16 December 2019 Catholic Mass Daily Bible Reading. USCCB Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 21,23-27. When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders …More
16 December 2019 Catholic Mass Daily Bible Reading.
USCCB Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 21,23-27.
When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus said to them in reply, "I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.
Where was John's baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?" They discussed this among themselves and said, "If we say 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?'
But if we say, 'Of human origin,' we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet."
So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know." He himself said to them, "Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Discourses on the Psalms, Ps 110[109]
"We do not know"
In truth, brethren, what God promised seemed humanly unbelievable: that starting from this mortal state in which people are corruptible, despicable, weak, dust and ashes, they would become equal to God's angels! That is why God wasn't satisfied with making a scriptural covenant for them to believe but put forward a mediator as proof of his faith: no prince, no angel or archangel, but his only Son. In this way he would point out and bestow through his own Son the way by which he would lead us to the end promised to us. Yet for God it was too small a thing that his Son should show us the way: he made of him the way (cf. Jn 14:6), the way by which you would go under his direction, the way you would follow...
How far we were from him! He who is so high and we so low! We were sick, with no hope of healing. A doctor was sent but the patient did not recognize him, “for if they had known him they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1Cor 2:8). But the death of the doctor has been the cure of the patient; the doctor came to visit him and died to heal him. He made those who believed in him understand he was God and man: God who created us, man who recreated us. The one was visible in him, the other hidden, and that which was hidden far exceeded what was seen... The patient has been healed by what was visible that later he might be able to see in full. God postponed this final vision by concealing it, he did not refuse it.
USCCB Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 21,23-27.
When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus said to them in reply, "I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.
Where was John's baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?" They discussed this among themselves and said, "If we say 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?'
But if we say, 'Of human origin,' we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet."
So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know." He himself said to them, "Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Discourses on the Psalms, Ps 110[109]
"We do not know"
In truth, brethren, what God promised seemed humanly unbelievable: that starting from this mortal state in which people are corruptible, despicable, weak, dust and ashes, they would become equal to God's angels! That is why God wasn't satisfied with making a scriptural covenant for them to believe but put forward a mediator as proof of his faith: no prince, no angel or archangel, but his only Son. In this way he would point out and bestow through his own Son the way by which he would lead us to the end promised to us. Yet for God it was too small a thing that his Son should show us the way: he made of him the way (cf. Jn 14:6), the way by which you would go under his direction, the way you would follow...
How far we were from him! He who is so high and we so low! We were sick, with no hope of healing. A doctor was sent but the patient did not recognize him, “for if they had known him they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1Cor 2:8). But the death of the doctor has been the cure of the patient; the doctor came to visit him and died to heal him. He made those who believed in him understand he was God and man: God who created us, man who recreated us. The one was visible in him, the other hidden, and that which was hidden far exceeded what was seen... The patient has been healed by what was visible that later he might be able to see in full. God postponed this final vision by concealing it, he did not refuse it.
Book of Numbers 24,2-7.15-17a.
When Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him,
and he gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true,
The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured, and with eyes …More
When Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him,
and he gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true,
The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured, and with eyes unveiled:
How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel!
They are like gardens beside a stream, like the cedars planted by the LORD.
His wells shall yield free-flowing waters, he shall have the sea within reach; His king shall rise higher than. . . . and his royalty shall be exalted.
Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true,
The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured and with eyes unveiled.
I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel.
Psalms 25(24),4-5ab.6.7bc.8-9.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.