Daily Bible Readings Wednesday June 24 2009 Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist Vigil Mass

June 24 2009 Wednesday Solemnity of the Nativity of
Saint John the Baptist – Vigil Mass
Saint of the Day – Nativity of John the Baptist

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/062409.shtml

Jeremiah Icon 18th Century

Jeremiah 1:4-10
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations.

And I said:

Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.

And the Lord said to me:

Say not: I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said to me:

Behold I have given my words in thy mouth: Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant.

Responsorial Psalm 70:1-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab and 17 (Ps 71 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Of the sons of Jonadab, and the former captives.
In thee, O Lord, I have hoped, let me never be put to confusion:
Deliver me in thy justice, and rescue me.
Incline thy ear unto me, and save me.
Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength:
that thou mayst make me safe.
For thou art my firmament and my refuge.
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner
For thou art my patience, O Lord: my hope, O Lord, from my youth.
By thee have I been confirmed from the womb:
from my mother’s womb thou art my protector.
My mouth shall shew forth thy justice; thy salvation all the day long.
Thou hast taught me, O God, from my youth:
and till now I will declare thy wonderful works.

1 Peter 1:8-12
Haydock New Testament

Whom (Jesus) having not seen you love: in whom also now, though you see him not, you believe: and believing, shall rejoice with an unspeakable and glorified joy: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Concerning which salvation the prophets have inquired, and diligently searched, who prophesied of the grace to come in you: Searching into what time, or manner of time, the Spirit of Christ should signify in them: foretelling those sufferings that are in Christ, and the glories that should follow: To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you they ministered those things, which are now declared to you by those who have preached the gospel to you, the Holy Ghost being sent down from heaven, on whom the Angels desire to look.

The Archangel Gabriel Appears to Zachary

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 1:5-17
Haydock New Testament

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth. And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame. And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.

And it came to pass, that while he executed the priestly office before God, in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord; And all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an Angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zachary seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the Angel said to him:

Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard: and thy wife, Elizabeth, shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John; And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great before the Lord: and shall drink no wine, nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb: And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God: And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias: that he may turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare for the Lord a perfect people.

Haydock Commentary Jeremiah 1:4-10
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 5. Knew, with affection, and designed thee for this office for eternity.  Many think (C.) that Jeremias was purified from original sin before his birth.  S. Aug. — He had this privilege, and was also a priest, prophet, virgin, and martyr.  W. — Yet to sanctify, often means only to set aside.  Ex. xiii. 2.  Eccli. xlix. 9. — Nations, whose overthrow he points out.  C. xxv. 27. 44. &c.  C.
• Ver. 6. Ah. Heb. ahah. Sept. “thou Being.”  Prot. “Then said I: Ah, Lord God.”  H. — He does not imitate a child.  He might be above 30 years old, though some say (C.) only 14, (T.) or less; yet he finds himself devoid of eloquence, like Moses.  Ex. xiv. 10.  C.
• Ver. 9. Mouth; perhaps H. with a coal, by means of an angel, (Is. vi. 5.) in a sort of dream.  He found himself changed into a new man.
• Ver. 10. Root up, to announce the fall and restoration of many nations.  Ezec. iv. 2.  C. — Jeremias spoke of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews.  W.

Haydock Commentary 1 Peter 1:8-12

• Ver. 11. Searching into what time, or manner of time. The ancient prophets with longing and ardent desires, obtained to know of the Holy Ghost, the spirit of Christ, the time and the glory that followed those sufferings, by Christ’s resurrection and ascension.  All these were revealed to them, and they saw that they ministered things to you, not to themselves; that is, that these things they were ministers of, in prophesying about them, were not to happen in their time, but are not come to pass, as they have been preached to you.  Wi.
• Ver. 12. The Holy Ghost being sent down from heaven, on whom the Angels desire to look.[2]  This place is differently expounded.  Some refer these words, on whom the Angels desire to look, to Jesus Christ, who was named in the foregoing verse; some to the Holy Ghost, who, being one God with the Father and the Son, the Angels are happy in seeing and loving him.  See Estius and the Greek text.  Wi.

Haydock Commentary Luke 1:5-17

• Ver. 5. The Almighty appointed Moses that there should be but one high priest at a time, to whom, at his decease, a successor should be chosen.  This rule obtained until the time of David, by whom, by the inspiration of God, many were appointed at once.  1 Paralip. c. xxiv.  According to this regulation, Zachary is said to perform the office of priest, according to the order of his course.  Ven. Bede. — Zachary seems here to be described as high priest, who once year entered alone in the inward sanctuary with the blood of the victims, which he offered for himself and the sins of the people.  S. Ambrose. — He was not chosen by a fresh lot to offer up incense, but by a previous lot, according to which the family of Abia succeeded to the office of high priest.  The people waited without, according to Levit. xvi. 112.; whilst the high priest carried the incense into the holy of holies, on the 10th day of the 7th month.  Ven. Bede. — Of the course of Abia.[2]  What we read in the Greek for course, is commonly put for the employment of one day, but here for the functions of a whole week. For by appointment of David, (1 Paral. xxiv,) the descendants from Aaron were divided into 24 families; of which the eighth was Abia, from whom descended this Zachary, who at this time was in the week of his priestly functions.  Wi. — It is worthy of remark, that there were three Herods.  The first was the one here spoken of, (surnamed Ascalonite, from is palace in the city of Ascalon, in Palestine) the same who murdered the Innocents.  The second was the son of the first, (surnamed Antipas) who derided Christ at the time of his passion, the same who beheaded the Baptist.  The third was Herod Agrippa, who beheaded S. James, imprisoned S. Peter, and who afterwards, for his great pride, stricken by an angel, and devoured by worms.  Our Saviour was born in the reign of the first Herod, by whom the prophecy of Jacob, related in the book of Genesis (c. xlix,) was fulfilled: The septre shall not be taken, &c.  Herod was an Idumæan, and made king of the Jews by the Romans.  The Jews, after they entered the land of promise, were first governed by judges, until Saul: then by kings, until the Babylonian captivity; after that by high priests, until the time of Hyrcanus, whom Herod having killed, succeeded.  From that period to the present day, they have been governed by strangers.  Ven. Bede, and D. Dion. Carth. — Elizabeth was of the race of Aaron, by her father; but her mother was probably of the race of David, from whom the blessed Virgin, cousin of Elizabeth, descended.  See infra, v. 36.
• Ver. 6. Both just, . . . walking . . . without blame.[3]  Not that in the sight of God they were exempt even from all lesser failings, which are called venial faults; but only from such sins as might make them forfeit the grace and favour of God.  Wi. — Three things are here to be noticed: 1. that good men do keep all God’s commandments, which some moderns declare to be impossible; 2. that men are justified not by imputation only of Christ’s justice, nor by faith alone, but by walking in the commandments; 3. that keeping and doing the commandments, is properly our justification through Jesus Christ.  The Greek word dikaiomata, is properly rendered by Catholics, justifications or commandments, because the keeping of them through Jesus Christ, is justification.  But our separated brethren purposely avoid this word against the justification of the Catholics, as one of their leaders in innovation blushes not to advance.  Hence Beza, in his annotations on the New Test. ann. 1556, uses the word constituta, which his scholars render into English by ordinances. B.
• Ver. 9. It was his lot. The priests drew lots for the different functions to be performed in the same week; and now it fell by lot to Zachary, to burn or offer up incense, morning and evening, in that part of the temple called the holy, where was the altar of incense: Zachary was in this part of the tabernacle.  Wi. — See Exod. xxx. 6, 8.
• Ver. 10. And all the . . . people were praying without: i.e. in that part of the temple called the court of the Israelites. For the Jews themselves were not permitted to enter into the first part of the tabernacle, called the holy, much less into the second part of it, called the holy of holies; the people then prayed, and performed their private devotions, in that division of the temple called the court of the Israelites, and were there waiting for the coming out of the priest Zachary.  Wi. — We here see that the priest’s functions profited the people, though they neither heard not saw the priest, but only joined in intention with him; and so may the prayers of the priest in the Catholic Church, though offered up in an unknown tongue.
