Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 30-April-2023

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 10
1.	AMEN, amen I say to you: He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber.	Amen, amen dico vobis : qui non intrat per ostium in ovile ovium, sed ascendit aliunde, ille fur est et latro.	αμην αμην λεγω υμιν ο μη εισερχομενος δια της θυρας εις την αυλην των προβατων αλλα αναβαινων αλλαχοθεν εκεινος κλεπτης εστιν και ληστης
2.	But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.	Qui autem intrat per ostium, pastor est ovium.	ο δε εισερχομενος δια της θυρας ποιμην εστιν των προβατων
3.	To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.	Huic ostiarius aperit, et oves vocem ejus audiunt, et proprias ovas vocat nominatim, et educit eas.	τουτω ο θυρωρος ανοιγει και τα προβατα της φωνης αυτου ακουει και τα ιδια προβατα καλει κατ ονομα και εξαγει αυτα
4.	And when he hath let out his own sheep, he goeth before them: and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.	Et cum proprias oves emiserit, ante eas vadit : et oves illum sequuntur, quia sciunt vocem ejus.	και οταν τα ιδια προβατα εκβαλη εμπροσθεν αυτων πορευεται και τα προβατα αυτω ακολουθει οτι οιδασιν την φωνην αυτου
5.	But a stranger they follow not, but fly from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.	Alienum autem non sequuntur, sed fugiunt ab eo : quia non noverunt vocem alienorum.	αλλοτριω δε ου μη ακολουθησωσιν αλλα φευξονται απ αυτου οτι ουκ οιδασιν των αλλοτριων την φωνην
6.	This proverb Jesus spoke to them. But they understood not what he spoke to them.	Hoc proverbium dixit eis Jesus : illi autem non cognoverunt quid loqueretur eis.	ταυτην την παροιμιαν ειπεν αυτοις ο ιησους εκεινοι δε ουκ εγνωσαν τινα ην α ελαλει αυτοις
7.	Jesus therefore said to them again: Amen, amen I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.	Dixit ergo eis iterum Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis, quia ego sum ostium ovium.	ειπεν ουν παλιν αυτοις ο ιησους αμην αμην λεγω υμιν οτι εγω ειμι η θυρα των προβατων
8.	All others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers: and the sheep heard them not.	Omnes quotquot venerunt, fures sunt, et latrones, et non audierunt eos oves.	παντες οσοι ηλθον κλεπται εισιν και λησται αλλ ουκ ηκουσαν αυτων τα προβατα
9.	I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures.	Ego sum ostium. Per me si quis introierit, salvabitur : et ingredietur, et egredietur, et pascua inveniet.	εγω ειμι η θυρα δι εμου εαν τις εισελθη σωθησεται και εισελευσεται και εξελευσεται και νομην ευρησει
10.	The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.	Fur non venit nisi ut furetur, et mactet, et perdat. Ego veni ut vitam habeant, et abundantius habeant.	ο κλεπτης ουκ ερχεται ει μη ινα κλεψη και θυση και απολεση εγω ηλθον ινα ζωην εχωσιν και περισσον εχωσιν

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

CHAP. 10

10:1–5

1. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

4. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

5. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 2) Our Lord having reproached the Jews with blindness, they might have said, We are not blind, but we avoid Thee as a deceiver. Our Lord therefore gives the marks which distinguish a robber and deceiver from a true shepherd. First come those of the deceiver and robber: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. There is an allusion here to Antichrist, and to certain false Christs who had been, and were to be. The Scriptures He calls the door. They admit us to the knowledge of God, they protect the sheep, they shut out the wolves, they bar the entrance to heretics. He that useth not the Scriptures, but climbeth up some other way, i. e. some self-chosen1, some unlawful way, is a thief. Climbeth up, He says, not, enters, as if it were a thief getting over a wall, and running all risks. Some other way, may refer too to the commandments and traditions of men which the Scribes taught, to the neglect of the Law. When our Lord further on calls Himself the Door, we need not be surprised. According to the office which He bears, He is in one place the Shepherd, in another the Sheep. In that He introduces us to the Father, He is the Door; in that He takes care of us, He is the Shepherd.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. 2. et sq.) Or thus: Many go under the name of good men according to the standard of the world, and observe in some sort the commandments of the Law, who yet are not Christians. And these generally boast of themselves, as the Pharisees did; Are we blind also? But inasmuch as all that they do they do foolishly, without knowing to what end it tends, our Lord saith of them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, hut climbeth up some other way, the name is a thief and a robber. Let the Pagans then, the Jews, the Heretics, say, “We lead a good life;” if they enter not by the door, what availeth it? A good life only profiteth, as leading to life eternal. Indeed those cannot be said to lead a good life, who are either blindly ignorant of, or wilfully despise, the end of good living. No one can hope for eternal life, who knows not Christ, who is the life, and by that door enters into the fold. Whoso wisheth to enter into the sheepfold, let him enter by the door; let him preach Christ; let him seek Christ’s glory, not his own. Christ is a lowly door, and he who enters by this door must be lowly, if he would enter with his head whole. He that doth not humble, but exalt himself, who wishes to climb up over the wall, is exalted that he may fall. Such men generally try to persuade others that they may live well, and not be Christians. Thus they climb up by some other way, that they may rob and kill. They are thieves, because they call that their own, which is not; robbers, because that which they have stolen, they kill.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 2) You have seen His description of a robber, now see that of the Shepherd: But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

