De manco manum aridam habente
The Sabbath Healing
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in the synagogue, challenging the Pharisees' legalistic interpretation of the Sabbath.
After this, it happened on another Sabbath that Jesus entered their synagogue and began to teach. According to Hilary, the events mentioned earlier took place in the field, and only after that did he enter the synagogue. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath to teach because of the larger crowd and gathering of the people. Bede says: "The Lord teaches in the synagogue and performs miracles especially on the Sabbath, not only to signify the spiritual Sabbath, but also because of the larger gathering of people on that day, who were then accustomed—since they were commanded by the Law to rest from labor—to devote themselves to reading and hearing the Scriptures." Just as hunters set their nets where they know wild animals, fish, and birds are most abundant, so the Lord always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews gathered, wanting everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth—so says Bede. See in Christ three things: first, the stability of his mind, for although the Pharisees were plotting against him, he was not afraid to come where they were, and this is against the faint-hearted; second, the truth of his doctrine, for he taught in public, and this is against heretics; third, the immensity of his zeal, for he did all this for the salvation of souls, and this is against those who seek from it vain glory or temporal gain. The malice of the Pharisees is confounded. There was a man in the synagogue with a withered and contracted hand; the Pharisees were watching him maliciously to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might argue against him or accuse him. So they asked him maliciously, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" They did this so that if he said no, they could accuse him of a lack of mercy or of being powerless; but if he said yes, they could accuse him of breaking the Sabbath. Bede says, "Because he had already excused the breaking of the Sabbath that they were criticizing in his disciples, they were watching him, wanting to trap him. They intended that if he healed on the Sabbath, they would accuse him of breaking the law; if he did not heal, they would accuse him of cruelty or weakness." As Bernard says, "In his actions he endured those who watched him, in his words he endured those who reproached him, and in his torments he endured those who mocked him." Seeing their thoughts, the Lord ordered the crippled man to get up and stand in the middle, so that the miracle would be more obvious and the blindness of the malicious men would be more clearly exposed; and as if repeating the question they had raised, he asked them the same thing in different words. As they stood there in silence, he proposed a comparison involving an animal, and he answered the question first with a word, showing through reason that it is lawful to heal a person on the Sabbath. His reasoning was this: It is more important to help a person than an animal; but if an animal falls into a pit or a ditch, it is pulled out and set free on the Sabbath; therefore, much more so a person who is... ...more noble and better, since he is made in the image of God, should be healed if he falls into infirmity on the Sabbath. For if this is done for the sake of worldly gain, how much more should it be done where the salvation of souls is sought. And so, they are defeated by the example of both common life and their own habits. Chrysostom says: "You are allowed to save a sheep on the Sabbath, and am I not allowed to save a man?" You're allowed to pull it out with your hands; am I not allowed to heal with a word?" Look, I'm not preparing medicine, nor am I stretching my hand over him. I speak a word, and the sick man is healed; I don't break your law of the Sabbath, and without any physical labor, I complete a work of virtue."—Chrysostom. But the greedy Pharisees love a sheep more than their neighbor, a man; they praise spending resources on a sheep, yet they accuse the work of charity done for a man. Hence Jerome says: "He solved the question posed in such a way that he condemned the greed of those who were questioning him." If you, he says, are quick to rescue a sheep or any other animal that falls into a pit on the Sabbath—caring not for the animal, but for your own greed—how much more ought I to set free a man, who is much better than a sheep? Rabanus adds: "He answers their question with a fitting example, showing that those who accuse him of breaking the Sabbath through an act of charity are actually the ones breaking it through their greed, as they interpret the Law poorly. They claim one must rest from good works on the Sabbath, when in fact one should only rest from evil ones." Hence it is written: 'You shall do no servile work in it,' which refers to sin, because whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. So, in the eternal rest, we will only rest from evil, not from good works," says Rabanus. Secondly, he resolves the question through his actions by healing the man with the withered hand. He told him, 'Stretch out your hand,' and when he did, it was immediately restored to health; in this, the perfection of the healing is clear. On this, Chrysostom says: "The healing reveals the purpose of the Law, which the Jews do not understand." For if God is offended by an act on the Sabbath, then without a doubt the infirmity is not driven away, because the benevolence of God cannot follow an injury to Him. According to Jerome, in the Gospel used by the Nazarenes, this man with the withered hand is described as a stonemason who begged for help with these words: 'I was a stonemason, earning my living with my hands; I pray to you, Jesus, that you restore my health, so that I don't have to beg for food in shame.'
The Meaning of the Withered Hand
The author provides a mystical and moral interpretation of the miracle, focusing on the necessity of charity and the danger of avarice.
