Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 17-May-2022

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 14
27.	Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.	Pacem relinquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis : non quomodo mundus dat, ego do vobis. Non turbetur cor vestrum, neque formidet.	ειρηνην αφιημι υμιν ειρηνην την εμην διδωμι υμιν ου καθως ο κοσμος διδωσιν εγω διδωμι υμιν μη ταρασσεσθω υμων η καρδια μηδε δειλιατω
28.	You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come unto you. If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I.	Audistis quia ego dixi vobis : Vado, et venio ad vos. Si diligeretis me, gauderetis utique, quia vado ad Patrem : quia Pater major me est.	ηκουσατε οτι εγω ειπον υμιν υπαγω και ερχομαι προς υμας ει ηγαπατε με εχαρητε αν οτι ειπον πορευομαι προς τον πατερα οτι ο πατηρ μου μειζων μου εστιν
29.	And now I have told you before it comes to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe.	Et nunc dixi vobis priusquam fiat : ut cum factum fuerit, credatis.	και νυν ειρηκα υμιν πριν γενεσθαι ινα οταν γενηται πιστευσητε
30.	I will not now speak many things with you. For the prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not any thing.	Jam non multa loquar vobiscum : venit enim princeps mundi hujus, et in me non habet quidquam.	ουκετι πολλα λαλησω μεθ υμων ερχεται γαρ ο του κοσμου αρχων και εν εμοι ουκ εχει ουδεν
31.	But that the world may know, that I love the Father: and as the Father hath given me commandment, so do I: Arise, let us go hence.	Sed ut cognoscat mundus quia diligo Patrem, et sicut mandatum dedit mihi Pater, sic facio. Surgite, eamus hinc.	αλλ ινα γνω ο κοσμος οτι αγαπω τον πατερα και καθως ενετειλατο μοι ο πατηρ ουτως ποιω εγειρεσθε αγωμεν εντευθεν

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxiv. 3) Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: He says this to console His disciples, who were now troubled at the prospect of the hatred and opposition which awaited them after His departure.

AUGUSTINE. (Tract. lxxvii. 2) He left no peace in this world; in which we conquer the enemy, and have love one to another: He will give us peace in the world to come, when we shall reign without an enemy, and where we shall be able to avoid disagreement. This peace is Himself, both when we believe that He is, and when we shall see Him as He is. But why does He say, Peace I leave with you, without the My, whereas He puts in My in, My peace I give unto you? Are we to understand My in the former; or is it not rather left out with a meaning? His peace is such peace as He has Himself; the peace which He left us in this world is rather our peace than His. He has nothing to fight against in Himself, because He has no sin: but ours is a peace in which we still say, Forgive us our debts. (Matt. 6:12) And in like manner we have peace between ourselves, because we mutually trust one another, that we mutually love one another. But neither is that a perfect peace; for we do not see into each other’s minds. I could not deny however that these words of our Lord’s may be understood as a simple repetition. He adds, Not as the world giveth, give I unto you: i. e. not as those men, who love the world, give. They give themselves peace, i. e. free, uninterrupted enjoyment of the world. And even when they allow the righteous peace, so far as not to persecute them, yet there cannot be true peace, where there is no true agreement, no union of heart.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxv. 3) External peace is often even hurtful, rather than profitable to those who enjoy it.

AUGUSTINE. (de Verb. Dom. serm. ix) But there is a peace which is serenity of thought, tranquillity of mind, simplicity of heart, the bond of love, the fellowship of charity. None will be able to come to the inheritance of the Lord who do not observe this testament of peace; none be friends with Christ, who are at enmity with the Christians.

14:27–31

27. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

28. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

29. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

30. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

31. But that the world may know that I love the Father: and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxv. 3) After saying, Peace I leave with you, which was like taking farewell, He consoles them: Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid: the two feelings of love and fear were now the uppermost in them.

AUGUSTINE. (Tract. lxxviii. 1) Though He was only going for a time, their hearts would be troubled and afraid for what might happen before He returned; lest in the absence of the Shepherd the wolf might attack the flock: Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again to you. In that He was man, He went: in that He was God, He stayed. Why then be troubled and afraid, when He left the eye only, not the heart? To make them understand that it was as man that He said, I go away, and come again to you; He adds, If ye loved Me ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto My Father; for My Father is greater than I. In that the Son then is unequal with the Father, through that inequality He went to the Father, from Him to come again to judge the quick and dead: in that He is equal to the Father, He never goes from the Father, but is every where altogether with Him in that Godhead, which is not confined to place. Nay, the Son Himself, because that being equal to the Father in the form of God, He emptied Himself, not losing the form of God, but taking that of a servant, is greater even than Himself: the form of God which is not lost, is greater than the form of a servant which was put on. In this form of a servant, the Son of God is inferior not to the Father only, but to the Holy Ghost; in this the Child Christ was inferior even to His parents; to whom we read, He was subject. Let us acknowledge then the twofold substance of Christ, the divine, which is equal to the Father, and the human, which is inferior. But Christ is both together, not two, but one Christ: else the Godhead is a quaternity, not a Trinity. Wherefore He says, If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father; for human nature should exult at being thus taken up by the Only Begotten Word, and made immortal in heaven; at earth being raised to heaven, and dust sitting incorruptible at the right hand of the Father. Who, that loves Christ, will not rejoice at this, seeing, as he doth, his own nature immortal in Christ, and hoping that He Himself will be so by Christ.

