Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-10-19

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

Reading 1 Is 40:1-11

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

A voice says, "Cry out!"
I answer, "What shall I cry out?"
"All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever."

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13

R.(see Isaiah 40:10ab) The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The day of the Lord is near;
Behold, he comes to save us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mt 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
"What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost."

For the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto, please go here.

12. How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and go into the mountains, and seek that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, I say to you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
14. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

CHRYS; He gives yet another reason weightier than the forgoing, why the little ones are not to be despised, For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.

REMIG; As much as to say, Despise not little ones, for I also for men condescended to become man. By that which was lost, understand the human race; for all the elements have kept their place, but man was lost, because he has broken his ordained place.

CHRYS; And to this reasoning He adds a parable, in which He sets forth the Father as seeking the salvation of men, and saying, What think you, if a man have a hundred sheep.

GREG; This refers to the Creator of man Himself; for a hundred is a perfect number, and He had a hundred sheep when He created the substance of Angels and men.

HILARY; But by the one sheep is to be understood one man, and under this one man is comprehended the whole human race. He that seeks man is Christ, and the ninety and nine are the host of the heavenly glory which He left.

GREG; The Evangelist says they were left on the mountains, to signify that the sheep which were not lost abode on high.

BEDE; The Lord found the sheep when He restored man, and over that sheep that is found there is more joy in heaven than over the ninety and nine, because there is a greater matter for thanksgiving to God in the restoration of man than in the creation of the Angels. Wonderfully are the Angels made, but more wonderfully man restored.

RABAN; Note, that nine wants only one to make it ten, and ninety and nine the same to be a hundred. Thus members which want one only to be perfect, may be larger or smaller, but yet the unit remaining invariable, when it is added makes the rest perfect. And that the number of sheep might be made up perfect in heaven, lost man was sought on earth.

JEROME; Others think that by the ninety and nine sheep are understood the number of the righteous, and by the one sheep the sinners, according to that said in another place, I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

GREG; We must consider whence it is that the Lord declares that' He has joy rather over the converted sinners, than over the righteous that stand. Because these last are often slothful and slack to practice the greater good works, as being very secure within themselves, for that they have committed none of the heavier sins. While on the other hand those who have their wicked deeds to remember, do often through the compunction of sorrow glow with the more heat in their love of God, and when they think how they have strayed from Him, they replace their former losses by gains following.

So the general in a battle loves best that soldier who turns in his flight and courageously presses the enemy, than him who never turned his back, yet et never did any valorous deed. Yet there be some righteous over whom is joy so great, that no penitent can be preferred before them, those, who though not conscious to themselves of sins, yet reject things lawful, end humble themselves in all things. How great is the joy when the righteous mourns, and humbles himself, if there be joy when the unrighteous condemns himself wherein he has done amiss?

BEDE; Or; By the ninety-nine sheep, which He left on the mountains, are signified the proud to whom a unit is still wanting for perfection. When then He has found the sinner, He rejoices over him, that is, He makes his own to rejoice over him, rather than over the false righteous.

JEROME; What follows, Even so it is not the will &c. is to be referred to what was said above, Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; and so He shows that this parable was set forth to enforce that same saying. Also in saying, It is not the will of my Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish, He shows that so oft as one of these little ones does perish, it is not by the Father's will that it perishes.

Catena Aurea Matthew 18

From: Isaiah 40:1-11

Prologue: Promise of Deliverance

[1] Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
[2] Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
[3] A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
[4] Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
[5] And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
[6] A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
[7] The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people is grass.
[8] The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
[9] Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
[10] Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
[11] He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

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Commentary:

40:1-55:13. These chapters make up the second part of the book of Isaiah, also
known as “Second Isaiah” or “Deutero-Isaiah”. Almost everything here refers to a
period of history one or two centuries later than that of “First Isaiah”. The oppres-
sor is no longer Assyria but Babylon, which conquered Jerusalem in 587-586 BC,
and then began a series of deportations that sent the upper classes of Jerusalem
and Judah into exile. Many years later (539 BC), Cyrus, king of the Persians,
conquered the Babylonians and issued a decree allowing those deportees who
so wished to return home. These events are echoed in Second Isaiah’s oracles,
songs, lamentations and denunciations, and the prophetic visions of the final, en-
during deliverance and restoration of the chosen people and the city of Zion.

