Daily Bible Readings Friday February 22 2008 2nd Week of Lent Catholic Commentary

February 22 2008 Friday 2nd Week of Lent

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 for your own personal study. Readings vary depending on your local calendar.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/022208.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

1 Peter 5:1-4
Haydock New Testament

1 The ancients, therefore, that are among you, I beseech, who am myself also an ancient and a witness of the sufferings of Christ: as also a partaker of that glory which is to be revealed in time to come. 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking care thereof not by constraint, but willingly, according to God: nor for the sake of filthy lucre, but voluntarily: 3 Neither as domineering over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart. 4 And when the Prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.

Responsorial Psalm 23
DR Challoner Text Only

The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing.
He hath set me in a place of pasture.
He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment:
He hath converted my soul.
He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name’s sake.
For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evils, for thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.
Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me.
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
and my chalice which inebreateth me, how goodly is it!
And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.

The Gospel According to Saint Matthew 16:13-19
Haydock New Testament
Further Commentary on this passage and Old Testament Parallel Click Here
but I recommend reading the Haydock notes below first.

13 And Jesus came into the parts of Cæsarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples saying:

Whom do men say that the Son of man is?

14 But they said:

Some John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

15 But Jesus saith to them:

But whom do you say that I am?

16 Simon Peter answering said:

Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God.

17 And Jesus answering, said to him:

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father, who is in heaven. 18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter (meaning rock); and upon this rock (Peter) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give to thee (singular) the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

Haydock Commentary 1 Peter 5:1-4

• Ver. 1. The ancients, therefore, that are among you, I beseech, who am myself also an ancient, &c. According to the letter, the senior, I, a fellow senior: or, the elders, I, a fellow elder. Mr. Nary, and also the French translators, commonly put, the priest, I, your fellow priest. Or even it might be, the bishops, I, your fellow bishop. The Latin word, senior, and the Greek word presbyteros, which here are in the text, if we should follow their derivation only, signify elderly men, or men advanced in years; but since by a received use, they signify and represent to us offices and dignities, either ecclesiastical or civil, either belonging to the Church or state, which in other languages are now generally know by other words, we may however be permitted to use, even in translating the holy Scriptures, those words and names by which now are represented to us those offices and dignities. It cannot be doubted but the Greek and Latin words, which we find in this verse, we applied, after the establishment of the new law of Christ, to signify such ministers of God and the Church which are now called priests and bishops: and it is for this reason that I judged it better to put the word priest, and fellow priest, (meaning priests of the higher order, commonly known by the name of bishops) than to use the words seniors, elders, or presbyters. I should not blame the Prot. translators for translating always the Greek word, presbyter, by the English word elder, nor the Rheims translators for putting here senior, if these words were sufficiently authorized by an ecclesiastical use and custom to signify priests or bishops; which I think can scarce be said, to say nothing that the word elders hath been used by fanatical men, who admit of no ordination of bishops or priests by divine institution, and who have affixed it to their lay elders, who are appointed and degraded as it seemeth good to their congregations. Though the Protestants of the Church of England always translate elders for presbyters in the New Testament, yet I do not find this word once used in their liturgy or common prayer book, when any directions are given to those that perform the church office, who are called priests, bishops, curates, or ministers.—And a witness of the sufferings of Christ. S. Peter being called and made the first or chief of the apostles soon after Christ began to preach, he was witness of what Christ suffered, both during the time of his preaching and of his passion.—Glory. Some think that S. Peter only means, that he was present at his transfiguration, where was shewn some resemblance of the glory which is to come in heaven. Others thing, that he expresseth the firm hopes he had of enjoying the glory of heaven. Wi.
• Ver. 2. Feed the flock. This shews he speaks of bishops and priests, and not of elders in years only. Wi.
• Ver. 3. Neither as domineering over the clergy. This may not only signify over the inferior ministers, who were subject to the bishops or priests, but also over the particular flocks which fell to their share, or to their lot to take care of. See the Greek. Wi.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 16:13-19

