Unofficial Lectionary

Friday 19^th Week in Ordinary Time
Official Readings available at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Joshua 24:1-13
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel in Sichem, and called for the ancients, and the princes and the judges, and the masters: and they stood in the sight of the Lord: And he spoke thus to the people:

Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Thare the father of Abraham, and Nachor: and they served strange gods. And I took your father Abraham from the borders of Mesopotamia: and brought him into the land of Chanaan: and I multiplied his seed, And gave him Isaac: and to him again I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave to Esau mount Seir for his possession: but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt with many signs and wonders. And I brought you and your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea: and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen, as far as the Red Sea. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them. Your eyes saw all that I did in Egypt, and you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. And I brought you into the land of the Amorrhite, who dwelt beyond the Jordan. And when they fought against you, I delivered them into your hands, and you possessed their land, and slew them.

And Balac son of Sephor king of Moab arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and called for Balaam son of Beor, to curse you: And I would not hear him, but on the contrary I blessed you by him, and I delivered you out of his hand. And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho. And the men of that city fought against you, the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Gergesite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite: and I delivered them into your hands. And I sent before you and I drove them out from their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with thy sword nor with thy bow, And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured, and cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and oliveyards, which you planted not.

Psalm 135:1-3, 16-18, 21-22, 24 (Ps 136 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Alleluia. Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Praise ye the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Praise ye the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Who led his people through the desert: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Who smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.
And slew strong kings: for his mercy endureth for ever.
And he gave their land for an inheritance: for his mercy endureth for ever.
For an inheritance to his servant Israel: for his mercy endureth for ever.
And he redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 19:3-12
Haydock New Testament

And the Pharisees came to him tempting him, and saying:

Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

But he answering, said to them:

Have ye not read, that he who made man in the beginning, made them male and female? 

And he said:

For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

They say to him:

Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away?

He saith to them:

Moses because of the hardness of your hearts permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery;: and he who shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.

His disciples say unto him:

If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not good to marry.

He said to them:

All receive not this word, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother’s womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven.  He that can receive, let him receive it.

Haydock Commentary Joshua 24:1-13
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1.  Of Israel.  There seems no reason for restricting this to the ancients, &c.  On this solemn occasion, when all Israel was probably assembled at one of the great festivals, Josue concluded his exhortation, by renewing the covenant (C.) in the place where he had formerly complied with the injunction of Moses.  C. viii. 31.  H. — In Sichem, in the field which Jacob had purchased, and where a great oak (v. 26,) was growing, that had been honoured, it is thought, with the presence of the patriarchs.  It was near the two famous mountains of Garizim and Hebal.  C. — Sichem was at the foot of the former mountain of blessings; and Josephus informs us, the altar was erected in its vicinity.  No fitter place could therefore have been selected by the aged chief, to conclude the actions of his life, and to attach the people to the religion which they had once received, in the most signal manner.  The Vat. and Alex. copies (H.) of the Sept. followed by S. Aug. (q. 30,) read Silo, where the tabernacle was fixed: but all the rest agree with the original, and with the ancient versions, in retaining Sichem, to which place the ark was removed on this occasion, (C.) the distance of ten (S. Jer.) or twelve miles.  Eus. — It is not probable that an oak would be growing in the sanctuary, near the altar, contrary to the express prohibition of the Lord, v. 26.  Deut. xvi. 21.  C. — Many interpreters suppose that the assembly might be held at Silo, in the territory of Sichem.  T.  M.  Serarius. — But the distance seems too great; and Bonfrere rather thinks that the copies of the Sept. have been altered.  H. — Salien remarks, that they might go in solemn procession from Sichem to Silo.  A. 2600.
• Ver. 2.  Of the river.  The Euphrates.  Ch. — Gods.  Some think that Abraham himself was in his youth engaged in the worship of idols, (though this is denied by S. Aug. C. D. xvi. 13.  Theod. q. 18, &c.  W.) as well as his father, &c. v. 14.  Gen. xi. 31.  Thare was the father of both Abraham and Nachor, (Gen. xi. 26,) unless (H.) the grandfather (M.) of Abraham was meant, who was also called Nachor, (H.) as well as Rebecca’s grandfather.  Gen. xxiv.  W.
• Ver. 3.  From the.  Heb. and Sept. “other side of the flood or river,” where Mesopotamia commences.  H.
• Ver. 4.  Isaac, the promised seed and heir of the blessings, (C.) after Ismael was born.  H.
• Ver. 6.  You.  Many still survived, and had seen these wonders, as God had only exterminated those who had murmured.
• Ver. 9. Fought, not perhaps with the sword, but by endeavouring to get Israel cursed, that so he might be unable to make any resistance.  He had the will to fight, and in this sense princes are said to be at war, though they never come to an engagement.  3 K. xiv. 38.  C. — Balac shut his gates against Israel.  S. Aug. q. 26.
• Ver. 11.  Men.  Heb. “the masters of Jericho,” which may denote either the king or the inhabitants.  It is thought that people of the different nations were come to defend the city, or the text may signify that not only Jericho, but these different people, (C.) fought successively against the people of God, but all in vain.  H. — The fighting of the inhabitants of Jericho was only intentional; a miracle rendered all their efforts abortive.  Yet this is called fighting in scripture (v. 9,) as well as in other authors.  “We judge of actions by the intention, says S. Isidore: (Pelus. ii. ep. 289,) the person who intended to murder is punished, though he only inflicted a wound; and on the other hand, he who dills undesignedly receives a pardon.”  So Orion was said to have violated Diana, because he wished to do it; and Virgin, (viii.) speaking of some who already thought they were in possession of the capital, says, Galli per dumos aderant, arcemque tenebant, “they seized the citadel,” though they never entered it.  C. — Yet it is probable that the inhabitants of Jericho would defend themselves.  M.
• Ver. 12.  Hornets.  S. Aug. explains this of the rumours, or devils, which terrified the people of the country.  But it is generally understood literally.  Wisd. xii. 8.  M.  Ex. xxiii. 28.  C. — The two, &c. not only the nations on the west, but also those on the east side of the Jordan, who fell, not so much by the valour of the Israelites, as by the terror and judgments of God.  H. — The resistance which they made was hardly worth mentioning.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 19:3-12

