Daily Lenten Bible Readings Tuesday March 17 2009 Third Week of Lent

March 17 2009 Tuesday Third Week of Lent
Saint of the Day – St. Patrick

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/031709.shtml

Daniel 3:25, 34-43
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Then Azarias standing up, prayed in this manner, and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire, he said:

Deliver us not up for ever, we beseech thee, for thy name’s sake, and abolish not thy covenant. And take not away thy mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, thy beloved, and Isaac, thy servant, and Israel, thy holy one: To whom thou hast spoken, promising that thou wouldst multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the sea shore.

For we, O Lord, are diminished more than any nation, and are brought low in all the earth this day for our sins. Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first fruits before thee, That we may find thy mercy: nevertheless, in a contrite heart and humble spirit let us be accepted. As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs: so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in thee. And now we follow thee with all our heart, and we fear thee, and seek thy face.

Put us not to confusion, but deal with us according to thy meekness, and according to the multitude of thy mercies. And deliver us, according to thy wonderful works, and give glory to thy name, O Lord:

Responsorial Psalm 24:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9 (Ps 25 NAB/Hebrew)
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;
Remember, O Lord, thy bowels of compassion;
and thy mercies that are from the beginning of the world.
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.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 18:21-35
Haydock New Testament

Then Peter came unto him, and said:

Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?

Jesus said to him:

I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven: Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him, that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment be made. But that servant falling down, besought him, saying:

Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go, and forgave him the debt. But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence: and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying:

Pay what thou owest.

And his fellow-servant falling down, besought him, saying:

Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. Now his fellow-servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came, and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him: and said to him:

Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me. Shouldst not thou then have compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on thee?

And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all the debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

Haydock Commentary Daniel 3:25, 34-43
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 34. Sake. This disinterested motive is often urged. Jos. vii. 9. and 2 Mac. viii. 15. C.
• Ver. 35. One. Moses used the like terms, and pacified God. Ex. xxxii. W.
• Ver. 38. Thee, in Jerusalem, (H.) or Judea. There were chiefs and judges, (C. xiii.) as well as prophets, (Ezech. &c.) among the captives. Yet the republic was in disorder. C. — Sedecias was dead, Joakim in prison, so that no Jewish king ruled over the people; nor was there any prophet in the promised land, Jeremias being either dead or in Egypt. W. — Prophets were at least very rare. M.
• Ver. 40. Sacrifice of ourselves. H. — They knew not yet whether they would escape. When they beheld the angel they had greater confidence, and broke forth into a hymn of praise. Houbig. — They now offer all they can, a humble heart!
• Ver. 43. Name, by rescuing us, that all may confess thy power. C.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 18:21-35

• Ver. 21. S. Peter knew the Jews to be much given to revenge; he therefore thought it a great proof of superior virtue to be able to forgive seven times. It was for this reason he proposed this question to our Lord; who, to shew how much he esteemed charity, immediately answered, not only seven times, but seventy times seven times. He does not mean to say that this number must be the bounds of our forgiving; we must forgive to the end, and never take revenge, however often our brother offend against us. There must be no end of forgiving poor culprits that sincerely repent, either in the sacrament of penance, or one man another his offences. B. — To recommend this great virtue more forcibly, he subjoins the parable of the king taking his accounts: and, for the great severity there exercised, he intimates how rigid will his heavenly Father be to those who forgive not their enemies. Dion. Carth.
• Ver. 22. Till seventy times seven; i.e. 490 times; but it is put by way of an unlimited number, to signify we must pardon private injuries, though even so often done to us. Wi. — When our brother sins against us, we must grieve for his sake over the evil he has committed; but for ourselves we ought greatly to rejoice, because we are thereby made like our heavenly Father, who bids the sun to shine upon the good and the bad. But if the thought of having to imitate God alarms us, though it should not seem difficult to a true lover of God, let us place before our eyes the examples of his favourite servants. Let us imitate Joseph, who though reduced to a state of the most abject servitude, by the hatred of his unnatural brethren, yet in the affliction of his heart, employed all his power to succour them in their afflictions. Let us imitate Moses, who after a thousand injuries, raised his fervent supplications in behalf of his people. Let us imitate the blessed Paul, who, though daily suffering a thousand afflictions from the Jews, still wished to become an anathema for their salvation. Let us imitate Stephen, who, when the stones of his persecutors were covering him with wounds, prayed that the Almighty would pardon their sin. Let us follow these admirable examples, then shall we extinguish the flames of anger, then will our heavenly Father grant us the forgiveness of our sins, through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. S. Chrys. hom. lxii.
• Ver. 24. Ten thousand talents. It is put as an example for an immense sum. It is not certainly agreed what was the value of a talent. A talent of gold is said to be 4900 lb.; of silver 375 lb. See Walton’s Prologomena, Dr. Harris’s Lexicon, &c. Wi. — The 10,000 talents, according to some authors, amount to £1,875,000 sterling, i.e., 740,000 times as much as his fellow-servant owed him; the hundred pence amounting to not more than £3 2s. 6d.
• Ver. 35. So also shall my heavenly Father do to you. In this parable the master is said to have remitted the debt, and yet afterwards to have punished the servant for it. God doth not in this manner with us. But we may here observe, once for all, that in parables, diverse things are only ornamental to the parable itself; and a caution and restriction is to be used in applying them. Wi. — Not that God will revoke a pardon once granted; for this would be contrary to his infinite mercy, and his works are without repentance. It means that God will not pardon, or rather that he will severely punish the ingratitude and inhumanity of the man, who, after having received from God the most liberal pardon of his grievous transgressions, refuses to forgive the slightest offence committed against him by his neighbour, who is a member, nay a son of his God. This ingratitude may justly be compared with the 10,000 talents, as every grievous offence committed against God, exceeds, in an infinite degree, any offence against man. T. — This forgiveness must be real, not pretended; from the heart, and not in word and appearance only; sacrificing all desire of revenge, all anger, hatred and resentment, at the shrine of charity.