Daily Bible Readings Commentary October 8 2007 Monday 27th Week Ordinary Time.

October 8 2007 Monday 27^th Week Ordinary Time.

About the sources used.

The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of Roman Catholic Church, but are from sources free from copyright. They are here to present the comparable readings alongside traditional Catholic commentary as published in the Haydock Bible.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/100807.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

Jonah 1:1 through 2:1-2, 11

Douay-Rheims Challoner text from SacredBible.org

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amathi, saying:
2 Arise and go to Ninive, the great city, and preach in it: For the wickedness thereof is come up before me.
3 And Jonah rose up to flee into Tharsis from the face of the Lord, and he went down to Joppe, and found a ship going to Tharsis: and he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them to Tharsis from the face of the Lord,
4 But the Lord sent a great wind to the sea: and a great tempest was raised in the sea, and the ship was in danger to be broken.
5 And the mariners were afraid, and the men cried to their god: and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship, into the sea, to lighten it of them: and Jonah went down into the inner part of the ship, and fell into a deep sleep.
6 And the ship master came to him and said to him: Why art thou fast asleep? rise up call upon thy God, if so be that God will think of us that we may not perish.
7 And they said every one to his fellow: Come and let us cast lots, that we may know why this evil is upon us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8 And they said to him: Tell us for what cause this evil is upon us, what is thy business? of what country art thou? and whither goest thou? or of what people art thou?
9 And he said to them: I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, and the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.
10 And the men were greatly afraid, and they said to him: Why hast thou done this? (For the men knew that he fled from the face of the Lord: because he had told them.)
11 And they said to him: What shall we do with thee, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea flowed and swelled.
12 And he said to them: take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
13 And the men rowed hard to return the land, but they were not able: because the sea tossed and swelled upon them.
14 And they cried to the Lord, and said: We beseech thee, O Lord let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, oh Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
15 And they took Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from raging.
16 And the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and sacrificed victims to the Lord, and made vows.
1 Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah: and Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights.
2 And Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God, out of the belly of the fish.
11 And the Lord spoke to the fish: and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Haydock Commentary Jonah 1 through 2:1-2, 11

• Ver. 2. Ninive, the capital city of the Assyrian empire. Ch.—It was 150 stadia long and 90 broad, (Diod. Ii.) on the western bank of the Tigris. Pliny vi. 13.—Mosul, which some mistake for it, stands on the northern side. See Gen. x. 10. At the time when Jonas preached, Ninive would contain about 600,000. C. iv. 11. They were people less favoured by God, (Acts xiv. 15. C.) but not abandoned. Theod.—God took sufficient care of all his creatures, and foretold many things relating to foreign nations. C.—Rom. iii. 29. W.—For the. Sept. add, “cry of.” Gen. iv. and xviii. H.
• Ver. 3. Tharsis. Which some take to be Tharsus of Cilicia, others to be Tartessus of Spain, others to be Carthage. Ch.-Joppe, now Jaffa, (M.) a miserable seaport. H.—It was formerly the best near Jerusalem, (2. Par. ii. 16.) though very dangerous. Jos. Bel. iii. 15 or 29.—It is said to have been built before “the inundation” of the world, (Mela. i. 11.) and was famous for the adventure of Andromeda, rescued by Perseus from a sea monster. Pliny v. 13. C.—Lord. He feared being accounted a false prophet, (W.) knowing how much God was inclined to shew mercy, (C. iv. 2.) and being disheartened at the difficulty of the undertaking, like Moses and Gedeon. C.—He might also think that if the Ninivites repented, it would be a reflection on the obstinacy of the Jews. S. Greg. Mor. vi. 13. S. Jerome.
• Ver. 4. Broken. Seeing no natural cause of such a sudden tempest, they concluded (W.) that some on board must be guilty; as the sailors argued (H.) when the noted atheist, Diagoras, was in similar circumstances. C.—They had recourse to lots, and the prophet consented by God’s inspiration, (W.) though this is not written, (H.) and the lots were superstitious. M.—The oriental writers add many things to this sufficiently marvelous account. Lyran. D’Herbelot. C.
• Ver. 5. God. They were idolaters. v. 6.—Wares, which is commonly done in storms. C.—This loss was in punishment of their sins; though they seem not devoid of some fear of God and man. H.—Sleep. This is a lively image of the insensibility of sinners, fleeing from God, and threatened on every side with his judgments; and yet sleeping as if they were secure. Ch.—Yet Jonas was sleeping through grief. S. Jerome. Mat. xxvi. 40. C.
• Ver. 9. Fear, and therefore fly from the face of the Lord. v. 3, 10. H.—He knew that God is every where, v. 3. Ps. cxxxiii. 8. C.—Sept. “I worship.” Fear is often taken in this sense. H.
• Ver. 12. Cast me. God intimates that he required this sacrifice. M.
• Ver. 13. Hard. They were unwilling to destroy the prophet, (C.) fearing to incur fresh guilt by thus treating one who had intrusted his life to them. Jos. Ant. ix. 11.
• Ver. 14. Blood. We act thus by his direction, and through necessity.
• Ver. 16. Lord. They were converted by this prodigy, and offered sacrifice immediately, or (C.) when they came to port. M.—All know by the light of reason that sacrifice and vows are acceptable to the Lord. W.
• Ver. 1. Ch. 2. Fish. Heb. dag: afterwards daga occurs, v. 2; (H.) on which Leusden observes, the Jews infer that Jonas was first swallowed up by a male and then a female fish, which being full of young he was much straitened, and prayed from the belly of that (hadaga) female fish! He alludes to R Jarchi. H.—Thus nar, puer, is put for a girl, to omply that Rebecca was prudent and Dina rambling. Buxt. Tib. 13. See Kennicott, Dis. 2. p. 417 and 552.—Noble discoveries! Many suppose (H.) that this fish was a whale, as it does not live on flesh; (C.) but its throat being so narrow, as hardly to suffer a man’s arm to pass, it is more probable that it was the sea-dog, lamia or canis chariarias, (Bartolin 14.) which may easily contain a man. Aldrovandus iii. 32. M.—This sea-dog, or shark, has five rows of teeth in each jaw. Human bodies have been found entire in the stomach. Button.—Our Saviour calls the fish a whale, Matt. xii. 40. W.—But that term is given to any great sea monster. Yet it is not of much importance what species of fish be meant, provided the miracle be admitted. C.—The pagans ridiculed it. S. Aug. ep. 102. q. 6. 30.—Yet they believed many of a similar nature, alleging the omnipotence of God. S. Jerome.—This reason accounts for all the miracles recorded in Scripture. But might not God have chosen some easier expedient? We must not dive into his reasons. The impression which such a fact would make on the Ninivites, and the prefiguring of Christ’s burial, might suffice. Jonas was not a type of his death, as some have imagined, Q. ad Orthodox. C.—Nights, or as long as our Saviour was in the monument, (M.) which was about thirty-four hours. C. Dis.
• Ver. 2. Prayed. He entertained these sentiments. Sanct. xiv.—He afterwards wrote them down. C.
• Ver. 11. Spoke to the fish. God’s speaking to the fish was nothing else but his will, which all things obey. Ch. W.—Land. Josephus says near the Euxine Sea. But thus it must have traveled 800 leagues. Others fix upon different places, without any proof. C.