AUGUSTINE. (de Verb. Dom. Serm. xlix) He enters by the door, who enters by Christ, who imitates the suffering of Christ, who is acquainted with the humility of Christ, so as to feel and know, that if God became man for us, man should not think himself God, but man. He who being man wishes to appear God, does not imitate Him, who being God, became man. Thou art bid to think less of thyself than thou art, but to know what thou art.

To Him the porter openeth.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xlix. 2) The porter perhaps is Moses; for to him the oracles of God were committed.

THEOPHYLACT. Or, the Holy Spirit is the porter, by whom the Scriptures are unlocked, and reveal the truth to us.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlvi. 2) Or, the porter is our Lord Himself; for there is much less difference between a door and a porter, than between a door and a shepherd. And He has called Himself both the door and the shepherd. Why then not the door and the porter? He opens Himself, i. e. reveals1 Himself. If thou seek another person for porter, take the Holy Spirit, of whom our Lord below saith, He will guide you into all truth. (c. 16:13) The door is Christ, the Truth; who openeth the door, but He that will guide you into all Truth? Whomsoever thou understand here, beware that thou esteem not the porter greater than the door; for in our houses the porter ranks above the door, not the door above the porter.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 3. c. 7, 48.) As they had called Him a deceiver, and appealed to their own unbelief as the proof of it; (Which of the rulers believeth on Him?) He shews here that it was because they refused to hear Him, that they were put out of His flock. The sheep hear His voice. The Shepherd enters by the lawful door; and they who follow Him are His sheep; they who do not, voluntarily put themselves out of His flock.

And He calleth His own sheep by name.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. 12) He knew the names of the predestinated; as He saith to His disciples, Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. (Luke 19:14)

And leadeth them out.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 2) He led out the sheep, when He sent them not out of the reach of, but into the midst of, the wolves. There seems to be a secret allusion to the blind man. He called him out of the midst of the Jews; and he heard His voice.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. 14) And who is He who leads them out, but the Same who loosens the chain of their sins, that they may follow Him with free unfettered step?

GLOSS. And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, He leadeth them out from the darkness of ignorance into light, while He goeth before in the pillar of cloud, and fire.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 2) Shepherds always go behind their sheep; but He, on the contrary, goes before, to shew that He would lead all to the truth.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. c. 14) And who is this that goeth before the sheep, but He who being raised from the dead, dieth no more; (Rom. 6:9) and who said, Father, I will also that they, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am? (Infra 17:24)

And the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xlix. 3) The strangers are Theudas, and Judas, and the false apostles who came after Christ. That He might not appear one of this number, He gives many marks of difference between Him and them. First, Christ brought men to Him by teaching them out of the Scriptures; they drew men from the Scriptures. Secondly, the obedience of the sheep; for men believed on Him, not only during His life, but after death: their followers ceased, as soon as they were gone.

THEOPHYLACT. He alludes to Antichrist, who shall deceive for a time, but lose all his followers when he dies.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. 10. ct seq.) But here is a difficulty. Sometimes they who are not sheep hear Christ’s voice; for Judas heard, who was a wolf. And sometimes the sheep hear Him not; for they who crucified Christ heard not; yet some of them were His sheep. You will say, While they did not hear, they were not sheep; the voice, when they heard it, changed them from wolves to sheep. Still I am disturbed by the Lord’s rebuke to the shepherds in Ezekiel, Neither have ye brought again that which strayed. (Ezek. 34:4) He calls it a stray sheep, but yet a sheep all the while; though, if it strayed, it could not have heard the voice of the Shepherd, but the voice of a stranger. What I say then is this; The Lord knoweth them that are His. (2 Tim. 2:19) He knoweth the foreknown, he knoweth the predestinated. They are the sheep: for a time they know not themselves, but the Shepherd knows them; for many sheep are without the fold, many wolves within. He speaks then of the predestinated. And now the difficulty is solved. The sheep do hear the Shepherd’s voice, and they only. When is that? It is when that voice saith, He that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Mat. 10:32) This speech His own hear, the alien hear not.