Why did Christ teach and perform miracles more readily on the Sabbath? The Lord Jesus taught and worked wonders on the Sabbath primarily to show that the Gospel and spiritual Sabbath was succeeding the old Sabbath, and that it was better and more fruitful; secondly, so that by meeting many people on the Sabbath, he might benefit more of them, and the Savior of the world might be made manifest through the power of his miracles; thirdly, to prove himself the Lord of the Law and the Sabbath; and fourthly, to remove the Jews' mistaken understanding of Sabbath observance, by proving that he did not violate the Sabbath by doing good, since he was healing on the Sabbath, and in doing so, he was refuting the experts in the Law before a crowd. Regarding this, it should be known that some acts are good in their nature, yet don't in themselves possess moral goodness—such as building a house or similar tasks—and such things were not permitted on the Sabbath. Other acts, however, are morally good in and of themselves, such as the works of virtue. These are permitted on the Sabbath, as was the healing of the withered hand, because it was a work of mercy and, furthermore, it manifested God's glory, insofar as it was done miraculously and above nature. Therefore, such things can be done on the Sabbath, not only lawfully but also laudably. Mystically, according to Bede and Rabanus, the man with the withered hand represents the human race, which had become withered in good works because of the hand stretched out toward the forbidden fruit by our first parent. But through the mercy of the Lord, it was restored to salvation and the fruits of good works by the innocent hands of Christ stretched out on the cross. The hand in the synagogue was indeed withered, because where there is a greater gift of knowledge, the transgressor is subject to greater guilt, and the danger of an inexcusable offense is more serious. The withered hand that is to be healed is commanded to be stretched out, because the fruitless weakness of the soul is cured by no better method than by the generous giving of alms. The man had a withered right hand because it was sluggish in giving alms; his left hand was healthy because he was intent on his own self-interest. But when the Lord came, the right hand was healed just like the left, because what he had greedily gathered, he now distributes in charity. Mystically, in this infirm man with the withered hand, Christ also taught four things necessary for the penitent. Namely: that he must rise from guilt through repentance; that he must stand in grace through perseverance; that he must stand in the middle through the evidence of a good example; and that he must extend his hand through good works. Extend your hand, then, first to the poor by giving alms generously, and second to God in fervent prayer; for, as Gregory says, anyone who doesn't extend their hands to the poor when they are able, stretches them out to God in vain when they pray for their sins. Morally speaking, a man with a withered hand is a sinner; for some have a withered heart because they lack good affection and compassion; some have a withered tongue because they lack good speech and the praise of God; and some have a withered hand because they lack good works. This threefold dryness is drawn from the likeness of a withered tree, which is truly withered when it lacks sap, leaves, and fruit. The envious have a withered heart; the slanderous, a withered tongue; the greedy, a withered hand. Such a person, through divine obedience, ought to extend his hand to his neighbor by giving alms. The source text is corrupt here and cannot be translated. to speak to God through devout prayer. Another lifts their heart to heaven through holy meditation, and in this way the sinner is healed. Again, according to Theophilus, anyone who doesn't perform the works of the right hand has a withered hand, because such a person is powerless to do good but powerful to do evil. For from the moment a hand is set to forbidden works, it withers for good works. Yet it will be restored when, standing in virtue, it begins to work. By the hand, which is the tool of tools, we appropriately understand meritorious work; therefore, a hand is withered if it is incapable of this work, but when it rises at the word of Christ through grace, it then extends itself through holy action. One can also use the person with a withered hand to signify the lazy and idle, because they are incapable of working; but when they stand in the middle of virtue at the word of Christ, their hand is healed and they are exercised in good works. Yet, specifically and especially, this person signifies the greedy, whose hand is found to be incapable of works of piety and generosity. This hand has five fingers: the first is the disordered desire to possess; the second, the labor of acquiring; the third, the anxiety of keeping; the fourth, the effort of multiplying; the fifth, the faithlessness of distributing. But so that it may be healed, it is told through grace: "Stretch out your hand," because when it is stretched out by the gift of God toward works of mercy, then it is healed. Hence Ambrose says: "You have heard the words of the Lord saying: 'Stretch out your hand'; this is a common and general medicine." And you, who...? If you want to have a healthy hand, be careful that it isn't contracted by avarice, and be careful that it isn't contracted by sacrilege. Stretch it out often; stretch it out to the poor person who begs you; stretch it out so that you may help your neighbor; so that you may bring protection to the widow; so that you may rescue from injury someone you see suffering from unjust slander. Stretch it out to God in prayer for your sins. That is how the hand is stretched out, and that is how it is healed: so says Ambrose. So, you greedy person, with your withered and shriveled hand—you won't give, yet you want to receive; you won't be generous, yet you want to plunder—stretch out your hands so that... ...you may give to those in need, because in doing this you provide for yourself, and you'll store up treasure in heaven. Chrysostom says: 'Let us give alms, and let us not despise those who are gripped by hunger.' For by doing this, you benefit yourself more than you benefit them. For in these things... ...you indeed set aside present things, but you are storing up future glory for yourself,' says Chrysostom. Among all the works of mercy, therefore, almsgiving holds the prerogative, which Divine Scripture impresses upon us so often and so attentively.
Opposition and Withdrawal
The Pharisees plot against Jesus, leading Him to withdraw, while the humble crowd continues to follow Him for healing.
The Pharisees, however, were filled with foolishness—that is, with irrational anger—when they should have been grateful for the divine benefit. They left the synagogue and the sight of Christ, and turning away from the light, they immediately began to plot with the Herodians, those lackeys of secular power, against Jesus. They considered how they might destroy him; or, as Ambrose says, they considered how they might destroy his life, rather than how they might find it. They were already plotting his death, and here he speaks first of the procurement of Christ’s death, for which they were then first making their plans. It was great foolishness to plot the death of the one whose benefits they greatly needed, and whom envy, not any fault of his own, moved them to attack. Their stubbornness was also great, because they didn't turn back from their own evil either at the words of Christ or at his deeds; instead, moved further by envy, they remained stubborn in their wickedness. Hence Chrysostom says: 'The Pharisees, however, took counsel—namely, from the devil—to destroy him.' For, envying Christ, they didn't want him to perform signs, lest he gain glory and gather disciples. Instead, they covered the foulness of their envy with the defense of the Sabbath, so that on the surface they might appear to be defending the justice of the Sabbath, while in reality they were carrying out their own envy. 'Jesus, however, knowing their schemes, because nothing was hidden from him, withdrew from there; and with his disciples, he withdrew to the sea.' He withdrew from there for many reasons: first, to spare them and remove the occasion for their wickedness, and to preserve himself for the greater benefit of the Church; second, because the time of his Passion, predetermined by the Father, had not yet come, and the Scriptures of the Prophets had not yet been fulfilled; third, because the place was not at hand—namely, Jerusalem—outside of which there was no place for his Passion; fourth, to give his followers an example of fleeing during persecution, so that their flight would not be counted as a sin; fifth, as a sign of humility and patience, even though he could have cast his adversaries into the abyss with a mere nod; sixth, to show a sign of true humanity, since, although he did not fear death, he nevertheless fled as a man from the counsel of the wicked. In this, He also taught us to withdraw from those whom we see always becoming worse despite good advice; for men who are stubborn in their wickedness can hardly be restrained by reason. Hence, the same Chrysostom says: 'Knowing their plan, the Lord did not argue for long, but after giving one reason, He withdrew, so as not to stir up their madness further, because it is impossible for malice to be calmed by reason.' Ignorance is indeed calmed by reason, but malice is only further excited by it. Knowing, therefore, that they were prepared to do evil, He withdrew—not as one who is timid, pulling away from them, but as one who is merciful, sparing them, so as not to provoke them further into an impious act. For although anyone who is prepared to do evil has already committed it in the sight of God, yet whoever understands that someone is prepared to do an evil deed and provokes him, giving him the occasion to complete the evil, is himself a participant in his sin. Why, then, does an evil thing find its outcome through you? And if someone was going to perish without you, or was already lost as far as his own will was concerned, why is his destruction fulfilled through you? —thus Chrysostom. Christ, instructing those He had healed not to make the grace they received a cause for boasting, gave us an example to avoid it. Many who were infirm followed Him because they had seen the man mentioned earlier healed, and He healed them all, rewarding their faith, perhaps because they were all worthy of being cured. The learned, therefore, pursue him when they see signs; the unlearned, led by their opinion of him, follow him in love, and for that reason they deserve to be healed. As Remigius says: "The one whom the Pharisees seek to destroy with a single mind, the unlearned crowd follows with a single love, and so they soon attain the goal of their desire." If you, too, want to be healed, if you want to be made whole, and if you want to be delivered from the danger of death, follow and imitate Jesus; for he turns no one away, and he heals all who follow him. "The Pharisees, whose name means 'the divided,' represent those who are unruly and cause dissension; the Herodians, however, represent the proud, whose name means 'those glorious in their skins.'" These people plot against Jesus, who dwells with the humble and those who possess charity; so he withdraws from them, distancing himself, and does good to the humble who follow him, bestowing the benefits of salvation. And he commanded those who had been healed not to make him known or public, so that he might avoid vain glory and the boasting of self-praise, and so that he might give us an example of how to avoid it. The Lord did not forbid the preaching of miracles for the benefit of the hearers, but he did forbid the appetite for vain glory in those benefits. As Ambrose says: "Here he mystically instructs us not to seek praise from the outside when we do something great." And Chrysostom adds: "Where others are healed for the sake of others, He didn't command them to tell no one—such as when He opened the eyes of the man born blind, and raised the paralytic who had been lying there for thirty-eight years." But where He heals a man not for the sake of others, but because of the man's own merit, He commands him to tell no one, just as He instructed the leper. For this reason, He also commanded these men not to spread the word about Him, because He had healed them for their own sake alone; for He wasn't hunting for human praise through His miracles, but was longing for the salvation of those who believed: so says Chrysostom.
