Sunday Scripture Readings September 12 2010 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 12 2010 Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Disclaimer – Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/

Exodus 32:7-14
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Go, get thee down: thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned. They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew them: and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

And again the Lord said to Moses:

I see that this people is stiffnecked: Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation.

But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying:

Why, O Lord, is thy indignation enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand? Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee: He craftily brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth: let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thy own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven: and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it for ever:

And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people.

1 Timothy 1:12-17
Haydock NT

I give thanks to him who hath strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, that he deemed me faithful, putting me in the ministry: Who before was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and contumelious: but I obtained the mercy of God, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Now the grace of our Lord hath abounded exceedingly with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. A faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation: that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. But for this cause have I obtained mercy: that in me first Christ Jesus might shew forth all patience, for the information of those who shall believe in him unto life everlasting. Now to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 15:1-32
Haydock New Testament

NOW the publicans and sinners drew near unto him, to hear him. And the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured, saying:

This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

And he spoke to them this parable, saying:

What man among you that hath a hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it, doth he not lay it upon his shoulders rejoicing: And coming home call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost?

I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. Or what woman, having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle and sweep the house, and seek diligently, till she find it? And when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbours, saying:

Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost.

So I say to you, there shall be joy before the Angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.

And he said:

A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father:

Father, give me the portion of substance that falleth to me.

And he divided until them his substance. And not many days after, the younger son gathering all together, went abroad into a far country: and there wasted his substance by living riotously. And after he had spent all, there came a might famine in that country, and he began to be in want. And he went, and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country. And he sent him into his farm to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And returning to himself, he said:

How many hired servants in my father’s house have plenty of bread, and I here perish with hunger? I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee: I am not now worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.’

And rising up, he went to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running to him, fell upon his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him:

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee: I am not now worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants:

Bring forth, quickly, the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and make merry: Because this, my son, was dead, and is come to life again: he was lost and is found.

And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and when he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing: And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said to him:

Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe.

And he was angry, and would not go in. His father, therefore, coming out, began to entreat him. And he answering, said to his father:

Behold, for so many years do I serve thee, and I have never transgressed thy commandment, and yet thou hast never given me a kid to make merry with my friends: But as soon as this, thy son, is come, who hath devoured his substance with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

But he said to him:

Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is thine. But it was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this, thy brother, was dead, and is come to life again: he was lost, and is found.

Haydock Commentary Exodus 32:7-14

• Ver. 7. Thy people. They are not worthy to be styled my people; and thou didst ratify the covenant with me, in their name, and as their interpreter. They have sinned, giving way to idolatry in thought, word, and deed.
• Ver. 9. And again. The Sept. omit this verse. Moses, at the first intimation of the people’s sin, fell prostrate before the Lord, to sue for pardon, and pleaded the natural weakness of an ungovernable multitude, in order to extenuate their fault. This God admits.—I see, &c. But while he seems bent on punishing them, to try his servant, he encourages him inwardly to pray with fervour. Salien.
• Ver. 10. Alone One fully determined on revenge will bear with no expostulation; whence S. Greg. (Mor. ix. 11,) and Theodoret (q. 67,) look upon this as an incitement to pray more earnestly, seeing God’s servants have such influence over Him. The mercy of God struggled with his justice, and stopped its effects.—Nation, as I promised to Abraham; or I will make thee ruler over a nation greater than this, as Moses explains it, (Deut. ix. 14,) and as the like offer is made, Num. xiv. 12. The Sam. Subjoins here, “And God was likewise much irritated against Aaron, and would have destroyed him; but Moses prayed for him:” which we are assured was the case. Deut. ix. 20. C.
• Ver. 11. Why, &c. Calvin here accuses Moses of arrogance, in prescribing laws to God’s justice. But S. Jerome (ep. ad Gaud.) commends his charity and “prayer, which hindered God’s power.” W.
• Ver. 12. Craftily. Heb. “with a malicious design.” Moses insinuates, that the glory of God is interested not to punish the Hebrews, lest the Gentiles should *plaspheme, particularly as the land of Chanaan seemed to be promised unconditionally to the posterity of Abraham, who were now, all but one, to be exterminated. H.
• Ver. 13. Thy servants. Thus God honours his friends, and rewards their merits, which are the effects of his grace. W.
• Ver. 14. Appeased. Yet of this Moses was not fully assured, and in effect only those who had been less guilty, were reprieved to be punished afterwards. V. 30. 35. H.

Haydock Commentary 1 Timothy 1:12-17

• Ver. 13. Because I did it ignorantly in unbelief, or in incredulity. Not that we can think it an invincible and altogether an inculpable ignorance, such as would have made S. Paul blameless in the sight of God. It was through his pure mercy that he called S. Paul, when his great sins and false zeal made him a greater object of the divine mercy: and God in him was pleased to make known to all men his wonderful patience, that no sinners might despair. The grace of God was superabounding, or exceedingly abundant in him. Wi.
• Ver. 15. Christ Jesus, the true Son of God, came into this world to save sinners, of whom (says S. Paul) I am the chief, the first, the greatest. Wi.