The various literary units in this part of the book are grouped into two Is 52:7-11
sections more or less by subject. The first (40:1-48:22) implies that the Jews are
still held against their will in Babylon. Their deliverance is announced, thanks to
the power of the Lord, who rules the world and determines the course of human
affairs; he has chosen Cyrus, king of Persia, called here his “anointed”, his mes-
siah, to redeem Israel from exile (44:24-45:25).

This section, too, contains the announcement that God will choose a “servant”,
whom he will send empowered by the Spirit to establish law and justice (42:1-9,
the first “song of the Servant”).

The second section celebrates the glorious restoration of the people of God on
Zion; in this, too, the “Servant of the Lord” will play the key role; the section con-
tains the last three “songs of the Servant” (49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12).

40:1-48:22. The historical background to these chapters is the time immediately
after the return of the exiles from Babylon, which is depicted as a “new exodus”.
The exodus from Egypt was the prototype of all God’s interventions on his peo-
ple’s behalf: now we hear of another one, “new” because the power with which
God, the Creator of all things, acts now surpasses that to be seen in the exo-
dus. The news that deliverance is at hand greatly consoles the people: we are
told this at the start, and it is repeated in the oracles that follow. For this reason,
this part of the book of Isaiah is usually called the “Book of Consolation”, and it
has been interpreted as an anticipation of the consolation that Christ will bring:
“The true consolation, balm and release from all human ills is the Incarnation of
our God and Saviour” (Theodoret of Cyrus, “Commentaria In Isaiam”, 40, 3).

The section opens with a song of joy over the imminent release of the exiles
(40:1-11). After this a number of oracles are grouped together which describe the
reason why the people should hope in the Lord who is mighty and desires to save,
who is ready to do so (42:1-25), to manifest himself as the Redeemer of Israel (43:
1-44:23) and bring salvation to Jerusalem (44:24-48:19). The section ends with a
prophecy of the redemption of his people and a call to leave Babylon (48:20-22).

40:1-11. The section begins on a formal note with an anonymous voice proclai-
ming the Lord’s consolation (vv 1-5) The same voice calls on the prophet himself
to proclaim that the word of God and his message of salvation will endure forever
(vv. 6-11). The oracles are addressed to those people of Jerusalem who have been
deported to Babylon. When they were first spoken, many decades had passed
since these people and the previous generation were forced to leave the holy city.

Those years of suffering and exile have more than atoned for their sins. The time
comes for them, with the Lord’s help, to set out on the return journey. That jour-
ney is mentioned throughout this section. The voice speaking in the name of the
Lord boosts their morale: it won’t be a difficult journey; they will find a way opened
up for them which will bring them to the glory of the Lord. As in the exodus from
Egypt, on the “way” from Babylon to Jerusalem they will see wonderful evidence
of the power of God.

The words spoken by the mysterious voice, inviting them to set out, fills the retur-
nees with hope. The four Gospels see these words fulfilled in the ministry of John
the Baptist, who is the voice crying in the wilderness “Prepare the way of the
Lord” (cf. v. 3). And, indeed, John, with his call to personal conversion and his
baptism of repentance, does prepare the way for people to find Jesus (cf. Mt 3:3;
Mk 1:3; Lk 3:4; Jn 1:23), whom the Gospels confess to be “the Lord” (cf. v. 3).
John the Baptist is his herald, the “precursor”: “The voice commands that a way
be opened for the Word of God, the path smoothed and all obstacles removed:
when our God comes, he will be able to walk without hindrance. Prepare the way
of the Lord: this means to preach the gospel and to offer consolation to his people,
with the desire that the salvation of God embrace all mankind” (Eusebius of Cae-
sarea, “Commentana In Isaiam”, 40, 366). Hence, in Christian tradition, “John the
Baptist is ‘more than a prophet’ (Lk 7:26). In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his
speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by
Elijah (cf. Mt 11: 13-14). He proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel;
he is the ‘voice’ of the Consoler who is coming (Jn 1:23; cf. Is 40:1-3)” (”Cate-
chism of the Catholic Church”, 719).

