January 20 2010 Wednesday Second Week in Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day – St. Sebastian
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/
1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51
Douay-Rheims Challoner
And when he was brought to Saul, he said to him.
Let not any man’s heart be dismayed in him: I thy servant will go, and will fight against the Philistine.
And Saul said to David:
Thou art not able to withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him: for thou art but a boy, but he is a warrior from his youth.
And David said:
The Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said to David:
Go, and the Lord be with thee.
And he took his staff, which he had always in his hands: and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them into the shepherd’s scrip, which he had with him, and he took a sling in his hand, and went forth against the Philistine. And the Philistine came on, and drew nigh against David, and his armourbearer went before him. And when the Philistine looked, and beheld David, he despised him. For he was a young man, ruddy, and of a comely countenance. And the Philistine said to David:
Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff?
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And he said to David:
Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth.
And David said to the Philistine:
Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, which thou hast defied this day, and the Lord will deliver thee into my hand, and I will slay thee, and take away thy head from thee: and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth: that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for it is his battle, and he will deliver you into our hands.
And when the Philistine arose, and was coming, and drew nigh to meet David, David made haste, and ran to the fight to meet the Philistine. And he put his hand into his scrip, and took a stone, and cast it with the sling, and fetching it about, struck the Philistine in the forehead, and he fell on his face upon the earth. And David prevailed over the Philistine, with a sling and a stone, and he struck, and slew the Philistine. And as David had no sword in his hand, He ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head. And the Philistines seeing that their champion was dead, fled away.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 143:1b, 2, 9-10 (Ps 144 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only
Blessed be the Lord my God,
who teacheth my hands to fight,
and my fingers to war.
My mercy, and my refuge:
my support, and my deliverer:
My protector, and I have hoped in him:
who subdueth my people under me.
To thee, O God, I will sing a new canticle:
on the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings
I will sing praises to thee.
Who givest salvation to kings:
who hast redeemed thy servant David
from the malicious sword:
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Mark 3:1-6
Haydock New Testament
And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath-day: that they might accuse him. And he saith to the man who had the withered hand:
Stand up in the midst.
And he saith to them:
Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy? But they held their peace.
And looking round about on them with anger, being grieved for the blindness of their hearts, he saith to the man:
Stretch forth thy hand.
And he stretched it forth; and his hand was restored unto him. And the Pharisees going out immediately, made a consultation with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
Haydock Commentary 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site
- Ver. 32. Saul. Lit. “to him.” But Heb. and Sept. have, “And David said to Saul,” which makes the connection between this and v. 11, more clear. H. — In him, or on account of Goliath. M.
- Ver. 33. Boy, compared with the giant, (H.) or Saul, though David might be about 22 years old, (Salien) or near 30. T. — S. Aug. and Theodoret say only 14 or 16. M. — He had not yet been in the wars. C.
- Ver. 40. Smooth. Louis de Dieu translates broken “pieces of stones,” as he pretends, contrary to the common opinion, that rough stones are more suitable for the sling. C. — The learned Jew, whom we have cited above, (v. 12,) and several others, have inferred from this verse, that David seems to have just come from the flock. But Kennicott justly observes, that slingers were of great service in the army; and the “vessel of shepherds,” the bag or scrip, might well be used to obtain the stones; as the staff, makel, denotes a military weapon. (Taylor, Conc.) Diss. ii. p. 555. David was very expert in using these weapons, and the ordinary armour was encumbering to him. H. — “Valour depends more on its own efforts than on armour,” tegumentis. S. Amb. Off. i.
- Ver. 43. Gods. Dagon or Baalim. M. — Sept. Alex. has, “idols.” The beauty and accoutrements of David, made the rough warrior suppose that he was not coming to fight, but only to laugh at him and run away. H.
- Ver. 44. Earth. The heroes of modern days refrain from such compliments. Homer frequently describes his champions making long speeches in praise of their former exploits. David displays his piety and confidence in God. C.
- Ver. 47. Battle, whose armies thou hast defied, (v. 45. H.) or in general, He is the God of war, who grants victory to whom He pleases. C.
- Ver. 48. Arose. The Roman Triarii and the Gauls expected the hour of battle sitting. C.
- Ver. 49. Forehead. “The soul…more probably resides in the callous body of the brain,” (Eyre, Thesis 1797,) between the eyes. H. — Earth, quite lifeless, (Salien) or unable to resist. M. — The Balearic slingers scarcely ever missed their mark. Livy, viii. 4. The Chaldee supposes that David hit the eye, which was not covered with brass: but the stone might penetrate or kill Goliath through his helmet. Even a buckler is not capable of withstanding their violence. Diodorus, v. 207. See Judg. xx. 16. C. — Pride sits on the forehead, and manifests itself by impudent behaviour. We must destroy it by humility, and by the cross of Christ. S. Aug. W.
Haydock Commentary Mark 3:1-6
- Ver. 1. He entered again into the synagogue, viz. of Capharnaum. The man was there either, of course, on account of the sabbath, or to be cured by Jesus Christ.
- Ver. 4. A difficulty here arises, how to reconcile S. Mark with S. Matthew. S. Mark puts the words into the mouth of Jesus Christ: Is it lawful? When S. Matthew says, that they interrogated him: Is it lawful? To cut the knot of this apparent difficulty, we must understand that they first put the question to our Lord, whether it was lawful to heal on the sabbath-day or not: and that Jesus understanding their secret thoughts, that they wished to have some grounds of accusation against him, placed the sick man in the midst of them, and said what S. Mark here relates of him: Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? S. Aug.
Steady Fire of Faith 