Sunday Lenten Bible Readings March 15 2009 Third Week of Lent

March 15 2009 Third Sunday of Lent

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/031509.shtml

Exodus 20:1-17
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the Lord spoke all these words:

• I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
• Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
• Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth.
• Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: And shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments.
• Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain.
• Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day.
• Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works.
• But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.
• For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.
• Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayst be longlived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee.
• Thou shalt not kill.
• Thou shalt not commit adultery.
• Thou shalt not steal.
• Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
• Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house; neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.

Responsorial Psalm 18:8-11 (Ps 19 NAB/Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only

The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls:
the testimony of the Lord is faithful,
giving wisdom to little ones.
The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts:
the commandment of the Lord is lightsome,
enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever:
the judgments of the Lord are true,
justified in themselves.
More to be desired than gold and many precious stones:
and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

1 Corinthians 1:22-25
Haydock New Testament

For both the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Gentiles, foolishness: But to them that are called, both Jews, and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God, is wiser than men: and the weakness of God, is stronger than men.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint John 2:13-25
Haydock New Testament

And the Pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem: And he found in the temple those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made as it were a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and he poured out the changers’ money, and the tables he overthrew. And he said to them that sold doves:

Take these things hence, and make not the house of my Father a house of traffic.

And his disciples remembered that it was written:

The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.

The Jews therefore answered, and said to him:

What sign dost thou shew us, seeing thou dost these things?

Jesus answered, and said to them:

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

The Jews then said:

Six and forty years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?

But he spoke of the temple of his body. When, therefore, he was risen again from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture, and the word that Jesus had said. Now when he was at Jerusalem, at the Pasch, upon the festival day, many believed in his name, seeing his miracles, which he did. But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all men. And because he needed not that any should give testimony of man: for he knew what was in man.

