Sunday Bible Readings January 25 2009 Third Week in Ordinary Time

January 25 2009 Sunday Third Week in Ordinary Time
Click Here for the Readings for the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul

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/012509.shtml

Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying:

Arise, and go to Ninive, the great city: and preach in it the preaching that I bid thee.

And Jonah arose, and went to Ninive, according to the word of the Lord: now Ninive was a great city of three days’ journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city one day’s journey: and he cried and said:

Yet forty days and Ninive shall be destroyed.

And the men of Ninive believed in God: and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least.

Responsorial Psalm 24:4-9 (Ps 25 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Let all them be confounded that act unjust things without cause.
Shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths.
Direct me in thy truth, and teach me;
for thou art God my Saviour;
and on thee have I waited all the day long.
Remember, O Lord, thy bowels of compassion;
and thy mercies that are from the beginning of the world.
The sins of my youth and my ignorances do not remember.
According to thy mercy remember thou me:
for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.
The Lord is sweet and righteous:
therefore he will give a law to sinners in the way.
He will guide the mild in judgment:
he will teach the meek his ways.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Haydock New Testament

This, therefore, I say, brethren: the time is short: it remaineth, that they also who have wives, be as if they had none: And they who weep, as though they wept not: and they who rejoice, as if they rejoiced not: and they who buy, as if they possessed not: And they who use this world, as if they used it not: for the figure of this world passeth away.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Mark 1:14-20
Haydock New Testament

And after that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God; And saying:

The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.

And passing by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon, and Andrew, his brother, casting nets into the sea, (for they were fishermen.) And Jesus said to them:

Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

And immediately leaving their nets, they followed him. And going on from thence a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets; And forthwith he called them. And having left their father, Zebedee, in the ship, with his hired men, they followed him.

Haydock Commentary Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 2. Bid thee before, or when thou shalt be there. C. — He seems to have retired to Jerusalem. M.
• Ver. 3. Journey. By the computation of some ancient historians, Ninive was about fifty miles round: so that to go through all the chief streets and public places, was three days’ journey. Ch. — Diodorus (iii. 1.) says Ninive was 150 stadia or furlongs in length. It must have been therefore 480 round; and as each furlong contains 125 paces of 5 ft. each, the compass would be “60 Italian miles, (about 50 Eng.)” which would employ a person three days to go through the principal streets. W. — Ninive “was much larger that Babylon.” Strabo xvi. — Heb. “a great city of God,” &c. denoting its stupendous size.
• Ver. 4. Journey. He records what he said the first day, though he seems to have preached many (Theod.) even during forty days, after which time (H.) he expected the city would fall, and therefore retired out of the walls. C. iv. — Forty. Sept. three. S. Justin, (dial.) “three, or forty-three.” Theodoret thinks that the mistake was made by some ancient transcriber, and has since prevailed in all the copies of the Sept. All the rest have forty. S. Aug. (de civ. Dei. xviii. 44.) believes the Sept. placed three for a mysterious reason. Origen (hom. xvi. Num.) suggests that the prophet determined the number, and hence God did not execute the threat. C. — This and many other menaces are conditional. If men repent, God will change his sentence. S. Chrys. S. Greg. Mor. xvi. 18. W.
• Ver. 5. God. They were convinced that he had wrought such wonders in the person of Jonas, with a desire of their welfare, particularly as he allowed them some delay. Accordingly they did penance for about forty days, and their conversion was so sincere, that Christ proposes it to his disciples. Mat. xii. 41. C. — Thus “the city was overturned in its perverse manners.” S. Aug. de civ. Dei. xxi. 24. and Ps. l. — They were at an end, and the city was renovated. H.
• Ver. 10. Mercy. Heb. “repented,” as some copies of the Sept. read, while others have, “was comforted.” H. — God suspended the stroke. But as the people soon relapsed, Sardanapalus burnt himself to death, and the city was taken, (S. Jer.) thirty-seven years after Jeroboam. A. 3257. Usher. — Yet this was only a prelude to its future ruin, foretold by Tobias, (xiv. 5. in Gr.) and effected by Nabopolassar and Astyages. C. A. 3378. Usher. — The vestiges did not appear in the days of Lucian, (Charon. C.) soon after Christ. H.

Haydock Commentary 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

• Ver. 29. The time is short, &c. Incomparable instructions to the end of this chapter, which are not obscure. Wi.
• Ver. 30. And they who weep. In this passage the apostle teaches us, in the midst of our greatest afflictions not to suffer ourselves to be overwhelmed with grief, but to recollect that the time of this life is short, and that temporary pains will be recompensed with the never-fading joys of eternity. Est.

