Num 13:17 - Joshua's original name was Osee. The name is very similar to Jesus in meaning.

Num 13:31-34 - Ten of Israel's spies lie to the people to get them to decide against taking the land. Caleb tries to turn things around, but he and Joshua against the rest fail to sway them.

Num 14:22-30 - As per their own rash wish, those who revolted against God's plans are condemned to die wandering in the desert. Their children will then inherit in their place. Only Joshua and Caleb are spared from among the twelve spies.

Num 14:40-45 - In a continued display of cluelessness, a sizable number of people decide to fight the Canaanites after God has already decreed that they will be going back to the desert.

Num 15:15 - An important principle is that God maintains just one law for both strangers and the people themselves. All people are in the end judged by one Judge with one set of laws.

Num 16:1-3 - Core takes on the stand of some modern day fools, claiming that all of Israel is holy and so he and his followers should be allowed to minister as priests, even though God has limited it to the Levites.

Num 16:13-15 - Dathan and Abiram refuse to so much as show up, choosing to make a mockery instead of God's promises given through Moses, since they have not yet been realized.

Num 16:41-49 - As if God's signs in having the ground devour some of the rebellious crowd and killing those who tried to break in on the priesthood weren't enough, the people blame Moses for all of it. These people really don't understand God's power at all here. What part of the Lord and God part was being missed? In a second revolt, God ends up visiting some serious destruction on them, from which Aaron has to hurridly deliver them.

- Posted by at 11:03 PM

Num 11:4 - The Israelites had come with some outsiders, and they were the ones behind this complaint of no meat. The notes indicate these worldly strangers had much to do with teaching Israel bad habits, which remains true even today.

Num 11:19-33 - God's response to the meat desire is to send it in abundance, which leads to the demise of those seeking it.

- Posted by at 9:45 PM

Num 5:14-31 - Although this procedure seems pretty humiliating, the notes say this was mainly used to protect the innocent, since the water ordinarily wouldn't do anything harmful.

- Posted by at 10:40 PM

Mk 14:7 - The comment that the poor will always remain is essentially saying that there will always be a disparity, and some people on the lower end of society who need to be helped. Trying to eliminate the problem entirely is doomed to fail, so the better course is doing what is possible.

Mk 14:10-11 - It's thought that Judas was among those who was grumbling about the perfume, possibly due to greed and thievery, and after the rebuke in verse 7, left to betray Jesus.

Mk 14:25 - In Numbers, it says that the Nazarite shall offer the basket of unleavened bread and the required libations, and shall not be permitted to drink wine until he has elevated them and they have been sanctified.

Mk 14:51-52 - The inclusion of this man dressed in a white robe who was stripped sounds like an odd thing to include, unless this man later had some important role to play. I'll have to check into it.

Mk 14:63 - Leviticus 21:10 forbids the high priest to do this, even though nothing is said against it here.

Mk 15:15 - Caving to the mob usually doesn't produce the most just of results.

Mk 15:32 - This is the opening verse of Psalm 21(22), the innocent victim's cry to God.

Mk 16:9-14 - Throughout the first few hours after the Resurrection, everybody thinks their eyes are lying to them, which is pretty amazing, given Christ kept telling them this was going to happen.

Mk 16:15-18 - The commission to evangelize the world, along with the signs which will go with the Church in general. Those who do not believe will be condemned, while those who believe may be saved.

- Posted by at 10:21 PM

Num 3:10 - God has only deigned to let certain people be priests. The penalty of death given here incidates the gravity of trying to minister when one hasn't been called to do so. The same principle remains, though it is no longer passed on by families, but by the laying on of hands. As women have been excluded from the ordained ministry by God, they put themselves in serious trouble by trying to do so anyway.

Num 3:41-51 - God uses a type here to show that certain men can be given to the Lord in place of others. Here the sons of Levi take the place of the firstborn of the children of Israel. Though they are not as large in number, the balance is made up with a modest sacrifice. Later, Christ will take the place of everyone in taking on the sins of the world.

- Posted by at 10:06 PM

Lev 24:2-4 - The candle kept by the tabernacle is a continuation of this practice.

Lev 26:14-45 - The consequences for failing to abide by God's commandments results will be even worse than what has befallen those who went before and sinned in like manner. This seems consistent with a work I read a while ago which proposed that fallen away Catholics end up worse in hell than any others.

- Posted by at 9:50 PM

Mk 11:15-18 - In the typical response of ruling elites everywhere, when Jesus comes in and starts shaking up their way of things and winning the hearts of the people, the Jewish leaders wanted to get rid of the threat to their power.

Mk 12:41-44 - The proportion of the gift in relation to our ability to give is more important than the mere quantity of the gift.

Mk 13:32-37 - The most important thing about the instruction to watch is that God is not going to give the time of the second coming. As the rest of the chapter suggests, these false prophets should not be listened to.

- Posted by at 11:33 PM

Lev 20:2-5 - Moloch was the deity of Carthage, among other places in the ancient world. Since his worshippers often made sacrifices of small children, this is what the warning about giving of one's seed means.

Lev 20:6 - The prohibition against fortune-tellers, wizards, and other diviners comes up pretty frequently in the Old Testament. The penalty is strict since their powers come from Satan.

Lev 20:9-21 - A series of serious crimes, most involving sexual abominations. The importance God places on the marital and sexual act can be inferred from the amount of time and regulations given regarding them.

Lev 21:10 - This passage is interesting, because Caiphas, the high priest, is specifically mentioned as rending his garments, something he was forbidden to do according to this verse.

- Posted by at 11:00 PM

Lev 16:20-22 - I wonder what the symbolism would be if this goat bearing the people's sins ever wandered back into the camp?

Lev 18:6-23 - A long list of the various types of sexual relations which were sinful, including all those among closely related families, those between the same sex, and those with animals.

Lev 19:15 - Although the advice is no longer followed so much, the people are told not to favor a man because he is poor, nor to honor the weatlhy and powerful, but to judge based on the merits.

Lev 19:16-17 - The prohibition of gossip and the command to rebuke openly and not let hate fester inside in secret are both related. In each case, the right thing to do, if anything is to be done, is to speak openly. Otherwise, in secret, things often end up getting warped to something quite different from what actually took place.

