Daily Bible Readings Saturday May 2 2009 Memorial of St Athanasius

May 2 2009 Saturday Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church
Saint of the Day – St. Athanasius

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/050209.shtml

Acts 9:31-42
Haydock New Testament

Now the church had peace throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and was edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and was filled with the consolation of the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass, that Peter, as he passed through, visiting all, came to the saints, who dwelt at Lydda. And he found there a certain main, named Æneas, lying on his bed for eight years, who was ill of the palsy. And Peter said to him:

Æneas, the Lord Jesus Christ healeth thee: arise, and make thy bed.

And immediately he arose. And all that dwelt at Lydda, and Saron, saw him: and they were converted to the Lord. And in Joppe there was a certain disciple, named Tabitha, which, being interpreted, is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and alms-deeds, which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died. Whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. And Lydda being near to Joppe, the disciples hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, requesting:

Delay not to come to us.

And Peter rising up, came with them. And when he was arrived, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood round about him weeping, and shewing him the coats and garments, which Dorcas had made them. And having put them all out, Peter kneeling down, prayed; and turning to the body, he said:

Tabitha, arise:

And she opened her eyes: and seeing Peter, sat up. And giving her his hand, he raised her up. And when he had called the saints and the widows, he presented her alive. And it was made known throughout all Joppe; and many believed in the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm 115:12-17 (Ps 116 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

What shall I render to the Lord,
for all the things that he hath rendered to me?
I will take the chalice of salvation;
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his people:
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
O Lord, for I am thy servant:
I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid.
Thou hast broken my bonds:
I will sacrifice to thee the sacrifice of praise,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

The Gospel According To Saint John 6:60-69
Haydock NT

These things he said, teaching in the synagogue, in Capharnaum. Many, therefore, of his disciples hearing it, said:

This saying is hard, and who can hear it?

But Jesus knowing in himself, that his disciples murmured at this, said to them:

Doth this scandalize you? If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life. But there are some of you that believe not.

For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe, and who he was that would betray him. And he said:

Therefore did I say to you, that no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my Father.

After this many of his disciples went back: and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve:

Will you also go away?

And Simon Peter answered him:

Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Haydock Commentary Acts 9:31-42
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 31. The Church visibly proceedeth still with much comfort and patience; she is perfected by persecution, and by means of the promised infallible protection, she has ever proved herself invulnerable to all the envenomed shafts of her adversaries.
• Ver. 35. Saron, or Assaron, is a mountain and city mentioned by Josue, xii. 18. From it all the plain from Cæsarea of Palestine to Joppe, is called Saron. It is a rich fertile country. Tirinus.
• Ver. 36. Tabitha, in Syriac, means the same as Dorcas in Greek, that is, a wild goat. V. — See here the powerful effects of good works, and alms-deeds; they reach even to the next life. B. — Hence that of the wise man, alms free from death.
• Ver. 37. Washed. This custom of washing the dead was observed among the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, and most other nations. It is still practised in monasteries, and formerly was observed with much ceremony. S. Chrysostom observes, that our Saviour’s body was washed and embalmed. The same custom is mentioned in Homer and Virgil:
• Corpusque lavant frigentis, et ungunt. — And again,
• Date, vulnera lymphis abluam. — Æneid. iv.
• — Tertullian, in his Apology, testifies, that the Christians performed that office to the dead. It was a proof of their respect for the image of God impressed upon his creature, and for the character of Christian, which these persons have borne during their lives. It was likewise a sign of the confidence they had in a future resurrection.
• Ver. 39. Citwn was the under garment, Imation the upper.
• Ver. 40. And having put them all out, not to disturb him while he prayed. — Sat up, raised herself a little: and Peter taking her by the hand, lifted her quite up, and calling in the company, presented her to them alive and well. Wi.
• Ver. 41. Raising the dead to life can only be the work of God. This woman was raised to life for the comfort of the faithful, and the conversion of others. She herself might likewise have an opportunity of acquiring greater merit, otherwise the repose of another life is preferable to a return to the miseries of this world. D. Dioin. Carthus.