Haydock Commentary Luke Chapter 15

• Ver. 4. What man, &c. Christ left the ninety-nine in the desert, when he descended from the angelic choirs, in order to seek last man on the earth, that he might fill up the number of the sheepfold of heaven, from which his sins had excluded him. S. Amb.—Neither did his affection for the last sheep make him behave cruelly to the rest; for he left them in safety, under the protection of his omnipotent hand. S. Cyril ex D. Thoma Aquin.
• Ver. 7. Joy in heaven, &c. What incitement ought it not to be to use to practise virtue, when we reflect that our conversion causes joy to the troops of blessed spirits, whose protection we should always seek, and whose presence we should always revere. S. Amb.—There is greater joy for the conversion of a sinner, than for the perseverance of the just; but it frequently happens, that these being free from the chain of sin, remain indeed in the path of justice, but press not on eagerly to their heavenly country; whilst such as have been sinners, are stung with grief at the remembrance of their former transgressions, and calling to mind how they have forsaken their God, endeavour by present fervour to compensate for their past misconduct. But it must be remembered that there are many just, whose lives cause such joy to the heavenly court, that all the penitential exercises of sinners cannot be preferred before them. S. Gregory, hom. xxxiv.
• Ver. 8. In the preceding parable, the race of mankind is compared to a lost sheep, to teach us that we are the creatures of the most high God, who made us, and not we ourselves, of whose pasture we are the sheep. Ps. xcix. And in this parable mankind are compared to the drachma, which was lost, to shew us that we have been made to the royal likeness and image even of the omnipotent God; for the drachma is a piece of money, bearing the image of the king. S. Chrysos. In S. Tho. Aquin.
• Ver. 10. Before the angels. By this it is plain that the spirits in heaven have a concern for us below, and a joy at our repentance, and consequently a knowledge of it. Ch.
• Ver. 11. A certain man had two sons. By the elder son is commonly expounded the Jewish people, who for a long time had been chosen to serve God; and by the younger son, the Gentiles, who for so many ages had run blindly on in their idolatry and vices. Wi.—Some understand this of the Jews and Gentiles, others of the just and sinners. The former opinion seems preferable. The elder son, brought up in his father’s house, &c. represents the Jews; the younger prodigal is a figure of the Gentiles. Calmet.
• Ver. 12. It is very probable, from this verse, that the children of the family, when come to age, could demand of their parents the share of property which would fall to their lot. For these parables suppose the ordinary practices of the country, and are founded on what was customarily done. Grotius thinks this was the common law among the Phoenicians.—The Gentiles, prefigured by the prodigal son, received from their father, (the Almighty,) free-will, reason, mind, health, natural knowledge, and the goods which are common to mankind, all which they dissipated and abused. Sinners who have besides received the gift of faith and sanctification, by baptism, and who have profaned the holiness of their state, by crimes, are more express figures of the bad conduct of this son. Calmet.
• Ver. 16. Husks. This expresses the extreme misery of his condition. There is no need of seeking any other mystery in this world. Horace, by a kind of hyperbole, (B. ii, Ep. 1) represents the miser as living upon husks, to be able to save more.
  Vivit silquis et pane secundo.
  –And no man gave unto him; i.e. gave him bread, mentioned before; for as for the husks, he could take what he pleased. Wi.
• Ver. 18. How merciful is the Almighty, who, though so much offended, still does not disdain the name of father.—I have sinned. These are the first words of a sinner’s confession to the author of nature. God knows all things; still does he expect to hear the voice of your confession. It is in vain to think of concealing your sins from the eyes of him whom nothing can escape; and there can be no danger of acknowledging to him what his infinite knowledge has already embraced. Confess then that Christ may intercede for you, the Church pray for you, the people our forth their tears for you. Fear not that you cannot obtain pardon, for pardon is promised to you; grace, and a reconciliation with a most tender parent, are held out to you. S. Ambrose.—Before thee, &c. By this does our Redeemer shew, that the Almighty is here to be understood by the name of father: for the all-seeing eye of God only beholds all things, from whom even the secret machinations of the heart cannot be concealed. S. Chrys. ex D. Tho.
• Ver. 22. The first; i.e. the best robe: by it, is meant the habit of grace. Wi.
• Ver. 24. Was dead, and is come to life again. A sinner, in mortal sin, is deprived of the divine grace, which is the spiritual life of the soul. At his conversion it is restored to him, and he begins to live again. Wi.
• Ver. 25. His elder son, &c. We have already remarked, that this son represents the Jews. He boasts of having always served his father faithfully, and of never disobeying him. This is the language of that presumptuous people, who believe themselves alone holy; and despising the Gentiles with sovereign contempt, could not bear to see the gates of salvation laid open also to them. The 28^th, 29^th, and 30^th verses express admirably the genius of the Jewish people; particularly his refusing to enter his father’s house, shews their obstinacy. Calmet.
• Ver. 29. I have never transgressed, &c. With what face could the Jews, represented here by the eldest son, say they had never transgressed the commandments of their father? This made Tertullian think that this was not the expression of the Jews, but of the faithful Christians; and, therefore, he interprets the whole parable as applied to a disciple of Christ. But we should recollect, that it is not uncommon for the presumption to boast of what it never has done. The whole history of the Jews is full of numberless details of their prevarication and disobedience. Calmet.—A kid, &c. The Jews demanded a kid, but the Christians a lamb; therefore was Barabbas set at liberty for them, whilst for us the lamb was immolated. S. Amb.

Sunday Scripture Readings September 12 2010 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 12 2010 Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Disclaimer – Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/

Exodus 32:7-14
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Go, get thee down: thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned. They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew them: and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said: These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

And again the Lord said to Moses:

I see that this people is stiffnecked: Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation.

But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying:

Why, O Lord, is thy indignation enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand? Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee: He craftily brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth: let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thy own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven: and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it for ever:

And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people.

1 Timothy 1:12-17
Haydock NT

I give thanks to him who hath strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, that he deemed me faithful, putting me in the ministry: Who before was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and contumelious: but I obtained the mercy of God, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Now the grace of our Lord hath abounded exceedingly with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. A faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation: that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. But for this cause have I obtained mercy: that in me first Christ Jesus might shew forth all patience, for the information of those who shall believe in him unto life everlasting. Now to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 15:1-32
Haydock New Testament

NOW the publicans and sinners drew near unto him, to hear him. And the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured, saying:

This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

And he spoke to them this parable, saying:

What man among you that hath a hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it, doth he not lay it upon his shoulders rejoicing: And coming home call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost?

I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. Or what woman, having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle and sweep the house, and seek diligently, till she find it? And when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbours, saying:

Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost.

So I say to you, there shall be joy before the Angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.

And he said:

A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father:

Father, give me the portion of substance that falleth to me.

And he divided until them his substance. And not many days after, the younger son gathering all together, went abroad into a far country: and there wasted his substance by living riotously. And after he had spent all, there came a might famine in that country, and he began to be in want.  And he went, and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country. And he sent him into his farm to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And returning to himself, he said:

How many hired servants in my father’s house have plenty of bread, and I here perish with hunger? I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee: I am not now worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.’

