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The Curt Jester

"It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it." GKC

Punditry

My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 5:13–16

by Jeffrey Miller February 5, 2023February 5, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller

Matthew 5:13–16

13  “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.15  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV – Bible Gateway


Last week the lectionary covered the Beatitudes in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, this week we continue on.

This Gospel passage is relatively short, and yet, there is so much to mine here. The hearers of the Beatitudes would have had much to think about what being a disciple of Jesus meant. Jesus here specifies that this is not just something interior to reflect on. This interior change must reflect through all your life as a witness to others. To move out of ourselves to not only absorb and live his teachings, but to lead others to give glory to God.

To an extent, we can take in some of the imagery Jesus is using here in these metaphors of salt and light. There is a dimension here that would pass by most of us if we do not understand these metaphors as related to the Old Testament.

Some commentaries I read delved into this aspect as related to the Temple and the sacrifices, but I especially liked how Dr. John Bergsma summarizes this.

In this passage about the disciples as “salt” and “light,” Jesus makes generous use of Temple imagery that goes unnoticed by most contemporary readers. The image of “salt” is related to the Temple because the priests made heavy use of salt, sprinkled on the sacrifices and elsewhere, as a symbol of purity and as a seasoning and preservative for the sacrificial meat intended for human consumption. Apparently it was also used in covenant rituals because the Chronicler speaks of the kingdom of the LORD being given to the House of David by a “covenant of salt” (2 Chr 13:5; see also Num 18:19). So salt is rich in ideas of purity, preservation, covenant fidelity, proper worship, and savor. “Salt ❲that❳ loses its taste” would be salt from which any true sodium has leached out, leaving behind only other minerals and impurities, fit only to be used for traction on roads.

“Light” was also associated with the Temple, for on the basis of prophecies like Zechariah 14:7–8, the Jews believed that in the end times, the Temple would be the source of continual light for the people of Israel. This belief was enacted each year at the great Temple feast, the Festival of Tabernacles, during which the Temple courts were lit up twenty-four hours a day by huge menorahs that had to be lit by young men on ladders. Jewish tradition describes “no shadow being in Jerusalem” during these ancient celebrations. It was during or just after this Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2) that Jesus taught his disciples, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).

A “city set on a mountain” is a clear reference to the Temple city Jerusalem, the most famous “city set on a mountain” in all Israel. In fact, the ridgeline on which Jerusalem sits is one of the highest in all the traditional territory of Israel, with the result that travel to Jerusalem was typically described as “going up” (Hebrew ‘alah) to Zion, since one literally had to ascend to the city from almost any other location. The Temple, in turn, was built on the highest point of the ancient city, dominating the skyline.[1]

Dr. Brant Pitre points out:

… the cereal offering is is a translation of the Hebrew word minchah, which literally means just a bread or a grain offering. So you had these cereal offerings that would often be offered to God in the form of a caked bread—sometimes mixed with oil—and interestingly often offered on the altar with bread and wine, so as an offering of bread and wine. So it was kind of like a meal that you would share with God. So the salt is added to the cereal offering to signify the covenant banquet between you and God. It is something that is essential for a sacrifice that is being offered to the Lord. “With all your offerings you shall offer salt,” Leviticus says. So there may be a deeper meaning going on when we go back to the Sermon on the Mount.[2]

This helps us to see the dimension of how we pour out our life in sacrifice for the Lord. In the opening verses in Romans 12, St. Pauls writes:

12  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2  Do not be conformed to this world, _ but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [3]

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, addresses the sacrificial sense and dives into the spiritual sense of salt as used here.

He says, therefore: You are the salt. He compares them to salt on account of four reasons. The first reason is on account of the production of salt, which comes from both the wind and the sun’s heat: for spiritual generation is from the water of Baptism and the power of the Holy Ghost; “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3, 5). And the production of salt comes from the heat of the sun, meaning from the fervor of love which is from the Holy Ghost; “The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost who is given to us” (Rom. 5, 5). Secondly, it is on account of the utilities of salt, of which the first is its use, that all things are seasoned with salt: hence, it signifies the wisdom which apostolic men ought to have; “The wisdom of doctrine is according to her name, and she is not manifest unto many, but with them to whom she is known, she continueth even to the sight of God” (Eccli. 6, 23), and, “Walk with wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time” (Col. 4, 5). The second use: was that in every sacrifice salt was added (Lev. 2, 13),: because apostolic teaching ought to be reflected in our every deed. The third use is that it absorbs excess moisture and by this preserves from putrefaction. In this way the Apostles were restraining carnal concupiscences by their teaching; “The time past is sufficient to have fulfilled the will of the Gentiles, for them who have walked in riotousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings and unlawful worshipping of idols” (I Pet. 4, 3), and, “Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy” (Rom. 13, 13). The fourth effect of salt is that it makes the ground sterile. Hence, it is said that some conquerors oversowed salt outside a city which they captured so that nothing would grow. In like manner, also the Gospel teaching makes the ground sterile, namely, so that earthly works do not spring up in us; “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness: but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5, 11). Therefore, the Apostles are called salt because they have pungency for withdrawing from sins; “Have salt in you: and have peace among you” (Mk. 9, 49).[4]

The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible remarks concerning verse 5:16:

“Earlier chapters make no mention of the Fatherhood of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, however, Jesus calls God “Father” a total of 17 times (chaps. 5–7). “ and “God’s Fatherhood is the deepest mystery of his identity; from eternity he fathers a divine Son (Jn 1:1), and throughout history he adopts us as his children in Christ (Jn 1:12; Gal 4:4–7).”[5]

Two other aspects to cover are how Jesus calls us the “Light of the World” and that he is also the “Light of the World” along with us showing our good works to others instead of keeping them in secret.

