April 30 2008 Wednesday Sixth Week of Easter

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/043008.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

The Acts of the Apostles 17:15, 22—18:1
Haydock New Testament

And they that conducted Paul, brought him as far as Athens, and receiving a commandment from him to Silas and Timothy, that they should come to him with all speed, they departed. But Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said:

Ye men of Athens, I perceive that ye are in all things over-religious. For passing by, and seeing your idols, I found an altar also, on which was written:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

What, therefore, you worship without knowing it, that I preach to you. God, who made the world and all things therein, he being the Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Nor is he served by the hands of men, as thou he needed any thing, seeing it is he who giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one, all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits of their habitation. That they should seek God, if haply they may feel after him or find him: although he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as some also of your own poets said: For we are also his offspring. Being, therefore, the offspring of God, we must not suppose the Divinity to be like unto gold or silver, or stone, the grave of art, and device of man. And God, indeed, having overlooked the times of this ignorance, now declareth to me, that all should every where do penance, Because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in equity, by the man, whom he hath appointed, giving faith to all, by raising him up from the dead.

And when they had heard of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked: but others said:

We will hear thee again concerning this matter.

So Paul went out from among them. But certain men adhered to him and believed: among whom was also Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman, named Damaris, and others with them. AFTER these things, departing from Athens, he came to Corinth.

Responsorial Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14
DR Challoner Text Only

Praise ye the Lord from the heavens:
praise ye him in the high places.
Praise ye him, all his angels,
praise ye him, all his hosts.
Kings of the earth and all people:
princes and all judges of the earth:
Young men and maidens:
let the old with the younger,
praise the name of the Lord:
For his name alone is exalted.
The praise of him is above heaven and earth:
and he hath exalted the horn of his people.
A hymn to all his saints to the children of Israel,
a people approaching to him. Alleluia.

The Gospel According to Saint John 16:12-15
Haydock NT

Jesus said:

I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth: for he shall not speak of himself, but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak: and the things that are to come, he will shew you. He shall glorify me: because he shall receive of mine, and will declare it to you. All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine. Therefore, I said, that he shall receive of mine, and will shew it to you.

