Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 05-28-19

The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas, and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them securely. When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and secured their feet to a stake.

About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, "Do no harm to yourself; we are all here." He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved." So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8 R. (7c) Your right hand saves me, O Lord. or: R. Alleluia.

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth; in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy temple, and give thanks to your name. R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord. or: R. Alleluia.

Because of your kindness and your truth, you have made great above all things your name and your promise. When I called, you answered me; you built up strength within me. R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord. or: R. Alleluia.

Your right hand saves me. The LORD will complete what he has done for me; your kindness, O LORD, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord. or: R. Alleluia.

Alleluia See Jn 16:7, 13 R. Alleluia, alleluia. I will send to you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord; he will guide you to all truth. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Jn 16:5-11 Jesus said to his disciples: "Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."

https://www.universalis.com/20190528/mass.htm

Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading
Acts 16:22-34 ©
Become a believer and you will be saved, and your household too
The crowd joined in and showed their hostility to Paul and Silas, so the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be flogged. They were given many lashes and then thrown into prison, and the gaoler was told to keep a close watch on them. So, following his instructions, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Late that night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God’s praises, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the prisoners. When the gaoler woke and saw the doors wide open he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Don’t do yourself any harm; we are all here.’ The gaoler called for lights, then rushed in, threw himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They told him, ‘Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too.’ Then they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all his family. Late as it was, he took them to wash their wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their conversion to belief in God.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 137(138):1-3,7-8 ©
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
  you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
  I will adore before your holy temple.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you for your faithfulness and love,
  which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
  you increased the strength of my soul.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
You stretch out your hand and save me,
  your hand will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
  discard not the work of your hands.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us
whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!
Or:
cf.Jn16:7,13
Alleluia, alleluia!
I will send you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord;
he will lead you to the complete truth.
Alleluia!

Gospel
John 16:5-11 ©
Unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Now I am going to the one who sent me.
Not one of you has asked, “Where are you going?”
Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this.
Still, I must tell you the truth:
it is for your own good that I am going
because unless I go,
the Advocate will not come to you;
but if I do go,
I will send him to you.
And when he comes,
he will show the world how wrong it was,
about sin,
and about who was in the right,
and about judgement:
about sin: proved by their refusal to believe in me;
about who was in the right: proved by my going to the Father and your seeing me no more;
about judgement: proved by the prince of this world being already condemned.’

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 16
5.	But I told you not these things from the beginning, because I was with you. And now I go to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: Whither goest thou?	Hæc autem vobis ab initio non dixi, quia vobiscum eram. Et nunc vado ad eum qui misit me ; et nemo ex vobis interrogat me : Quo vadis ?	νυν δε υπαγω προς τον πεμψαντα με και ουδεις εξ υμων ερωτα με που υπαγεις
6.	But because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your heart.	sed quia hæc locutus sum vobis, tristitia implevit cor vestrum.	αλλ οτι ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν η λυπη πεπληρωκεν υμων την καρδιαν
7.	But I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.	Sed ego veritatem dico vobis : expedit vobis ut ego vadam : si enim non abiero, Paraclitus non veniet ad vos ; si autem abiero, mittam eum ad vos.	αλλ εγω την αληθειαν λεγω υμιν συμφερει υμιν ινα εγω απελθω εαν γαρ εγω μη απελθω ο παρακλητος ουκ ελευσεται προς υμας εαν δε πορευθω πεμψω αυτον προς υμας
8.	And when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment.	Et cum venerit ille, arguet mundum de peccato, et de justitia, et de judicio.	και ελθων εκεινος ελεγξει τον κοσμον περι αμαρτιας και περι δικαιοσυνης και περι κρισεως
9.	Of sin: because they believed not in me.	De peccato quidem, quia non crediderunt in me.	περι αμαρτιας μεν οτι ου πιστευουσιν εις εμε
10.	And of justice: because I go to the Father; and you shall see me no longer.	De justitia vero, quia ad Patrem vado, et jam non videbitis me.	περι δικαιοσυνης δε οτι προς τον πατερα μου υπαγω και ουκετι θεωρειτε με
11.	And of judgment: because the prince of this world is already judged.	De judicio autem, quia princeps hujus mundi jam judicatus est.	περι δε κρισεως οτι ο αρχων του κοσμου τουτου κεκριται

(*) The translations start Verse 5 one sentence sooner than the original.