And rising up, he went to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running to him, fell upon his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him:

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee: I am not now worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants:

Bring forth, quickly, the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and make merry: Because this, my son, was dead, and is come to life again: he was lost and is found.

And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and when he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing: And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said to him:

Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe.

And he was angry, and would not go in. His father, therefore, coming out, began to entreat him. And he answering, said to his father:

Behold, for so many years do I serve thee, and I have never transgressed thy commandment, and yet thou hast never given me a kid to make merry with my friends: But as soon as this, thy son, is come, who hath devoured his substance with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

But he said to him:

Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is thine. But it was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this, thy brother, was dead, and is come to life again: he was lost, and is found.

Haydock Commentary Exodus 32:7-14

• Ver. 7. Thy people. They are not worthy to be styled my people; and thou didst ratify the covenant with me, in their name, and as their interpreter. They have sinned, giving way to idolatry in thought, word, and deed.
• Ver. 9. And again. The Sept. omit this verse. Moses, at the first intimation of the people’s sin, fell prostrate before the Lord, to sue for pardon, and pleaded the natural weakness of an ungovernable multitude, in order to extenuate their fault. This God admits.—I see, &c. But while he seems bent on punishing them, to try his servant, he encourages him inwardly to pray with fervour. Salien.
• Ver. 10. Alone One fully determined on revenge will bear with no expostulation; whence S. Greg. (Mor. ix. 11,) and Theodoret (q. 67,) look upon this as an incitement to pray more earnestly, seeing God’s servants have such influence over Him. The mercy of God struggled with his justice, and stopped its effects.—Nation, as I promised to Abraham; or I will make thee ruler over a nation greater than this, as Moses explains it, (Deut. ix. 14,) and as the like offer is made, Num. xiv. 12. The Sam. Subjoins here, “And God was likewise much irritated against Aaron, and would have destroyed him; but Moses prayed for him:” which we are assured was the case. Deut. ix. 20. C.
• Ver. 11. Why, &c. Calvin here accuses Moses of arrogance, in prescribing laws to God’s justice. But S. Jerome (ep. ad Gaud.) commends his charity and “prayer, which hindered God’s power.” W.
• Ver. 12. Craftily. Heb. “with a malicious design.” Moses insinuates, that the glory of God is interested not to punish the Hebrews, lest the Gentiles should *plaspheme, particularly as the land of Chanaan seemed to be promised unconditionally to the posterity of Abraham, who were now, all but one, to be exterminated. H.
• Ver. 13. Thy servants. Thus God honours his friends, and rewards their merits, which are the effects of his grace. W.
• Ver. 14. Appeased. Yet of this Moses was not fully assured, and in effect only those who had been less guilty, were reprieved to be punished afterwards. V. 30. 35. H.

Haydock Commentary 1 Timothy 1:12-17

• Ver. 13. Because I did it ignorantly in unbelief, or in incredulity. Not that we can think it an invincible and altogether an inculpable ignorance, such as would have made S. Paul blameless in the sight of God. It was through his pure mercy that he called S. Paul, when his great sins and false zeal made him a greater object of the divine mercy: and God in him was pleased to make known to all men his wonderful patience, that no sinners might despair. The grace of God was superabounding, or exceedingly abundant in him. Wi.
• Ver. 15. Christ Jesus, the true Son of God, came into this world to save sinners, of whom (says S. Paul) I am the chief, the first, the greatest. Wi.