- Posted by at 10:58 PM

Lev 15:2-33 - This entire chapter is about the uncleanliness caused from the men issuing seed and having sex with women. God was trying to make the point that there was impurity involved with carnal pleasures. That also explains why later, a virgin birth was part of the plan.

- Posted by at 10:22 PM

Mk 8:31-33 - This could almost be a case with the bishops today. One of them speaks openly in strong terms, and along come those who rebuke such strong language. This attitude is rebuked because it focuses on worldly considerations while ignoring God.

Mk 8:36-38 - The world is essentially a giant bunch of fool's gold, worth nothing, though it deceives a lot of people into thinking the things of the world are the real thing.

Mk 9:8-9 - All of Jesus's references to His impending death and resurrection fell on dense skulls among the apostles. Either He kept speaking in parables they didn't understand, or they were pretty blinded.

Mk 9:22-23 - This is a curious though deep reply to the question of belief. In the same breath, the father cries out that he believes, but asks Jesus to help his unbelief. This might either be due to a heat of the moment acceptance, coupled with pre-existing doubts, or it could also refer to a firm belief, but a lack of understanding. Most people have a point where they believe, but there are doubts or points which they need some help accepting.

Mk 9:37-39 - The legitimate form of ecumenism is something more like this, I think.

Mk 10:6-9 - The permanence of marriage is quite plain, but so many modern disciples of Christ have much the same problem of blindness the original ones had which kept them from seeing what Christ was actually talking about in the teaching.

Mk 10:29-31 - The caveat to this, of course, is that one has to remain faithful to the end. Judas is not thought to have ended up so well, despite the fact he did leave everything behind to follow Jesus before the betrayal.

- Posted by at 10:08 PM

Lev 10:1-2 - This would be one quick way to end liturgical abuses. God really does take these sorts of things seriously.

Lev 11:2-47 - The notes indicate the laws of clean and unclean animals existed for reasons of fostering obedience, avoiding symbolic vice, and also because they tended to either be unfit to eat or physically unclean.

- Posted by at 11:35 PM

Lev 7:14-21 - This passage is related to Christ's teaching that His flesh would have to be eaten, since that is what was done with the victim offered as a sacrifice. As with the Eucharist, anyone defiled who ate of the flesh of the sacrificial animal was cut off from the people by sin.

- Posted by at 9:54 PM

Mk 4:11-12 - The message of God will not be grasped by those who are not open to it in the first place.

Mk 4:26-29 - The comparison is that God will reap the harvest of men when the fulness of the fruit to be brought forth by the word of God has grown up.

Mk 5:25-29 - Just like today, faith heals where the doctors and quacks fail with all their attempts.

Mk 6:5 - The miracles didn't come due to a lack of power - after all, some sick were healed - but because of a lack of faith.

Mk 6:19-26 - Herod ended up in a considerable pickle, by having his illegitimate wife pressing for John the Baptist's death while he actually wanted to hear the Baptist's message. The flesh eventually won out with a dance by his wife's daughter.

Mk 6:48-52 - The miracle of the loaves earlier in the day is tied to Jesus walking on the water. The disciples should have picked up on His divinity earlier with that.

Mk 7:6-8 - The traditions of the Pharisees were superceding some really important doctrines and commandments of God, hence the rebuke for maintaining outward appearances of piety that were really more self-serving.

Mk 7:21-23 - Not just the heart but also the mind - especially the imagination - though the analogy is far more powerful referring it to the heart.

- Posted by at 9:08 PM

Lev 1:3-4 - The laying of hands upon the victim was a symbolic way of transferring one's sins to the animal being sacrified for the expiation of them. Confession essentially does the same thing, as Christ expiates them through His sacrifice on the cross.

Lev 2:13 - This is where the reference Christ makes to the salt of the earth comes from. We are supposed to season Christ's sacrifice by our offering of ourselves.

Lev 4:2 - This chapter concerns the penalty for sins of ignorance, which are less serious than sins committed with knowledge, unless the sin is something we have no excuse for not knowing.

- Posted by at 11:20 PM

Ex 40:18-20 - God's veiling of His presence was common to both the Old and New Covenants. The veiling of the ark containing the word of God is a shadow of the later veiling of the actual Word of God under bread and wine.

Ex 40:36 - This last verse of the book gives a hint of what Revelation might have been talking about in terms of the city of God, with the use of mansions in describing the dwelling places of Israel and God's constant visibility - via either the cloud or the pillar of fire - throughout all of these.

- Posted by at 11:34 PM

Ex 36:3-7 - The people were offering too much for the things God had asked to be made, so Moses had to bring a halt to it.

There's really not much to say about these three chapters, they're mainly just redescribing the same items God asked to be made, except this time they're actually being made.

- Posted by at 11:13 PM

Mk 1:4-5 - This passage from Mark links penance and confession together.

Mk 2:9-11 - The proof involves doing something which is taken to be harder than forgiving sins. The power on earth to forgive sins involves an earthly sign that they are forgiven.

Mk 2:23-28 - The Pharisees have the wrong idea about the Sabbath, in that it was never made for its own sake, but for men - therefore, its regulations can be dispensed with in certain circumstances.

Mk 3:21 - If ever there was confirmation that a prophet is never welcomed in his own town, those who knew Jesus before His preaching mission thought He'd gone mad.

Mk 3:22-30 - Since Christ was speaking in parables, it might not have been as clear as this to the Pharisees what was meant. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is denying the divine origin of Christ.

- Posted by at 10:46 PM

Ex 31:13-16 - The sabbath is taken very seriously, and violating it leads to grave consequences.

Ex 32:1-6 - This sounds so much like our modern day situation, where the people press some priests and bishops, and in their weakness, they give in, fashion falsehoods, and then proclaim it as truth. The justification is also usually about as weak as Aaron's later excuse of tossing in what the people came to him with and coming up with what they wanted.

Ex 32:22-24 - I like Mother Angelica's characterization of this as one of the most pathetic excuses ever given by anyone for a sin. It's not even truthful, since Aaron did a lot more than just throw gold into a fire and magically end up with a calf.

Ex 32:27-29 - This slaughter has some apparent reference to being consecrated for the priesthood. The notes refer to other passages about denying one's parents and brethren for the sake of keeping the covenant, which also mirrors Christ's statements later about denying family relations.

