Daily Bible Readings Friday February 20 2009 Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

February 20 2009 Friday Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day – Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto

About the sources used. The readings on this site are from the Haydock Bible according to the daily Lectionary readings for the American Roman Catholic Church. The Haydock Bible contains traditional Catholic commentary and is free from copyright. Due to verse numbering differences and pastoral deletions in the actual Lectionary, these readings may at times vary from the actual readings.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/022009.shtml

Genesis 11:1-9
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech. And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it. And each one said to his neighbour:

Come let us make brick, and bake them with fire.

And they had brick instead of stones, and slime instead of mortar: And they said:

Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven; and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building. And he said:

Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed. Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city. And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.

Responsorial Psalm 32:10-15 (Ps 33 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

The Lord bringeth to nought the counsels of nations;
and he rejecteth the devices of people,
and casteth away the counsels of princes.
But the counsel of the Lord standeth for ever:
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord:
the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance.
The Lord hath looked from heaven:
he hath beheld all the sons of men.
From his habitation which he hath prepared,
he hath looked upon all that dwell on the earth.
He who hath made the hearts of every one of them:
who understandeth all their works.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Mark 8:34-9:1
Haydock New Testament

And calling together the multitude with his disciples, he said to them:

If any man will follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, and for the gospel, shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him, when he shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels.

And he said to them:

Amen, I say to you, that there are some of them that stand here, who shall not taste death, till they see the kingdom of God coming in power.

AND after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John: and leadeth them up to a high mountain apart by themselves, and was transfigured before them.

Haydock Commentary Genesis 11:1-9
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1. Speech. Probably Hebrew; in which language we have the most ancient book in the world, the work of Moses. This language has been preserved ever since, though with some alterations. Most of the oriental languages are but like dialects from it, as French, Italian, &c. are from Latin. The arguments which are brought to prove that other languages are more ancient, because the names of men, &c. have a proper significance in them as well as in Hebrew, do not invalidate the right of the latter. The most respectable authors have, therefore, always declared for it. H.
• Ver. 2. The East: Armenia, which lies to the eastward of Babylonia, whither they directed their course in quest of provisions for themselves and cattle, being now grown pretty numerous. M.
• Ver. 3. Each one: not that every individual joined in this undertaking, considered, at least, as a rash and presumptuous attempt to save themselves from a second deluge. Some might innocently give in to it, meaning only to leave a monument to their common origin and friendship, before they separated into distant countries. Slime: literally bitumen. H. — The Hebrew, chomer, means also slime, or mortar. Stone is very scarce in that country, but the earth is fat, and very proper to make brick; it also abounds in naphtha, bitumen, &c.: hence the ancients notice the brick walls of Babylon. C.
• Ver. 4. Famous before; Heb. lest, &c.; as if they intended to prevent that event. H. — Their motive appears to have been pride, which raised the indignation of God. Nemrod, the chief instigator, might have designed the tower for a retreat, whence he might sally out and maintain his tyranny. M.
• Ver. 6. In deed. This seems to be spoken ironically; though the effects of weak mortals, the sons of Adam, when pursued with vigour and unanimity, will produce great effects. These builders had conceived an idea of raising the tower as high as possible, hyperbolically, to touch heaven. H.
• Ver. 7. Come ye, &c. As men seemed bent on taking heaven by storm, like the ancient giants, God turns their expressions, as it were, against themselves, and shews them an example of humility, let us go down. He acts the part of a judge, and therefore will examine all with the utmost diligence, as he denotes by these expressions; being really incapable of moving from place to place, on account of his immensity. H. — He seems nearer to men, by the effects or punishments which he inflicted. The address which he here makes is directed, not to the angels, but to the other co-equal powers of the Blessed Trinity. M.
• Ver. 9. Babel, that is, confusion. This is one of the greatest miracles recorded in the Old Testament; men forgot, in a moment, the language which they had hitherto spoken, and found themselves enabled to speak another, known only to a few of the same family (C.); for we must not suppose that there were as many new languages as there were men at Babel. M. — The precise number of languages which were then heard, cannot be determined. The learned commonly acknowledge the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Teutonic, Sclavonian, Tartarian, and Chinese languages, to be original. The rest are only dialects from these. English is chiefly taken from the Teutonic, (C.) with many words borrowed from the Greek and other languages. H.