HILARY. (de Trin. ix) Or thus: If the Father is greater by virtue of giving, is the Son less by confessing the gift? The giver is the greater, but He to whom unity with that giver is given, is not the less.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxv. 4) Or thus: The Apostles did not yet know what the resurrection was of which He spoke when He said, I go, and come again to you; or what they ought to think of it. They only knew the great power of the Father. So He tells them: Though ye fear I shall not be able to save Myself, and do not trust to My appearing again after My crucifixion; yet when ye hear that I go to My Father, ye should rejoice, because I go to one greater, one able to dissolve and change all things. All this is said in accommodation to their weakness: as we see from the next words; And now I have told you before it come to pass; that when it does come to pass, ye may believe.

AUGUSTINE. (Tract. lxxix. 1) But is not the time for belief before a thing takes place? Is it not the praise of faith, that it believes what it does not see? according to what is said below to Thomas: Because thou hast seen, thou hast believed. He saw one thing, believed another: what he saw was man, what he believed was God. And if belief can be talked of with reference to things seen, as when we say that we believe our eyes; yet it is not mature faith, but is merely preparatory to our believing what we do not see. When it has come to pass; then He says, because after His death they would see Him alive again, and ascending to His Father; which sight would convince them that He was the Christ, the Son of God; able as He was to do so great a thing, and to foretell it. Which faith however would not be a new, but only an enlarged faith; or a faith which had failed at His death, and been renewed by His resurrection.

HILARY. (ix. de Trin) He next alludes to the approach of the time when He would resume His glory. Hereafter I will not talk much with you.

BEDE. He says this because the time was now approaching for His being taken, and given up to death: For the Prince of this world cometh.

AUGUSTINE. (Tract. lxxix. 2) i. e. the devil; the prince of sinners, not of creatures; as the Apostle saith, Against the rulers of this world. (Eph. 6:12) Or, as He immediately adds by way of explanation, this darkness, meaning, the ungodly. And hath nothing in Me. God had no sin as God, nor had His flesh contracted it by a sinful birth, being born of the Virgin. But how, it might be asked, canst thou die, if thou hast no sin: He answers, But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. He had been sitting at table with them all this time. Let us go: i. e. to the place, where He, Who had done nothing to deserve death, was to be delivered to death. But He had a commandment from His Father to die.

AUGUSTINE. (contr. Serm. Arrian. c. xi.) That the Son is obedient to the will and commandment of the Father, no more shews a difference in the two, than it would in a human father and son. But over and above this comes the consideration that Christ is not only God, and as such equal to the Father, but also man, and as such inferior to the Father.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxvi. 1) Arise, let us go hence, is the beginning of the sentence which follows. The time and the place (they were in the midst of a town, and it was night time) had excited the disciples’ fears to such a degree, that they could not attend to any thing that was said, but rolled their eyes about, expecting persons to enter and assault them; especially when they heard our Lord say, Yet a little while I am with you; and, The prince of this world cometh. To quiet their alarm then, He takes them to another place, where they imagine themselves safe, and would be able to attend to the great doctrines which He was going to set before them.

Catena Aurea John 14

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

From: Acts 14:19-28

Paul Is Stoned
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[19] Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium; and having persuaded the people, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. [20] But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city; and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

The Return Journey to Antioch
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[21] When they had preached the Gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, [22] strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God. [23] And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed.

[24] Then they passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. [25] And when they had spoken the Word in Perga, they went down to Attalia; [26] and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. [27] And when they arrived, they gathered the Church together and declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. [28] And they remained no little time with the disciples.

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Commentary:

19. Paul mentions this stoning in his Second Letter to the Corinthians. "Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned" (11:24f).

20-22. "If you accept difficulties with a faint heart you lose joy and your peace, and you run the risk of not deriving spiritual profit from the trial" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 696).

St. Paul is not cowed by persecution and physical suffering. He knows that this crisis is the prelude to abundant spiritual fruit, and in fact many people in this region do embrace the Gospel.

