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Todays Reading 12 30 2007

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Daily Bible Readings December 29 2007 Saturday 5th Day of Christmas

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December 29 2007 Saturday 5th Day of Christmas

About the sources used. The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of Roman Rite of the Catholic Church in the USA, 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. Readings vary depending on your local calendar.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/122907.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

1 John 2:3-11
Haydock New Testament

3 And in this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. 3 He that saith he knoweth him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But he that keepeth his word, in him the charity of God is truly perfect: and by this we know that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk even as he walked.

7 Dearly beloved, I write not a new commandment to you, but an old commandment, which you have from the beginning: The old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true both in him, and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is no scandal in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother, is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth: because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.

Psalm 95:1-6 (Ps 96 Hebrew)
Douay-Rheims Challoner Text

Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people.
For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens.
Praise and beauty are before him: holiness and majesty in his sanctuary.

The Gospel According to Saint Luke 2:22-35
Haydock NT

22 And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord, 23 As it is written in the law of the Lord: that every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. 24 And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons.

25 And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was in him. 26 And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. 27 And he came by the spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law; 28 He also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said:

29 Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace: 30 Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people: 32 A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people, Israel.

33 And his father and mother were wondering at these things which were spoken concerning him. 34 And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother:

Behold, this child is set for the ruin, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. 35 And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.

Haydock Commentary 1 John 2:3-11

• Ver. 3. We have known him, if we keep his commandments. He speaks of that practical knowledge by love and affection, which can be only proved by our keeping his commandments; and without which we cannot be said to know God, as we should. Ch.
• Ver. 4. He that says he knoweth him, &c. To know, in this and many other places, is not taken for a speculative knowledge alone, but is joined with a love of God, and an earnest desire of serving him and keeping his commandments. Wi.
• Ver. 5. The charity of God is truly perfect. Notwithstanding his lesser failings, he retains the habit of charity and grace, by which he remains united to God.—And bythis we know that we are in him; i.e. we are morally, though not absolutely, certain that we are in the state of grace. Wi.
• Ver. 7-8. An old commandment…. And again, a new commandment. He means the commandment of charity, or of the love of God and the love of our neighbour. This he calls both an old and a new precept. It may be called old, not only as being a precept of the law of nature, and always obligatory, but because S. John and the apostles had delivered it to them long ago, i.e. when these persons were first converted. It may also be called a new precept, S. John recommending it anew to them in this epistle, and declareing it to be enjoined in a particular manner by our Saviour Christ, after it had been misconstrued and neglected, especially as it regards our neighbour, that is, ever one without exception; so that if any one hate another, it is in vain that he pretends to walk in the light of the gospel. Wi.—A new commandment; viz. the commandment of love, which was given in the old law, but was renewed and extended by Christ. See John xiii 33. Ch.

Haydock Commentary Luke 2:22-35

• Ver. 22. Of her purification. The blessed Virgin mother stood not in need of this ceremony, to which she submitted herself, as her Son did to that of circumcision. Wi.—Whence S. Laur. Justin. In his sermon on the purification, very well observes: grace raise the Virgin above the law; humility subjected her to it. Jesus Christ, in subjecting himself to the law of Moses, has left an example to princes and magistrates, to obey their own laws; for then they may expect them to be observed by others, when themselves shew respect to them. Barradius.
• Ver. 23. Every male opening the womb. This translation is more conformable to the doctrine of the Fathers, that Christ was born without opening the womb; which Bede calls the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Wi.—See Exod. xiii. 2. and Num. 8:16
• Ver. 24. This was the offering of the poor classes.
• Ver. 25. A man… named Simeon, whom some conjecture to have been one of the Jewish priests.—Waiting for the consolation of Israel, for the happy coming of the Messiah.—And the Holy Ghost was in him, by the spirit of grace and of prophecy. Wi.—The consolation here expected by Holy Simeon, was the coming of the Messiah, and the consequent redemption of mankind from sin and the devil; not a redemption only, as some carnal Jews thought, from the power of temporal enemies. These supposed the Messiah was to come in order to raise them in power above all nations, to whom before his coming they had been subject. S. Greg. of Nyssa in Diony.—Many have pretended that Simeon was a priest, the best and oldest interpreters say he was a laic. V.
• Ver. 26. And he had received an answer, … that he should not see death; i.e. die. Wi.
• Ver. 27. And he came by the spirit, or moved by the holy Spirit. Wi.
• Ver. 30. Thy salvation; i.e. the Saviour, whom thou hast sent. Wi.
• Ver. 31. Before the face of all people; not of Israel only, but also as a light to be revealed to the Gentiles, the spiritual children of Abraham: to whom also the promises were made. Wi.

· Ver. 33. In the Greek, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. V.

· Ver. 34. Is set for the ruin. Christ came for the redemption and salvation of all men: but Simeon prophesies what would happen in consequences of the willful blindness and obstinacy of many. Wi.—Not that God sent his Son for the fall of any man; but that many, by their own perverseness, in wilfully refusing to receive and obey him, would take occasion of falling. Ch.—And for a sign which shall be contradicted, to signify that Christ, and his doctrine, should be as it were a mark, or butt, against whom the Jews should discharge the arrows and darts of their malice. Wi.—Hence S. Paul, (2. Cor. ii. 16.) We are to one the odour of death unto death, but to the other the odour of life unto life.

· Ver. 35. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce. These words, which figuratively express the grief of the blessed Virgin mother, when present at the death of her Son, are to be taken by way of a parenthesis.—That out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed, and these are to be joined with what went before; to wit, that child shall be a sign of contradiction, set unto the fall and resurrection of many, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed and disclosed; when some shall believe, and others remain in their obstinacy. Wi.—Bede, and most others, understand this of the sharp sorrow, which wounded the soul of the blessed Virgin Mary, at the time of Christ’s passion. Barradius.—Carthusianus and Jansenius explain this passage as follows: Behold, this child is placed for a sign that shall be contradicted, which as a sword of most poignant grief will pierce thy soul, O Virgin! But Christ shall be contradicted, that the thoughts of the Jews may be revealed from many hearts, and it may appear who among them are good, and who are wicked and hypocrites. Barradius.

Daily Bible Readings December 28 2007 Friday 4th Day of Christmas

December 28 2007 Thursday 4th Day of Christmas

Feast of the Holy Innocents

About the sources used. The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of Roman Rite of the Catholic Church in the USA, 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. Readings vary depending on your local calendar.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/122807.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

1 John 1:5—2:2
Haydock NT

5 And this is the declaration which we have heard from him, and declare unto you: That God is light, and in him there is no darkness. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin: we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins: he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. 10 If we say that we have not sinned: we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Just: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Psalm 123 LXX/Latin (124 Hebrew)
Douay-Rheims Challoner Text
A gradual canticle.

If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say:
If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose up against us,
Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,
Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

The Gospel According to Saint Matthew 2:13-18
Haydock NT

13 And when they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying:

Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him.

14 Who, rising up, took the child and his mother by night, and returned into Egypt: 15 And he was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying:

Out of Egypt have I called my son.

16 Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry, and sending, killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying:

18 A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning: Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Haydock Commentary 1 John 1:5-2:2