• Ver. 12. The cause of this fear, was the general sentiment that obtained with the Jews, that they would die immediately on seeing an angel.  V.
• Ver. 13. Thy prayer is heard. We cannot suppose, as S. Aug. observes, (l. ii. QQ. Evang. c i, tom. 3, part 2, p. 249.  Ed. Ben.) that he was praying to have children, when his wife was so advanced in years; that he did not think possible; but he was praying for the people, and for the coming of the Messias.  See S. Chrys. hom. ii. de incomprehensibili, tom. 1, p. 454.  Nov. Ed. Ben.  Wi. — Zachary so far despaired of having any offspring that he did not believe the angel, when he made him the promise.  When therefore the angel says, thy prayer is heard, we must understand it of the prayer he offered in behalf of the people, to whom salvation and remission of sins were to be brought by Christ.  The angel, moreover, told him of the birth of his son, who was to be the precursor of Christ.  S. Austin. — The son that is to be born of thee, will shew that thy prayer is heard, when he cries out, behold the Lamb of God. S. Chrysos. — It is always a mark of singular merit, whenever the Almighty either appoints or changes the name of a man.  Ven. Bede. — The name of John is derived from the Hebrew word, Jachanan, which frequently occurs in the Old Testament, as 1 Par. iii. 15. and vi. 9. and xii. 12. &c. and signifies, blessed with grace or divine favour; see also in Isai. xxx. 18, 19.
• Ver. 14. This was fulfilled not only at his birth, but ever after by the Catholic Church, celebrating his nativity.  A.
• Ver. 15. After the angel had assured him of the joy this son should bring to many, he acquaints him of the excellency of his virtue.  He shall be great before the Lord. He did not extend the boundaries of empire; he did not obtain the triumphs of war, and force captive and degraded kings to pay him homage: but, what is much greater, preaching in a desert, he renounced the pleasures of the world, and with the great fortitude repressed and subdued the concupiscence of the flesh.  Therefore it is said, he shall drink no wine, nor strong drink. S. Ambrose. — And shall drink no wine, nor strong drink:[4] lit. sicera, by which is signified any liquor that is apt to make a man drunk, according to S. Jerom.  Wi. — This prohibition of the angel wa a part of the consecration of the Nazarites.  See Numb. vi. 3.  The word sicera properly signifies wine of the palm-tree; and next to wine of the grape, there was no more common liquor, none more intoxicating.  V. — And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb; from which words some conjecture, that S. John the Baptist, though conceived in original sin, yet might have been freed from the guilt of it before he came into the world.  Of this see S. Aug. Ep. lvii. now Ep. clxxxvii. ad Dardanum. t. ii, p. 685. Ed. Ben.  Wi.
• Ver. 17. Turn the hearts of the fathers, &c.  The angel applies these words (Malach. iv. 6.) to S. John the Baptist; telling his father, that he shall convert many of the children of Israel, &c. by bringing them to the knowledge of Christ. Secondly, that he shall go before him, or be his precursor and forerunner. — In the spirit and power of Elias; i.e. S. John shall be the forerunner of Christ’s first coming to redeem mankind, as Elias shall be the forerunner of Christ’s second coming to judge the world.  Thirdly, that S. John, by converting the Jews, shall also turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, &c.  The meaning of which obscure words seems to be, that whereas Moses, Abraham, and the prophets, (whose souls were in a place of rest) knew by a revelation from God, that their children, the Jews, lived in sin and disobedience to the laws of God; and on this account were offended and displeased at them: now when they shall know that they have been converted by the preaching of S. John, they shall rejoice, and be reconciled to their children, the Jews: for as our Saviour tells us, (Luke xv. 7.) there is joy in heaven upon any one sinner that doth penance. The angel, to explain the foregoing words, adds, and the incredulous to the wisdom and prudence of the just; i.e. S. John’s preaching shall make them truly wise and just.  Wi. — With reason is he said to precede Christ, who was his forerunner both in his birth and in  his death.  In the spirit of prophecy, and in the power of abstinence, and patience, and zeal, they resembled each other; Elias was in the desert, S. John was in the desert also.  The one sought not the favour of king Achab, the other despised the favour of Herod.  The one divided the Jordan, the other changed it into a laver of salvation.  The one is to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ’s second coming, as the other was of his first.  S. Ambrose.