Haydock Commentary Mark 1:14-20

• Ver. 15. As if he were to say: To this day the Mosaic law has been in full force, but henceforth the evangelical law shall be preached; which law is not undeservedly compared to the kingdom of God. Theophy. — Repent, therefore, says our Saviour, and believe the gospel; for if you believe not, you shall not understand; repent, therefore, and believe. What advantage is it to believe with good works? the merit of good works will not bring us to faith, but faith is the beginning of good works. S. Jerom.
• Ver. 16. We must observe that what S. Luke mentions, relative to the vocation of the apostles, is antecedent in point of time to what is here related by S. Mark; since it is known that these disciples on some occasions returned to their fishing, until Jesus called them to be his constant attendants. Theophylactus.

Catena Aurea Mark 1:14-20
From Catechetics Online

• Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: The Evangelist Mark follows Matthew in his order, and therefore after having said that Angels minister, he subjoins, “But after that John was put into prison, Jesus came, &c.” After the temptation and the ministry of Angels, He goes back into Galilee, teaching us not to resist the violence of evil men.
• Theophylact: And to shew us that in persecutions we ought to retire, and not to await them; but when we fall into them, we must sustain them.
• Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: He retired also that He might keep Himself for teaching and for healing, before He suffered, and after fulfilling all these things, might become obedient unto death.
• Bede: John being put in prison, fitly does the Lord begin to preach: wherefore there follows, “Preaching the Gospel, &c.” For when the Law ceases, the Gospel arises in its steps.
• Pseudo-Jerome: When the shadow ceases, the truth comes on; first, John in prison, the Law in Judaea; then, Jesus in Galilee, Paul among the Gentiles preaching the Gospel of the kingdom. For to an earthly kingdom succeeds poverty, to the poverty of Christians is given an everlasting kingdom; but earthly honour is like the foam of water, or smoke, or sleep.
• Bede: Let no one, however, suppose that the putting of John in prison took place immediately after the forty days’ temptation and the fast of the Lord; for whosoever reads the Gospel of John will find, that the Lord taught many things before the putting of John in prison, and also did many miracles; for you have in his Gospel, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus;” [Joh_2:11] and afterwards, “for John was not yet cast into prison.” [Joh_3:24] Now it is said that when John read the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he approved indeed the text of the history, and affirmed that they had spoken truth, but said that they had composed the history of only one year after John was cast into prison, in which year also he suffered. Passing over then the year of which the transactions had been published by the three others, he related the events of the former period, before John was cast into prison. When therefore Mark had said that “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom,” he subjoins, “saying, Since the time is fulfilled, &c.”
• Pseudo-Chrys., vict. Ant. Cat. in Marc.: Since then the time was fulfilled, “when the fulness of times was come, and God sent His son,” it was fitting that the race of man should obtain the last dispensation of God. And therefore he says, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
• Origen, in Matt., tom. x, 14: But the kingdom of God is essentially the same as the kingdom of heaven, though they differ in idea. [ed. note: see Origen, de Orat. 25, 26 in Matt. t 12.14 (?)] For by the kingdom of God is to be understood that in which God reigns; and this in truth is in the region of the living, where, seeing God face to face, they will abide in the good things now promised to them; whether by this region one chooses to understand Love, or some other confirmation [ed. note: By 'confirmation,' seems to be meant the perfecting of spiritual natures; see Thomas Aq., Summa Theologica, part 1, Q62, Art 1. It answers to (greek word) as used by St. Basil; de Sp. S 16] of those who put on the likeness of things above, which are signified by the heavens. [ed. note: "Coeli" is commonly interpreted of the Angels, by the Fathers.] For it is clear [ed. note: see Chrys., in Matt., Hom. 19 in c. 6,9] enough that the kingdom of God is confined neither by place nor by time.
• Theophylact: Or else, the Lord means that the time of the Law is complete; as if He said, Up to this time the Law was at work; from this time the kingdom of God will work, that is, a conversation according to the Gospel, which is with reason likened to the kingdom of heaven. For when you see a man clothed in flesh living according to the Gospel, do you not say that he has the kingdom of heaven, which “is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost?” [Rom_14:17] The next word is, “Repent.”
• Pseudo-Jerome: For he must repent, who would keep close to eternal good, that is, to the kingdom of God. For he who would have the kernel, breaks the shell; the sweetness of the apple makes up for the bitterness of its root; the hope of gain makes the dangers of the sea pleasant; the hope of health takes away from the painfulness of medicine. They are able worthily to proclaim the preaching of Christ who have deserved to attain to the reward of forgiveness; and therefore after He has said, “Repent,” He subjoins, “and believe the Gospel.” For unless ye have believed, ye shall not understand.
