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December 20 2007 Thursday 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/122007.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.
Isaiah 7:10-14
Douay-Rheims Challoner Text
10 And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying:
11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above.
12 And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.
13 And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.
Psalm 23:1-6 (Psalm 24 Heb/NAB/KJV/NIV)
Douay-Rheims Challoner. No Commentary Yet.
On the first day of the week, a psalm for David.
The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof:
the world, and all they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas;
and hath prepared it upon the rivers.
Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord:
or who shall stand in his holy place?
The innocent in hands, and clean of heart,
who hath not taken his soul in vain,
nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord,
and mercy from God his Saviour.
This is the generation of them that seek him,
of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.
The Gospel According to Saint Luke 1:26-38
Haydock New Testament
26 And in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. 28 And the Angel being come in, said to her:
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women.
29 But she having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the Angel said to her:
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God: 31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name, Jesus. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David, his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, 33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 And Mary said to the Angel:
How shall this be done, because I know not man?
35 And the Angel answering, said to her:
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.
36 And behold thy cousin, Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: 37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.
38 And Mary said:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.
Haydock Commentary Isaiah 7:10-14
- Ver. 10. Sodom. Juda is so styled reproachfully, (C.) because the princes imitated the crimes of that devoted city. Ezec. xvi. 49. Inf. c. ii. 6. and iii. 9. M.
- Ver. 11. Victims. Without piety, they are useless. God tolerated bloody victims to withdraw the people from idolatry, but he often shewed that they were not of much importance, in order that they might be brought to offer the sacrifice of the new law, which eminently includes all the rest. S. Jerome Ps. xlix. 9. Am. v. 21. Jer. vi. 20. Theod.
- Ver. 14. Bearing. Heb. &c. “pardoning,” (C.) or “bearing.” Sept. “I will no longer pardon your sins.” H.
Haydock Commentary Luke 1:26-47
- Ver. 27. The word Miriam, or Mary, is expounded by S. Jerome from different etymologies, to signify in Hebrew, star of the sea, and in Chaldaic, lady. Both interpretations admirably well agree with her, who is the glorious Queen of heaven, our patroness and star, to direct us in the stormy ocean of this world.—“O you,” cries out S. Bernard, “who find yourselves tossed to and fro in the tempestuous life, turn not your eyes away from the brightness of this star, if you would not be overwhelmed in these storms. If the winds of temptations arise; If you fall among the rocks of tribulation; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If you are agitate, and hard driven with the surges of pride, ambition, detraction, jealousy, or envy; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If anger, covetousness, or lust, beat furiously on the vessel of your soul; look up to the star, call upon Mary. If you are beginning to founder, and are just sinking into the gulph of melancholy and despair; think on Mary. In dangers, in distresses, in your mouth; from your mouth let it constantly descend into your heart; and, that you may obtain the suffrage of her prayers, both in life and death, never depart from the example of her pious conversations.” S. Bernard of Clairvaux, hom. ii. super Missus est.
- Ver. 28. Hail, full of grace: by the greatest share of divine graces granted to any creature. This translation, approved by the ancient Fathers, agrees with the ancient Syriac and Arabic versions. There was no need therefore to change it into gracious, with Erasmus; into freely beloved, with Beza; into highly favoured, with the Prot translators. For is the seven deacons (Acts 6:3) are said to be full of the Holy Ghost, as it is again said of S. Stephen, (Acts 7:55) and also of the same S. Stephen, (Acts 6:8) that he was full of grace, (as the learned Dr. Wells translates it in his amendments made to the Prot. translations) why should any one be offended at this salutation given to the blessed mother of God; who would not have been raised to this highest dignity, had not her soul bee first prepared for it by the greatest share of divine graces?—The Lord is with thee, by his interior graces; and now, at this moment, is about to offer upon thee the highest of all dignities, by making thee truly the mother of God. Wi.—The Catholic Church makes frequent use of these words which were brought by the archangel from heaven, as well to honour Jesus Christ, and his virgin Mother, as because they were the first glad tidings of Christ’s incarnation, and man’s salvation; and are the very abridgment and sum of the whole gospel. In the Greek Church, these are used daily in the Mass. See the Liturgy of S. James, and that of S. Chrys.
- Ver. 29. When she had heard. In the Greek text, when she had seen; as if she also saw the angel, as S. Ambrose observed. Wi.
- Ver. 31. It may perhaps in the first instance of reflection, appear shocking to our ideas, that a God should dwell in a human body; but does not the sun emit its rays into all kinds of places, without any detriment to its purity; How much more would the Sun of justice, assuming a most pure body, formed of the purest blood of the spotless Virgin, not only remain free from every the least stain himself, but even impart additional sanctity to his virgin Mother. S. Thos. Aquinas.
- Ver. 32. He… shall be called; i.e. according to the style of the Scriptures, he shall truly be the Son of God. Wi.
- Ver. 33. Those are here called of the house of Jacob, who out of the multitude of the Jews believed in Christ. This is conformable to that text of S. Paul: All are not Israelites that are of Israel, but the children of the promise are accounted for the seed. Rom 9:6, 8. S. Chrysostom homily vii on S. Matt.—And of his kingdom there shall be no end: which clearly shews it was not to be a temporal, but a spiritual and an eternal kingdom. Wi.
- Ver. 34. How shall this be done? She only asks about the manner.—Because I know not man. This answer, as S. Aug. takes notice, would have been to no purpose, had she not made a vow to God to live always a virgin. Wi.00Listen to the words of this pure Virgin. The angel tells her she shall conceive; but she insists upon her virginity, holding her purity in higher estimation than the promised dignity. S. Greg. of Nyssa-She did not doubt the truth of what the angel said, (as Calvin impiously maintained) but she wished it might not happen to the prejudice of her vowed virginity. Ambrose, Austin, Bede, Theophylactus, &c. &c.
- Ver. 35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, &c. By the divine power thou shalt bring forth, and yet remain always a pure virgin.—And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee, shall be called (shall be) the Son of God. The second person of the ever blessed Trinity, being united to our human nature, remaining unchangeably the same God, and being born of the Virgin Mary; it must needs be true to say that God was born, that God suffered and died for us; and consequently that the blessed Virgin Mary was truly the mother of God, or of him that is truly God; though not the mother of the Godhead: as the Catholic Church declared in the council of Ephesus, (431) against the heretic Nestorius. Wi.—Seek not for natural order in things that transcend nature. You ask, how shall this be done, since you know not man? This, your ignorance of man, is the very reason why this will take place within you. For had you not bee pure, you never would have been deemed worthy of so great a mystery. Not because marriage is bad, but because virginity is far more excellent. The common Lord of all ought in his birth to have something common with all mankind, and still something different. He was conceived and born in the womb like the rest of mankind, but he differed from them in being born of a virgin. S. Chry. xlix. in Genes.
- Ver. 36. We find that Aaron, who was of the tribe of Levi, took a wife of the tribe of Juda, viz. Elizabeth, the sister of Naasson. In the successors of David we find that Joiada, the chief priest, took a wife of the family of David, viz. the daughter of Joram; from which it appears that both the royal and sacerdotal tribes were united, and that Mary and Elizabeth were relatives. It was certainly proper that Christ should be born of both these tribes, because he was in himself both king and priest. Ven. Bede.
- Ver. 38. Behold the handmaid. With all modesty and humility of heart and mind, the blessed Virgin consented to the divine will: and from that moment in her was conceived the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. Wi.—Thus ought the virgin, who brought forth meekness and humility itself, to shew forth an example of the most profound humility. S. Amb.