First Dr. Peter Kreeft:

…Another reason these two sayings of Jesus don’t contradict each other, the sayings about letting our light shine before men and about doing our good deeds in secret, is that they are addressed to different occasions, different states of mind. When we are in danger of cowardice, Jesus tells us to let our light shine; when we are in danger of pride, he tells us to pray in secret. When we’re down on ourselves he brings us up, and when we’re up on ourselves he brings us down. Why? Because Jesus is the perfect mirror of God the Father; and God is love; and love always wills the good of the loved one; and the good of the loved one is his needs, not his wants; and his need is always to be delivered from both despair and pride, both cowardice and arrogance, both self-defeatism and self-satisfaction, both self-hate and self-love. [6]

And lastly Dr. Brant Pitre:

So is Jesus the light of the world or are the disciples the light of the world?” The answer is yes, it’s both, it’s both-and, it’s a classic Catholic both-and. It’s not that Jesus is the light or we are the light, it is both. The light that the disciples are going to shine in the world only comes through their union with, an imitation of, Jesus. He is the source of all of the light of the Gospel, but it is going to shine through his disciples and out into the world because of them. That’s the imagery being used here.[7]

Sources

  • The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
  • Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
  • St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
  • English Standard Version Catholic Edition
  • The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible – The New Testament
  • Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
  • Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

  1. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  ↩
  2. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre. 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
  3. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute.  ↩
  4. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
  5. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
  6. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A  ↩
  7. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre. 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
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Laughing at God?

by Jeffrey Miller January 31, 2023January 31, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller

There is an aphorism that “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

My counter to this is that if God wants you to laugh, he will tell us his plans for you.

I got to thinking about this listening to today’s Gospel. When Jesus told the people surrounding Jairus’ daughter that she was sleeping, they laughed at him. When Sarah was told she would have a child, she laughed at this in doubt.

One of Jesus’s patterns was to work a miracle in response to faith. He worked this miracle in response to Jairus’ faith, a ruler in the synagogue. Yet first Jesus had those who laughed in mocking doubt put outside, first, leaving only the mother, father, and some disciples.

I thought that even when I am dutifully praying for someone, how much faith was I really putting into this? How perfunctory is my prayer and how expectant am I that if it is his will, he will do it? How much laughter is there in me at the thought that a prayer will be answered? I think of the middle part of this Marcan sandwich of the women with the flow of blood who suffered for 12 years and would have been excluded from community life because of this. She persevered in her faith and took the opportunity when presented to her.

These are not just “cool stories,” but templates for us to build our own expectant faith on.

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My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 5:1–12a
Scripture

My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 5:1–12a

by Jeffrey Miller January 29, 2023January 29, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller

Matthew 5:1–12a

The Sermon on the Mount

5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

2  And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7  “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8  “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11  “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 

12  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:1–12a ESV – Bible Gateway


In the lectionary, this Gospel passage marks the start of six consecutive Sundays focusing on the Sermon of the Mount, and we start with the Beatitudes. These verses are charged with meaning and are the template for living the Christian life.

We can blithely pass over “he went up on the mountain” and pass quickly to the Beatitudes. Dr. Brant Pitre brings out an important aspect regarding this:

Just as Moses went up Mount Sinai in order to get the 10 Commandments, the old law, so now Jesus, the new Moses, goes up to the top of this mountain in Galilee in order to give his disciples the new law, the law of the Gospel. So Jesus is a new Moses here. However, it’s important also to note though that there’s both a difference and a similarity. The difference here is significant. If you go back to the book of Exodus in Exodus 19 and 20, Moses, when he gets the 10 Commandments, the old law, he brings it down to the bottom of the mountain and gives it to the people at the bottom of the mountain. But when it comes to Jesus, the new Moses, with the new law of the Sermon on the Mount, he actually doesn’t deliver it at the bottom of the mountain, he gives it at the top of the mountain. So he’s bringing the disciples up to a higher law, a higher commandment, because Moses’ law was ultimately oriented toward the kingdom of Israel, toward the earthly kingdom in Jerusalem, but Jesus’s new law is going to be ordered toward the kingdom of heaven, a heavenly kingdom. So there’s a similarity but there is also a big difference here with regard to Jesus as the new Moses of the new mountain giving the new law.[1]

To continue with a note from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible:

The mountain signifies the higher precepts of righteousness, for the precepts given to Israel were lower. God gave lesser laws to those requiring the bonds of fear, but higher laws to those ready to be set free by love. The higher precepts are for the kingdom of heaven, just as the lower precepts were for a kingdom on earth (St. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount 1, 1, 2). he sat down: The posture of a Jewish rabbi speaking with authority (cf. 23:1–2; Jn 8:2). [2]

Dr. John Bergsma gives a quick overview of what the Beatitudes are:

Now, with respect to the Beatitudes (which are just the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount and not synonymous with the entire Sermon, which lasts from Matt 5–7), we should note that there are eight main ones (vv. 3–10), followed by an epilogue on persecution (vv. 11–12). The first and eighth beatitudes promise the blessing of the “kingdom of heaven.” That is a literary device called an inclusio (beginning and ending on the same topic), which highlights the main point. So the Beatitudes are about the kingdom of heaven; specifically, they are the virtues that are required of kingdom citizens.[3]

and

Finally, we should note that the beatitudes are not a simple grab-bag of random virtues, but there is a certain progression as we move through them. They are all interrelated, and to a certain extent they move from one to the next.[4]