Ex 33:5 - This seems to be a prophecy of what will happen when God actually does come in their midst in the person of Christ.

Ex 33:20-23 - In the sense that viewing the true nature of God is impossible for us while on earth, Moses really couldn't behold the Beatific Vision face to face.

- Posted by at 6:30 PM

Ex 27:20-21 - The lamp indicating the Lord's presence was to be always lit. This lamp remains today as a red candle before the tabernacle.

Ex 28:2-40 - The vestments are made specifically to set apart the sons of Aaron in their office as priests. Some parts, like the mitre, carried over into ordained ministry of the Church.

Ex 28:41 - The consecration of hands is also part of the sacrament of Holy Orders.

- Posted by at 11:03 PM

Matt 25:1-13 - Those who don't prepare for the Lord's coming risk being shut out.

Matt 25:14-30 - We have to make good use of what God gives us, however great or little that may be, and bring forth some fruits from it. Letting our gifts lie idle leads to a bad end, when they are taken away in the Last Judgment, which is the context in which verse 29 sounds so much different than other contexts in which those with nothing get something and those with something lose it.

Matt 25:31-46 - Like Mother Theresa said, it's the small things done with great love that are important. Since Christ identified so much with the most unfortunate of people, doing these things for anyone in need is like doing it for Him.

Matt 26:7-11 - I've seen this indignation attributed to Judas, since he'd been skimming money from the purse. But the message is that not every expensive thing needs to be foregone and given to the poor.

Matt 26:14-15 - Right after the rebuke over the use of the perfume, Judas goes out to make the deal to sell out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave given in Exodus. Judas's departure apparently was nothing unusual for the others since in the following verses, his absence doesn't rouse suspicion.

Matt 26:26-28 - The institution of the Eucharist, bringing the passover to its full meaning.

Matt 26:41 - Temptations of the flesh often cause problems in trying to follow Christ. This would include falling asleep during prayers or Mass.

Matt 26:56 - The prophecy referred to is Lamentations 4:20, in which Christ was killed for the people's sins, as they said they would live in the shadow of the Gentiles. And so it came to be.

Matt 27:24 - Pilate's response is the precursor to the personally opposed arguments many use today to justify going along with unjust actions.

Matt 27:42 - A reference to Wisdom 2:18, in which it is said that God will defend and deliver His Son from His enemies.

Matt 28:18-20 - The commission to the Church to go forth and baptize and teach all the nations all things Christ has told the disciples. The Latin text says Christ will be with them until the consummation of the age, which is the last age before the end of the world. This is the guarantee of the Church's indefectability and of doctrinal infallibility.

- Posted by at 10:28 PM

Ex 24:5-8 - Both the Old and New Covenants were made through blood.

Ex 24:18 - Forty days away was probably why Israel came to doubt the Lord, though I think it also has some symbolic time reference, like Christ's 40 days following the establishment of the New Covenant.

Ex 25:2-8 - The Sanctuary was made of a lot of precious gems and gold, so God does not mind places of worship that are adorned with these things.

Ex 25:18-20 - An image of the cherubim angels was put on the ark. God would have to have given an image for the cherubim, since they don't have physical forms.

Ex 25:30 - The notes indicate this is a prefigurement of the Blessed Sacrament's reservation in tabernacles.

Ex 26:31-34 - The Holy of Holies, where the ark was placed, was hidden by a veil. None were allowed to enter except the high priest once a year. This veil was the one torn in the Temple when Christ died, signifying God revealing Himself.

- Posted by at 10:55 PM

Ex 20:2-17 - The Ten Commandments are first given here. It's not clear whether God had previously made them explicit, though moral codes certainly are seen before this. The first three Commandments are part of the first Great Commandment (love God with all your heart, soul, ...) and the last seven part of the other Great Commandment (love your neighbor as yourself). All sins in some way violate the spirit of one of the Ten Commandments.

Ex 20:23 - This is a rather ironic warning, since the people of Israel go and do it before Moses ever gets a chance to warn them not to do it.

Ex 21:12-26 - In explaining the law dealing with killings, different conditions mitigate the action, though death is called for in several instances, making any possibility of the death penalty being intrinsically evil impossible.

Ex 21:16 - Forcing someone into slavery is considered a crime punishable by death, which puts a pretty clear-cut moral case against the slave trade that went on.

Ex 21:32 - The price of a slave was 30 pieces of silver, the price Christ was sold for.

Ex 22:18 - This is a reference to the occult in general, which shows the gravity of getting involved with it.

Ex 22:19 - This sort of seems to be thrown in, but having sex with animals was also a crime bringing about death.

Ex 23:1-2 - Truth isn't a democracy, and all are called not to give in to those who are in error.

Ex 23:3 - This is consistent with the principle of justice insofar as we aren't supposed to unfairly side with someone simply because they are poorer or more unfortunate.

- Posted by at 11:18 PM

Ex 16:2-4 - As soon as one problem is resolved, another one quickly arises to again make the people wish they were either back in slavery or dead.

Ex 17:10-13 - God's people do well when their leaders on earth lift their hands up strong, but they struggle when their leaders are weak.

Ex 18:13-26 - The prototype of the papacy is displayed here by Moses, as he sits in judgment to resolve disputes and show what the commandments of God were and how they applied. As this was consuming work, a hierarchy was set up, with greater and lesser authorities to handle the smaller things.

Ex 19:9-11 - God's visit will occur on the third day in a cloud, which sounds similar to Christ's later return in the clouds, albeit clouds of light, and the three days before Christ's resurrection.

- Posted by at 11:57 PM

Matt 22:1-14 - The marriage feast parable recounts the history of the plan of salvation. God continues sending servants to call the Jewish people to the feast, but they keep ignoring the invitation and killing the messengers. So God invites the Gentiles to the feast - yet, those who aren't properly disposed will be thrown out.

Matt 22:19-21 - A call to satisfy legitimate worldly obligations, like taxes and other civil duties, while also fulfilling religious obligations.

Matt 22:23-30 - The Sadducees were missing the point, since marriage does not carry into Heaven. This is why Christ says we will be as angels - that is, distinct beings who do not need a spouse to be completed. Humans don't actually end up as angels, since that would be a denial of the general resurrection.