Haydock Commentary Luke Chapter 15

• Ver. 4. What man, &c. Christ left the ninety-nine in the desert, when he descended from the angelic choirs, in order to seek last man on the earth, that he might fill up the number of the sheepfold of heaven, from which his sins had excluded him. S. Amb.—Neither did his affection for the last sheep make him behave cruelly to the rest; for he left them in safety, under the protection of his omnipotent hand. S. Cyril ex D. Thoma Aquin.
• Ver. 7. Joy in heaven, &c. What incitement ought it not to be to use to practise virtue, when we reflect that our conversion causes joy to the troops of blessed spirits, whose protection we should always seek, and whose presence we should always revere. S. Amb.—There is greater joy for the conversion of a sinner, than for the perseverance of the just; but it frequently happens, that these being free from the chain of sin, remain indeed in the path of justice, but press not on eagerly to their heavenly country; whilst such as have been sinners, are stung with grief at the remembrance of their former transgressions, and calling to mind how they have forsaken their God, endeavour by present fervour to compensate for their past misconduct. But it must be remembered that there are many just, whose lives cause such joy to the heavenly court, that all the penitential exercises of sinners cannot be preferred before them. S. Gregory, hom. xxxiv.
• Ver. 8. In the preceding parable, the race of mankind is compared to a lost sheep, to teach us that we are the creatures of the most high God, who made us, and not we ourselves, of whose pasture we are the sheep. Ps. xcix. And in this parable mankind are compared to the drachma, which was lost, to shew us that we have been made to the royal likeness and image even of the omnipotent God; for the drachma is a piece of money, bearing the image of the king. S. Chrysos. In S. Tho. Aquin.
• Ver. 10. Before the angels. By this it is plain that the spirits in heaven have a concern for us below, and a joy at our repentance, and consequently a knowledge of it. Ch.
• Ver. 11. A certain man had two sons. By the elder son is commonly expounded the Jewish people, who for a long time had been chosen to serve God; and by the younger son, the Gentiles, who for so many ages had run blindly on in their idolatry and vices. Wi.—Some understand this of the Jews and Gentiles, others of the just and sinners. The former opinion seems preferable. The elder son, brought up in his father’s house, &c. represents the Jews; the younger prodigal is a figure of the Gentiles. Calmet.
• Ver. 12. It is very probable, from this verse, that the children of the family, when come to age, could demand of their parents the share of property which would fall to their lot. For these parables suppose the ordinary practices of the country, and are founded on what was customarily done. Grotius thinks this was the common law among the Phoenicians.—The Gentiles, prefigured by the prodigal son, received from their father, (the Almighty,) free-will, reason, mind, health, natural knowledge, and the goods which are common to mankind, all which they dissipated and abused. Sinners who have besides received the gift of faith and sanctification, by baptism, and who have profaned the holiness of their state, by crimes, are more express figures of the bad conduct of this son. Calmet.
• Ver. 16. Husks. This expresses the extreme misery of his condition. There is no need of seeking any other mystery in this world. Horace, by a kind of hyperbole, (B. ii, Ep. 1) represents the miser as living upon husks, to be able to save more.
  Vivit silquis et pane secundo.
  –And no man gave unto him; i.e. gave him bread, mentioned before; for as for the husks, he could take what he pleased. Wi.
• Ver. 18. How merciful is the Almighty, who, though so much offended, still does not disdain the name of father.—I have sinned. These are the first words of a sinner’s confession to the author of nature. God knows all things; still does he expect to hear the voice of your confession. It is in vain to think of concealing your sins from the eyes of him whom nothing can escape; and there can be no danger of acknowledging to him what his infinite knowledge has already embraced. Confess then that Christ may intercede for you, the Church pray for you, the people our forth their tears for you. Fear not that you cannot obtain pardon, for pardon is promised to you; grace, and a reconciliation with a most tender parent, are held out to you. S. Ambrose.—Before thee, &c. By this does our Redeemer shew, that the Almighty is here to be understood by the name of father: for the all-seeing eye of God only beholds all things, from whom even the secret machinations of the heart cannot be concealed. S. Chrys. ex D. Tho.
• Ver. 22. The first; i.e. the best robe: by it, is meant the habit of grace. Wi.
• Ver. 24. Was dead, and is come to life again. A sinner, in mortal sin, is deprived of the divine grace, which is the spiritual life of the soul. At his conversion it is restored to him, and he begins to live again. Wi.
• Ver. 25. His elder son, &c. We have already remarked, that this son represents the Jews. He boasts of having always served his father faithfully, and of never disobeying him. This is the language of that presumptuous people, who believe themselves alone holy; and despising the Gentiles with sovereign contempt, could not bear to see the gates of salvation laid open also to them. The 28^th, 29^th, and 30^th verses express admirably the genius of the Jewish people; particularly his refusing to enter his father’s house, shews their obstinacy. Calmet.
• Ver. 29. I have never transgressed, &c. With what face could the Jews, represented here by the eldest son, say they had never transgressed the commandments of their father? This made Tertullian think that this was not the expression of the Jews, but of the faithful Christians; and, therefore, he interprets the whole parable as applied to a disciple of Christ. But we should recollect, that it is not uncommon for the presumption to boast of what it never has done. The whole history of the Jews is full of numberless details of their prevarication and disobedience. Calmet.—A kid, &c. The Jews demanded a kid, but the Christians a lamb; therefore was Barabbas set at liberty for them, whilst for us the lamb was immolated. S. Amb.

Daily Scripture Readings Thursday August 19 2010 20th Week in Ordinary Time

August 19 2010 Thursday Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Disclaimer – Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/

Ezekiel 36:23-28
DR Challoner

And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the Gentiles, which you have profaned in the midst of them: that the Gentiles may know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord of hosts, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the Gentiles, and will gather you together out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. And I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you from all your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in the midst of you: and I will cause you to walk in my commandments, and to keep my judgments, and do them. And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Responsorial Psalm 50:12-15, 18-19 (Ps 51 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Create a clean heart in me, O God:
and renew a right spirit within my bowels.
Cast me not away from thy face;
and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
I will teach the unjust thy ways:
and the wicked shall be converted to thee.
For if thou hadst desired sacrifice,
I would indeed have given it:
with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit:
a contrite and humbled heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 22:1-14
Haydock New Testament

AND Jesus answering, spoke to them again in parables, saying:

The kingdom of heaven is like to a man being a king, who made a marriage for his son. And he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage: and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell these that were invited:

Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the wedding.

But they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandize. And the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. But when the king heard of it, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he saith to his servants:

The wedding indeed is ready, but they that were invited, were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, invite to the wedding.

And his servants going out into the highways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good and the wedding was filled with guests. And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding-garment. And he saith to him:

Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding-garment? But he was silent.

Then the king said to the waiters:

Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

For many are called, but few are chosen.

Haydock Commentary Ezechiel 36:23-28
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 25. Water. R. David and the Chal. explain this of the remission of sin; and all Christians understand it of baptism in water, remitting all offences.  Eph. v. 26.  Tit. iii. 5.  W. — He alludes to the purification of the Jews, which prefigured baptism and penance, in which the blood of Christ is applied to our souls.  This of course was only fulfilled in his church.
• Ver. 26. Flesh. The Jews at their return fell not so often into the sins of idolatry, &c. of which the prophets complained.  But yet they were far from answering this character.  Great irregularities prevailed under Nehemias, and in the days of the Machabees the priests publicly worshipped idols.  1 Esd. ix. and 2 Esd. v. and viii. and 2 Mac. iv. and v.  Christ enables his servants to act with purity unto the end, by the influence of his all-powerful grace.  C.
• Ver. 27. Do them. Hence the efficacy of grace appears, (S. Aug.  H.) and hereby some keep the commandments.  W. — God assists our free-will.  Theod.  A.Lap.  C.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 22:1-14

