Tuesday 18th Week in Ordinary Time Cycle I
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Numbers 12:1-13
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And Mary and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife the Ethiopian, And they said:

Hath the Lord spoken by Moses only? Hath he not also spoken to us in like manner?

And when the Lord heard this, (For Moses was a man exceeding meek above all men that dwelt upon earth) Immediately he spoke to him, and to Aaron and Mary:

Come out you three only to the tabernacle of the covenant.

And when they were come out, The Lord came down in a pillar of the cloud, and stood in the entry of the tabernacle calling to Aaron and Mary. And when they were come, He said to them:

Hear my words: if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him in a dream. But it is not so with my servant Moses who is most faithful in all my house: For I speak to him mouth to mouth: and plainly, and not by riddles and figures doth he see the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak ill of my servant Moses?

And being angry with them he went away: The cloud also that was over the tabernacle departed: and behold Mary appeared white as snow with a leprosy. And when Aaron had looked on her, and saw her all covered with leprosy, He said to Moses:

I beseech thee, my lord, lay not upon us this sin, which we have foolishly committed: Let her not be as one dead, and as an abortive that is cast forth from the mother’s womb. Lo, now one half of her flesh is consumed with the leprosy.

And Moses cried to the Lord, saying

O God, I beseech thee heal her.

Responsorial Psalm 50:3-7, 12-13 (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:
that thou mayst be justified in thy words,
and mayst overcome when thou art judged.
For behold I was conceived in iniquities;
and in sins did my mother conceive me.
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.

There are two possible Gospel readings. Both are included

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 14:22-36
Haydock New Testament

And forthwith Jesus obliged his disciples to get up into the boat, and to go before him over the water, while he sent the multitude away. And having dismissed the multitude, he went up into a mountain alone to pray. And when the evening was come he was there alone. But the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed with the waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking upon the sea. And they seeing him walking on the sea, were troubled, saying:

It is an apparition.

And they cried out for fear. And immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying:

Be of good heart: It is I, be not afraid.

And Peter making answer, said:

Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the waters.

And he said:

Come.

And Peter, going down out of the boat, walked upon the water to come to Jesus. But seeing the wind strong he was afraid: and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying:

Lord, save me.

And immediately Jesus stretching forth his hand, took hold of him, and said to him:

O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?

And when they were come up into the boat, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the boat came and worshipped him saying:

Thou art truly the Son of God.

And having passed over, they came into the country of Genesar. And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country, and brought to him all that were diseased. And they besought him that they might touch but the hem of his garment. And as many as touched, were made whole.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14
Haydock New Testament

THEN came to him from Jerusalem Scribes and Pharisees, saying:

Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

And having called together the multitudes unto him, he said to them:

Hear ye and understand. Not that which goeth into the mouth, defileth a man: but what cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

Then came his disciples, and said to him:

Dost thou know that the Pharisees, when they heard this word, were scandalized?

But he answering said:

Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they are blind, and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit.

Haydock Commentary Numbers 12:1-13
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

Ver. 1. Ethiopian. Sephora, the wife of Moses, was of Madian, which bordered upon the land of Chus, or Ethiopia; and therefore she is called an Ethiopian: where note, that the Ethiopia here spoken of, is not that of Africa, but that of Arabia, (Ch.) on the east side of the Red Sea. Ex. ii. 15. Jealousy instigated Aaron and his sister on this occasion. C. — Perhaps Sephora had claimed some pre-eminence on account of her husband’s gorly, in being a mediator between God and his people, and therefore they pretend to the same honour, v. 2. H. — The Heb. insinuates, that they laid hold on the pretext of Moses having married, or received again, a woman of a different nation contrary to the law which he had promulgated, “for it adds, he had married or retaken an Ethiopian woman.” Others believe that he had put her away, and that Aaron and Mary stood up in her defence. “Mary and Aaron murmured against Moses, on account of the wife whom he had taken, who was a perfect beauty, because he had separated himself from his beautiful wife.” Onkelos. — Some are of opinion, that this woman was Tarbis, the daughter of the king of Ethiopia, whom Moses espoused after he had terminated the wars between him and the Egyptians, before he retired to Madian. But this account of Josephus, (Ant. ii. 5,) and the explication of Onkelos, and of the Rabbins, seem to be destitute of any solid foundation. C.

Ver. 3. Exceeding meek. Moses being the meekest of men, would not contend for himself; therefore God inspired him to write here in his own defence: and the Holy Spirit, whose dictate he wrote, obliged him to declare the truth, though it was so much to his own praise. Ch. — So he mentions his defects without reserve. C. — There are occasions when a person may be not only authorized, but in a manner forced to declare what may be to his own praise. Moses was in such a situation. The peace of the whole nation was in danger, when false insinuations were thrown out against the lawgiver and king, by his own nearest relations, and by them who were next in authority to himself. Aaron, the high priest, countenanced at least the remarks of his sister, who seems to have been the most to blame, as she alone is punished with the leprosy. H. — Some have suspected that this verse has been inserted by a later inspired writer. A. Lapide. — But whether it was or not, there is no reason to infer with T. Paine, that Moses was either “a vain and arrogant coxcomb, and unworthy of credit, or that the books (attributed to him) are without authority.” For if he did not write this verse, it does not follow that he wrote none of the Pentateuch; and if Paine scruples not to write of himself: “the man does not exist, that can say…I have in any case returned evil for evil:” and is not praising himself as a very meek man, when at the same time he is writing to cause all the mischief he can both in church and state, and thus during the heat of revolutionary madness, to involve thousands in ruin? Watson. H.