Haydock Commentary Exodus 20:1-17
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1. The Lord now, by his angel, delivers in an intelligible manner the ten words, or commandments, which contain the sum of all the natural law, and may be reduced to two precepts of charity, Matt. xxii. 40. Mar. xii. 31. How these commandments are to be divided into ten, the ancients are not perfectly agreed. We follow the authority of S. Augustine, (9. 71,) Clement, (strom. 6,) and others, in referring three of the precepts to God, and seven to our neighbour. Protestants adopt the Jewish method, of making four commandments of the first table, and six of the second; as they divide our first into two, and unite the 9th and 10th; though it surely must appear rational to admit a distinct precept, for an internal as well as for an external object; and the desires of committing adultery or theft require a distinct prohibition no less than the external actions. Whereas the forbidding to have strange gods, or to worship images, or creatures of any description, is exactly of the same tendency. For no one can worship an idol, without admitting a strange god. The latter part, therefore, of the first commandment, or the second of Protestants, is only a farther explanation of what had gone before, as Moses himself clearly insinuates, v. 23. You shall not make gods of silver, &c.
• Ver. 2. Thy God. By this endearing title, we are all required to consecrate our whole hearts and souls to our only Maker and Redeemer; and therefore we must love God sincerely, and comply with all his commandments. This preface to the Decalogue, enforces the acts of faith, hope, charity, religion, &c. H.
• Ver. 3. Before me, or in my presence. I shall not be content to be adored with idols. C.
• Ver. 4. A graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing, &c. All such images or likenesses, are forbidden by this commandment, as are made to be adored and served; according to that which immediately follows, thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them. That is, all such as are designed for idols or image gods, or are worshipped with divine honour. But otherwise images, pictures, or representations, even in the house of God, and in the very sanctuary, so far from being forbidden are expressly authorized by the word of God. See Exodus xxv. 15, &c. chap. xxxviii. 7. Num. xxi. 8. 9. 1 Chron. xxviii. 18. 19. 2 Chron. iii. 10. Ch. — Protestants insidiously translate “any graven image,” though pesel, eidolon, glupton, and sculptile, in the Heb. Gr. and Lat. denote a graven thing or idol. They will, however, hardly condemn his majesty for having his representation stamped upon the coin of the nation, nor so many of our wealthy noblemen, who adorn their rooms with the choicest efforts of painting and of sculpture. They know that the object of prohibition is the making and adoring of idols. But they probably wish to keep the ignorant under the stupid delusion of supposing, that Catholics are idolaters, because they have images, and that they themselves are not, though they have them likewise at home; and even in their churches admit the absurd figures of the lion and the unicorn, stretching their paws over the tables of the law, instead of the pious representations of Jesus expiring on the cross, &c. which were set up by their Catholic ancestors. Let them read, and adopt herein just weights and measures, proposed to them by Thorndike, one of their most discerning and moderate teachers. In the mean time, we will assure them, that we abhor all idols; both those made with hands, and those which are formed by the head of heretics, who set up their own fancies and delusions, to be adored instead of the true God. Our general councils of Nice and of Trent define what we ought to believe on this head; and the matter is so fully explained in our catechisms and books of instruction, as well as from our pulpits, that no person can well remain in ignorance. If we perform various actions of respect before pictures, which are also done in honour of God, can any man of sense infer, that we look upon both with equal respect? Do we not read of the people falling down to shew respect to the king, and supreme worship to God, by the same act of the body? H. — Altars and sacrifice we reserve solely for God, as S. Aug. (c. Faust. xx. 21) well observes. Other indifferent practices must be determined by the intention. — Latria, or supreme worship, can be given to none but the Deity. But we shew our respect and veneration for his servants in glory, by an inferior service called Dulia, giving honour to whom honour is due. How profane and impious must the words of the first reformers appear, who, after saying most falsely, that “papists make the Virgin Mary a god, (Luther. postil.) and worship images in heathenish manner,” (Melanct. Loc. com.) attribute various fictitious crimes to the blessed Virgin and other saints! Cent. Magd. Calvin, &c.) They knew that all the saints abhorred their impiety; and therefore, in revenge, they vilify the saints, and condemn all the doctors and fathers of the Church, since the death of the apostles, as guilty of superstition and idolatry. H. — “By this occasion, dead creatures, and bloodless half worm-eaten bones, began to be honoured, invocated, and worshipped with divine honour. All which the doctors of the Church not only winked at, but also set forward.” Cent. Magd. C. vi.) What is then become of the promises of God, to teach all the truth by the mouths of his pastors? Matt. xxviii, &c. Let others judge, whether we ought to pay greater deference to Saints Jerome, Aug. Greg. &c. or to Luther, Calvin, and the Centuriators of Magdeburg. But some will even admit that images were commanded by God. C. xxv. 18, &c. Hence they lay great stress upon the words to thyself; as if all images were forbidden that man should make, without the express sanction of God. So Parkhurst Lexic. But those who are conversant in Hebrew, know that these words have no such import; and if things were inseparable from idolatry, they could not be sanctioned by God. H. — No creature must be represented as a deity. But sovereign worship, both internal and external, must be given to the great Author of all good, while we abstain from every superstitious act, and from all dealings with the devil and false religions. C. — Protestants, therefore, who only forbid images, diminish God’s law. Were not the idols of Chanaan, Chamos, &c. which represented nothing in nature, also condemned?