• Ver. 13. Cæsarea Philippi, was first called Paneades, and was afterwards embellished and greatly enlarged by Philip the tetrarch, son of Herod the great, and dedicated in honour of Augustus; hence its name. There was moreover another Cæsarea, called Straton, situated on the Mediterranean: and not in this, but in the former, did Christ interrogate his disciples. He first withdrew them from the Jews, that they might with more boldness and freedom deliver their sentiments. S. Chry. hom. lv.—The Cæsarea here mentioned continued to be called by heathen writers Panea, from the adjoining spring Paneum, or Panium, which is usually taken for the source of the Jordan.
• Ver. 14. Some say, &c Herod thought that Christ was the Baptist, on account of his prodigies. S. Matt. xiv. 2. Others that he was Elijah. 1^st because they expected he was about to return to them, according to the prophecy of Malachi; behold I will send you Elijah; 2^nd on account of the greatness of his miracles; 3^rd on account of his invincible zeal and courage in the cause of truth and justice. Others again said he was Jeremiah, either on account of his great sanctity, for he was sanctified in his mother’s womb; or, on account of his great charity and love for his brethren, as it was written of Jeremiah: he is a lover of his brethren. Or, again, one of the prophets, viz. Isaiah, or some other noted for eloquence; for it was the opinion of many of the Jews, as we read in S. Luke, that one of the ancient prophets had arisen again. Dion. Carth.
• Ver. 15. Whom do you say that I am? You, who have been continually with me; you, who have seen me perform so many more miracles; you, who have yourselves worked miracles in my name? From this pointed interrogation, Jesus Christ intimates, that the opinion men had formed of him was very inadequate to the exalted dignity of his person, and that he expects they will have a juster conception of him. Chry. hom. lv.
• Ver. 16. Simon Peter answering. As Simon Peter had been constituted the first in the college of apostles, (Matt. x. 2.) and therefore surpasseth the others in dignity as much as in zeal, without hesitation, and in the name of all, he answers: thou art the Christ, the Redeemer promised to the world, not a mere man, not a mere prophet like other prophets, but the true and natural Son of the living God. Thus SS. Chrys. Cyril, Ambrose, Austin, and Tirinus. When our Saviour inquired the opinion of the vulgar, all the apostles answered; but when he asks their opinion of him, Peter, as the mouth of the rest, and the head of the whole college, steps forth, and prevents the others. Chrys. hom. lv.—Tu es Christus, filius Dei vivi; or, as it is in the Greek, ο χριστος ο υιος; The Christ, the Son, the Christ formerly promised by the law and the prophets, expected and desired by all the saints, the anointed and consecrated to God: ο υιος, the Son, not by grace only, or an adoptive filiation like the prophets, to whom Christ is here opposed, but by natural filiation, and in a manger that distinguishes him from all created beings.—Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, not by grace only, or by adoption, as saints are the sons of God, but by nature, and form all eternity, the true Son of the living God. Wi.
• Ver. 17. Blessed are thou, Simon Bar-Jona. Σίμον is undoubtedly Συμεων, as written 2 Pet. i. 1. Βαριωνᾶ is son of Jona, or John, an abridgment for Βαριωαννᾶ. Bar, in Chaldaic, is son; hence S. Peter is called, in John xxi, 16. and 17, Simon, son of John. It was customary with the Jews to add to a rather common name, for the sake of discrimination, a patronymic, as appears from Matt. x. 3. and xxiii. 35. Mark. ii. 14. John vi. 42. P.
• Ver. 18. κἀγὼ. And I say to thee, and tell thee why I before declared, (John i. 42.) that thou shouldst be called Peter, for thou art constituted the rock upon which, as a foundation, I will build my Church, and that so firmly, as not to suffer the gates (i.e. the powers) of hell to prevail against its foundation; because if they overturn its foundation, (i.e. thee and thy successors) they will overturn also the Church that rests upon it. Christ therefore here promises to Peter, that he and his successors should be to the end, as long as the Church should last, its supreme pastors and princes. T.—In the Syriac tongue, which is that which Jesus Christ spoke, there is no difference of genders, as there is in Latin, between petra, a rock, and Petrus, Peter; hence, in the original language, the allusion was both more natural and more simple. V.