The Fervor of the Gospel
Jesus' intense dedication to preaching leads His own kin to believe He is mad, concluding with a prayer for spiritual healing.
They came to a house to stay, and a crowd gathered again to hear the word of God; they were so intensely focused on his preaching that his own disciples didn't even have time to eat. This stands against those who abandon the work of preaching because of their own concerns and their desire to be full. Bede says: 'Oh, what a blessed occupation of the Savior, what a blessed frequency of the crowd gathering to him! Their desire to hear the word of God and their concern for salvation were so great that the Author of salvation, while with them, had no free time even to eat, as he spent himself on the comfort of those miserable lives!' If only, Lord Jesus, you would grant such grace to your faithful in our own times—grace that would keep their teachers so busy with the study of learning that they would not only be kept from the appetite for carnal pleasures, but sometimes even from the very act of eating their daily bread! So says Bede. And when his own people—the Jews related to him on his mother's side—saw his unusual fervor and heard the depth of divine wisdom that they couldn't grasp, they thought he had lost his mind and was speaking in a fit of madness; so they went out to seize him and bind him, so he wouldn't harm himself or others. The same Bede says: 'Truly, as he himself says elsewhere: A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house.' For those from outside desire to approach and hear him as the Author of life and the wisdom of God, while his own kin decide he is out of his mind and must be bound. Allegorically, the fact that a crowd gathered around him so frequently that he was considered a madman by his own people confirms the salvation of the Gentiles who believe, while it marks the envy and treachery of the Jews—of whom John says, 'He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.' So says Bede. Similarly today, those who are fervent in following Christ are considered insane by worldly people, and as much as they can, those people hold them back from what is good. Oh, how much a single drop—I won't say a full measure—of this wine would be worth if it could bring about such madness! Blessed are those who suffer from this madness, so that what is said in Wisdom may be said of them: 'We fools considered their life to be madness,' and so on. If only I, a miserable man, might deserve to become one of them, to be counted among the children of God with them, and to have a share among the Saints! PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you by the depths of your mercy that you might mercifully heal me, who am crippled and weak in doing good works, and make me strong and fit for every good work. Make me stand in the midst of the virtues so that, with you commanding and acting, I may stretch out my hands toward justice, not toward iniquity; by exercising myself in good things, I may do your will in all things; and by withering away in evil, I may abstain entirely from offending you. Grant me, good Jesus, that above all the riches and delights of the world, I may focus on the word of God, and on my own salvation and that of others. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Factum est autem post haec in alio sabbato, ut intraret Jesus in synagogam eorum et doceret. Nam, secundum Hilarium, praemissa in campo dicta sunt et gesta; et post hoc synagogam ingreditur. Sabbato intravit synagogam ad docendum , propter majorem popuTi frequentiam et conventum. Unde Beda : « Sabbatis praecipue Dominus in synagoga docet, operaturque virtutes, non soium propter insinuandum spirituale sabbatum; sed etiam propter celebTiorem eo die populi conventum, cui tunc moris erat, quia vacare a Tabore per Legem jubebatur, legendis audiendisque Scripturis operam dare. Nam sicut hi quibus venandi ars est, ubi feras, ubi pisces et volucres plus abundare didicerint, ibi maxime sua retia tendunt; ita Dominus semper docuit in synagoga et in templo , quo omnes Judaei conveniebant ; volens ornnes* komines safvos fleri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire : » haec Beda. Ecce in Christo tria, scilicet : mentis stabifitas, quia licet Pharisaei insidiarentur ei, non tamem metuebat venire utri erant, et hoc est conur* pusillanimes; doetrinae veritas, quia in publico docebat, et hoc est coratra haereticos ; zeli immensitas, quia totum hoc propter salutem animarum faciebat, et hoc est contra eoa qui inde quaerunt vanam gkwiam, vel temporale hrcrum seu commodum. 2 PhaRIS^SORUMQUE' MALTTm confunditur. Et erat ibi, in synagoga, homo habens manum aridam, et contractam ; et o&servabant» id est doiose servabant eum Phari— saei 5i sabbato curaret, ut illum arguerent vel accusarent.
