Daily Bible Readings Tuesday March 24 2009 Fourth Week of Lent

March 24 2009 Tuesday Fourth Week of Lent
Saint of the Day – St. Catherine of Genoa

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/032409.shtml

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And he brought me again to the gate of the house, and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house toward the east: for the forefront of the house looked toward the east: but the waters came down to the right side of the temple to the south part of the altar. And he led me out by the way of the north gate, and he caused me to turn to the way without the outward gate to the way that looked toward the east: and behold there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went out towards the east, he measured a thousand cubits: and he brought me through the water up to the ankles. And again he measured a thousand, and he brought me through the water up to the knees. And he measured a thousand, and he brought me through the water up to the loins. And he measured a thousand, and it was a torrent, which I could not pass over: for the waters were risen so as to make a deep torrent, which could not be passed over. And he said to me:

Surely thou hast seen, O son of man.

And he brought me out, and he caused me to turn to the bank of the torrent. And when I had turned myself, behold on the bank of the torrent were very many trees on both sides. And he said to me:

These waters that issue forth toward the hillocks of sand to the east, and go down to the plains of the desert, shall go into the sea, and shall go out, and the waters shall be healed. And every living creature that creepeth whithersoever the torrent shall come, shall live: and there shall be fishes in abundance after these waters shall come thither, and they shall be healed, and all things shall live to which the torrent shall come. And by the torrent on the banks thereof on both sides shall grow all trees that bear fruit: their leaf shall not fall off, and their fruit shall not fail: every month shall they bring forth firstfruits, because the waters thereof shall issue out of the sanctuary: and the fruits thereof shall be for food, and the leaves thereof for medicine.

Responsorial Psalm 45:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 (Ps 46 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Our God is our refuge and strength:
a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly.
Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled;
and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea.
The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful:
the most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle.
God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved:
God will help it in the morning early.
The Lord of armies is with us:
the God of Jacob is our protector.
Come and behold ye the works of the Lord:
what wonders he hath done upon earth,

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint John 5:1-16
Haydock New Testament

AFTER these things there was a festival day of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem a pond, called Probatica, which is Hebrew is named Bethsaida, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of lame, of withered, waiting for the moving of the water. And an Angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond: and the water was moved: And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under. And there was a certain man there, that had been eight and thirty years under his infirmity. Him when Jesus has seen lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith to him:

Wilt thou be made whole?

The infirm man answered him:

Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond: for whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me.

Jesus saith to him:

Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.

And immediately the man was made whole: and he took up his bed, and walked. And it was the sabbath that day. The Jews, therefore, said to him that was cured:

It is the sabbath, it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed.

They asked him, therefore:

Who is that man that said to thee: Take up thy bed, and walk?

But he that was healed, knew not who it was. For Jesus went aside from the multitude that was standing in the place. Afterwards Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith to him:

Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.

The man went his way, and told the Jews that it was Jesus that had made him whole. Thereupon, the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.

Haydock Commentary Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1. Waters. These waters are not to be understood literally, (for there were none such that flowed from the temple) but mystically of the baptism of Christ, and of his doctrine and his grace; the trees that grow on the banks are Christian virtues; the fishes are Christians, that spiritually live in and by these holy waters; the fishermen are the apostles, and apostolic preachers; the fenny places, where there is no health, are such as by being out of the Church are separated from these waters of life. Ch. — It is not probable that real water or fishes were found, v. 9. But this must be explained of the Church and of baptism, in a higher and more proper sense. W. — Joel, (iii. 18.) before the captivity, and Zacharias, (xiv. 8.) after that event, speak of fountains as still to appear, and of course not in either temple, though Pilate made aqueducts for the purpose, (Jos. Bel. ii. 13.) which Tacitus, (An. v.) Maundrel, (p. 148.) and others mention. But the prophets allude not to them, but to Christ, the fountain of water springing up unto life eternal. John iv. 14. and vii. 38. C. — Villalpand understands it of waters brought into the temple to wash the victims; but it seems to refer more to the grace and doctrine of Christ. M.
• Ver. 2. East. This gate was shut, and therefore he went out at the north gate. C.
• Ver. 8. The. Heb. “the east country,” (Prot. H.) or “the frontiers (Gelilah) eastward,” by which some improperly suppose that one rivulet went to the sea of Galilee. — And shall. Heb. “the sea of the going out,” where the Jordan River empties itself into the Dead Sea; or, the second rivulet ran into the Mediterranean. Zac. xiv. 8. But this passage relates to the Dead Sea alone, (v. 18.) and Gelilah is a place near it, where the Israelites erected an altar of union. Jos. xxii. 10. C. — Healed. No fish can live in the sea of Sodom. Solin xxxviii. — Yet, let the place be ever so noxious, this water shall cure it; (see 4 K. ii. 19. C.) which must be taken in a mystical sense. H.
• Ver. 12. First-fruits, or most excellent. H. — S. John saw such W. a tree of life. Apoc. xxii. H. — The doctrine of the gospel, and the study of the sacred books, have the most salutary effects; while the very leaves, or the example of the saints, heal the soul. No more shall the deceitful fruits near Sodom be seen (C.) beautiful, but full of nothing but ashes. Tacit. An. v. — Where Christ instructs, a torrent of grace and glory is presently formed. Like the mustard seed growing into a large tree, in which the birds rest, its origin in mean; yet its progress is grand and astonishing.