Matt 22:31-32 - This had to make a powerful case when it was said. God, in the Old Testament, repeatedly introduces Himself as the God of the three original patriarchs of Israel. But Jesus asks why God, who is the living God, would bother to attach His name to dead people without a resurrection.

Matt 22:42-46 - The prophecy regarding the Messiah poses a problem, since David's son must at the same time be David's Lord, which ordinarily was never true even when the ancestor was yet living. But David, long since dead, could not have a Lord on earth any more, implying the divine nature of the Messiah.

Matt 23:2-3 - The do as they say and not as they do advice remains practical even today, in the sense of doing what the Church says, and not as many members of her hierarchy do.

Matt 23:16-22 - Swearing by material things really is meaningless, but swearing by the things of God is a very serious oath.

Matt 23:23-24 - This is an excessive attention to very minor things while at the same time forgetting some very large things. Priorities need to be in order.

Matt 23:25-28 - Appearances can be deceiving. Judge by the state of what's inside, not the facade presented to the world.

Matt 23:37-39 - A judgment executed by the Roman army a generation after the coming of Christ.

Matt 24:37-51 - The Second Coming or death may come at any moment, so we always have to be ready for the end.

- Posted by at 10:33 PM

Ex 13:2 - God is being quite literal in the case of His own firstborn, which is symbolized by what is done with the other firstborns.

Ex 13:21-22 - I think the presence of God in this manner is symbolic both of God as spirit and as a fire.

Ex 14:10-12 - Sometimes I wonder how effective all the miracles of God would be in ending this sort of unbelief. God's right there in a pillar of fire and the Israelites still think they're going to get slaughtered.

Ex 15:20-21 - This dancing did not occur in a liturgical setting.

Ex 15:24 - Three days from singing the Lord's praises about how they'd been saved and were going to be brought to the promised land to murmuring against Moses again. Illustrative of our relatively short memory concerning God's graces, if nothing else.

- Posted by at 11:55 PM

Ex 10:7-24 - As Pharaoh's men press him about the ruin Egypt is coming to, he gradually is willing to concede more and more, but never all that Moses asks of him. And so more plagues keep coming.

Ex 12:22 - The notes explain this as a prefigurement of the blood of Christ redeeming the human race.

NOTE: I will probably add more to this, but need to consult a reference book first.

- Posted by at 11:57 PM

Matt 19:3-6 - The Pharisees attempted to trip Jesus up on marriage law, since the Mosaic law had a provision allowing for divorce. The response in verse 4 indicates that the male and female sexes were originated in mankind for the purpose of marriage, particularly for the uniting of two fleshes in one in the act of having children. In divorce, the parents would be putting asunder not only a vow made to God, but also the love which gave rise to their children - hence the prohibition against destroying this union in verse 6. Some of Frank Sheed's work seems to draw a parallel between the Trinity's love and the love which subsists in the human family (father, mother, child), and as it would be undesirable (not to mention catastrophic) to have a breach exist between the persons of the Trinity, so it is, though on a lesser scale, with the family.

Matt 19:7-9 - The Pharisees follow up by questioning the permission of divorce. It is described as a dispensation because of their fallen ways. As Christ came to restore things, this dispensation was ended and God's original intention restored, as it had been in the beginning. The early chapters of Genesis suggest this original state of affairs was largely followed up until the flood (the text always speaks of "his wife" when referring to the male descendants, except for Lamech the descendant of Cain, who has two, which the text makes a special point of noting. Noah and his three sons each have only one wife according to the text).

Matt 19:10-12 - The Pharisees, much like the hard-hearted people Moses dealt with, declare that what Christ has described makes marriage unexpedient. The response is that there are single people, whether it be by birth, by force, or by choice for the kingdom of Heaven, but that state is not given to everyone. The advice given is that those who can be chaste for the sake of the kingdom ought to do that.

Matt 19:13-15 - Christ might as well have been talking to Christian parents who refuse to instruct their children in religion, preferring they make that decision without any influence from them.

Matt 19:16-22 - This is an odd exchange between the young man and Jesus, and seems to be a lesson about ignorance in understanding God's commandments. The ignorance is first suggested when Jesus questions the youth's description of Him as good, as that is reserved to God alone. Next, when Jesus tells the youth to keep the commandments, he has to ask which ones, suggesting a lack of knowledge about what these were. Several of the Ten are said in reply, along with the love of neighbor. The youth says he's kept all of these from childhood. The subsequent response of Jesus to sell everything he has seems to be a test of the youth's statement that he's kept all of the commandments from his youth. The young man leaves sad, suggesting he doesn't quite understand the commandments as well as his earlier statement implied.

Matt 19:23-26 - The camel passing through the eye of a needle refers to getting a camel to cross through the narrow gate of the cities of ancient world, which generally were too small for it. This is why the disciples were troubled, since this sounded like an impossible idea to them, though not outside the bounds of reason. Had Jesus been talking about getting a camel through the eye of a sewing needle, the disciples would not have bothered to wonder who could be saved, since it would have been clear none could. Jesus also replies that men can't accomplish this task themselves, but God can - hence why there is nowhere a doctrine that rich men go to Hell, though being too attached to possessions makes getting that camel through the gate all the more difficult.

Matt 20:1-16 - In the parable, those who come latest to the vineyard receive the same as those there from the beginning. The message is that no matter how late one comes to the kingdom of Heaven, the full measure of that reward is given to all who are there at the end of the day. The unspoken part of the parable is that had any of the laborers left at any time, they would have received nothing, having broken their agreement with the owner. Hence one who worked the first 11 hours but left would get nothing, while one there only the last hour would get the full reward. The jealousy a lot of people have over some people "unjustly" sneaking in the back door of Heaven at the last minute is rebuked here, since the question is asked "I've not gone back on my word to you, why do you see evil in my generosity and mercy?"

Matt 20:25-28 - The hierarchy of the Church goes in reverse in a sense, as greater service is demanded of those who are higher up in it, while the end reward is not any greater for them than for people below, as can be implied from the vineyard parable just prior.

Matt 21:9 - This cry of the multitude is similar to the second half of the Sanctus that directly precedes the Canon.