• Bede: “Repent,” therefore, “and believe;” that is, renounce dead works; for of what use is believing without good works? The merit of good works does not, however, bring to faith, but faith begins, that good works may follow.
• Gloss.: The Evangelist, having mentioned the preaching of Christ to the multitude, goes on to the calling of the disciples, whom He made ministers of His preaching, whence it follows, “And passing along the sea of Galilee, &c.”
• Theophylact: As the Evangelist John relates, Peter and Andrew were disciples of the Forerunner, but seeing that John had borne witness to Jesus, they joined themselves to him; afterwards, grieving that John had been cast into prison, they returned to their trade. Wherefore there follows, “casting nets into the sea, for they were fishers.” Look then upon them, living on their own labours, not on the fruits of iniquity; for such men were worthy to become the first disciples of Christ; whence it is subjoined, “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after Me.” Now He calls them for the second time; for this is the second calling in respect of that, of which we read in John. But it is shewn to what they were called, when it is added, “I will make you become fishers of men.”
• Remig.: For by the net of holy preaching they drew fish, that is, men, from the depths of the sea, that is, of infidelity, to the light of faith. Wonderful indeed is this fishing! for fishes when they are caught, soon after die; when men are caught by the word of preaching, they rather are made alive.
• Bede, in Marc., 1, 6: Now fishers and unlettered men are sent to preach, that the faith of believers might be thought to lie in the power of God, not in eloquence or in learning. It goes on to say, “and immediately they left their nets, and followed Him.”
• Theophylact: For we must not allow any time to lapse, but at once follow the Lord. After these again, He catches James and John, because they also, though poor, supported the old age of their father. Wherefore there follows, “And when He had gone a little farther thence, He saw James, the son of Zebedee, &c.” But they left their father, because he would have hindered them in following Christ. Do thou, also, when thou art hindered by thy parents, leave them, and come to God. It is shewn by this that Zebedee was not a believer; but the mother of the Apostles believed, for she followed Christ, when Zebedee was dead.
• Bede: It may be asked, how he could call two fishers from each of the boats, (first, Peter and Andrew, then having gone a little further, the two others, sons of Zebedee,) when Luke says that James and John were called to help Peter and Andrew, and that it was to Peter only that Christ said, “Fear not, from this time thou shalt catch men;” [Luke 5:!0] he also says, that “at the same time, when they had brought their ships to land, they followed Him.” We must therefore understand that the transaction which Luke intimates happened first, and afterwards that they, as their custom was, had returned to their fishing. So that what Mark here relates happened afterwards; for in this case they followed the Lord, without drawing their boats ashore, (which they would have done had they meant to return,) and followed Him, as one calling them, and ordering them to follow.
• Pseudo-Jerome: Further, we are mystically carried away to heaven, like Elias, by this chariot, drawn by these fishers, as by four horses. On these four corner-stones the first Church is built; in these, as in the four Hebrew letters, we acknowledge the tetragrammation, the name of the Lord, we who are commanded, after their example, to “hear” the voice of the Lord, and “to forget” the “people” of wickedness, and “the house of our fathers’ ” [Psa_45:10] conversation, which is folly before God, and the spider’s net, in the meshes of which we, like gnats, were all but fallen, and were confined by things vain as the air, which hangs on nothing; loathing also the ship of our former walk. For Adam, our forefather according to the flesh, is clothed with the skins of dead beasts; but now, having put off the old man, with his deeds, following the new man we are clothed with those skins of Solomon, with which the bride rejoices that she has been made beautiful [Song of Songs, 1:4]. Again, Simon, means obedient; Andrew, manly; James, supplanter [ed. note: Cf. vol i, 139, 140, 364]; John, grace; by which four names, we are knit together into God’s host [ed. note: Al. 'in imaginem']; by obedience, that we may listen; by manliness, that we do battle; by overthrowing, that we may persevere; by grace, that we may be preserved. Which four virtues are called cardinal; for by prudence, we obey; by justice, we bear ourselves manfully; by temperance, we tread the serpent underfoot; by fortitude, we earn the grace of God.
• Theophylact: We must know also, that action is first called, then contemplation; for Peter is the type of the active life, for he was more ardent than the others, just as the active life is the more bustling; but John is the type of the contemplative life, for he speaks more fully of divine things.

