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Compiled by: Michael Lewis & Friends (Angel Investors) with the Smart Singaporeans
Important note: Please print this if you need it for future reference, as what listed here will be archived (from 18 April 2026) to make room for Summaries of the Latest Saints’ Commentaries. Although we have done our best to summarise the Saints’ Commentaries (including comparison with AI), please refer to the original Saints’ commentaries listed after reading these. Thanks for following us.
24 August 2026 Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle (21st Week, Monday) Mass Readings https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/feast-saint-bartholomew-apostle https://www.ccreadbible.org/Members/Bona/ccreadbible/maindata/2026/08/2026-08-24.html (Chinese) Saints’ Commentaries: Summaries below. Revelation 21:9b-14 (wallpaper) by Saint Bede the Venerable https://www.ecatholic2000.com/bede/untitled-28.shtml#_Toc385608336 Summary (middle of page) https://emmanuel-maria.biz/index_files/Page5023.htm The pictures of Precious Stones (that will make up as the Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem) listed in Revelation 21:19-20 (Revelation 21) in one page. Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih-AUbbwRyc&t=375s The New Jerusalem (videos) Who will be able to live in the New Jerusalem later? Click I want to be totally Aligned with God now in order to live there later!
Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18 (wallpaper) by Saint Augustine. https://www.ecatholic2000.com/fathers/untitled-686.shtml#_Toc390303670 Saint Augustine’s exposition of Psalm 145:10–13, 16–18 develops one central theme: the whole created order points toward God, but rational creatures are called to recognize and praise Him consciously, trust His promises, and desire God Himself above His gifts. 1. All creation “confesses” God — verses 10–12 Augustine begins with the striking statement: “Let all Thy works, O Lord, confess to Thee.” He asks how things without speech—earth, trees, animals, stones—can “confess” or praise God. His answer is that creation praises God by its very existence, order, and beauty. A tree cannot consciously say, “God made me.” But when a human being looks at the tree, or at the ordered beauty of the earth, he can recognize that the creature did not make itself. Creation therefore becomes like a silent voice proclaiming its Creator. Augustine sees creation as an ordered hierarchy: earth → plants → animals → human beings → angels → God Each level possesses different gifts. Plants have neither sensation nor understanding; animals have sensation but not rational understanding; human beings have sensation and understanding; angels possess understanding and immortality. Yet everything has its proper place in God's harmonious order. Thus: the beauty of creation is the “voice” of creation's confession. When we contemplate created beauty properly, we should move beyond the creature to the Creator: “God made me.” 2. Creation leads the saints to praise God's power The saints, however, do more than contemplate creation. They interpret what creation reveals. When they see the earth filled with life, the variety of plants, animals, seeds, trees, and so forth, they proclaim: How powerful and great is God! Creation therefore becomes almost a dialogue: we ask creation about its origin; creation points beyond itself; we recognize the Creator; we praise God for His power. The saints then make known to others “the glory of the greatness of the beauty” of God's kingdom. 3. The heavenly kingdom surpasses the beauty of this world — verse 12 Saint Augustine is struck by the beauty of the present creation. The earth, sea, sky, stars, and heavens are already extraordinarily beautiful. Yet this is only a faint indication of the beauty of the kingdom to come. If the present creation is so beautiful, despite containing creatures such as worms and mice alongside human beings, how much greater will be the beauty of the kingdom where God's saints dwell with the angels? Augustine therefore urges Christians to love the coming kingdom before they see it. Faith enables us to desire something whose full beauty is not yet visible. This explains the petition: “Thy kingdom come.” We pray for the coming kingdom because the saints know that its beauty vastly surpasses the beauty of the present age. 4. God is faithful because He has already fulfilled so many promises — verse 13 Augustine then turns to: “Faithful is the Lord in His words, and holy in all His works.” Some people might hesitate to believe God's promises concerning the Resurrection, Judgment, and eternal life, because these things have not yet been fully manifested. Augustine's response is essentially: look at what God has already done. God has given us His promises in Scripture, like a written bond or covenant. And He has already “paid” enormous portions of what He promised: He promised His Son—and Christ has come. He promised the Holy Spirit—and the Spirit has been given. He promised that His servants would bear witness through suffering—and the martyrs have done so. Throughout successive generations God has fulfilled the things He promised. Therefore, Augustine argues, it would be unreasonable to distrust God concerning the few things still outstanding when He has already fulfilled so much. His logic is: God has proved His faithfulness by what He has already accomplished; therefore we can trust Him concerning what remains. 