• Ver. 1. Jesus answered, and spoke to them again in parables, and concludes his discourse with again describing, 1st. the reprobation of the Jews; 2d. the calling of the Gentiles to the true faith; and 3d. the final judgment of both the one and the other.  In this parable of the marriage feast, says S. Chrysostom, our Saviour again declares to the Jews their reprobation, and the vocation of the Gentiles, their great ingratitude, and his tender solicitude for them.  For he did not send them a single invitation only; he repeatedly invited them.  Say, says he, to the invited; and afterwards, call the invited; thus evincing the greatness of their obstinacy, in resisting all the calls and pressing invitations of the Almighty.  Hom. lxx. — This parable is certainly not the same as that mentioned in S. Luke xiv. 16, as every one that will be at the pains to examine and compare all the circumstances of each, will easily discover, though they are very much alike.  M.
• Ver. 2. Is like to a man being a king, &c.  This parable seems different from that of Luke xiv. 16.  See S. Aug. l. ii. de Cons. Evang. c. lxx.  The main design in this parable, is to shew the Jews that they were all invited to believe in Christ; though so few of them believed.  The king is God; his son is Jesus Christ; the spouse is the Church; the marriage is Christ’s incarnation; the feast, the grace of God in this life, and his glory in the next.  His servants were the prophets; and lastly his precursor, S. John. — My fatlings, which I have prepared, and made fat for the feast: but this is but an ornament of the parable.  Wi. — The same takes place in the kingdom of heaven, as when a king makes a marriage feast for his son.  Jesus Christ seems to have had two things in view in this parable: 1st. that many are called to the kingdom of heaven, i.e. his Church, and that few come, as he concludes, v. 14, many are called, &c; 2d. that not all that come when called will be saved, i.e. will be reputed worthy of the celestial feast; because some have not on the wedding-garment, as he shews, v. 11.  M. — Thus the conduct of God in the formation of his Church, and in the vocation of men to glory which himself has prepared for them in the kingdom of heaven, is like to that of a king, wishing to celebrate the marriage of his son.  V. — Marriage is here mentioned, says S. Chrysostom to shew there is nothing sorrowful in the kingdom of God, but all full of the greatest spiritual joy.  S. John Baptist likewise calls our Saviour the spouse; and S. Paul says, I have espoused thee to one man, 2 Cor. xi.  S. Chrys. hom. lxx.  See also Eph. v. 25. and Apoc. xxi. 2. and 9.  The nuptials in this place do not signify the union of marriage, or incarnation of Jesus Christ, by which the Church is made his spouse; but the marriage feast, to which men are said to be invited.  This is no other than the doctrines, the sacraments and graces, with which God feeds and nourishes our souls, united to him by faith in this life, and by eternal joy and glory in the next.  Jans. — This union is begun here on earth by faith, is cemented by charity in all such as are united to Christ in the profession of the one true faith he came down to establish, and will be consummated and made perpetual hereafter by the eternal enjoyment of Christ in his heavenly kingdom.
• Ver. 3. His servants. John the Baptist and Christ himself, who took the form of a servant, to call such as had been formerly invited to the nuptials that were to be celebrated in his time.  The Jews were invited by Moses and the prophets, and were instructed to believe that the Messias would celebrate the happy feast.  On the predetermined day, they were again called by his servants, saying: Do penance; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand: come to the feast, i.e. become members of his Church, by believing in Christ.  Jans. — In the same manner, S. Chrysostom says that the Jews had been invited by the voice of the prophets, and afterwards by the Baptist, who declared to all, that Christ should increase, but that he himself should decrease.  At length, they were invited by the Son in person, crying aloud to them: come to me all you that labour, and are heavily laden, and I will refresh you. Mat. xi. 28.  And again: if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. S. John vii. 37. — And not by his words only, but by his actions also did he call them; and after his resurrection, by the ministry of Peter and the rest of the apostles (hom. lxx,) he informed the invited Jews that the banquet was ready; because the Christian religion being now established, the way to eternal happiness was laid open to mankind.
• Ver. 5. One to his farm. After they had put to death the Son of God, still did the Almighty invite them to the marriage-feast; but they with futile excuses declined and slighted the proffered favour, wholly taken up with their temporal concerns and sensual enjoyments, their oxen, lands and wives.  From the punishment inflicted on these, we learn, that no consideration, how specious soever it may appear, can prove a legitimate excuse for neglecting our spiritual duties.  S. John. Chrys. hom. lxx. — Such as refuse to be reconciled to the holy Catholic Church, allege vain pretexts and impediments; but all these originating in pride, indolence, or human respect, will not serve at the day of general retribution and strict scrutiny.
• Ver. 6. Put them to death. Thus the Jews had many times treated the prophets.  Wi. — These were by far the most impious and the most ungrateful; tenuerunt Servos ejus, as is related in the Acts, with regard to the death of James, and Stephen, and Paul.  M.
• Ver. 7. Sending his armies. Here our Redeemer predicts the destruction of Jerusalem, by the armies of Vespasian and Titus, sent against them by the Almighty, in punishment of their incredulity and impiety.  S. Chrys. hom. lxx. — Thus the king destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city; for sooner or later God is observed to exert his vengeance on all such as despise his word, or persecute his ministers.  See the miseries to which the Jews were reduced in Josephus, book the 6th, c. ix, Hist. of the Jewish war; who declares, that in the last siege of Jerusalem 1,100,000 persons perished, and that the city was completely destroyed.  Other interpreters suppose that the evil spirits are here meant, by whom God punishes man, according to Psalm lxxvii, v. 49.  M. and Mandonatus.
• Ver. 8. Were not worthy. The Almighty knew full well that they were not worthy; he still sent them these frequently repeated invitations, that they might be left without any excuse.  S. Chry. hom. lxx. — More is signified here than the bare letter conveys; they were not only less worthy of the nuptials, but by their very great obstinacy, ingratitude and impiety, quite unworthy.  Not so the Gentiles.  Jans. — Hence Christ says:
• Ver. 9. Go ye therefore into the highways. The apostles first kept themselves within the precincts of Judea, but the Jews continually sought their destruction.  Therefore S. Paul said to them, (Acts xiii. 46.) to you it behoved us first to speak the word of God, but seeing you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we turn to the Gentiles. S. Chrys. hom lxx.
• Ver. 10. Both bad and good. Christ had before told the Jews that harlots and publicans should, in preference to them, inherit the kingdom of heaven, and that the first should be last, and the last first, which preference of the Gentiles, tormented the Jews more than even the destruction of their city.  Chrys. lxx. — Good and bad, persons of every tribe, tongue, people, nation, sex and profession, without any exception of persons or conditions.  Hence it is evident that the Church of God doth not consist of the elect only; and, that faith alone, without the habit of charity and good works, will not suffice to save us.  B.
• Ver. 11. Wedding garment, which Calvin erroneously understands of faith, for he came by faith to the nuptials.  S. Augustine says it is the honour and glory of the spouse, which each one should seek, and not his own; and he shews this, in a sermon on the marriage feast, to be charity. This is the sentiment of the ancients, of S. Gregory, S. Ambrose, and others.  What S. Chrysostom expounds it, viz. an immaculate life, or a life shining with virtues, and free from the filth of sin, is nearly the same; for charity cannot exist without a good life, nor the purity of a good life, without charity.  In his 70th homily on S. Matthew, he says that the garment of life is our works; and this is here mentioned, that none might presume, (like Calvin and his followers) that faith alone was sufficient for salvation.  When, therefore we are called by the grace of God, we are clothed with a white garment, to preserve which from every stain, from every grievous sin, depends upon the diligence (the watching and praying) of every individual.  S. John. Chrys. — It was the custom then, as it still is in every civilized nation, not to appear at a marriage feast, or at a dinner of ceremony, except in the very best attire.  V.
• Ver. 12. Not having a wedding garment. By this one person, are represented all sinner void of the grace of God.  Wi. — To enter with unclean garments, is to depart out of this life in the guilt of sin.  For those are no less guilty of manifesting a contempt for the Deity, who presume to sit down in the filth of an unclean conscience, than those who neglected to answer the invitations of the Almighty.  He is said to be silent, because having nothing to advance in his own defence, he remains self-condemned, and is hurried away to torments; the horrors of which words can never express.  S. Chrys. hom. lxx.