• Ver. 5. Adore. Protestants translate again, with the same view, as in the preceding verse, “thou shalt not bow down thyself to them,” in condemnation of Catholics, who kneel before the cross. But do not they kneel, when they receive their sacramental bread, or when they ask for their parents’ blessing? Did not S. John, and other saints, bow down out of respect to angels? And were these all idolaters! We are forbidden, therefore, to shew any respect to strange gods. But we must honour the true God in his saints, referring all the glory to him. H. — Hate me. Those who do not imitate their wicked ancestors, need not fear being involved in their punishment. M. S. Aug. q. 42. S. Greg. mor. 15. 22. S. Jer. in Ezec. xviii. — Sometimes, indeed, God takes away the lives of children and of subjects, to punish the sins of parents and of kings; but this may be no real detriment to the deceased. H. — Grotius thinks, that this menace is directed against idolaters. Others believe, it may be placed at the conclusion of each of the commandments. C.
• Ver. 7. In vain. On trifling occasions, rashly, or falsely. “Those who swear often, diminish their credit among the wise.” Philo.
• Ver. 8. Sabbath day, on which rest from servile work is prescribed, that we may worship God with greater fervour. Saturday was kept holy by the Jews, in honour of God’s resting. The apostles have authorized us to keep Sunday instead, to commemorate the mysteries of Christ’s resurrection, &c.
• Ver. 9. Six, &c. This must be understood if no festival of obligation occurred. For many were in force in the old law; such as the Passover, Encenia, Purim, &c. as there are still in the Church. H.
• Ver. 10. Stranger. Of some other nation. Good policy required that all should conform to this regulation, whatever their religion might be. Grotius. — Maimonides says, without any probablility, that “a Gentile observing the law, was guilty of death.” C.
• Ver. 12. Honour. Love, respect, feed, if requisite; support the infirmities of parents. See Num. xxiv. 1. 1 Tim. v. 3. 17. They are ministers of God in the production of children; and those who offer an affront to his minister, irritate God. Philo. — Land of Chanaan. The promises are of a temporal nature; but they should bring to our reflection the eternal rewards which attend the virtuous. The duties of parents are not specified, as nature would shew their extent, and as the obligations of parents and children are reciprocal. C.
• Ver. 13. Kill. These precepts are to be taken in their full extent, as prohibiting not only the ultimate act, but every thing which leads to it. Magistrates are authorized to inflict capital punishment. We are allowed also to defend ourselves against an unjust aggressor. But we must never intend to kill him. C. — The laws will not condemn us, perhaps, if we do; but God sees the heart, and judges. A night thief may be slain, because we know not how far our own lives may be endangered. C. xxii. 2. H.
• Ver. 14. Adultery. This precept is placed before the former one, in the Sept. S. Mark x. 19, and S. Luke xviii. 20. Adultery was punished with death, Lev. xx. 10. All civilized nations have held it in abhorrence, as destructive of all peace. Job xxxi. 11. All other impure actions are forbidden, under different penalties.
• Ver. 15. Steal; by which name fraud of every description is condemned. Some have erroneously restrained this prohibition to the stealing of men for slaves. C. xxi. 16. C.
• Ver. 16. False. Calumniators were subjected to the law of retaliation, and were forced, by the Egyptians and others, to undergo the same punishment, which they would have inflicted upon others. This law is the guardian of good faith and honesty in all our dealings. It is explained more in detail. C. xxiii. 1. Lev. xix. 11.
• Ver. 17. House. Sept. places wife first, as all do. Deut. v. 21. The express prohibition of lustful and unjust desires, might suffice to have obviated the mistake of Josephus, and of the Jews, in our Saviour’s time, who looked upon them as indifferent, provided they were not carried into effect. They render us guilty in the sight of God, (Matt. v. 28,) whenever we give consent to them, as even Ovid and the pagan philosophers acknowledged. Grotius. — At the conclusion of this 10th commandment, we find five verses in the Samaritan copy and version, as well as in the Arabic, and a sufficient vacant space is left in an ancient Syriac MS. translated from the Hebrew, which induce Kennicott (D. 2. p. 97,) to conclude that they are genuine; particularly as they explain what law was to be engraven on the two stones set up by Josue, which the Hebrew leaves ambiguous. They are as follows, repeated, for the most part, Deut. xxvii. 2. “And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land of the Chanaanites, whither thou goest to possess it, then thou shalt set thee up great stones; and thou shalt plaster them with plaster, and shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law. — And it shall come to pass, when ye are passed over the Jordan, ye shall put these stones, which I command you this day, upon Mount Gerizim. — And thou shalt build there an altar to the Lord thy God, an altar of stones; thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. — Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God, and shalt sacrifice peace-offerings; and thou shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God. — That mountain is on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Chanaanites, which dwell in the flat country over-against Gilgal, beside the plain of Moreh, near Sichem.” This particular designation of Gerizim, makes Calmet suspect, that it is an interpolation of the Samaritans. But Kennicott hesitates not to lay the blame of omission upon the Jews; as he endeavours to shew, that they have corrupted Deut. xxvii. 4, substituting Hebal, instead of Gerizim. “Certainly the Jews might omit, as easily as the Samaritans might insert.“ p. 100. H.