Unde interrogabant eum malitiose, si licet sabbatis curare? ut si diceret non, arguerent eum de immisericordia vel impotentia; si diceret sic, accusarent eum de sabbati transgressione. Ubi Beda : « Quia solutionem sabbati quam in discipulis arguebant, excusaverat, ipsum calumniari volentes observabant ut, si in sabbato curet, transgressionis eum accusent; si non curet, crudelitatis aut imbecillitatis arguant. » Ut enim ait Bernardus, in factis observatores, in verbis exprobratores, in tormentis sustinuit illusores. Et videns Pominus cogitationes eorum, jussit hominem infirmum surgere et stare in medio, ut miraculum esset magis manifestum, et evidentius argueretur caecitas malignantium; et quasi repetendo quaestionem ab eis motam, sub aliis verbis hoc idem quaesivit ab ipsis. Ulis ' autem sic tacentibus, proposuit similitudinem de animali; et solvit quaestionem prius verbo, ostendens per rationem quod licitum est sanare hominem die sabbati, et est ratio talis : Magis subveniendum est homini quam animali; sed animal si ceciderit in puteum vel foveam, extrahitur et liberatur die sabbati; ergo multo plus homo qui est no- . bilior et melior, cum sit factus ad imaginem Dei, si in infirmitatem ceciderit , curatur die sabbati. Si enim hoc fit propter cupiditatem temporalium ; multo magis debet istud fieri ubi salus quaeritur animarum.
Et sic ipsi vitae communis et propriae consuetudinis vincuntur exemplo. Unde Chrysostomus : « Vobis ovem licet in sabbato salvare, et mihi hominem non Jicet ? Vobis manibus licet extrahere , mihi nec verbo licet curare? Ecce nec medicinam conficio, nec manum meam super illum extendo. Dico verbo, et sanatur infir mus, et Legem sabbati vestri non transgredior , et sine opere opus virtutis consumo : » haec Chrysostomus. Sed avari Pharisaei plus diligunt ovem quam hominem proximum ; et laudant impendere subsidium in ove, et accusant beneficium caritatis in homine. Unde Hieronymus : « Sic solvit quaestionem propositam , ut interrogantes avaritiae condemnaret. Si vos, inquit, in sabbato ovem et quodlibet aliud animal in foveam incidens eripere festinatis, non animali, sed vestrae avaritiae consulentes; quanto magis ego hominem, qui multo melior est ove, debeo liberarc?
» Unde et Rabanus : « Competenti ergo exemplo solvit quaestionem eorum, ut eos ostendat sabbatum violare in opere cupiditatis , qui eum violare arguunt in opere caritatis, Legem male interpretantes ; qui dicunt in sabbato a bono feriandum, in quo a malis ta^ntum feriandum est. Unde : Omne opus servile non facietis in eo, id est peccatum, quia qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati. Sic in aeterna requie a malis tantum feriabitur, non a bonis : » haec Rabanus. — Secundo solvit quaestionem facto, hominem habentem manum aridam sanando. Tunc enim ait illi : Extende manum tuam, et cum extenderet, statim restituta est sanitati; in quo patet perfectio sanitatis. Ubi Chrysostomus : « Ut propositum Legis, quam Judaei non intelligunt, sanitas manifestat. Si enim Deus ofFenditur in opere sabbati, sine dubio infirmitas non fugatur, quia non potest injuriaim Dei benevolentia sequi. » Iste mancus, secundum Hieronymum, irt Evangelio quo utuntur Nazaraei , caementarius scribitur, istiusmodi vocibus auxilium precans : Homo caementarius eram, manibus victum quaeritans ; precor te, Jesu, ut mihi restituas sanitatem , ne turpiter mendicem cibos.