Ver. 5. Come to the door of the tabernacle, where Moses also was standing.

Ver. 6. Vision. Other prophets were inspired in a more mysterious manner: Moses, though he saw not the majesty of God in any corporeal figure, was instructed by him in the most secret things with the utmost perspicuity, (C.) as if a man were explaining his sentiments to his most intimate friend. Ex. xxxiii. 19. H.

Ver. 7. Faithful: Hebrew Neeman, steward or master of the palace. Such was Samuel, 1 K. iii. 20; David, (C.) 1 K. xxii. 14; Naaman, the general of Syria, 2 K. v.; and Bacchides, 1 Mac. vii. H. — Ambassadors had this title, (Prov. xiii. 17,) and fidelity often denotes an office. 1 Par. ix. 22. Job (xii. 20,) speaks of the Namonim. C. — But none among the Israelites was more justly entitled to this honour than Moses. He announced the word of God without any mixture of falsehood, and did not arrogate to himself more than his due, as Aaron seems to have done, v. 2. H.

Ver. 10. Departed from the door to its former place, (C.) as if in abhorrence of Mary’s leprosy, (Hiscuni) and still more of the sin, which had brought upon her that punishment. C. — Perhaps the cloud was raised higher in the air than usual, but did not proceed forward; (M.) otherwise the Israelites would have decamped. They remained at Haseroth till Mary was returned into the camp, v. 15. H. — Leprosy, of an incurable kind, like that of Gieze, 4 K. v. 27. It covers the whole skin with a white scurf. Lev. xiii. 10. Aaron is spared, either because he had sided with his sister only out of complaisance, without any formal malice against his brother; or because God, in consideration for his priestly character, would not render him contemptible in the eyes of the all people, intending to punish him in a more secret manner: for was are not always to judge of the grievousness of a fault, by its present punishment. Perhaps Aaron obtained pardon by his speedy repentance, v. 11. C.

Ver. 12. Dead; consumed by leprosy, or incapable of performing the duties of life. M. — Heb. “an abortive, whose flesh is half consumed before he comes forth from his mother’s womb.” Sept. “he eateth half her flesh.” “Permit not her to be separated from us, I beseech you, for she is our sister: pray, I beg, that her flesh may be healed.” Chaldee.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 14:22-36

Ver. 22. And forthwith Jesus, &c. In this we have the genuine picture of a Christian life. After eating of the miraculous bread, we must like the disciples, prepare ourselves for labour. As bread was given Elias, to enable him to walk 40 days to the mountain of God, Horeb, so the blessed Eucharist, the true heavenly bread, is given us that we may be able to support the hardships to which we are exposed. Paulus de Palacio. — We here also see the ardent love of the disciples for their Lord, since they were unwilling to be separated from him even for a moment. Theophylactus also adds that they were unwilling for him to go, ignorant how he could return to them.

Ver. 23. Alone to pray. By our Saviour’s conduct on this occasion, we are taught to leave occasionally the society of men, and to retire into solitude, as a more proper place to commune with heaven in earnest and fervent prayer. The company of mortals is often a great distraction to the fervent Christian. Dion. Carth.

Ver. 25. And in the fourth watch of the night. The Jews, under the Romans, divided the night, or the time from sunset to sunrise, into four watches, each of them lasting for three hours. And the hours were longer or shorter, according as the nights were at different seasons of the year. At the equinox, the first watch was from six in the evening till nine; the second, from nine till twelve; the third, from twelve till three in the morning; and the fourth, from three till six, or till sunrise. Wi. — They had been tossed by the tempest almost the whole night. S. Jer.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14

Ver. 1. The Pharisees observed a rigid and simple mode life, disdaining all luxurious delicacies. They scrupulously followed the dicta of reason, and paid the greatest veneration and implicit obedience to the opinions and traditions of their seniors. All contingencies they ascribe to fate, but not to the exclusion of free-will. The immortality of the soul, and a future state of rewards and punishments, were favourite tenets with them, and their fame for wisdom, temperance, and integrity was proverbial. Josephus, Antiq. B. xviii, c. ii.

Ver. 2. Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition. The Pharisees had various traditions delivered down from their ancestors, called deuterwseiV, of which some were works of supererogation, others were contrary to the law. E. — It is a great proof of malice in the Pharisees, and of irreproachable character in our Lord, that they should be reduce to notice triffles, no ways connected with either piety or religion. . . . They moreover betrayed their superstition, by insisting on the observance of these outward ceremonies, as essential parts of piety, which were not commanded by any law, (were certainly of no divine origin) and which, at most, were duties of civility, or emblems of interior purity. Jans. — The tradition of the ancients? They do not say the written law, which did not prescribe these washings of hands, cups, pots, beds, &c. These traditions came only from the doctors of their law, who are called elders, which is a name of dignity, as was that of senator among the Romans, and so, in English, are the names of major, alderman, &c. See Acts v. 6. &c. Wi.