Haydock Commentary Mark 8:34-9:1

Nothing

Catena Aurea Mark 8:34-9:1
From Catechetics Online

• Bede: After shewing to His disciples the mystery of His passion and resurrection, He exorts them, as well as the multitude, to follow the example of His passion. Wherefore it goes on, “And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself.”
• Chrys., Hom. in Matt., 55: As is He would say to Peter, Thou indeed dost rebuke Me, who am willing to undergo My passion, but I tell thee, that not only is it wrong to prevent Me from suffering, but neither canst thou be saved unless thou thyself diest.
• Again He says, “Whosoever wishes to come after Me;” as if He said, I call you to those good things which a man should wish for, I do not force you to evil and burdensome things; for he who does violence to his hearer, often stands in his way; but he who leaves him free, rather draws him to himself. And a man denies himself when he cares not for his body, so that whether it be scourged, or whatever of like nature it may suffer, he bears it patiently.
• Theophylact: For a man who denies another, be it brother or father, does not sympathize with him, nor grieve at his fate, though he be wounded and die; thus we ought to despise our body, so that if it should be wounded or hurt in any way, we should not mind its suffering.
• Chrys.: But He says not, a man should not spare himself, but what is more, that he should deny himself, as if he had nothing in common with himself, but face danger, and look upon such things as if another were suffering; and this is [p. 161] really to spare himself; for parents then most truly act kindly to their children, when they give them up to their masters, with an injunction not to spare them. Again, He shews the degree to which a man should deny himself, when He says, “And take up his cross,” by which He means, even to the most shameful death.
• Theophylact: For at that time the cross appeared shameful, because malefactors were fixed to it.
• Pseudo-Jerome: Or else, as a skilful pilot, foreseeing a storm in a calm, wishes his sailors to be prepared; so also the Lord says, “If any one will follow me, &c.”
• Bede: For we deny ourselves, when we avoid what we were of old, and strive to reach that point, whither we are newly called. And the cross is taken up by us, when either our body is pained by abstinence, or our soul afflicted by fellow-feeling for our neighbour.
• Theophylact: But because after the cross we must have a new strength, He adds, “and follow me.”
• Chrys.: And this He says, because it may happen that a man may suffer and yet not follow Christ, that is, when he does not suffer for Christ’s sake; for he follows Christ, who walks after Him, and conforms himself to His death, despising those principalities and powers under whose power, before the coming of Christ, he committed sin.
• Then there follows, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
• I give you these commands, as it were to spare you; for whosoever spares his son, brings him to destruction, but whosoever does not spare him, saves him. It is therefore right to be always prepared for death; for if in the battles of this world, he who is prepared for death fights better than others, though none can restore him to life after death, much more is this the case in spiritual battle, when so great a hope of resurrection is set before him, since he who gives up his soul unto death saves it.
• Remig.: And life is to be taken in this place for the present life, and not for the substance itself of the soul.
• Chrys.: And therefore He had said, “For whomsoever will save his life shall lose it,” lest any one should suppose this loss to be equivalent to that salvation, He adds, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, &c.” As if He said, Think not that he has saved his soul, who has shunned the perils [p. 162] of the cross; for when a man, at the cost of his soul, that is, his life, gains the whole world, what has he besides, now that his soul is perishing? Has he another soul to give for his soul? For a man can give the price of his house in exchange for the house; but in losing his soul, he has not another soul to give. And it is with a purpose that He says, “Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” for God, in exchange for our salvation, has given the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
• Bede, in Marc. 2, 36: Or else He says this, because in time of persecution, our life is to be laid aside, but in time of peace, our earthly desires are to be broken, which He implies when He says, “For what shall it profit a man, &c.”
• But we are often hindered by a habit of shamefacedness, from expressing with our voice the rectitude which we preserve in our hearts; and therefore it is added, “For whosoever shall confess Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, him also shall the Son of man confess, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
• Theophylact: For that faith which only remains in the mind is not sufficient, but the Lord requires also the confession of the mouth; for when the soul is sanctified by faith, the body ought also to be sanctified by confession.
• Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: He then who has learned this, is bound zealously to confess Christ without shame. And this generation is called adulterous, because it has left God the true Bridegroom of the soul, and has refused to follow the doctrine of Christ, but has prostrated itself to the devil and taken up the seeds of impiety, for which reason also it is called sinful. Whosoever therefore amongst them has denied the kingdom of Christ, and the words of God revealed in the Gospel, shall receive a reward befitting His impiety, when He hears in the second advent, “I know you not.” [Mat_7:23]
• Theophylact: Him then who shall leave confessed that his God was crucified, Christ Himself also shall confess, not here, where He is esteemed poor and wretched, but in His glory and with a multitude of Angels.
• Greg., Hom. in 32, in Evang.: There are however some, who confess Christ, because they see that all men are Christians; for if the name of Christ were not at this day in such great glory, the Holy Church would not have so many professors. The voice of the profession therefore is not sufficient for a trial of faith [p. 163] whilst the profession of the generality defends it from shame.
• In the time of peace therefore there is another way, by which we may be known to ourselves. We are ever fearful of being despised by our neighbours, we think it shame to bear injurious words; if perchance we have quarrelled with our neighbour, we blush to be the first to give satisfaction; for our carnal heart, in seeking the glory of this life, disdains humility.
• Theophylact: But because He had spoken of His glory, in order to shew that His promises were not vain, He subjoins, “Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here who shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”
• As if He said, Some, that is, Peter, James, and John, shall not taste of death, until I shew them, in my transfiguration, with what glory I am to come in my second advent; for the transfiguration was nothing else, but an announcement of the second coming of Christ, in which also Christ Himself and the Saints will shine.
• Bede, in Marc., 3, 36: Truly it was done with a loving foresight, in order that they, having tasted for a brief moment the contemplation of everlasting joy, might with the greater strength bear up under adversity.
• Chrys., Hom. in Matt., 56: And He did not declare the names of those who were about to go up, lest the other disciples should feel some touch of human frailty, and He tells it to them beforehand, that they might come with minds better prepared to be taught all that concerned that vision.
• Bede: Or else the present Church is called the kingdom of God; and some of the disciples were to live in the body until they should see the Church built up, and raised against the glory of the world; for it was right to make some promises concerning this life to the disciples who were uninstructed, that they might be built up with greater strength for the time to come.
• Pseudo-Chrys., Orig. in Matt. tom., 12, 33, 35: But in a mystical sense, Christ is life, and the devil is death, and he tastes of death, who dwells in sin; even now every one, according as he has good or evil doctrines, tastes the bread either of life or of death. And indeed, it is a less evil to see death, a greater to taste of it, still worse to follow it, worst of all to be subject to it.