Haydock Commentary Acts 17:15, 22—18:1
Notes copied from Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 22. Over-religious.[4] Or very superstitious. To be superstitious, or given to superstition, is commonly taken for a vain and groundless religious worship, but it is also sometimes used in a good sense. And perhaps S. Paul, in the beginning of his speech to so many men of learning, does not so openly blame them for being vainly and foolishly superstitious, but by their inscription, to the unknown[5] God, he take notice how nice and exact they pretended to be, in not omitting to pay some kind of homage to any god, or gods of all other nations, whom they might not know. For some interpreters think, that by this altar they designed to worship every god of any nation, who was not come to their knowledge: or to worship that great God hinted at in the writings of Plato: or as others conjecture, that God of the Jews, of whom they might have heard such wonders, and whose name the Jews themselves said to be unknown and ineffable. However, from this inscription S. Paul takes an occasion, with wonderful dexterity, with sublime reflections, and with that solid eloquence, of which he was master, and which he employed, as often as it was necessary, to inform them, and instruct them, concerning the works of the one true God, of whom they had little knowledge, by their own fault: that this one true God made the world, and all things in it: that from one man he raised all mankind: that his presence is not confined to temples made by the hands of men, being every where, and in all creatures, preserving them every moment: that in him we live, move, and have our being, or subsist: that it is he, who hath determined the time, limits, or bounds of every empire, and kingdom, and of every man’s life: that this true God, who made, preserves, and governs all things in heaven and on earth, cannot be like to gold, silver, or any thing made by the art, or fancy of men. He puts them in mind that according even to one of their own heathen poets, Aratus, men themselves are the offspring of God, being blessed with a being and knowledge above all other creatures in this world: who by the light of reason ought to seek God, and by considering the visible effects of Providence over the world, and the creatures in it, might come to the knowledge of this one God, the author of all, at least to an imperfect knowledge of him, as men find out things by feeling, or as it were, groping in the dark. He then adds, (v. 30.) that having, as it were, overlooked, and permitted men for many ages to run on in this ignorance and blindness, in punishment of their sins, (this their ignorance of one true God, the author of all things, being wilful and inexcusable) now the same true God hath been pleased to announce to all men, that henceforward they acknowledge, and worship him, that they repent, and do penance for their sins. Wi.
• Ver. 23. It may be asked, why they had not implicit faith, worshipping the true, though unknown, God?[5] 1st. because the worship of the true God can never exist with the worship of idols; 2d. because an explicit faith in God is required of all; 3d. because it is repugnant to implicit faith, to admit any thing contrary to it, as comparing this unknown God with the pagan idols; for God to be at all, must be one. Lucan towards the end of his 2d book, hath these words:
• Et dedita sacris
• Incerti Judæa Dei.
• — What, therefore, you improperly worship, that I preach to you, and instruct you in the true worship, far different from what you pay to your strange gods.
• Ver. 24. God . . . dwelleth not in temples. He who is infinite cannot be confined to space; nor stand in need of what human hands can furnish. Temples are not for God, but for man. It is the latter who derives assistance from them. The same may be observed of all exterior acts of worship. They are serviceable, inasmuch as they proceed from, or powerfully assist, interior devotion, by the impressions which exterior objects leave upon the soul. The reciprocal action of one upon the other, in our present state of existence, is great and inevitable. A. See c. vii. sup. v. 48. — God, indeed, dwelleth in the temple, yes, and in the soul of the just man, but his is not confined there, as the idols were to their temples. Hence the prayer of Solomon at the consecration of the temple: if heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thy immensity, how much less this house, which I have erected? God dwelleth there, then, to receive the prayers and sacrifices of the faithful, but not as though he needed any thing. See v. 25. — God is not contained in temples; so as to need them for his dwelling, or any other uses, as the heathens imagined. Yet by his omnipresence, he is bother there and every where. Ch.
• Ver. 27. Feel after him. Si forte attrectent eum, ei arage yhlafhseian. It signifies palpare quasi in tenebris. Wi.
• Ver. 28. S. Paul here cites Aratus, a Greek poet, and his own countryman, a native of Cilicia.
• Ver. 29. Cherubim, which extended wings, were ordered by God to be made, and placed over the propitiatory; (Exod. xxxvii. 7.) the brazen serpent is declared by Jesus Christ himself to have been a figure of him; therefore to blame the universally received practice of the Catholic Church, with regard to pictures and images, betrays either great prevention, or great ignorance. S. Gregory says: “What writing does for readers, that a picture does for the ignorant; for in it they see what they ought to follow, and in it they read, who know no letters.” And he sharply rebukes Serenus’s indiscreet zeal for removing pictures, instead of teaching the people what use may be made of them. l. ix. ep. 9.
• Ver. 30. Overlooked. Despiciens, uperidwn. It may either signify looking down on the ignorant world, and so taking pity of it; or rather that God having overlooked, and permitted mankind to go on so long in their sins, now invites them to repentance, by sending Jesus, their Saviour and Redeemer. See the Analysis, dissert. xxxiv. Wi.
• Ver. 31. Because he hath appointed a day for judging all men with equity, by the man, to wit, Christ Jesus, a man, and also his true Son, whom he has appointed to be their judge; and by raising him (Jesus) from the dead, he hath made it credible, and given sufficient proofs of this truth, that every one shall rise from death. Wi.
• Ver. 32. When they heard of the resurrection of the dead. This seemed so impossible, even to the philosophers among them, that some of them presently laughed, and made a jest of it. Others said, we will hear thee on this another time, and some believed. Wi.
• Ver. 34. Dionysius the Areopagite. This illustrious convert was made the first bishop of Athens. They martyrologies say, S. Paul raised him to that dignity. It is the same person, who, observing the convulsions of nature, which paid homage, as it were, to its God, expiring upon the cross, and not knowing the cause, is said to have exclaimed: Either the universe is falling to ruin, or the God of nature must be suffering. It appears from his writings, that he was, previous to his conversion, of the Platonic school. Ven. Bede was mistaken in supposing that he was afterwards the bishop of Corinth, of that name, who so successfully employed his pen for the good of the Church. This Dionysius lived a whole century after the Areopagite. Estius.

