Sunday Bible Readings May 24 2009 AD The Ascension of the Lord

May 24 2009 Ascension of the Lord
I am posting these readings today since the diocese that I am in celebrates the Ascension on Sunday.

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/052409.shtml

The Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11
Haydock New Testament

THE former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things, which Jesus began to do and to teach, Until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And eating with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

They, therefore, who were come together, asked him, saying; Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel: But he said to them; It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power: But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.

And when he had said these thing, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. And whilst they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments; Who also said; Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, so shall he come as you have seen him going into heaven.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 46:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 (Psalm 47 NAB/Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only

O clap your hands, all ye nations:
shout unto God with the voice of joy,
For the Lord is high, terrible:
a great king over all the earth.
God is ascended with jubilee,
and the Lord with the sound of trumpet.
Sing praises to our God, sing ye:
sing praises to our king, sing ye.
For God is the king of all the earth:
sing ye wisely.
God shall reign over the nations:
God sitteth on his holy throne.

3 Possible Readings exist here for the second reading

Ephesians 1:17-23
Haydock NT

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation, in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us, who believe according to the operation of the might of his power, Which he wrought in Christ, raising him up from the dead, and setting him at his right hand, in the heavenly places: Above all principality, and power, and virtue, and dominion, and every name that is name, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.

Ephesians 4:1-13
a second variant of this is also available today, but it merely removes certain verses.
Haydock NT

I THEREFORE, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you, that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called. With all humility, and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity, Careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. One body, and one spirit: as you are called in one hope of your vocation. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.

But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive: he gave gifts to men. Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

He who descended is the same also who ascended above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some indeed apostles, and some prophets, and others evangelists, and others pastors, and teachers, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edification of the body of Christ: Till we all meet in unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Mark 16:15-20
Haydock New Testament

And he said to them:

Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not, shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: They shall take up serpents: and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover.

And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and setteth on the right hand of God. But they going forth, preached every where: the Lord co-operating with them, and confirming the word, with signs, that followed.