In the second part of the oracle, the anonymous voice asks the prophet to speak
in the name of the Lord (vv. 6-8). Merely human plans can only go so far; but the
word of God stands forever. In the things that the voice says there must be an al-
lusion to the might of Babylon, which withers like the flower of the field when the
“breath of the Lord blows upon it”, because it challenged the goodness of God.
The message to be given to the people speaks of trusting in the power of God,
who comes not to lay waste but to protect and recompense those in his care (vv.
9-11). Here we find for the first time the simile of the “flock” being applied to the
people of God, one of a number of figures of speech used in Holy Scripture to de-
scribe God’s tender care of his people (cf. Jer 23:3; Ezek 34:1ff; Ps 23:4) and
which Christian tradition uses to explain the mystery of the Church: “The Church
is a sheepfold whose one and indispensable door is Christ (Jn 10:1-10). It is a
flock of which God himself foretold he would be the shepherd (Is 40:11; Ezek 34:
11-31), and whose sheep, although ruled by human shepherds, are nevertheless
continuously led and nourished by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and the
Prince of the shepherds (cf. Jn 10:11; 1 Pet 5:4), who gave his life for the sheep
(cf. Jn 10:11-15)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 6).

The words of vv. 6-8 will later be used in the First Letter of St Peter to confirm
the validity of the precept of brotherly love (1 Pet 1:24-25).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 18:12-14

The Lost Sheep

[12] “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has
gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of
the one that went astray? [13] And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices
over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. [14] So it is not
the will of My Father who is in Heaven that one of these little ones should
perish.”

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Commentary:

12-14. This parable clearly shows our Lord’s loving concern for sinners. It expres-
ses in human terms the joy God feels when a wayward child comes back to Him.

Seeing so many souls living away from God, Bl. John Paul II comments: “Unfor-
tunately we witness the moral pollution which is devastating humanity, disregar-
ding especially those very little ones about whom Jesus speaks.”

“What must we do? We must imitate the Good Shepherd and give ourselves
without rest for the salvation of souls. Without forgetting material charity and so-
cial justice, we must be convinced that the most sublime charity is spiritual cha-
rity, that is, the commitment for the salvation of souls. And souls are saved with
prayer and sacrifice. This is the mission of the Church!” (”Homily to the Poor
Clares of Albano,” 14 August 1979).

As the RSV points out, “other ancient authorities add verse 11, “For the Son of
Man came to save the lost” — apparently taken from Luke 19:10.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

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Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 18
12.	What think you? If a man have an 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?	Quid vobis videtur ? si fuerint alicui centum oves, et erravit una ex eis : nonne relinquit nonaginta novem in montibus, et vadit quærere eam quæ erravit ?	τι υμιν δοκει εαν γενηται τινι ανθρωπω εκατον προβατα και πλανηθη εν εξ αυτων ουχι αφεις τα ενενηκοντα εννεα επι τα ορη πορευθεις ζητει το πλανωμενον
13.	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.	Et si contigerit ut inveniat eam : amen dico vobis, quia gaudet super eam magis quam super nonaginta novem, quæ non erraverunt.	και εαν γενηται ευρειν αυτο αμην λεγω υμιν οτι χαιρει επ αυτω μαλλον η επι τοις ενενηκοντα εννεα τοις μη πεπλανημενοις
14.	Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.	Sic non est voluntas ante Patrem vestrum, qui in cælis est, ut pereat unus de pusillis istis.	ουτως ουκ εστιν θελημα εμπροσθεν του πατρος υμων του εν ουρανοις ινα αποληται εις των μικρων τουτων

December 10 2019

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

Reading 1 Is 40:1-11

Responsorial Psalm Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13

Alleluia

Gospel Mt 18:12-14

December 10 - Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto