Daily Bible Readings With Traditional Catholic Commentary December 15 2007 Saturday 2nd Week of Advent

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December 15 2007 Saturday 2nd Week of Advent
Blessed Mary Frances Schervier

About the sources used. The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of the Roman Rite of the 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/121507.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11 (Ecclesiasticus)
Douay-Rheims Challoner Text

1 And Elias the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch.
2 He brought a famine upon them, and they that provoked him in their envy, were reduced to a small number, for they could not endure the commandments of the Lord.
3 By the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven, and he brought down fire from heaven thrice.
4 Thus was Elias magnified in his wondrous works. And who can glory like to thee?
9 Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses.
10 Who art registered in the judgments of times to appease the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
11 Blessed are they that saw thee, and were honoured with thy friendship.

Responsorial Psalm 79 Latin 80 NAB/KJV :2ac, 3b, 15-16, 18-19
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel
Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth
Stir up thy might, and come to save us.
Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven,
and see, and visit this vineyard:
And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted:
and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.
Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand:
and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.
And we depart not from thee,
thou shalt quicken us: and we will call upon thy name.

The Gospel According to Saint Matthew 17:9a, 10-13
Haydock New Testament

9a And as they came down from the mountain,
10 And his disciples asked him, saying:

Why then do the Scribes say that Elias must come first?

11 But he answering, said to them:

Elijah (Elias) indeed shall come, and restore all things. 12 But I say to you, that Elijah is already come, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they had a mind. So also the Son of man shall suffer from them.

13 Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them of John the Baptist.

Haydock Commentary Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11

• Ver. 1. Torch. He was animated with a burning zeal, (M.) like the Baptist, admonishing kings, &c. Jo. v. 35. Lk.1:17. C.
• Ver. 2. And they. Gr. “and by his zeal he diminished them. By,” &c. H.—He slew the priests of Baal, and many perished by famine. 4 K. xviii Grot. C
• Ver. 3. Heaven. That it should not rain for three years and a half. 3 K. xvii. 1.—Thrice. First upon his sacrifice, and twice to destroy fifty soldiers, 1b. 88. and 4 K. 1:10. C. W.
• Ver. 10. Jacob. Prot. reject the authority of this book, partly (H.) on account of this (W.) ancient tradition. Enoch and Elias will appear in the days of antichrist, to convert many. The Jews will then agree with the Patriarchs, and embrace the religion of Christ. C.—Elijah came in the person of the Baptist, at the first coming of our Saviour, but he will come in person before his second appearance. H.—The application which Christ makes of the prediction of Malachy (iv. 6.) to the Baptist, does not exclude this more distant accomplishment. Elijah is still alive in some part of the world, as well as Enoch, whom S. Aug. styles “the first-born (primogenitor) of our resurrection.” De. Civ. Dei. xv. 19. 4 K. 2:11.
• Ver. 11. Friendship. Like Elisha (Eliseus), or the disciples of both. C.—Gr. “who slept in love, for we also shall live indeed; (13.) Elijah,” &c. H.—When we shall witness thy return, if we prove faithful, we may expect an immortal name, and not otherwise. C.—He speaks in the person of those who shall live at that time. H.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 17:10-13

• Ver. 10. Elijah must come first. The prophet Elijah will come again in person before my second coming to judgment, and will re-establish all things, by the conversion of the Jews to the Christian faith, according to the common opinion. But John the Baptist, who was Elijah in spirit, is already come. See Matt. 11:14. Wi.—This was a vulgar error spread by the Scribes among the Jewish people. It proceeded from an erroneous interpretation of Scripture. They confounded the two comings of our Saviour. The Baptist was the precursor of Christ at his first coming, and was styled by our Lord Elias, because he performed the office of Elias; and he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias. Luke 1:17.—But this prophet in person will be the precursor of the second coming of Christ. Wherefore Malachy, predicting this coming of Christ, says: I will send to you Elijah the Thesbite; thus evidently distinguishing him from the Baptist, who was also Elijah in spirit and in the dignity of his prophecy; (Malac. 4:5) but, in the next verse, he shews a prior, though less perfect accomplishment of the same in the person of John the Baptist, who was raised by God to prepare the ways of the Lord.
• Ver. 11. Shall… restore all things. According to S. Chrysostom Theophylactus, and others, these words signify that Elijah shall restore all the Jews to the one true faith towards the end of the world; or, according to S. Augustine, he shall strengthen those that shall be found wavering in the persecution of Antichrist.
• Ver. 12. So also shall the Son of man. Jesus in a most beautiful manner takes advantage of this conversation, to remind them of his future passion, and from the recollection of the sufferings of John, affords them comfort in his own. S. Chrys.