Haydock Commentary 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

• Ver. 22-25. The Jews, in the mean time, ask for miracles, such as God formerly wrought in their favour, and the Greeks, or the Gentiles, to be converted, expect from us, what they would look upon as the highest points of human wisdom and knowledge; for that which appeareth the foolishness of God, is wiser than men, and able to confound the highest human wisdom; and that which appeareth weakness of God, is stronger than men, who cannot hinder God from converting the world, by means and methods, that seem so disproportioned to this his design. Wi. — Foolishness. That is to say, what appears foolish to the world in the ways of God, is indeed more wise: and what appears weakness, is indeed above all the strength and comprehension of man. Ch.

Haydock Commentary John 2:13-25

• Ver. 15. He drove them all out of the temple. According to S. Chrys. (hom. lxvii. in Matt.) this casting out was different from that which is there related, c. xxi. v. 12. Wi. — How could the Son of the carpenter, Joseph, whose divinity was yet unknown to the people, succeed in expelling so great a multitude from the temple! There was undoubtedly something divine in his whole conduct and appearance, which deterred all from making resistance. The evangelist seems to insinuate this by putting these words: “The house of my Father,” into our Saviour’s mouth, which was making himself immediately the Son of God. This made Origen consider this miracle, in overcoming the unruly dispositions of so many, as a superior manifestation of power to what he had shewn in changing the nature of water at Cana. A. — Jesus Christ here shews the respect he requires should be shewn to the temple of God; and S. Paul, speaking of the profaners of God’s Church, saith: If any man defile the temple of God, he will God destroy. 1 Cor. iii. 17. Which in a spiritual sense may be understood of the soul of man, which is the living temple of the living God. A.
• Ver. 20. Six and forty years, &c. This many understand of the time the second temple was building, from the edict of Cyrus to the sixth year of Darius Hystaspes. Others, of the enlarging and beautifying the temple, which was begun by Herod the great, forty-six years before the Jews spoke this to our Saviour. Wi. — Interpreters are much embarrassed by these words; as the building of the temple, which then existed, had been finished in much less than 46 years. Herod renewed the temple from the foundations, and spent in that work only nine years and a half. It was begun 46 years before the first Pasch at which our Saviour appeared. Usher, ad an. Mundi 3987. — But this prince, according to Josephus, continued to make new building and embellishments to the very time in which the Jews uttered these words: it is now 46 years, &c.
• Ver. 24. Trust himself to them. The Fathers generally understand these words, to them, to refer to those who believed in him, mentioned in the preceding verse. Though they believed in him, he did not trust himself to them, because he knew them. He knew their weaknesses, their inconstancy, their unsteadiness. He knew they would abandon him on the first occasion; and that his passion, his cross, his doctrines, would be a subject of scandal. S. Austin compares these first believers to catechumens. They believe in Christ, confess his name, and sign their foreheads with his cross: but Jesus Christ does not trust himself to them; he does not trust to them the knowledge of his mysteries; he does not reveal to them the secrets of his religion. Calmet. — The catechumens were not allowed to be present at the holy mysteries of the sacrifice of the mass, but went out after the instruction of the gospel; whence the first part of the mass was frequently called the mass of the catechumens.