I need to be reminded of what the translated word “blessing” means:

The Greek word being translated as blessing here is actually makarios, which means happy. That is the literal translation of the word. So when you read the Beatitudes it’s not just a list of blessings, it’s actually a description of how to be happy, it’s the secret of happiness. And you can see this much more clearly if you read a Latin translation of the Bible like the Latin Vulgate, because the Latin word is beatus, which means happy, and that’s where we even get the word beatitude from.[5]

Dr. Brant Pitre also writes:

…the Catechism says that the Beatitudes “depict the countenance of Jesus Christ.” In other words, the Beatitudes are not just something that he’s calling his disciples to, they are something that he himself embodied. So if you look at each of the Beatitudes, they kind of give you a spiritual profile of Jesus himself. They depict the face of Christ himself. [6]

Specifically, the Catechism says:

CCC 1717 The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ’s disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.[7]

Looking at the individual Beatitudes, you can quickly come to the opinion that they are a serious pushback against almost everything the world attempts to teach daily. This is not surprising, as this is the very pattern of Jesus’ teaching method. To stand us on our heads to see his magnificent creation as it is and that it permeates the moral law with this same magnificence and wonder.

The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture for the Gospel of Matthew puts this idea succinctly:

Jesus’ beatitudes represent a reversal of values, turning the world’s standards for happiness upside down. Many of the people whom the world would consider to be among the most miserable—the poor, the mourning, the meek, the persecuted—Jesus proclaims to be in an advantageous situation, for God looks now with favor on them and assures them of consolation in the future. Jesus thus challenges his followers to see life from God’s viewpoint, not the world’s. When his followers live by God’s standards, they are truly in a fortunate state in life, no matter what their circumstances may be, for they bring a glimmer of the joy and hope of the heavenly kingdom into the afflictions of the present world.[8]

These references provide a quick summary of the concept of the Beatitudes, and I am only going to do a quick look at one of them. The second Beatitude addresses those who mourn, and this is one I never understood correctly since I have jumped to the common meaning of mourn.

“Blessed are they who mourn” or “happy are they who mourn.” Here St. Augustine and other commentators say that Jesus is describing those who lament the sufferings, the sin and the death that are part of this present life. So someone who mourns is someone who is experiencing the pain of loss, whether lamenting their own sinfulness or the sinfulness of others, lamenting their own suffering or the sufferings of others, and especially of course the primary expression of mourning is mourning for those who have died. What does Jesus say? “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” He points to a promise of comfort beyond the sufferings of this life.[9]

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on Matthew, states:

And this mourning can be explained in three ways. Firstly, mourning can be not only for one’s own sins but also for others’ sins; because if we lament those who have carnally died, much more should we lament those who have died spiritually; “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul,” etc.[10]

I will finish with two more quotes from the Church Fathers:

St. Ambrose: When yon have done thus much, attained both poverty and meekness, remember that you are a sinner, mourn your sins, as He proceeds, Blessed are they that mourn. And it is suitable that the third blessing should be of those that mourn for sin, for it is the Trinity that forgives sin.[11]

St. Augustine. Otherwise; mourning is sorrow for the loss of what is dear; but those that are turned to God lose the things that they held dear in this world; and as they have now no longer any joy in such things as before they had joy in, their sorrow may not be healed till there is formed within them a love of eternal things. They shall then be comforted by the Holy Spirit, who is therefore chiefly called, The Paraclete, that is, ‘Comforter;’ so that for the loss of their temporal joys, they shall gain eternal joys.[12]

Sources

  • Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
  • The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
  • The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A—John Bergsma
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
  • The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
  • Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
  • Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

  1. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
  2. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
  3. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  ↩
  4. ibid  ↩
  5. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
  6. ibid  ↩
  7. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩
  8. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
  9. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
  10. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
  11. St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, A.D. 374. Ambrose. (ubi sup.) Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew (J. H. Newman, Ed.; Vol. 1, p. 150).  ↩
  12. St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, A.D. 396. (Serm. in Mont. i. 2.) Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew (J. H. Newman, Ed.; Vol. 1, p. 150).  ↩
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My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 4:12–23
Scripture

My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 4:12–23

by Jeffrey Miller January 22, 2023January 22, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller

Matthew 4:12–23

Jesus Begins His Ministry

12  Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13  And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,14  so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15  “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
    the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16  the people dwelling in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
    on them a light has dawned.”

17  From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18  While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19  And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20  Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21  And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22  Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Matthew 4:12–23 ESV – Bible Gateway


This Sunday’s Gospel kicks off our journey through the Gospel of Matthew for Year A of the Lectionary Cycle. This journey starts with what Matthew identifies as the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

After the news had reached them of the arrest of John the Baptist, they withdraw to Galilee. This reminds me both of the prudence of Jesus, but also of Joseph. When Joseph received word from an Angel that Herod had died, he was all set to return to Bethlehem with Mary and Jesus. When he learns that Herod Archelaus had succeeded his father in Judea, he goes to Nazareth in Galilee instead. In both cases, we see a decision made to avoid what was possibly a dangerous place too close to the political and religious authorities.