Ver. 11. Not that which goeth into the mouth, &c. We must heartily pity and pray to God for those who blindly pretend from hence, that to eat any kind of meats, or as often as a meats, or as often as a man pleaseth on fasting-days, can defile no man. Wi. — No uncleaness in meat, nor any dirt contracted by eating it with unwashed hands, can defile the soul; but sin alone, or a disobedience of the heart to the ordinance and will of God. And thus, when Adam took the forbidden fruit, it was not the apple which entered into his mouth, but the disobedience to the law of God, which defiled him. The same is to be said if a Jew, in the time of the old law, had eaten swine’s flesh; or a Christian convert, in the days of the apostles, contrary to their ordinance, had eaten blood; or if any of the faithful, at present, should transgress the ordinance of God’s Church, by breaking the fasts: for in all these cases the soul would be defiled, not indeed by that which goeth into the mouth, but by the disobedience of the heart, in wilfully transgressing the ordinance of God, or of those who have their authority from him. Ch. — Jesus Christ by no means prohibits fasting and abstinence from certain food, and at certain times, or he would have been immediately accused of contradicting the law; he only says, that meat which they esteem unclean does not of itself, and by its own nature, defile the soul; which is what the Pharisees (and before them Pythagoras, and after them the Manicheans) maintained, and which S. Paul warmly confutes. 1 Tim. iv. 4. Tirinus. — If a man gets intoxicated, adducing this same plea, that what entereth by the mouth, &c. is not the answer obvious; that it is not the wine, but the intemperance, contrary to the law of God, which defileth him: for drunkards shall not possess the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. vi. 10.

Ver. 12. Scandalized. When the Pharisees had received our Lord’s answer, they had nothing to reply. His disciples perceiving their indignation, came and asked Jesus if he observed they were scandalized, i.e. offended. It is probable the disciples were also a little hurt, or afraid lest his words were contrary to the law of Moses or the tradition of the ancients, and took this occasion of having their scruples removed. S. Hilary, S. Chrys. and Theophylactus understand this answer, Every plant, &c. to signify that every doctrine not proceeding from God, consequently the traditions of the Pharisees here in question, were to be eradicated by the promulgation of the gospel truths, which were not to remain unpublished on account of the scandal some interested or prejudiced persons might choose to take therefrom. Jans. — It must be here observed, that Christ was not the direct cause of scandal to the Jews, for such scandal would not be allowable; he only caused it indirectly, because it was his doctrine, at which, through their own perversity, they took scandal. Dion. Carth.

Ver. 14. Let them alone. It must not be hence inferred, that he desired not the conversion of the Scribes and Pharisees. He only says: if, through their own perversity, they choose to take scandal, let them do it; we must not neglect to teach the truth, though it displease men. S. Jer. — When, says S. Gregory, we see scandal arise from our preaching truth, we must rather suffer it to take place than desert the truth. Our Lord says they are blind, let us leave them. For the land which has often been watered with the dews of heaven, and still continues barren is deserted. Behold your house shall be left desolate. Luke xiii. 35. And Isaias (v. 6.) says, It shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged, but briers and thorns shall come upon it; and I will command the clouds to rain no more rain upon it. For, although God never refuses man grace sufficient to enable him to rise, if he pleases, yet he sometimes denies such assistance as would render his rise easy. The state of a sinner is then desperate indeed, when Christ tells his disciples to leave him. For as the Sodomites were destroyed, so soon as Lot, who was just and good in the sight of God, had departed from them, and as Jerusalem was laid waste when Jesus went out of it, (for he suffered without the gates) so the sinner is in a very dangerous state, when he is left by the ministers of religion as one infected with a mortal distemper. Paulus de Palacio.

August 4 2010 Wednesday Memorial of St John Vianney
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Jeremiah 31:1-7
Douay-Rheims Challoner

At that time, saith the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.  Thus saith the Lord: The people that were left and escaped from the sword, found grace in the desert: Israel shall go to his rest. The Lord hath appeared from afar to me. Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee. And I will build thee again, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy timbrels, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.

Thou shalt yet plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and they shall not gather the vintage before the time. For there shall be a day, in which the watchmen on mount Ephraim, shall cry: Arise, and let us go up to Sion to the Lord our God. For thus saith the Lord: Rejoice ye in the joy of Jacob, and neigh before the head of the Gentiles: shout ye, and sing, and say: Save, O Lord, thy people, the remnant of Israel.

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12ab, 13
DR Challoner Text Only

Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations,
and declare it in the islands that are afar off,
and say: He that scattered Israel will gather him:
and he will keep him as the shepherd doth his flock.
For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and delivered him
out of the hand of one that was mightier than he.
And they shall come, and shall give praise in mount Sion:
and they shall flow together to the good things of the Lord
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, the young men and old men together:
and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them,
and make them joyful after their sorrow.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 15:21-28
Haydock New Testament

And Jesus went from thence, and retired into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Chanaan who came out of those parts, crying out, said to him:

Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil.

But he answered her not a word.  And his disciples came and besought him, saying:

Send her away, for she crieth after us:

And he answering, said:

I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.

But she came and worshipped him, saying:

Lord, help me.

But he answered, and said:

It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.

But she said:

Yea, Lord: for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.

Then Jesus answering, said to her:

O woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt.

And her daughter was cured from that hour.