10:6

6. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

AUGUSTINE. (ut sup.) Our Lord feedeth by plain words, exerciseth by obscure. For when two persons, one godly, the other ungodly, hear the words of the Gospel, and they happen to be such that neither can understand them; one says, What He saith is true and good, but we do not understand it: the other says, It is not worth attending to. The former, in faith, knocks, yea, and, if he continue to knock, it shall be opened unto him. The latter shall hear the words in Isaiah, If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established1. (Isa. 7:9)

10:7–10

7. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

8. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

9. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

10. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 3) Our Lord, to waken the attention of the Jews, unfolds the meaning of what He has said; Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. 8) Lo, the very door which He had shut up, He openeth; He is the Door: let us enter, and let us enter with joy.

All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 3) He saith not this of the Prophets, as the heretics think, but of Theudas, and Judas, and other agitators. So he adds in praise of the sheep, The sheep heard them not; but he no where praises those who disobeyed the prophets, but condemns them severely.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. 8) Understand, All that ever came at variance with Me. The Prophets were not at variance2 with Him. They came with Him, who came with the Word of God, who spake the truth. He, the Word, the Truth, sent heralds before Him, but the hearts of those whom He sent were His own. They came with Him, inasmuch as He is always, though He assumed the flesh in time: In the beginning was the Word. His humble advent in the flesh was preceded by just men, who believed on Him as about to come, as we believe on Him come. The times are different, the faith is the same. Our faith knitteth together both those who believed that He was about to come, and those who believe that He has come. All that ever came at variance with Him were thieves and robbers; i. e. they came to steal and to kill; but the sheep did not hear them. They had not Christ’s voice; but were wanderers, dreamers, deceivers. Why He is the Door, He next explains, I am the Door; by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved.

ALCUIN. As if to say, The sheep hear not them, but Me they hear; for I am the Door, and whoever entereth by Me not falsely but in sincerity, shall by perseverance be saved.

THEOPHYLACT. The door admits the sheep into the pasture; And shall go in and out, and find pasture. What is this pasture, but the happiness to come, the rest to which our Lord brings us?

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. c. 15) What is this, shall go in and out? To enter into the Church by Christ the Door, is a very good thing, but to go out of the Church is not. Going in must refer to inward cogitation; going out to outward action; as in the Psalm, Man goeth forth to his work. (Ps. 103:23)

THEOPHYLACT. Or, to go in is to watch over the inner man; to go out, (Colos. 3) to mortify the outward man, i. e. our members which are upon the earth. He that doth this shall find pasture in the life to come.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 3) Or, He refers to the Apostles who went in and out boldly; for they became the masters of the world, none could turn them out of their kingdom, and they found pasture.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlv. 15) But He Himself explains it more satisfactorily to me in what follows: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and for to kill: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. By going in they have life; i. e. by faith, which worketh by love; by which faith they go into the fold. The just liveth1 by faith. And by going out they will have it more abundantly: (Heb. 10:38) i. e. when true believers die, they have life more abundantly, even a life which never ends. Though in this fold there is not wanting pasture, then they will find pasture, such as will satisfy them. To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)

GREGORY. (super Ezek. Hom. xiii.) Shall go in, i. e. to faith: shall go out, i. e. to sight: and find pasture, i. e. in eternal fulness.

ALCUIN. The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill. As if He said, And well may the sheep not hear the voice of the thief; for he cometh not but for to steal: he usurpeth another’s office, forming his followers not on Christ’s precepts, but on his own. And therefore it follows, and to kill, i. e. by drawing them from the faith; and to destroy, i. e. by their eternal damnation.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lix. 1) The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; this was literally fulfilled in the case of those movers of seditiona, whose followers were nearly all destroyed; deprived by the thief even of this present life. But came, He saith, for the salvation of the sheep; That they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly, in the kingdom of heaven. This is the third mark of difference between Himself, and the false prophets.

THEOPHYLACT. Mystically, the thief is the devil, steals by wicked thoughts, kills by the assent of the mind to them, and destroys by acts.