3 Cur Christus docuerit et miracula operatus fuerit libentius in sabbatis 't — Dominus Jesus maxime in sabbatis docebat, et operabatur virtutes : primo, ut ostenderet quod Evangelicum et spirituale sabbatum, melius et fructuosius veteri sabbato succedebat ; secundo, ut sabbato pluribus occurrentibus, proficeret pluribus , et Salvator mundi ex miraculorum virtute manifestus fieret; tertio, ut Dominus Legis et sabbati probaretur; quarto, ut malum intellectum Judaeorum de observantia sabbati auferret, dum bene operando sabbatum se non violare probaret, qui in sabbato curabat, et in hoc coram pluribus Legisperitos confutabat. Circa quod sciendum, quod aliqui sunt actus boni in genere entis, qui tamen ex se non habent bonitatem in genere moris , sicut aedificare domum, vel hujusmodi; et talia non erant licita in die sabbati. Alii autem sunt actus boni in genere moris , secundum se , sicut sunt opera virtutum ; et talia licita sunt in die sabbati, de quibus erat sanatio manus aridae^ quia erat opus pietatis, et cum hoc erat ad gloriam Dei manifestandam, in quantum fiebat miraculose et supra naturam; et ideo talia possunt fieri in die sabbati, non solum licite, sed et laudabiliter. 4 — — Mystice autem, secundum Bedam et Rabanum, homo qui habebat manum aridam, humanum genus indicat in bono opere arefactum , pro manu in primo parente ad pomum vetitum extensa; sed in miseratione Domini, saluti et bonorum operum fructibus, per innocentes Christi manus in cruce extensas, est restituta. Et behe manus in synagoga erat arida, quia ubi majus donum scientiae, ibi transgressor majori subjacet culpae, et gravius est periculum inexcusabilis noxae. Sananda manus arida jubetur extendi; quia infructuosa debilitas animae nullo melius ordine quam eleemosynarum largitate cucatur. Habebat autem homo dexteram manum languidam, quia ab eleemosynis torpebat; sinistram sanam, quia suae utilitati intendebat. Sed,veniente Domino, dextera sanatur ut sinistra, quia quod congregaverat avide , modo distribuit caritative.
Mystice etiam in hoc infirmo manum aridam habente, docuit quatuor necessaria pcenitenti. scilicet : quod surgat a culpa, per poenitentiam ; quod stet in gratia, per perseverantiam : quod in medio, per boni exempli evidentiam; quod extendat manum, per bonam operationem. Extende ergo manum primo ad pauperes , in eleemosynarum Iargitione; secundo ad Deum, in ferventi oratione, quia, secundum Gregorium, frustra pro peccatis rogaturus ad Deum manus expandit, qui eas pro posse ad pauperes non extendit. Moraliter homo habens manum aridam est peccator; habent enim quidam cor aridum, quia sine bona affectione, sine compassione; quidam linguam aridam , quia sine bona locutione , sine Dei laude; quidam manum aridam, quia sine bona operatione. Haec autem triplex ariditas sumitur ex similitudine arboris aridae; quia tunc est vere arida, quando est sine succo, sine foliis, sine fructu. Cof habent aridum, invidi; linguam, maliloqui; manum, avari. Iste ex obedientia divina manum debet extendere ad proximum, per eleemosynarum lar. *4 gilionem; ille ling.
ua loqui ad Deuin , per devotam orationem. ; alius cor elevare ad ccelum , per sanctam meditationem : et sic sanatur peccator. ltem, secundum Theophilum, aridam dexteram habet manum, quisquis non operatur quae sunt dexterae partisj quia talis £&t impotens ad bona, sed potens ad mala. Ex quo enim manus constituitur in operibus prohibitis, ex tunc arescit in operibus bonis. Iterum vero restaurabitur, quando in virtute stans operabitur. Per manum enim, quae est organum organorum, convenienter intelligitur opus meritorium; et ideo manus est arida, quae est ad hoc opus invalida ; sed cum ad verbum Ghristi surgit per gratiam, tunc manum extendit per sanctam operationem. Potest etiam per hominem, manum aridam habentem, signari piger et otiosus, quia ad operandum est invalidus; sed cum ad verbum Ghristi stat in medio virtutis, manus ejus sanatur, et in bonis operibus exercetur. Specialiter tamen et praecipue per hunc hominem avarus signatur, cujus manus ad opera pietatis et largitatis invalida reperitur.
Hujus manus sunt quinque digiti : primus , inordinatum desiderium habendi; secundus, labor acquirendi; tertius, sollicitudo conservandi; quartus, studium multiplicandi; quintus,infidelitas dispensandi. Sed ut sanetur, ei per gratiam dicitur : Extende manum tuam, quia cum ex Dei dono ad opera pietatis extenditur, tunc sanatur. Unde Ambrosius : « Audisti Domini verba dicentis : Extende tnanum tuam ; communis ista generalisque medicina est. Et tu qui j? utas manum habere te sanam, cave ne avaritia, cave ne sacrilegio contrahatur. Extende saepius eam, extende illam ad pauperem, qui te obsecrat, Extende , ut proximum juves; ut viduae praasidium feras ; eripias injuriae quem vides injuate calumniae subjacere. Extende ari Deum pco peccatis tuis. Sic manus extenditur, 6ic sanatur : » haec Ambrxisius.
