August 2009 – Page 3 – Steady Fire of Faith

Daily Bible Readings Monday August 10 2009 Feast of Saint Lawrence Deacon and Martyr

August 10 2009 Monday Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr
Saint of the Day – St. Lawrence

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/081009.shtml

2 Corinthians 9:6-10
Haydock New Testament

Now this I say: He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly; and he who soweth in blessings, shall also reap of blessings. Every one as he hath determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity: For God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound in you: that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work, As it is written: He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor: his justice remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, will both give you bread to eat, and will multiply your seed, and increase the growth of the fruits of your justice:

Responsorial Psalm 111:1-2, 5-9 (Ps 112 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord:
he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.
His seed shall be mighty upon earth:
the generation of the righteous shall be blessed.
Acceptable is the man that sheweth mercy and lendeth:
he shall order his words with judgment:
Because he shall not be moved for ever.
The just shall be in everlasting remembrance:
he shall not fear the evil hearing.
His heart is ready to hope in the Lord:
His heart is strengthened,
he shall not be moved until he look over his enemies.
He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor:
his justice remaineth for ever and ever:
his horn shall be exalted in glory.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint John 12:24-26
Haydock New Testament

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground, die, Itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life, shall lose it: and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life everlasting. If any man minister to me, let him follow me: and where I am, there also shall my minister be. If any man minister to me, him will my Father honour.

Haydock Commentary 2 Corinthians 9:6-10
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

Ver. 8. God is generous to the liberally disposed Christian; filling such as relieve the poor with every species of good, and returning their charities a hundred-fold. M.

Haydock Commentary John 12:24-26

Ver. 24. Unless the grain of wheat. The comparison is this, that as the seed must be changed, and corrupted in the ground, before it fructify, so the world would not be converted but by Christ’s death. Wi. — By this grain of corn our Saviour means himself, who was to die by the infidelity of the Jews, and be multiplied by the faith of the Gentiles. S. Aug. tract. 51. in Joan.
Ver. 26. We must minister to Jesus by seeking not our own things, but the things of Christ; that is; we must follow him, we must walk in his footsteps, we must perform the corporal works of mercy, and every other good work, for his sake, till we come to put in practice the most perfect act of charity, the laying down our lives for our brethren. Then will he crown us with the greatest of rewards, the happiness of reigning with him. And where I am, there shall my minister be. S. Aug. tract. 51. in Joan.

Sunday Bible Readings August 9 2009 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 9 2009 Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/080909.shtml

1 Kings 19:4-8 (3 Kings)
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And he (Elijah) went forward, one day’s journey into the desert. And when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die, and said:

It is enough for me, Lord; take away my soul: for I am no better than my fathers.

And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree: and behold an angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him:

Arise and eat.

He looked, and behold there was at his head a hearth cake, and a vessel of water: and he ate and drank, and he fell asleep again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said to him:

Arise, eat: for thou hast yet a great way to go.

And he arose, and ate and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God, Horeb.

Responsorial Psalm 33:2-9 (Ps 34 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth.
In the Lord shall my soul be praised: let the meek hear and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me; and let us extol his name together.
I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from all my troubles.
Come ye to him and be enlightened: and your faces shall not be confounded.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him: and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him: and shall deliver them.
O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him.

Ephesians 4:30—5:2
Haydock New Testament

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamour, and blasphemy, be taken away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ. BE ye, therefore, followers of God, as most dear children: And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God, for an odour of sweetness.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint John 6:41-51
Haydock New Testament

The Jews therefore murmured at him, because he had said:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

And they said:

Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then saith he, I came down from heaven?

Jesus, therefore, answered, and said to them:

Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets: And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me. Not that nay man hath seen the Father, but he, who is of God, he hath seen the Father.

Amen, amen, I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and they died. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven: that if any one eat of it, he may not die. I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.