Even though St. Luke records the progress and success of the Word of God, he also shows that its preachers certainly encounter the cross (cf. 13:14, 50). The Gospel meets with acceptance everywhere--and also with opposition. "Where there are many laurels", St. Ambrose says, "there is fierce combat. It is good for you to have persecutors: that way you attain more rapid success in your enterprises" ("Expositio in Ps 118", 20, 43).

The Apostles have no difficulty in pointing to events to show the disciples that suffering and difficulties form part of Christian living.

"Cross, toil, anguish: such will be your lot as long as you live. That was the way Christ went, and the disciple is not above his master" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 699). "Each of us has at some time or other experienced that serving Christ our Lord involves suffering and hardship; to deny this would imply that we had not yet found God…Far from discouraging us, the difficulties we meet have to spur us on to mature as Christians. This fight sanctifies us and gives effectiveness to our apostolic endeavors" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 28 and 216). 23. The appointment of elders in each church means that Christians were invested with a ministry of government and religious worship, by a liturgical rite of ordination. These have a share in the hierarchical and priestly ministry of the Apostles, from whom their own ministry derives.

"The ministry of priests...", Vatican II teaches, "shares in the authority by which Christ Himself builds up and sanctifies and rules His Body" ("Presbyterorum Ordinis", 2). The ministerial office of priests is essential to the life of every Christian community, which draws its strength from the Word of God and the Sacraments. Their priesthood, derived from our Lord, is essentially different from what is called the "priesthood common to all the faithful".

A man becomes a priest of the New Testament through a special calling from God. "Our vocation," Pope John Paul II told a huge gathering of priests in Philadelphia, "is a gift from the Lord Jesus Himself. It is a personal, individual calling: we have been called by our name, just as Jeremiah was" ("Homily at the Civic Center", 4 October 1979).

The priestly life is a sublime vocation which cannot be delegated or transferred to anyone else. It is a lifelong vocation and means that one has to give himself entirely to God--and this he can do, with the help of grace, because "we do not claim back our gift once given. It cannot be that God, who gave us the impulse to Yes, should now desire to hear us say No....

"It should not surprise the world that God's calling through the Church should continue, offering us a celibate ministry of love and service according to our Lord Jesus Christ's example. This calling from God touched the very depths of our being. And after centuries of experience the Church knows how appropriate it is that priests should respond in this specific way in their lives, to demonstrate the totality of the Yes they have said to our Lord" ("Ibid.")."Since He wishes that no one be saved who has not first believed (cf. Mark 16:16), priests, like the co-workers of the bishops that they are, have as their first duty to proclaim to all men the Gospel of God" (Vatican II, "Presbyterorum Ordinis", 4). To carry out this mission well, a priest needs to be in contact with our Lord all the time--"a personal, living encounter--with eyes wide open and a heart beating fast--with the risen Christ" (Pope John Paul II, "Homily in Santo Domingo Catedral", 26 January 1979).

Reminding priests of their special duty to be witnesses to God in the modern world, Pope John Paul II invites them not only to bear in mind the Christian people, from whom they come and whom they must serve, but also people at large; they should not hide the fact that they are priests: "Do not help the trends towards 'taking God off the streets' by yourselves adopting secular modes of dress and behavior" ("Address at Maynooth University", 1 October 1979).

24-26. Paul and Barnabas return to Syrian Antioch, taking in the cities they have visited--in reverse order: Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch and Perga. At the port of Attalia they take ship for Syria and arrive shortly afterwards in Antioch. Their journey, which began around the year 45, has taken four years.

Despite the animosity and persecution they experienced in these cities, the two missionaries do not avoid returning. They want to complete arrangements for the government of the new churches and to consolidate the faith of the disciples. The possible risks involved do not cause them any concern.

"Whosoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:35). "These are mysterious and paradoxical words," Pope John Paul II writes. "But they cease to be mysterious if we strive to put them into practice. Then the paradox disappears and we can plainly see the deep simplicity of their meaning. To all of us this grace is granted in our priestly life and in our zealous service" ("Letter to All Priests", 8 April 1979, 5).

From: John 14:27-31a

The Promise of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [27] "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [28] You have heard Me say to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. [29] And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. [30] I will no longer talk much to you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over Me; [31a] but I do as the Father has commanded Me."

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Commentary:

27. Wishing a person peace was, and still is, the usual form of greeting among Jews and Arabs. It is the greeting Jesus used, and which the Apostles continued to use, as we can see from their letters (cf. 1 Peter 1:3; 3 John 15; Romans 1:7; etc.). The Church still uses it in the liturgy: for example, before Communion the celebrant wishes those present peace, a condition for worthily sharing in the holy sacrifice (cf. Matthew 5:23) and also a fruit of that sacrifice.

