Daily Bible Readings Monday April 27 2009 Third Week of Easter

April 27 2009 Monday Third Week of Easter
Saint of the Day – St. Louis Mary de Montfort

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/042709.shtml

Acts 6:8-15
Haydock New Testament

Now Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and miracles among the people. But some of the synagogue, that is called of the Libertines, and of the Cyreneans, and of the Alexandrians, and of those that were of Cilicia, and Asia, rose up disputing with Stephen: And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit which spoke.

Then they suborned men to say, that they had heard him speaking words of blasphemy against Moses and against God. They stirred up therefore the people, and the ancients, and the Scribes: and running together they took him, and brought him to the council. And they set up false witnesses, who said:

This man ceaseth not to speak words against the holy place, and the law. For we have heard him say, that this Jesus, of Nazareth, shall destroy this place, and shall change the traditions, which Moses delivered to us.

And all that sat in the council looking intently upon him, saw his face as the face of an Angel.

Responsorial Psalm 118:23-24, 26-27, 29-30 (Ps 119 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

For princes sat, and spoke against me:
but thy servant was employed in thy justifications.
For thy testimonies are my meditation:
and thy justifications my counsel.
I have declared my ways, and thou hast heard me:
teach me thy justifications.
Make me to understand the way of thy justifications:
and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works.
Remove from me the way of iniquity:
and out of thy law have mercy on me.
I have chosen the way of truth:
thy judgments I have not forgotten.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint John 6:22-29
Haydock New Testament

The next day the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other ship there but one, and that Jesus had not entered into the ship with his disciples, but that his disciples were gone away alone: But other ships came in from Tiberias, near to the place where they had eaten the bread, the Lord giving thanks.

When the people, therefore, saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they took shipping, and came to Capharnaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him:

Rabbi, when camest thou hither?

Jesus answered them, and said:

Amen, amen, I say to you: you seek me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you. For him hath God the Father sealed.

They said, therefore, to him:

What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?

Jesus answered, and said to them:

This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent.

Haydock Commentary Acts 6:8-15
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 9. Called of the Libertines.[2] That is, of the synagogue of those, whose fathers had been made slaves under Pompey, and the Romans, but who had again been restored to their liberty, and had been made free. There were other synagogues for the Jews of Cyrene, of Alexandria, &c. No doubt but S. Stephen had converted many of them; and the chiefs of the synagogues, not being able to dispute with him, or to answer the spirit of wisdom, which directed him, they suborned witnesses. Wi.
• Ver. 11. Who should say, that they heard him speaking words of blasphemy against Moses, and against God, against the law and the temple: that Jesus would destroy the temple. These accusations were forged; for the apostles themselves still frequented the temple, and Jesus came to fulfil the law, as to its moral precepts. Wi.
• Ver. 13. It was true that Jesus would destroy the place, and change their traditions, yet they were false witnesses, because they deposed, that Stephen had made these assertions, which he had not, purposely to excite the Jews to rise up against him, and put him to death. Besides, had Stephen spoken what was advanced against him, they still would have been false witnesses, for the words were in fact words of truth, which these suborned men called, words of blasphemy. See v. 11.
• Ver. 15. Saw his face, as it were the face of an angel. All in the council, or sanhedrim, saw an extraordinary and charming brightness in the countenance of Stephen, which struck them with admiration and fear. Wi. — Angel. His face shone with a wonderful brightness, an emblem of his interior perfection. In this he was like Moses, whose countenance was so bright, that he Jews could not steadfastly behold it. By this the beholders had an opportunity of being converted, had they so wished, or were rendered inexcusable for their neglect. It is also a testimony of the great sanctity of the deacon. This same miracle is not recorded to have happened to any other but Moses, and our Lord at his transfiguration. D. Dion. Carthus. — Although this appearance, in an inferior degree, has been not unfrequently observed in the constant and cheerful countenance of the martyrs before their persecutors, and of privileged saints, whilst they were happily employed in their intimate communications with heaven.

Haydock Commentary John 6:22-29

• Ver. 26. Christ did not return an express answer to their words, but he replied to their thoughts. For they seem to have put this question to him, that by flattering him, they might induce him to work another miracle, similar to the former; but Christ answers them not to seek for their temporal prosperity, but for their eternal welfare. The Church is daily filled, says S. Austin, with those who come to petition for temporal advantages, that they may escape this calamity, obtain that advantage in their temporal concerns: but there is scarce one to be found who seeks for Christ, and pays him his adoration, through the pure love he bears him. Maldon.
• Ver. 27. For him hath God the Father sealed. The sense seems to be, that Christ having wrought so many miracles in his Father’s name, the Father himself hath thereby given testimony in his favour, and witnessed, as it were, under his seal, that Jesus is his true Son, whom he sent into the world. Wi.