5. God gives at the proper time — verse 16 “Thou openest Thine Hand, and fillest every living thing with blessing.” Augustine emphasizes that God's apparent delay is not denial. God may sometimes withhold a blessing temporarily, but He gives it “in due season.” This becomes important spiritually: God's timing is part of His providence. What appears to us to be delay does not mean that God has forgotten His promise. 6. God is righteous both when He wounds and when He heals — verse 17 Augustine then stresses: “Righteous is the Lord in all His ways.” God remains righteous whether He is giving or withholding, healing or chastening. The saints therefore begin in suffering by acknowledging God's righteousness: “What Thou doest is righteous.” They do not accuse God of injustice simply because they are suffering. Augustine gives an important spiritual principle: the saints first praise God for His righteousness in the chastisement, and then experience His blessing. Trust in God's goodness must therefore come before our circumstances improve. 7. God is near—but we must call upon Him “in truth” — verse 18 Finally: “The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him.” But Augustine immediately asks about the apparent contradiction with passages saying that God will not hear certain people. The answer lies in the qualification: “all who call upon Him in truth.” Many people pray to God, but they are really seeking God's gifts rather than God Himself. One person loves God because He restored his health. Another because God gave him wealth, a wife, children, or other earthly blessings. Augustine acknowledges that these gifts genuinely come from God—but asks a deeper question: Do you love God Himself, or merely what God gives you? The truly faithful person eventually says: God Himself is worth more than all His gifts. We may legitimately thank God for health, family, prosperity, and other blessings. But none of these should become more important to us than the Giver. Augustine's central progression The whole passage can therefore be understood as a spiritual ascent: Creation → recognition of the Creator → praise of God's power → desire for God's kingdom → confidence in God's promises → trust in God's timing → acceptance of His righteousness → desire for God Himself. The final point is perhaps the deepest. Augustine is not merely teaching us to be grateful for God's blessings. He wants us to move from the gifts to the Giver. The person who calls upon God “in truth” does not ultimately say: “I love You because You give me good things.” He comes to say, in effect: “I desire You Yourself more than everything You have given me.” That is why Augustine's commentary moves naturally from the beauty of creation to the beauty of the heavenly kingdom, and finally from God's gifts to God Himself.
John 1:45-51 (wallpaper) from Catena Aurea (Saints’ Commentaries) https://www.ecatholic2000.com/catena/untitled-89.shtml The Fathers’ comments on John 1:43–46 bring out several connected themes: Christ’s call, the freedom and readiness of the disciples, Philip’s scriptural expectation, Nathanael’s initial difficulty, and the importance of coming to Christ personally. 1. Christ calls Philip: “Follow Me” Saint John Chrysostom emphasizes that Christ does not call everyone in exactly the same way. Andrew and Peter came through the testimony of others—John the Baptist and Andrew—but Philip appears to respond immediately to Christ’s own voice. Chrysostom sees this as evidence of Christ’s divine power: His command itself is sufficient to move Philip. He also notes the wisdom of Christ’s earlier method. Several disciples had already chosen to follow Him before He explicitly called others. Having freely committed themselves, they were now firmly established. Christ therefore builds upon their voluntary response. Saint Theophylact of Ohrid adds that Christ’s voice was not merely an ordinary human voice. For those prepared to receive Him, it awakened an inward love of Christ. 