Haydock Commentary 3 Kings 19:4-8
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

Ver. 4. Desert. It seems, towards Horeb. C. — Tree. Heb. Rothem, which term the Sept. retain, “Rathmen.” Sym. has, “a shade.” H. — Die. Elias requested to die, not out of impatience or pusillanimity, but out of zeal against sin; and that he might no longer be witness of the miseries of his people, and the war they were waging against God and his servants. See v. 10. Ch. — He does not wish to fall into the hands of Jezabel, lest the idolaters should triumph: but he is willing to die, if God so order it. C. — Mathathias entertained the like sentiments. 1 Mac. ii. 7. — Fathers: that I should live longer than they did. M. Eccli. xxx. 17. — If he had been weary of life, why did he flee? His answer to Achab shews that he was by no means timid. C.
Ver. 6. Cake, baked in a hollow stone, covered with fire. The Arabs call such cakes, Ridpha. An angel brought this nourishment. C.
Ver. 7. Go. Heb. “the journey is too great for thee,” without this support. H. — He spent forty days in this journey, as he did not follow the straitest road. Horeb is only about fifty leagues from Bersabee. C. — He might have travelled thither in four or five days. M.
Ver. 8. In the strength of that food, &c. This bread with which Elias was fed in the wilderness, was a figure of the bread of life, which we receive in the blessed sacrament: by the strength of which we are to be supported in our journey through the wilderness of this world, till we come to the true mountain of God, and his vision in a happy eternity. Ch. — Horeb signifies “a rock, or dry wilderness.” C.

Haydock Commentary Ephesians 4:30—5:2

Ver. 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit: not that the Holy Ghost can be contristated. It is a metaphor; and the sense is, sin not against the Holy Ghost. Wi. — To contristate the Holy Spirit is a metaphorical expression, which signifies to offend God, or the Holy Ghost, who has sealed us by the sacraments of baptism and confirmation with particular marks, by which we shall be distinguished from others in the day of our retribution. SS. Chrysostom, Jerom, Ambrose, &c.

Haydock Commentary John 6:41-51

Ver. 41. I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. These Jews did not believe that Christ was the true and eternal Son of God, who came down from heaven, and was made flesh, was made man. He speaks of this faith in him, when he calls himself the living bread, the mystical bread of life, that came to give life everlasting to all true and faithful believers. In this sense S. Augustine said, (trac. xxv. p. 489) why dost thou prepare thy teeth and belly? only believe, and thou hast eaten; but afterwards he passeth to his sacramental and real presence in the holy sacrament. Wi.
Ver. 44. Draw him. Not by compulsion, nor by laying the free-will under any necessity, but by the strong and sweet motions of his heavenly grace. Ch. — We are drawn to the Father by some secret pleasure, delight, or love, which brings us to the Father. “Believe and you come to the Father,” says S. Austin, “Love, and you are drawn. The Jews could not believe, because they would not.” God, by his power, could have overcome their hardness of heart; but he was not bound to do it; neither had they any right to expect this favour, after the many miracles which they had seen. Calmet.
Ver. 45. Every one, therefore, that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned of him who I am, cometh to me by faith and obedience. As to others, when the Scripture says they are taught by God, this is to be understood of an interior spiritual instruction, which takes place in the soul, and does not fall under the senses; but not less real on that account, because it is the heart, which hears the voice of this invisible teacher.
Ver. 47. Thus Jesus Christ concludes the first part of his discourse: “Amen, amen, he that believeth in me, hath everlasting life;” which shews that faith is a necessary predisposition to the heavenly bread.
Ver. 48. Because the multitude still insisted in begging for their corporal nourishment and remembering the food that was given to their fathers, Christ, to shew that all were figures of the present spiritual food, answered, that he was the bread of life. Theophylact. — Here Jesus Christ proceeds to the second part of his discourse, in which he fully explains what that bread of life is, which he is about to bestow upon mankind in the mystery of the holy Eucharist. He declares then, in the first place, that he is the bread of eternal life, and mentions its several properties; and secondly, he applies to his own person, and to his own flesh, the idea of this bread, such as he has defined it.
Ver. 51. Christ now no longer calls the belief in him, or the preaching of the gospel, the bread that he will give them; but he declares that it is his own flesh, and that flesh which shall be given for the life of the world. Calmet. — This bread Christ then gave, when he gave the mystery of his body and blood to his disciples. Ven. Bede.

Daily Bible Readings Saturday August 8 2009 Memorial of Saint Dominic

August 8 2009 Saturday Memorial of Saint Dominic, priest
Saint of the Day – St. Dominic

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/080809.shtml

Deuteronomy 6:4-13
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Moses said to the Israelites:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart: And thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising. And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be and shall move between thy eyes. And thou shalt write them in the entry, and on the doors of thy house.