Haydock Commentary John 6:60-69

• Ver. 61. If Christ had wished to say nothing else than that his disciples should be filled with his doctrine, that being his flesh and blood, it would not have been a hard saying; neither would it have shocked the Jews. He had already said as much in the former part of his discourse: but he goes on in still stronger terms, notwithstanding their complaints; and, as they were ignorant how he would fulfil his promise, they left him, (Calmet) and followed the example of the other unbelieving Jews, as all future sectarists have, saying: how can this be done?
• Ver. 62. If you cannot believe that I can give you my flesh to eat, now that I am living amongst you, how will you believe, that, after my ascension, I can give you to eat my glorified and immortal flesh, seated on the right hand of the majesty of God? V.
• Ver. 63. If then you shall see, &c. Christ, by mentioning his ascension, by this instance of his power and divinity, would confirm the truth of what he had before asserted; at the same time, correct their gross apprehension of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, in a vulgar and carnal manner, by letting them know he should take his whole body living with him to heaven; and consequently not suffer it to be, as they supposed, divided, mangled, and consumed upon earth. Ch. — The sense of these words, according to the common exposition, is this: you murmur at my words, as hard and harsh, and you refuse now to believe them: when I shall ascend into heaven, from whence I came into the world, and when my ascension, and the doctrine that I have taught you, shall be confirmed by a multitude of miracles, then shall you and many others believe. Wi.
• Ver. 64. The flesh profiteth nothing. Dead flesh, separated from the spirit, in the gross manner they supposed they were to eat his flesh, would profit nothing. Neither doth man’s flesh, that is to say, man’s natural and carnal apprehension, (which refuses to be subject to the spirit, and words of Christ) profit any thing. But it would be the height of blasphemy, to say the living flesh of Christ (which we receive in the blessed sacrament, with his spirit, that is, with his soul and divinity) profiteth nothing. For if Christ’s flesh had profited us nothing, he would never have taken flesh for us, nor died in the flesh for us. — Are spirit and life. By proposing to you a heavenly sacrament, in which you shall receive, in a wonderful manner, spirit, grace and life in its very fountain. Ch. — It is the spirit that quickeneth, or giveth life. These words sufficiently correct the gross and carnal imagination of these Capharnaites, that he meant to them his body and blood to eat in a visible and bloody manner, as flesh, says S. Aug. is sold in the market, and in the shambles;[3] but they do not imply a figurative or metaphorical presence only. The manner of Christ’s presence is spiritual and under the outward appearances of bread and wine; but yet he is there truly and really present, by a change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of his body and blood, which truly and really become our spiritual food, and are truly and really received in the holy sacrament. — The flesh[4] of itself profiteth nothing, not even the flesh of our Saviour Christ, were it not united to the divine person of Christ. But we must take care how we understand these words spoken by our Saviour: for it is certain, says S. Aug. that the word made flesh, is the cause of all our happiness. Wi. — When I promise you life if you eat my flesh, I do not wish you to understand this of that gross and carnal manner, of cutting my members in pieces: such ideas are far from my mind: the flesh profiteth nothing. In the Scriptures, the word flesh is often put for the carnal manner of understanding any thing. If you wish to enter into the spirit of my words, raise your hearts to a more elevated and spiritual way of understanding them. Calmet. — The reader may consult Des Mahis, p. 165, a convert from Protestantism, and who has proved the Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist in the most satisfactory manner, from the written word. Where he shows that Jesus Christ, speaking of his own body, never says the flesh, but my flesh: the former mode of expression is used to signify, as we have observed above, a carnal manner of understanding any thing.
• Ver. 68. Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? He shews them, says S. Chrys. that he stood not in need of them, and so leaves them to their free choice. Wi. — Jesus Christ remarking in the previous verse that the apostate disciples had left him, to walk no more with him, turning to the twelve, asks them, Will you also go away? The twelve had heard all that passed; they had seen the Jews strive amongst themselves, and the disciples murmur and leave their Master; they understood what he said in the same literal sense; it could, indeed, bear no other meaning; but when Jesus put the above question to them, leaving them to their free choice, whether to follow him, or to withdraw themselves, Simon Peter answered him: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life;” and therefore art able to make good thy words, however hard and difficult they may appear to others. — We may here admire not only the excellency of their faith, but the plain, yet noble motive of their faith: they believe, because he is Christ, the Son of God, (or, as it is in the Greek, the Son of the living God) who is absolutely incapable of deceiving his creatures, and whose power is perfectly equal to perform the promises he here makes them.
• Ver. 69. Simon Peter, the chief or head of them, said in the name of the rest: Lord, to whom shall we go? It is only from thee that we hope for salvation. Thou hast the words of eternal life: we have believed, and known, and remain in this belief, that thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Wi.