Catena Aurea John 10

SAINT PIUS V, POPE

Feast Day Apr 30

St. Pius V, was born Antonio Ghislieri in 1504, in Italy. He was Pope from 1566 to 1572. He is most notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman Rite within the Latin Church. He also declared St. Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church. As a Cardinal, he gained a reputation for putting Orthodoxy before personalities, and for prosecuting eight French Bishops for heresy. He also stood firm against wrong doings, even rebuking his predecessor Pope Pius IV to his face, when he wanted to make a 13-year old member of his family a Cardinal and subsidized another nephew from the Papal treasury. As a Cardinal he knew it was wrong, and didn’t hesitate to let it be known.

As Pope Pius V, he excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England for schism and persecutions of Catholics during her reign. He formed the Holy League, an alliance of Catholic States, and they defeated the Ottoman Empire. He attributed this to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and instituting the feast of Our Lady of Victory. Being born in Milan, he entered the Dominican Order at the age of fourteen. He was ordained a Priest in 1528, and was sent to Pavia where he lectured for sixteen years. He was Prior of more than one Dominican Priory during a time of great moral laxity, and insisted on discipline. He became Bishop and then became a Cardinal. Under Pope Pius IV, he became Bishop of Mondovi in Piedmont, but his opposition to that Pontiff procured his dismissal. Before he was allowed to return to Rome, Pope Pius IV died. On January 7, 1566, he was elected to the Papal Chair as Pope Pius V. He was crowned ten days later, on his 62nd birthday.

Aware of the necessity of restoring discipline and morality, he started to reduce the cost of the Papal court, and put it more in line with the Dominica Order. He tightened the reigns on all the Churches properties, expelling many immoral practices. In his wider policy, he was characterized throughout as being effective in cutting wasteful Church spending, enforced the Canons, and decrees of the Council of Trent. He is remembered for standardizing the Holy Mass by promulgating the 1570 edition of the Roman Missal. He made his Missal mandatory throughout the Latin rite of the Catholic Church, except where a Mass Liturgy dating from before 1370 was in use. This was done to eradicate the liberal, anti-orthodox movement of his time. This form of the Mass essentially remained unchanged for over 400 years, until Pope Paul VI’s revision of the Roman Missal in 1969 – 1970, after which it became widely known as the Tridentine Mass.

Pope Pius V died on May 1, 1572. A tomb was immediately commissioned from the Sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger, to be erected in the Sistine Chapel of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. The Pope’s body was place in it in 1698. Pope Clement X beatified him in 1672, and was later canonized by Pope Clement XI on May 24, 1712. His feast day is celebrated on April 30th, the day before the anniversary of his death.

Practical Take Away

St. Pius V, was born Antonio Ghislieri in 1504, in Italy. He was Pope from 1566 to 1572. He is most notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman Rite within the Latin Church. He also declared St. Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church. As a Cardinal, he gained a reputation for putting Orthodoxy before personalities, and for prosecuting eight French Bishops for heresy. He also stood firm against wrong doings, even rebuking his predecessor Pope Pius IV to his face, when he wanted to make a 13-year old member of his family a Cardinal and subsidize another nephew from the Papal treasury. As a Cardinal he knew it was wrong, and didn’t hesitate to let it be known. He standardized the Roman Missal, which was used for over 400 years, until 1969 when Pope Paul VI revised it, becoming known as the Tridentine Mass.

newmanministry.com

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

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

From: Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Peter's Address (Continuation)
------------------------------
[14a] But Peter, standing with the Eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them,

The Baptism
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[36] "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." [37] Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" [38] And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to Him." [40] And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." [41] So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

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Commentary:

14-36. Even as the Church takes its first steps St. Peter can be seen to occupy the position of main spokesman. In his address we can distinguish an introduction and two parts: in the first part (verses 16-21) he is explaining that the messianic times foretold by Joel have now arrived; in the second (verses 22-36) he proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Jews crucified, is the Messiah promised by God and eagerly awaited by the righteous of the Old Testament; it is He who has effected God's saving plan for mankind.

36. During His life on earth Jesus had often presented Himself as the Messiah and Son of God. His resurrection and ascension into Heaven reveal Him as such to the people at large.

In Peter's address we can see an outline of the content of the apostolic proclamation ("kerygma"), the content of Christian preaching, the object of faith. This proclamation bears witness to Christ's death and resurrection and subsequent exaltation; it recalls the main points of Jesus' mission, announced by John the Baptist, confirmed by miracles and brought to fulfillment by the appearances of the risen Lord and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; it declares that the messianic time predicted by the prophets have arrived, and calls all men to conversion, in preparation for the Parousia or second coming of Christ in glory.