Matt 21:19 - Symbolically, Jesus may well have been checking for fruit on the tree of Israel and not finding any caused it to whither and nevermore bear fruit. The fig tree figures in other passages, where time and again it is given more time to produce fruit, but always with the stipulation it will be uprooted if no fruit bears in time. The action here indicates that time is at hand.

Matt 21:24-26 - The hypocrisy of the Pharisees is exposed here, when they are asked to make a decision about John the Baptist. They would rather not have believed he was from Heaven, but did not want to say so for fear of the crowds. Their preoccupation with power overcame their desire to take a position, since either way they would face ridicule. For this lack of guts, Christ refuses to answer them directly.

Matt 21:28-32 - It's not so much the expression of submission to the will of God that matters, but actually repenting and doing it in the end.

Matt 21:33-41 - A short synopsis of the entire history of Israel in this parable, where prophets were always being beaten or killed. When God attempts to send the Son, He gets killed too, only with more relish than before, since those in the vineyard perceived they could keep their possession by ridding themselves of the Son who put their power at risk. The Pharisees unintentionally give their own fate in the response that the evil men will be cast out and the vineyard given to others.

Matt 21:42-46 - The kingdom transferred to new owners signifies the Church as the new caretaker of it. The Pharisees then perceive that the preceding parables were about them and they didn't like the implication one bit, but once again were restrained by the fear of offending the masses, which should really say something about religious leaders fearing the offense of the masses.

- Posted by at 11:50 PM

Ex 5:8 - The atheistic response to religion - the longing to worship is seen as an idleness or defect on the part of the people.

Ex 6:3 - Frank Sheed thinks that God's reasons for keeping His true nature the mystery that it was throughout the Old Testament was to prevent the drift into the anthropomorphic and polytheistic religions of this part of the world. The notes indicate that Jehovah is a corruption of God's name as given in Exodus 3 - Jod He Vau He (I am who am), abbreviated JHVH.

Ex 7:11-12 - Magic is always a possibility when Satan gets into the mix, moreso in the ancient world before he was chained than now. God shows the distinction over where the power originates by having Aaron's staff consume the rods of the magicians.

Ex 8:1-4 - In the new vulgate, these verses are attached to the end of chapter 7.

Ex 8:18 - Here the magicians cannot duplicate God's miracle, and themselves declare God is behind it.

- Posted by at 11:15 PM

Ex 1:9-10 - It almost seems as if Israel gave in to pharaoh here, since he considers them to have the upper hand. Probably it came gradually until Israel was unable to extricate themselves.

Ex 1:22 - The forerunner of what goes on under China's 1-child policy, except in the reverse direction.

Ex 2:12 - The notes say this is a foreshadowing of Moses's deliverance of Israel from Egypt.

Ex 3:2-3 - God's description as a fire that does not consume is something I've seen mentioned somewhere as a description of the experience of those in Heaven.

Ex 3:14 - That is, God simply is, and that's one of the ways in which God is described in the doctrine of the Church.

Ex 4:10-14 - Moses draws God's wrath for continuing to make excuses about how he's not the best one to do what God is planning. This is humility carried to excess, which then ceases to be virtuous.

Ex 4:24-26 - Since Moses had forgotten to circumcise his son, God was going to kill that son until Sephora realized the error and did it herself. Symbolic that those who have not bound themselves to God's conditions to be spared won't have their sons spared later on in Exodus.

- Posted by at 11:51 PM

Gen 47:20-26 - The famine allowed Pharaoh to take possession of all of Egypt. This probably made the Egyptians jealous of the children of Israel in time, since they along with the priests would have been the only ones to still own any land themselves.

Gen 48:5-20 - Jacob takes Joseph's two sons by his Egyptian wife to be his own sons in place of Joseph. By this, the later adoption of the gentiles into God's people is foreshadowed, especially with the younger son being made greater.

Gen 49:3-27 - Jacob's last words are a bit puzzling. He seems to curse his three eldest sons, Ruben for a sexual tryst, and Simeon and Levi for the excessive vengeance of Dinah's rape. Juda is prophesied to retain the throne until the coming of Christ and there is mention of a Nazorean among Joseph's brethren. The rest of the passage's meaning is a bit vague.

Gen 50:20 - Joseph's explanation of how God can turn evil into good is very good. No matter what evil is planned or carried out, God can bring even the saving of many lives out of it.

- Posted by at 7:17 PM

Matt 16:5 - The analogy is probably meant to refer to the fact that the teachings of the Sadducees and Pharisees were puffing up their religion to something beyond what it was intended to be.

Matt 16:18 - Christ, the builder of the Church, chooses to build upon a rock, which is the literal translation of Peter, as in the passage about the wise man earlier. This is a guarantee it won't collapse in the storms that will hit it.

Matt 16:19 - The Douay suggests this passage is about the allowing of indulgences to remit temporal punishment in purgatory. I think it refers to the sacrament of Confession, since binding isn't really something associated with indulgences.

Matt 16:22-26 - The rebuke is against Peter's care toward preserving one's own life over the soul, which had been previously been condemned in the same words.

Matt 16:27 - This is God's justice, the rendering to each according to what they have done.

Matt 16:28 - Christ was most likely referring to the destruction of Jerusalem, then some 40 years off. The Crucifixion and Resurrection don't seem to fit, since no death is recorded among Christ's followers prior to that time.

Matt 17:2-3 - Perhaps a foreshadowing of the Trinity, since Moses can represent the father, as he was the one who established the Law, and Elias the Holy Spirit, since he was a prophet.

Matt 17:12-13 - I've often wondered if this has any bearing on Enoch, since they were the only two from the Old Testament who were taken up by God.

Matt 17:19 - In other words, prayers are pretty meaningless unless there's faith God will answer them.

Matt 17:20 - Fr. Gabriel Amorth's books are a good look at the ideas behind demonic possession and oppression, some of which can't be ended except by prayers and fasting.

Matt 18:3-4 - A conversion back to innocence like that of children.

Matt 18:6-7 - Being an accomplice in leading astray the young is a grave sin in itself.

Matt 18:15-17 - In attempting to correct an offense, a private rebuke should come first, then a small group, and then it should be referred to the Church. And if the offender won't listen to the Church, they are considered cut off from the community, like the heathens.