And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, for which he swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and shall have given thee great and goodly cities, which thou didst not build, Houses full of riches, which thou didst not set up, cisterns which thou didst not dig, vineyards and oliveyards, which thou didst not plant, And thou shalt have eaten and be full: Take heed diligently lest thou forget the Lord, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shalt swear by his name.

Responsorial Psalm 17:2-4, 47 and 51 (Ps 18 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength:
The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer.
My God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust.
My protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support.
Praising, I will call upon the Lord:
and I shall be saved from my enemies.
The Lord liveth, and blessed be my God,
and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
Giving great deliverance to his king,
and shewing mercy to David, his anointed:
and to his seed for ever.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 17:14-20
Haydock New Testament

And when he was come to the multitude, there came to him a man falling down on his knees before him, saying:

Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffereth much: for he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

Then Jesus answered, and said:

O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.

And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said:

Why could not we cast him out?

Jesus said to them:

Because of your unbelief. For amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.

Haydock Commentary Deuteronomy 6:4-13
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

Ver. 5. Whole heart…soul…and strength. God admits of no partner, nor will he suffer any rivulet to be drawn from the fountain of love, which is not ultimately referred to himself. Our neighbour we must love only for his sake, and by the observance of this two-fold precept, we shall fulfil the whole law and the prophets. Matt. xxii. 40. H. See S. Aug. de Doct. i. 22. — We must love God disinterestedly for his own sake: we must sacrifice our soul and life for his honour, with all our strength, beginning every good work with fervour, and persevering in our undertakings. All our faculties and senses must be consecrated to the divine service, as well as all our goods; in which sense the Chaldee, &c. understand the word strength. Heb. lit. ex toto valdè tuo. By this singular expression Moses seems to insinuate, that he cannot find words to specify how much we ought to love the Sovereign Good. C. — “The measure of loving God, is to love without measure.” S. Bernard. H. — By many words, the same thing is more forcibly inculcated. T. M. — In the gospel we find, with thy whole mind, (Luc. x. 27,) added by the lawyer. H. — We must give God the preference before all, and thus have our heart perfect before him, like David, &c. T.
Ver. 7. Tell. Heb. “thou shalt chew them” as nurses do bread for their little ones; or thou shalt “sharpen,” like a razor, “explain clearly and often,” these precepts, which are of the utmost importance. — Meditate; speak of them to others, (C.) and entertain thyself with them in thy own heart. The mouth of the just man shall meditate wisdom, and (that is) his tongue shall speak judgment. Ps. xxxvi. 30. Ex. xiii. 9. — Sleeping. The spouse, in the canticle, (v. 2,) says, I sleep, and my heart watcheth. If we carefully direct our intention, we may merit even when we are incapable of thinking. God will reward our good desires. Our last and first thoughts ought, in a particular manner, to be consecrated to God, (H.) when we go to rest and when we arise, (M.) as he is our first beginning, the source of all graces, and our last end, to whom we ought to refer every thing, even our ordinary actions of sleeping, labour, and diversion. If we make his divine perfections and his law the subject of our daily meditations, our soul will naturally be affected with the same sentiments during the night. Quicquid luce fuit tenebris agit. “The occurrences of the day have an influence upon our dreams;” (Petronius) and as we are accountable for many things by placing the cause, which in the hours of sleep or of drunkenness we are not able to prevent, so it cannot be doubted but that we shall increase in virtue, if we regulate our thoughts and actions in a proper manner, even when our soul is incapable of exerting her faculties. Hence we may perceive, of what vast importance it is to have a pure intention. H.
Ver. 8. Sign, or seal, (Cant. viii. 6. C.) attached to the ring which the Jews wore on their fingers, (H.) to seal their letters, after they were enveloped and tied with linen. The Jews have bandages of vellum on their hand, with sentences of the law inscribed upon them, (C.) as well as others upon their forehead; while many get the whole law, particularly the Book of Deuteronomy, by heart: for which purpose, the Rabbins inform us, there were above 4000 schools and synagogues at Jerusalem, where the law of God was learnt and explained. The design of this injunction was not, however, to enforce the wearing of such bandages, as the Pharisees imagined, (Mat. xxiii. 5,) but to put all in mind that they ought to meditate frequently upon the commandments, (T.) and regulate their lives by their direction. — Shall move. Sept. adds a negation, but to the same import, “it (the sign) shall not be removed from before thy eyes.” H. — Heb. “they shall be as totaphoth, frontlets, ” ornaments hanging between the eyes. (Ex. xiii. 9. C.) “Tephilim,” (Chald.) or “spectacles.” Grotius.
Ver. 12. Full. Our Saviour seems to apply this to his disciples, in a spiritual sense, remarking that Moses and the prophets had prepared the way for them. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labours. Jo. iv. 38. H.
Ver. 13. Only. This is omitted in Heb.; but the Sept. and Jesus Christ retain it, (Mat. iv. 10,) as the sense requires. You cannot serve God and mammon. Lu. xvi. 13. C. — Name, and not by that of idols, whenever you may be authorized to take an oath. H. — To swear by any other, is to acknowledge him in some sort for a god. When we take an oath on proper occasions, and with due respect and caution, we perform and act of religion. C.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 17:14-20

