Daily Bible Readings With Traditional Catholic Commentary December 18 2007 Tuesday 3rd Week of Advent

December 18 2007 Tuesday 3rd Week of Advent

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 national calendar.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/121807.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

Jeremiah 23:5-8
Douay-Rheims Challoner

5 Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise: and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In those days shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call him: The Lord our just one.
7 Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, and they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt:
8 But, The Lord liveth, who hath brought out, and brought hither the seed of the house of Israel from the land of the north, and out of all the lands, to which I had cast them forth: and they shall dwell in their own land.

Psalm 71:1-2,12-13,18-19 (Psalm 72 NAB/Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only.
A psalm on Solomon.

Give to the king thy judgment, O God,
and to the king’s son thy justice:
To judge thy people with justice,
and thy poor with judgment.
For he shall deliver the poor from the mighty:
and the needy that had no helper.
He shall spare the poor and needy:
and he shall save the souls of the poor.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone doth wonderful things.
And blessed be the name of his majesty for ever:
and the whole earth shall be filled with his majesty.
So be it. So be it.

The Gospel According to Saint Matthew 1:18-25
Haydock New Testament

18 Now the birth of Christ was thus: When Mary, his mother, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Whereupon Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying:

“Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shall call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

22 Now all this was done that the word might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying:

23 “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

24 And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife. 25 And he knew her not till she brought forth her first-born son, and he called his name Jesus.

Haydock Commentary Jeremiah 23:5-8

• Ver. 5. Branch. Sept. “orient.”—Reign. Zorobabel was not chief governor, (C.) though at the head of his tribe. H.—The kingdom of Christ was not of this world. Jo. xviii. 36. C.—He alone imparts justice to others. W.
• Ver. 6. Saved: less disturbed. The world shall be redeemed. Lk 2:14. Eph 2:14.—Just. Heb. “Justice,” by whom we are made just. He is the true God. Col. 2:9-14. No man could bear this title: and Grotius insidiously attempts to apply it to the Jews, though the Chal. &c. clearly speak of the Messiah. He must be read with great caution. C.—Sept. “This is his name, which the Lord will call him, Josedech. In the prophets. 9. My,” &c. H.—Josedech means “the Lord justice.” C.—Sym. “Lord, justify us.”
• Ver. 8. Land. The deliverance from Egypt and Babylon were emblems of man’s redemption, which was accomplished by far greater miracles.

