Advent Music – Veni Veni Emmanuel

This gem was spotted at The New Liturgical Movement blog.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Latin.

Bible Readings Sunday November 30 2008 First Sunday of Advent

November 30 2008 First Sunday of Advent
Happy New Year

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/113008.shtml

Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
(These numbers do not match the verse numbering from the DR Challoner for the equivalent readings)
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name. Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways: why hast thou hardened our heart, that we should not fear thee? return for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance.

O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence. When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away. From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee. Thou hast met him that rejoiceth, and doth justice: in thy ways they shall remember thee: behold thou art angry, and we have sinned: in them we have been always, and we shall be saved. And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is none that calleth upon thy name: that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity. And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands.

Responsorial Psalm 79:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 (Ps 80 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel:
thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep.
Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth
Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses.
Stir up thy might, and come to save us.
Turn again, O God of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard:
And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted:
and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.
Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand:
and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself.
And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us:
and we will call upon thy name.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Haydock New Testament

Grace to you, and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God, that is given you in Christ Jesus: That in all things you are made rich in him, in all speaking, and in all knowledge: As the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful: by whom you are called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Mark 13:33-37
Haydock New Testament

Take ye heed, watch, and pray: for ye know not when the time is. Even as a man who, going into a far country, left his house, and gave authority to his servants over every work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye, therefore, (for you know not when the lord of the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning.)Lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch.

Haydock Commentary Isaias 63:16b-17; 64:1, 3-8
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 16. Abraham, &c.  That is, Abraham will not now acknowledge us for his children, by reason of our degeneracy; but thou, O Lord, art our true father and our redeemer, and no other can be called our parent in comparison with thee.  Ch. — Abraham is not able to save us.  C. — The patriarchs may justly disregard us, as degenerate children; yet we hope in God’s mercies.  Thus S. Jerom, &c. explain the passage, which does not favour the errors of Vigilantius and of Luther, who maintain that the saints departed do not know what passes in this world.  S. Aug. (Cura xv.) shews the contrary, from the example of Lazarus, Luke xvi.  They know each other, though they had not lived together, (S. Greg. Dial. iv. 33.) and beheld in the light of God what regards their clients.  S. Aug. de Civ. Dei. xxii. 29.  We cannot decide how the martyrs do help those whom it is certain they assist.  S. Aug. cura xvi.  c. Faust. xx. 21.  S. Jer. c. Vigil.  S. Greg. 3 ep. 30. and 7 ep. 126. &c.  W.
• Ver. 17. Hardened, &c.  The meaning is, that God, in punishment of their great and manifold crimes, and their long abuse of his mercy and grace, had withdrawn his graces from them, and so given them up to error and hardness of heart.  Ch. — They had abused his patience, to sin the more.  Theodoret — The Jews are accustomed to attribute all to God, though they agree with us in reality God might prevent any sin.  C. — But he chooses to leave man to the free exercise of his liberty.  He hardens (H.) “not by infusing malice, but by not shewing mercy; and those to whom he shews it not, are undeserving.”  S. Aug. ep. ad Sixt. cxciv. 14. — God is never the author of error.  Man takes occasion from his indulgence to become obdurate.  S. Jer.  W.
• Ver. 1. Presence, as at Sinai.  Ex. xix. 16.  Judg. v. 4.  Judas continues to pray.  C. — The faithful sigh for Christ’s coming.  H. — All good people desired it most fervently.  W.
• Ver. 3. Bear. Ex. xx. 18.  Heb. “expect.”  Judas appeared victorious, when the nation was prostrate.
• Ver. 4. Thee. Never was deliverance more unexpected or miraculous.  S. Paul quotes this passage, to shew the wisdom manifested in the incarnation.  1 Cor. ii. 9.  It is commonly applied to the glory of heaven.
• Ver. 5. Thee. The little band of Judas was sincerely attached to the Lord.  2 Mac. i. 3. — Sinned. This excited thy anger.  Yet thou wilt shew mercy.  Sin is often put for punishment.  C. — Vau means also, “for, and, yet.”  Prot. “for we have sinned.”  But we follow S. Jer. and the Vulg. W.
• Ver. 6. Unclean: leper.  Grot.  Lev. xiii. 45. — Justices. That is, the works by which we pretended to make ourselves just.  This is spoken particularly of the sacrifices, sacraments, and ceremonies of the Jews, after the death of Christ, and the promulgation of the new law.  Ch. — The justice which is under the law is stated uncleanness, when compared with evangelical purity.  Phil. iii. 8. — “If any one after the gospel…would observe the ceremonies of the law, let him hear the people confessing that all that justice is compared to a most filthy rag.”  S. Jer. — The good works which are done by grace, and not by man alone, cannot be said to be of this description.  They constitute the internal glory of man, and God will one day crown these his gifts.  Of ourselves indeed we can do nothing, and the works of the Mosaic law will not avail, as S. Paul inculcates; but those works, point out the saint, which are preformed by charity with faith in Christ.  This justice is not imputed only, but real; and shews where true faith exists, according to S. James.  Thus the apostles explain each other.  H. — Woman. Sept. “of one sitting down;” like Rachel.  Gen. xxxi. 35.  Sym. “lying-in.”  Aq. “of proofs.”  Grot. “like a plaster on a sore, which is thrown away.”  Such were Alcimus, &c.  C. — To practise (H.) the Jewish rites would now be sinful.  M.
• Ver. 7. Of thee; to remove thy indignation, like Moses, Jeremias, (vii. 15.) &c.  See Ezec. xiii. 5.