• Ver. 3.  Is it lawful?  Here again the Pharisees, ever anxious to ensnare Jesus in his words, come to him and ask him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?  Thinking now they had to a certainty succeeded, they argue thus with themselves: shall he say that it is not lawful, we will accuse him of blasphemy, contradicting the Scriptures.  For, it is written, Deut. iv. 1.  If a man take a wife, and she find not favour in his eyes, for some uncleanness, he shall write a bill of divorce.  And Malachy, ii. 16.  When thou shalt hate her, put her away. — On the other hand, if he shall say it is lawful, we will accuse him of favouring the passions.  But Jesus Christ, the wisdom of the eternal Father, silences them with the authority of that Scripture they attempted to bring against him.  What God has joined together, let no man put asunder; intimating, that the connexion between husband and wife is so strict, that by it they become as one flesh, and can no more be separated than one member from another.  Dion. Carth. — To put away his wife for every cause,[1] or upon every occasion.  They did not doubt it, if the cause was considerable.  Wi.
• Ver. 4.  In the beginning.  It is remarked by S. Jerome, S. Chrys. and Theophylactus, that the Almighty does not say of any of the animals which he created, as he does of man and woman, that he joined one male to one female; from which it appears, according to the reasoning of S. Augustine, that monogamy, as well as the indissolubility of marriage, was instituted from the beginning by the Almighty.  T.
• Ver. 5.  These words were pronounced by Adam.  Gen. xi. 24. — And they two shall be in one flesh.[2]  I translate thus with submission to better judges; yet the sense may be, by a kind of Hebraism, they shall be esteemed as one person.  Wi.
• Ver. 7.  The Pharisees, not satisfied, again attack our Saviour.  To this second attack he replies: Moses indeed permitted you to put away your wives on account of the hardness of your hearts, and to prevent a greater evil, lest through your cruelty you should poison them, or put them to violent death; but in the natural law, signified by the beginning, it was not so.  Dion. Carth.
• Ver. 8.  Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you, &c.  Whether this was permitted in the old law, so that the man who was divorced from his wife could marry another woman, is disputed.  Some think this second marriage was still unlawful, though tolerated, and not punished.  At least in the new law, a divorce upon just causes may be sometimes permitted; but this does not make it lawful for the man or woman so separated to marry another.  Wi. — The latter part of this verse, of S. Paul, (Rom. vii. 3,) and the constant tradition of the Church, shew that the exception only refers to separation, but not to the marrying another during the life of the parties.  In this place Christ restores the original condition of the marriage state, and henceforth will have it to be a perfect figure of the hypostatic union of his divine person with our human nature, as also of his nuptial union with his Church, and consequently that it should be indissoluble.  T.
• Ver. 9.  And I say to you.  It is worthy of remark, that in the parallel texts, S. Mark x. 2. and S. Luke xvi. 18. and S. Paul to Cor. vii. 10. omit the exception of fornication; and also that S. Matthew himself omits it in the second part of the verse; and says absolutely, that he who shall marry her that is put away committeth adultery.  It perhaps crept in here from c. v. 32, where it is found in a phrase very similar to this, but which expresses a case widely different.  Divorce is in no case admitted but in that of adultery.  This is what Christ teaches in c. v. 32, and to this the exception is referred, marked in the two texts.  But in this very case the separated parties cannot contract a second marriage without again committing adultery, as we must infer, from a comparison of this text with the parallel texts of S. Mark and S. Luke.  V. — If we did not understand it in this manner, the case of the adulteress would be preferable to the case of her who should be put away without any crime of her own; as in this supposition, the former would be allowed to marry again, which the latter would not be allowed.  T. — S. Augustine is very explicit on this subject.  See l. 11. de adult conjug. c. xxi. xxii. xxiv. — S. Jerom, in his high commendation of the noble matron, Fabiola, says of her: “that though she was the innocent party, for the unlawful act of marrying again, she did public penance.”  In Epitaph. Fabiolæ. — This universally received doctrine of the Catholic Church was confirmed in the general council of Trent.  Sess. xxiv. can. 6.
• Ver. 11.  All receive not this word.[3]  To translate all cannot take, or cannot receive this word, is neither conformable to the Latin nor Greek text.  To be able to live singly, and chastely, is given to every one that asketh, and prayeth for the grace of God to enable him to live so.  Wi. — Jesus Christ takes occasion from the remark of the Pharisees to praise holy virginity, which he represents as a great and good gift of heaven; and such it has ever been considered in the eye of true and genuine religion.  Hence it appears that besides commandments, there are evangelical counsels, to the observance of which it is both lawful and meritorious for a Christian to devote himself, especially for the purpose of employing himself with greater liberty and less encumbrance in the service of his God. — Our Lord does not approve of the conclusion his disciples drew from his doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage, lest he should seem to condemn matrimony both good and necessary; neither does he reprove them for it, lest he should seem to prefer it before the state of continency.  His answer therefore prudently avoids both difficulties, by seeming to grant, on the one hand, that it was more expedient not to marry, because chastity is a great gift of God; (1 Cor. vii.) and plainly shewing on the other, that only few can have this privilege, because all do not receive this word, i.e. all are not called to this state.  Jans. — All cannot receive it, because all do not wish it.  The reward is held out to all.  Let him who seeks for glory, not think of the labour.  None would overcome, if all were afraid of engaging in the conflict.  If some fail, are we to be less careful in our pursuit of virtue?  Is the soldier terrified, because his comrade fights and falls by his side?  S. Chrys. — He that can receive it, let him receive it.  He that can fight, let him fight, overcome and triumph.  It is the voice of the Lord animating his soldiers to victory.  S. Jer.
• Ver. 12.  And there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs, &c.  It is not to be taken in the literal sense, but of such who have taken a firm and commendable resolution of leading a single life. — He that can receive it, let him receive it.  Some think that to receive, in this and the foregoing verse, is to understand; and so will have the sense to be, he that can understand what I have said of different eunuchs, let him understand it; as when Christ said elsewhere, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  But others expound it as an admonition to men and women, not to engage themselves in a vow of living a single life, unless, after a serious deliberation, they have good grounds to think they can duly comply with this vow, otherwise let them not make it.  Thus S. Jerom on this place, and S. Chrys. where they both expressly take notice, that this grace is granted to every one that asketh and beggeth for it by prayer.  Wi. — To the crown and glory of which state, let those aspire who feel themselves called by heaven.