Haydock Commentary Matt 1:18-25

• Ver. 18. The account of the birth of Jesus Christ follows his genealogy. From these words, “before they came together,” Helvidius and others have started objections, which have been answered long ago by S. Jerome, where he shews in many examples front Scripture, that the words before and until do not signify what happened afterwards; for that point is left indefinite, but only what was done before, or not done. Thus when it is said, Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool, Ps. cix by no means signifies, that after the subjection of his enemies, the Son of God is no longer to sit at the right hand of his Father. In common conversation, when we say that a man died before he reached his 30th year, we do not mean that he afterwards attained it. Or, should we say that Helvidius died before he did penance, we cannot mean that he afterwards did penance: the same conclusion should be deduced front the words, “before they came together,” the end being accomplished by the power of the operation of the Holy Ghost, without their going together. If we should advance, that such a man was cured before he went to a physician, the natural inference would be, that he did not go to a physician at all. Thus also in the language of Scripture, the word first-begotten does not mean after whom others were born, but before whom no one was born, whether there were further issue or not. And the reason is, because the law required that a sacrifice should be offered for the first-born, and that he should be redeemed very soon after his birth; nor did it allow the parents to wait and see if any other son should be born. K—True and perfect marriage, and continual living iii the same, without knowing each other. S. Aug. l. ii. Consen. Evang. c. i. B.
• Ver. 19. And Joseph her husband, knowing her strict virtue, was surprised at this her pregnancy, but “being a just man,” and not willing to expose her, by denouncing her, or giving her a bill of divorce, he had a mind to dismiss her privately, committing the whole cause to God. Let us learn from Joseph to be ever tender of our neighbour’s reputation, and never to entertain any injurious thoughts, or any suspicions to his prejudice. A.
• Ver. 20. Fear not to take, &c. i.e. fear not to marry her, if we suppose them not yet married, or if married already, the sense is, fear not to keep and remain with thy chaste wife; lay aside all thoughts of dismissing and leaving her. Wi— As the incarnation of the Son of God was effected by the whole blessed Trinity, it may be asked why this operation is peculiarly attributed to the Holy Ghost, not only here, but in Luke ii, and in the apostles creed? The answer is, because as power is attributed to the Father, wisdom to the Son, so goodness is attributed to the Holy Ghost, and the gifts of grace which proceed from it. Estius in diff. loca.
• Ver. 21. Jesus… he shall save, &c. The characteristic name of Saviour was peculiar to the Messias, by which he was distinguished, as well as by the adorable name of Jesus. The expectations of both Jew and Gentile looked forward to a saviour. S. Augustine, in the 18th book 23d chapter, de Civitate Dei, introduces a curious anecdote. He mentions there, that he received from the eloquent and learned Proconsul Flactianus, a book containing in Greek the verses of one of the Sybils, which related to the coming of Christ. The substance of them is much the same as occurs in the prophecies of Isaiah, from which Virgil has likewise copied into his Pollio, many of the sublime thoughts which we find in that beautiful eclogue. It is remarkable that of the initials of these verses, S. Augustine had formed an acrostic to the following import, (some Greek);that is, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Saviour. A.
• Ver. 22. The Greeks in general, after S. John Chrysostom, look upon this as a continuation of the angel’s speech to S. Joseph. The other Fathers and commentators think it a reflection of the evangelist.
• Ver. 23. Behold a virgin, || &c. The Jews sometimes objected, as we see in S. Justin’s dialogue with Tryphon, that the Hebrew word alma, in the prophet Isaias, signified no more than a young woman. But S. Jerome tells us that alma signifies a virgin kept close up. Let the Jews, says he, shew me any place in which the Hebrew word alma, is applied to any one that is not a virgin, and I will own my ignorance. Besides the very circumstances in the text of the prophet, are more than a sufficient confutation of this Jewish exposition; for there a sign, or miracle, is promised to Achaz; and what miracle would it be for a young woman to have a child, when she had ceased to be a virgin? Wi.—How happens it that nowhere in the gospels, or in any other part, do we find Christ called Emmanuel? I answer, that in the Greek expression the name is given for the thing signified; and the meaning is: He shall be a true Emmanuel, i.e.. a God with us, true God and true man. E.—The text says, they shall call, i. a. still men shall look upon Him as an Emmanuel. Again, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty, the Prince of peace, &c. i. e. He shall be all these, not so much nominally, as really and in effect. A.
• Ver. 24. The heretic Helvidius argues from this text, and from what we read in the gospel of Christ’s brethren, that Christ had brothers, and Mary other sons. But it is evident that in the style of the Scriptures, they who were no more than cousins were called brothers and sisters.
• Ver. 25. See note on ver. 18.—S. Jerome assures us, that S. Joseph always preserved his virginal chastity. It is “of faith” that nothing contrary thereto ever took place with his chaste spouse, the blessed Virgin Mary. S. Joseph was given her by heaven to be the protector of her chastity, to secure her from calumnies in the birth of the Son of God, to assist her in her flight into Egypt, &c. &c. We cannot sufficiently admire the modest reserve of both parties. Mary does not venture to explain to her troubled husband the mystery of her pregnancy; and Joseph is afraid of mentioning his uneasiness and doubts, for fear of troubling her delicate mind and wounding her exquisite feelings. So great modesty, reserve and silence, are sure to be approved by heaven; and God sends an angel to Joseph in his sleep, to dissipate his doubts, and to expound to him the mystery of the incarnation. A.