Haydock Commentary Jeremiah 31:1-7
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1. Israel. The ten tribes returned as well as Juda, &c.  C. — They were more ready to receive Christ than the other two tribes.  Mat. xiii. &c.  W.
• Ver. 2. Desert. From which the former inhabitants had been driven, (4 K. xvii. 6. 24.  C.) or, as those under Moses were favoured, (H.) so shall the captives.  Grot. — Sept. “I found him warm,” (qermon, means also a lupin, which has misled the old Latin interpreters.  S. Jer.) murdered “in the desert, with those slain by the sword.  Go, and destroy not Israel.”  H.
• Ver. 3. Afar. He has seemed to despise me, (S. Jer.) or he has spoken to my ancestors.  C. — Chal. He has “manifested himself long ago to our fathers.  Prophet, tell them I have,” &c.  Ps. xxxv. 11. and cviii. 11.  C.
• Ver. 5. Samaria. Its wine was famous.  Judg. ix. 27.  Jos. Bel. iii. 2. — Time, three years being elapsed.  Lev. xix. 35.  C. — Prot. “plant, and shall eat (marg. profane) them as common things.”  They shall not be too greedy, (H.) but shall have leisure to enjoy the fruits of their labour.  C.
• Ver. 6. Watchmen. Some were stationed on eminences to observe the first appearances of the moon, (C.) which was a sort of festival.  H.
• Ver. 7. Head. Rejoice over Babylon. — Save. Heb. Hoshang, “I beg,” was usually added; and this acclamation is used by the Church.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 15:21-28

• Ver. 21. Confines of Tyre. It perhaps may be asked, why Jesus went among the Gentiles, when he had commanded his apostles to avoid those countries?  One reason may be, that our Saviour was not subject to the same rules he gave his disciples; another reason may be brought, that he did not go then to preach; hence S. Matthew observes that he kept himself retired.  S. Chry. — Tyre and Sidon were both situated on the Mediterranean sea, about 20 miles distant from each other, and the adjoining country to the west and north of Galilee was called the coast or territories of Tyre and Sidon.  The old inhabitants of this tract were descendants of Chanaan, (for Sidon was his eldest son) and continued in possession of it much longer than they did of any other part of the country.  The Greeks called it Phœnicia; and when, by right of conquest, it became a province of Syria, it took the name of Syrophœnicia; hence the woman, whom S. Mat. calls a Chanaanite, S. Mark calls a Syrophœnician and Gentile; as being both by religion and language a Greek.
• Ver. 22. It is probable that woman first cried out before the door, and assembled a crowd, and then went into the house.  Have mercy on me. The great faith of the Chanaanæan woman is justly extolled.  She believed him to be God, whom she calls her Lord, and him a man, whom she styles the Son of David.  She lays no stress upon her own merits, but supplicates for the mercy of God; neither does she say, have mercy on my daughter, but have mercy on me. . . To move him to compassion, she lays all her grief and sorrow before him in these afflicting words: my daughter is grievously afflicted by a devil. Glossa.
• Ver. 23. He answered her not. It must not be supposed that our Saviour refused to hear the woman through any contempt, but only to shew that his mission was in the first instance to the Jews; or to induce her to ask with greater earnestness, so as to deserve more ample assistance.  Dion. Carth.
• Ver. 26-7. And to cast it to the dogs; i.e. to Gentiles, sometimes so called by the Jews.  Wi. — The diminutive word KunarioV, or whelp, is used in both these verses in the Septuagint.  Our Lord crosses the wishes of the Chanaanæan, not that he intended to reject her, but that he might bring to light the hidden and secret treasure of her virtue.  Let us admire not only the greatness of her faith, but likewise the profoundness of her humility; for when our Saviour called the Jews children, so far from being envious of another’s praise, she readily answers, and gives them the title of lords; and when Christ likened her to a dog, she presently acknowledges the meanness of her condition.  S. Chry. hom. liii.  He refused at first to listen to her petition, says the same saint, to instruct us with what faith, humility, and perseverance we ought to pray.  To make his servants more sensible of his mercy, and more eager to obtain it, he often appears to pay no attention to their prayers, till he had exercised them in the virtues of humility and patience.  Ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened to you.  A.
• Ver. 28. Be it done. In the beginning God said, Let there be light, and there was light; here Jesus Christ says, let it be done, &c. and her daughter was healed from that hour.  So powerful with God is earnest and fervent prayer.  Idem.

hom. liii.

July 27 2010 Tuesday Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Jeremiah 14:17-22
DR Challoner

And thou shalt speak this word to them:

Let my eyes shed down tears night and day, and let them not cease, because the virgin daughter of my people is afflicted with a great affliction, with an exceeding grievous evil. If I go forth into the fields, behold the slain with the sword: and if I enter into the city, behold them that are consumed with famine. The prophet also and the priest are gone into a land which they knew not.

Hast thou utterly cast away Juda, or hath thy soul abhorred Sion? why then hast thou struck us, so that there is no healing for us? we have looked for peace, and there is no good: and for the time of healing, and behold trouble. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, the iniquities of our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. Give us not to be a reproach, for thy name’s sake, and do not disgrace in us the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us. Are there any among the graven things of the Gentiles that can send rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou the Lord our God, whom we have looked for? for thou hast made all these things.

Responsorial Psalm 78:8-9, 11 and 13 (Ps 79 NAB/Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only

Remember not our former iniquities:
let thy mercies speedily prevent us,
for we are become exceeding poor.
Help us, O God, our saviour:
and for the glory of thy name, O Lord, deliver us:
and forgive us our sins for thy name’s sake:
Let the sighing of the prisoners come in before thee.
According to the greatness of thy arm,
take possession of the children of them
that have been put to death.
But we thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture,
will give thanks to thee for ever.
We will shew forth thy praise,
unto generation and generation.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 13:36-43
Haydock New Testament

Then having sent away the multitudes, he came into the house, and his disciples came to him, saying:

Explain to us the parable of the cockle in the field.

He made answer, and said to them:

He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of man. And the field is the world.  And the good seed are the children of the kingdom.

And the cockle are the children of the wicked one. And the enemy that sowed them, is the devil.  But the harvest is the end of the world.  And the reapers are the angels. Even as cockle therefore is gathered up, and burnt with fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father.  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Haydock Commentary Jeremias 14:17-22
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 17. My. Sept. “your eyes.”  Jeremias shews by his tears the future misery.  C. — Virgin. Though many were sinners, the Church had some just souls.  W.
• Ver. 18. Famine. Under Jechonias many were slain, and the chiefs carried into captivity.  4 K. xxiv. 12. — Into. Heb. “through the land, and are ignorant.”  Chal. “they apply to their business, to earthly concerns, and care not.”  C. v. 31.
• Ver. 21. Glory; heaven, the temple or Jerusalem.  How will infidels blaspheme!
• Ver. 22. Rain. Let not the people have recourse to idols, (C.) in despair.  H.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 13:36-43

• Nothing. Catena Aurea to the rescue

Catena Aurea Matthew 13:36-43
From Catechetics Online

• CHRYS; The Lord had spoken to the multitude in parable that He might induce them to ask Him of their meaning yet, though He had spoken so many things in parables no man had yet asked Him anything, and therefore He sends them away; Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house. None of the Scribes followed Him here, from which it is clear that they followed Him for no other purpose than that they might catch Him in His discourse.
• JEROME; The Lord sends away the multitude, and enters the house that His disciples might come to Him and ask Him privately of those things which the people neither deserved to hear, nor were able.
• RABAN; Figuratively; Having sent away the multitude of unquiet Jews, He enters the Church of the Gentiles, and there expounds to believers heavenly sacraments, whence it follows, And his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.
• CHRYS; Before, though desirous to learn, they had feared to ask; but now they ask freely and confidently because they had heard, To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven; and therefore they ask when alone, not envying the multitude to whom it was not so given. They pass over the parables of the leaven and the mustard seed as plain; and ask concerning the parable of the tares, which has some agreement with the foregoing parable concerning the seed, and shows somewhat more than that. And accordingly the Lord expounds it to them, as it follows, He answered and said to them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man.
• REMIG. The Lord styles Himself the Son of Man, that in that title He might set an example of humility; or perhaps because it was to come to pass that certain heretics would deny Him to be really man; or that through belief in His Humanity we might ascend to knowledge of His Divinity.
• CHRYS; The field is the world. Seeing it is He that sows His own field, it is plain that this present world is His. It follows, The good seed are the children of the kingdom.
• REMIG; That is, the saints, and elect men, who are counted as sons.
• AUG; The tares the Lord expounds to mean, not as Manichaeus interprets, certain spurious parts inserted among the true Scriptures, but all the children of the Evil one, that is, the imitators of the fraud of the Devil. As it follows, The tares are the children of the evil one, by whom He would have us understand all the wicked and impious.
• ID; For all weeds among corn are called tares. It follows, The enemy who sowed this is the Devil.
• CHRYS; For this is part of the wiles of the Devil, to be ever mixing up truth with error. The harvest is the end of the world. In another place He says, speaking of the Samaritans, Lift up your eyes, and consider the fields that they are already white for the harvest; and again, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few, in which words He speaks of the harvest as being already present. How then does He here speak of it as something yet to come? Because He has used the figure of the harvest in two significations, as He says there that it is one that sows, and another that reaps; but here it is the same who both sows and reaps indeed there He brings forward the Prophets, not to distinguish them from Himself, but from the Apostles, for Christ Himself by His Prophets sowed among the Jews and Samaritans. The figure of harvest is thus applied to two different things. Speaking of first conviction and turning to the faith, He calls that the harvest, as that in which the whole is accomplished; but when He inquires into the fruits ensuing upon the hearing the word of God, then He calls the end of the world the harvest, as here.
• REMIG; By the harvest is denoted the day of judgment, in which the good are to he separated from the evil; which will be done by the ministry of Angels, as it is said below, that the Son of Man shall come to judgment with His Angels. As then the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world.
  • The Son of man shall send forth his Angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all offenses, and them which do iniquity.
• AUG; Out of that kingdom in which are no offenses? The kingdom then is His kingdom which is here, namely, the Church.
• ID; That the tares are first separated, signifies that by tribulation the wicked shall be separated from the righteous; and this is understood to be performed by good Angels, because the good can discharge duties of punishment with a good spirit, as a judge, or as the Law, but the wicked cannot fulfill offices of mercy.
• CHRYS; Or we may understand it of the kingdom of the heavenly Church; and then there will be held out here a two-fold punishment; first that they fall from glory as that is said, And they shall gather out of his kingdom all offenses, to the end, that no offenses should be seen in His kingdom; and then that they burned. And they shall cast them into a furnace of fire.
• JEROME; The offenses are to be referred to the tares.
• GLOSS; The offenses, and, them that do iniquity, are to be distinguished as heretics and schismatics; the offenses referring to heretics; while by them that do iniquity are to be understood Schismatics. Otherwise; By offenses may be understood those that give their neighbor an occasion of falling, by those that do iniquity all other sinners.
• RABAN; Observe, He says, Those that do iniquity, not, those who have done; because not they who have turned to penitence, but they only that abide in their sins are to be delivered to eternal torments.
• CHRYS; Behold the unspeakable love of God towards men! He is ready to show mercy, slow to punish; when He sows, He sows Himself; when He punishes, He punishes by others, sending His Angels to that. It follows, There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• REMIG; In these words is shown the reality of the resurrection of the body; and further, the twofold pains of hell, extreme heat, and extreme cold. And as the offenses are referred to the tares, so the righteous are reckoned among the children of the kingdom; concerning whom it follows, Then the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. For in the present world the light of the saints shines before men, but after the consummation of all things, the righteous themselves shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
• CHRYS; Not that they shall not shine with higher brightness, but because we know no degree of brightness that surpasses that of the sun, therefore He uses an example adapted to our understanding.
• REMIG; That He says, Then shall they shine, implies that they now shine for an example to others, but they shall then shine as the sun to the praise of God. He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
• RABAN; That is, Let him understand who has understanding, because all these things are to be understood mystically, and not literally.