Igitur, o avare, qui manum aridam et contractam habens non vis dare, vis accipere; non vis largici, vis praedari ; extende manus tuas ut. tribuas indigentibus, jquia in hoc tibiipsi providehis, ot thesaurizabis in ccelis. Unde ait Chrysostomus : « Eleemosynam faciamus, et ne despiciamus a fame correptos. Etenim tibiipsi hencfacies magis, illis benefaciens. Nam his . quidem praesentia poniges; tibiipsi vero futuram gloriam praedeponis : » haec Chrysastonms. Inter omnia ergo opera misericordiee pjcaerogativam habet eleemosyna, quam taties et tam attente nobis inculcat divina Scriptura.
Pharisasi autem, repleti insipientia, id est irrationahili iracundia, cum magis deberent esse grati de divino beneficio , exeuntes, de synagoga, et de conspectu Christi, et a lumine recedentes, statim cum Herodianis, principis secula- 1 ris satellitibus, consilium faciebant adversus Jesum, quomodo eum perderent; quomodo, secundum Ambrosium, ^vitam perderent , non quomodo vitam invenirent. Jam ergo xle morte ipsius tractabant ; et hk primo loquitur de procuratione mortis Christi, pro qua tunc primo consilium faciebant. Magna insipientia de nece ejus tractare, cujus beneficiis plurimum indigebant, quos etiam ad hoc non ejus culpa, sed livor movefeat. Magna etiam eorum fuit obstinatio, quia nec verbis Christi, nec factis, resiliarunta malo suo ; sed ampiius invidia permoti, remanserunt in malo obstinati. Unde Chrysostomus : « Pharisaei autem consilium acceperunt, sciHcet a diabolo, ut perderent eum. Invidentes enim Christo nolebant eiim facere signa, ne gloriam acquireret, et discipulos congregaret; sed turphudinem invidiee suae sabbati defensione tegebant, ut in prima quidem facie viderentur sabbati jostitiam defendere, revera autem suam exsequerentur invidiam. » Jesus autem sciens machinationes eorum, quia nihil eum latebat, recessit inde; et cwn discipulis suis, ad mare secessit. Recessit autem inde propter multa : primo, ut eis parceret, et occasionem impietatis auferret, majorique utilitati Ecclestae se servaret; secundo, quod nondum venerat tempus Passionis suae praefinitum a Patre, necdum impletae erant Prophetarum Scripturae; tertio, quia non aderat locus, scilicet Jerusalem , extra quam non fuit locus Passionis ejus ; quarto , propter dandum suis in persecutione fugiendi exempium, ne fuga eorura imputaretur in peccatum; quinto, propter humilitatis et patientiae indicium, et cum possit adversarios suos nutu dejicere in abyssum; sexto, ad ostendendum verae humanitatis signum, cum licet ipse mortem non timeret, ta•men tanquam homo fugit a consilio malignantium.
ln quo etiam nos docuit, ut ab illis recedamus, quos bonis monitis semper deteriores fieri videmus; homines enim in malis obstinati vjx possunt per rationem compesci. Unde idem Ckrysostomus : • Sciens aUtem Dominus consilium eorum, non diu contendit, sed una reddita ratione recessit, ne magis insaniam eorum excitaret, quia non potest fieri, ut malitia ratione placetur. Ignorantia quidem ratione placatur; malitia autem ampiius excitatur. Sciens ergo paratos illos esse ad malefaciendum secessit, non quasi timidus subtrahens se ab eis ; sed quasi miscricops parcens eis, ne eos ad opus impium amplius irritaret. Quamvis enim qui paratus est malum facere apud Deum jam fecit; tamen qui intelligit paratum esse aliquem opus raalum facere, et irritat eum, dans ei occasionem ut compleat malum, ipse particeps est peccati ejus. Utquid enim res mala per te exitum suum invenit > Et qui sine te fuerat periturus, aut quantum ad voluntatem suam jam perditus erat, utquid per te impleta est perditio ejus? » heec Chrysastomus. 6 Infirmis a se cuhatis Christus pr^cipiens, ke gratiam receptam m alcl festa m faciant, vitamdam bs8e — Et mujti, infirmi, secuti sunt eum, ex eo quod viderant praedictum hominem curatum, et curavit eos omnes, remunerans fidem ipsorum, forsitan quia omnes digni fuerunt curatione.