Thursday 19^th Week in Ordinary Time
Official Readings available at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Joshua 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17
Douay-Rheims Challoner

And the Lord said to Joshua:

This day will I begin to exalt thee before Israel: that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I am with thee also. And do thou command the priests, that carry the ark of the covenant, and say to them: When you shall have entered into part of the water of the Jordan, stand in it.

And Joshua said to the children of Israel:

Come hither, and hear the word of the Lord your God.

And again he said:

By this you shall know, that the Lord, the living God, is in the midst of you, and that he shall destroy, before your sight, the Chanaanite. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth shall go before you into the Jordan.

And when the priests, that carry the ark of the Lord the God of the whole earth, shall set the soles of their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the waters that are beneath shall run down and go off: and those that come from above, shall stand together upon a heap.

So the people went out of their tents, to pass over the Jordan: and the priests that carried the ark of the covenant, went on before them. And as soon as they came into the Jordan, and their feet were dipped in part of the water, (now the Jordan, it being harvest time, had filled the banks of its channel,) the waters that came down from above stood in one place, and swelling up like a mountain, were seen afar off, from the city that is called Adom, to the place of Sarthan: but those that were beneath, ran down into the sea of the wilderness, (which now is called the Dead Sea) until they wholly failed. And the people marched over against Jericho: and the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, stood girded upon the dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed over, through the channel that was dried up.

Psalm 113:1-6
DR Challoner Text Only

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people:
Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
The sea saw and fled: Jordan was turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock.
What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou didst flee:
and thou, O Jordan, that thou wast turned back?
Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye hills, like lambs of the flock?

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 18:21-19:1
Haydock New Testament

Then came Peter unto him, and said:

Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him?  Till seven times?

Jesus saith to him:

I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven:

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him, that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment be made. But that servant falling down, besought him, saying: ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.’ And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go, and forgave him the debt.

But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence: and laying hold of him, throttled him, saying: ‘Pay what thou owest.’ And his fellow-servant falling down, besought him, saying: ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.’ And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

Now his fellow-servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came, and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him: and said to him: ‘Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me. Shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on thee?’ And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all the debt.