July 9 2010 Friday Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year 2
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Hosea (Osee) 14:2-10
DR Challoner

And now they have sinned more and more: and they have made to themselves a molten thing of their silver as the likeness of idols: the whole is the work of craftsmen: to these that say: Sacrifice men, ye that adore calves. Therefore they shall be as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the dust that is driven with a whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

But I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt know no God but me, and there is no saviour beside me. I knew thee in the desert, in the land of the wilderness. According to their pastures they were filled, and were made full: and they lifted up their heart, and have forgotten me. And I will be to them as a lioness, as a leopard in the way of the Assyrians. I will meet them as a bear that is robbed of her whelps, and I will rend the inner parts of their liver: and I will devour them there as a lion, the beast of the field shall tear them.

Destruction is thy own, O Israel: thy help is only in me. Where is thy king? now especially let him save thee in all thy cities: and thy judges, of whom thou saidst: Give me kings and princes.

Responsorial Psalm 50:3-4, 8-9, 12-14 and 17 (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 behold thou hast loved truth:
the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.
Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
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.
O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 10:16-23
Haydock New Testament

Jesus instructed the Apostles:

Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and simple as doves. But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings, for my sake, for a testimony to them, and to the Gentiles. But when they shall deliver you up, be not thoughtful how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak. For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.

The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death. And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. And when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. Amen I say to you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel, till the Son of man come.

Haydock Commentary Hosea 14:2-10
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 3. Words. In captivity, legal victims cannot be offered.  C. — But a contrite heart is always acceptable.  Ps. l. — Good. While engaged  in sin, (H.) “we can offer thee nothing good.” — Calves: victims of praise.  S. Jer. — Heb. parim. Sept. omit m, (H.) and render fruit. They are followed by the Arab. and Syr. as well as by the apostle.  Heb. xiii. 15.  C. — We will offer what victims we please.  E.  Ps. lxix. 23. and lxv. 13.
• Ver. 4. Gods. The Assyrians, instead of protecting, oppress us; while Egypt, famous for horses, sits unconcerned.  C. — But the source of all our evils are the idols, which we will follow no more. — In thee: adheres to the true faith in practice.  H. — Israel was like an orphan during the captivity.  Lam. i. 1.  C.
• Ver. 5. Breaches, when Israel shall be converted, as some were to Christ, and many will be at the end of the world.  W. — Heb. “their return.”  Sept. “dwellings.”  They shall be purified. — Freely. I have been forced to chastise, My heart dilates.  C. — Sept. “I will love them manifestly.”  Syr. “accept their free offerings.”  H.
• Ver. 6. Dew. Israel has been like a plant dried up.  C. xiii. 15. — Libanus. The cedars were tall and bulky, being well rooted.
• Ver. 7. Glory. Sept. “he shall be as fruitful as the olive-tree.” — Libanus, or incense.  C. — The term has both meanings.  H.
• Ver. 8. His. This may refer to the tree, or to God.  The captives shall return, and be happy.  But in a more sublime sense it refers to the nations which shall embrace the gospel. — Libanus, or fragrant.  Such wine was esteemed in which certain odoriferous herbs were infused.  Cant. vii. 2.  C. — Libanus was also famous for generous wines.  Siconita 11.
• Ver. 9. Idol? or God will no more reproach them, as their conversion is sincere. — Make. Heb. “be to him like,” &c.  C.
• Ver. 10. Wise. This denotes the obscurity of the prophecy.  Theod. — No human wit can explain the prophets: yet the just shall understand as much as shall  be necessary.  S. Jer.  S. Aug. de Civ. Dei. xviii. 28.  W. — Only few will make good use of these admonitions, and share in the promises.  C.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 10:16-23