Docti ergo , visis signis, persequuntur; indocti, opinione ejus ducti , amando sequuntur , et ideo curari merentur. Unde Remigius : « Quem Pharisaei unanimi consiiio perdere quaerunt, turba indocta unanimi dilectione sequitur, unde mox sui desiderii consequitur effectum. Si vis et tu curari, si vis sanari, si vis a mortis periculo liberari, sequere et imitare Jesum, ipse enim neminem repellit; et omncs qui eum sequuntur sanat. » Per Pharisaeos, qui divisi interpretantur, discoli,qui dissensiones faciunt, signantur; per Herodianos vero superbi, qui gloriosi in pellibus interpretantur. Isti vero consilium faciunt contra Jesum, qui cum humiJibus et caritatem habentibus commoratur; et ideo recedit abillis se elongando , et humilibus eum sequentibus benefacit , beneficia salutis impendendo. Et /pratcepit eis, qui curati erant, ne eum divulgarent , et manifestum face^ rent, ut inanem gloriam et gloriandi de se jactantiam declinaret, et ut nobis exemplum vitandi eam daret. Non prohibuit Dominus miraculorum praedicationes ad utilitatem audientium, sed in beneficiis vanae gloriae appetitum. Unde Ambrosius : « Hic mystice instituit nos, ne, cum magnum aliquid facimus, laudem foris quaeramus.
» Unde et Chrysostomus : « Ubi quidem propter alios alii curantur, non praecepit eis ut nemini dicerent, quale est ubi oculos, caeci nati aperuit, et paralyticum triginta et octo annis jacentem erexit. Ubi autem non propter alios, sed propter meritum ipsius curat hominem, praecipit ei ut nemini dicat, sicut et leproso mandavit. Ideo et istis praecepit ne vulgarent eum, quia propter ipsos solos curaverat eos ; quia non aestimationem hominum miraculis venabatur, sed credentium desiderabat salutem : » haec Chrysostomus.
Et veniunt ad domum quamdam ad hospitandum , et convenit iterum turba, ad audiendum Dei verbum; et tunc ita ferventer intendebant praedicationi , quod ipsi discipuli ejus non habebant tempus panem manducandi. Hoc est contra illos qui dimittunt opus praedicationis, propter curam et saturitatem comestionis. Ubi Beda ; « O quam felix occupatio Salvatoris, quam beata frequentia • turbae confluentis, cui tantum studii ad audiendum verbum Dei, tantum fuit curae ad obtinendam salutem, ut Auctori salutis cum his qui secum erant ne vescendi quidem hora, a solatio vitae miseris impendendo, libera maneret! Utinam, o Domine Jesu, et in nostri temporibus aevi, tantum gratiae tuis fidelibus largiaris , quae doctores suos assiduitate discendi non solum ab appetitu carnalium voluptatum, verumetiam nonnunquam ab ipsa quoque panis quotidiani perceptione praepediat ! » haec Beda. Et cum sui, scilicet Judaei, qui ex parte Matris de cognatione sua erant, viderent insolitum fervorem in eo, et audissent altitudinem divinae sapientiae, quam capere non valebant, aestimabant eum mente alienatum, et in furorem versum sensu perdito loqui; et exierunt tenere eum, et ligare, ne sibi vel aliis posset nocere. Ubi idem Beda : «c Vere sicut ipse dicit alibi : Non est Propheta sine honore, nisi in patria sua, et in do~ mo sua. Quem enim exteri, quasi Auctorem vitae et sapientiam Dei, adire et audire desiderant; hunc propinqui, quasi mentis impotem esse ligandum decernunt.
Allegorice autem, in eo quod turba ad illum conveniente frequenti, ut furiosus a suis contemnitur, salus credentium de Gentibus approbatur , et invidia Judaeorum et perfidia notatur; de quibus ait Joannes : In propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt : » haec Beda : Similiter et hodie qui ad sequendum Christum sunt fervidi, a mundanis hominibus insani reputantur, et per eos quantum possunt a bono retinentur. O quantum una non dico mensura, sed gutta hujus vini valeret, quae hanc insaniam induceret! Felices qui hac laborant insania; ut de illis dici possit illud Sapientiae : Nos insensati vitam illorum aestimabamus insaniam, etc. I Utinam et ego miser unus de illis merear fieri, ac cum eis inter filios Dei computari, et inter Sanctos sortem habere! ORATIO Domine Jesu Christe, rogo te per viscera misericordiae tuae, ut me mancum, ad faciendum opera bona invalidum, digneris misericorditer sanare, et ad omne opus bonum, fortem et aptum facere. Fac me stare in medio virtutum, ut, te jubente et faciente, extendam ad justitiam, non ad iniquitatem, manus meas, meque in bonis exercendo, tuum beneplacitum in omnibus faciam; et in malo arescendo, ab offensa tua omnino abstineam. Da mihi, bone Jesu, ut prae omnibus divitiis et deliciis seculi, intendam verbo Dei, ac meae et aliorum saluti. Amen.
The Life of Christ (Vita Christi) companion
A prayer for every moment, already on your phone
Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.
Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.
- One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
- Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
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