Daily Bible Readings Wednesday December 3 2008 1st Week of Advent

December 3 Wednesday First Week of Advent
Saint of the Day – St. Francis Xavier

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/120308.shtml

Isaiah 25:6-10a
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees. And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the bond with which all people were tied, and the web that he began over all nations. He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have patiently waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyful in his salvation. For the hand of the Lord shall rest in this mountain.

Psalm 22:1-6 (Ps 23 NAB)
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 Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 15:29-37
Haydock New Testament

And when Jesus had departed from thence, he came nigh the sea of Galilee: and going up into a mountain, he sat there. And there came to him great multitudes, having with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others: and they cast them down at his feet, and he healed them: So that the multitudes marveled, seeing the dumb speak, the lame walk, the blind see: and they glorified the God of Israel. Then Jesus Called together his disciples, and said:

I have compassion on the multitudes, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

And the disciples say unto him:

Whence then should we have so many loaves in the desert, as to fill so great a multitude?

And Jesus said to them:

How many loaves have you?

But they said:

Seven, and a few little fishes.

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And taking the seven loaves and the fishes, and giving thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples gave to the people. And they did all eat, and had their fill. And they took up seven baskets full, of what remained of the fragments.

Haydock Commentary Isaiah 25:6-10a
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 6. Mountain of Sion, a figure of the Church, and of heaven. The Jews shall feast: yea, some of all nations shall partake of the blessed Eucharist, and obtain heaven. The expressions are too grand for a corruptible feast. C. — Wine. Lit. “of vintage,” (H.) on which occasion great rejoicings were made. Hesiod. Hercul. 297. — Prot. “of wines on the lees.” H. — In the East, the wines were very thick. Ps. lxxv. 9. C. — On the rejection of the Jews, the Gentiles were converted. W.
• Ver. 7. Tied. He will open their eyes to the truth of the gospel. They shall be no longer as criminals, expecting death, or mourning.
• Ver. 8. Ever. Heb. “he shall swallow up death in victory.” 1 Cor. xv. 54. Christ, by dying, conquered death, and rescued us from its power, if we do not voluntarily subject ourselves to it again. This was faintly represented by the liberation of the captives.
• Ver. 10. Mountain: the Church. C.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 15:29-37

• Ver. 30. And he healed them. The Chanaanæan was long in obtaining her request, and only prevailed by her importunity; whereas the Jews were cured on declaring their infirmities. Thus were they left without excuse, seeing how much greater was the faith of this poor Gentile woman, than that of the descendants of Abraham. Chry. hom. liii.
• Ver. 32. They continue with me now three days, eager to hear his divine instructions, and to witness the greatness of his miracles. The disciples, as if not remembering what Jesus had done on a similar emergency, (see Matthew, xiv. 16,) expressed their solicitude and uneasiness for the hungered multitude. A.
• Ver. 36. He gave thanks to his heavenly Father, for that providential care with which he supplies our wants, even miraculously, when necessary for us. Everywhere his goodness and attention to the wants of his children are manifested, but not more so in the manna of the desert, than in the fertility of the holy land. A.
• Ver. 37. Seven baskets full remained, to intimate that God remunerates with a liberal hand all alms given for his sake. Various are the circumstances attending the present multiplication of the loaves with that in the preceding chapter. In the former, there were five loaves and two fishes; here there are seven loaves and a few little fishes: In the former, 5,000 men were filled, here 4,000: in the former case, 12 baskets full of fragments remained, here seven. T. — All which sufficiently prove that these were two distinct miracles, to both of which Jesus Christ refers in chap. xvi, v. 9. and 10. A.