• Ver. 16. Wise as serpents, &c.  It is a proverbial way of speaking; and an admonition to be circumspect and discreet, but harmless, innocent, sincere in all our actions and dealings.  Wi. — Simple. That is, harmless, plain, sincere, and without guile.  Ch. — In the midst of wolves. Although Christ sent his apostles not only against wolves, but even into the very midst of wolves, still he commands them to behave with the meekness of sheep, and simplicity of doves.  Thus he evinces the greatness of his power, in overcoming the wolves by the sheep, which were continually exposed to be devoured and torn in pieces by them, still never failing to change the fierce nature of the ravenous wolf into their own nature, in mildness and innocence.  As long as we retain the nature of sheep, we easily overcome our adversaries; but no sooner are we changed into wolves, than we become the derision of our enemies: the supreme Pastor, who superintends the sheep, not the wolves, withdrawing from us the powerful protection of his grace, and leaving us to the misery of our own weakness. — Our Saviour, in his infinite wisdom, knew full well the nature of things; passion was not to be overcome by passion, but by meekness only.  Thus the apostles did, when the Jews having apprehended them, said, Have we not again and again commanded you not to teach in this name?  Acts, C. iv.  Though they had the power of working the greatest miracles, yet they let nothing harsh, nothing severe, escape them, either in words or actions.  With simplicity they made answer, Judge ye, if it be just to hear you rather than God; and at the same time shewed their prudence, saying, We cannot but speak what we  have heard and seen. S. Chrysostom, hom. xxxiv. — As sheep, &c.  He compares them to sheep, not only because of their innocence, but also because they were sent unarmed and destitute of all human support.  M. — Wise, &c.  That you may guard against the snares of your enemies.  The prudence of the serpent is celebrated, because when it cannot escape, it strives at least to preserve its head free from hurt, whilst it leave the rest of its body exposed.  Thus Christians, who have Christ for their head, must preserve his faith and religion, though with the loss of every thing else.  M.
• Ver. 17. They will deliver you up in councils. Christ, in this and the following verse, warns his apostles of the many troubles and persecutions to which the preaching of the faith would expose them.  S. Chrysostom assigns several reasons for his choosing to foretell them such sufferings:  1st. that he might shew that he had the gift of prophecy; 2nd. that they might not think such evils came upon them on account of his weakness; 3rd. that knowing beforehand the great trials to which they would be exposed, they might not be discouraged when they happened.  S. Chrysostom, in S. Thos. Aquin.
• Ver. 18. For a testimony to them, &c.  That is, that by suffering with fortitude and constancy, you may bear testimony of me, as men must know, that it is not any vain thing for which they see you are prepared to die.  Or the sense may be, that this may be for you a testimony against them in the day of judgment, and may render them inexcusable, since they will be unable to say that they have not heard the gospel.  M.
• Ver. 19. Be not thoughtful, with too great a concern of mind.  Wi. — That the apostles might not be discouraged at the description, which our Saviour gave them in the two preceding verses, of the troubles which they would have to sustain in their ministry, he now endeavours to console them.  When you are called before councils, says he, do not think how or what to speak, for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak.  A truly comfortable thought for all who should afterwards engage in the ministry of Christ.  Whatever troubles, whatever persecutions may fall to your lot, if even you should be cited before kings and councils to answer for your faith, do not be troubled.  You engage in the conflict, I will fight: you speak, but I will tell you what you ought to say.  A.
• Ver. 22. He that shall persevere, &c.  We are here told, that to be saved it is not sufficient that we were once virtuous, we must persevere to the end.  We are also assured of the same truth in Ezechiel.  If the just man shall turn away from his justice, and shall commit iniquity, he shall die in his sins, and his justice which he hath done shall not be remembered. C. iii, v. 20.  A. — Some, says S. Chrysostom, are accustomed to be fervent at the beginning of their conversion, but afterwards grow remiss; of what advantage are seeds that flourish in the beginning, but afterwards wither and die?  S. Chrysos.  S. Thos. Aquin.
• Ver. 23. Flee into another. Tertullian, with some others, held it never lawful to fly in the time of persecutions, against both the doctrine and example of our Saviour, Christ. — You shall not finish, &c.  S. Chrys. thinks the sense of these words is, you shall not go through, and have finished your preaching in all the cities of Israel, till I, who follow you, shall come, and join you again.  Others expound it, till the coming of me, your Messias, shall be published, and owned after my resurrection.  Wi.

June 22 2010 Tuesday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year 2
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36
Douay-Rheims Challoner

Sennacherib , the king of the Assyrians sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:

Thus shall you say to Ezechias, king of Juda: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not say: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries, how they have laid them waste: and canst thou alone be delivered?

And when Ezechias had received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord, And he prayed in his sight, saying:

O Lord God of Israel, who sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kings of the earth: thou madest heaven and earth: Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to upbraid unto us the living God.

Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have destroyed nations, and the lands of them all. And they have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, of wood and stone, and they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, the only God.

And Isaias, the son of Amos, sent to Ezechias, saying:

Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin, the daughter of Sion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged her head behind thy back.

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it. By the way that he came he shall return: and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord. And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for David, my servant’s sake.

