Daily Bible Readings Friday April 24 2009 Second Week of Easter

April 24 2009 Friday Second Week of Easter
Saint of the Day – St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

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/042409.shtml

Acts 5:34-42
Haydock New Testament

But one in the council rising up, a Pharisee, by name Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, respected by all the people, commanded the men to be put forth a little while. And he said to them;

Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves, what you are about to do with these men. For before these days rose up Theodas, affirming himself to be some body, whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined; who was slain: and all who believed him, were dispersed, and brought to nothing. After this man rose up Judas, of Galilee, in the days of the enrolling, and drew away the people after him: he also perished: and all who adhered to him, were dispersed.

And now, therefore, I say to you, refrain from these men, and let them alone: for is this counsel, or work be of men, it will come to nothing: But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it: lest perhaps you be found even to fight against God. And they agreed with him.

And calling in the apostles, after they had scourge them, they charged them not to speak at all in the name of Jesus, and they dismissed them. And they indeed went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. And they ceased not every day in the temple, and from house to house, to teach and preach Christ Jesus.

Responsorial Psalm 26:1, 4, 13-14 (Ps 27 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
That I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.
I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage,
and wait thou for the Lord.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint John 6:1-15
Haydock New Testament

AFTER this, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias: And a great multitude followed him, because they saw the miracles which he did on them that were diseased. Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

Now the Pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand. When Jesus, therefore, had lifted up his eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to Philip:

Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

And this he said to try him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him:

Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little.

One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to him:

There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes; but what are these among so many?

Then Jesus said:

Make the men sit down.

Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves: and when he had given thanks, he distributed to them that were sat down: In like manner also of the fishes, as much as they would. And when they were filled, he said to his disciples:

Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost.

So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets, with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said:

This is of a truth, the prophet that is to come into the world.

When Jesus, therefore, perceived that they would come to take him by force, and make him king, he fled again into the mountain himself alone.

Haydock Commentary Acts 5:34-42
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 34. Gamaliel. He that had been S. Paul’s master, according to S. Chrysostom, advised them to forbear, and do nothing rashly. Meddle not with these men; lit. go from them.[6] For, saith he, if this be the work of men only, it will soon fall to nothing; but if it be from God, you cannot hinder it, and you will only make yourselves guilty, by resisting the designs of God. They consented to him, so far as not to put them to death; but they made them be scourged, which they rejoiced at; and they dismissed them with reiterated threats. Wi. — Gamaliel was the master of S. Paul, Barnabas, Stephen, and others, and favoured the Christians. S. Clement and Ven. Bede think he was then a Christian, but concealed his conversion at the instigation of the apostles, that he might have an opportunity of defending Christ in the council. He afterwards professed his faith publicly, and was canonized with is son Abibas. See Baronius, 3d of Aug. Tirinus.
• Ver. 39. Time, and the evident success of Christ’s Church, prove it to be of God. No violence of the Jews, no persecution of heathen princes, no attempts of domestic adversaries, heretics, schismatics, or evil livers, have been able to prevail against it. Men of superior abilities have made violent attacks against it; their memory, and that of their disciples, has either been buried and forgotten, or liveth only in malediction and infamy. Let, then no Catholic be dispirited, because modern heresies continue; Arian and other heresies have continued much longer, have been more powerfully supported by temporal power, and yet have come to nothing. The Catholic religion was the first, and it will be the last religion.
• Ver. 41. Rejoicing. The joy of the apostles on the present occasion, is one of the greatest miracles. Only the yoke of Jesus could make this sweet. But so the faithful servants of God have always found it. In tribulation, they abounded in inward peace and joy, which made them insensible of their exterior sufferings. A.

Haydock Commentary John 6:1-15

• Ver. 1. Galilee. S. John does not usually relate what is mentioned by the other evangelists, especially what happened in Galilee. If he does it on this occasion, it is purposely to introduce the subject of the heavenly bread, which begins v. 37. He seems, moreover, to have had in view the description of the different passovers during Christ’s public ministry. As he, therefore, remained in Galilee during the third passover, he relates pretty fully what passed during that time. We must also remark, that as the other three evangelists give, in the same terms, the institution of the blessed sacrament, S. John omits the institution, but gives in detail the repeated promises of Jesus Christ, relative to this great mystery.
• Ver. 4. From the circumstances of the passover, the number that followed Jesus was greatly increased. V.
• Ver. 5. Our Lord first said, (Matt. xiv. 16.) Give them to eat; but afterwards, accommodating himself to the weakness of his disciples, he says: Whence shall we buy bread? So there is no contradiction.
• Ver. 10. The text in S. Matthew adds: without counting the women and the children, who might possibly amount to an equal number.
• Ver. 11. In the Greek, there is this addition: He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were sitting. The Syriac, and some Greek copies agree with the Vulgate.
• Ver. 12. To make the miracle still more conspicuous to the multitude, Jesus Christ shewed, that not only their present wants were supplied, but that there remained as much, or more, after they had all been filled, than there had been at first presented to Him.
• Ver. 14. The Prophet indeed. That is, the Messias. Wi.
• Ver. 15. S. John here corrects what relates to Jesus, and then what relates to the disciples. For if we attend to the order of time, the apostles got into the boat before Jesus went to the mountain. But, in matters of this nature, it is usual for the historians to follow their own choice. Pol. Synop. critic.