June 24 2009 Wednesday Solemnity of the Nativity of
Saint John the Baptist – Mass During the Day
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
Isaiah 49:1-6
Douay-Rheims Challoner
And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of his hand he hath protected me, and hath made me as a chosen arrow: in his quiver he hath hidden me. And he said to me: Thou art my servant Israel, for in thee will I glory.
And I said: I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain: therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.
And now saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant, that I may bring back Jacob unto him, and Israel will not be gathered together: and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength. And he said: It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth.
Responsorial Psalm 138:1b-3, 13-15 (Ps 139 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only
Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:
Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.
Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off:
my path and my line thou hast searched out.
For thou hast possessed my reins:
thou hast protected me from my mother’s womb.
I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified:
wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.
My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret:
and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
Acts of the Apostles 13:22-26
Haydock New Testament
And when he had removed him, he raised them up David to be king: to whom giving testimony, he said: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my will. Of this man’s seed God, according to his promise, hath raised up to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, John first preaching before his coming the baptism of penance to all the people of Israel. And when John was fulfilling his course, he said: I am not he, whom you think me to be: but behold he cometh after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to loose. Men, brethren, sons of the race of Abraham, and whosoever among you fear God, to you the word of this salvation is sent.
Birth of Saint John The Baptist Jacopo Pontormo 1526AD
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 1:57-66, 80
Haydock New Testament
Now Elizabeth’s full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had shewed his great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father’s name, Zachary. And his mother answering, said:
Not so, but he shall be called John.
And they said to her:
There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And demanding a tablet, he wrote, saying:
John is his name.
And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their neighbours: and all these words were divulged over all the mountainous country of Judea. And all they who had heard them, laid them up in their heart, saying:
What a one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
And the child grew up, and was strengthened in spirit: and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Haydock Commentary Isaiah 49:1-6
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site
- Ver. 1. Give. This fresh discourse continues to C. lvi. 9. relating to the Messias, who is introduced speaking to all the world. Acts xiii. 47. and 2 Cor. vi. 2. Some apply a part to Cyrus, Isaias, or the Baptist, as to his figures. C. — The prophet has foretold the conversion of the Gentiles, as he now does, like an evangelist. S. Jer. — Many Jews will embrace the gospel at the end of time. W.
- Ver. 2. Sword, penetrating the very soul, (Heb. iv. 12.) and slaying the wicked. Apoc. i. 16. and 2 Thess. ii. 8. Without Christ, his ministers can apply this sword to little purpose. Cyrus cut asunder the bonds of the captives by his decree. C. — Grotius improperly explains all of Isaias. Houbigant.
- Ver. 3. Glory. In the Church, God is adored in spirit and truth. Isaias is ordered thus to address the Israelites.
- Ver. 4. God. He will reward the labours of his ministers, though the people be obstinate. The prophets and our Saviour frequently complain. C. lxv. 2. Mar. ix. 18.
- Ver. 5. Will not. Heb. Sept. &c. “to be gathered.” H. — The original text, independent of the Masorets, may have the sense of the Vulg. Yet there are other proofs of the synagogue’s rejection. C. — Prot. “though Israel be not gathered, yet,” &c. Margin, or “that Israel may be gathered, and I may,” &c. H.
- Ver. 6. Earth. S. Paul, explains this of Christ, (Acts xiii.) who said, Go teach all nations. Mat. xxviii. Isaias was one of his first preachers.
Haydock Commentary Acts 13:22-26
- Ver. 24, &c. He then brings the testimony, which John the Baptist gave of Jesus, as it is likely many of them had heard of John, and of the great esteem that all the people had of his virtue and sanctity. He tells them that salvation was offered and sent them by Jesus, against whom the chief of the Jews at Jerusalem obtained of Pilate a sentence, that he should be crucified; but that God raised him up from the dead the third day. And we, says he, publish to you this promise, the Messias, promised to our forefathers.
Haydock Commentary Luke 1:57-66, 80
- Ver. 63. As then in circumcision, so now in baptism, names are given. And as we see here, and is all the Old Testament, great respect was had of names, so must we be aware of profane and secular names, and rather, according to the catechism of the council of Trent, take names of saints and holy persons, which may put us in mind of their virtues. De Bap. in fine.
- Ver. 80. S. John remained in the desert till the 30th year of his age. The reason why he concealed himself so long was because he feared the cruelty of Herod; for, though he was not under his jurisdiction, not being on the confines of Bethlehem, yet on account of the remarkable events that took place at his birth, by which he was declared the precursor of the Messias, he had reason to dread the cruelty of the jealous and suspicious Herod. Peter of Alexandria, Nicephorus, Baronius, and others, say, that when he was yet in his mother’s arms, he was conveyed into the desert, and there concealed in the caves and fissures of the rocks, where people concealed themselves on the approach of their enemies. Cedrinus adds, that 40 days after their flight, the mother of S. John died; after which, an angel is said to have undertaken the care of the Baptist; but most probably this office was performed by some attendant on S. Elizabeth. Tirinus. —The Baptist remained in the desert till he began his public ministry, which by a law of the Jews could not be much before he had attained his 30th years. He is styled by antiquity the first hermit. See S. Jerom in Vita Pauli.