So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these words, he departed from Galilee, and came into the confines of Judea beyond the Jordan.

Haydock Commentary Joshua 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 7.  Also.  Grotius remarks that God made known his choice of the governors of his people by miracles, till the days of Saul.  In effect, we hardly find any, before that time, whose public authority was not sanctioned by some prodigy.  C.
• Ver. 8.  It.  Heb. “when you shall have come to the brink (or extremity) of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan,” (H.) which some explain by saying that they were to stop on the eastern bank, as soon as they had wet their feet, (Serarius) while others say they crossed quite over, and stood at the other side.  Masius. — But it is more probable, that as soon as they had touched the waters, the priests halted till the bed of the river was presently dried up, and then they placed themselves in the middle of it, close to the raging billows, which, rising up like mountains, were stopped in their career, (H.) and forced to retire backwards to their source, v. 15. 17.  C. iv. 9.  Bonfrere.  A. Lap. — Some translate, “into the division,” instead of part, or extremity.  C.
• Ver. 9.  Hither, probably to the door of the tabernacle, where the assemblies were held.
• Ver. 10.  Living God, in opposition to the idols of the Gentiles, who were dead men, or at least incapable of affording any assistance to their votaries.  Josue gives the people two signs of the divine protection, the destruction of the devoted nations, and the miraculous division of the Jordan, or rather the latter prodigy would be an earnest of the former event; and all, both friends and enemies, might be convinced, that the Lord was with his people, and their present leader, as he had been with Moses.  No miracle could have been more suitable for the occasion, none more convincing or useful.  C. — It would naturally inspire the Israelites with confidence, at the revival of the miracles wrought 40 years before, when their fathers and some of themselves had passed the Red Sea, in a similar manner.  At the same time, it would fill the Chanaanites with still greater dismay and teach them that all resistance would prove fruitless.  Some have wondered that they did not oppose the passage of the Israelites on this occasion.  But it is a greater matter of surprise that they should have ventured on the dangerous expedient of encountering them in war, after what they had seen and heard.  It can be attributed to nothing but their infatuation, and that blindness with which God punished them, that they might draw on a more speedy and merited destruction for their crimes.  H. — Destroy.  Heb. “dispossess, or drive out before you the Chanaanite,” &c.  These seven nations comprised the ten which are mentioned, Gen. xv. 19.  The Chanaanite occupied the countries chiefly about Tyre, while the Hethite dwelt in the southern part of Palestine.  The Hevite possessed Mount Hermon, Garizim, &c.  The Pherezite were not perhaps a separate people, but employed in cultivating the country.  The Gergesite were fixed to the east of the lake of Genesareth, the Jebusite at Jerusalem, and the Amorrhite about the Dead Sea.  C. — But they were often mixed with one another, so that their limits cannot be ascertained with any degree of precision.  H.
• Ver. 13.  Heap.  Heb. “the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off:  the waters that come down from above, even they shall stand as upon a heap,” like mountains of ice.  The Vulg. informs us what became of the waters (H.) below this division.  Where it took place we do not find recorded, so that we cannot know exactly how large a space would be left dry.  Calmet allows, “near six leagues.”  v. 4. and 16.  But here, supposing that the Jordan was divided over-against Jericho, he says, that “the waters running off into the Dead Sea, would, in all probability, leave not less than two or three thousand paces of the channel dry.”
•             Interruptus aquis fluxit prior amnis in æquor;
•             Ad molem stetit unda fluens.  Lucan, Phar. ii.
• Ver. 15.  Water.  Thus they manifested the strength of their faith.  C. — Immediately the obedient waters divided, and the gravel or sand was left dry.  v. 17.  H. — Channel.  The barley harvest was ready about the 30th of April.  Lev. xxiii. 10.  On other occasions this overflowing of the Jordan is noticed, 1 Par. xii. 15.  Eccli. xxiv. 36.  Doubdan says that when he visited these parts, at the same season of the year, the Jordan was quite full, on account of the melted snow, and ready to leave its banks.  It was about a stone throw across, and very rapid.  See C. i. 2.  The rains which fall in spring, serve to increase the inundation, (Deut, xi. 14,) as well as the snow which melts at that time on Libanus, though a great part resists the violent heats.  Mirum dictu, says Tacitus v. tantos inter ardores opacum fidumque nivibus.  Jer. xviii. 14. and xlix. 19.
• Ver. 16.  Mountain.  Heb. “heap or bottle.”  The billows were forced to roll back almost as far as the lake of Genesareth, where Sarthan stands, about twenty leagues above Jericho. — Sarthan.  Heb. “rose up on a heap, very far from (or to) the city of Adom, that is beside Sarthan.”  The situation of Adom can only be ascertained by that of Sarthan, which was near Bethsan, or Scythopolis, (3 K. iv. 12,) in the vale of Jezrahel, on the Jordan.  Many copies of the Sept. read Cariathiarim, though it was six or seven leagues up the country, west of Jericho.  C. — The swelling billows might perhaps be seen from this place.  H. — But it could not properly determine how far the waters rolled back.  C. — Failed.  Heb. “and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, (or of Araba, which means a desert, fit only for pasturage) the salt sea, failed were cut off” from the waters above Jericho.  The Jordan after running three miles in the lake of Sodom, without mixing its waters, becomes at last reluctantly confounded with it.  Velut invitus…postremo ebibitur, aquasque laudatas perdit, pestilentibus mixtus.  Plin. v. 15.
• Ver. 17.  Jericho, at Bethabara, which was five or six leagues from the Dead Sea, all which space was left dry.  Jericho was three leagues from the Jordan.  C. — Girded.  Sept. “ready,” preparing the way for all the army.  Heb. “firm,” and undaunted.  H. — A great part of the day must have been spent in crossing the river, and erecting the two monuments.  M.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 18:21-19:1

