August 7 2010 Saturday Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Habakkuk 1:12—2:4
DR Challoner

Wast thou not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one, and we shall not die? Lord, thou hast appointed him for judgment: and made him strong for correction. Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity. Why lookest thou upon them that do unjust things, and holdest thy peace when the wicked devoureth the man that is more just than himself?

And thou wilt make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no ruler. He lifted up all them with his hook, he drew them in his drag, and gathered them into his net: for this he will be glad and rejoice. Therefore will he offer victims to his drag, and he will sacrifice to his net: because through them his portion is made fat, and his meat dainty. For this cause therefore he spreadeth his net, and will not spare continually to slay the nations.

I will stand upon my watch, and fix my foot upon the tower: and I will watch, to see what will be said to me, and what I may answer to him that reproveth me. And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables: that he that readeth it may run over it. For as yet the vision is far off, and it shall appear at the end, and shall not lie: if it make any delay, wait for it: for it shall surely come, and it shall not be slack. Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in himself: but the just shall live in his faith.

Responsorial Psalm 9:8-13
DR Challoner Text Only

But the Lord remaineth for ever.
He hath prepared his throne in judgment:
And he shall judge the world in equity,
he shall judge the people in justice.
And the Lord is become a refuge for the poor:
a helper in due time in tribulation.
And let them trust in thee who know thy name:
for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord.
Sing ye to the Lord, who dwelleth in Sion:
declare his ways among the Gentiles:
For requiring their blood, he hath remembered them:
he hath not forgotten the cry of the poor.

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

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

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

Then Jesus answered, and said:

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

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

Why could not we cast him out?

Jesus said to them:

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

Haydock Commentary Habacuc 1:12—2:4
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 12. Die? We hope that this scourge will not entirely ruin us. — Correction, like Pharao. Ex. ix. 16.
• Ver. 13. Look, with approbation (C.) or connivance.
• Ver. 14. Ruler. People are subdued by Nabuchodouosor. H. — They make little resistance. C.
• Ver. 16. Drag, adoring his own arms and prowess, (Sanct.) like Mezentius and Capaneus:
• Dextra mihi Deus, (Æn. x.)
• Te voco, te solum, superum contemptor, adoro. Stat. x.
• — Guevare thinks fishes were adored, as they were among the Syrians. Nabuchodonosor attributed all to his own genius, or to Bel, whose statue he set up. Dan. iii. C. — Victorious nations thus honour themselves and not God.
• Ver. 17. Nations, of every country. W. — Few have been so much addicted to war as Nabuchodonosor. C.
• CHAP. 2. Ver. 1. Will stand, &c. Waiting to see what the Lord will answer to my complaint, viz. that the Chaldeans, who are worse than the Jews, and who attribute all their success to their own strength, or to their idols, should nevertheless prevail over the people of the Lord. The Lord’s answer is, that the prophet must wait with patience and faith; that all should be set right iu due time; and the enemies of God and his people punished according to their deserts. Ch. — The prophet speaks, waiting for a further revelation, (W.) not seeing before the reasons of Providence in permitting the wicked to prosper. H. Ps. lxxii. 17. — He is informed that the kings of Babylon, (v. 5. 8.) Juda, (v. 11) Tyre, (v. 14) and Egypt, (v. 18 ) and all who trust in idols, shall suffer. v. 19. Hereupon the judgments of God are pronounced just. C. — Tower. Aq. &c. “circle.” The ancient Jews say Habacuc formed a circle, out of which he would not stir till he was satisfied, (Kimchi) as Popilius did. V. Max. vi. 4. Dan. xi. 29. C.
• Ver. 2. Over it. It shall be so legible (H.) anyone may hear or take a copy. C.
• Ver. 3. Slack. That which happens at the time fixed is not. W. — Heb. “the vision is for an appointed time.” Habacuc might live to see the conquest and downfall of Nabuchodonosor. Many think that the first and second coming of Christ (Heb. x. 36. Rom. i. 17.) are here insinuated, as the dominion of the aforesaid king represented the slavery of mankind under the devil, and the liberty granted by Cyrus was a type of their redemption. The felicity of the Jews is the last event which the prophet specifies, and this is here the literal sense. S. Cyr. C.
• Ver. 4. Unbelieving. Prot. “lifted up.” H. — The king’s vain projects shall fail. Sept. Rom. “If he withdraw himself, my soul shall not have pleasure in him. But my just man shall live by my faith.” Others read with S. Paul, “my just man shall live by faith.” Heb. x. 38. C. — The source of content arises from faith, (without which this life would be a sort of death, as the apostle and S. Aug. Trin. xiv. 12. &c. observe) because it is the beginning of life by grace, which the works of the law could not otherwise confer. Gal. iii. W. — The Heb. will admit the sense of the Sept. and we ought rather to shew this in passages which the authors of the New Testament quote, than to excuse them. Here their version seems preferable to that given by moderns, ecce elata est, non recta anima ejus in eo, the drift of which who can guess? Beza has acted unfairly, “at si quis se subduxerit non est gratum animo meo;” whereas the text speaks of the “just man,” as Theophylactus observes. “Hence all who know his theological opinions, may see how suspicious his translation must be accounted.” Pearson. pref. Sept. H.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 17:14-20