5. But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asks me, Where do you go?
6. But because I have said these things to you sorrow has filled your heart.
7. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.
8. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9. Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more;
11. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

CHRYS. The disciples, not as yet perfected, being overcome by sorrow, our Lord blames and corrects them, saying, But now I go My way to Him that sent Me; and none of you asks Me, Where do you go? They were so struck down at hearing that whoever killed them would think that he was doing God service, that they could say nothing.

Wherefore He adds, But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. It was no small consolation to them to know that the Lord knew their superabundant sorrow, because of His leaving them, and because of the evils which they heard they were to suffer, but knew not whether they should suffer manfully.

AUG. Or whereas they had asked Him above, where He was going, and He had replied that He was going where they would not come; now He promises that He will go in such a way that no one will ask Him where He goes: and none of you asks Me, Where do you go? Going up to heaven, they questioned Him not in words, but followed with their eyes. But our Lord saw what effect His words would produce upon their minds.

Not having yet that inward consolation which the Holy Ghost was to impart, they were afraid to lose the outward presence of Christ, and so, when they could no longer doubt from His own words that they were going to lose Him, their human affections were saddened, for the loss of their visible object. Wherefore it follows; But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

But He knew that it would be for their good, forasmuch as that inward sight wherewith the Holy Ghost would console them was the better one: Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away.

CHRYS. As if He said, Though your grief be ever so great, you must hear how that it is profitable for you that I go away. What the profit is He then shows: For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you.

AUG. This He says not on account of any inequality between the Word of God and the Holy Ghost, but because the presence of the Son of man amongst them would impede the coming of the latter. For the Holy Ghost did not humble Himself as did the Son, by taking upon Him the form of a servant. It was necessary therefore that the form of the servant should be removed from their eyes; for so long as they looked upon that, they thought that Christ was no more than what they saw Him to be. So it follows: But if I depart, I will send Him unto you.

AUG. But could He not send Him while here: Him Who, we know, came and abode on Him at His baptism, yea Him from Whom we know He never could be separated? What means then, If I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you, but, you cannot receive the Spirit, so long as you know Christ according to the flesh? Christ departing in the body, not the Holy Ghost only, but the Father, and the Son also came spiritually.

GREG. As if He said plainly, If I withdraw not My body from your eyes, I cannot lead you to the understanding of the Invisible, through the Comforting Spirit.

AUG. The Holy Ghost the Comforter brought this, that the form of a servant which our Lord had received in the womb of the Virgin, being removed from the fleshly eye, He was manifested to the purified mental vision in the very form of God in which He remained equal to the Father, even while He deigned to appear in the flesh.

CHRYS. What say they here, who entertain unworthy notions of the Spirit? Is it expedient for the master to go away, and a servant to come? He then shows the good that the Spirit will do: And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

AUG. But how is it that Christ did not reprove the world? Is it because Christ spoke among the Jews only, whereas the Holy Spirit, poured into His disciples throughout the whole world, reproved not one nation only, but the world? But who would dare to say that the Holy Ghost reproved the world by Christ's disciples, and that Christ did not when the Apostle exclaims, Do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in Me? (2 Cor 13:3) Those then whom the Holy Ghost reproves, Christ reproves also. He shall reprove the world, means, He shall pour love into your hearts, insomuch, that fear being cast out, you shall be free to reprove.

He then explains what He has said: Of sin, because they believed not in Me. He mentions this as the sin above all others, because while it remains, the others are retained; when it departs, the others are remitted.

AUG. But it makes a great difference whether one believes in Christ, or only that He is Christ. For that He was Christ, even the devils believed; but he believes in Christ who both hopes in Christ and loves Christ.

AUG. The world is reproved of sin, because it believes not in Christ, and reproved of righteousness, the righteousness of those that believe. The very contrast of the believing, is the censure of the unbelieving.

Of righteousness because I go to the Father: as it is the common objection of unbelievers, How can we believe what we do not see? So the righteousness of believers lies in this: Because I go to the Father, and you see Me no more. For blessed are they which see not, and believe. The faith even of those who saw Christ is praised, not because they believed what they saw, i.e., the Son of man, but because they believed what they saw not, i.e., the Son of God. And when the form of the servant was withdrawn from their sight altogether, then only was fulfilled in completeness the text, The just live by faith (Heb 10:38). It will be your righteousness then, of which the world will be reproved, that you shall believe in Me, not seeing Me. And when you shall see Me, you shall see Me as I shall be, not as I am now with you, i.e., you shall not see Me mortal, but everlasting. For in saying, you see Me no more, He means that they should see Him no more forever.