Sunday Bible Readings January 25 2009 Feast of The Conversion of Saint Paul The Apostle

January 25 2009 Sunday Feast of the Conversion of St Paul the Apostle
Or Alternative Readings
Click Here for the Readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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/012509.shtml

Acts 22:3-16
Haydock New Testament

And he saith:

I am a Jew, born at Tarsus, in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous for the law, as also all you are this day: And I persecuted this way unto death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, As the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the ancients: from whom also receiving letters to the brethren, I went to Damascus, to bring them bound from thence to Jerusalem, that they might be punished.

And it came to pass, as I was going and drawing near to Damascus, at mid-day, that suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me: And falling on the ground, I heard a voice saying to me:

Saul, Saul, why persecutes thou me?

And I answered:

Who art thou, Lord?

And he said to me:

I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutes.

And they that were with me, saw indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spoke with me. And I said:

What shall I do, Lord?

And the Lord said to me:

Arise, and go to Damascus: and there is shall be told thee of all things thou must do.

And whereas I did not see for the brightness of that light, being led by the hand by my companions, I came to Damascus. And one Ananias, a man according to the law, having a good character from all the Jews dwelling there, Coming to me, and standing by me, said to me:

Brother Saul, receive thy sight.

And I the same hour looked upon him. And he said:

The God of our fathers hath preordained thee that thou shouldst know his will, and see the Just One, and shouldst hear the voice from his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness to all men, of those things which thou hast seen and heard. And now why delayest thou? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon his name.

OR
Acts 9:1-22
Haydock New Testament

AND Saul, still breathing out threatening, and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, And asked of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues: that if he found any men and women of this way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he went on his journey, it came to pass that he drew near to Damascus: and suddenly a light from heaven shined round about him. And falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him:

Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?

And he said:

Who art thou, Lord?

And he:

I am Jesus, whom thou persecutes. It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.

And he, trembling and astonished, said:

Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

And the Lord said to him:

Arise, and go into the city, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Now the men who went in company with him, stood amazed, hearing indeed a voice, but seeing no one. And Saul arose from the ground, and his eyes being open, he saw nothing. But they leading him by the hands, brought him to Damascus. And he was there three days, without sight, and he neither eat nor drank. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, by name Ananias: and the Lord said to him in a vision:

Ananias.

And he said:

Behold I am here, Lord.

And the Lord said to him:

Arise, and go into the street, that is called Strait, and seek in the house of Judas, one named Saul, of Tarsus: for behold he prayeth.

(And he saw a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands upon him, that he might receive his sight.) But Ananias answered:

Lord, I have heard from many of this man, how great evils he hath done to thy saints in Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all, that invoke thy name.

And the Lord said to him:

Go, for this man is a vessel of election to me, to carry my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and children of Israel. For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name.

And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house: and laying his hands upon him, he said:

Saul, brother, the Lord Jesus hath sent me, he who appeared to thee in the way as thou camest, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight: and rising up, he was baptized. And when he had taken meat, he was strengthened. And he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, for some days. And immediately he preached Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. And all were astonished that heard him, and said:

Is not this he who in Jerusalem attacked violently those who called upon that name: and came hither for this purpose, that he might lead them bound to the chief priests?

But Saul increased much more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt at Damascus, affirming that this is the Christ.

Responsorial Psalm 116:1bc, 2 (117 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

O Praise the Lord, all ye nations:
praise him, all ye people.
For his mercy is confirmed upon us:
and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Haydock New Testament

This, therefore, I say, brethren: the time is short: it remaineth, that they also who have wives, be as if they had none: And they who weep, as though they wept not: and they who rejoice, as if they rejoiced not: and they who buy, as if they possessed not: And they who use this world, as if they used it not: for the figure of this world passeth away.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Mark 16:15-18
Haydock New Testament

And he said to them:

Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not, shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: They shall take up serpents: and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover.