Daily Bible Readings Tuesday June 23 2009 Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

June 23 2009 Tuesday The Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day – St. John Fisher

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/062309.shtml

Genesis 13:2,5-18
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And he (Abram) was very rich in possession of gold and silver. But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents. Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together. Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country. Abram therefore said to Lot:

Abraham and Lot Part Ways

Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren. Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me, I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.

And Lot lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor. And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other. Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan: and Lot abode in the towns, that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord beyond measure. And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him:

Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also. Arise and walk through the land in the length, and the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.

So Abram removing his tent, came, and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm 14:2-4ab, 5 (Ps 15 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle?
or who shall rest in thy holy hill?
He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:
He that speaketh truth in his heart,
who hath not used deceit in his tongue:
Nor hath done evil to his neighbour:
nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.
In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing:
but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord.
He that sweareth to his neighbour, and deceiveth not;
He that hath not put out his money to usury,
nor taken bribes against the innocent:
He that doth these things, shall not be moved for ever.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 7:12-14
Haydock New Testament

Jesus said:

All things, therefore, whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who enter by it. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way, which leadeth to life: and few there are who find it!

Haydock Commentary Genesis 13:2,5-18
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 2. Rich in possession. Heb. may be “heavy laden with cattle, gold,” &c.  M.
• Ver. 6. To bear or feed their flocks, as well as those of the Chanaanites.  C.
• Ver. 8. Abram therefore, for fear of raising a quarrel with the Pherezites also, who might complain that these strangers were eating up what they had before taken possession of, suggests to his nephew the propriety of their taking different courses.  Being the older, he divides, and the younger chooses, according to an ancient and laudable custom.  S. Aug. de C. D. xvi. 20.
• Ver. 11. From the east of Pentapolis to Sodom, (M.) or to the east of the place where Abram was, as Onkelos has it.  The Hebrew may signify either.  Grotius.
• Ver. 13. Sinners before, &c.  That is, truly, without restraint or disguise.  Lot might not have been acquainted with their dissolute morals, when he made this choice; in which however he consulted only his senses, and looked for temporal advantages, which ended in sorrow.  This God permitted for a warning to us; and to restrain the Sodomites, by the example of Lot’s justice, contrasted with the abominable lives.  H. — Ezechiel xvi. 49, explains the causes of their wickedness.
• Ver. 15. And to: This is by way of explanation to the former words: (Ha.) for Abram never possessed a foot of this land by inheritance.  Acts viii. 5.  Even his posterity never enjoyed it, at least, for any long time.  S. Augustine gives the reason; because the promise was conditional, and the Jews did not fulfil their part by obedience and fidelity.  q. 3. in Gen.  It is better, however, to understand these promises of another land, which the people, who imitate the faith of Abram, shall enjoy in the world to come.  C.  Rom. iv. 16.
• Ver. 16. As the dust, an hyperbole, to express a very numerous offspring, which is more exact, if we take in the spiritual children of Abram.  M.
• Ver. 17. Through. Lot has chosen a part, I give the whole to thee.  Thou mayest take possession of it, and go wherever thou hast a mind.  C.
• Ver. 18. Vale, or grove of oaks, where there was a famous one which was called the oak of Mambre, either from the neighbouring city, or from a man of that name.  C. xiv. 13.  M. — Hebron was on the hill above.  C.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 7:12-14

• Ver. 12. For this is the law and the prophets; that is, all precepts that regard our neighbour are directed by this golden rule, do as you would be done by. Wi. — The whole law and all the duties between man and man, inculcated by the prophets, have this principle for foundation.  The Roman emperor Alexander Severus, is related to have said, that he esteemed the Christians for their acting on this principle.  A. — This is the sum of the law and of the prophets, the whole law of the Jews.  M.
• Ver. 13. Enter ye in at the narrow gate, &c.  The doctrine of these two verses needs no commentary, but deserve serious attention.  Wi.
• Ver. 14. Our Saviour in another place says, my yoke is sweet, and my burthen light.  How comes it then that so few bear it, or how can we reconcile these texts together?  The answer is at hand; for if soldiers and mariners esteem wounds, storms, and shipwreck, easy to be borne with, in hopes of temporal rewards, surely no one can complain that the duties of a Christian are difficult, when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  Chry. — It may also be added that God, by his heavenly consolations, makes them not only supportable, but even easy and pleasant.  Thus the martyrs occasionally did not feel their torments through the sweet unction of divine love, and the excessive joy which God poured into their souls.  A.