• Ver. 21.  S. Peter knew the Jews to be much given to revenge; he therefore thought it a great proof of superior virtue to be able to forgive seven times.  It was for this reason he proposed this question to our Lord; who, to shew how much he esteemed charity, immediately answered, not only seven times, but seventy times seven times.  He does not mean to say that this number must be the bounds of our forgiving; we must forgive to the end, and never take revenge, however often our brother offend against us.  There must be no end of forgiving poor culprits that sincerely repent, either in the sacrament of penance, or one man another his offences.  B. — To recommend this great virtue more forcibly, he subjoins the parable of the king taking his accounts: and, from the great severity there exercised, he intimates how rigid will his heavenly Father be to those who forgive not their enemies.  Dion. Carth.
• Ver. 22.  Till seventy times seven; i.e. 490 times; but it is put by way of an unlimited number, to signify we must pardon private injuries, though even so often done to us.  Wi. — When our brother sins against us, we must grieve for his sake over the evil he has committed; but for ourselves we ought greatly to rejoice, because we are thereby made like our heavenly Father, who bids the sun to shine upon the good and the bad.  But if the thought of having to imitate God alarm us, though it should not seem difficult to a true lover of God, let us place before our eyes the examples of his favourite servants.  Let us imitate Joseph, who though reduced to a state of the most abject servitude, by the hatred of his unnatural brethren, yet in the affliction of his heart, employed all his power to succour them in their afflictions.  Let us imitate Moses, who after a thousand injuries, raised his fervent supplications in behalf of his people.  Let us imitate the blessed Paul, who, though daily suffering a thousand afflictions from the Jews, still wished to become an anathema for their salvation.  Let us imitate Stephen, who, when the stones of his persecutors were covering him with wounds, prayed that the Almighty would pardon their sin.  Let us follow these admirable examples, then shall we extinguish the flames of anger, then will our heavenly Father grant us the forgiveness of our sins, through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ.  S. Chrys. hom. lxii.
• Ver. 24.  Ten thousand talents.  It is put as an example for an immense sum.  It is not certainly agreed what was the value of a talent.  A talent of gold is said to be 4900 lb.; of silver 375 lb.  See Walton’s Prologomena, Dr. Harris’s Lexicon, &c.  Wi. — The 10,000 talents, according to some authors, amount to £1,875,000 sterling, i.e. 740,000 times as much as his fellow-servant owed him; the hundred pence amounting to not more than £3 2s. 6d.
• Ver. 35.  So also shall my heavenly Father do to you.  In this parable the master is said to have remitted the debt, and yet afterwards to have punished the servant for it.  God doth not in this manner with us.  But we may here observe, once for all, that in parables, diverse things are only ornamental to the parable itself; and a caution and restriction is to be used in applying them.  Wi. — Not that God will revoke a pardon once granted; for this would be contrary to his infinite mercy, and his works are without repentance.  It means that God will not pardon, or rather that he will severely punish the ingratitude and inhumanity of the man, who, after having received from God the most liberal pardon of his grievous transgressions, refuses to forgive the slightest offence committed against him by his neighbour, who is a member, nay a son of his God.  This ingratitude may justly be compared with the 10,000 talents, as every grievous offence committed against God, exceeds, in an infinite degree, any offence against man.  T. — This forgiveness must be real, not pretended; from the heart, and not in word and appearance only; sacrificing all desire of revenge, all anger, hatred and resentment, at the shrine of charity.

20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Official Readings available at http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Note: I also recommend checking the official readings in the link above. There are good notes in the NABRE, especially for the newly revised Old Testament translation, which is now available on the USCCB website.

Isaiah 56:1, 6-7
DR Challoner

Thus saith the Lord:

Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my justice to be revealed. And the children of the stranger that adhere to the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name, to be his servants: every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast my covenant: I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts, and their victims shall please me upon my altar: for my house shall be called the house of prayer, for all nations.