Daily Scripture Readings Wednesday August 18 2010 20th Week in Ordinary Time

August 18 2010 Wednesday Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Disclaimer – Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/

Ezekial 34:1-11
DR Challoner

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

Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves: should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds? You ate the milk, and you clothed yourselves with the wool, and you killed that which was fat: but my flock you did not feed.

The weak you have not strengthened, and that which was sick you have not healed, that which was broken you have not bound up, and that which was driven away you have not brought again, neither have you sought that which was lost: but you ruled over them with rigour, and with a high hand.

And my sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd and they became the prey of all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. My sheep have wandered in every mountain, and in every high hill: and my flocks were scattered upon the face of the earth, and there was none that sought them, there was none, I say, that sought them.

Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, saith the Lord God, forasmuch as my flocks have been made a spoil, and my sheep are become a prey to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd: for my shepherds did not seek after my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flocks: Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself come upon the shepherds, I will require my flock at their hand, and I will cause them to cease from feeding the flock any more, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more: and I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and it shall no more be meat for them.

For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them.

Responsorial Psalm 22:1-6 (Ps 23 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

The Lord ruleth me:
and I shall want nothing.
He hath set me in a place of pasture.
He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment:
He hath converted my soul.
He hath led me on the paths of justice,
for his own name’s sake.
For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evils, for thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.
Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me.
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
and my chalice which inebreateth me, how goodly is it!
And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 20:1-16
Haydock New Testament

Jesus said:

THE kingdom of heaven is like to a master of a family, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the market-place, And he said to them, Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just.

And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour: and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard.

And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the labourers and pey them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. When therefore they came, who had come about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should have received more: and they likewise received every man a penny. And receiving it, they murmured against the master of the house, Saying:

These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats.

But he answering one of them, said,

Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee. Or is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil, because I am good?

So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called but few chosen.

Haydock Commentary Ezechiel 34:1-11
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 2. Shepherds. That is, princes, magistrates, chief priests, and scribes.  Ch. — Shepherds may lawfully take milk, (1 Cor. ix. 7.) but the sheep and its wool belong to the master.  W. — Excellent instructions are here given for all in authority.  C.
• Ver. 3. Fat. Pastors often disguise the truth to flatter the rich, or the more just souls are ruined by their negligence.
• Ver. 4. Healed. God alone can restore to life.  But pastors will not be excused by ignorance if they know not the maladies and the remedies of their flock. — Hand. This was blamed in the Pharisees, and is contrary to the spirit of the gospel.  Mat. xxiii. 4.  1 Pet. v. 2.
• Ver. 5. Field. The people being neglected, followed false prophets and idols.  Their teachers were so far from striving to reclaim them, that they perhaps shewed them the example.  C.
• Ver. 8. No shepherd. Pastors who seek only their temporal advantage, (1 Tim. vi. 5.  Tit. i. 7.  H.) are hirelings; and if they teach false doctrine, they are wolves.  John x.  W.
• Ver. 10. Cease. Both the leaders and the people were led into captivity.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 20:1-16