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

March 4 2010 Thursday Second Week of Lent
Saint of the Day – St. Casimir

About the sources used. The readings on this site are from the Haydock Bible according to the daily Lectionary readings for the American Roman Catholic Church. The Haydock Bible contains traditional Catholic commentary and is free from copyright. Due to verse numbering differences and pastoral deletions in the actual Lectionary, these readings may at times vary from the actual readings.

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Jeremiah 17:5-10
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Thus saith the Lord:

Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come: but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert in a salt land, and not inhabited. Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence. And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots towards moisture: and it shall not fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf thereof shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit. The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable, who can know it? I am the Lord who search the heart, and prove the reins: who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices.

Responsorial Psalm 1
DR Challoner Text Only

Blessed is the man who
hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor stood in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
But his will is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he shall meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree
which is planted near the running waters,
which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season.
And his leaf shall not fall off:
and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.
Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust,
which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.
Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment:
nor sinners in the council of the just.
For the Lord knoweth the way of the just:
and the way of the wicked shall perish.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 16:19-31
Haydock New Testament

Jesus said:

There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen: and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, by name Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, Desiring to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table; and no one did give him: moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.And it came to pass that the beggar died, and he was carried by the Angels into Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell. And lifting up his eyes when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom: And he cried, and said:

Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.

And Abraham said to him:

Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy life-time, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is fixed a great chaos: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither.

And he said:

Then, Father, I beseech thee that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren, that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torments.

And Abraham said to him:

They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

But he said:

No, father Abraham; but if one went to them from the dead, they will do penance.

And he said to him:

If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if one rise again from the dead.

Haydock Commentary Jeremias 17:5-10
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 5. Thus. Sept. continue from the last chapter, “cursed,” &c.  H. — Sedecias had formed alliances with several princes, instead of turning to the Lord.  C. xxvii. and xxxvii.  C. — Our chief dependence must be on God, not on human policy.  W.
• Ver. 6. Tamaric. A barren shrub, that grows in the driest parts of the wilderness.  Ch. — Harhar denotes some sort (H.) of “useless wood.”  Sym.  See C. xlviii. 6.  Isai. xvii. 2. — Salt, like the environs of Sodom, the fruits of which were bad.
• Ver. 8. Fruit. See Ps. i. 3.  Pindar, Nem. viii.  How different from the wicked!  C.
• Ver. 9. Perverse. Sept. “deep.” — Unsearchable. Sept. “man, who shall know him?”  H. — God alone can search the heart by his own power.  He enables saints to do it by the light of glory, or of prophecy; as Eliseus and S. Peter knew secret transactions.  W.