• Ver. 5. God is light, &c. We cannot have this fellowship with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, if we walk in the darkness of sin: we must walk as the children of light. Wi.
• Ver. 8.  Not that we say or pretend we have no sin; thus truth would not be in us, and we should even make God a liar, who has declared all mankind guilty of sin. We were all born guilty of original sin; we have fallen, and still frequently fall into lesser sins and failings. We can only except from this number our Saviour Christ, who, even as man, never sinned, and his blessed Virgin Mother, by a special privilege, preserved from all kind of sin: and of whom S. Augustine says, “That for the honour of our Lord, when we speak of the holy Virgin Mary, he will have no mention at all made of any sin.” Wi.
• Ver. 1. That you may not sin, or not lose the grace of God by any considerable sin.—But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the Father, who being made man to redeem us from sin, is our great Advocate, our chief Mediator, and only Redeemer, by whose merits and grace we have been reconciled, after we had lost and forfeited the grace and favour of God by our offences. He is the only propitiation for the sins of the whole world; for, as S. Paul says, (Heb. x. 14) Christ, by one oblation on the cross, hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. All remission of sins, all sanctification, is derived from the merits and satisfaction of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ; not but that the Angels and saints in heaven, and virtuous persons upon earth, when they pray to God for us, may be called advocates, mediators, and intercessors (though not redeemers) in a different sense, and in an inferior manner, without any injury, but on the contrary with an honour done to Christ; because what they pray and ask for us, is only begged and hoped for through Christ, and by his merits. S. Aug. in his commentary on this epistle, on these very words, we have an advocate, &c. prevents and answers this very objection of the late pretended reformers: (tom. iii, part 2. p. 831. Nov. Edit.) “Some one will say: therefore the saints do not ask for us, therefore the bishops and governors of the Church do not ask for the people.” He denies that this follows, the saints being advocates in a different sense. Though God be our protector and defender from dangers, this does not hinder us from owning the Angels to be our defenders in an inferior manner under God, as the Church of England acknowledges in the common prayer book on the feast of S. Michael, and all Angels, which runs thus: “mercifully grant, that as thy holy Angels always do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen” Wi.—The calling and office of an advocate is in many things proper to Christ, and in every condition more singularly and excellently applying to him than to any Angel, saint, or living creature, thought hese also may be truly so called without any derogation from Christ. To him solely it belongs to procure us mercy before God, by the general ransom of his blood for our delivery; hence he is our only advocate of redemption, though others may be and are advocates of intercession. Hence Irenæus (l. iii. c. 33. et l. v. post med.) says: “the obedient Virgin Mary is made the advocate of the disobedient Eve.” Our Savior declares that Angels are deputed for the protection of infants; (Mat. xviii.) and frequent are the examples we find in the old Scripture, such as Gen. xlviii. 16. Tob. v. 27. and xii. 12. Dan. x. See also the common prayer book, in the collect of Michaelmas day.

 

Haydock Commentary Matthew 2:13-18

• Ver. 14. It is very probable that Joseph, with Jesus and his Mother, remained in some part of Egypt, where the Jews were settled, as at Alexandria. That many Jews dwelt in Egypt, particularly from the time of the prophet Jeremy, is evident from Josephus, and also from the first chapter of the second book of Machab.  Mention is also made of them in Act. ii. and Act. vi. under the name of Alexandrines.
• Ver. 15. Out of Egypt I have called my son. S. Jerome understands these words to be taken out of the prophet Osee, (C. xi. 2.) and granted they might be literally spoken fo the people of Israel: yet as their captivity in Egypt was a figure of the slavery  of sin, under which all mankind groaned, and as their delivery by Moses was a figure of a man’s redemption by our Saviour Christ, so these words in a mystical and spiritual sense applky to our Saviour, who in a more proper sense was the Son of God, than was the people of Israel.  Wi.—The application of this passage of the prophet to Christ, whereas in the simple letter it might appear otherwise, teaches us how to interpret the Old Testament; and that the principal sense is of Christ and his Church.  B.
• Ver. 16.  By this example, we learn how great credit we owe to the Church in canonizing saints, and celebrating their holydays: by whose only warrant, without any word of Scripture, these holy Innocents have been honoured as martyrs, and their holyday kept ever since the apostles’ time, although they died not voluntarily, nor all, perhaps, circumcised, and some even children of pagans. Aug. ep. 28. Orig. hom iii. in diversos.   B.
• Ver. 18. A voice was heard in Rama.   S. Jerome takes Rama,  not for the name of any city, but for a high place, as appears by his Latin translation. Jerem. xxxi. 15. But in all Greek copies here in S. Matthew, and in the Sept. in Jeremy, we find the word itself Rama, so that it must signify a particular city. Rachel, who was buried at Bethlehem, is represented weeping *as it were in the person of those desolate mothers) the murder, and loss of so many children: and Rama being a city not far from Bethlehem, in the tribe of Benjamin, built on a high place, it is said that the cries and lamentations of these children, and their mothers, reached even to Rama.  Cornel. a. Lapide on Jerem. xxxi. Thinks that these words were not only applied by the evangelist in a figurative sense, but that the prophet in the literal sense foretold these lamentations. Wi.

 

Daily Bible Readings December 27 2007 Thursday 3rd Day of Christmas

These readings are not for the current year. They are for 2007.