On our Lord's lips this common greeting acquires its deepest meaning; peace is one of the great messianic gifts (cf. Isaiah 9:7; 48:18; Micah 5:5; Matthew 10:22; Luke 2:14; 19:38). The peace which Jesus gives us completely transcends the peace of the world, which can be superficial and misleading and compatible with injustice. The peace of Christ is, above all, reconciliation with God and reconciliation of men with one another; it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22-23); it is "serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, simplicity of heart, a bond of love, a union of charity: no one can inherit God if he does not keep His testament of peace, or live in unity with Christ if he is separated from Christianity" (St. Augustine, "De Verbis Domini Serm.", 58).

"Christ `is our peace' (Ephesians 2:14). And today and forever He repeats to us: `My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you'. [...] Never before in the history of mankind has peace been so much talked about and so ardently desired as in our day. [...] And yet again and again, one can see how peace is undermined and destroyed. [...] Peace is the result of many converging attitudes and realities; it is the product of moral concerns, of ethical principles based on the Gospel message and fortified by it. [...] In his message for the 1971 Day of Peace, my revered predecessor, that pilgrim of peace, [Pope] Paul VI, said: "True peace must be founded upon justice, upon a sense of the untouchable dignity of man, upon the recognition of an indelible and happy equality between men, upon the basic principle of human brotherhood, that is, of the respect and true love due to each man, because he is man'. This same message I affirmed in Mexico and in Poland. I reaffirm it here in Ireland. Every human being has inalienable rights that must be respected. Each human community--ethnic, historical, cultural or religious--has rights which must be respected. Peace is threatened every time one of these rights is violated. The moral law, guardian of human rights, protector of the dignity of man, cannot be set aside by any person or group, or by the State itself, for any cause, not even for security or in the interests of law and order. The law of God stands in judgment over all reasons of State. As long as injustices exist in any of the areas that touch upon the dignity of the human person, be it in the political, social or economic field, be it in the cultural or religious sphere, true peace will not exist. [...] Peace cannot be established by violence, peace can never flourish in a climate of terror, intimidation and death. It is Jesus Himself who said: `All who take the sword will perish by the sword' (Matthew 26:52). This is the word of God, and it commands this generation of violent men to desist from hatred and violence and to repent" (St Pope John Paul II, "Homily at Drogheda", 29 September 1979).

The peace and joy which Christ brings us should be typical of believers: "Get rid of those scruples that deprive you of peace.—What takes away your peace of soul cannot come from God.

"When God comes to you, you will feel the truth of those greetings: My peace I give to you..., peace I leave you..., peace be with you..., and you will feel it even in the midst of troubles." (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 258).

28. Jesus Christ, as Only-begotten Son of God, possesses divine glory for all eternity; but while He is on earth this glory is veiled and hidden behind His holy human nature (cf. 17:5; Philippians 2:7). It only shows itself on a few occasions, such as when He performs miracles (cf. 2:11) or at the Transfiguration (cf. Matthew 17:1-8 and paragraph). Now, through His death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven Jesus will be glorified--in His body also--as He returns to the Father and enters into His glory. Therefore, His departure from this world should be a source of joy for His disciples; but they do not properly understand what He is saying, and they are saddened because they are more aware of the Master being physically separated from them than the glory which awaits Him.

When Jesus says that the Father is greater than He, He is thinking about His human nature; as man Jesus is going to be glorified, ascending as He does to the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ "is equal to the Father in His dignity, less than the Father in His humanity" ("Athanasian Creed"). St. Augustine exhorts us to "acknowledge the twofold nature of Christ--the divine, by which He is equal to the Father; the human, by which He is less than the Father. But the one and the other are together not two, but one Christ' ("In Ioann. Evang.", 78, 3). However, although the Father and the Son are equal in nature, eternity and dignity, our Lord's words can also be understood by taking "greater" to refer to His origin: only the Father is "beginning without beginning", whereas the Son proceeds eternally from the Father by way of a generation which is also eternal. Jesus Christ is God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God (cf. Nicene Creed).

30. Clearly the world is good, for it has been created by God, and God loved it so much that He sent His Only-begotten Son (cf. John 3:16). However, in this passage "world" means all those who reject Christ; and "the ruler of the world" is the devil (cf. John 1:10; 7:7; 15:18-19). The devil opposed the work of Jesus right from the start of His public life when he tempted Him in the desert (cf. Matthew 4:1-11 and paragraph). Now, in the passion, he will apparently overcome Christ. This is the hour of the power of darkness when, availing of Judas' treachery (cf. Luke 22:53; John 13:27), the devil manages to have our Lord arrested and crucified.

Source: Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible Commentary

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Readings at Mass

They gave an account of how God had opened the door of faith to the pagans

A peace the world cannot give is my gift to you

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas