Chapter 3

11:12. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.

Suffereth violence, etc... It is not to be obtained but by main force, by using violence upon ourselves, by mortification and penance, and resisting our perverse inclinations.

11:13. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John:

11:14. And if you will receive it, he is Elias that is to come.

He is Elias, etc... Not in person, but in spirit. St. Luke 1. 17.

11:15. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

11:16. But whereunto shall I esteem this generation to be like? It is like to children sitting in the market place.

11:17. Who crying to their companions say: We have piped to you, and you have not danced: we have lamented, and you have not mourned.

11:18. For John came neither eating nor drinking; and they say: He hath a devil.

11:19. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say: Behold a man that is a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom is justified by her children.

11:20. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein were done the most of his miracles, for that they had not done penance.

11:21. Woe thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes.

11:22. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you.

11:23. And thou Capharnaum, shalt thou be exalted up to heaven? thou shalt go down even unto hell. For if in Sodom had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, perhaps it had remained unto this day.

11:24. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.

11:25. At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones.

11:26. Yea, Father: for so hath it seemed good in thy sight.

11:27. All things are delivered to me by my Father. And no one knoweth the Son but the Father: neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him.

11:28. Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.

11:29. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: And you shall find rest to your souls.

11:30. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.

Matthew Chapter 12

Christ reproves the blindness of the Pharisees, and confutes their attributing his miracles to Satan.

12:1. At that time Jesus went through the corn on the sabbath: and his disciples being hungry, began to pluck the ears, and to eat.

12:2. And the Pharisees seeing them, said to him: Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days.

12:3. But he said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him:

12:4. How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the loaves of proposition, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for them that were with him, but for the priests only?

The loaves of proposition... So were called the twelve loaves which were placed before the sanctuary in the temple of God.

12:5. Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and are without blame?

12:6. But I tell you that there is here a greater than the temple.

12:7. And if you knew what this meaneth: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: you would never have condemned the innocent.

12:8. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.

12:9. And when he had passed from thence, he came into their synagogues.

12:10. And behold there was a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying: Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

12:11. But he said to them: What man shall there be among you, that hath one sheep: and if the same fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not take hold on it and lift it up?

12:12. How much better is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do a good deed on the sabbath days.

12:13. Then he saith to the man: Stretch forth thy hand; and he stretched it forth, and it was restored to health even as the other.

12:14. And the Pharisees going out made a consultation against him, how they might destroy him.

12:15. But Jesus knowing it, retired from thence: and many followed him, and he healed them all.

12:16. And he charged them that they should not make him known.

12:17. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the prophet, saying:

12:18. Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul hath been well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

12:19. He shall not contend, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

12:20. The bruised reed he shall not break: and smoking flax he shall not extinguish: till he send forth judgment unto victory.

12:21. And in his name the Gentiles shall hope.

12:22. Then was offered to him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb: and he healed him, so that he spoke and saw.

12:23. And all the multitudes were amazed, and said: Is not this the son of David?

12:24. But the Pharisees hearing it, said: This man casteth not out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

12:25. And Jesus knowing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be made desolate: and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.

12:26. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself: how then shall his kingdom stand?

12:27. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

12:28. But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.

12:29. Or how can any one enter into the house of the strong, and rifle his goods, unless he first bind the strong? and then he will rifle his house.

12:30. He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth.

12:31. Therefore I say to you: Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

The blasphemy of the Spirit... The sin here spoken of is that blasphemy, by which the Pharisees attributed the miracles of Christ, wrought by the Spirit of God, to Beelzebub the prince of devils. Now this kind of sin is usually accompanied with so much obstinacy, and such wilful opposing the Spirit of God, and the known truth, that men who are guilty of it, are seldom or never converted: and therefore are never forgiven, because they will not repent. Otherwise there is no sin, which God cannot or will not forgive to such as sincerely repent, and have recourse to the keys of the church.

12:32. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world, nor in the world to come.

Nor in the world to come... From these words St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, lib. 21, c. 13) and St. Gregory (Dialog., 4, c. 39) gather, that some sins may be remitted in the world to come; and, consequently, that there is a purgatory or a middle place.

12:33. Either make the tree good and its fruit good: or make the tree evil, and its fruit evil. For by the fruit the tree is known.

12:34. O generation of vipers, how can you speak good things, whereas you are evil? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

12:35. A good man out of a good treasure bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of an evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

12:36. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment.

Every idle word... This shews there must be a place of temporal punishment hereafter where these slighter faults shall be punished.

12:37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

12:38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying: Master, we would see a sign from thee.

A sign... That is, a miracle from heaven. St. Luke 11. 16.

12:39. Who answering said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

12:40. For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

Three days, etc... Not complete days and nights; but part of three days, and three nights taken according to the way that the Hebrews counted their days and nights, viz., from evening to evening.

12:41. The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas. And behold a greater than Jonas here.

12:42. The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here.

12:43. And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth none.

12:44. Then he saith: I will return into my house from whence I came out. And coming he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

12:45. Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation.

12:46. As he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.

12:47. And one said unto him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking thee.

12:48. But he answering him that told him, said: Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?

Who is my mother?... This was not spoken by way of slighting his mother, but to shew that we are never to suffer ourselves to be taken from the service of God, by any inordinate affection to our earthly parents: and that which our Lord chiefly regarded in his mother, was her doing the will of his Father in heaven. It may also further allude to the reprobation of the Jews, his carnal kindred, and the election of the Gentiles.

12:49. And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said: Behold my mother and my brethren.

12:50. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Matthew Chapter 13

The parables of the sower and the cockle: of the mustardseed, etc.

13:1. The same day Jesus going out of the house, sat by the sea side.

13:2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went up into a boat and sat: and all the multitude stood on the shore.

13:3. And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying: Behold the sower went forth to sow.

13:4. And whilst he soweth some fell by the way side, and the birds of the air came and ate them up.

13:5. And other some fell upon stony ground, where they had not much earth: and they sprung up immediately, because they had no deepness of earth.

13:6. And when the sun was up they were scorched: and because they had not root, they withered away.

13:7. And others fell among thorns: and the thorns grew up and choked them.

13:8. And others fell upon good ground: and they brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty fold, and some thirty fold.

13:9. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

13:10. And his disciples came and said to him: Why speakest thou to them in parables?

13:11. Who answered and said to them: Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: but to them it is not given.

13:12. For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound: but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away that also which he hath.

13:13. Therefore do I speak to them in parables: because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

13:14. And the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled in them, who saith: By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand: and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive.

13:15. For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

13:16. But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

13:17. For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them: and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them.

13:18. Hear you therefore the parable of the sower.

13:19. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, there cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart: this is he that received the seed by the way side.

13:20. And he that received the seed upon stony ground, is he that heareth the word, and immediately receiveth it with joy.

13:21. Yet hath he not root in himself, but is only for a time: and when there ariseth tribulation and persecution because of the word, he is presently scandalized.

13:22. And he that received the seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choketh up the word, and he becometh fruitless.

13:23. But he that received the seed upon good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth, and beareth fruit, and yieldeth the one an hundredfold, and another sixty, and another thirty.

13:24. Another parable he proposed to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field.

13:25. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way.

13:26. And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle.

13:27. And the servants of the good man of the house coming said to him. Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence then hath it cockle?

13:28. And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up?

13:29. And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it.

13:30. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn.

13:31. Another parable he proposed unto them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.

13:32. Which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come, and dwell in the branches thereof.

13:33. Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.

13:34. All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes: and without parables he did not speak to them.

13:35. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

13:36. Then having sent away the multitudes, he came into the house, and his disciples came to him, saying: Expound to us the parable of the cockle of the field.

13:37. Who made answer and said to them: He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man.

13:38. And the field is the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom. And the cockle are the children of the wicked one.

13:39. And the enemy that sowed them, is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels.

13:40. Even as cockle therefore is gathered up, and burnt with fire: so shall it be at the end of the world.

13:41. The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity.

13:42. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13:43. Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

13:44. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

13:45. Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls.

13:46. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it.

13:47. Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kinds of fishes.

13:48. Which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth.

13:49. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just.

13:50. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13:51. Have ye understood all these things? They say to him: Yes.

13:52. He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old.

13:53. And it came to pass: when Jesus had finished these parables, he passed from thence.

13:54. And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered and said: How came this man by this wisdom and miracles?

13:55. Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude:

His brethren... These were the children of Mary the wife of Cleophas, sister to our Blessed Lady, (St. Matt. 27. 56; St. John 19. 25,) and therefore, according to the usual style of the Scripture, they were called brethren, that is, near relations to our Saviour.

13:56. And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence therefore hath he all these things?

13:57. And they were scandalized in his regard. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

13:58. And he wrought not many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

Matthew Chapter 14

Herod puts John to death. Christ feeds five thousand in the desert. He walks upon the sea, and heals all the diseased with the touch of his garment.

14:1. At that time Herod the Tetrarch heard the fame of Jesus.

Tetrarch... This word, derived from the Greek, signifies one that rules over the fourth part of a kingdom: as Herod then ruled over Galilee, which was but the fourth part of the kingdom of his father.

14:2. And he said to his servants: This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works shew forth themselves in him.

14:3. For Herod had apprehended John and bound him, and put him into prison, because of Herodias, his brother's wife.

14:4. For John said to him: It is not lawful for thee to have her.

14:5. And having a mind to put him to death, he feared the people: because they esteemed him as a prophet.

14:6. But on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them: and pleased Herod.

14:7. Whereupon he promised with an oath, to give her whatsoever she would ask of him.

14:8. But she being instructed before by her mother, said: Give me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist.

14:9. And the king was struck sad: yet because of his oath, and for them that sat with him at table, he commanded it to be given.

14:10. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.

14:11. And his head was brought in a dish: and it was given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother.

14:12. And his disciples came and took the body, and buried it, and came and told Jesus.

14:13. Which when Jesus had heard, he retired from thence by a boat, into a desert place apart, and the multitudes having heard of it, followed him on foot out of the cities.

14:14. And he coming forth saw a great multitude, and had compassion on them, and healed their sick.

14:15. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying: This is a desert place, and the hour is now passed: send away the multitudes, that going into the towns, they may buy themselves victuals.

14:16. But Jesus said to them, They have no need to go: give you them to eat.

14:17. They answered him: We have not here, but five loaves, and two fishes.

14:18. Who said to them: Bring them hither to me.

14:19. And when he had commanded the multitude to sit down upon the grass, he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.

14:20. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up what remained, twelve full baskets of fragments.

14:21. And the number of them that did eat, was five thousand men, besides women and children.

14:22. And forthwith Jesus obliged his disciples to go up into the boat, and to go before him over the water, till he dismissed the people.

14:23. And having dismissed the multitude, he went into a mountain alone to pray. And when it was evening, he was there alone.

14:24. But the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed with the waves: for the wind was contrary.

14:25. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking upon the sea.

14:26. And they seeing him walking upon the sea, were troubled, saying: It is an apparition. And they cried out for fear.

14:27. And immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying: Be of good heart: it is I, fear ye not.

14:28. And Peter making answer, said: Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the waters.

14:29. And he said: Come. And Peter going down out of the boat walked upon the water to come to Jesus.

14:30. But seeing the wind strong, he was afraid: and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me.

14:31. And immediately Jesus stretching forth his hand took hold of him, and said to him: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?

14:32. And when they were come up into the boat, the wind ceased.

14:33. And they that were in the boat came and adored him, saying: Indeed thou art the Son of God.

14:34. And having passed the water, they came into the country of Genesar.

14:35. And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent into all that country, and brought to him all that were diseased.

14:36. And they besought him that they might touch but the hem of his garment. And as many as touched, were made whole.

Matthew Chapter 15

Christ reproves the Scribes. He cures the daughter of the woman of Canaan: and many others: and feeds four thousand with seven loaves.

15:1. Then came to him from Jerusalem scribes and Pharisees, saying:

15:2. Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

15:3. But he answering, said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition? For God said:

15:4. Honour thy father and mother: And: He that shall curse father or mother, let him die the death.

15:5. But you say: Whosoever shall say to father or mother, The gift whatsoever proceedeth from me, shall profit thee.