Responsorial Psalm 66:2-3, 5, 6, 8 (Ps 67 NAB/Hebrew)
DR Challoner Text Only

May God have mercy on us, and bless us:
may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us,
and may he have mercy on us.
That we may know thy way upon earth:
thy salvation in all nations.
Let the nations be glad and rejoice:
for thou judgest the people with justice,
and directest the nations upon earth.
Let the people, O God, confess to thee:
let all the people give praise to thee:
May God bless us:
and all the ends of the earth fear him.

Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
Haydock New Testament

For I say to you, Gentiles: As long, indeed, as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I will honour my ministry, If by any means I may provoke emulation of those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. For if the loss of them be the reconciliation of the world: what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. For as you also in times past did not believe God, but now have obtained mercy, through their unbelief: So these also now have not believed for your mercy, that they also obtain mercy. For God hath concluded all in unbelief, that he may have mercy on all.

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 unto thee as thou wilt. And her daughter was cured from that hour.

Haydock Commentary Isaias 56:1, 6-7
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1.  Judgment, the right resolution to do God’s will, which justice executes.  C. xxxii.  W. — My justice.  Sept. “mercy.”  Christ is at hand.  Prepare for your deliverance, by keeping the commandments.
• Ver. 7.  Prayer.  So the temple is justly styled.  H. — This shall be open to all nations.  After the captivity, the Jews condescended to let the Gentiles have a court, and they even suffered some princes to go into the court of the priests.  2 Mac. iii. 33.  Physcon wished to penetrate into the inner sanctuary, (3 Mac.  Eccli. l.) which could not be granted.

Haydock Commentary Romans 11:13-15, 29-32

• Ver. 11-15.  Have they so stumbled, that they should fall? God forbid.  That is, their fall is not irreparable, or so as never to rise again: but by their offending, salvation (through the liberal mercy of God) is come to the Gentiles, that they, the Jews, may be emulous of the Gentiles, and of their happiness, and so may be converted.  Wi. — The nation of the Jews is not absolutely and without remedy cast off for ever; but in part only (many thousands of them having been at first converted) and for a time: which fall of theirs God has been pleased to turn to the good of the Gentiles.  Ch. — How much more the fulness of them?  As if he should say, if the obstinacy of so many Jews seem to be an occasion upon which God, whose mercy calls whom he pleaseth, hath bestowed the riches of his grace on other nations; and while the glory of the Jews, the elect people of God, has been diminished, the Gentiles have been made happy: how much more glorious will be the fulness of them? that is, according to the common interpretation, will be the re-establishment and conversion of the Jews hereafter, before the end of the world?  See S. Chrys. om. iq. p. 164; S. Hilar. in Ps. lviii.  S. Jer. in c. iii. Osee.  Habac. iii.  S. Aug. l. xx. de Civ. Dei. c. xxix. — Then (v. 15.) the receiving of them into the Church, and their conversion to Christ, shall be like life from the dead, when the Jewish nation in general, shall rise from the death of sin, and their hardened infidelity, to the life of faith and grace.  These things I speak to you, Gentiles, to honour and comply with my ministry of being your apostle: yet endeavouring at the same time, if by a pious emulation, or by any other way, I may be able to bring any of my flesh, or of my brethren, the Jews, to be saved by the faith of Christ.  Wi.
• Ver. 30. &c.  As you also in times past did not believe God, but now have obtained mercy through their unbelief, which was an occasion of God’s sending his preachers to you: but the cause of your salvation is God’s mercy. — That they also may obtain mercy.  That is, God has permitted their incredulity, that being a greater object of pity, he may shew greater mercy in converting them by the free gift of his grace. — For God hath concluded[2] all, that is, has permitted at different times, both Gentiles and Jews, to fall into a state of unbelief, that the salvation of all may be known to come, not from themselves, but as an effect of his mercy and grace.  Wi. — He hath found all nations, both Jews and Gentiles, in unbelief and sin; not by his causing, but by the abuse of their own free-will; so that their calling and election are purely owing to his mercy.  Ch.

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 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 thee 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 or 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.  Inn 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.

August 10 2011 Wednesday Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/
Update – The USCCB website has changed again. Hopefully the links won’t break. There is still a calendar. It looks as though they are installing a major update with the NABRE, including a Bible Reading Plan. It also looks like they may be doing it as I’m typing this. Things keep changing as I’m clicking links. It’s not too bad so far.

2 Corinthians 9:6-10
Haydock New Testament

Now this I say: He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly; and he who soweth in blessings, shall also reap of blessings. Every one as he hath determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity: For God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound in you: that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work, As it is written: He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor: his justice remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, will both give you bread to eat, and will multiply your seed, and increase the growth of the fruits of your justice:

Responsorial Psalm 111:1-2, 5-9 (Ps 112 NAB)
DR Challoner Text Only

Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord:
he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.
His seed shall be mighty upon earth:
the generation of the righteous shall be blessed.
Acceptable is the man that sheweth mercy and lendeth:
he shall order his words with judgment:
Because he shall not be moved for ever.
The just shall be in everlasting remembrance:
he shall not fear the evil hearing.
His heart is ready to hope in the Lord:
His heart is strengthened,
he shall not be moved until he look over his enemies.
He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor:
his justice remaineth for ever and ever:
his horn shall be exalted in glory.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint John 12:24-26
Haydock New Testament

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground, die, Itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life, shall lose it: and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life everlasting. If any man minister to me, let him follow me: and where I am, there also shall my minister be. If any man minister to me, him will my Father honour.