Haydock Commentary John 16:12-15

• Ver. 13. When he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will teach you all truth; will direct you and the Church, in the ways of truth. For he shall not speak of himself, or of himself only, because, says S. Aug. he is not from himself, but proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Whatsoever he shall hear, he shall speak[3]; this his hearing, says S. Aug. is his knowledge, and his knowledge is his essence, or being, which from eternity is from the Father and the Son. The like expressions are applied to the Son, as proceeding from the Father. Jo. v. 30. and viii. 16. &c. Wi. — If he shall teach all truth, and that for ever, (c. xi. v. 26.) how is it possible, that the Church can err, or hath erred in matters of faith, at any time, or in any point of doctrine? In this supposition, would not the Holy Ghost have forfeited his title of Spirit of Truth?
• Ver. 15. All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine. The obvious sense of these words, shews, that the Son hath the same nature, and the same substance with the Father, and that he is one, and the same God with him. And by Christ’s adding: therefore he (the Holy Ghost) shall receive of mine, we are taught, that the third person proceeds from both the Father, and the Son, and that he receives, and has the same perfections. Wi.

April 13 2008 Fourth Sunday of Easter

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/041308.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

The Acts of the Apostles 2:14a, 36-41
Haydock New Testament

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke to them:

Therefore let all the house of Israel know most assuredly, that God hath made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Now when they had heard these things they had compunction in their heart, and they said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles;

What shall we do, men, brethren?

But Peter said to them;

Do penance, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you, and to your children and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call.

And with a great many other words did he testify and exhort them, saying;

Save yourselves from this perverse generation.

Responsorial Psalm 23: 1-6
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 First Epistle of Saint Peter 2:20b-25
Haydock NT

For what glory is it, if sinning and being buffeted you suffer it: But if doing well you suffer patiently; this is praiseworthy before God. For to this you have been called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly Who his ownself bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we being dead to sins, should live justice: by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the pastor and bishop of your souls.

The Gospel According to Saint John 10:1-10
Haydock NT

Jesus said to them;

Amen, amen, I say unto you; he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door, is the shepherd of the sheep; To whom the porter openeth: and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he hath let out his own sheep, he goeth before them: and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. But a stranger they follow not, but fly from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.

This parable Jesus spoke to them. But they understood not what he was speaking to them. Jesus, therefore, said to them again;

Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All they who came, are thieves and robbers, and the sheep heard them not. I am the door. If any one enter by me, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures.

The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.

Haydock Commentary Acts 2:14, 36-41
Copied from the Haydock Site on the Right

• Ver. 14. But Peter standing up, &c. A wonderful change which the Holy Ghost, at his coming, in a moment wrought in the apostles, as we see in the person of S. Peter, who before, when questioned by a silly girl, denied his master, now he values not all the Sanhedrim of the Scribes, Pharisees, and magistrates; he boldly and publicly charges them with the murder of Jesus, their Lord, and their Christ. v. 36. Wi. — As the prince of the apostolic college, and head of the Church, under Jesus Christ, hence Peter speaks in the name of the other apostles also, gives an account of the miracle, and promulgates the evangelical law. M. — Newly replenished with all knowledge and fortitude, and full of the holy Spirit, he her maketh his first sermon. B.
• Ver. 37. They had compunction in their heart, with sorrow for their sins, especially against their Messias. Wi.
• Ver. 38. Be baptized: believing and making profession to believe, and hope for salvation, by the merits of Jesus Christ. Thus you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the grace of God, and perhaps those other gifts of speaking with tongues, working miracles, &c. Wi. — The gift of the Holy Ghost. That is, justifying grace, which is infused in our hearts by the laver of regeneration. The exterior gifts of the Holy Ghost, the gifts of tongues, of miracles, prophecy, &c. were, in the beginning of the Church, more regularly the consequence of confirmation or imposition of hands. Calmet.
• Ver. 39. The promise is to you. The good tidings of salvation were first announced to the Jew, then to the Gentile; first to the domestics, then to the strangers, who are far off. It is rather singular, that S. Peter, after here so clearly shewing that the Gentiles are called to the faith, should afterwards have made such objections to go to baptize Cornelius, because he was a Gentile. This can only be reconciled, by supposing, he did not know distinctly the time nor the manner of their vocation. Calmet.
• Ver. 40. And with a great many other words did he testify and exhort them. S. Luke only gives an abridgment of those exhortations, which S. Peter, and the apostles frequently gave to all the people. S. Peter, as S. Chrys. observes, and as we see in these Acts, was the mouth of all the rest. And on this first day of Pentecost, about three thousand were converted. Wi.