Haydock Commentary 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

• Ver. 4. That is given you in, or by Christ Jesus.[1]  Where we may take notice with S. Chrys. for the understanding of other places, that in, is many times put for by or through.
• Ver. 5. Rich in him in all knowledge. The apostles never addressed any epistle, except to persons who had been previously converted to the faith.  Nor is it reasonable to expect, that infidel and pagan nations, merely by reading the inspired writings, will be able, by the light that is in them, to elicit from the said book the truths of religion.  Would they not be tempted to worship the wily serpent, that succeeded in deceiving Eve? and how will they know that this serpent is the devil?  A.
• Ver. 6. As the testimony of Christ, what Christ testified and taught was confirmed in you, that is, your faith in Christ hath been confirmed by those graces and gifts which you received from the Holy Ghost at your baptism, and when by imposition of hands you were confirmed by me, or some other bishop.  Wi.

Haydock Commentary Mark 13:33-37

• Ver. 33. Some will perhaps think, that it would have been much better, if the Almighty had not left the hour of death uncertain; as that case, they would not have been so solicitous with regard to its arrival.  But S. Austin, S. Gregory, and other saints assure us, on the contrary, that it is a very great mercy of God to keep us in this ignorance, that we may always be prepared for it.  For, if we knew the precise period, this assurance would give occasion of living more unguardedly, and of sinning more freely.  If, with this uncertainty of the hour of our death, we live notwithstanding, so very remissly; what should we do, were we assured that we were not to die for some years?  SS. Gregory, Austin, and Bonaventure say, that God chose to leave us in this uncertainty, purposely to prevent all attachment to temporal things; that, seeing every hour, nay every moment, we may lose them, we may not be tied to them, but aspire to those we shall always possess, when once we have obtained them.  Fool, says the Son of God to the rich covetous man, (Luke xii. 20.) this night thy soul shall be required of thee, and what then will become of all these riches thou hast amassed.  S. Bonaventure.
• Ver.  35. At even, at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning. These are generally referred to the different ages of man’s life; infancy, youth, manhood, and old age.  we are exhorted to be always in readiness, for we know not at what hour the Judge will come.  Nic. de Lyra. — We are taught to watch, because we are charged with the care of our soul, which is the temple or house of God, and which is to be his temple for all eternity.  V.