 

Gospel According to Luke 10:25-37
from Haydock New Testament

25 And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying:

Master, what must I do to possess eternal life?

26 But he said to him:

What is written in the law? How readest thou?

27 He answering, said:

Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbour as thyself.

28 And he said to him:

Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus:

And who is my neighbour?

30 And Jesus answering, said:

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him, went away leaving him half dead. 31 And it happened that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him, he passed by. 32 In like manner, also, a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by.

33 But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him: and seeing him, was moved with compassion; 34 and going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own best, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out twopence, and gave them to the host, and said: take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I at my return will repay thee.

36 Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers?

37 But he said:

He that shewed mercy to him.

And Jesus said to him:

Go, and do thou in like manner.

Haydock Commentary Luke 10:25-37

• Ver. 25. Eternal life? The law of Moses does not expressly promise eternal life to the observers of it, but confines its promises to temporal blessings during this life. Still we always find that the Jews hoped in another life after this. This opinion is clearly observable in the books of Scripture, written both before and after the captivity, and in Josephus and Philo. Calmet.
• Ver. 29. Neighbour? It appears this was a celebrated controversy among the doctors of the law; some probably affirming, that the Jews only were so; while others maintained that their friends alone were their neighbours. Maldonatus.
• Ver. 30. A certain man, &c. This some would have to be a history: others rather judge it spoken by way of parable, to teach us to perform offices of charity towards all men without exception. Wi.—Were we to adhere to the mere words of this parable, it would seem to follow, that only those who do us good were to be esteemed our neighbours; for the context seems to intimate, that the Levite and the priest were not neighbours to the man who fell among the robbers, because they did not assist him. But according to the opinion of most fathers, the intent of this parable is to shew, that every person who has need of our assistance is our neighbour. Maldonatus.
• Ver. 31. Our Saviour here shews the Jewish priests how preposterous was their behaviour, who, though scrupulously exact in performing all external acts of religion, entirely neglected piety, mercy, and other more essential duties. The Jews despised the Samaritans as wicked and irreligious men; but our Saviour here tells them that they were less exact in works of charity towards their neighbours than the very Samaritans. Tirinus.
• Ver. 34. This is the allegorical meaning of the parable: The man that fell among robbers, represents Adam and his posterity; Jerusalem, the state of peace and innocence, which man leaves by going down to Jericho, which means the moon, the state of trouble and sin: the robbers represent the devil, who stripped him of his supernatural gifts, and wounded him in his natural faculties: the priest and Levite represent the old law: the Samaritan, Christ; and the beast, his humanity. The inn means the Church; wine, the blood of Christ; oil, his mercy; whilst the host signifies S. Peter and his successors, the bishops and priests of the Church. Origen, S. Jerome, S Ambrose, S. Austin, and others.