Haydock Commentary Luke 16:19-31

• Ver. 19. There was a certain rich man, &c.  By this history of the rich man and Lazarus, he declares that those who are placed in affluent circumstances, draw upon themselves a sentence of condemnation, if seeing their neighbour in want, they neglect to succour him.  S. Cyril, in Cat. Græc. patrum. — He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shut up his bowels against him, how doth the charity of God abide in him?  John, 1 Ep. iii. 17.  A received tradition of the Jews informs us, that this Lazarus was a beggar, then at Jerusalem, suffering in the most wretched condition of poverty, and infirmity: him our Saviour introduces, to manifest more plainly the truth of what he had been saying  S. Cyril, ut supra. — By this, we are not to understand that all poverty is holy, and the possession of riches criminal; but, as luxury is the disgrace of riches, so holiness of life is the ornament of poverty.  S. Ambrose. — A man may be reserved and modest in the  midst of riches and honours, as he may be proud and avaricious in the obscurity of a poor and wretched life. — Divers interpreters have looked upon this as a true history; but what is said of the rich man seeing Lazarus, of his tongue, of his finger, cannot be literal: souls having no such parts.  Wi. — In this parable, which S. Ambrose takes to be a real fact, we have the name of the poor mendicant; but our Lord suppresses the name of the rich man, to signify that his name is blotted out of the book of life: besides, the rich man tells Abraham, that he has five brothers, who were probably still living; wherefore, to save their honour, our Lord named not their reprobated brother.
• Ver. 22. Abraham’s bosom.[3]  The place of rest, where the souls of the saints resided, till Christ had opened heaven by his death.  Ch. — It was an ancient tradition of the Jews, that the souls of the just were conducted by angels into paradise.  The bosom of Abraham (the common Father of all the faithful) was the place where the souls of the saints, and departed patriarchs, waited the arrival of their Deliverer.  It was thither the Jesus went after his death; as it is said in the Creed, “he descended into hell,” to deliver those who were detained there, and who might at Christ’s ascension enter into heaven.  Calmet.  See 1 Pet. iii. 19. — “Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham.”  Matt. viii. 11.
• Ver. 25. It appears from Philo, (de Execrat. p. 9, 37 b.) that the Jews not only acknowledged the existence of souls, and their state of happiness or misery after this life, but also that the souls of the saints and patriarchs interceded with God for their descendants, and obtained from them the succour they stood in need of.  Calmet.
• Ver. 26. Between us and you is fixed a great chaos, or gulf; i.e. God’s justice has decreed, that the bad should forever be separated from the good.  We may here take notice thta the Latin and Greek word, (v. 22) translated hell, even in the Protestant translation, cannot signify only the grave. Wi.
• Ver. 27. In this parable we are taught an important truth, viz. that we must not expect to learn our duty from the dead returning to life, nor by any other extraordinary or miraculous means, but from the revelation of truths, which have already been made known to us in the Scriptures, and from those to whom the tradition of the Church has been committed, as a most sacred deposit.  These, say the Fathers, are the masters from whom we are to learn what we are to believe, and what to practise.  Calmet.
• Ver. 31. If they hear not, Moses, &c.  We think that if we saw a man raised from the dead, who should tells us what he had seen and suffered in another world, it would make more impression upon us than past miracles, which we hear of, or the promises and threats of the prophets, apostles, and our blessed Saviour, which are contained in Scripture; but it is a false notion, a vain excuse.  The wicked, and unbelievers, would even in that case find pretexts and objections for not believing.  S. Chrys. hom. iv. — They would say that the dead man was a phantom; that his resurrection was not real; his assertions nugatory.  When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, the miracle was known, evident and public; yet we find none of the Pharisees converted by it.  They were even so mad as to enter into a design to kill Lazarus, to get rid of a witness who deposed against their incredulity.  How many other miracles did he not perform in their sight, which they attributed to the prince of darkness, or to magic?  Christ raised himself from the dead.  This fact was attested by many unexceptionable witnesses.  And what do the hardened Jews do?  They object, that his disciples, stealing away the body, maliciously persuaded the people that he had risen again.  Such is the corruption of the human heart, that when once delivered up to any passion, nothing can move it.  Every day we see or hear of malefactors publicly executed, yet their example has no effect on the survivors, nor does it prevent the commission of fresh crimes.  Calmet. — “We have also the more firm prophetical word; whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.”  2 Pet. i. 19. — We may learn many very instructive lessons from this affecting history of Lazarus. — The rich may learn the dreadful consequences to be apprehended from riches, when made subservient to sensuality, luxury, and ambition. The poor may learn to make their poverty and sufferings, however grievous to nature, instrumental to their future happiness, by bearing them with patience and resignation to the will of heaven.  The former are taught that to expose a man to eternal misery, nothing more is required than to enjoy all the good things of this world according to their own will; the latter, that however they may be despised and rejected of men, they may still have courage, knowing that the short day of this fleeting life, with all its apparent evils, will soon be over; and that the day of eternity is fast approaching, when every one shall receive according as he has done good or evil in his body.  A.