From the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible:

Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth in lower Galilee but stays only long enough to say his good-byes. He has decided to resettle in Capernaum, a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. This was a place of some importance in the first century, quite a bit larger than the tiny village of Nazareth. Capernaum thrived on its fishing industry and was close to a Roman road called the Via Maris, which served as a commercial route connecting Galilee with Syria to the north. Jesus chooses this busy town as the base of operations for his Galilean ministry.[1]

Matthew interprets the move to Capernaum as a fulfillment of prophecy.[2] He quotes from Isaiah, which was our first reading today. Dr. Brant Pitre elaborates:

Now guess what were the first two tribes to go into exile in the Assyrian exile. It was the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. In other words, the territory of Galilee is where that exile began, where the overthrow of the 12 tribes started, and that’s where Jesus is going to begin his public ministry. Precisely where the exile began is where Jesus is going to start undoing the effects of the exile. Precisely where the 12 tribes were decimated and broken into pieces and scattered to the four winds is where Jesus is going to begin calling his 12 disciples in order to gather around himself a new Israel and in order to establish a new king. That’s why he’s doing it. This is very very deliberate on Jesus’ part. He knows exactly what he’s doing here.[3]

The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible adds:

4:15–16 The land of Zebulun … dawned: A citation from Is 9:1–2 concerning the land allotments of two Israelite tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. Since these Galilean regions were the first to be ravaged by Assyrian invasions from 733 to 732 b.c. (2 Kings 15:29), Jesus targets Galilee as the place to begin reversing the tragedies of Israel’s history by restoring the 12 tribes in the New Covenant (cf. 15:24; 19:28; Rev 7:4–8).
Isaiah foresees a “latter time” (Is 9:1), when God will restore hope to Galilee. Matthew links this with Jesus’ residence in “Capernaum” (4:13), a town north of the Sea of Galilee where the tribal territories of Zebulun and Naphtali intersect. Matthew’s sustained interest in the Davidic kingship of Jesus suggests that the fuller context of this oracle is also significant. Isaiah 9:1–2 prefaces an Immanuel prophecy of the birth of a new king who will sit “upon the throne of David” (Is 9:7) and restore this light of hope to Galilee (cf. Lk 1:32–33). [4]

Jesus starts with a message that continues on the preaching of John the Baptist and would also have been very familiar to John’s disciples.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, writes:

From that time Jesus began to preach. Having set forth the place where Christ first began to preach, here is set forth the manner of preaching. From that time, namely, after the conquering of gluttony, vainglory and ambition, or avarice, He began to preach: for suchlike men can suitably preach. And in this way is fulfilled that passage of Acts 1, 1: “Jesus began to do and to teach.” Or, from that time, that is, after John’s imprisonment, He began to preach publicly: for previously He preached secretly and to certain men (Jn. 1, 38 ff.), namely, to Peter, Andrew, Philip, and Nathaniel, but here publicly. Now He did not at first wish to preach publicly, to give place to John’s preaching: otherwise it would have been of no avail, just as the light of the stars is obscured by the light of the sun. Now it is signified by this that when the figures of the Law had ceased, Christ’s preaching began; “But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away” (I Cor. 13, 10). For by John the Law is signified; “The prophets and the law were until John”[5]

As Dr. John Bergsma points out, it is likely not the case that “the four men drop their nets to follow a total stranger…”[6] and continues with the likelihood “that these four men had already encountered Jesus before and had some interaction with him. Jesus is not calling to total strangers, but he is calling the men to commit whole-heartedly to what, up to that time, had been a casual relationship with him.”[7] Another interesting aspect he points to is that “In Judaism, it was only permissible to cease the practice of one’s livelihood and break family ties for the sake of the study of God’s Word, the Torah, “The Law.” In calling his disciples to abandon everything, not to study the Law but to follow him, Jesus is placing himself in the role of the Law of God. He is God’s Word incarnate. Imitating him is a form of studying God’s Law.”[8]
He also gives us this detail:

He calls fishermen to follow him and become “fishers of men.” Although Matthew doesn’t call attention to the fact, this is actually a fulfillment of an oracle of the prophet Jeremiah:[9]

Behold, I am sending for many fishers, says the LORD, and they shall catch them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. (16:16, RSV2CE)

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen called Jesus The Only Person Ever Pre-Announced and Dr. Peter Kreeft reminds us about Messianic prophesies and their importance:

There are literally hundreds of specific prophecies in the Old Testament of the Messiah, the “anointed one” or the “promised one,” and Jesus fulfilled every one of them in every detail. No other religious founder ever fulfilled so many specific prophecies. Today’s reading from Isaiah is one of them, and Matthew quotes it in today’s Gospel.[10]

We can discern much by this initial call of four apostles. Unsurprisingly, St. Thomas Aquinas gives us some of the depth of this:

Note that at the beginning He called brothers: and although He called many others, nevertheless, mention is specially made of these, because they were outstanding, and because He called them by pairs: for the New Law is founded in charity: whence, also in the Old Law, He called two brothers, Aaron and Moses, because even then the commandment of charity was given. And because the New Law is more perfect, thus at the beginning a double number of brothers is called, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. By these four men the four Gospels’ doctrine, or four virtues, is signified: because by Peter, which is interpreted ‘knowing,’ the virtue of prudence is signified; by Andrew, which is interpreted ‘virile’ or ‘very strong,’ the virtue of fortitude is signified; by James, which is interpreted ‘supplanter,’ the virtue of justice is signified; and by John, on account of his virginity, the virtue of temperance is signified. Their piety is set forth, because they were with their father, Zebedee.[11]