And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, departing, went away, and he returned and abode in Ninive.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 47:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 10-11 (Ps 48 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised
in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded,
on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.
In her houses shall God be known, when he shall protect her.
We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth:
thy right hand is full of justice.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 7:6, 12-14
Haydock New Testament

Jesus said:

Give not that which is holy to dogs: neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, tear you.

All things, therefore, whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them.  For this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who enter by it. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way, which leadeth to life: and few there are who find it!

Haydock Commentary 2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 9. When he, Sennacherib, though it would seem to refer to Rabsaces.  H. — Tharaca, called by Thearchon by Strabo, (i. and xv. p. 653.) extended his conquests as far as the pillars of Hercules.  Megasthenes. — The Egyptians seem to have called him Sethon, and assert that the god (Vulcan) appeared to him on the approach of Sennacherib, assuring him of his protection.  He encamped near Pelusium, where the enemy’s army on its arrival was infested with rats, which destroyed their armour, and made them an easy prey.  Herodot. ii. 141.  It is probable that Taphnes, near Pelusium, was the capital city of Tharaca.  Isai. xviii. and xxx. 4.  He does not appear to have joined battle with Sennacherib, whose army was destroyed on its march (ib. x. 24.) the very night that the prophet promised Ezechias a deliverance.
• Ver. 14. Before the Lord, to move him to revenge his own cause, (H.) and to shew that he looked upon the Lord, as a father, with the utmost confidence (M.) and resignation.  He spreads the blasphemous letter (H.) before the ark, which was the special place for prayer.  W.
• Ver. 15. Earth. He attempts to make some reparation for the blasphemies which had been uttered (C.) and written.  H.
• Ver. 16. Unto us is not in Heb. or Sept.  D. — God, as if he were not able to deliver us.  M.
• Ver. 21. Virgin. The few who adhere to the Lord despise all idols and their votaries.  W. — Of Sion and of Jerusalem may denote those places.  Towns and provinces are often represented as women: the daughter of Babylon, the daughter of the sea, mean Babylon and a maritime town.  Perhaps this comparison is used through tenderness and affection for a place.  C. — Even the most timid female would shortly despise the fallen tyrant.  H. — Wagged, out of contempt, or in a threatening manner.  Ps. xxi. 8.  Mat. xxvii. 39.  M.
• Ver. 31. Sion. These shall repeople the land.  In a higher sense, the Christian Church was propagated by the few Jews who believed.  C. — Zeal, or ardent love.  M. — Of hosts, is added in the Prot. version, as being deficient in the Heb.  H. — It is found in several MSS.  Kennicott.
• Ver. 32. About it, as was then the custom in besieging cities.  Josephus and others suppose that Sennacherib’s army was destroyed before Jerusalem.  But it seems more probable it fell on the road to Egypt, v. 7.  The camp, which is still shewn, might be that of Rabsaces.  C. xviii. 17.  C.
• Ver. 33. Return. Sennacherib’s life was spared for a time, that he might be covered with ignominy the longer, and suffer a more disgraceful death.  H.
• Ver. 34. Own sake, who have chosen this city for my sanctuary.  M. — David. Here again we behold the influence of the saints with God.  H.
• Ver. 35. Night following the prediction of Isaias, (C.) or that memorable night which would be so terrible to the Assyrians after three years, v. 29.  Thus we read, in that day, &c.  Isai. xxvii.  M. — The exterminating angel, (Ex. xi. 4.  C.) an evil spirit, (Ps. lxxvii. 49.) or the guardian of the synagogue.  Abulensis.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 7:6, 12-14

• Ver. 6. Give not that which is holy, or holy things, (as in the Greek) to dogs; i.e. to scandalous libertines, or infidels, who are not worthy to partake of divine mysteries and sacraments, who sacrilegiously abuse them, and trample them under their feet, as hogs do pearls.  Wi. — The sacred mysteries should not be given to those that are not properly instructed in the sublime nature of them; nor should we hold any communication of religion with those that are enemies to the truths of Christ, which they tread under their feet and treat contemptuously, and will be so far from having any more friendship for you on account of such a criminal complaisance, that it is more probable they will betray you and turn against you.  A.
• Ver. 12. For this is the law and the prophets; that is, all precepts that regard our neighbour are directed by this golden rule, do as you would be done by. Wi. — The whole law and all the duties between man and man, inculcated by the prophets, have this principle for foundation.  The Roman emperor Alexander Severus, is related to have said, that he esteemed the Christians for their acting on this principle.  A. — This is the sum of the law and of the prophets, the whole law of the Jews.  M.
• Ver. 13. Enter ye in at the narrow gate, &c.  The doctrine of these two verses needs no commentary, but deserve serious attention.  Wi.
• Ver. 14. Our Saviour in another place says, my yoke is sweet, and my burthen light.  How comes it then that so few bear it, or how can we reconcile these texts together?  The answer is at hand; for if soldiers and mariners esteem wounds, storms, and shipwreck, easy to be borne with, in hopes of temporal rewards, surely no one can complain that the duties of a Christian are difficult, when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  Chry. — It may also be added that God, by his heavenly consolations, makes them not only supportable, but even easy and pleasant.  Thus the martyrs occasionally did not feel their torments through the sweet unction of divine love, and the excessive joy which God poured into their souls.  A.