Haydock Commentary 1 Peter 2:20b-25

• Ver. 23. Christ, who was incapable of sinning, did not revile[7] them that reviled him; he suffered all with patience; he willingly gave himself up to Pontius Pilate, that judged him, and condemned him unjustly[8] to the death of the cross: and remember that all he suffered was to satisfy for your sins, that he bore our sins in his own body on the tree of the cross. Remember always this great benefit of your redemption, and of your being called to believe in him, and to be eternally happy by following his doctrine; that all of you were as sheep going astray, lost in your ignorance and in your sins, but that by his grace and by his merits you are now called and converted to Jesus Christ, the great pastor and bishop of your souls. You are happy if you live under his care, inspection, and protection. Wi.

Haydock Commentary John 10:1-10
Notes here are sparse. Check out the Catena Aurea for this HERE – You won’t be disappointed.

• Ver. 1, &c. In this parable the fold is the Church: the good shepherd, and also the door is Christ: the thieves and robbers are false guides; the hirelings, such ministers as seek their own profit and gain, and a good living, as they call it; the wolves, heretics; the sheep not yet brought into the fold, the Gentiles not then converted. Wi.
• Ver. 3. His own sheep by name. By this is signified the particular care. Wi.
• Ver. 4. He goeth before them, leads them by his instructions and example. Wi.
• Ver. 8. All they who come are thieves, meaning those who came of their own accord, without being sent: not so the prophets, who had their mission from God. Wi.

April 10 2008 Thursday Third Week of Easter

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/041008.shtml – Note. The Official Liturgical readings may not match the current NAB you may have.

The Acts of the Apostles 8:26-40
Haydock NT

Now an Angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying:

Arise, and go towards the south to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza; this is desert.

And rising up, he went. And behold a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch, of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge over all her treasures, had come to Jerusalem to adore: And he was returning, sitting in his chariot, and reading Isaias, the prophet. And the Spirit said to Philip:

Go near, and join thyself to that chariot.

And Philip running thither, heard him reading the prophet, Isaias, and he said:

Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest?

He said:

How can I, unless some one shew me? And he desired Philip to come up, and sit with him.

And the place of the Scripture, which he was reading, was this:

(Isaiah 53:7-8 LXX) As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb without a voice before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In humility his judgment was taken away. Who shall declare his generation, for his life shall be taken away from the earth?

And the eunuch answering Philip, said:

I beseech thee, of whom doth the prophet speak this? of himself, or of some other?

Then Philip, opening his mouth, and beginning at that Scripture, preached to him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water: and the eunuch saith;

See, here is water, what hindereth me from being baptized?

And Philip said:

If thou believest with thy whole heart, thou mayest.

And he answering, said:

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, Philip, and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found in Azotus, and passing through, he preached the gospel to all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.

Responsorial Psalm 65:8-9, 16-17, 20 (Ps 66 Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only

O bless our God, ye Gentiles:
and make the voice of his praise to be heard.
Who hath set my soul to live:
and hath not suffered my feet to be moved:
Come and hear, all ye that fear God,
and I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul.
I cried to him with my mouth:
and I extolled him with my tongue.
Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer,
nor his mercy from me.

The Gospel According to Saint John 6:44-51
Haydock NT

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. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world.

Haydock Commentary Acts 8:26-40
Copied from the Haydock Commentary site on the right.