December 27 2007 Thursday 3rd Day of Christmas
Feast of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist

About the sources used. The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of Roman Rite of the Catholic Church in the USA, 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. Readings vary depending on your local calendar.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/122707.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

1 John 1:1-4
Haydock New Testament

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life; 2 For the life was manifested: and we have seen, and do bear witness, and declare unto you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and hath appeared to us: 3 That which we have seen and have heard, we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you, that you may rejoice, and your joy may be full.

Psalm 96 (LXX/Latin) or 97 (Hebrew)
Douay-Rheims Challoner
For the same David, when his land was restored again to him.

The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice:
let many islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him:
justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne.
A fire shall go before him,
and shall burn his enemies round about.
His lightnings have shone forth to the world:
the earth saw and trembled.
The mountains melted like wax, at the presence of the Lord:
at the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens declared his justice: and all people saw his glory.
Let them be all confounded that adore graven things,
and that glory in their idols.
Adore him, all you his angels:
Sion heard, and was glad.
And the daughters of Juda rejoiced,
because of thy judgments, O Lord.
For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth:
thou art exalted exceedingly above all gods.
You that love the Lord, hate evil:
the Lord preserveth the souls of his saints,
he will deliver them out of the hand of the sinner.
Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart.
Rejoice, ye just, in the Lord:
and give praise to the remembrance of his holiness.

The Gospel According to Saint John 20:1-8
Haydock NT

1 And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene cometh in the morning, it being yet dark, to the sepulchre: and she saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2 She ran, therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith to them; They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

3 Peter, therefore, went out, and that other disciple, and they came to the sepulchre. 4 And they both ran together, and that other disciple out-ran Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5 And when he stopped down, he saw the linen clothes lying; but yet he went not in. 6 Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre, and saw the linen cloths lying, 7 And the napkin, that had been about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapt up into one place.

8 Then the other disciple also went in, who came first to the sepulchre; and he saw, and believed.

Haydock Commentary 1 John 1:1-4

• Ver. 1. The first two verses and part of the third have a great conformity with the beginning of S. John’s gospel. The construction is somewhat obscure, unless we observe that the second verse is to be taken by way of a parenthesis, and the sense is not complete till these words, we declare to you, &c. The whole may be expressed in this literal paraphrase: We declare and preach to you the eternal and always living word, which was from the beginning, (for this word which was with the Father from eternity, hath appeared, and manifested himself to us, when he took upon him our human nature, and was made flesh.) This word I say, incarnate, we have seen with out eyes, we have heard him preach his gospel, we have touched his true body with our hands, as we witness and declare to you, that you may have fellowship with us, and be made partakers of the graces which God came from heaven to bestow upon mankind, to make us his adoptive sons and heirs of heaven. Wi.

Haydock Commentary John 20:1-8

• Ver. 1. As our Saviour had been interred in great haste, the holy women who had before accompanied Jesus in all his journeys, brought perfumes to embalm his sacred body again, in a manner more proper, than Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had been able to do before. S. John makes mention of Mary Magdalene only, because it was his intention to give a particular relation of all that she did: but we learn from the other evangelists, that there were three holy women at the sepulchre together, viz. Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome. Calmet.—This was on the first day of the week, the morrow of the Sabbath. V.—Christ rose again, leaving the stone and seals still lying on the sepulchre. But as this was to be believed by others also, after the resurrection, the tomb was opened, and thus the belief of what had taken place, propagated. This it was that struck Magdalene; for as soon as she saw the stone rolled from the sepulchre, without entering, or even looking into it, she immediately ran, in the ardour of her affection, to carry the news to the disciples. S. Chrys. hom. lxxxiv. in Joan.
• Ver. 5. He saw the linens cloths lying. S. Chrys. takes notice, that Christ’s body being buried with myrrh, the linen would stick as fast to the body as pitch, so that it would be impossible to steal, to take away the body without the linen cloths. Wi.
• Ver. 8. He saw and believed. He did not yet believe that Jesus was risen from the dead, because he was still ignorant that he was to rise from the dead. For although the apostles had so often heard their divine Master speak in the most plain terms of his resurrection, still being so much accustomed to parables, they did not understand, and imagined something else was meant by these words. S. Aug. tract. 120. in Joan.