to bring their catch on board, and as they saw the net beginning to tear under the weight of the enormous mass of struggling fish, they called to the Zebedees for help. Through their combined efforts the net was hauled up and both boats were loaded with fish until they began to ship water. Whereupon the crews were amazed, and Peter fell on his knees protesting he was unworthy to be in Christ's presence. Going ashore with Simon and Andrew, Jesus said to them:
"Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

At once they put aside their nets and followed Him. And passing by the spot where the Zebedees had landed, He invited James and John in the same way, and they left their father and followed Christ.

Christ performed this miracle to remove any hesitation that might still prevent Peter, Andrew, James, and John from following Him. They were already His disciples; He wanted them to be His apostles. For this further commitment, Christ assured them by a miracle that He could always come to their assistance. They were convinced; they left all to follow Him. Often, when the interior call of grace or the exterior call of Christ's Church invites us to undertake a new work or join a new group, we hesitate to get involved. We fear to give ourselves unreservedly — even to God's work.

Another Miracle in Cana

Chapter 15
MATT. 4:17; MARK 1:14-15; LUKE 4:14-22; JOHN 4:43-54
AFTER HIS TWO-DAY STAY IN SICHAR, JESUS proceeded into Galilee. His arrival attracted much attention, for pilgrims from Galilee had witnessed what He had done during the Passover in Jerusalem.
Especially interested in Christ's return was an official at Capharnaum whose son was suffering from a deadly fever. He knew of the works Jesus had performed in Judea; and when he heard that He had returned to Galilee, he hastened to Christ at Cana, where He was stopping, and begged Him to come to Capharnaum and heal his son, who was then at the point of death.
Chiding half-hearted believers, Jesus said:
"Unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe."
The official was insistent, urging Jesus to come with him at once before his son died. But Jesus said:
"Go thy way, thy son lives."
As the official returned to Capharnaum the next day, he was met by his servants, who told him that the fever had left his son at the seventh hour of the previous day, the very time a which Jesus said, "Thy son lives." And he and his whole household believed in Jesus.
Jesus was received with honor in the synagogues; and He preached the gospel of His kingdom, saying:
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel."
In the synagogue at Nazareth He was invited to preach on a text from Isaias. Accepting the roll, He read:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me; to bring good news to the poor He has sent me, and to proclaim to the captives release, and sight to the blind; to set at liberty the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense."
Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. And while the whole congregation looked on with interest, He began to preach, saying:
"Today this Scripture has-been fulfilled in your hearing."

The official for whom Christ worked this miracle was in trouble; his son was dying. The father had heard before of Jesus, whose fame spread throughout Palestine. Perhaps he had witnessed the Savior's earlier miracles. But neither His fame nor His miracles had moved the official to have faith in Jesus. His own distress, a tragedy in his own family, was the occasion that brought him to Christ. Sickness death, accident, loss of fortune— these are often blessings, because they bring us closer to God. Do I see in the tragedies -large or small— in my life the hidden hand of a merciful God?

Part III Our Lord's Early Ministry in Galilee

JESUS returned to Galilee from Jerusalem about the end of May in the year 28. The year that followed, devoted to the inauguration of His kingdom, was marked by many miracles and by preaching throughout Galilee. Shortly after His return He retired to a mountain on the Sea of Galilee, where He preached the Sermon on the Mount, incorporating many of His fundamental teachings. Before beginning this discourse, He formally chose and commissioned His twelve apostles—the first step in the organization of His kingdom. Some of His best remembered miracles belong to this period: the miraculous draught of fishes; numerous cures in the city of Capharnaum, around which most of His activities centered; the raising to life of the widow's son and of the daughter of Jairus; and finally the miraculous feeding of the crowds at Bethsaida Julias. This period closes significantly with His promise of the incredibly great gift—of Himself as our food and drink. The promise was made in the synagogue of Capharnaum the day after He had drawn attention to His power by multiplying the food at Bethsaida.
Although it is not always possible to know in exactly what town Christ spoke or worked miracles or along what road He walked, all the events of this period took place either in Galilee or in the country of the Gerasenes, across the Sea of Galilee.