• Ver. 1. For the kingdom. The participle for, is found in the Greek, and connects the present parable with the last verse of the preceding chapter: indeed it is a comment on that text, and describes to us the gospel dispensation.  Thus the conduct of God in the choice he makes of members for his spiritual kingdom, the Church, and of his elect for the kingdom of heaven, is not unlike that of the father of a family, who hires workmen to labour in his vineyard.  There are various opinions respecting who are meant by the first, and by the last, in this parable.  Many of the fathers suppose that the saints of different states and degrees are here designed, whose reward will suffer no diminution from the circumstances of their having come to the service of Christ at a late age of the world, according to SS. Hilary, Gregory, and Theophylactus; or, at a late age of life, according to SS. Basil, Jerom, and Fulgentius.  In the latter case, however, we must understand that their greater fervour in co-operating with divine grace, in the latter part of their life, has supplied and compensated for the defect of their preceding negligence; hence it may sometimes happen that the reward of such as enter late in life on the service of God, will exceed that of the less fervent who have entered at an earlier period.  But as Christ rather seems to speak here of his militant than his triumphant Church, many commentators explain the parable of the Jews and Gentiles.  For the Jews, after bearing the yoke of the Mosaic law for so many ages, received nothing more than what was promised to the observance of that law; whilst Christians receive a more plentiful reward for their more easy labour under the sweet yoke of the gospel.  In which sense Christ says to the Jews, Luke xiii. 29: Publicans and harlots shall go before you into the kingdom of heaven.  “And, strangers shall come from the east, and from the west, and the north, and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.  And behold they are last that shall be first, and they are first that shall be last.”  Ibid. 30. — Hence the Jews may be supposed to murmur, that they who are first in their vocation to be the people of God, and first in the observance of his law, should not be preferred to others, who in these respects have been far posterior to them.  T. — By the vineyard, says S. Chrysostom, we here understand, the commandments of God.  The time for labour is the present life.  In the first, third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours, i.e. in infancy, youth, manhood, declining years, and extreme decrepitude of age, many individuals, yielding to the effective call of God, labour in the exact performance of the divine commandments.  Hom. lxv.
• Ver. 2. The Roman penny, or denarius, was the 8th part of an ounce; which, at the rate of 5s. per ounce, is 7½d. It is put here for the usual hire of a day-labourer.
• Ver. 3. About the third hour. As the Jews divided their nights into four watches, each watch comprehending three hours, so they divided their days into four greater hours, from sunrise to sunset, and each of these great hours contained three lesser hours; so that the whole day from sunrise to sunset, consisted of 12 hours, as also did the night.  The first of the great hours, comprehending the three first lesser hours, contained half of the space betwixt the rising of the sun and mid-day; and the end of this time was called the third hour. The next great hour was from that time till mid-day, called the sixth hour. The following great hour contained half of the time betwixt noon and the setting of the sun, the end of which was called the ninth hour. The fourth great hour comprehended the last three lesser hours remaining till sunset, so that at the end of the eleventh hour, mentioned here, v. 6, began the last lesser hour of the twelve hours of the day; of which our Saviour said, (Jo. xi. 9,) are there not twelve hours in the day? — As to the moral sense of the parable, by the day is commonly expounded all the time from the creation to the end of the world, and so the third hour is reckoned from Adam to Noe; the sixth from Noe to Abraham; the ninth from Abraham to Moses; and from the ninth to the eleventh, was from Moses till Christ’s coming; and the time from Christ to the end of the world, is the 12th hour.  Other interpreters, by the day understand human life; and by the different hours, infancy, youth, the age of manhood, old age, and the last hour man’s decrepit age. God is master and disposer of all, who by his grace calls some sooner, some later.  The market-place, in which men are so often found idle, as to the great concern of their eternal salvation, is the world. The design of this parable was to shew that the Gentiles, though called later than the Jews, should be made partakers of the promises made to the Jews; this is also the meaning of verse 16, where it is said: the last shall be first, and the first last. Wi.
• Ver. 4. I will give you what shall be just. The prospect of a reward is therefore a good motive, authorized here by Christ himself.
• Ver. 7. No man hath hired us. S. Chrys. again puts us in mind, that in parables all the parts are not significant, but some things are to be taken as mere ornaments of parabolical discourses, as here murmurings, which cannot be found in heaven: nor can men pretend they are not hired into God’s service; God hath given lights, called, hired, and promised heaven to all.  The rewards in heaven are also different.  And they who are last called, if they labour with greater fervour, may deserve a greater reward than others called before them.  Wi. — The Greek text finishes with, you shall receive what is reasonable. — We must observe here, says S. Chrysostom on the words, because no man hath hired us, that this is the voice of the labourers only, in excuse for their not having entered upon their work before this late hour; for the master of the vineyard had shewn his willingness to hire them all, by going out early for that purpose.  Though the fault was their own, he does not upbraid them, but abstains from all harshness and severity, that he may the more easily engage them.  Hom. lxv.
• Ver. 11. And when they received it. By those who laboured all the day in the vineyard, we are to understand such as have spent their whole lives in the service of God; but we are not thence to infer, that in the kingdom of heaven, where all receive their just reward, there is envy, discontent, or any complaint.  By these words, Christ wishes to convey to our minds an idea of the immense honours that will be heaped upon all such as return with sincerity, though at the decline or even verge of life, to the Almighty.  So exceeding great will be their reward, that it would excite envy, were it possible, even in the elect.  S. Chrys. hom. lxv.
• Ver. 14. I will also give. Some are called to the service of their God, and to a life of virtue, from their infancy, whilst others, by a powerful call from above, are converted late in life, that the former may have no occasion to glory in themselves, or to despise those who, even in the 11th hour, enter upon the path of rectitude; and that all might learn that there is time sufficient, however short, left them to repair by their diligence and fervour their past losses.  S. Chry. hom. lxv. — Jesus Christ does not count so much the number of years, as the fervour and diligence we employ in his service.  Calvin is rather unhappy in his choice of this parable to prove his favourite tenet, that salvation is not the reward of good works, but of faith alone, or predestination, since Jesus Christ represents heaven as given wholly as a just reward of meritorious labour in the vineyard, though some labour a shorter, and others a longer time, and God of his great goodness may give more to some than to others, while to all He gives at least their due.  And a truly humble Christian will be ever satisfied with his lot, without envying that of others.  A. — As star differeth from star in glory in the firmament, (1 Cor. xv. 41,) so will there be different degrees of glory in heaven.  S. Aug. de virgin. c. xxvi.
• Ver. 16. Few chosen: only such as have not despised their caller, but followed and believed him; for men believed not, but of their own free will.  S. Aug. l. i, ad Simplic. q. ii.  B. — Hence the rejection of the Jews and of negligent Christians, and the conversion of strangers, who come and take their place, by a conversion both of faith and morals.  On the part of God all are called.  Mat. xi. 28.  Come to me all, &c.  In effect, many after their call, have attained to faith and justification; but few in comparison are elected to eternal glory, because the far greater part do not obey the call, but refuse to come, whilst may of those who come fall away again; and thus very few, in comparison with those that perish, will at the last day be selected for eternal glory.  T.

Daily Scripture Readings Monday August 16 2010 20th Week in Ordinary Time

August 16 2010 Monday Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Disclaimer – Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/nab/

Ezekiel 24:15-23
DR Challoner

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

Son of man, behold I take from thee the desire of thy eyes with a stroke, and thou shall not lament, nor weep; neither shall thy tears run down. Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead: let the tire of thy head be upon thee, and thy shoes on thy feet, and cover not thy face, nor eat the meat of mourners.

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening: and I did in the morning as he had commanded me. And the people said to me:

Why dost thou not tell us what these things mean that thou doest?

And I said to them:

The word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Speak to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will profane my sanctuary, the glory of your realm, and the thing that your eyes desire, and for which your soul feareth: your sons, and your daughters, whom you have left, shall fall by the sword.