St. John Henry Newman reminds us that Jesus calls all of us:

“Such are the instances of Divine calls in Scripture, and their characteristic is this; to require instant obedience, and next to call us we know not to what; to call us on in the darkness. Faith alone can obey them. But it may be urged, How does this concern us now? … For in truth we are not called once only, but many times; all through our life Christ is calling us. He called us first in Baptism; but afterwards also; whether we obey His voice or not, He graciously calls us still. If we fall from our Baptism, He calls us to repent; if we are striving to fulfil our calling, He calls us on from grace to grace, and from holiness to holiness, while life is given us. Abraham was called from his home, Peter from his nets, Matthew from his office, Elisha from his farm, Nathanael from his retreat; we are all in course of calling, on and on, from one thing to another, having no resting place, but mounting towards our eternal rest, and obeying one command only to have another put upon us.”[12]

Sources

  • The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
  • The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
  • Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
  • Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. Thomas Aquinas
  • The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
  • Life of Christ, Fulton J. Sheen
  • Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
  • Newman Reader – Parochial & Plain Sermons 8 – Sermon 2
  • Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

  1. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
  2. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
  3. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre  ↩
  4. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
  5. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
  6. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma  ↩
  7. ibid  ↩
  8. ibid  ↩
  9. ibid  ↩
  10. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A  ↩
  11. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
  12. Sermon 2 in John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899), 8:22–23.  ↩
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Book Review – Great Heresies and Church Councils – Jean Guitton
Book Review

Book Review – Great Heresies and Church Councils – Jean Guitton

by Jeffrey Miller January 17, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller

“Great Heresies and Church Councils” by Jean Guitton

I heard about this book on Gary Michuta’s podcast where he was talking with former Catholic Answers President Karl Keating. Over the last year or so, his talking with Karl on classic apologetics and history books has led often the need to hunt them down. Be warned, this one is out of print and I hunted up a copy via an online used book store. It is worthwhile to get. Although, you can read it online via this Internet Archive Link.

As a history of the various heresies in Church history, it is not just a relaying of all those details capably done by so many authors in the past. If you want an in-depth history with all those details, this is not the book to get. This is supplemental to them.

This is a very insightful bird’s-eye view of these heresies and the response by Church councils to them. He has a way of helping you to see deeper and to see commonalities and other dispositions that led to these heresies. The very-human way that mysteries are often simplified to the point of being easily explained, but mistakenly erasing the mystery.

  • Definition and Dates
  • Judaism
  • Gnosticism
  • Arianism
  • Islam
  • Catharism
  • The Protestant Reformation
  • The New Dismemberment

Here are some highlights I made from the chapter on the Protestant Reformation.”

But once a conscience or a culture has been infused with Christianity, it cannot ever again return to an earlier age that seems more spacious, more indifferent, without denying Christianity at first in fact, later in principle; it cannot return to a state of ‘nature’ or of ‘reason’ like that of the Greeks or even of the Jews before Christ. A full-grown man cannot return to inarticulate and fresh childhood without risking infantilism. The flow of time cannot be reversed. Our ship is headed toward the high sea. Deism or humanism in the post-Christian era will not be like the deism or humanism of antiquity. Modern deism and humanism must inevitably follow the fateful decline that ends up in an anthropocentric religion opposed to traditional Christianity. (Pg 147)


We are here faced again with that theologico-political phenomenon of which I spoke on several occasions. But this time it assumed unparalleled proportions–proportions co-extensive with all culture and civilization. This collusion of the two causes has lent a certain ambiguity to the rise and expansion of the world of the Reformation. For it makes the Reformation seem similar to the other heresies known to history- at least on first sight.

In fact, we here encounter once again the hidden rhythm, the living dialectic of the great revolutions of consciences in revolt. We see their scandal at abuse, their intransigence, their purity, their inflexibility, their willingness to accept the worse in order to save the true, their hope of a new start in Christianity. We also see their anguish, their inner fragmentation, their fatal alliance with others who are less pure, and finally the impossibility of their return to that first stage when their innovation Was still a development and a reform which were acceptable and desirable within the Church. (Pg 149)


I said that all ‘great heresies’ spoke the same language. Not one of them intended innovation. They all thought of themselves as a return to a primal purity that was not altogether lost but had been compromised everywhere except among the elect. This heroic love of integrity allowed them to face without trembling their rejection by the visible unity in order that they might save the invisible unity; once the separation had been consummated, they could find in it a somber and severe glory. (Pg 158)


I would say the words of St Augustine, so profound and so simple: ’If I oppose you, it is to give you the fulness.? Tibi contradico ut totum possideas. (Pg 182)

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The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 446

by Jeffrey Miller January 17, 2023January 17, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller
pope-francis2-300x187

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc., which I also cross-post on Jimmy Akin’s blog.

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week, from 30 September 2022 to 17 January 2023.