Matt 18:20 - This is tied to gatherings which occur under the Church's authority, since that is what the context of the passage is referring to.

Matt 18:23-35 - The servant who owed 10000 talents must have been forgiven by his master over and over again for the debt, for it's not likely that such a large loan was made at once, but repeatedly, little by little. And the debt is forgiven again, but when the servant doesn't extend the same mercy to another, the forgiveness is revoked.

- Posted by at 11:42 PM

Gen 44:9-13 - The brothers' presumption of innocence amongst themselves leads to a rash oath, which would have cost them Benjamin had it not been Joseph behind the supposed theft.

Gen 45:5-8 - Joseph declares that God has turned what the brothers thought bad outcome into their deliverance, since they have food from Egypt only because Joseph was sold into slavery there.

Gen 46:26-27 - The size of Jacob's family has 70 members when they arrive in Egypt, the size of the Sanhedrin later on.

- Posted by at 10:39 PM

Gen 40:8 - The notes warn against putting any stock in dreams unless they are coming from God. In this case, they were, and Joseph was given the meaning of them.

Gen 40:19 - In the old Vulgate, this was a cross in Latin, while in verse 22 it was a gibbet. In the new Vulgate, it has been changed to a gibbet in this passage as well.

Gen 40:23 - It's in human nature to forget to remember the good deeds others have done for us.

Gen 41:16 - That is, the dream's interpretation doesn't rest on Joseph, and the same thing would happen without his interpreting it.

Gen 41:25-36 - Seven years of plenty followed by seven years of scarcity. This forewarning was beneficial to Egypt, since Joseph delivers them from the worst by advising the storage of the plenty to assist in the time of need. In general, despite how often hard times hit, people don't plan for them when things are going well.

Gen 42:9-16 - Joseph's treatment is due to his remembrance of the dream of his brethren and parents bowing to him. Hence, he arranges things this way to bring Benjamin before him.

Gen 42:38 - Jacob's words refer to the lineage of his children - Joseph and Benjamin are Rachel's only two sons, and he does not wish to lose the last of his sons from her.

- Posted by at 11:51 PM

Matt 13:15 - The end choice of free will is that God can't reach us if we always cover our ears and put our head in the sand, trying to avoid the truth.

Matt 13:19-23 - Christ identifies four types of people - those who aren't interested in God's word, those for whom it's not a big deal, those who get strangled by worldliness, and those who take everything to heart and make it the center of their lives.

Matt 13:36-43 - Christ's explanation for why evil is permitted to remain in the world. Lest any of the good be destroyed with the evil, both stay until the end of the world, when the wicked are able to be separated out without harming the fruits of the good.

Matt 13:44-46 - Heaven is such that if we knew its true nature, we would do whatever we had to to acquire it, even if it cost all we had.

Matt 13:54-58 - The area around Nazareth didn't put much belief in Jesus, since they knew of his humbler background as a carpenter and also his extended family, none of whom suggested to them a wise man's lineage.

Matt 14:6-10 - Herod's rashly given oath ends up leading to murder. This is why it is earlier advised not to swear to anything, lest something like this end up happening.

Matt 14:15-21 - The feeding of over 5000 with just five loaves of bread and two fishes. The women and children weren't counted, so the figure was considerably higher than 5000. Besides being a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, this passage shows God always provides more than is needed, even if it appears the provisions are woefully inadequate.

Matt 14:29-31 - Faith can work miracles, but doubt never will.

Matt 15:4-6 - The notes explain that this rebuke was tied to the Pharisees making themselves rich by saying that children could ignore assisting their parents by instead making an offering to the temple.

Matt 15:8-9 - This sounds a lot like the present day, when many will pay their faith lip service, especially with the so-called personal profession while failing to act it out. God condemns the supplanting of His doctrines with anything else.

Matt 15:17-20 - Eating food with unwashed hands or eating unclean meat doesn't occasion sin of itself, but the disobedience of the laws which comes from the heart.

Matt 15:32 - Jesus feeds the crowd on the third day, which is symbolic of His beginning to feed the world three days after His death.

- Posted by at 11:12 PM

Gen 37:2 - Joseph's accusation here may have had something to do with the later actions of his brothers against him.

Gen 37:5-10 - Joseph's dreams of being the honored by both his brothers and parents drew their anger and Jacob's rebuke.

Gen 37:21-22 - Reuben is the only one who tries to save Joseph's life, intending to return him to Jacob.

Gen 37:35 - Jacob isn't referring to Hell itself, since people don't go to Hell hoping to meet anyone - it's never a happy meeting there. The place is sheol, or the underground, where those who found God's favor waited for Heaven to open.

Gen 38:8-10 - This passage reflects God's intended use for sex, since the sin here is Onan's deliberate issue of seed while not intending to father any children.

Gen 39:19 - An old reminder to take some claims like this with a grain of salt.

- Posted by at 11:12 PM

Gen 34:13 - The notes consider this a grave sin by Jacob's sons, not only for excessive retribution, but also for making a mockery of religion in the process.

Gen 34:30-31 - Jacob illustrates the point that when bad deeds get done in the name of religion by some, the entire body is hurt. The Douay uses strumpet to refer to Sichem's treatment of Dinah in the eyes of Simeon and Levi, a more charitable rendering of prostitute.

Gen 35:19 - First mention of Bethlehem, as Rachel's burial place. It is here that Benjamin, Son of the right hand, was born, foreshadowing the eventual birth of the right hand of God here.

Gen 35:28-29 - Isaac must have been ill a long time, since he felt he was in danger of dying more than 20 years before this.

- Posted by at 11:27 PM

Gen 30:2 - This is one of the better passages against artificial conception in attempting to gain something God has denied.

Gen 31:7-8 - In trying to take advantage of Jacob, Laban always found that things worked out to his disadvantage thanks to God.

Gen 31:19 - This almost gets Rachel into serious trouble later on, since Jacob was rash in deciding upon death for the one caught with them. I don't know why she doesn't ditch or destroy them rather than keep them.

Gen 32:24-25 - This fight is with an angel, and was meant as a sign to Jacob that Esau would not end up hurting him, nor would anyone else.

Gen 33:18 - Jacob's original place of settlement is nearby Jerusalem.