And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your faces, nor shall you eat the meat of mourners. You shall have crowns on your heads, and shoes on your feet: you shall not lament nor weep, but you shall pine away for your iniquities, and every one shall sigh with his brother.

Responsorial Psalm Deuteronomy 32:18-21
DR Challoner Text Only

Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee,
and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee.
The Lord saw, and was moved to wrath:
because his own sons and daughters provoked him.
And he said: I will hide my face from them,
and will consider what their last end shall be:
for it is a perverse generation,
and unfaithful children.
They have provoked me with that which was no god,
and have angered me with their vanities:
and I will provoke them with that which is no people,
and will vex them with a foolish nation.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 19:16-22
Haydock New Testament

And behold one came and said to him:

Good Master, what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?

But he said to him:

Why askest thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

He saith to him:

Which?

And Jesus said:

Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The young man saith to him:

All these have I kept from my youth: what is yet wanting to me?

Jesus saith to him:

If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

And when the young man had heard this word, he went away sad: for he had great possessions.

Haydock Commentary Ezechiel 24:15-23
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 16. Stroke; pestilence, or sudden death.  This would make the loss of a dear wife still more afflicting.  Yet such distress will fall upon the whole nation, (C.) and misery shall increase so much, that a private loss will be almost forgotten.  H. — Curæ leves loquuntur, graviores silent. Sen. Troad. — When a loss is foreseen, it is more easily borne.  Private calamities sink in public ones.  W.
• Ver. 17. Silence, for such manifold calamities, if thou canst screen thyself from the enemy, who will otherwise take offence, as he has brought them on.  H. — Dead. Priests were allowed to mourn only for father or mother, and their unmarried brothers and sisters.  Lev. xxi. 1.  Ezechiel (xliv. 25.) adds, Son and daughter. Many think the wife must also be understood, as she is nearer than a brother.  The reasons for these prohibitions did not then subsist, as no sacrifice could be offered in Chaldea; and therefore God here specifies what the prophet was not to do, (C.) though lawful on other occasions.  Sanct. — Tire. Lit. “crown,” bandage, (C.) or parchment, on which parts of the law were written.  Sept. “Let (Rom. ed. adds, not) the hair of thy head be curled (or ruffed; sumpeplegmenon) upon thee.”  H. — It was usually cut in mourning.  S. Jer. — Feet. They were bare, at funerals, and in times of sorrow.  2 K. xv. 30. — Face, like David.  Heb. “the upper lip,” which mourners and lepers covered.  Lev. xiii. 45.  C. — Mourners. Feasts were prepared by the relations, (Jos. Bel. ii. 1.) and friends sent some food, but no delicacies, to those who mourned.  Lev. v. 9.
• Ver. 21. Profane, or esteem it no more, (H.) but abandon it to the Gentiles.  C. — Feareth to lose; or on which it rests.  v. 25.  H.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 19:16-22

• Ver. 16. Behold one came. S. Luke (xviii. 18.) calls him a prince or lord. Some conjecture this young man came only in a dissembling way, to try or tempt our Saviour, as the Pharisees sometimes did, and without any design to follow his advice; but by all the circumstances related of him, by the evangelists particularly, when S. Mark (C. x. 22.) tells us, he went away sorrowful, he seems to have come with sincerity, but without resolution strong enough to leave his worldly goods and possessions.  Wi.
• Ver. 17. Why askest thou me concerning good?[4]  In the ordinary Greek copies, why dost thou call me good? Wi. — One is good, &c.  God alone, by his own nature, is essentially, absolutely, and unchangeably good; at the same time, he is the source of all created goodness, as all goodness is a mere emanation from his.  The person here addressing our Saviour, appears not to have believed that Christ was God: wherefore our Saviour, to rectify his misconception, tells him that God alone is good, insinuating thereby, that he should believe him to be God, or cease to address him by the title of good.  T. — The sense is, that only God is good necessarily, and by his own nature.  The Arians bring this place to shew, that Christ is not truly and properly God: but by this way of speaking, Christ does not deny that he is good, even by his nature, and consequently God; but seems to speak in this manner, to make the man know who he was.  Wi.
• Ver. 19. S. Jerom thinks his answer was not conformable to truth, or he would not have been sorry when ordered to distribute his goods among the poor.
• Ver. 21. If thou wilt be perfect. This shews there is a difference betwixt things that are of precept, and those that are of counsel only, which they aim at, that aspire to the greatest perfection.  Wi. — Evangelical perfection essentially consists in the perfect observance of God’s commandments, which is greatly assisted by embracing not only voluntary poverty, but also the other counsels given to us in the gospels, such as perpetual chastity, and entire obedience. — Follow me. Thus to follow Christ, is to be without wife and care of children, to have no property, and to live in community; this state of life hath a great reward in heaven.  This state, we learn from S. Augustine, the apostles followed; and he himself not only embraced it, but exhorted as many others as he possibly could to embrace it.  Aug. ep. lxxxix, in fine, and in Ps. ciii. conc. 3. post. med.  B. — The whole perfection of a Christian life consists in following Christ, by an imitation of his virtues.  So that he who possesses poverty and chastity, does not immediately become perfect, but only enters upon the way of perfection, by facilitating his progress to perfection, removing hindrances, and laying aside all care of temporal concerns.  Nicholas de Lyra. — In this chapter Jesus Christ delivers the evangelical counsels.  In v. 12, he recommends continency — here he proposes voluntary poverty, and immediately adds that of obedience, follow me. S. Augustine teaches, that the apostles bound themselves by vow to the observance of these three counsels.  De civit. Dei. B. xvii. c. 4.
• Ver. 22. Sorrowful. I know not how it happens, that when superfluous and earthly things are loved, we are more attached to what we possess in effect than in desire.  For, why did this young man depart sad, but because he had great riches?  It is one thing not to wish for, and another to part with them, when once we have them.  They become incorporated, and, as it were, a part of ourselves, like food; and, when taken, are changed into our own members.  No one easily suffers a member of his body to be cut off.  S. Aug. ep. xxxi. ad Paul.