Letters

  • 8 December 2022 – Letter of the Holy Father on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Saint John Paul II’s Apostolic Journey to Cuba

Speeches

  • 30 September 2022 – To the members of the ‘Fraternidad de Agrupaciones Santo Tomás de Aquino’ (FASTA)
  • 31 October 2022 – To participants in the meeting organized by the Coordination of Communication Associations (COPERCOM)
  • 19 December 2022 – To Managers and Delegates of the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL)

Papal Tweets

  • “Let us always remember that the way we treat the last and the least of our brothers and sisters speaks of the value we place upon all human life.” @Pontifex, 12 January 2023
  • “We need daily #prayer, time dedicated to God, so He can enter into our time. We need frequent moments in which we open our hearts to Him so He can daily pour out his love on us and nourish our faith.” @Pontifex, 13 January 2023
  • “Just as the earth bears abundant fruit when it is well cultivated and cared for, so it is with us. When we cultivate our spiritual health, when we have a well cultivated relationship with the Lord, we begin to bear very good fruit.” @Pontifex, 14 January 2023
  • “John the Baptist sets his disciples in Jesus’s footsteps. He is not interested in having a following for himself, but he bears witness and then takes a step back, so that many would have the joy of meeting Jesus. #GospelOfTheDay (Jn 1:29–34)” @Pontifex, 15 January 2023
  • “Brothers and sisters, let us not forget the battered people of Ukraine who are suffering so much! Let us stay close to them with our thoughts, with our help, and with our prayers.” @Pontifex, 15 January 2023
  • “In the love we show in this world, in loving with tenderness, we will discover that every day and every thing bears within it a fragment of the mystery of God.” @Pontifex, 16 January 2023
  • “Those who are familiar with God’s Word receive healthy lessons about what is essential. They discover that life is not the time to look at others and protect themselves, but is an opportunity to go out and meet others in the name of the God who is near.” @Pontifex, 17 January 2023

Papal Instagram

  • Franciscus
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Book Review – Meeting the Protestant Response – Karlo Broussard
Book Review

Book Review – Meeting the Protestant Response – Karlo Broussard

by Jeffrey Miller January 16, 2023January 16, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller

“Meeting The Protestant Response: How to Answer Common Comebacks to Catholic Arguments” was released by Karlo Broussard last year and is his followup to his book “Meeting the Protestant Challenge,” that provided the answers to many common Protestant objections.

This book goes deeper for when you answer those common objections and they come back with deeper objections to these responses. We can’t all master the material the same as Karlo has, but this provides an excellent reference guide for where to go to engage these thoughtful objections. He strong mans these objections by directly providing the arguments used by those who have made them.

What I also liked how this is also a guide to thinking about how to respond and to look for where the objection is mistaken.

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The Rose (a Meditation) Book Review
Book Review

The Rose (a Meditation) Book Review

by Jeffrey Miller January 15, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller

I have read some books that were a meditation on the Rosary, but I prefer this one for my tastes. As I remember, I have found that they add too many details in that I found off-putting. There is so much we don’t know about the scenes the mysteries of the Rosary are based on, and so making a cohesive reflection with a literary imagination to fill it out is a laborious task. Usually, I found added details took me out of the meditation.

Zubair Simonson meditation has a fine balance of imaginatively presenting the mysteries and not inventing too many details to fill out the scenes. The reflections are sparse where they should be, but the descriptive writing was invocative and brought things into focus in my mind’s eye. For me, this will be a meditation on the Rosary I will turn to again.

I met Zubair Simonson at the 2022 Chesterton Conference in Milwaukee and had two especially delightful and extended conversations with him. He later presented this book of his to me, which I finally read. I have also seen a couple of articles he has written for the National Catholic Register, and I saw that aspect of his writing style in one article especially. A gifted storyteller.

He also has several stories available on Amazon I need to check out, which are also available for those with KindleUnlimited.

Author Page on Amazon

Zubair also has an interesting conversion story as a former Muslim which you can find on The Journey Home and his written conversion story on The Coming Home Network

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My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel John 1:29–34
Scripture

My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel John 1:29–34

by Jeffrey Miller January 15, 2023January 15, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller

John 1:29–34

29  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30  This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31  I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32  And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.33  I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34  And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John 1:29–34 ESV – Bible Gateway


As Catholics, we are very familiar with the term the “Lamb of God” as we hear it at least every time we celebrate the liturgy. We also see this in artistic imagery, but what we become so familiar with can also lose touch with.

The Navarre commentary of the Gospel of John points out:

For the first time in the Gospel Christ is called the “Lamb of God”. Isaiah had compared the sufferings of the Servant of Yahweh, the Messiah, with the sacrifice of a lamb (cf. Is 53:7); and the blood of the paschal lamb smeared on the doors of houses had served to protect the firstborn of the Israelites in Egypt (cf. Ex 12:6–7): all this was a promise and prefiguring of the true Lamb, Christ, the victim in the sacrifice of Calvary on behalf of all mankind. This is why St Paul will say that “Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7). The expression “Lamb of God” also suggests the spotless innocence of the Redeemer (cf. 1 Pet 1:18–20; 1 Jn 3:5).[1]

When John the Baptist invoked this term he was not envisioning a warm image of a soft cuddly lamb, but a lamb destined for sacrifice to save us from our myriad sins.

Dr. Brant Pitre goes into the point that we “we don’t have any text that talks about the Passover Lamb taking away sin. It protects from death…” and that “the image of taking away the sin of the world is actually an allusion to the suffering servant. So in the book of Isaiah 53, Isaiah describes this mysterious figure of the servant who will take upon himself the iniquities of all the people, and Isaiah says of the servant that “like a lamb he was led to the slaughter” and that “upon him were the sins of the many,” that “he bore the sins of the many,” an image of taking away the sin of the people.”[2]

St. Theophylact of Nicomedia. (in loc.) Why does he say the sin of the world, not sins? Because he wished to express sin universally: just as we say commonly, that man was cast out of paradise; meaning the whole human race.[3]

The Catechism concurs in this:

§608 After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel’s redemption at the first Passover. Christ’s whole life expresses his mission: “to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”[4]

There is so much depth in all that John the Baptist is revealing here. Pointing out that Jesus is the mysterious figure of the suffering servant as prophesied by Isaiah and then blithely mentioning that Jesus pre-existed him alluding to his divinity. John’s original audience would have understood none of this, would not even have even known that Jesus was born three months after him.