• Ver. 26. This is desert. In construction, whether we regard the Latin or Greek, to be desert, may either agree to the way leading to Gaza, or the city itself, which formerly had been almost destroyed. Wi. — To the site of old Gaza, which was then a desert; above which was built the new Gaza, nearer the sea. V. — Beza frequently makes very free with S. Luke, and in his annotations, an. 1556, says the text is wrong; it cannot be so.
• Ver. 27. An eunuch. It is likely a proselyte converted to the Jewish religion. He shews his zeal and devotion, says S. Chrys. not only by coming to Jerusalem, but by reading the prophets in his chariot. Wi.
• Ver. 31. How can I, unless some one shew me,[3] or be a guide to me, as in the Greek. Let every one, and especially the unlearned, take good notice of these words, not to wrest the Scriptures to his own perdition. To follow his own private judgment, or his private spirit, is to make choice of a blind and incompetent guide, as to the sense of the Scriptures, and the mysteries of faith. See the preface to the gospel of S. John. Wi. — It appears this eunuch was not one of those, who are now so commonly seen, who think the Scripture is every where plain, and the sense open to every body. Such would do much better to acknowledge, that they stand in need of a guide. Grotius, hic. — S. Jerom, in his letter to Paulinus, printed at the head of the Latin Bibles, shews the necessity of an interpreter. The apostles themselves could not understand the Scriptures till Christ gave them the knowledge; tunc aperuit illis sensum ut intelligerent scripturas. Lu. xxiv. 45.
• Ver. 32-33. As a sheep, or a lamb, &c. The eunuch, by divine Providence, was now reading the 53d chap. of Isaias, which is of Christ, and his sufferings. — In humility his judgment was taken away. The sense seems to be, that Christ having humbled himself, so as to undergo an unjust judgment, or condemnation to die on the cross, hath been again raised from the dead, and delivered from that judgment by his glorious resurrection and ascension. Wi.
• Ver. 36. Here is water. This shews, that baptism is to be given with water. Wi.
• Ver. 37. If thou believest, &c. The Scripture many times mentions one disposition, when others no less necessary are supposed, as here a sorrow for sins, a firm hope, love of God, &c. Wi. — Faith is thus seen to be a necessary predisposition in the adult, for the reception of baptism. They must answer for themselves; but infants are baptized in the faith of the Church. Their sponsors, who receive them from the font, answer for them. D. Diony. Carthus. — And as the defilement was not personal, but that of others, so are they purified by the faith of others.
• Ver. 38. We are not to suppose that in the administration of the sacraments in the primitive Church, nothing more was done than what we read, totidem litteris, in the Scripture. S. Augustin answers this, when he says: “insomuch that he saith, Philip baptized him, he would have it understood, that all things were done, which though in the Scripture, for brevity sake, they are not mentioned, yet by order of tradition we know were to be done.”

Haydock Commentary John 6:44-51

• 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.

From Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Homily 2, Super Missus est.

I found this treat while transcribing the Haydock notes and thought it deserved it’s own spot.

O you who find yourselves tossed to and fro in this tempestuous life,
turn not your eyes away from the brightness of this star,
if you would not be overwhelmed in these storms.
If the winds of temptations arise; if you fall among the rocks of tribulation;
look up to the star, call upon Mary.

If you are agitated, and hard driven with the surges of pride, ambition, detraction, jealousy, or envy;
look up to the star, call upon Mary.

If anger, covetousness, or lust beat furiously on the vessel of your soul;
look up to the star, call upon Mary.

If you are beginning to founder, and are just sinking into the gulph of melancholy and despair;
think on Mary.

In dangers, in distresses, in perplexities, think on Mary, call on Mary.
Let her name be never absent from your mouth;
from your mouth let it constantly descend into your heart;
and, that you may obtain the suffrage of her prayers;
both in life and death, never depart from the example of her pious conversation.

This found in the notes for Luke 1:27 in your Haydock Bible.

Saint Bernard is a Doctor of the Church and the founding abbot of Clairvaux Abbey. His writings inspired many to become Cistercians. Calvinists on Youtube sing songs written by St Bernard at their Baptist Church services. Maybe it’s the Arizona heat getting to them.