- Posted by at 11:29 PM

Matt 10:7 - By commanding the disciples to preach that the kingdom of Heaven was at hand, Christ could have meant several things - either the opening of Heaven to men, or the establishment of His kingdom on earth in the Church.

Matt 10:8 - Raising the dead probably doesn't mean literally, since the Jewish leaders were terrified by Jesus doing that with Lazarus later on, but the raising of the spiritually dead to life.

Matt 10:15 - This would be a rather ominous judgment against our own times in much of the Western world.

Matt 10:19-23 - This ties in with verse 34 and following, in that those preaching God's word will suffer treachery at the hands of family and friends. God will speak for them when that happens. Persecution will sometimes necessitate flight, but persevering to the end will bring salvation.

Matt 10:28-31 - I've never been sure whether the one to be feared in this passage is God or the devil, since I attribute the destructive element more to Satan than God, but on the other hand, the rule is to fear God, not the devil. In any case, the main point is not to fear people, since they can't destroy the soul, and that God values our lives far more than the lives of birds, which are also sustained by God.

Matt 10:32-33 - This has a connection with other passages in the Gospels concerning candles and light. Earlier, Christ says not to hide a lit candle. If a candle is hidden under something, what happens to the flame? It's stifled. If light is hidden under something, there might just as well not be any light at all. So naturally, if we act as if we have no light to the rest of the world, Christ is going to deny we have it. And if we happen to look, we might be astonished to find that indeed, the light has gone out and we are left in the dark.

Matt 10:34-37 - The Latin is explicit in calling this a sword, gladium, not division. Loving God before everyone and everything else is going to cause serious conflicts among families because not everyone is going to feel the same way. And if we happen to love someone more than God, our priorities are misplaced.

Matt 10:39 - This is not good, given today's obsession with "finding oneself".

Matt 11:11 - In other words, anyone in Heaven is above everyone on earth.

Matt 11:12 - This can only apply to an earthly kingdom, suggesting the kingdom of heaven has already been on earth in some form, but has not been able to survive due to wickedness. The Jewish nation is probably the reference.

Matt 11:16-24 - It must have really been a wicked generation when nations like Sodom are compared favorably to the one Christ came to visit. They are completely unsatisfiable, criticizing John the Baptist for doing one thing, Christ for doing the opposite. No number of miracles is convincing them.

Matt 11:27 - This passage must have caused all sorts of problems for Christology early on. Various heresies emerged depending on which angle was taken - Gnostics would have thought Jesus an illusion, others that Jesus and the Father were completely distinct, still others that Jesus had no human nature.

Matt 12:3-8 - When necessity dictates, the law of the Sabbath may be broken without fault, as it was in the cases Christ lists from Scripture. The quotation Christ cites about mercy and not sacrifice comes up in a couple other places. The prophet Samuel says that obedience is greater than ritual sacrifice, and that the latter without the former is like idolatry and witchcraft.

Matt 12:11-12 - It had to be a really narrow mindset that would ever lead to a question of whether or not a good deed could be done on the sabbath.

Matt 12:24-26 - Another incredible excuse to deny the obvious on the part of the Pharisees. The idea that Satan would stand against himself to work miracles is ridiculous, since it would work against his own rule.

Matt 12:31 - The notes suggest this is the sin of obstinancy that denies the clear work of God, as in the Pharisees' considering Christ's miracles as the work of Satan, because it is difficult to ever repent from such a position. Their more likely sin however is obstinate presumption of salvation.

Matt 12:32 - Not quite a literal condemnation, since anything against the Son would be against God in much the same way as something against the Spirit would be. This usually means some grave and usually final sin - despair, presumption, and refusal to repent to the end.

Matt 12:43-45 - In some cases, miracles and healings make the situation worse. I don't get the meaning of verses 43 and 44, except that it seems that this man, not finding satisfaction liberated from evil, goes and invites it back in.

- Posted by at 11:51 PM

Gen 27:5-10 - Rebecca's deception may have been due to her weariness of Esau's wives, as is hinted in verse 46.

Gen 27:19-29 - St. Augustine's opinion is that this lie is not so great, since Esau had sold away his birthright to Jacob and hence the blessing was rightly his to begin with. Augustine also draws the parallel between the supplantation of the Jewish people by the Christians and this scene. That Esau's parents were offended by his wives and contributed to his loss can also parallel the Jewish offenses of later ages.

Gen 28:6-9 - Esau perceives a bit late that his parents don't like his choice of wives, and goes and takes one of Ismael's daughters for a wife. This response seems to miss the point, since the text doesn't suggest Esau got rid of the disapproved wives.

Gen 28:14 - A statement foreshadowing Christ's redemption, though it had to be pretty cryptic before Christ actually came.

Gen 29:23-27 - Laban deceives Jacob, and extracts seven years of extra service from Jacob in return for letting him marry Rachel. This little game of switcheroo might have been Jacob's penance for taking Esau's place.

Gen 29:30-35 - Even though Jacob despised Leah, it apparently wasn't enough to prevent him from knowing her. God punishes this by keeping Rachel barren and giving Leah all the children. The savior, as it happens, comes from the womb of the despised wife through Juda's line.

- Posted by at 11:44 PM

Gen 24:7-8 - This passage doesn't make any sense without free will. Abraham says to his servant that God is going to send an angel out to indicate the woman who is to be Issac's wife. But then a qualifier is thrown in, in case she refuses. Rebecca needs to give a lesser fiat to God's plan in order to begin the generation of the family of Abraham, much like a greater one is required later to begin the generation of the Church.

Gen 25:22 - The Latin describes the children striking each other in the womb, which leads to Rebecca's consulting God to figure out why things are so rough. Her meaning is difficult to translate, since the Latin gives only 5 words - roughly, "if it is thus, for what purpose to me?"

Gen 25:23-28 - There's a lot of foreshadowing in these passages about the future of God's people. The elder son serving the younger is a theme that recurs several times, ultimately in the sons of Abraham serving Christ. Jacob, the younger son who is to be served, is also the mother's son, while the servant is the father's son.

Gen 25:30-34 - This is a pattern that happens throughout Jewish history of selling away their birthright from God for pretty base things and then not really thinking about what they were doing. The Latin text also parenthetically notes that Edom is also called Rufus.