They also would not have been puzzled by the statement made by John that “I myself did not know him.” We, as a modern audience, might ponder why John would not know his relative Jesus.

St. Chrysostom. (Hom. xvii. ❲al. xvi.❳ 2.) That He might not seem however to give His testimony from any motive of friendship or kindred, in consequence of his being related to our Lord according to the flesh, he says, I knew Him not. John could not of course know Him, having lived in the desert. And the miraculous events of Christ’s childhood, the journey of the Magi, and such like, were now a long time past; John having been quite an infant, when they happened. And throughout the whole of the interval, He had been absolutely unknown: insomuch that John proceeds, But that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. (And hence it is clear that the miracles said to have been performed by Christ in His childhood, are false and fictitious. For if Jesus had performed miracles at this early age, he would not have been unknown to John, nor would the multitude have wanted a teacher to point Him out.) Christ Himself then did not want baptism; nor was that washing for any other reason, than to give a sign beforehand of faith in Christ. For John saith not, in order to change men, and deliver from sin, but, that he should be made manifest in Israel, have I come baptizing. But would it not have been lawful for him to preach, and bring crowds together, without baptizing? Yes: but this was the easier way, for he would not have collected such numbers, had he preached without baptizing.[5]

The humility of St. John the Baptist is always so striking. Taking every effort to point to Jesus and away from himself. Aware that even the baptism of repentance he preached and practiced was to be quickly superseded.

Dr. Peter Kreeft writes:

John was not the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John cannot take away our sins. John’s baptism does not take away our sins, as Baptism in the name of Jesus does. In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul discovers a congregation of Christians who don’t see that great difference. He senses something missing, and he says, “How were you baptized?” And they say, “With the baptism of John.” And Paul says, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard that, “they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,” and “the holy Spirit came upon them,” just as the three thousand at Pentecost. They even received the charismatic gift of speaking in tongues (Acts 19:3–8).[6]

St. John the Baptist then gives the testimony of what he witnessed after he baptized Jesus.

Dr. John Bergsma shows some of the connection that this reveals.

“I saw the Spirit come down … and remained upon him.” This calls to mind the anointing of David in 1 Samuel 16, on whom the Spirit came mightily “from that day forward” (v. 13); in other words, it remained on him. The Spirit coming down and remaining on Jesus marks him out as the heir of David. John the Baptist, the prophet, plays the role of Samuel, who anointed the first David. This Gospel announces Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s vision of the Davidic royal servant, the one who is “Israel.” Just as Israel washed in the waters of the Jordan symbolically when they crossed into the Promised Land under the first Joshua (Y’shua, Jesus), so this second Joshua (Y’shua, Jesus) comes to enter the Jordan once more and lead us all to the promised land of heaven. This is done primarily through Baptism, in which we, as Christians, are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, which gives us power to become children of God and to live lives of holiness, not continual defeat.[7]

From “The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament” edition:

1:32 the Spirit descend as a dove: The Baptism of Jesus, which initiates his manifestation to Israel (1:31) and prefigures the effects of sacramental Baptism (3:1–13)…. remain: The Greek expression is used often in John (also translated “dwell” or “abide”) for the enduring bond between the Father and Son (14:10; 15:10) and for the indwelling of the Trinity in the believer (6:56; 14:17; 15:4–7).[8]

This is a salutary reminder for us to reflect on our own baptism and how, through it, it configures us to Christ.

Recently Pope Francis said we should celebrate our baptism like a birthday.

“It is like a birthday because baptism makes us reborn in Christian life. That is why I advise you to teach your children the date of their baptism as a new birthday: that every year they will remember and thank God for this grace of becoming a Christian.“[9]

Concluding with a paragraph from the Catechism:

§537 Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father’s beloved son in the Son and “walk in newness of life”: (CCC 1262; CCC 628)

Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified with him.

Everything that happened to Christ lets us know that, after the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven and that, adopted by the Father’s voice, we become sons of God.[10]

Sources

  • The Navarre Bible – St. John
  • Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
  • Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 4: St. John – Verbum
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
  • Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
  • The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
  • The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
  • Pope Francis Celebrate the date of your baptism like a birthday Catholic News Agency
  • Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

  1. Navarre, Saint John (2005)  ↩
  2. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
  3. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩
  4. Theophylact, Archbishop of Ohrid, A.D. 1078, Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. John (J. H. Newman, Ed.; Vol. 4, p. 58)  ↩
  5. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A  ↩
  6. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John  ↩
  7. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
  8. Pope Francis: Celebrate the date of your baptism like a birthday, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253288/pope-francis-celebrate-the-date-of-your-baptism-like-a-birthday  ↩
  9. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference. Paragraph 537  ↩
  10. St. John Chrysostom, Abp. of Constantinople, A.D.398. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. John (J. H. Newman, Ed.; Vol. 4, p. 59)  ↩
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The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 445

by Jeffrey Miller January 11, 2023January 11, 2023
written by Jeffrey Miller
pope-francis2-300x187

\The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc., which I also cross-post on Jimmy Akin’s blog.