Catena Aurea Mark 13:33-37

• Pseudo-Jerome: For we must needs watch with our souls before the death of the body.
• Theophylact: But He teach us two things, watching and prayer; for many of us watch, but watch only to pass the night in wickedness; He now follows this up with a parable, saying, “For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave his servants power over every work, and commanded the porter to watch.”
• Bede: The man who taking a far journey left his house is Christ, who ascending as a conqueror to His Father after the Resurrection, left His Church, as to His bodily presence, but has never deprived her of the safeguard of His Divine presence.
• Greg, Hom in Evan, 9: For the earth is properly the place for the flesh, which was as it were carried away to a far country, when it was placed by our Redeemer in the heavens. “And he gave his servants power over every work,” when, by giving to His faithful ones the grace of the Holy Ghost, He gave them the power of serving every good work.
• He has also ordered the porter to watch, because He commanded the order of pastors to have a care over the Church committed to them. Not only, however, those of us who rule over Churches, but all are required to watch the doors of their hearts, lest the evil suggestions of the devil enter into them, and lest our Lord find us sleeping.
• Wherefore concluding this parable He adds, “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.”
• Pseudo-Jerome: For he who sleeps applies not his mind to real bodies, but to phantoms, and when he awakes, he possesses not what he had seen; so also are those, whom the love of this world seizes upon in this life; they quit after this life what they dreamed was real.
• Theophylact: See again that He has not said, I know not when the time will be, but, “Ye know not.” For the reason why He concealed it was that it was better for us; for if, now that we know not the end, we are careless, what should we do if we knew it? We should keep on our wickedness even unto the end. Let us therefore attend to His words; for the end comes at even, when a man dies in old age; a midnight, when he dies in the midst of his youth; and at cockcrow, when our reason is perfect within us; for when a child begins to live according to his reason, then the cock cries loud within him, rousing him from the sleep of sense; but the age of childhood is the morning. Now all these ages must look out for the end; for even a child must be watched, lest he die unbaptized.
• Pseudo-Jerome: He thus concludes His discourse, that the last should hear from those who come first this precept which is common to all; wherefore He adds, “But what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”
• Augustine, Epist., 199, 3: For He not only speaks to those in whose hearing He then spake, but even to all who came after them, before our time, and even to us, and to all after us, even to His last coming. but shall that day find all living, or will any man say that He speaks also to the dead, when He says, “Watch, lest when he cometh he find you sleeping?”
• Why then does He say to all, what only belongs to those who shall then be alive, if it be not that it belongs to all, as I have said? For that day comes to each man when his day comes for departing from this life such as he is to be, when judged in that day, and for this reason every Christian ought to watch, lest the Advent of the Lord find him unprepared; but that day shall find him unprepared, whom the last day of his life shall find unprepared.

Daily Bible Readings Saturday November 29 2008 34th Week in Ordinary Time

November 29 2008 Saturday 34^th Week in Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day – Servant of God John of Monte Corvino

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/112908.shtml

Revelation 22:1-7
Haydock New Testament

AND he shewed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God, and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street thereof, and on both sides of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no curse any more: but the throne of God, and of the Lamb, shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face: and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more: and they shall not need the light of a lamp, nor the light of the sun; for the Lord God shall enlighten them, and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said to me:

These words are more faithful and true. And the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his Angel, to shew his servants the things which must be done shortly. And behold, I come quickly.

Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.

Responsorial Psalm 94:1-7ab (Ps 95 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Come let us praise the Lord with joy:
let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth:
and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it:
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down:
and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God:
and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 21:34-36
Haydock New Testament

And take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life: and that day come upon you suddenly. For as a snare shall it come upon all that sit upon the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of man.

Haydock Commentary Apocalypse 22:1-7
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1. A river of water of life, or of living water. It is spoken with allusion to the rivers of paradise and to the tree of life. Wi.
• Ver. 2. For the healing of the nations, or Gentiles, to signify the call of all Gentiles or nations to this heavenly happiness. Wi.
• Ver. 4. They shall see his face. Thus in a few words is expressed the happiness of the blessed in heaven; they shall see God, from which vision proceed love, joy, and everlasting praises of the divine Majesty. Wi.
• Ver. 6. These words are most faithful. Here begins the conclusion and close of all these revelations. — The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his Angel to shew, &c. and in the 16th verse it is said: I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify: from whence we may understand that Jesus, as to his person, is the same Lord God with the Father, though as man he is the root of the offspring of David, of the race of David, as the Messias was to be. Wi.
• Ver. 7. Behold I come quickly. Man’s life is short, and at his death he must give an account to God. All time is short, if compared with eternity. S. John (v. was again for casting himself at the feet of the Angel, though here it is not expressed whether it were to adore God, or whether it were by an inferior veneration to the Angel, often expressed by adoration. Wi.