Haydock Commentary Acts 22:3-16
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 3. The scholars sat much below their master; and the nearest the master were such as had made the greatest proficiency. Philo de Essenis.
• Ver. 4. This way. That is, the Christian faith, which now I profess. Wi.
• Ver. 5. As the high priest doth bear me witness. That is, as the letters which he gave me, bear witness. Wi.
• Ver. 9. Heard not the voice. To reconcile this with c. ix. v. 7. where it is said that they heard the voice; it may be answered that they heard a noise, and a voice, but heard it not distinctly, nor so as to understand the words. Wi. — They heard not the voice of him who spoke to the apostle, but they heard the latter speak; (Acts ix. 7.) or perhaps they heard a noise, which they could not understand. They perhaps heard the voice of Paul answering, but not that of Christ complaining.
• Ver. 14. Shouldst . . . see the Just One. Our Saviour appeared to S. Paul, as it is said; (c. ix. 7.) and he is divers times, both in the Prophets and in the Testament, called the Just One. Wi. — To see and hear the Just One; Him, who is just by excellence, that you also may prove a witness of his resurrection from the dead.
• Ver. 16. Wash, &c. The contrition and charity of S. Paul had, no doubt, merited for him the remission of his sins at the moment of his conversion. Still were these effects to be attributed to the desire of the sacrament of baptism, without which the council of Trent defines that the forgiveness of sins, and the punishment due to them, are not obtained. It likewise added a new degree of lustre to his innocence and purity. Tirinus. — Calling upon his name. In such manner, says S. Chrys. (hom. xlvii.) as we invoke the only true God; and as we invoke the saints, and pray to them, that they may pray for us. Wi.

Haydock Commentary Acts 9:1-22

• Ver. 4. Why dost thou persecute me? My disciples, my brothers, and my friends. The head speaks for the members, and by a figure of speech, calls them itself. S. Aug. in Ps. xxx. — Here Jesus Christ identifies himself with his Church, as on a former occasion, when he said: he that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me. Lu. x. 16.
• Ver. 5. To kick against the goad. Others translate against the pricks; others, against the sting. The metaphor is taken from oxen kicking, when pricked to go forward. Wi.
• Ver. 7. There it shall be told thee, &c. The Almighty having established a Church, and ministry, the depositories of his doctrines, does not, even on this extraordinary occasion, transgress his own laws; but sends him to the ministers of religion, that instruction may be imparted through them, as through its proper channel. This observation is worthy the notice of the self-inspired of the present day, who pretend to receive their light direct from heaven. Nothing can be more opposite to the spirit of the gospel than such delusion. A. — Hear the great S. Augustin: “Paul, though with the divine and heavenly voice prostrated and instructed, yet was sent to a man to receive the sacraments, and to be joined to the Church.” De Doct. Chris. l. i. in prœm. — Hearing, &c. This may be reconciled with what is said in the 22d chap. by supposing they heard only S. Paul speak, or heard only a confused noise, which they could not understand. Calmet.
• Ver. 8. And his eyes being open, either by himself, or by others, he saw nothing. See the circumstances related again, c. xxii. and xxvi. Wi.
• Ver. 9. Three days. During the time, he neither eat nor drank, to testify his sorrow for his past conduct. He likewise spent the time in prayer, to prepare himself for the reception of grace. S. Chrys. hom. xix.
• Ver. 12. And he saw a man, &c. This verse, which is by way of a parenthesis, contains the words of the historian, S. Luke, telling us what S. Paul saw in a vision, and what the Spirit at the same time revealed to Ananias. Wi. — This verse is a parenthesis. It contains not the words of Christ to Ananias, but S. Luke here relates what was shewn to Paul, at the time Ananias entered. This vision was shewn to him, that he might know Ananias was sent by God. Menochius.
• Ver. 15. A vessel of election. A chosen elect vessel, and minister of the gospel. Wi. — SkeouV ekloghV, an organ, or instrument. Thus Polybius uses the word, speaking of Damocles, ode hn uphretikon skeuoV, he was an excellent and choice character.
• Ver. 17. Laying his hands on him. This imposition of hands, made use of on different occasions, was to pray that he might receive his sight, as well as the grace of the Holy Ghost, which God sometimes gave to persons not yet baptized, as to Cornelius. Acts x. 44. Wi. — This imposition of hands, was not the same as that, by which the faithful were confirmed, or ordained ministers, but a ceremony commonly used by the apostles to restore health to the sick. If Saul, in consequence, receives the Holy Ghost, it was an extraordinary miraculous event, which was not an unfrequent circumstance in the infancy of Christianity. The Almighty, who establishes the laws of grace, can dispense with them himself whenever he pleases. Calmet.

