Daily Bible Readings Saturday October 25 2008 29th Week in Ordinary Time

October 25 2008 Saturday 29^th Week in Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day – Blessed Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão

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/102508.shtml

Ephesians 4:7-16
Haydock New Testament

But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive: he gave gifts to men. Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same also who ascended above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some indeed apostles, and some prophets, and others evangelists, and others pastors, and teachers, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edification of the body of Christ: Till we all meet in unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ:

That we may no more be children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness of men, in craftiness, to the machination of error. But performing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in him, who is the head, Christ: From whom the whole body, compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the working in the measure of every part, maketh the increase of the body, to the edifying of itself in charity.

Responsorial Psalm 121:1-5 (Ps 122 NAB)
DR Challoner (Text Only)

I rejoiced at the things that were said to me:
We shall go into the house of the Lord.
Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, which is built as a city,
which is compact together.
For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord:
the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.
Because their seats have sat in judgment,
seats upon the house of David.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 13:1-9
Haydock New Testament

AND there were present, at that very time, some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answering, said to them:

Think you that these Galileans were sinners above all the men of Galilee, because they suffered such things? I say to you, No: but unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.

Or those eighteen upon whom the tower fell in Siloe, and slew them: think you that they also were debtors above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you: No: but unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.

He spoke also this parable:

A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none. And he said to the tiller of the vineyard:

Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and I find none. Cut it down, therefore; why doth it take up the ground?

But he answering, said to him:

Lord, let it alone this year also, until I dig about it, and dung it. And if happily it bear fruit: but if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

Haydock Commentary Ephesians 4:7-16
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 7. To every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. That is, as it hath pleased Christ to bestow his free gifts upon us; to shew, says S. Chrys. that it was not according to any merit of ours. The words also shew that Christ is the giver and author of graces, and consequently the true God. Wi. — We must endeavour by all means in our power to preserve this unity, especially by avoiding jealousy, or being envious of the graces which have been given to our neighour; considering that they all proceed from the same God, who divides to each one as he pleaseth. Tirinus.
• Ver. 8. He led captivity captive.[1] S. Jerom and others expound these words of Christ’s delivering the pious souls that had died before his ascension, and which were detained in a place of rest which is called Limbus Patrum. — He gave gifts to men. Having delivered men from the captivity of sin, he bestowed upon them his gifts and graces. Wi. — Wherefore he, David, in Ps. lxviii. makes use of these words, in order to shew that these gifts were gratuitous, and that no person had a right to complain that another had received more: after this the apostle proceeds to shew that Christ even descended to the lower parts of the earth, in order to teach us humility; whence he concludes that we ought to be humble and live in union with our brethren, which is the chief subject of the present chapter. Tirinus.
• Ver. 9. Into the lower parts of the earth. This cannot signify into the grave only, especially since in that which we look upon as the apostles’ creed, we first profess to believe that he was buried, and afterwards that he descended into hell. Wi.
• Ver. 11. Some indeed he gave to be apostles, &c. It is said (1 Cor. xii. 28.) that God (even with the Greek article) gave some to be apostles, &c. and here it is said of Christ: another proof that Christ is the true God. Wi.
• Ver. 13-14. Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age[2] of the fulness of Christ; that is, according to the measure of the full and perfect age of Christ. Of the ancient interpreters, some expound this of what shall happen in the next world, after the resurrection, when all the elect shall have bodies every way perfect; and as some conjecture, (when all who rise by a happy resurrection) shall seem to be about thirty, of the stature and age of Christ when he suffered. But others, especially the Greek interpreters, understand this verse of a spiritual perfection in this life, by which the members of Christ’s mystical body meet in the unity of faith, and increase in grace and virtue by imitating Christ, and following his doctrine and example. And this seems more agreeable to what follows: that we may not now be children, tossed to and fro by the wickedness,[3] of men. The Greek word, as S. Jerom observes, may signify by the deceit or fallacy of men; by illusion, says S. Aug. And S. Chrys. tells us it is spoken by a metaphor, taken from those who cheat at dice, to gain all to themselves, to draw men into errors and heresies. Such, about that time, were the disciples of Simon the magician. Wi. — Every one must labour to become perfect in the state in which he is placed, by increasing in the knowledge and love of God, which knowledge and love of God constitute the full measure of a Christian. S. Chrysostom. — S. Austin also admits to another interpretation of this place, but prefers the former. According to him, it may mean: that all people, at the resurrection, will be raised in such a state as they would have had if they lived to the age of Christ, viz. thirty-three years. S. Thomas. — This text of the apostle, assuring to the one true Church a perpetual and visible succession of pastors, in the ministry, successors of the apostles, warranted the holy Fathers in the early ages of the Church, as it does Catholics of the present day, to try all seceders by the most famous succession of the popes or bishops of Rome. See this in S. Irenæus, l. iii. c. 3. Tertul. in præscript. Optatus. lib. ii. contr. Parmen. S. Austin, cont. ep. Manic. c. iv. Ep. 165 & alibi. S. Epiphan. hæres. 27.
• Ver. 16. by what every joint supplieth, &c. S. Paul compares the Church and mystical body of Christ (as he does elsewhere) to a natural body, whose perfection depends on the harmony, union, and concurrence of all the different parts; and so in the Church, of which Christ is the head, some are apostles, some prophets, &c. and Christ hath been pleased to give them different offices, talents, and gifts, for the edifying and increase of the whole body, which is his Church, that they may no longer be like Gentiles, . . . alienated from the life of God; from such a life as God requires they should lead. Wi. — The obscurity of this verse my be thus explained: the apostle compares the mystical body of the Church, of which Christ is the head, to the natural body of man; and as the head directs different members to different operations, according to their various properties, so in the Church Christ distributes to each his proper office, that being all intent upon their relative duties, all may grow up in charity and become perfect. Estius.