Haydock Commentary Luke 21:34-36

• Nothing from the Haydock. Catena Aurea below.
• THEOPHYL. Our Lord declared above the fearful and sensible signs of the evils which should overtake sinners, against which the only remedy is watching and prayer, as it is said, And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time, &c.
• BASIL; Every animal has within itself certain instincts which it has received from God, for the preservation of its own being. Wherefore Christ has also given us this warning, that what comes to them by nature, may be ours by the aid of reason and prudence: that we may flee from sin as the brute creatures shun deadly food, but that we seek after righteousness, as they wholesome herbs. Therefore said He, Take heed to yourselves, that is, that you may distinguish the noxious from the wholesome. But since there are two ways of taking heed to ourselves, the one with the bodily eyes, the other by the faculties of the soul, and the bodily eye does not reach to virtue; it remains that we speak of the operations of the soul. Take heed, that is, Look around you on all sides, keeping an ever watchful eye to the guardianship of your soul. He says not, Take heed to your own or to the things around, but to yourselves. For you are mind and spirit, your body is only of sense. Around you are riches, arts, and all the appendages of life, you must not mind these, but your soul, of which you must take especial care. The same admonition tends both to the healing of the sick, and the perfecting of those that are well, namely, such as are the guardians of the present, the providers of the future, not judging the actions of others, but strictly searching their own, not suffering the mind to be the slave of their passions but subduing the irrational part of the soul to the rational. But the reason why we should take heed He adds as follows, Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged, &c.
• TIT. BOST. As if He says, Beware lest the eyes of your mind wax heavy. For the cares of this life, and surfeiting, and drunkenness, scare away prudence, shatter and make shipwreck of faith.
• CLEM. ALEX. Drunkenness is an excessive use of wine; crapula is the uneasiness, and nausea attendant on drunkenness, a Greek word so called from the motion of the head. And a little below. As then we must partake of food lest we suffer hunger, so also of drink lest we thirst, but with still greater care to avoid falling into excess. For the indulgence of wine is deceitful, and the soul when free from wine will be the wisest and best, but steeped in the fumes of wine is lost as in a cloud.
• BASIL; But carefulness, or the care of this life, although it seems to have nothing unlawful in it, nevertheless if it conduce not to religion, must be avoided. And the reason why He said this He shows by what comes next, And so that day come upon you unawares.
• THEOPHYL. For that day will not come when men are expecting it, but unlooked for and by stealth, taking as a snare those who are unwary. For as a snare shall it come upon all them that sit upon the face of the earth. But this we may diligently keep far from us. For that day will take those that sit on the face of the earth, as the unthinking and slothful. But as many as are prompt and active in the way of good, not sitting and loitering on the ground, but rising from it, saying to themselves, Rise up, be gone, for here there is no rest for you. To such that day is not as a perilous snare, but a day of rejoicing.
• EUSEB. He taught them therefore to take heed to the things we have just before mentioned, lest they fall into the indolence resulting therefrom. Hence it follows, Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass.
• THEOPHYL. Namely, hunger, pestilence, and such like, which for a time only threaten the elect and others, and those things also which are hereafter the lot of the guilty for ever. For these we can in no wise escape, save by watching and prayer.
• AUG. This is supposed to be that flight which Matthew mentions; which must not be in the winter or on the sabbath day. To the winter belong the cares of this life, which are mournful as the winter, but to the sabbath surfeiting and drunkenness, which drowns and buries the heart in carnal luxury and delight, since on that day the Jews are immersed in worldly pleasure, while they are lost to a spiritual sabbath.
• THEOPHYL. And because a Christian needs not only to flee evil, but to strive to obtain glory, He adds, And to stand before the Son of man. For this is the glory of angels, to stand before the Son of man, our God, and always to behold His face.
• BEDE; Now supposing a physician should bid us beware of the juice of a certain herb, lest a sudden death overtake us, we should most earnestly attend to his command; but when our Savior warns us to shun drunkenness and surfeiting, and the cares of this world, men have no fear of being wounded and destroyed by them; for the faith which they put in the caution of the physician, they disdain to give to the words of God.

Daily Bible Readings Friday November 28 2008 34th Week in Ordinary Time

November 28 2008 Friday 34^th Week in Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day – St. James of the Marche

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/112808.shtml

Revelation 20:1-4, 11—21:2
Haydock New Testament

AND I saw an Angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years: And he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should no more seduce the nations, till the thousand years be finished: and after that, he must be loosed a little time. And I saw seats, and they sat upon them: and judgment was given unto them: and the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not adored the beast, nor his image, nor received his mark on their foreheads, or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose countenance the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no place found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the presence of the throne, and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it: and death and hell gave up their dead that were in them: and they were judged every one according to their works. And hell and death were cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the pool of fire.

AND I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was passed away, and the sea is now no more. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Responsorial Psalm 83:3-6a and 8a (Ps 84 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.
For the sparrow hath found herself a house,
and the turtle a nest for herself where she may lay her young ones:
Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord:
they shall praise thee for ever and ever.
Blessed is the man whose help is from thee:
For the lawgiver shall give a blessing,
they shall go from virtue to virtue

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 21:29-33
Haydock New Testament

And he spoke to them a similitude:

