Daily Bible Readings Wednesday July 2 2008 13th Week of Ordinary Time

July 2 2008 Wednesday 13^th Week of Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day – St. Oliver Plunkett

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/readings/070208.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24
DR Challoner Text

Seek ye good, and not evil, that you may live: and the Lord the God of hosts will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be the Lord the God of hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. I hate, and have rejected your festivities: and I will not receive the odour of your assemblies. And if you offer me holocausts, and your gifts, I will not receive them: neither will I regard the vows of your fat beasts. Take away from me the tumult of thy songs: and I will not hear the canticles of thy harp. But judgment shall be revealed as water, and justice as a mighty torrent.

Responsorial Psalm 49:7-13, 16bc-17 (Ps 50 NAB/Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only
Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
O Israel, and I will testify to thee:
I am God, thy God.
I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices:
and thy burnt offerings are always in my sight.
I will not take calves out of thy house:
nor he goats out of thy flocks.
For all the beasts of the woods are mine:
the cattle on the hills, and the oxen.
I know all the fowls of the air:
and with me is the beauty of the field.
If I should be hungry, I would not tell thee:
for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks?
or shall I drink the blood of goats?
Why dost thou declare my justices,
and take my covenant in thy mouth?
Seeing thou hast hated discipline:
and hast cast my words behind thee.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 8:28-34
Haydock New Testament

And when he was come on the other side of the water, into the country of the Gerasens, there met him two that were possessed with devils, coming out of the sepulchres, exceeding fierce, so that no one could pass by that way. And behold they cried out, saying:

What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

And not far from them, there was a herd of many swine feeding. And the devils besought him, saying:

If thou cast us out hence, send us into the herd of swine.

And he said to them:

Go.

But they going out went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them, fled: and coming into the city, told every thing, and concerning them that had been possessed by the devils. And behold the whole city went out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart from their coasts.

Haydock Commentary Amos 5:14-15, 21-24
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 14. Said. Probably Amaias took occasion, from the flourishing state of the kingdom, to assert that the Lord approved of their conduct. C.
• Ver. 15. May be. God will not be wanting on his side. But this implies that man may find a difficulty in seeking good, and neglect to do it, though he may if he please, with God’s assistance. W. — Remnant. Posterity. C.
• Ver. 21. Festivities. Some were still observed. C. iv. 4.
• Ver. 22. Vows. Heb. “peace-offerings of your mercies;” a sort of oxen. 2 K. vi. 13. and 3 K. i. 9. Sept. “the salvation of your appearance,” or what you offer for your welfare.
• Ver. 23. Harp. Praise ill becomes the sinner. Eccli. xv. 9. Ps. xlix. 17.
• Ver. 24. Mighty. Heb. “Ethan.” Let your virtue appear, or the greatest miseries will shortly overwhelm you. C.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 8:28-34

• Ver. 28. Two that were possessed with devils. S. Mar. (c. v.) and S. Luke (c. viii.), in the same passage, mentions but one man, who is also said to be possessed with a legion of devils. Those evangelists seem to make mention only of one of them, because he might be much more fierce and famous than the other. Wi. — These sepulchres were caverns excavated in the rocks, which served them as places of retreat. V.
• Ver. 29. Before the time which God has marked to drive us from the world, and to bury us for ever in the prison of hell. V. — What have we to do with thee? Or what hast thou to do with us? what harm have we done thee? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? That is, before the time and day of judgment, after which the torments and punishments of the devils will be increased. Wi.
• Ver. 30. And not far from them.[1] In all Greek copies at present we read, There was afar off. Beza himself here owns, that the Latin Vulgate is to be preferred before all Greek copies and MSS. Wi. — The Greco-Latin MS. of Cambridge has not the word non in the Latin; but in the Latin of the ancient Vulgate it occurs. V.
• Ver. 31. “Send us into the herd of swine.” According to S. Luke, they begged of him two things; the first, that they might not be sent into hell, there to be tormented with more grievous torments, as they will be at the end of the world; the second, that they might be permitted to go into the herd of swine, that these being destroyed, the inhabitants of that country might be ill affected towards our Saviour, and refuse to receive him. The event seems to confirm this opinion. M.
• Ver. 32. Many reasons might be brought why our Saviour suffered the devils to enter into the swine: 1. To shew that the devils had no power even over swine without his permission. 2. That such as were freed from their power, might acknowledge the greatness of the favour done them, by seeing from how great a multitude they were liberated. 3. To punish those Jewish citizens, who fed upon swine’s flesh contrary to their law. And, 4. To shew how willingly the devils dwell in the hearts of those who are addicted to the voluptuous and carnal life, aptly designated by the swine. M. — S. Chrysostom says that our Saviour permitted the devils to enter the swine, not for their own sakes, but for our instruction. 1. That we might know how very desirous the enemy of our salvation is to bring upon us the greatest evils. 2. That the devil has not any power, even over swine, without the permission of God. And, 3. That these cruel fiends would, if the Almighty allowed them, inflict still more grievous torments on their unhappy slaves. Hom. xxix. Jesus Christ here confutes the Sadducean doctrine, which denies the existence of spirits, good or bad. A.
• Ver. 34. That he would depart from their coasts. S. Jerom thinks these people did this out of a motive of humility, looking upon themselves unworthy of his presence: others judge that the loss of the swine made them apprehend lest Christ, being a Jew, might do them greater damages. Wi. — The fear lest his presence might cause them some fresh loss, seems to have overbalanced, in their estimation, the advantages they might have expected from his visit. V. — How often has our good Lord wished to visit us, to honour us with his sacred presence, to enrich us with his divine inspirations; and how often, like these Gerasens, have we desired him to depart from our territories? Some worldly interest, sensual enjoyment, or supine listlessness on our part, has occasioned us to neglect the proffered advantages. Oh! can there be more marked ingratitude than this! Oh! how shall we one day grieve for having lost, by our culpable indifference, immense spiritual treasures, which have been made over to others far more deserving than ourselves! Yes, the day will certainly arrive, when we shall value a single additional degree of the divine favor and grace, infinitely more than all the united honours, riches, and pleasures of this world. A.