Haydock Commentary Acts 1:1-11
Notes copied from Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1. S. Luke, who was the author of this history, alludes, in this verse, to his gospel, which he calls his first discourse.  In that he informs us, not only of the actions, but also the doctrines of our Saviour.  These words, to do and to teach, are the abridgment of the whole gospel: here he gives us the Acts of the Apostles, that is, an history of their travels and preaching.  In the beginning of this work he speaks of all the apostles, and what they did before their dispersion.  As soon as he comes to the mention of S. Paul, he takes notice of no one else, but is entirely taken up with the narrative of his actions.  He addresses his book to Theophilus, which signifies a friend of God, or one who loves God, as if he intended to dedicate it to all the faithful, who believed in, and loved God.  But it is more probable that this was  the same distinct person, well known to S. Luke, and illustrious for his birth, because he gave him the title of kratiste, most excellent. Calmet.
• Ver. 2. Until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up. As the Scripture was written without distinction of verses, and without any stops, or commas, which were added afterwards) the construction, and joining of words in this verse, is ambiguous.  The question is, with what part of the verse these words, by the Holy Ghost, are to be joined.  The sense may be, 1. that he was taken up by the Holy Ghost: but this is generally rejected.  2. That he gave his commandments by the Holy Ghost to his apostles; that is, says S. Chrys. that he gave them spiritual commands, that came from the Holy Ghost, or from his holy Spirit.  3. The most probable exposition seems to be, that he gave his special commandments to his apostles, or to those whom he chose to be his apostles, by the Holy Ghost, or by his holy and divine spirit.  Wi. — The power to preach, to baptize, to remit sins, and generally the whole commission and charge of the government of his Church after him in his name, and with his authority; which government was given them, together with the Holy Ghost, to assist them therein for ever.  B.
• Ver. 3. Appearing, &c.  Why did he not appear to all, but only to his disciples?  Because to many of them, who did not know the mystery, he would have seemed a phantom.  For if the disciples themselves were diffident, and terrified, and required to touch him with their hands, how would others have been affected?  But we know from their miracles, the truth of the resurrection, which is made evident to all succeeding generations. Perhaps the apostles did not perform miracles.  How then was the world converted?  This is a fact which cannot be denied, and that it should have been brought about by twelve poor illiterate fishermen, without miracles, would be the greatest of all miracles, far beyond the reach of all human means.  S. Chrys. hom. i. c. 1. on Acts. — “And speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God,” as we read in the Greek, and in the Protestant version, that is, pertaining to the Church, which is the kingdom of God, ta peri thV basileiaV tou qeou, which plainly makes for unwritten tradition. Estius.
• Ver. 4. And eating with them.[1]  This is a literal translation from the vulgar Latin.  But the Protestant translation from some Greek copies, would have it, And being assembled together, he commanded them, &c.  Mr. Bois defends the Latin Vulg. and even by the authority of S. Chrys. who doubtless understood the Greek text, as well as any one, and who takes the Greek word here to signify eating: for he observes that he apostles elsewhere proved Christ’s resurrection by his eating and drinking with them. Acts x. 4.  S. Jer. also says, the derivation of the Greek word, is from eating salt together.  Wi.
• Ver. 5. Baptized with the Holy Ghost, that is, cleansed, and sanctified by the plentiful graces he shall pour upon you.  Wi.
• Ver. 6-7. Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? Some of them, as S. Chrys. observes, had still their thoughts upon a temporal kingdom of the Messias.  Christ, to divert them from such imaginations, tells them, their business is to be witnesses of his doctrine and miracles, particularly of his resurrection, even to the utmost bounds of the earth, to all the nations of the world.  Wi.
• Ver. 9. He was raised up. Raised himself up, and ascended, &c.  Wi.
• Ver. 10. Behold two men, that is, two angels, stood by them in white apparel.  Wi.
• Ver. 11. So shall he come, as you have seen him going. This word going, says S. Chrys. sufficiently intimates, that he ascended by his own power: for so will he come by his own power to judge the world.  Wi. — Jesus Christ shall come on the last day, in the same body, in the same majesty, to judge the living and the dead.  This he had likewise promised, in more than one place of the gospel, speaking of the vengeance, which he will exercise on the city of Jerusalem.  S. Jerom, S. Hilary, and many other ancients, have believed that the Son of God will appear again on Mount Olivet, and that all people shall be assembled to judgment.  S. Jerom. super Joel iii. 2.  S. Hilary, super Matt. xxiv. 32. — And that same body, which thus ascended to heaven, and which will thus descend, is given us in the blessed Sacrament. “O miracle! exclaims S. Chrysostom, He that sitteth with his Father above, is at the same time handled by men below.  Jesus Christ ascending to heaven, both hath his flesh with him above, and hath left it with us below.  Elias being taken up, left his disciple, Eliseus, his mantle and double spirit, but the Son of Man ascending, left his own flesh for us.”  L. iii. de Sacerd. him. 2. ad pop. Ant. hom. de divit. et paup. — Sulpicius Severus, and S. Paulinus, assure us, that the marks of the feet of our Saviour were imprinted in the place off which he rose to heaven; and S. Aug. informs us, that many in his time went to Judea, to venerate these sacred marks.  Ven. Bede testifies the same in the eighth age.  In the time of Constantine the great, the empress Helen built a church on the place. Calmet.