See the fig tree, and all the trees: When they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Haydock Commentary Apocalypse 20:1-4, 11—21:2
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 2. And bound him for a thousand years. I shall give the reader an abridgment of what S. Augustin has left us on this chapter, in this 20th book de Civ. Dei. From the 5th to the 16th chap. t. vii. p. 578, et seq.) he treats upon these difficulties: What is meant by the first and second resurrection; by the binding and chaining up of the devil; by the thousand years that the saints reign with Christ; by the first and second death; by Gog and Magog, &c. As to the first resurrection, c. vi. he takes notice on the 5th verse, that resurrection[1] in the Gospels, and in S. Paul, is applied not only to the body but also to the soul; and the second resurrection, which is to come, is that of the bodies: that there is also a death of the soul, which is by sin; and that the second death is that of soul and body by eternal damnation: that both bad and good shall rise again in their bodies. On those words, (v. 6) Blessed is he that hath part in the first resurrection; in these the second death hath no power. Such, saith he, (c. ix.) as have risen from sin, and have remained in that resurrection of the soul, shall never be liable to the second death, which is damnation. Cap. vii. p. 580, he says that some Catholics not understanding rightly the first resurrection, have been led into ridiculous fables,[2] and this by the interpretation which they put on the thousand years; as if the first resurrection implied a resurrection of the bodies of the martyrs and saints, who should live on the earth with Christ for a thousand years before the general resurrection, in all manner of delights. This was the opinion of those called Millenarians: this, saith he, might seem tolerable in some measure,[3] if taken for spiritual delights, (for we ourselves were once in these sentiments) but if for carnal pleasures, it can only be believed by carnal men. He then expounds what may be understood by the binding and chaining of the devil for a thousand years (Cap. vii. & viii, p. 581) that the thousand years, meaning a long time, may signify all the time from Christ’s first coming[4] to his second at the end of the world, and to the last short persecution under antichrist. The devil is said to be bound, that is, his power much lessened and restrained, in comparison of the great and extensive power he had over all nations before Christ’s incarnation; not but that he still tempts many,[5] and raiseth persecutions, which always turn to their greater good; and that towards the end of the world he shall be let loose, as it were, for a short time, and permitted with his infernal spirits to exercise his malice against mankind, to try the patience of the elect, and to shew the power of God’s grace, by which his faithful servants shall triumph over the devil. N.B. What S. Augustine adds divers times in these chapters: “Let no one,” says he, “imagine[6] that even during that short time, there shall be no Church of Christ on the earth: God forbid: even when the devil shall be let loose, he shall not be able to seduce the Church.” Cap. ix, p. 586, he expounds those words, (v. 4-5) I saw the souls of them that were beheaded . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years . . . this is the first resurrection: i.e. the first resurrection is while the devil is chained up for the space of a thousand years. He takes notice that the present state of the Church is many times called the kingdom of God, and that the Church of Christ reigns now with Christ, both in the living saints, and those who are dead, in the souls of the martyrs, and of others, who have lived and died piously, now reign with Christ, not yet in their bodies,[7] but their souls reign with him. On those words of the 4th verse: who had not adored the beast, nor his image, nor received his mark, he only gives this exposition, as agreeable to the Christian faith, that by the beast may be understood the multitude of wicked sinners in general, and the image of the beast[8] those who are of the Church in outward appearance and profession only, and not by their works. When it is said (v. 5) that the rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were finished: they lived not, says he, as to their souls, when they should have lived; and therefore not being happy in heaven, when their bodies shall rise, it shall not be to life, but to judgment and damnation, which is the second death. Cap. xi, he expounds the 7th and 8th verses, where it is said that Satan shall be loosed . . . and seduce the nations which are over the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog,[9] and shall gather them together to battle. This, says S. Aug. will be the last persecution at the approach of the day of judgment, which the whole city, or the whole Church of Christ dispersed through the universe, will suffer from the whole city of the devil. Neither need Gog and Magog be taken for a particular[10] barbarous people, but such as are dispersed in a manner in every nation, and who shall then break out by the instigation of Satan into an open hatred and persecution against the faithful servants of God; as it is said, (v. 8.) they ascended upon the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, where we cannot literally understand one camp, one city, or one place, but the Church every where dispersed. Cap. xii, he expounds the 9th verse, where he takes fire to signify, metaphorically, the firm resistance and constancy of the good, and the fire[11] of their zeal, which devoured as it were the wicked; or we may understand with others, the temporal fire of God’s judgments in this world against the wicked, but not