—Thou art Peter; and upon this rock. (i.e. upon thee, according to the literal and general exposition of the ancient Fathers) I will build my church. It is true S. Augustine, in one or two places, thus expounds these words, and upon this rock, (i.e. upon myselfJ or upon this rock, which Peter hath confessed: yet he owns that he had also given the other interpretation, by which Peter himself was the rock. Some Fathers have also expounded it, upon the faith, which Peter confessed; but then they take not faith, as separated from the person of Peter, but on Peter, as holding the true faith. No one questions but that Christ himself is the great foundation-stone, the chief corner-stone, as S. Paul tells the Ephesians; (C. ii, v. 20.) but it is also certain, that all the apostles may be called foundation-stones of the Church, as represented Apoc. xxi. 14. In the mean time, S. Peter (called therefore Cephas, a rock) was the first and chief foundation-stone among the apostles, on whom Christ promised to build his Church. Wi.—Thou are Peter, &c. As S. Peter, by divine revelation, here made a solemn profession of faith of the divinity of Christ, so in recompense of this faith and profession, our Lord here declares to him the dignity to which he is pleased to raise him: viz. that he, to whom he had already given the name of Peter, signifying a rock, (John i. 42.) should be a rock indeed, of invincible strength, for the support of the building of the church; in which building he should be next to Christ himself, the chief foundation-stone, in quality of chief pastor, ruler, and governor; and should have accordingly all fulness of ecclesiastical power, signified by the keys of the kingdom of heaven.—Upon this rock, &c. The words of Christ to Peter, spoken in the vulgar language of the Jews, which our Lord made use of, were the same as if he had said in English, Thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my church. So that, by the plain course of the words, Peter is here declared to be the rock, upon which the church was to be built; Christ himself being both the principal foundation and founder of the same. Where also note, that Christ by building his house, that is, his Church, upon a rock, has thereby secured it against all storms and floods, like the wise builder. Matt. vii. 24, 25.—The gates of hell, &c. That is, the powers of darkness, and whatever Satan can do, either by himself or his agents. For as the Church is here likened to a house, or fortress, the gates of which, i.e. the whole strength, and all the efforts it can make, will never be able to prevail over the city or Church of Christ. By this promise we are fully assured, that neither idolatry, heresy, nor any pernicious error whatsoever shall at any time prevail over the Church of Christ. Ch.—The gates, in the Oriental style, signify the powers; thus, to this day, we designate the Ottoman or Turkish empire by the Ottoman port. The princes were wont to hold their courts at the gates of the city. V.
• Ver. 19. And I will give to thee the keys, &c. This is another metaphor, expressing the supreme power and prerogative of the prince of the apostles. The keys of a city, or of its gates, are presented or given to the person that hath the chief power. We also own a power of the keys, given to the other apostles, but with a subordination to S. Peter and to his successor, as head of the Catholic Church.—And whatsoever thou shalt bind, &c. All the apostles, and their successors, partake also of this power of binding and loosing, but with a due subordination to one head invested with the supreme power. Wi.—Loose on earth. The loosing the bands of temporal punishments due to sins, is called an indulgence: the power of which is here granted. Ch.—Although Peter and his successors are mortal, they are nevertheless endowed with heavenly power, says S. Chry. nor is the sentence of life and death passed by Peter to be attempted to be reversed, but what he declares is to be considered a divine answer from heaven, and what he decrees, a decree of God himself. He that heareth you, heareth me, &c. The power of binding is exercised, 1^st by refusing to absolve; 2^nd by enjoining penance for sins forgiven; 3^rd by excommunication, suspension or interdict; 4^th by making rules and laws for the government of the Church; 5^th by determining what is of faith by the judgments and definitions of the Church. T.—The terms binding and loosing, are equivalent to opening and shutting, because formerly the Jews opened the fastenings of their doors by untying it, and they shut or secured their doors by tying or binding it. V.—Dr. Whitby, a learned Protestant divine, thus expounds this and the preceding verse: “As a suitable return to thy confession, I say also to thee, that thou art by name Peter, i.e. a rock; and upon thee, who art this rock, I will build my Church, and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the power of making laws to govern my Church.” Tom. i. p. 143. Dr. Hammond, another Protestant divine, explains it in the same manner. And p. 92, he says: “What is here meant by the keys, is best understood by Isaiah 22:22, where they signify ruling the whole family or house of the king: and this being by Christ accommodated to the Church, denotes the power of governing it.”