Haydock Commentary 2 Corinthians 9:6-10
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 8. God is generous to the liberally disposed Christian; filling such as relieve the poor with every species of good, and returning their charities a hundred-fold. M.

Haydock Commentary John 12:24-26

• Ver. 24. Unless the grain of wheat. The comparison is this, that as the seed must be changed, and corrupted in the ground, before it fructify, so the world would not be converted but by Christ’s death. Wi. — By this grain of corn our Saviour means himself, who was to die by the infidelity of the Jews, and be multiplied by the faith of the Gentiles. S. Aug. tract. 51. in Joan.
• Ver. 26. We must minister to Jesus by seeking not our own things, but the things of Christ; that is; we must follow him, we must walk in his footsteps, we must perform the corporal works of mercy, and every other good work, for his sake, till we come to put in practice the most perfect act of charity, the laying down our lives for our brethren. Then will he crown us with the greatest of rewards, the happiness of reigning with him. And where I am, there shall my minister be. S. Aug. tract. 51. in Joan.

Tuesday 19^th Week in Ordinary Time Cycle 1
Official Readings of the Liturgy at – http://www.usccb.org/bible/

Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Douay-Rheims Bible

And Moses went, and spoke all these words to all Israel, And he said to them:

I am this day a hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also hath said to me: Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan. The Lord thy God then will pass over before thee: he will destroy all these nations in thy sight, and thou shalt possess them: and this Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken. And the Lord shall do to them as he did to Sehon and Og the kings of the Amorrhites, and to their land, and shall destroy them.

Therefore when the Lord shall have delivered these also to you, you shall do in like manner to them as I have commmanded you. Do manfully and be of good heart: fear not, nor be ye dismayed at their sight: for the Lord thy God he himself is thy leader, and will not leave thee nor forsake thee.

And Moses called Josue, and said to him before all Israel:

Take courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring this people into the land which the Lord swore he would give to their fathers, and thou shalt divide it by lot. And the Lord who is your leader, he himself will be with thee: he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

Responsorial Psalm Deuteronomy 32:3-4ab, 7-9, 12
Douay-Rheims Text Only

Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: give ye magnificence to our God.
The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments
Remember the days of old, think upon every generation:
ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell thee.
When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated the sons of Adam,
he appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the children of Israel.
But the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his inheritance.
The Lord alone was his leader: and there was no strange god with him.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Saint Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
Haydock New Testament

At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying:

Who, thinkest thou, is the greater in the kingdom of heaven?

And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, And said:

Amen I say unto you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

What think you?  If a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray; doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and go to seek that which is gone astray? And if it so be that he find it, amen, I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that than for the ninety-nine that went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Haydock Commentary Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Notes Copied From Haydock Commentary Site

• Ver. 1.  Went.  Began.  M. — “Concluded.”  Sept. continued, or, just before he dismissed the audience, he spoke to them as follows.  Josephus (iv. 8,) thinks that this took place the day after his first harangue.  C.
• Ver. 2.  Come in, to conduct you.  M. — Especially.  Heb. “and the Lord.”  It was not the want of strength which hindered Moses from continuing to perform his arduous functions, as he was still full of vigour both in soul and body; (C. xxxiv. 7.  C.) but it was his submission to the will of God, who had resolved thus to punish his former diffidence.  H.
• Ver. 3.  Then.  This word is not in Heb. or the Sept.; neither does Moses mean to insinuate, that God would take his place in conducting the people; but only that after he should be no more, the divine Providence would no less watch over his people, and direct the councils of Josue, who stood beside him.  H. — The ark preceded the army, (Jos. iii.) and God invisibly put the enemies of Israel to flight.  M.
• Ver. 7.  Called.  Heb. “unto Josue.”  He did this publicly that no dispute might arise after his death, respecting the choice of a successor.  H. — Lot.  Heb. and Chal. “thou shalt put them in possession of it.”  C.