the last eternal fire; because the eternal fire comes not down from heaven but the wicked are cast into it below. Cap. xiii, he teacheth that the last persecution[12] of antichrist, here mentioned, shall but last three years and six months; i.e. a little while. Cap. xiv and xv, he expounds the 10th and following verse, of the devil being cast into the lake of fire, after the last persecution of antichrist. By the beast he understands, as before, the city or multitude of all the wicked; and by the false prophet, either antichrist or the outward appearance of faith in them that have none. Then follows the last judgment, where it is said that the books are opened, and also that another book was opened. By the first book, may be understood men and their consciences; and by the other book, the book of life, that[13] of eternal predestination. Thus far S. Augustine, where we see that he delivers the common Catholic doctrine, that by the thousand years, so often mentioned in this chapter, he understands all that time in which the souls of the martyrs, and of all other saints, reign happy with Christ in heaven, till after the general resurrection they receive a full and complete happiness, both as to soul and body. A false exposition of these thousand years gave occasion to the mistake, the error, and heresy of those called the Millenarians, which Mede and Dr. W. have followed. Papias, who lived soon after, or perhaps with S. John, was the chief promoter of this mistake; a man, says Eusebius, of “little judgment and capacity,”[14] who misconstrued the discourses which he heard. He was followed by divers writers in the second, third, and fourth century, who did not hold with Cerinthus and his followers, that the saints should rise before the general resurrection, and reign with Christ on earth for a thousand years in all manner of sensual pleasures; but in spiritual delights, in the city of Jerusalem, built anew after that glorious manner described in the next chapter. Now though this opinion had several considerable abettors, of which I find these seven: Papias, S. Justin, S. Irenæus, Tertullian, Nepos, (a bishop, in Egypt; in Euseb. l. xii. c. xxiv.) Victorinus Petabionensis, Lactantius, and Severus Sulpitius: yet were there always other learned Catholic writers who rejected it as a fable. Of this number was Caius, a priest, at Rome, about the end of the second age; Origen, in his prologue on the Canticles; S. Denys, of Alexandria, who in the third age wrote to confute Nepos; (see Euseb. l. vii. hist. c. xxiv., who treats it as a fable ) S. Basil,[15] who calls it an old wife’s tale, and a Jewish fiction, Epist. 293; S. Greg. Naz. Orat. 52; S. Epiphan. S. Jerom, Philastrius, Theodoret, who place this opinion among the heresies and heretical fables: so that this could never be looked upon as the constant doctrine and tradition of the Church. The bishop of Meaux takes notice, that Mede either mistook or falsified the text of S. Justin,[16] who, in his Dialogue with Tryphon, holds that opinion of a thousand years reign; but adds, “I also told you, that many who are Christians of pious and sound sentiments, do not own this to be true.” Thus we read in the Greek, as well as in the Latin translation: but Mr. Mede quite changes the sense, by adding a negative in this manner; but many who are not of this pure and holy doctrine, &c. We may observe that S. Justin says in the next page, that they who own not the resurrection of the body, and say that souls go to heaven without any future resurrection, are not to be accounted Christians, but are to be looked upon as Sadducees and unbelievers. Which is very true. And he adds, that he, and others who think right with him, know that there will be a resurrection of the flesh, and a rebuilding of Jerusalem for a thousand years, which S. Justin himself judge grounded on the prophets, Isaias, Ezechiel, &c. So that not to make S. Justin contradict himself, he mentions three opinions: the first is the heresy of those who absolutely denied the future resurrection of the dead: these were not Christians, but unbelievers, Sadducees, &c. The second was of those who held that the martyrs and saints should rise and reign for a thousand years in their bodies on the earth; this, which was his own opinion, he calls the right and true doctrine. But thirdly, he does not condemn those pious Christians who, as he had said before, disowned this thousand years reign, for this would be to contradict himself. Wi. — In the above chapter, what man can reflect without trembling, that the devil has the rage of a dragon, the cunning of an old serpent, the malice of a calumniator, and that he is a most implacable enemy? On the other hand, what man is there that does not feel consolation in the reflection, that Jesus Christ has vanquished this savage fiend, and bound him in fetters, by limiting the exercise of his rage and malice? Some understand this chaining of the dragon of the reign of Constantine, and particularly after the defeat of Licinius; (see sup. c. xii. 18.) and the thousand years of the intermediate period between Constantine and antichrist, when the devil will again be let loose, but for a short time, only three years and a half. V. — Bound him, &c. The power of Satan has been very much abridged by the passion of Christ; for a thousand years; that is, for the whole time of the new testament, but especially from the time of the destruction of Babylon or pagan Rome, till the new efforts of Gog and Magog against the Church, towards the end of the world. During which time the souls of the martyrs and saints live and reign with Christ in heaven, in the first resurrection, which is that of the soul to the life of glory, as the second resurrection will be that of the body, at the day of the general judgment. Ch.