AUG. Or thus: They believed not, He went to the Father. Theirs therefore was the sin, His the righteousness. But that He came from the Father to us was mercy; that He went to the Father was righteousness; according to the saying of the Apostle, Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him (Phil 2:9). But if He went to the Father alone, what profit is it to us? Is He not alone rather in the sense of being one with all His members, as the head is with the body? So then the world is reproved of sin, in those who believe not in Christ; and of righteousness, in those who rise again in the members of Christ.

It follows, Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged--i.e., the devil, the prince of the wicked--who in heart dwell only in this world which they love. He is judged in that he is cast out; and the world is reproved of this judgment; for it is vain for one who does not believe in Christ to complain of the devil, whom judged, i.e., cast out, and permitted to attack us from without, only for our trial, not men only but women, boys and girls, have by martyrdom overcome.

AUG. Or, judged, i.e., is destined irrevocably for the punishment of eternal fire. And of this judgment is the world reproved, in that it is judged with its prince, the proud and ungodly one whom it imitates. Let men therefore believe in Christ, lest they be reproved of the sin of unbelief, by which all sins are retained; pass over to the number of the believing, lest they be reproved of the righteousness of those whom justified they do not imitate; beware of the judgment to come, lest with the prince of this world whom they imitate, they too be judged.

CHRYS. Or thus: Shall reprove the world of sin, i.e., cut off all excuse and show that they have sinned unpardonably in not believing in Me, when they see the ineffable gift of the Holy Ghost obtained by calling upon Me.

AUG. In this way too the Holy Ghost reproved the world of sin, i.e. by the mighty works He did in the name of the Savior, Who was condemned by the world. The Savior, His righteousness retained, feared not to return to Him Who sent Him, and in that He returned, proved that He had come from Him: Of righteousness, because I go to the Father.

CHRYS. i.e. My going to tile Father will be a proof that I have led an irreproachable life, so that they will not be able to say, This man is a sinner; this man is not from God. Again inasmuch as I conquered the devil (which no one who was a sinner could do), they cannot say that I have a devil and am a deceiver. But as he has been condemned by Me they shall be assured that they shall trample upon him afterwards; and My resurrection will show that he was not able to detain Me.

AUG. The devils seeing souls go from hell to heaven, knew that the prince of this world was judged and, being brought to trial in the Savior's cause, had lost all right to what he held. This was seen on our Savior's ascension, but was declared plainly and openly in the descent of the Holy Ghost on the disciples.

Catena Aurea John 16

http://wau.org/meditations/current/

Meditation: John 16:5-11

6th Week of Easter

It is better for you that I go. (John 16:7)

Do you actually believe you have it “better” than the first disciples? It’s easy to wish we had been alive when Jesus walked the earth, but he tells us in today’s Gospel that we are actually better off with him in heaven.

This is another one of those puzzling remarks of Jesus that needs some unpacking. Jesus had just told his friends that he was about to be put to death. It’s natural to expect fear and grief to overwhelm them. Not only was their leader about to leave them—apparently without ushering in the kingdom they were waiting for—but their lives could also be in danger. And yet he tells them that it’s better for them that all of this happen. How is that possible?

The answer, as in so many other passages, is the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus walked the earth, he was in only one place at a time. He could say only one thing at a time. And there were times when he couldn’t say or do anything because he was asleep!

But following his death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in his followers, the Spirit who never sleeps nor slumbers. This Spirit came to help the disciples understand and embrace all that Jesus had done for them. This Spirit enabled them to travel far and wide carrying the good news with them. Wherever they went, they prayed for new believers to be filled with that same Holy Spirit. Then those new believers extended God’s kingdom even farther. Jesus could not possibly have accomplished all that while still on earth.

Guess what? The Holy Spirit wasn’t just for the early Church. He’s in you as well! He is also at work in your family, your neighborhood, and your workplace. He’s there to help you understand God’s word in a deeper way. He’s there to help you listen patiently to someone who is hurting and feels alone. He’s there to inspire you with a solution for a persistent problem. He’s there to give you the strength to walk through the problems that have no solution. And through it all, he is there to help you love Jesus more.
It really is better that Jesus has gone and has sent the Holy Spirit, isn’t it?

“Jesus, thank you for making my life even better than the apostles’ lives!”

Acts 16:22-34
Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8

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