Haydock Commentary Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

• Ver. 1.  Who, thinkest thou?  This altercation for superiority among the apostles, whilst they were upon their road to Judea, might have arisen from another cause besides the precedence given by Jesus Christ to Peter above, as S. Chrysostom (hom. lix. in Mat.) affirms.  A report prevailed among the disciples, that Christ would soon die; and they wished to know who would be the first, when he was gone.  Jans. — Or expecting that by his future resurrection he would enter into full possession of his temporal kingdom, they wished to learn which of them should be the greater in this new and glorious state. Calmet supposes that Peter was not with them, but that he had gone before with his Master to Capharnaum.  C.
• Ver. 2.  And Jesus calling . . . . a little child.  In S. Mark (ix. 32.) we find that Jesus did this in the house, when they were arrived at Capharnaum.
• Ver. 3.  You shall not enter, &c. i.e. you shall have no place in my kingdom of glory, in heaven, where none shall find admittance but they that are truly humble.  Wi. — Our Lord in this and the next chapter teaches us, 1st, To sit down in the lowest place; 2nd, to bear patiently with our neighbor; 3rd, not to scandalize a weak brother; 4th, mildly to correct him when faulty; and 5thly, to forgive him when repentant.
• Ver. 4.  Greater in the kingdom of heaven, because more conformable to me here on earth.  Humble souls, who are little in their own eyes, are so dear and closely united to the Almighty, that Christ declares them to be the most acceptable, the first in merit, not highest in authority or dignity either in church or state, as some idle fanatics pretend.  Jans. — The kingdom of heaven is not the reward of ambition, but the boon of simplicity and humility.
• Ver. 5.  He that shall receive.  To receive, in the style of the Scriptures, is to honour and favour, to be charitable, and kind to any one.  Wi. — Who does not admire here the great goodness of God!  Jesus, knowing that he was soon to leave the world, and that his disciples would no longer have it in their power to manifest their charity for him by their kind services, substitutes the poor in his place, declaring, that if they receive or honour them, they received Christ himself.  Dion. Carth. — What greater proof can we wish for the merit of good works!!!
• Ver. 10.  Their angels.  The Jews also believed that men had their good angels, or angels appointed to be their guardians.  See Gen. xlviii. 16.  Wi. — Observe the dignity of the humble and little, whom the world despises.  They have angels constantly pleading their cause in the divine presence.  They are now weak and unable to defend themselves, but they have their advocates in heaven, accusing those who offer them any injury or scandal.  It is evident from many parts of Scripture, that angels are appointed guardians of kingdoms, countries, cities, and even individuals, Exod. xxiii.  Dan. x.  Apoc. xii. & alibi.  The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him, and he shall deliver them.  Ps. xxxiii.  S. Jerom does not hesitate to affirm that every man has an angel assigned him at his birth, which he confirms from C. xii, of Acts, where it is related that the girl thought she saw Peter’s angel.  The thing is so plain, that Calvin, dares not deny it, and yet he will needs doubt of it.  L. i. Inst. c. xiv. sect. 7.  Origen thinks that only the just have their guardian angels, and these only at their baptism.  The opinion of S. Augustine is universal in the Catholic Church. “I esteem it, O my God, an inestimable benefit, that thou hast granted me an angel to guide me from the moment of my birth, to my death.”  De dilig. Deo. Medit. c. xii.  How much are we indebted to the Providence of God, for extending itself also to the wicked.  They likewise have their angels, without whose assistance they would fall into many more grievous sins, and the evil spirits would have more power over them.  Let us then with gratitude remember our dignity, and fear to commit any thing in their presence, which may make them grieve and withdraw from us their protection and assistance.
• Ver. 12.  If a man have a hundred sheep.  This is to shew the goodness and mercy of God towards sinners.  By the one sheep, some understand all mankind, and by the ninety-nine, the angels in heaven.  Wi. — Jesus Christ manifests his tender regard and solicitude for us poor weak creatures, by becoming himself the Son of man, thus abandoning in some measure the angels who are in heaven.  He is come down upon earth to save by his death what was lost, imitating thus, with regard to men, the conduct themselves observe with regard to their sheep.  V. — In the Greek, it is dubious whether the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine in the mountains, or, whether he himself goeth into the mountains in quest of the lost sheep.
• Ver. 14.  Even so it is not.  Here some may perhaps object, that since the Almighty does not wish any of his little ones to perish, he must consequently wish all to be saved, and therefore that all will be saved.  Now this is not the case: the will of the Almighty is therefore sometimes frustrated in its effects, which is contrary to Scripture.  To this objection, S. John Damascene replies, that in God we must distinguish two distinct wills; the one antecedent, the other consequent.  A person wills a thing antecedently, when he wills it merely as considered in itself.  For instance, a prince wishes his subjects to live, in as much as they are all his subjects.  But a person wills a thing consequently, when he will a thing in consideration of some particular circumstance.  Thus, though the king wishes all his subject to live, he nevertheless wills that some should die, if they turn traitors, or disorganize the peace of society.  In the same manner, the Almighty wishes none of his little ones to perish, in as much as they are all his creatures, made to his own image, and destined for the kingdom of glory; though it is equally certain that he wills the eternal punishment of many who have turned away from his service, and followed iniquity.  If we observe this distinction, it is easy to see what our Saviour meant, when he said that it was not the will of his Father that any of these little ones should perish.  S. John Dam.