• From the seventh verse of the foregoing chapter, begins as it were the third part of the Apocalypse containing the coming of antichrist, the great day of judgment, the punishment of the wicked, and the eternal happiness of God’s elect in heaven, or in the celestial Jerusalem, which S. John describes in this chapter as if it were like a large city, beautified and enriched with gold and all manner of precious stones, &c. Wi.
• Ver. 1. New, by their form and qualities, but not by their substance. — The first heaven and first earth was passed away: being changed, not as to their substance, but in their qualities. Ch.
• Ver. 2. Coming down from God out of heaven. By the city we must understand its citizens, the Angels and saints. Wi. — Justice, innocence, the good works of the saints, are the ornaments of the inhabitants of this new Jerusalem, the Church triumphant. If the world of the old Adam has appeared so beautiful, so magnificent, good God, what will be the riches of that which is made for Jesus Christ, the second Adam, and for his members! O Jesus! Father of the world to come, render us worthy of this new and everlasting world, and give us a disgust, a mortal hatred, for that which perishes, and which is the cause of our perdition.

Haydock Commentary Luke 21:29-33

Nothing here. But I will paste the Catena Aurea for this passage below.

• GREG. That the world ought to be trampled upon and despised, He proves by a wise comparison, adding, Behold the fig tree and all the trees, when they now put forth fruit, you know that summer is near. As if He says, as from the fruit of the tree the summer is perceived to be near, so from the fall of the world the kingdom of God is known to be at hand. Hereby is it manifested that the world’s fall is our fruit. For hereunto it puts forth buds, that whomever it has fostered in the bud it may consume in slaughter. But well is the kingdom of God compared to summer; for then the clouds of our sorrow flee away, and the days of life brighten up under the clear light of the Eternal Sun.
• AMBROSE; Matthew speaks of the fig-tree only, Luke of all the trees. But the fig-tree shadows forth two things, either the ripening of what is hard, or the luxuriance of sin; that is, either that, when the fruit bursts forth in all trees and the fruitful fig-tree abounds, (that is, when every tongue confesses God, even the Jewish people confessing Him,) we ought to hope for our Lord’s coming, in which shall be gathered in as at summer the fruits of the resurrection. Or, when the man of sin shall clothe himself in his light and fickle boasting as it were the leaves of the synagogue, we must then suppose the judgment to be drawing near. For the Lord hastens to reward faith, and to bring an end of sinning.
• AUG. But when He says, When you shall see these things to come to pass, what can we understand but those things which were mentioned above. But among them we read, And then shall they see the Son of man coming. When therefore this is seen, the kingdom of God is not yet, but nigh at hand. Or must we say that we are not to understand all the things before mentioned, when He says, When you shall see these things, &c. but only some of them; this for example being excepted, And then shall they see the Son of man. But Matthew would plainly have it taken with no exception, for he says, And so you, when you see all these things, among which is the seeing the coming of the Son of man; in order that it may be understood of that coming whereby He now comes in His members as in clouds, or in the Church as in a great cloud.
• TIT. BOST. Or else, He says, the kingdom of God is at hand, meaning that when these things shall be not yet shall all things come to their last end, but they shall be already tending towards it. For the very coming of our Lord itself, casting out every principality and power, is the preparation for the kingdom of God.
• EUSEB. For as in this life, when winter dies away, and spring succeeds, the sun sending forth its warm rays cherishes and quickens the seeds hid in the ground, just laying aside their first form, and the young plants sprout forth, having put on different shades of green; so also the glorious coming of the Only-begotten of God, illuminating the new world with His quickening rays shall bring forth into light from more excellent bodies than before the seeds that have long been hidden in the whole world, i.e. those who sleep in the dust of the earth. And having vanquished death, He shall reign from henceforth the life of the new world.
• GREG. But all the things before mentioned are confirmed with greet certainly, when He adds, Verily I say to you, &c.
• BEDE; He strongly commends that which he thus foretell. And, if one may so speak, his oath is this, Amen, I say to you. Amen is by interpretation “true.” Therefore the truth says, I tell you the truth, and though He spoke not thus, He could by no means lie. But by generation he means either the whole human race, or especially the Jews.
• EUSEB. Or by generation He means the new generation of His holy Church, showing that the generation of the faithful would last up to that time, when it would see all things, and embrace with its eyes the fulfillment of our Savior’s words.
• THEOPHYL. For because He had foretold that there should be commotions, and wars and changes, both of the elements and in other things, lest any one might suspect that Christianity itself also would perish, He adds, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away: as if He said, Though all things should be shaken, yet shall my faith fail not. Whereby He implies that He sets the Church before the whole creation. The creation shall suffer change, but the Church of the faithful and the words of the Gospel shall abide for ever.
• GREG. Or else, The heaven and, earth shall pass away, &c. As if He says, All that with us seems lasting, does not abide to eternity without change, and all that with Me seems to pass away is held fixed and immovable, for My word which passes away utters sentences which remain unchangeable, and abide for ever.
• BEDE; But by the heaven which shall pass away we must understand not the ethereal or the starry heaven, but the air from which the birds are named “of heaven.” But if the earth shall pass away, how does Ecclesiastes say, The earth stands for ever? Plainly then the heaven and earth in the fashion which they now have shall pass away, but in essence subsist eternally.

