Although Jesuit priest and scholar Cornelius à Lapide died in 1637, his impressive erudition and passion for Scripture are still greatly admired today. The 8-volume Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide is just one of the commentaries featured on the Verbum Monthly Sale during the month of August.

The following excerpt is from Cornelius à Lapide’s  discussion of the Gospel of Matthew.  The author is obviously steeped in scripture and also conversant with the writings of the Church fathers, but he chooses a moment from Matthew that every believer will recognize. As Lapide mentions, the moment of conversion, of answering the call of Christ, is one that spans the centuries.

Lastly, St. Matthew is pre-eminent amongst the Evangelists in the following respects:[…] Because St. Matthew, who was perfectly conversant with business affairs, for he was over the tribute, was converted to Christ, not by seeing His miracles, not by hearing His preaching, says St. Chrysostom, but by a single word, “Follow Me,” obeying this with the utmost promptitude, he was straightway changed into another man, even into an Apostle, so that he left all things, and followed Christ.

The Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio

I may add, that after this he never left Christ, but was a beholder and a witness of His miracles, an imitator of His life, a companion of His journeys and labors a partaker of His cares and griefs, and thus was conversant with Him during the whole period of His earthly ministry. Matthew means in Hebrew, given, as Origen and Isidore say—or a gift, as Pagninus thinks—from matthan, a gift. Anastasius of Antioch gives a different interpretation, Matthew, he says, means the “command of the Most High.” St. Gregory makes the following remarks about him: “Iron is taken out of the earth. Was not Matthew found in the earth, when he was immersed in worldly business, and served the customs’ board? But when he was taken out of the earth, he possessed the strength of iron. For by his tongue, and by the dispensation of the Gospel committed to him, the Lord, as by a most sharp sword, transfixed the hearts of unbelievers.” Clement of Alexandria says of this Evangelist, that he was not wont to eat flesh, but to live on seeds, berries, and herbs. […] The last thing I will mention is, that St. Matthew made himself known to St. Bridget, when she was praying at his tomb in the city of Malphi, and said to her, “When I was writing my Gospel, so intense was the heat of the Divine flame which abode with me, that even if I had wished to keep silence, I could not, because of that burning heat.”

Discover the riches of Lapide’s vast scholarship with a monthly special from Verbum until the end of August!

This post is a continuation of the interview with authors Dr. Mary Healy and Dr. Peter Williamson.  Verbum users enjoy special savings on their 7-volume Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture through the month of August!

6. What impact have you seen with your seminary students using this commentary? What effect has it had on homiletics?

MH: Some of the most enthusiastic comments we have received are from seminarians, some of whom had previously only used commentaries designed for scholars that left them rather perplexed or uninspired to preach on particular Scripture passages. Our commentaries have helped them see the richness and spiritual depth of passages they had not paid attention to before.

7. What impact have you seen on lay ministries?

PSW: We’ve especially seen Bible Studies and Bible Study leaders make great use of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Our series website, www.CatholicScriptureCommentary.com, provides additional resources including Questions for Reflection and Discussion. Many Bible studies use these questions, sometimes adding others of their own.

Q. How has the series been received outside of the Catholic arena? What channels of dialogue being opened up from the quality scholarship of the commentaries?

PSW: I have been very encouraged at the response of Protestant and Orthodox Christians to the series. It helps them to see how much common ground we have in common; that in turn builds trust which enables fruitful conversation regarding the points on which we differ. I was delighted to learn that my niece, who attends Moody Bible Institute, found the series in their library and had some of her professors recommend it as a good Catholic commentary.

8. What is next from the series?

PSW: My volume on Revelation will be published in November or December. Then in January or February our volume on the Gospel of John will be published; it is authored by Fr. Francis Martin and Dr. William Wright.

In 2015 we will publish Dr. Mary Healy’s volume on Hebrews and a volume that covers both James (Kelly Anderson) and 1-3 John (Daniel Keating).

After that we’re looking forward to Romans by Scott Hahn, Galatians by Cardinal Albert Vanhoye and myself, Luke by Fr. Pablo Gadenz and Tim Gray, and 1-2 Thessalonians by Nathan Eubank.

Verbum interveiwed two authors of Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. See what they have to say about this stellar commentary, on sale this month.

1. What sparked your desire to produce this series?

PSW: Both Mary and I have experienced great grace in our lives through reading and studying Scripture. The benefit we received was due in part to gifted teachers who opened up the word of God to us. We noticed that many Catholics needed the kind of help we ourselves were blessed to receive.

There seemed to be a gap in the Catholic biblical resources available. On the one hand, there were study Bibles and simple introductory books on Scripture. On the other hand, there were academic works that tended not to focus on Christian faith and life, but on scholarly questions. So we set out to write and edit commentaries of theological depth whose aim is to help Catholics deepen their faith, hope, and love.

2. What questions in modern Scripture scholarship are you hoping to answer through this series?

PSW: Actually, we’re not trying to answer scholars’ questions, but the questions of ordinary Catholics and of the clergy and lay leaders who teach and preach to them. Our goal is to gather the best insights of Scripture scholarship and make it accessible. We ensure that our authors write in ordinary language that does not require translation for preaching and teaching.

3. What aims/goals do you wish to obtain through these commentaries?

MH: We hope Catholics will fall in love with the word of God and learn to read it the way the Church has traditionally read it: as a diverse library and yet a single word that speaks of Christ. We also hope to help overcome the enormous gap that has divided theology from biblical studies in recent years, by interpreting each biblical book in light of the whole canon of Scripture and the tradition of the Church.

4. What benefits have you derived in your own scholarship from the feedback obtained from the series?

MH: The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Part of the reason is that each of our volumes goes through an extremely rigorous editorial process in which it is reviewed and edited eight to ten times by different sets of eyes. I have benefited enormously by the insightful and sometimes critical comments of my fellow editors and other reviewers. They have caused me to read the text more carefully and to ensure that there are no gaps in my explanations.

5. How are these commentaries accentuated by the tools and functionality of Verbum?

PSW: Our commentaries include many biblical references to support or illustrate what is being said, as well as footnotes to church documents. They also include cross references to the Catechism and Lectionary of Sundays and Special Seasons. Verbum makes checking out cross references so easy!

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