Gen 26:1 - The Douay calls Abimelech the king of the Palestines, though the Latin renders it the king of the Philistines.

Gen 26:7 - A third time there is a deception of calling a wife a sister.

Gen 26:35 - What Esau's wives did to offend Issac and Rebecca isn't clear, but it might have some relation to the later destruction of Esau's descendants.

- Posted by at 10:17 PM

Matt 7:1-5 - Not literally a prohibition against judgment, since all of us are judged in the end, but a warning against the sort of judgment the Pharisees engaged in, pointing out the faults of others while assuming themselves to be righteous. It is still a good thing to remove the mote from someone else's eye, so long as we take mind of the beam in our own.

Matt 7:6 - This brings to mind all the movie scenes in which some precious thing is demanded of the good guys to spare them and then as soon as it's given over, they are ordered killed anyway. The lesson is that appeasing men like this bears no good.

Matt 7:7-11 - Christ never specifies that we'll get what we ask or what we seek. It would almost seem that's not the case, since the comparison says that evil men even do this for their children, so it would make sense God would give something greater.

Matt 7:12 - In essence, all of the Old Law except that relating to God boils down to this. The fourth through tenth commandments are specific instances of this precept. The other three go back to loving God with the entirety of one's being.

Matt 7:17-20 - This is a far more challenging view of sin than many today would like to admit. Christ is saying very clearly that if we produce even one bad fruit, or serious sin, none of the rest of our fruit can possibly be good, even though we may appear to be good people. Bad fruit corrupts the entire tree, which is most obvious at the judgment, where we are all either all good or all evil. The prior advice in the sermon to cut off what produces these sins makes clear sense in this metaphor - save the good parts of the tree by cutting off the blighted parts.

Matt 7:21 - This passage indicates that works are necessary in some way to entering heaven, since "doing" God's will necessarily requires actions. Christ refers to what doing God's will entails just before this in verse 12 - do to others what you would want them to do to you.

Matt 7:22 - The Latin uses virtutes, which is most literally mighty works or virtues, not necessarily miracles, as that would be miraculos.

Matt 7:23 - Not that Christ wouldn't know them in the sense of being God, but more that they have shut Christ outside their hearts, denying the indwelling of God.

Matt 7:24-27 - This foreshadows the later building of the Church on a rock, namely Peter, since that is what a wise man would do, and Christ certainly is that.

Matt 8:8-9 - The centurion's point is that one who has authority speaks as though what he says will be done. And as the centurion believes Christ has authority and so his word alone will suffice to see things done.

Matt 8:24-26 - Even bad storms, like the current one tempest in the world, shouldn't cause a lack of faith, since God will see us through them.

Matt 8:31-32 - Why the devils would ask to go into pigs is a mystery, since it's not in the nature of animals to have spirits and neither would know what to do with the other, as Frank Sheed's beginner theology books suggest. This is probably why the pigs go completely nuts.

Matt 9:6 - The qualifier "on earth" is important, since there is no doubt God can forgive sins in Heaven. But to do so on earth requires that it be done through the physical world. This is done by Christ directly while on earth, but through priests afterward.

Matt 9:13 - Christ cites from the prophet Hosea. The relevant passage from the prophet expresses God's displeasure over the quickly evaporating mercy of Juda and Ephraim, who have transgressed the Covenant and are wicked. Preceding this is a reference to God raising up afflicted Israel on the third day. Christ is suggesting they reread this prophecy not only because they have missed the warning of mercy, but they are also missing the time of their visitation.

Matt 9:34 - The all-purpose denial clause. If miracles are lacking, chastise for the lack of miracles. If miracles abound, claim they are demonic in origin. No wonder Christ refused to give the wicked generation a sign - they wouldn't believe with one and they wouldn't believe without one.

- Posted by at 8:56 PM

Gen 20:2-13 - Abraham mentions a habit of telling this story in every land he journies to. It seems rather silly now, since Sara's about to hit 90, and even more so given God's providence toward him. God shields Abimelech from sin on account of his sincere ignorance of the truth, which parallels the idea of invincible ignorance.

Gen 21:3-7 - Sara's comment is a play on Issac's name, since it means laughter, hence God making a laughter for her.

Gen 21:25-26 - Right after striking an oath seems an odd time to bring up a dispute over a well, especially since it hadn't been brought up before. They patch it up much better than the present territory disputes in that part of the world.

Gen 21:33-34 - There is some confusion over what land Abraham stayed in. The old Vulgate uses the land of the Palestines in verse 33 but the land of the Philistines in verse 34. The current Latin renders Philistines in both verses, as does the NAB, RSV, NIV, and KJV, while the Douay employs Palestines in both verses. The two might be synonymous, since the Catholic encyclopedia notes that Palestine is a plain on which the Philistines settled. It certainly calls into question the assertion by some that Palestine is a recent political creation, given the term was used centuries before in the Bible.

Gen 22:2 - Rendering unigenitum as only begotten in the Douay increases the symbolism of the passage as a parallel to Christ, though it doesn't fit too well with Abraham, given he had had another son. Translating it as only works better, since Abraham could be said to have only one son at the time, having thrown the other out.

Gen 22:6-8 - A definite parallel to the crucifixion. The Douay's wording can be read as God providing Himself as the victim referenced. Though many texts indicate a lamb as the animal, the Latin simply indicates a victim.

Gen 22:16-18 - The Covenant to Abraham, though given before, is here made to rest upon Abraham's obedience to the command to kill Issac. The parallel to Christ is also made - because the only son was not spared, all the earth is blessed through him.

Gen 23:9 - A cave is used as the burial place for Abraham to bury his dead, paralleling the use of a cave for Christ.

- Posted by at 11:00 PM

Gen 16:2-6 - Trying to force the Lord's hand in the matter of giving Abraham a son leads to some tense situations.

Gen 17:10-13 - The Old Covenant. The visible sign of it is circumcision, though what else had to be done to fulfill it is not mentioned here.

Gen 18:2-8 - Abraham displays true hospitality to the three strangers, giving them a good meal and waiting on them.

Gen 18:11-12 - Sara laughs at the idea of her having a child at 90, and at the thought of having relations after she was no longer fertile.

G