Haydock Commentary Luke 13:1-9

• Ver. 1. Whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. These seem to have been some of the seditious followers of Judas, the Galilean, or Gaulonite, who denied that God’s people were to pay taxes; and it is thought that some of them, coming to offer up sacrifices in the temple, Pilate caused them to be slain at that very time, so that their blood was mixed with the sacrifices. Wi. — Whose blood, &c. i.e. whom he had caused to be massacred in the temple, at the time they were offering sacrifices. The history, to which allusion is made in this place, in not well known; but there is great probability that these Galileans were disciples of Judas, the Galilean, who taught that they ought not to pay tribute to foreigners. As they were spreading this doctrine in Jerusalem, and perhaps even in the temple, Pilate laid violent hands upon them, and caused them to be murdered amidst the sacrifices. Calmet. — Galileans, &c. These were the followers of one Judas, a Galilean, of whom S. Luke makes mention in the Acts of the Apostles, (C. v.) who held it unlawful to call any one lord. Many of this sect were punished by Pilate, because they would not allow this title to be given to Cæsar; they also maintained that no other sacrifices could lawfully be offered, except such as were prescribed by the law, by which opinion they forbade the accustomed sacrifices offered up for the emperor and people of Rome. Pilate, irritated by these their opinions, ordered them to be slain in the midst of their sacrifices, and this was their blood mixed with that of the victims. S. Cyril ex D. Thomas.
• Ver. 2. Sinners, &c. People are naturally inclined to believe, that those who are unfortunate, and afflicted with calamities, must likewise be culpable and impious. The Jews were very much given to these sentiments, as we see in many places in Scripture; John ix. 2 and 3. Our Saviour wishes to do away with this prejudice, by telling them that the Galileans, who are here spoken of, were not the most culpable among the inhabitants of that country; shewing by this, that God often spares the most wicked, and sends upon the good the most apparent signs of vengeance, that he may exercise the patience, and crown the merit of the latter, and give to the former an example of the severity which they must expect, if they continue in their disorders. Neither can it be said, that in this God commits any injustice. He uses his absolute dominion over his creatures, when he afflicts the just; he procures them real good, when he strikes them; and his indulgence towards the wicked, is generally an effect of his mercy, which waits for their repentance, or sometimes the consequences of his great anger, when he abandons them to the hardness of their reprobate hearts, and says, “I will rest, and by angry with you no longer.” Ezechiel, C. xvi. 42. This is the most terrible mark of his final fury. Calmet.
• Ver. 3. This prediction of our Saviour upon the impenitent was afterwards completely verified; for Josephus informs us, that under the government of Cumanus, 20,000 of them were destroyed about the temple. Antiq. lib. xx, c. 4. That upon the admission of the Idumeans into the city, 8,500 of the high priest’s party were slain, insomuch that there was a flood of blood quite round the temple. De Bello Jud. lib. iv, c. 7. That in consequence of the threefold faction that happened in Jerusalem before the siege of the Romans, the temple was every where polluted with slaughter; the priests were slain in the exercise of their functions; many who came to worship, fell before their sacrifices; the dead bodies of strangers and natives were promiscuously heaped together, and the altar defiled with their blood. De Bel. Jud. lib. vi, c. 1. That upon the Romans taking possession of the city and temple, mountains of dead bodies were piled up about the altar; streams of blood ran down the steps of the temple; several were destroyed by the fall of towers, and others suffocated in the ruins of the galleries over the porches. De Bel. Jud. lib. vii, c. 10.
• Ver. 4. Or those eighteen, &c. The Almighty permitted these people to be thus chastised, that the others might be filled with fear and apprehension at the sight of another’s dangers, and thus become the heirs of the kingdom of heaven. But then you will say, is another punished that I may become better? No; he is punished for his own crimes; but his punishment becomes to those that witness it the means of salvation. S. Chrys. Concio. 3. de Lazaro.
• Ver. 5. Unless you do penance, &c. The Jews did not penance; and therefore, forty years after our Lord’s Passion, the Romans came, and beginning with Galilee, destroyed this impious nation to its roots, and polluted not only the court of the temple, whither the sacrifices were carried, but the inner sanctuary, with human blood. Ven. Bede.
• Ver. 6. A certain man, &c. Each one, inasmuch as he holds a place in life, if he produce not the fruit of good works, like a barren tree encumbers the ground; because the place he holds, were it occupied by others, might be a place of fertility. S. Gregory.
• Ver. 9. And if happily it bear fruit. It is a way of speaking, when a sentence is left imperfect; yet what is not expressed, may be easily understood; as here we may understand, well and good, or the like. Wi.