February 21 2010 First Sunday of Lent

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the priest taking the basket at thy hand, shall set it before the altar of the Lord thy God: And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: The Syrian pursued my father, who went down into Egypt, and sojourned there in a very small number, and grew into a nation great and strong and of an infinite multitude. And the Egyptians afflicted us, and persecuted us, laying on us most grievous burdens: And we cried to the Lord God of our fathers: who heard us, and looked down upon our affliction, and labour, and distress: And brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders: And brought us into this place, and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. And therefore now I offer the firstfruits of the land which the Lord hath given me. And thou shalt leave them in the sight of the Lord thy God, adoring the Lord thy God.

Responsorial Psalm 90:1-2, 10-15 (Ps 91 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High,
shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector,
and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
There shall no evil come to thee:
nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling.
For he hath given his angels charge over thee;
to keep thee in all thy ways.
In their hands they shall bear thee up:
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk:
and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
Because he hoped in me I will deliver him:
I will protect him because he hath known my name.
He shall cry to me, and I will hear him:
I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.

Romans 10:8-13
Haydock New Testament

But what saith the Scripture? The word is near thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is the word of faith, which we preach: That if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For, with the heart, we believe unto justice: but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith: Whosoever believeth in him, shall not be confounded. For there is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek; for the same is Lord over all, rich to all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 4:1-13
Haydock New Testament

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan: and was led by the spirit into the desert, For the space of forty days, and was tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days: and when they were ended he was hungry. And the devil said to him:

Haydock Commentary Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

February 20 2010 Saturday After Ash Wednesday
Saint of the Day – Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Isaiah 58:9b-14
Douay-Rheims Challoner

If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the finger, and to speak that which profiteth not. When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noonday.

And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not fail. And the places that have been desolate for ages shall be built in thee: thou shalt raise up the foundation of generation and generation: and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest.

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy own will in my holy day, and call the sabbath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify him, while thou dost not thy own ways, and thy own will is not found, to speak a word: Then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Responsorial Psalm 85:1-6 (Ps 86 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear me:
for I am needy and poor.
Preserve my soul, for I am holy:
save thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in thee.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I have cried to thee all the day.
Give joy to the soul of thy servant,
for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul.
For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild:
and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer:
and attend to the voice of my petition.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Luke 5:27-32
Haydock New Testament

And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the custom-house, and he said to him:

Haydock Commentary Isaias 58:9b-14
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

Catena Aurea Luke 5:27-32
From Catechetics Online

February 19 2010 Friday After Ash Wednesday
Saint of the Day – St. Conrad of Piacenza

Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Isaiah 58:1-9a
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins. For they seek me from day to day, and desire to know my ways, as a nation that hath done justice, and hath not forsaken the judgment of their God: they ask of me the judgments of justice: they are willing to approach to God.

Why have we fasted, and thou hast not regarded: have we humbled our souls, and thou hast not taken notice? Behold in the day of your fast your own will is found, and you exact of all your debtors. Behold you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the fist wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry to be heard on high. Is this such a fast as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken go free, and break asunder every burden. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harbourless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.

Responsorial Psalm 50:3-6ab, 18-19 (Ps 51 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.
Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.
To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before 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 9:14-15
Haydock New Testament

Then came to him the disciples of John, saying,

Why do we, and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples do not fast?

And Jesus said to them:

Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.

Haydock Commentary Isaiah 58:1-9a
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site