Haydock Commentary John 5:1-16

• Ver. 1. Observe here the malice of the Pharisees; they were more hurt at the cure of the sick man, than at the violation of the sabbath. Therefore, they ask not, Who healed you; but, as if they wished to keep that out of sight, Who told you to take up you bed? S. Chrys. — But he answers: The same who healed me: Why should I not receive orders from him from whom I have received my health? S. Aug. — By the festival, mentioned in v. 1, is generally understood the Passover; and this was the second from the commencement of Christ’s ministry. S. Matt. calls it by this name, C. xxvi. 5. S. Mark, C. xiv. 2. and xv. 6. and S. Luke, C. xxiii. 17. For the first Passover, see above, John ii. 13; for the third, John vi. 4; for the fourth and last, Matt. xxvi. 17. The first three are only mentioned by S. John, the fourth by all the evangelists.
• Ver. 2. Now there is at Jerusalem a pond, called Probatica.[1] Some translate, the sheep-pond. It is true the Greek word signifies something belonging to sheep. But because the ancient Latin interpreter thought fit to retain the Greek, probatica, and also because of the different expositions, I have not changed the word. Some think it was so called, as being near the gate called the sheep-gate: others, as being near the sheep-market: others, because the sheep that were brought to be sacrificed, were washed in it; or, at least, that the blood and entrails of sheep and beast sacrificed, were thrown into it, or washed there. In the ordinary Greek copies we read thus: there is at, or near, the Probatica, a pond or fish-pond. In Hebrew it was called Bethsaida, a house for fishing: and in most Greek copies, Bethchesda, a house of mercy, (perhaps because of the cures done there) having five porches, covered and arched, for the convenience of the infirm that lay there, waiting for the motion of the water. Wi. — The word probaton, signifies a sheep. This pond is therefore called Probatica, because there the priests washed the sacrifices. S. Aug. — In imitation of this sick man, if we wish to return God thanks for his favours, or to enjoy the pleasure of his company, we must fly the crowd of vain and wicked thoughts that continually tempt us; we must avoid the company of the wicked, and fly to the sanctuary, that we may render our hearts worthy temples of that God who vouchsafes to visit us. Alcuin.
• Ver. 4. And an angel of the Lord.[2] In many Greek copies is now wanting, of the Lord; but at least the ancient Fathers, and interpreters, expound it of a true angel, and of a miraculous cure: so that I cannot but wonder that so learned a man as Dr. Hammond, should rather judge these cures to have been natural. By the angel, he would have us to understand a messenger sent from the temple, who was to stir up the blood, and the grosser and thicker parts from the bottom of the pond, and that these cures were made much after the same manner, as, in some cases, persons find a cure by being put into the belly of a beast newly opened. Into what extravagant interpretations are men of learning sometimes led by their private judgment! What scholar of Galen or Hippocrates, ever pretended that this was a certain and infallible cure for all manner of diseases? Yet here we read: that he who got first into this pond, after the motion of the water, was healed, whatsoever distemper he was seized with. The blind are particularly named: Is this a certain remedy that restores sight to the blind? Wi. — The effect produced could not be natural, as only one was cured at each motion of the waters. The longing expectation of the suffering patients, is a mark of the persevering prayer with which poor sinners should solicit the cure of their spiritual infirmities. A.
• Ver. 5. Infirmity. The Greek, asqeneia, signifies in its radical interpretation, a loss of strength: in this place it seems to denote a confirmed palsy.
• Ver. 6. Wilt thou be made whole? No doubt but the poor man desired nothing more. Christ put this question, to raise him to a lively faith and hope. Wi.
• Ver. 8. Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. The man found himself healed at that very moment, and did as he was ordered, though it was the sabbath-day. The Jews blamed him for it: he told them, that he who had healed him, bade him do so. And who it was he knew not, till Jesus finding him in the temple, said to him: (v. 14.) Sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. Upon this he went, not out of malice, but out of gratitude, and told the Jews that Jesus had cured him. Wi.
• Ver. 14. Sin no more, &c. By these words our Saviour shews, that his infirmity was sent in punishment of his sins. When our souls are covered with the leprosy of sin, we are frequently insensible of our misfortune; whereas, as soon as the body is attacked with sickness, though ever so inconsiderable, we are not to be pacified till the physician has been consulted, and some remedy applied to remove, if possible, the complaint. S. Chrys. hom. xxxvii. in Joan. — Men are astonished that God, for so short a pleasure as is found in the perpetration of sin, should have decreed an everlasting punishment in the fire of hell; for they say, Shall I be punished for ever, for having indulged a sinful thought for a single moment? But their astonishment will cease, when they consider that punishments are not inflicted on sins in proportion to the length of time that was spent in their perpetration, but that they are proportioned to their malice. Now the malice of sin being infinite, aimed against the infinite majesty and infinity sanctity of God, the punishment, to be any ways commensurate, must be infinite. If, therefore, the sinner dies charged with the infinite debt of mortal sin unrepented of, as the time of mercy and repentance finishes with the present life, the sin must necessarily remain, God’s hatred for sin must necessarily remain, and the punishment justly inflicted must necessarily continue. A. — These words are applicable to every penitent sinner, when he returns from the tribunal of confession, and shew how careful he ought to be not to relapse into his former sins. “For he who after pardon sins again, is unworthy of mercy; who being cured, makes himself sick again, and who being cleansed, defiles himself again.” Tom. ii. S. Chrys. de lapsu prim. hom. . .