Haydock Commentary Ephesians 1:17-23

• Ver. 19. His power. The greatest exertion of the power of God, or that action by which he shewed his power most, is the resurrection from the dead, which he exercised in Christ, when he raised him from the tomb, and placed him over all the Angels of heaven; and which shall likewise be exercised over us all, when we too shall be raised from the dead, and constituted members fo the triumphant Church, and rewarded with a share of glory proportioned to our merits.  These are the hopes to which we are called.
• Ver. 21. All principality. The Fathers agree that there are nine orders of blessed spirits, of which some are specified here, in the Epistle to the Colossians we have the order of thrones, to which if we add the cherubim, seraphim, Angels, and Archangels, we shall have nine.  Calvin and other heretics strive to bring into doubt, and to corrupt may points of Catholic doctrine, sufficiently clear in holy writ, and sanctified by the general belief of the Universal or Catholic Church.
• Ver. 22. As Christ is king, and yet men are kings also; so Christ is head of the Church, and yet man may be head thereof also.  Jesus Christ is bishop and pastor of our souls; (Heb. iii.) but is that a reason why there should be no other bishop and pastor of our souls?

Haydock Commentary Ephesians 4:1-13

• Ver. 1. Here begins the second part of this epistle, in which he exhorts them to the practice of Christian virtues.  Wi.
• Ver. 4. In one hope of your vocation. The three great reasons that we have to love one another are contained in this verse, because we have but one body, of which Christ is the head.  We are all animated by the same spirit, viz. the Holy Ghost, who is given to us all, and we all live in the same hope of eternal happiness.  Calmet.
• Ver. 5. This contains some more reasons why Christians should love one another.  We are all servants of the same God, believe the same mysteries, and receive the same sacraments, whoever may be the dispenser of them. — One faith. As rebellion is the bane of commonwealths and kingdoms, and peace and concord the preservation of the same; so is schism, and diversity of faith or fellowship in the service of God, the calamity of the Church: and peace, unity, and uniformity, the special blessing of God therein.  S. Cyprian, in his book on the unity of the Church, writeth thus: “One Church, for one is my dove.  This unity of the Church, he that holdeth not, doth he think he holdeth the faith?  He that withstandeth or resisteth the Church, he that resisteth Peter’s chair, upon which the Church was built, doth he trust that he is in the Church?”  And again, Ep. xl. “There is one God, and one Christ, and one Church, and one chair, by our Lord’s voice founded upon Peter.  To set up another altar, or to constitute another priesthood, besides the one altar and the one priesthood, is impossible.  Whosever gathereth elsewhere scattereth.  It is adulterous, it is impious, it is sacrilegious, whatsoever is instituted by man to the breach of God’s disposition.  Get ye far from such men: they are blind, and leaders of the blink.”  S. Hilary also applies this text against the Arians thus: “Perilous and miserable is it that there are now among them as many faiths as wills, and as many doctrines as manners; whilst modes of faith are written as men will, or as they will, so are understood.  Whereas the one truth teaches there is but one God, one Lord, one baptism, and also one faith: hence whilst more faiths are made, they begin by falling from that which is the only faith, and end in having no faith at all.”  S. Hilary, l. ad Constantium Augustum.
• Ver. 7. To every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. That is, as it hath pleased Christ to bestow his free gifts upon us; to shew, says S. Chrys. that it was not according to any merit of ours.  The words also shew that Christ is the giver and author of graces, and consequently the true God.  Wi. — We must endeavour by all means in our power to preserve this unity, especially by avoiding jealousy, or being envious of the graces which have been given to our neighour; considering that they all proceed from the same God, who divides to each one as he pleaseth.  Tirinus.
• Ver. 8. He led captivity captive.[1]  S. Jerom and others expound these words of Christ’s delivering the pious souls that had died before his ascension, and which were detained in a place of rest which is called Limbus Patrum. — He gave gifts to men. Having delivered men from the captivity of sin, he bestowed upon them his gifts and graces.  Wi. — Wherefore he, David, in Ps. lxviii. makes use of these words, in order to shew that these gifts were gratuitous, and that no person had a right to complain that another had received more: after this the apostle proceeds to shew that Christ even descended to the lower parts of the earth, in order to teach us humility; whence he concludes that we ought to be humble and live in union with our brethren, which is the chief subject of the present chapter.  Tirinus.
• Ver. 9. Into the lower parts of the earth. This cannot signify into the grave only, especially since in that which we look upon as the apostles’ creed, we first profess to believe that he was buried, and afterwards that he descended into hell. Wi.
• Ver. 11. Some indeed he gave to be apostles, &c.  It is said (1 Cor. xii. 28.) that God (even with the Greek article) gave some to be apostles, &c. and here it is said of Christ: another proof that Christ is the true God.  Wi.
• Ver. 13. Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age[2] of the fulness of Christ; that is, according to the measure of the full and perfect age of Christ.  Of the ancient interpreters, some expound this of what shall happen in the next world, after the resurrection, when all the elect shall have bodies every way perfect; and as some conjecture, (when all who rise by a happy resurrection) shall seem to be about thirty, of the stature and age of Christ when he suffered.  But others, especially the Greek interpreters, understand this verse of a spiritual perfection in this life, by which the members of Christ’s mystical body meet in the unity of faith, and increase in grace and virtue by imitating Christ, and following his doctrine and example.