Catena Aurea Matthew 15:29-37

• Jerome: Having healed the daughter of this Chananaean, the Lord returns into Judaea, as it follows, “And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee.”
• Remig.: This sea is called by various names; the sea at Galilee, because of its neighbourhood to Galilee; the sea of Tiberias, from the town of Tiberias. “And going up into a mountain, he sat down there.”
• Chrys.: It should be considered that sometimes the Lord goes about to heal the sick, sometimes He sits and waits for them to come; and accordingly here it is added, “And there came great multitudes unto him, having with them those that were dumb, lame, blind, maimed, and many others.”
• Jerome: What the Latin translator calls ‘debiles’ (maimed), is in the Greek, which is not a general term for a maimed person, but a peculiar species, as he that is lame in one foot is called ‘claudus,’ so he that is crippled in one hand is called..
• Chrys.: These shewed their faith in two points especially, in that they went up the mountain, and in that they believed that they had need of nothing beyond but to cast themselves at Jesus’ feet; for they do not now touch the hem even of His garment, but have attained to a loftier faith; “And cast them down at Jesus’ feet.” The woman’s daughter He healed with great slackness, that He might shew her virtue; but to these He administers healing immediately, not because they were better than that woman, but that He might stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews; as it follows, “and he healed them all.” But the multitude of those that were healed, and the ease with which it was done, struck them with astonishment. “Insomuch that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb to speak.”
• Jerome: He said nothing concerning the maimed, because there was no one word which was the opposite of this.” [ed. note: The Vulgate and old Italic have no clause to , (the maimed to be whole) of the Greek, which is also wanting in many ancient versions.]
• Raban.: Mystically; Having in the daughter of this Chananaean prefigured the salvation of the Gentiles, Ho came into Judaea; because, “when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have entered in, then shall all Israel be saved.” [Rom_11:25]
• Gloss., ap Anselm: The sea near to which Jesus came signifies the turbid swellings of this world; it is the sea of Galilee when men pass from virtue to vice.
• Jerome: He goes up into the mountain, that as a bird He may entice the tender nestlings to fly.
• Raban.: Thus raising his hearers to meditate on heavenly things. He sat down there to shew that rest is not to be sought but in heavenly things. And as He sits on the mountain, that is, in the heavenly height, there come unto Him multitudes of the faithful, drawing near to Him with devoted mind, and bringing to Him the dumb, and the blind, &c. and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; because they that confess their sins are brought to be healed by Him alone. These He so heals, that the multitudes marvel and magnify the God of Israel; because the faithful when they see those that have been spiritually sick richly endued with all manner of works of virtuousness, sing praise to God.
• Gloss. ord.: The dumb are they that do not praise God; the blind, they who do not understand the paths of life; the deaf, they that obey not; the lame, they that walk not firmly through the difficult ways of good works; the maimed, they that are crippled in their good works.
• Jerome: Christ first took away the infirmities of the sick, and afterwards supplied food to them that had been healed. Also He calls His disciples to tell them what He is about to do; “Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude.” This He does that He may give an example to masters of sharing their counsels with the young, and their disciples; or, that by this dialogue they might come to understand the greatness of the miracle.
• Chrys., Hom., iii: For the multitude when they came to be healed, had not dared to ask for food, but He that loveth man, and hath care of all creatures, gives it to them unasked; whence He says, “I have compassion upon the multitude.” That it should not be said that they had brought provision with them on their way, He says, “Because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.” For though when they came they had food, it was now consumed, and for this reason He did it not on the first or second day, but on the third, when all was consumed that they might have brought with them; and thus they having been first placed in need, might take the food that was now provided with keener appetite. That they had come from far, and that nothing was now left them, is shewn in what He says, “And I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint by the way.” Yet He does not immediately proceed to work the miracle, that He may rouse the disciples’ attention by this questioning, and that they may shew their faith by saying to Him, Create loaves. And though at the time of the former miracle Christ had done many things to the end that they should remember it, making them distribute the loaves, and divide the baskets among them, yet they were still imperfectly disposed, as appears from what follows; “And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness as to fill so great a multitude?” This they spoke out of the infirmity of their thoughts, yet thereby making the ensuing miracle to be beyond suspicion; for that none might suspect that the loaves had been got from a neighbouring village, this miracle is wrought in the wilderness far distant from villages. Then to arouse His disciples’ thoughts, He puts a question to them, which may call the foregone miracle to their minds; “And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? They said unto him, Seven, and a few little fishes.” But they do not add, ‘But what are they among so many?’ as they had said before; for they had advanced somewhat, though they did not yet comprehend the whole. Admire in the Apostles their love of truth, though themselves are the writers, they do not conceal their own great faults; and it is no light self-accusation to have so soon forgotten so great a miracle. Observe also their wisdom in another respect, how they had overcome their appetite, taking so little care of their meals, that though they had been three days in the desert, yet they had with them only seven loaves. Some other things also He does like to what had been done before. He makes them to sit down on the ground, and the bread to grow in the hands of the disciples; as it follows, “And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.”
• Jerome, Sup. c. xiv, 15: As we have spoken of this above, it would be tedious to repeat what has been already said; we shall therefore only dwell on those particulars in which this differs from the former.
• Chrys.: The end of the two miracles is different; “And they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. Now they that had eaten were four thousand men, besides children and women.” Whence are the fragments fewer in this miracle than in the former, although they that ate were not so many? It is a either that the basket [margin note: sporta] in this miracle is of larger capacity than the basket [margin note: cophinus] in the former, or that by this point of difference they might remember the two separate miracles; for which reason also He then made the number of baskets equal to the number of the disciples, but now to the number of the loaves.
• Remig.: In this Gospel lection we must consider in Christ the work of His humanity, and of His divinity. In that He has compassion on the multitudes, He shews that He has feeling of human frailty; in the multiplication of the loaves, and the feeding the multitudes, is shewn the working of His divinity. So here is overthrown the error of Eutyches [margin note: vid. sup. p. 16], who said, that in Christ was one nature only.
• Aug., de Cons. Ev., ii, 50: Surely it will not be out of place to suggest upon this miracle, that if any of the Evangelists who had not given the miracle of the five loaves had related this of the seven loaves, he would have been supposed to have contradicted the rest. But because those who have related the one, have also related the other, no one is puzzled, but it is understood at once that they were two separate miracles. This we have said, that wherever any thing is found done by the Lord, wherein the accounts of any two Evangelists seem irreconcilable, we may understand them as two distinct occurrences, of which one is related by one Evangelist, and one by another.
• Gloss., ap. Anselm:. It should be noted, that the Lord first removes their sicknessess, and after that feeds them; because sin must be first wiped away, and then the soul fed with the words of God.