081526

 

https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cgt/hebrews-11.html

(snip)

[The next list of names of the "heroes of faith"] are drawn from the Books of Judges and Samuel, with a reference to the Books of Kings and Chronicles, and what is known of the history of the Prophets. There does not seem to be any special design in the arrangement of the pairs of names, though it is a curious circumstance that, in each pair, the hero who came earlier in time is placed after the other.
[A subtle allusion to God liking to "lift the younger child to the role of firstborn"?]

(snip)

wrought righteousness = The allusion... seems to refer... perhaps especially to the Judgment of Solomon. “To execute judgment and justice” belonged especially to the Princes of Israel (Ezekiel 45:9 ).
[Christ types = fitting because it is ONLY FAITH IN HIM that MAKES US RIGHTEOUS (Philippians 3:9, Corinthians 1:30, 2 Corinthians 5:21  Romans 1:17, 3:20-24, 5:1, 18-21, Galatians 2:16)!!!]

obtained promises = If we compare the expression with verses 13, 39, we see that the primary reference must be to TEMPORAL promises; but they ALSO obtained at least a PARTIAL fruition of SPIRITUAL promises also.
(Joshua 21:43-45 = This was how the LORD gave the Israelites the entire country which he had sworn to give to their ancestors. They took possession of it and settled in it. The LORD granted them tranquillity on all their frontiers just as he had sworn to their ancestors and, of all their enemies, not one succeeded in resisting them. The LORD put all their enemies at their mercy. Of all the promises that the LORD had made to the House of Israel, not one failed; all were fulfilled.")

⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️ turned to flight the armies of the aliens = ...The word used for “armies” (parembolas) is the word used for “camp” in 13:11, 13; Revelation 20:9. 

🌟🌟🌟🌟 a better resurrection ] Not a mere resurrection to earthly life... but “an EVERLASTING REAWAKENING OF LIFE” (2 Macc. 7:9).

🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔 were tempted = This would NOT seem an "anticlimax" to a PIOUS reader, for the INTENSE VIOLENCE OF TEMPTATION, and the HORRIBLE DREAD lest the weakness of human nature should SUCCUMB to it, was one of the MOST AWFUL FORMS OF TRIAL which persecutors could inflict (Acts 26:11, 2 Maccabees 7:1,7), ESPECIALLY if the tempted person YIELDED to the temptation, as in 1 Kings 13:7-26.

was not worthy = The world was unworthy of them though it treated them as worthless. The Greek would also admit the meaning that they outweighed in value the whole world (see Proverbs 8:11 , LXX.).

of the earth = Rather, “of the land.” The writer’s view rarely extends beyond the horizon of Jewish history.

received not THE promise = They did not enjoy the fruition of the ONE GREAT Promise.

God having provided some better thing for us = Lit., “Since God provided” (or “foresaw”) “some better thing concerning us.” In one sense Abraham, and therefore other patriarchs, “rejoiced to see Christ’s day,” and yet they did but see it in such dim shadow that “many prophets and kings desired to see what ye see, and saw not, and hear the things which ye hear, and did not hear them” (Matthew 13:17 ), though all their earnest seekings and searchings tended in this direction (1 Peter 1:10 , 1 Peter 1:11 ).

that they without us should not be made perfect = “Not unto themselves but unto us they did minister” (1 Peter 1:12 ). Since in their days “the FULLNESS of the times” had NOT yet come (Ephesians 1:10 ) the saints COULD NOT be brought to THEIR completion, or the END and CONSUMMATION of their privileges, APART FROM US. The “just” HAD NOT been, and COULD NOT be, “perfected” (12:23) UNTIL CHRIST HAD DIED (7:19, 8:6). The implied thought is that if Christ HAD come in THEIR  days– if the “close of the ages” had fallen in the times of the Patriarchs or Prophets– the world would LONG AGO HAVE ENDED, and we should never have been born.
OUR PRESENT PRIVILEGES are, as he has been proving all through the Epistle, INCOMPARABLY BETTER than those of the fathers. It was NECESSARY in the economy of God that their “perfectionment” should be DELAYED until ours could be ACCOMPLISHED; in the future world we and they shall EQUALLY ENJOY the benefits of Christ’s redemption.



------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Almighty, ever-living God,
    you have taken the mother of your Son,
    the immaculate Virgin Mary,
    body and soul into the glory where you dwell.
Keep our hearts set on heaven
    so that, with her, we may share in your glory.
Through Christ our Lord.


...tradition sees in the Woman the earthly mother of the Saviour, Mary, mother of Jesus and mother of the Church, who triumphs over all the powers of evil. The secondary symbolism, therefore, is that Mary is the great sign in heaven of triumph over evil. Evil has no hold on Mary, and her children are sure of victory.


After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet.

On the Festival of the Assumption of Mary it is important to get things in the right order. Christ is the first-born from the dead. In him all will be brought to life, but all in their proper order. Mary is the first after her Son, and raised by her Son because she is part of his Body, the Church.
The perfection of the Mother of the Saviour is won for her by her Son. He draws her after him in his retinue.
In this chapter Paul is teaching about the bodily resurrection. This is not merely immortality of the soul, but the resurrection of the WHOLE PERSON, an ANIMATED BODY, not a soul hidden in a body.
It is particularly fitting with regard to Mary, the PHYSICAL mother of Jesus, who gave to him her genes, her personality, her features and her talents. If any son takes after his mother physically, it must have been Jesus.
The declaration by the Church of the Assumption of Mary is an assertion of the saving value of all our activity, the healing touch, the conquest of pain, exhaustion, moodiness and physical temptation in all its forms. That is why Mary goes ahead of us all and LEADS THE WAY TO FULL RESURRECTION.


Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

This gospel reading ends with the start of Mary’s canticle of thanksgiving for God’s gifts to her. But it starts with her bodily attention to the bodily needs of her elderly relative. With her own baby on the way, she would have plenty of other priorities, making her long journey a real act of kindness. Her canticle, sung daily in the liturgy of Evening Prayer, sums up God’s faithfulness to his promises, focused on his gifts to this simple peasant girl. It combines a wonderful sense of the holiness of God with warmth of gratitude, showing the thoughts that revolved constantly in her mind. As is fitting in the mouth of a girl whose only knowledge of books was the Bible, Mary’s song is a texture of scriptural phrases. We cannot assume that Luke wrote it down at Mary’s dictation, for putting words in the mouth of his characters is a feature of Luke the historian; but it must reflect her thinking. If any theme resounds again and again throughout the Bible, it is God’s care for the poor, the simple and those in need. It is this which sets the Hebraeo-Christian tradition apart from the ways of the world.


May this oblation, our tribute of homage,
rise up to you, O Lord,
and, through the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary,
whom you assumed into heaven,
may our hearts, aflame with the fire of love,
constantly long for you.
Through Christ our Lord.


May you know always and everywhere the protection of her,
through whom you have been found worthy to receive the author of life.
Amen.

May you, who have devoutly gathered on this day,
carry away with you the gifts of spiritual joys and heavenly rewards.
Amen.