Haydock Commentary Mark 16:16-20

• Ver. 16. Let those weep and lament who have not yet seen him, and in a short time they shall receive consolation.  Blessed are they that weep, for they shall be comforted, S. Mat. v.  S. Jerom. — Perhaps some one will say within himself, I have already believed, I shall be saved: he says true, if his faith be supported by good works; for that only is true faith, which does not contradict in works what is believed in words.  S. Greg.
• Ver. 19. By these words it is not to be understood that Jesus is to be confined to that particular posture of body, or that the Father has any hands, or any human shape; for God is a pure, incorporeal, and all-perfect Spirit.  The image of God, as he is in himself, comes not within the reach of our mortal senses.  When the Scripture, therefore, speaks of God, it uses such imagery of language as is adapted to our senses, that it may thereby convey to us some imperfect knowledge of those sublime mysteries, which are ineffable in themselves, and incomprehensible to our understanding.  Thus we are informed that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, to signify that, as man, our Lord is raised to the height of glory, and to that supreme beatitude, than which there is nothing higher, and nothing greater in the whole bliss of heaven; and that he moreover holds the same sovereign dominion with the Father over all creatures; because, as God, he is equal to the Father in power, in wisdom, and in all perfection.  See Pouget, p. 256. ed. in fol. — On the right hand of God. Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, was not man only, but truly God, the same God with his eternal Father: and hereby is signified that the person, who took upon him human nature, and became man, is equal in dignity with the Father: he, who, as man, ascended into heaven.  [2]When S. Jerom says that most Greek copies wanted this chapter, he speaks not of chapters according to our present division, but only of the last 12 verses, which formerly made what was called a little chapter: yet these twelve verses must have been omitted in those MSS. by some negligent transcribers.  Now they are found in all, both Latin and Greek copies.  They are found in the Canons of Eusebius on the Gospels; in S. Jerom in several places; in S. Amb. l. iii, in Luc. tom. iii, p. 292. Ed. Paris, an. 1582; in S. Aug. l. iii, de consensu Evang. c. xxv, tom. 3, part 2, p. 142, &c.  Wi. — S. Gregory of Nyssa, (orat. 2. de Resurr.) says, that the best copies of S. Mark’s gospel finished with the 8th verse, a trembling and fear had seized them: En toiV akribesteroiV to Kata Markon Euanggelion mekri tou efobounto gar, ecei to teloV.  It is the very generally received sentiment of the learned, that the last 12 verses were given by S. Mark; and the most probable reason yet offered for the omission of them in various copies is, that the transcribers followed a mutilated copy, where the last page was wanting.  V.
• Ver. 20. Let us here take notice, that, as the apostles confirmed their words by the signs that followed, so also in us must our words be confirmed by works. “Grant, O Jesus! that the discourse we deliver, concerning virtue,  may be confirmed by works and actions; that thus, by thy co-operation, we may become perfect in word and work; for to Thee is due the glory of our discourses and actions.”  Theophylactus.