Daily Bible Readings Thursday November 4 2008 1st Week of Advent

December 4 Thursday First Week of Advent
Saint of the Day – St. John Damascene

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/120408.shtml

Isaiah 26:1-6
Douay-Rheims Challoner

In that day shall this canticle be sung in the land of Juda. Sion the city of our strength a saviour, a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein. Open ye the gates, and let the just nation, that keepeth the truth, enter in. The old error is passed away: thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee. You have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord God mighty for ever. For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.

Ps 117:1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a (Ps 118 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Give praise to the Lord, for he is good:
for his mercy endureth for ever.
It is good to confide in the Lord,
rather than to have confidence in man.
It is good to trust in the Lord,
rather than to trust in princes.
Open ye to me the gates of justice:
I will go in to them, and give praise to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it.
I will give glory to thee because thou hast heard me:
and art become my salvation.
O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and he hath shone upon us.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 7:21, 24-27
Haydock New Testament

Jesus said:

Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father, who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Every one, therefore, who heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock. And the rain fell, and the flood came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof.

Haydock Commentary Isaias 26:1-6
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1. Day. Under the law of grace, Christians sing this and such like canticles. W. — Sion. This word is not in Heb. &c. though it be understood. C. — Other nations have their respective cities. All Christians admit this one. W. — The captives continue to return thanks. Yet the Holy Ghost speaks chiefly of the Church, and of the general resurrection. C. — Bulwark. Faith and good works. W.
• Ver. 2. Truth. The Jews who returned from Babylon, were more virtuous than their ancestors, as the prophets intimate; though they have Christians principally in view.
• Ver. 3. Away: condemning the virtuous, as if they were fools. M. — Sym. “our work, or fiction, is taken away.” Heb. may have other meanings. H.
• Ver. 4. You, people of Juda.
• Ver. 5. High: Nabuchodonosor and his empire.
• Ver. 6. Needy. The Jews shall behold the ruin of the city by Cyrus, (C.) who was of a contemptible nation. H.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 7:21, 24-27

• Ver. 21. Here Jesus Christ shews, that it is not sufficient to believe in him and hear his words, but that in order to salvation, we must join works with faith; for in this shall we be examined at the last day. M. — Without faith they could not cry out, Lord, Lord. Rom. x. But the strongest faith without the works of justice, will not be available to salvation. 1 Cor. xiii. B. — Many who have the lord continually in their mouths, but care little about putting on the Lord, or penetrating themselves with his true spirit, will find their presumption, and the false consciences they have made to themselves, woefully disappointed. A.
• Ver. 24. In the Greek text, “I will compare him;” an apposite comparison, to shew the necessity of good works. It is the duty of each individual to erect this spiritual edifice of good works in the interior of his soul, which may be able to resist all the attacks of our spiritual enemy: whilst those men who have true faith and no works are compared to a fool, and are sure to perish. M. —Here again our Saviour dispenses his rewards to such as order their lives according to his instructions; but as before he promised the kingdom of heaven, divine consolations, and other rewards, so here he promises them the numberless blessings attendant on virtue in this life. The just alone are surrounded with virtue as with a strong guard, and amidst the high swelling waves of worldly troubles, enjoy a calm and unchangeable tranquillity. Thus was Job strengthened by his virtue against the attacks both of men and satan. Chry. hom. xxv.
• Ver. 25. The Scribes and Pharisees only explained the law, and laid open the promises of Moses, whereas our Saviour gives new laws, and makes new promises in his own name; But I say to you, &c. The energy also with which our Saviour spoke, together with the miracles which he wrought, had far greater influence on the minds of the people than the frigid manner in which the Scribes delivered their doctrines. M.
• Ver. 26. Nothing can be more foolish than to raise an edifice on sand: it carries punishment with it, causing indeed abundance of labour, but yielding neither reward nor repose. The slaves of malice, luxury, and voluptuousness, labour in the pursuit of their desires, yet not only receive no reward, but, on the contrary, the greatest punishment. They sow in the flesh, from the flesh they shall reap corruption. Gal. vi. Chry. hom. xxv.
• Ver. 27. Such again shall be the end of all false prophets. Their death shall be in the same proportion, ignominious and miserable, as their life had been glorious and attractive. They shall be punished with so much greater severity, than others, as their sins have proceeded from greater knowledge and greater malice. A.