Ver. 14. And when he was come. Peter, by wishing to remain on the holy mount, preferred his own gratification to the good of many. But true charity seeketh not its own advantage only; what therefore appeared good to Peter, did not appear so to Christ, who descends from the mountain, as from his high throne in heaven, to visit man. Origen.
Ver. 15. I brought him to thy disciples. By these words the man here mentioned privately accuses the apostles, though the impossibility of the cure is not always to be attributed to the weakness of God’s servants, but sometimes to the want of faith in the afflicted. Jerom. — Stand astonished at the folly of this man! how he accuses the apostles before Jesus! But Christ frees them from this inculpation, imputing the fault entirely to the man himself. For it is evident, from many circumstances, that he was weak in faith. Our Saviour does not inveigh against this man alone, not to wound his feelings too sensibly, but against the whole people of the Jews. We may infer, that many of the bystanders entertained false notions of his disciples, from these words of deserved reproach: O! unbelieving and incredulous generation, how long shall I be with you? In which words, he shews us how much he wished for his passion, and his departure hence. S. Chry. — We must not imagine that our Saviour, who was meekness and mildness itself, uttered on this occasion words of anger and intemperance. Not unlike a feeling and tender physician, observing his patient totally disregarding his prescriptions, he says, How long shall I visit you; how long shall I order one thing, and you do the contrary? Thus Jesus is not angry with the man, but with the vices of the man; and in him he upbraids the Jews, in general, for their incredulity and perversity. S. Jer. — The general sentiment is, that these reproaches are limited to the people; some extend them to the apostles. See below, v. 19. V.
Ver. 18. Why could not we? The disciples began to apprehend that they had incurred their Master’s displeasure, and had thereby lost their power of working miracles. They come therefore secretly to Jesus Christ, to learn why they could not cast out devils. He answered them, that it was their want of faith, which probably failed them on this occasion, on account of the difficulty of the cure, little reflecting that the virtue of the Lord, which worked in them, was superior to every possible evil of both mind and body. — S. Hilary is of opinion, that during the absence of Christ on the mountain, the fervour of the apostles had begun to abate. Jans.
Ver. 19. If you have faith as a grain of mustard-seed. Christ insinuates to his apostles, as if they had not yet faith enough to work great miracles, which require a firm faith joined with a lively confidence in God. The mustard-seed is brought in with an allusion to its hot and active qualities. Wi. — That is, a perfect faith; which, in its properties and its fruits, resembles the grain of mustard-seed in the parable. C. xii. 31. Ch. — By faith is here understood, not that virtue by which we assent to all things that are to be believed of Christ, the first, of the theological virtues, in which the apostles were not deficient, but that confidence in the power and goodness of God, that he will on such an occasion exert these, his attributes, in favour of the supplicant. To have a true faith of this kind, and free from all presumption, is a great and high privilege, which the Holy Ghost breathes into such only as he pleases. Jans. — Examples of this efficacious faith are given by S. Paul. Heb. c. ii. S. Gregory of Neo-Cæsarea is also related, by Eusebius and Ven. Bede, to have removed by the efficacy of his faith a rock, which obstructed the building of a church; thus literally fulfilling the promise of Jesus Christ. Tirinus. — The faith of the apostles, especially of those that had not been present at the transfiguration, was not perfect and complete in all its parts, till after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Ghost. A. — S. Jerom understands by mountains, things the most difficult to be effected.
Ver. 20. See here the efficacy of prayer and fasting! What the apostles could not do, prayer accompanied with fasting can effect. How then can that be genuine religion, which makes fasting an object of ridicule? We see also here that the true Church in her exorcisms follows Scripture, when she uses besides the name of Jesus, many prayers and much fasting to drive out the devils, because these, as well as faith, are here required. B.

