Daily Bible Readings Friday April 17 2009 Octave of Easter

April 17 2009 Friday in the Octave of Easter
Saint of the Day – St. Benedict Joseph Labre

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/041709.shtml

Acts 4:1-12
Haydock New Testament

AND as they were speaking to the people, the priests, and the officer of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead: And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody till the next day: for now it was evening.

But many of them, who had heard the word, believed: and the number of the men was made five thousand. And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and ancients, and Scribes, were gathered together in Jerusalem: And Annas, the high priest, and Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the priestly race. And setting them in the midst, they asked;

By what power, or in what name, have ye done this?

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to them;

Yes rulers of the people, and ancients, hear: If we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he hath been made whole, Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you, whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders; which is become the head of the corner: Nor is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name, under heaven, given to men, whereby we must be saved.

Responsorial Psalm 117:1-2 and 4, 22-27a (Ps 118 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Let Israel now say, that he is good: that his mercy endureth for ever.
Let them that fear the Lord now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner.
This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein.
O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and he hath shone upon us.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint John 21:1-14
Haydock New Testament

AFTER this Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he manifested himself after this manner: There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana, in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter saith to them;

I go a fishing.

They say to him;

We also come with thee.

And they went forth and entered into a ship: and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus therefore said to them;

Children, have you any meat?

They answered him;

No.

He saith to them;

Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find.

They cast, therefore: and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. That disciple, therefore, whom Jesus loved, said to Peter;

It is the Lord.

Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, girded his coat about him, (for he was naked) and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the ship, (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits) drawing the net with fishes. As soon, then, as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread.Jesus saith to them;

Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught.

Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. And although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus saith to them;

Come, and dine.

And none of them who were at meat, durst ask him, Who art thou? Knowing that it was the Lord. And Jesus cometh and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish in like manner. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he was risen from the dead.

Haydock Commentary Acts 4:1-12
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1. The officer[1] (of the guard) of the temple: lit. the magistrate of the temple. But this magistrate, by the Greek, was an officer over soldiers; we may presume, over those who were to guard the temple. Wi.
• Ver. 2. The resurrection. This vexed particularly the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection: and they had great power among the Jews. Wi.
• Ver. 4. Five thousand. Not that hereby is meant the whole number of the believers, but five thousand, by this miracle and preaching, were added to those that believed before. Wi. — Here again we remark the visible increase of the Catholic Church, by the preaching of the word.
• Ver. 5. Their rulers, &c. The chief of them, and Annas, the high priest; perhaps he had lately succeeded Caiphas, high priest of the year before. Wi.
• Ver. 7. By what authority? Is it by your own authority, or that of some other, you have healed this lame man? They wished the know if it was a true miracle, or the effects of some secret magic or enchantment. The knowledge of this kind of affairs belonged to them. It was their duty to repress the attempts of false prophets, seducers, and magicians. But they might easily discover that the apostles were far removed from any thing of this kind. The simple narration of the fact was enough to acquit them. Calmet.
• Ver. 10. Name of our Lord Jesus. From this, S. Chrysostom takes occasion to make several pathetic exhortations against swearing and profaning this adorable name. What profit do you propose to yourselves by abusing this name? Is it to gain credit to your discourse? So you will tell me; but, believe me, you are mistaken: if people saw you respected oaths, and were afraid to make free with them, then they would believe you. Not when you give them to understand that you undervalue them, by your frequent abuse of them. Break then so profane a custom. It will cost you neither money nor labour to do so: you are not required to part with any gratification for this purpose. Use only at the beginning a little diligence, and you will easily overcome so idle a practice. Wish, and it is done. S. Chrys. super Act. sparsim. A. — Whom you crucified. S. Peter, without fear or apprehension, openly and boldly tells them of their heinous crime: that Christ is the head corner stone, which they had rejected, as Christ himself had told them, (Matt. xii. 10.) and that there is no name under heaven given to men to be saved by. Wi.

Haydock Commentary John 21:1-14

• Ver. 3. How comes it that Peter, after his conversion, should return to his fishing, when Jesus Christ had said, that he that sets his hand to the plough, and looks back, is not worthy of the kingdom of heaven? The employments they applied to before their conversion, without being guilty of sin, these they might, without fault, exercise, after their conversion: therefore Peter returned to his fishing; but S. Matthew never returned to his custom-house, because when once converted, we never can be allowed to give ourselves to these employments, which of themselves lead to sin. And there are many pursuits which can scarcely, or not at all, be followed without sin. S. Greg. hom. xxiv. in Evan.
• Ver. 5. Have you any meat?[1] Have you any thing to eat? This is what is literally signified, both in the Latin and in the Greek text. Wi.
• Ver. 7. It is the Lord. S. Chrysostom says, we may here see the different characters of the two apostles, Peter and John; the former is more ardent, the latter more sublime; the first more vehement, the last more penetrating; for these reasons, John was the first to know Christ, Peter the first to hasten to him. Hom. lxxxvi.
• Ver. 8. The evangelist praises Peter, and excuses the other apostles: all come to Christ; the former leaving his boat, his companions, his nets and prey, arrives more expeditiously; the latter with the impediments of the boat and nets, &c. &c. arrive also, but not so readily; a just figure this of religious, who leave all to go directly to God, and of those who remain in the world, and have to navigate a treacherous element with imminent danger of shipwreck. Maldonatus. — The poet Sedulius writes thus on the nets:
• Pendula fluctivagam traxerunt retia prædam,
• Per typicam noscenda viam; nam retia dignis
• Lucida sunt præcepta Dei, quibus omnis in illa
• Dextra parte manens concluditur, ac simul ulnis
• Fertur apostolicis Domini ad vestigia Christi.
• Ver. 9. Hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread. The fish caught in the net were not yet drawn to land. These things, then, were created out of nothing, or miraculously transported thither, by the divine power. Wi.
• Ver. 11. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three; a figure of the great number to be converted by the labours of the apostles. Wi.
• Ver. 12. And none of them who were at meat, durst ask him, who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. It is likely he appeared to them with a countenance different, and brighter than before his death; yet they were presently so convinced it was Jesus, that they were ashamed to ask or doubt of it. Wi.
• Ver. 14. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples. He had appeared to them more than thrice, even the very day of his resurrection. Matt. xxviii. 16. Here it is called the third time either because it was the third different day; or because it was the third time that he had them appeared to a considerable number together. After this, he appeared to them frequently, and conversed with them for forty days, till his ascension. See Acts, i. 3. 1 Cor. xv. 5. Wi. — This must be understood of the third day, or of the third time, that our Saviour appeared to his apostles assembled: the first day, being the day of his resurrection; the second, eight days after, when S. Thomas saw, and believed; and on this day of their fishing. S. Aug. tract. 122. in Joan. — The evangelists relates ten different manifestations of our Saviour, after his resurrection. First, he was seen by the women at the sepulchre; 2dly, he was again seen by the same holy women, returning from the sepulchre; 3dly, by S. Peter; 4thly, by the two going to Emmaus; 5thly, by many at Jerusalem, when Thomas was not with them; 6thly, at the time when S. Thomas saw him; 7thly, at the sea of Tiberias; 8thly, by the eleven, on a mountain of Galilee, according to S. Matthew; 9thly, according to S. Mark, by the disciples, at their refreshment, because he was going to sup with them no more; and 10thly, on the day of his ascension, raised from the earth into heaven. S. Aug. de Concord. Ev. lib. iii. c. 25.