First Reading — Isaiah 26:1-6
Rashi
On 26:1
The city that was our strength, salvation shall He place The city of Jerusalem, which was always our strength from time immemorial, the Savior shall place salvation for its walls and its bulwark. and a bulwark a low wall before the high wall.
On 26:2
Open the gates I.e., open her gates, and let a righteous nation, awaiting, that waited and longed in its exile many days for the faith of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He fulfill His promise through His prophets, to redeem them. awaiting (שֹׁמֵר) waiting. Comp. (Gen. 37:11) “And his father awaited (שָׁמַר) the matter.” Similarly (Deut. 7:12), “And the Lord, your God, shall await (וְשָׁמַר) the covenant for you.”
On 26:3
The creature that relied on the Holy One, blessed be He, and depended on Him steadfastly, that did not deviate from his faith because of any fear or torture. You shall guard that there be peace, for he trusted in You. It is, therefore, fitting for You to guard him.
On 26:4
for in Yah, the Lord For we must rely on Him for He is the fear of God, the rock and everlasting shelter.
On 26:5
the inhabitants of the high places Tyre and other lands. ([Manuscripts yield:] Tyre and Rome and Italy. [Parshandatha])
On 26:6
the feet of a poor man The King Messiah, who is referred to as a poor man riding on a donkey (Zech. 9:9). the soles of the impoverished Israel, who were heretofore impoverished.
Responsorial Psalm — Psalm 118:1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a
Clement of Rome
On 118:19–20
Let us therefore root this out quickly, and let us fall down before the Master and entreat him with tears, that he may show himself propitious and be reconciled to us and may restore us to the seemly and pure conduct that belongs to our love of the brothers. For this is a gate of righteousness opened to life, as it is written: "Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter in thereby and praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter in thereby." Seeing then that many gates are opened, this is that gate that is in righteousness, even that which is in Christ, whereby all are blessed who have entered in and direct their path in holiness and righteousness, performing all things without confusion. Let a person be faithful, let him be able to expound a deep saying, let him be wise in the discernment of words, let him be strenuous in deeds, let him be pure; for so much the more ought he to be lowly in mind, in proportion as he seems to be the greater; and he ought to seek the common advantage of all, and not his own.
Gospel — Matthew 7:21, 24-27
Hilary of Poitiers
On 7:21
For obeying God’s will and not calling on His name, shall find the way to the heavenly kingdom.
On 7:21
They even assure themselves of glory for their prophesying in teaching, for their casting out dæmons, for their mighty works; and hence promise themselves the kingdom of heaven, saying, Have we not prophesied in thy name?
On 7:23
But thus the hypocrites boasted, as though they spoke somewhat of themselves, and as though the power of God did not work all these things, being invoked; but reading has brought them the knowledge of His doctrine, and the name of Christ casts out the dæmons. Out of our own selves then is that blessed eternity to be earned, and out of ourselves must be put forth something that we may will that which is good, that we may avoid all evil, and may rather do what He would have us do, than boast of that to which He enables us. These then He disowns and banishes for their evil works, saying, Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
On 7:24
Otherwise; By the showers He signifies the allurements of smooth and gently invading pleasures, with which the faith is at first watered as with spreading rills, afterwards comes down the rush of torrent floods, that is, the motions of fiercer desire, and lastly, the whole force of the driving tempests rages against it, that is, the universal spirits of the Devil’s reign attack it.