Daily Bible Readings Thursday November 27 2008 Thanksgiving Day

November 27 2008 Thursday Thanksgiving Day
Saint of the Day – St. Francesco Antonio Fasani

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/112708.shtml

Click the link above to the USCCB.org site for the readings for November 27 2008 Ordinary time. The readings posted below are for Thanksgiving Day in the US.

Sirach 50:22-24
DR Challoner Text

Then coming down, he lifted up his hands over all the congregation of the children of Israel, to give glory to God with his lips, and to glory in his name: And he repeated his prayer, willing to shew the power of God. And now pray ye to the God of all, who hath done great things in all the earth, who hath increased our days from our mother’s womb, and hath done with us according to his mercy.

Responsorial Psalm 137:1-5 (Ps 138 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart:
for thou hast heard the words of my mouth.
I will sing praise to thee in the sight of the angels:
I will worship towards thy holy temple,
and I will give glory to thy name.
For thy mercy, and for thy truth:
for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all.
In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me:
thou shalt multiply strength in my soul.
May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee:
for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.
And let them sing in the ways of the Lord:
for great is the glory of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Haydock New Testament

Grace to you, and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God, that is given you in Christ Jesus: That in all things you are made rich in him, in all speaking, and in all knowledge: As the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful: by whom you are called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 17:11-19
Haydock New Testament

And it came to pass, as he was going to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain town, there met him ten men, that were lepers, who stood afar off: And they lifted up their voice, saying;

Jesus, master, have mercy on us.

And when he saw them, he said:

Go, shew yourselves to the priests.

And it came to pass, that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed, went back, with a loud voice, glorifying God. And he fell on his face before his feet, giving thanks: and this man was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering, said:

Were there not ten made clean? And where are the nine? There is no one found to return and give glory to God, but this stranger.

And he said to him:

Arise, go thy way: for thy faith has made thee whole.

Haydock Commentary Sirach Ecclesiasticus 50:22-24
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 23. Prayer. Gr. “adoration, that they might receive a blessing from the Most High.” H. — Power. In keeping Philopator out of the temple. God granted his request, (C. litaneiaV) “and scourged him who was so insolent and bold…throwing him like a reed, unable to move, and speechless on the pavement.” 2 Mac. ii. 26. After Philopator’s guards had removed him, the high priest congratulated the people, (v. 26.) expressing his abhorrence of their enemies in general, though the only mentions three neighbouring nations which had shewn a particular enmity to the Jews, when a contrary behaviour might have been expected. v. 28. H.
• Ver. 24. Now. A the sight of these wonders, the author exhorts the people to be grateful, and full of hope. C.

Haydock Commentary 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

• Ver. 5. Rich in him in all knowledge. The apostles never addressed any epistle, except to persons who had been previously converted to the faith. Nor is it reasonable to expect, that infidel and pagan nations, merely by reading the inspired writings, will be able, by the light that is in them, to elicit from the said book the truths of religion. Would they not be tempted to worship the wily serpent, that succeeded in deceiving Eve? and how will they know that this serpent is the devil? A.
• Ver. 6. As the testimony of Christ, what Christ testified and taught was confirmed in you, that is, your faith in Christ hath been confirmed by those graces and gifts which you received from the Holy Ghost at your baptism, and when by imposition of hands you were confirmed by me, or some other bishop. Wi.

Haydock Commentary Luke 17:11-19

• Ver. 14. To the priests. Jesus sends them to the priests, to convince the latter of the reality of the cures which he wrought, and oblige them by that to acknowledge him for their Messias; 2ndly, that the lepers might enjoy the fruit of their cure, by returning to the society of their fellow men, after they had been declared clean, and satisfied all the demands of the law; for there were may ceremonies previous to be gone through. Calmet. — And lastly, to shew that in the new law, such as are defiled with the leprosy of sin, should apply to the priests. Hence, says S. Austin, let no one despise God’s ordinance, saying that it is sufficient to confess to God alone. Lib. de visit. infirm.
• Ver. 19. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Were not the others also made whole? They were cleansed indeed from their leprosy, but it no where appears that they were justified in their souls like this Samaritan, of whom it said, thy faith hath made thee whole; whereas it was said of the others, that they were made clean, viz. of their leprosy in their body, though not justified in their soul: this the Samaritan alone seems to have obtained. Maldonatus.