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week, from 18 December 2022 to 11 January 2023.

Apostolic Letter

  • 6 January 2023 – Decree of the Holy Father Francis for the assignment of sectors, areas and pastoral services to the Auxiliary Bishops of the Diocese of Rome

Messages

  • 10 January 2023 – 31th World Day of the Sick 2023

Speeches

  • 18 December 2022 – To the children assisted by the ‘Santa Marta’ Paediatric Dispensary
  • 22 December 2022 – To the employees of Vatican City State for the exchange of Christmas greetings

Papal Tweets

  • “I urge everyone to persevere in demonstrating through closeness and solidarity to the battered people of Ukraine who are suffering very much, asking for the gift of the peace for them.” @Pontifex, 4 January 2023
  • “Discernment is an art that can be learned and has its own rules. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to place on our path people who can accompany us on our journey toward God.” @Pontifex, 4 January 2023
  • “Jesus, Crucified and Risen, the Living One and the Lord, was the destination to which Pope Benedict led us, taking us by the hand. May he help us rediscover in Christ the joy of believing and the hope of living.” @Pontifex, 4 January 2023
  • “vV Image” @Pontifex, 5 January 2023
  • “The Magi who set out following the star teach us that faith is a story of setting out and setting out anew. Faith does not grow if it remains static. We need to bring it outside, to live it in a constant journey towards God and towards our brothers and sisters.” @Pontifex, 6 January 2023
  • “On the Feast of Epiphany, World Missionary Childhood Day is celebrated. I greet all the boys and girls who everywhere in the world are spreading the joy of being Jesus’ friends, and are dedicated through prayer, sacrifice and offerings, to support the missionaries of the Gospel.” @Pontifex, 6 January 2023
  • “I extend my heartfelt best wishes to the communities of the Eastern Churches who celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, in particular the suffering people of Ukraine. May the Lord’s birth instill comfort and inspire concrete steps that can finally lead to peace.” @Pontifex, 7 January 2023
  • “By having himself baptized, Jesus reveals that the true justice of God is the mercy that saves, the love that shares our human condition and is in solidarity with our suffering, entering into our darkness to restore light. #GospelOfTheDay (Mt 3:13–17)” @Pontifex, 8 January 2023
  • “Let us do as Jesus did: let us share, let us carry each other’s burdens, let us look at each other with compassion, let us help each other. Let us ask ourselves: am I a person who divides or shares?” @Pontifex, 8 January 2023
  • “Let us not forget our Ukrainian brothers and sisters. Today, seeing Our Lady who is holding the infant in the Nativity scene, who nurses him, I think of the mothers of the victims of war, of the soldiers who have fallen in this war in Ukraine.” @Pontifex, 8 January 2023
  • “The paths of peace are paths of solidarity, for no one can be saved alone. We live in a world so interconnected that, in the end, the actions of each person affect everyone.
    https://t.co/yIExqxBNkg Speech” @Pontifex, 9 January 2023
  • “Let us #PrayTogether that educators be credible witnesses, teaching fraternity rather than competition, and helping especially the youngest and most vulnerable. #PrayerIntention #ClickToPray RS Video” @Pontifex, 10 January 2023
  • “The joint signing of the #RomeCall for #AIEthics by Catholics, Jews and Muslims is a hopeful sign. Religions are accompanying humanity in the development of a technology centered on the human person, thanks to the shared ethical reflection on the use of algorithms. #Algor-ethics” @Pontifex, 10 January 2023
  • “Sick people are at the centre of God’s people, and the Church advances together with them as a sign of a humanity in which everyone is precious and no one should be discarded or left behind. https://t.co/AvGBBjPkrh Message” @Pontifex, 10 January 2023
  • “#ЗагальнаАудієнція WlRtennh Image” @Pontifex, 11 January 2023
  • “We don’t have to wait til we are perfect to bear witness to Jesus; our proclamation begins today, right where we live. And it does not begin by trying to convince others, but by witnessing every day to the beauty of the Love that has looked upon us and lifted us up.” @Pontifex, 11 January 2023
  • “#GeneralAudience https://t.co/KLGNLTtcvp Image” @Pontifex, 11 January 2023
  • “#ОбщаяАудиенция Image” @Pontifex, 11 January 2023

Papal Instagram

  • Franciscus
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Newer Posts
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About Me

Jeff Miller is a former atheist who after spending forty years in the wilderness finds himself with both astonishment and joy a member of the Catholic Church. This award-winning blog presents my hopefully humorous and sometimes serious take on things religious, political, and whatever else crosses my mind.

Conversion story

  • Catholic Answers Magazine
  • Coming Home Network

Appearances on:

  • The Journey Home
  • Hands On Apologetics (YouTube)
  • Catholic RE.CON.

Blogging since July 2002

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  • My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 5:13–16

  • Laughing at God?

  • My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 5:1–12a

  • My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel Matthew 4:12–23

  • Book Review – Great Heresies and Church Councils – Jean Guitton

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About Me

Jeff Miller is a former atheist who after spending forty years in the wilderness finds himself with both astonishment and joy a member of the Catholic Church. This award winning blog presents my hopefully humorous and sometimes serious take on things religious, political, and whatever else crosses my mind.
My conversion story
  • The Curt Jester: Disturbingly Funny --Mark Shea
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