Daily Bible Readings Friday August 7 2009 18th Week in Ordinary Time

August 7 2009 Friday Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day – St. Cajetan

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/080709.shtml

Deuteronomy 4:32-40
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Moses said to the Israelites:

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. That thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.

From heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might teach thee. And upon earth he shewed thee his exceeding great fire, and thou didst hear his words out of the midst of the fire, Because he loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them. And he brought thee out of Egypt, going before thee with his great power, To destroy at thy coming very great nations, and stronger than thou art, and to bring thee in, and give thee their land for a possession, as thou seest at this present day.

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 76:12-16 and 21 (Ps 77 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

I remembered the works of the Lord:
for I will be mindful of thy wonders from the beginning.
And I will meditate on all thy works:
and will be employed in thy inventions.
Thy way, O God, is in the holy place:
who is the great God like our God?
Thou art the God that dost wonders.
Thou hast made thy power known among the nations:
With thy arm thou hast redeemed thy people
the children of Jacob and of Joseph.
Thou hast conducted thy people like sheep,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 16:24-28
Haydock New Testament

Then Jesus said to his disciples:

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels: and then will he render to ever man according to his works. Amen, I say to you, there are some of them standing here, who shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Haydock Commentary Deuteronomy 4:32-40
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. 38. Day. They had already conquered the mighty kingdoms of Sehon and of Og. M.
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 Matthew 16:24-28

Ver. 24. If any man will come. S. Chry. Euthymius, and Theophylactus, shew that free will is confirmed by these words. Do not expect, O Peter, that since you have confessed me to be the Son of God, you are immediately to be crowned, as if this were sufficient for salvation, and that the rest of your days may be spent in idleness and pleasure. For, although by my power, as Son of God, I would free you from every danger and trouble, yet this I will not do for your sake, that you may yourself contribute to your glory, and become the more illustrious. S. Chry. hom. lvi.
Ver. 25. Whosoever will save his life. Lit. his soul. In the style of the Scriptures, the word soul is sometimes put for the life of the body, sometimes for the whole man. Wi. — Whosoever acts against duty and conscience to save the life of his body, shall lose eternal life; and whoever makes the sacrifice of his life, or the comforts and conveniences of life for conscience sake, shall be rewarded with life eternal.
Ver. 26. And lose his own soul. Christ seems in these words to pass from the life of the body to that of the soul. Wi.
Ver. 27. Shall come in the glory. Jesus Christ wishing to shew his disciples the greatness of his glory at his future coming, reveals to them in this life as much as it was possible for them to comprehend, purposely to strengthen them against the scandal of his ignominious death. S. Chry.
Ver. 28. Till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Some expound this, as fulfilled at his transfiguration, which follows in the next chapter. Others understand it of the glory of Christ, and of his Church, after his resurrection and ascension, when he should be owned for Redeemer of the world: and this state of the Christian Church might be called the kingdom of Christ. Wi. — This promise of a transitory view of his glory he makes, to prove that he should one day come in all the glory of his Father, to judge each man according to his works: not according to his mercy, or their faith, but according to their works. S. Aug. de verb. apos. serm. 35. — Again, asks S. Aug. how could our Saviour reward every one according to his works, if there were no free will? l. ii. c. 4. 5. 8, de act. cum Fœlic. Manich. B.

Daily Bible Readings Thursday August 6 2009 Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord

August 6 2009 Thursday Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Saint of the Day – Transfiguration of the Lord

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/080609.shtml

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Douay-Rheims Challoner

I beheld till thrones were placed, and the ancient of days sat: his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool: his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a burning fire. A swift stream of fire issued forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened.

I beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm 96:1-2, 5-6, 9 (Ps 97 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice:
let many islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him:
justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne.
The mountains melted like wax, at the presence of the Lord:
at the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens declared his justice: and all people saw his glory.
For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth:
thou art exalted exceedingly above all gods.

2 Peter 1:16-19
Haydock New Testament

For we have not by following artificial fables, made known to you the power, and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ; but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory; this voice coming down to him from the excellent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am pleased; hear ye him. And this voice we heard brought from heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount. And we have the surer word of prophecy: to which you do well to attend, as to a light shining in a dark place until the day dawn, and the morning star rise in your hearts.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Mark 9:2-10 (1-9)
Haydock New Testament

AND after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John: and leadeth them up to a high mountain apart by themselves, and was transfigured before them. And his garments became shining, and exceedingly white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can make white. And there appeared to them Elias (Elijah) with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answering, said to Jesus:

Rabbi, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

For he knew not what he said: for they were struck with fear. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying:

This is my most beloved Son: hear ye him.

And immediately looking about, they saw no man any more, but Jesus only with them. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them not to tell any man what things they had seen, till the Son of man shall be risen again from the dead. And they kept the word to themselves: questioning together what that should mean: When he shall be risen from the dead.

Haydock Commentary Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

Ver. 9. Ancient. The Son is born of the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from both, yet all three are coeternal. W. — Hence the Father is sometimes painted in this manner, though he be a pure spirit. His throne resembled that seen by Ezechiel, C. i. H. — He takes cognizance of all, and punishes accordingly. C.
Ver. 10. Fire. Ps. xcvi. 3. — Thousands. Gr. implies one million and one hundred millions. M. — The angels are very numerous, particularly the highest, styled assistants. S. Tho. W.
Ver. 13. Heaven. Christ appeared about sixty years after the subversion of the Syrian monarchy. Yet these expressions literally refer to his second coming. Mat. xxvi. 64. C. — He had the form of man, as he had the nature. M. — He is clearly predicted. by his power antichrist is overthrown. W.
Ver. 14. Destroyed. The eternal dominion of Christ could not be expressed in stronger terms. He seems to allude to them, Mat. xxviii. 18. C.

Haydock Commentary 2 Peter 1:16-19

Ver. 16. We have not by following artificial fables. Lit. learned fables,[6] invented to promote our doctrine. We, I with others, were eye-witnesses of his glory on Mount Thabor. Wi.
Ver. 19. And we have the surer word of prophecy, or to make our testimonies and preaching of Christ more firm. The revelations of God made to the prophets, and contained in the holy Scriptures, give us of all others the greatest assurance. Though the mysteries in themselves remain obscure and incomprehensible, the motive of our belief is divine authority. Wi. — If our testimony be suspicious, we have what you will certainly allow, the testimony of the prophets: attend then to the prophets as to a lamp that illuminates a dark place, till the bright day of a more lively faith begins to illumine you, and the day-star arises in your heart: till this faith, which is like the day-star, give you a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is by the divine oracles you will acquire this knowledge, provided you peruse them with proper dispositions.

Haydock Commentary Mark 9:1-9

Ver. 4. The law and the prophets were signified by Moses and Elias; both bear testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ’s mission, which was effectually to close the old, and open the new dispensation. By the apparitions of these two illustrious personages, we learn also that sometimes, though not often, there is, by the permission of heaven, a certain intercourse between the living and the dead. B.
Ver. 5. Peter had forgotten that the glorious kingdom of Christ was not of this world, but in heaven only; that himself and the other apostles, clothed as they were with their mortality, could not participate in immortal joys; and that the mansions in the house of the Father are not raised with human hands. He again shewed that he knew not what he said, by wishing to make three tabernacles, one for the law, one for the prophets, and one for the gospel, since these three cannot be separated from each other. Ven. Bede.
Ver. 9. Risen from the dead. The disciples believed the resurrection of the dead, but they knew not what Christ meant by by his rising from the dead. Their thoughts were filled with the idea of a glorious kingdom in this world, in which they should enjoy great dignities and offices under the Messias. Wi.