Sunday Bible Readings June 7 2009 Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Sunday June 7 2009 Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

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/060709.shtml

Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
DR Challoner

Ask of the days of old, that have been before thy time from the day that God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to the other end thereof, if ever there was done the like thing, or it hath been known at any time, That a people should hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire, as thou hast heard, and lived: If God ever did so as to go, and take to himself a nation out of the midst of nations by temptations, signs, and wonders, by fight, and a strong hand, and stretched out arm, and horrible visions according to all the things that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before thy eyes.

Know therefore this day, and think in thy heart that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other. Keep his precepts and commandments, which I command thee: that it may be well with thee, and thy children after thee, and thou mayst remain a long time upon the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee.

Responsorial Psalm 32:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22 (Ps 33 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

For the word of the Lord is right,
and all his works are done with faithfulness.
He loveth mercy and judgment;
the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were established;
and all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth:
For he spoke and they were made:
he commanded and they were created.
Behold the eyes of the Lord are on them that fear him:
and on them that hope in his mercy.
To deliver their souls from death; and feed them in famine.
Our soul waiteth for the Lord: for he is our helper and protector.
Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have hoped in thee.

Romans 8:14-17
Haydock New Testament

For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear: but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba, (Father.) For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also: heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: yet so if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 28:16-20
Haydock New Testament

And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing him, they adored: but some doubted. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying:

All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

Haydock Commentary Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 32. Heaven. To our senses the sky seems to rest upon the horizon.  So Jesus says, Then he…shall gather…his elect…from the uttermost part of earth, to the uttermost part of heaven. Mat. xxiv. 31.  Vatable translates, “from the east to the west.”  In no age or place did God ever declare his will, as he had done at Sinai.  C.
• Ver. 33. And lived. It was generally supposed that those who had seen a vision of God, or of his angel, would instantly die.  See Gen. xvi. 13.  H.  C. v. 24.
• Ver. 34. Temptations. The Chal. and Arab. understand this of the prodigies which God wrought in favour of his people; though they may also denote the trials to which the Patriarchs and the Hebrews had been exposed, that their virtue might shine more brightly.  Many indeed lost courage under these trials, but they were of great service to form a perfect people; and those who continued to lead a virtuous life received the reward of their labours.  C. — Visions, during the three days’ darkness mentioned, Wisd. xvii. 9. 18, &c. (M.) or those terrible appearances on Sinai, v. 33. 6.  C. v. 22.  C.  Heb. may be, “by great terrors.” — In Egypt. God himself fought for his people, when he brought them out of that country.  He repeatedly made the king and his people feel the impressions of terror, but as they presently recovered their wonted insolence and pride, he at last miraculously divided the Red Sea, and buried vast multitudes in its waters.  H.
• Ver. 39. Other. The power of the true and only God is not confined to the sea, or to the land, &c. (C.) as the pagans believed that of their various idols was.  H.

Haydock Commentary Romans 8:14-17

• Ver. 14. &c. They are the sons of God, by this new grace of adoption, by which also they call God, Abba; that is to say, Father, whereas under the former law of Moses, God rather governed his people by fear; there were his servants, we are his sons; and if sons, also the heirs of God, with the promise of an eternal inheritance in his kingdom, provided we suffer for Christ’s sake, as he suffered for us.  And surely the short sufferings in this world have no proportion, nor can be put in balance with the future endless glory, which is promised and prepared for us in heaven.  Wi. — Abba is a Syriac word, which signifies my father.  This is properly the word of free and noble children; for amongst the Hebrews, the children of slaves were not allowed to cal their fathers Abba, nor their mothers Imma. This kind of expression was very rarely used under the old law.  The Hebrews called the Almighty their Lord, their God, their Salvation, their King, their Protector, their Glory, &c. but seldom their father, scarcely ever, except in the case of Solomon, who was a particular figure of the Messias, the true Son of God.  On this account God said to him: “He shall call me Father and God; and I will be to him a Father, and will treat as my first-born.”  But it is the property of the Christian to call the Almighty his Father with confidence indeed, yet tempered with a filial awe; remembering at the same time that he is his judge.  Calmet. — Mat. Polus says that not any one of the just dared to call God, my Father, before the coming of Christ, as this favour was reserved for the time of the gospel.  In hunc. locum.  A. — S. Chrys.[1] takes notice, that God was also called the Father of the Israelites, and they his children, in the Old Testament, when God rather governed his people by fear of punishments, and promises of temporal blessings, but not in that particular manner as in the new law.  Wi. — The Spirit himself, &c.  By the inward motions of divine love, and the peace of conscience, which the children of God experience, they have a kind of testimony of God’s favour; by which they are much strengthened in the hope of their justification and salvation; but yet not so as to pretend to an absolute assurance, which is not usually granted in this mortal life: during which we are taught to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Phil. ii. 12.  And that he who thinketh himself to stand, must take heed lest he fall. 1 Cor. x. 12.  See also Rom. xi. 20, 21, 22.  Ch. — He hath given to us, says S. John, (c. i. 12.) the power, or dignity, of being the sons of God. Christ taught us to pray, and to begin our prayers with our Father, &c.  Matt. vi. 9.  Wi.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 28:16-20

• Ver. 16. The eleven disciples went into Galilee, yet not till above eight days after.  As to the order of Christ’s apparitions, in the gospels: He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, and to other devout women; the to S. Peter; next to two disciples going to Emmaus; after that to the apostles that were all together, except only S. Thomas.  These apparitions were all on the very day he rose from the dead.  We find also (Jo. xx,) that eight days after he appeared to all the eleven apostles, Thomas being then present, to whom he said, put in thy finger hither, &c.  This is generally thought to have happened at Jerusalem.  When the apostles and disciples were gone into Galilee, he shewed himself to seven of them, as they were fishing on the lake of Tiberias  Jo. xxi. 4.  We read also in this chap. (v. 16,) that he appeared to them on a mountain in Galilee: what mountain is was we know not.  It  may be of this apparition that S. Paul says, (1 Cor. xv. 6,) Then was he seen by more than five hundred brethren at once. He also tells us he appeared to S. James.  See v. 7.  But when or where this was, is not mentioned.  In fine, Christ till his ascension frequently appeared to them, and conversed with them.  He taught them to understand the holy Scriptures, and all that belonged to their ministry: he gave them power to forgive sins: He sent his apostles as his heavenly Father had sent him. He gave in particular to S. Peter the charge over his whole flock: He promised to send down upon them the Holy Ghost; and to remain with them himself to the end of the world, i.e. with his Church.  Wi. — It is supposed that then and there took place what S. Paul mentions, that Jesus Christ shewed himself to more than 500 of the brethren together.  V.
• Ver. 17. They adored: but some doubted. This, says Theophylactus, need not be understood of the apostles, but of others, who had not seen Christ after his resurrection.  It may also be expounded of those disciples who had doubted at the first, and particularly of S. Thomas the apostle.  Wi. — These doubted not of the resurrection or divinity of Christ, but whether the person that appeared to them was really their Master, Jesus Christ.  V.
• Ver. 18. All power is given to me. The Arians object that the power which Christ had, is said to be given him by another.  The Catholics answer, that Christ, as man, received this power from God. 2dly. It may also be said, that the eternal Son, though he be equal, and be the same God with the Father, yet he proceeds and receives all from the Father.  Wi. — See here the warrant and commission of the apostles and their successors, the bishops and pastors of Christ’s Church.  He received from his Father, all power in heaven and in earth: and in virtue of this power he sends them (even as his Father sent him, S. John xx. 21.) to teach and disciple, maqhteuein, not one, but all nations, and instruct them in all truths: and that he may assist them effectually in the execution of this commission, he promises to be with them, (not for three or four hundred years only) but all days, even to the consummation of the world. How then could the Catholic Church go astray? having always with her pastors, as is here promised, Christ himself, who is the way, the truth, and the life. S. John xiv. 6.  Ch. — Some hence infer that Jesus Christ, according to his human nature, was sovereign Lord of the whole world; but more properly this may be taken of his spiritual power, such as regards the salvation of souls.  For Jesus Christ says to Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world. This spiritual power, Jesus Christ communicated in part to his apostles and their successors in the ministry, as to his vicars: As my Father hath sent me, so I send you.  Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven: behold here the power both in heaven and earth.  E.
• Ver. 19. Teach all nations. In S. Mark we read, going into the whole world, preach to every creature, that is capable of it; not only to the Jews, but to all nations throughout the whole world, baptizing them, &c.  The Anabaptists pretend to shew from this place, that not are to be baptized, unless they be first taught and instructed.  This is true, as to persons who are already come to an age, in which they are capable of being instructed before their baptism.  But according to the tradition and constant doctrine of the Catholic Church, received also by the pretended Reformed Churches, new born children are to be baptized before they are capable of instruction: nor can they enter into the kingdom of heaven without baptism. — In the name of the Father, &c.  We are made Christians in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: we profess to believe, and hope for our salvation, by believing, hoping, serving, and adoring the same three divine Persons, from whence the Fathers prove the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost to be one God, and equal in all perfections.  Wi. — Had Christ only said, Lo! I am with you all days; it might, in that case, be limited to the natural lives of the apostles; but as He moreover adds, even to the consummation of the world, it must necessarily be extended to their successors in the ministry, till the end of time.  E. — By these words Go, teach, he gives them the power of teaching not only what relates to faith, but also what is necessarily connected with piety and a holy conversation.  For we see added a further explanation, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; which words, beyond all doubt, must be referred to the precepts of a holy life.  How egregiously then must those men be deceived, who infer from the words teach all nations, that faith alone will suffice.  What follows, baptizing them, shews another part of the pastoral functions, which consists in the administration of the sacraments.  Hence also all heretics are refuted, who pretend to affirm that all ecclesiastical ministry consists in barely delivering the world.  Estius, in dif. loca.
• Ver. 20. Behold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world, embraces two points necessary for the Church; viz. integrity of doctrine, and sanctity of life; for, if either of these should be wanting to the Church, it might then be justly said, that she had been left and abandoned by Christ, her Spouse.  E. — Jesus Christ will make good his promise: 1. by always dwelling in the hearts of the faithful; 2. by his sacramental presence in the holy Eucharist; 3. by his providential care, and constant protection to his holy Catholic Church.  These last six lines of S. Matthew’s gospel, says the bright luminary of France, Bossuet, most clearly demonstrate the infallibility and indefectibility of the one, holy, Catholic Church, which all are commanded to hear and obey.