Haydock Commentary 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

• Ver. 29. The time is short, &c. Incomparable instructions to the end of this chapter, which are not obscure. Wi.
• Ver. 30. And they who weep. In this passage the apostle teaches us, in the midst of our greatest afflictions not to suffer ourselves to be overwhelmed with grief, but to recollect that the time of this life is short, and that temporary pains will be recompensed with the never-fading joys of eternity. Est.

Haydock Commentary Mark 16:15-18

• Ver. 16. Let those weep and lament who have not yet seen him, and in a short time they shall receive consolation. Blessed are they that weep, for they shall be comforted, S. Mat. v. S. Jerom. — Perhaps some one will say within himself, I have already believed, I shall be saved: he says true, if his faith be supported by good works; for that only is true faith, which does not contradict in works what is believed in words. S. Greg.

Catena Aurea Mark 16:15-18
From Catechetics Online

• Augustine: And so the same Mark immediately after that rebuke says, “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” And lower down, “He that believeth not shall be condemned.” Since then they were to preach this, were not they themselves to be first rebuked, because before they saw the Lord they had not believed those to whom He had first appeared? [p. 345]
• Greg.: After rebuking the hardness of their hearts, let us hear the words of advice which He speaks. For it goes on: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” Every man must be understood by “every creature;” for man partakes something of every creatures; he has existence as have stones, life as trees, feeling as animals, understanding as have Angels. For the Gospel is preached to every creature, because He is taught by it, for whose sake all are created, whom all things are in some way like, and from whom therefore they are not alien. By the name of every creature also every nation of the Gentiles may be meant. For it had been said before, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles.” [Mat_10:5] But now it is said, “Preach the Gospel to every creature,” so that the preaching of the Apostles which was thrust aside by Judaea, might be an assistance to us, since Judaea had haughtily rejected it, thus witnessing to her own damnation.
• Theophylact: Or else; to every creature, that is, whether believing or unbelieving. It goes on: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” For it is not enough to believe, for he who believeth and is not baptized, but is a catechumen, has not yet attained to perfect salvation.
• Greg.: But perhaps some one may say in himself, I have already believed, I shall be saved. He says what is true, if he keeps his faith by works; for that is a true faith, which does not contradict by its deeds what it says in words. There follows: “But he that believeth not shall be damned.”
• Bede: What shall we say here about infants, who by reason of their age cannot yet believe; for as to older persons there is no question. In the Church then of our Saviour, children believe by others, as also they drew from others the sins which are remitted to them in baptism. It goes on: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents.”
• Theophlyact: That is, they shall scatter before them serpents, whether intellectual or sensible, as it is said, Ye shall tread upon serpents and scorpions, [Luk_10:19] which is understood spiritually. But it may also mean sensible serpents, as when Paul received no hurt from the viper. There follows: “And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.” We read of many such cases in history, for many persons have drank poison unhurt, by guarding themselves with the sign of Christ.It goes on: “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
• Greg.: Are we then without faith because we cannot do these signs? Nay, but these things were necessary in the beginning of the Church, for the faith of believers was to be nourished by miracles, that it might increase. Thus we also, when we plant groves, strong in the earth; but when once they have firmly fixed their roots, we leave off irrigating them. These signs and miracles have other things which we ought to consider more minutely. For Holy Church does every day in spirit what then the Apostles did in body; for when her Priests by the grace of exorcism lay their hands on believers, and forbid the evil spirits to dwell in their minds, what do they, but cast out devils? And the faithful who have left earthly words, and whose tongues sound forth the Holy Mysteries, speak a new language; they who by their good warnings take away evil from the hearts of others, take up serpents; and when they are hearing words of pestilent persuasion, without being at all drawn aside to evil doing, they drink a deadly thing, but it will never hurt them; whenever they see their neighbours growing weak in good works, and by their good example strengthen their life, they lay their hands on the sick, that they may recover. And all these miracles are greater in proportion as they are spiritual, and by them souls and not bodies are raised.

Haydock Bible Books Completed

I have completed the 4 Gospels and several epistles, but have refrained from publishing them until now. The Gospel accounts are not published although they probably require proofreading. I have performed some proofreading.

So far you can find the Gospels at the following links

Matthew Mark Luke John

The posts are backdated 2 years to keep them off the front page, due to their size.

More are posted

- Acts – Romans – 1 Corinthians – 2 Corinthians -

Galatians – Ephesians – Philippians – Colossians – 1 Thessalonians – 2 Thessalonians – 1 Timothy – 2 Timothy – Titus -

Philemon – Hebrews – James – 1 Peter -  2 Peter – 1 John – 2 John – 3 John – Jude – Revelation/Apocalypse