2. Philip was prepared by Scripture The Church Fathers see Philip as someone who was already expecting the Messiah. Philip immediately tells Nathanael: “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write.” Saint John Chrysostom particularly admires Philip’s zeal. He had been studying Moses and the Prophets and was looking forward to the coming of Christ. Once he encountered Jesus, he did not keep the discovery to himself but immediately went to bring Nathanael. Thus Philip represents an important pattern of evangelisation: encounter Christ → recognise Him → bring someone else to Christ. The mention that Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, may also suggest that he had some previous connection with them and might have heard something about Jesus through them. 3. “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” The Church Fathers are careful about Philip's description of Jesus as the “son of Joseph.” Augustine explains that this refers to Joseph as Mary's betrothed and the man who was regarded publicly as Jesus' father. It does not mean that Joseph was Christ's biological father. The Christian faith teaches that Christ was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary. Likewise, “of Nazareth” describes where Jesus was brought up, not necessarily where He was born. Bethlehem was His birthplace, while Nazareth was the place with which He was publicly associated. 4. Nathanael's objection: “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” This is perhaps the most interesting part of the Fathers' interpretation. Saint John Chrysostom thinks Nathanael's hesitation arises from his knowledge of Scripture. He knew the prophecy of Micah 5:2, which identifies Bethlehem as the place from which the ruler of Israel would come. So when Philip says: “Jesus of Nazareth” Nathanael immediately sees an apparent contradiction: Scripture says Bethlehem; Philip says Nazareth. His question therefore need not represent contempt for Nazareth. It can be understood as a genuine difficulty: How can this be the Messiah if He is from Nazareth? Saint John Chrysostom actually praises Nathanael's manner. He does not accuse Philip of lying or immediately reject his testimony. He simply asks: “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” His doubt is therefore honest and scripturally motivated, rather than hostile unbelief. 5. Augustine sees another possible meaning Augustine points out that the Greek wording permits the statement to be understood in two ways. Nathanael could be asking sceptically: “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” But it could also be understood positively: “Something good can come out of Nazareth.” Augustine notes that either interpretation fits Philip's response: “Come and see.” Augustine also suggests that Nathanael's knowledge of Scripture may actually have made the name Nazareth (meaning of Nazareth in Hebrew) significant to him. He may have recognised a connection with the prophetic imagery of the “branch” (Hebrew netzer) in Isaiah 11:1. 6. Saint Alcuin of York connects Nazareth with Isaiah's “Branch” Saint Alcuin of York develops this connection. Isaiah says: “There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” The Church Fathers saw a possible relationship between Nazareth/Nazarene and the prophetic image of the Branch. Thus, what initially appears to be an obscure or insignificant place can actually point toward Christ's prophetic identity. 7. “Come and see”: Philip's answer to doubt The Fathers especially admire Philip's response. He does not attempt to win an argument with Nathanael. He does not give him a complicated theological explanation. He simply says: “Come and see.” Saint John Chrysostom considers this remarkably wise. Philip knows that once Nathanael encounters Christ himself—hears His teaching and experiences His presence—his doubts will disappear. This gives the passage a beautiful evangelical principle: When argument is insufficient, bring the person to Christ. Philip does not demand that Nathanael believe merely because Philip says so. He invites him to encounter Christ personally. The overall teaching of the Church Fathers The patristic interpretation can be summarised in a sequence: Christ calls → the prepared heart responds → Scripture leads to Christ → the disciple bears witness → honest doubt is permitted → the doubter is invited to “come and see” → personal encounter resolves the difficulty. There is also a deeper spiritual interpretation in Saint Alcuin of York. Galilee means something like “transition” or “revelation.” Christ's going forth into Galilee can therefore symbolise the Christian's own journey: leaving behind the old life, following Christ through humility and suffering, and ultimately sharing in His Resurrection and glory. And Alcuin's interpretation of Bethsaida (“house of hunters”) gives the passage an ecclesial dimension: Peter, Andrew and Philip, who came from this place, would become “fishers” or hunters of souls, gathering people into salvation. In one sentence For the Fathers, John 1:43–46 portrays the meeting of divine calling, scriptural expectation, honest human questioning, and apostolic witness: Philip recognises the Messiah and immediately brings Nathanael to Him, while Nathanael's difficulty is overcome not by argument but by the invitation, “Come and see.”
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