37. St. Peter's words were the instrument used by God's grace to move the hearts of his listeners: they are so impressed that they ask in all simplicity what they should do. Peter exhorts them to be converted, to repent (cf. note on 3:19). The "St. Pius V Catechism" explains that in order to receive Baptism adults "need to repent the sins they have committed and their evil past life and to be resolved not to commit sin henceforth [...], for nothing is more opposed to grace and power of Baptism than the outlook and disposition of those who never decide to abjure sin" (II, 2, 4).

38. "Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ": this does not necessarily mean that this was the form of words the Apostles normally used in the liturgy, rather than Trinitarian formula prescribed by Jesus. In the "Didache" (written around the year 100) it is stated that Baptism should be given in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, but this does not prevent it, in other passages, from referring to "those baptized in the name of the Lord." The expression "baptized in the name of Christ" means, therefore, becoming a member of Christ, becoming a Christian (cf. "Didache", VII, 1; IX, 5).

"Like the men and women who came up to Peter on Pentecost, we too have been baptized. In baptism, our Father God has taken possession of our lives, has made us share in the life of Christ, and has given us the Holy Spirit" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 128). From this point onwards, the Trinity begins to act in the soul of the baptized person. "In the same way as transparent bodies, enlightened by the Holy Spirit become spiritual too and lead others to the light of grace. From the Holy Spirit comes knowledge of future events, understanding of mysteries and of hidden truths, an outpouring of gifts, Heavenly citizenship, conversation with angels. From Him comes never-ending joy, perseverance in good, likeness to God and--the most sublime thing imaginable--becoming God" (St. Basil, "On the Holy Spirit", IX, 23).

This divinization which occurs in the baptized person shows how important it is for Christians to cultivate the Holy Spirit who has been infused into their souls, where He dwells as long as He is not driven out by sin. "Love the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Listen in the intimacy of your being to the divine motions of encouragement or reproach you receive from Him. Walk through the earth in the light that is poured out in your soul. [...] We can apply to ourselves the question asked by the Apostle: 'Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?' (1 Corinthians 3:16). And we can understand it as an invitation to deal with God in a more personal and direct manner. For some, unfortunately, the Paraclete is the Great Stranger. He is merely a name that is mentioned, but not Someone--not one of the three Persons in the one God--with whom we can talk and with whose life we can live. No: we have to deal with Him simply and trustingly, as we are taught by the Church in its liturgy. Then we will come to know our Lord better, and at the same time, we will realize more fully the great favor that was granted us when we became Christians. We will see the greatness and truth of this divinization, which is a sharing in God's own life" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 133-134).

39. The "promise" of the Holy Spirit applies to both Jews and Gentiles, but in the first instance it concerns the Jews: it is they to whom God entrusted His oracles; theirs was the privilege to receive the Old Testament and to be preached to directly by Jesus Himself. St. Peter makes it clear that this promise is also made "to all that are far off"--a reference to the Gentiles, as St. Paul explains (cf. Ephesians 2:13-17) and in line with Isaiah's announcement, "Peace, peace to the far and to the near" (Isaiah 57:19). Cf. Acts 22:21.

40. "This crooked generation" is not only that part of the Jewish people who rejected Christ and His teaching, but everyone who is estranged from God (cf. Deuteronomy 32:5; Philippians 2:5).

41. St. Luke here concludes his account of the events of the day of Pentecost and prepares to move on to a new topic. Before he does so he adds a note, as it were, to say that "about three thousand souls" became Christians as a result of Peter's address.

St. Luke often makes reference to the numerical growth of the Church (2:47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:1, 7; 9:31; 11:21, 24; 16:5). Interesting in itself, this growth clearly shows the effectiveness of the Gospel message boldly proclaimed by the Apostles. It proves that if the Gospel is preached with constancy and clarity it can take root in any setting and will always find men and women ready to receive it and put it into practice.

"It is not true that everyone today--in general--is closed or indifferent to what our Christian faith teaches about man's being and destiny. It is not true that men in our time are turned only toward the things of this earth and have forgotten to look up to Heaven. There is no lack of narrow ideologies, it is true, or of persons who maintain them. But in our time we find both great desires and base attitudes, heroism and cowardice, zeal and disenchantment--people who dream of a new world, more just and more human, and others who, discouraged perhaps by the failure of their youthful idealism, take refuge in the selfishness of seeking only their own security or remaining immersed in their errors.

"To all those men and women, wherever they may be, in their more exalted moments of in their crises and defeats, we have to bring the solemn and unequivocal message of St. Peter in the days that followed Pentecost: Jesus is the cornerstone, the Redeemer, the hope of our lives. 'For there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved' (Acts 4:12)" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 132).

From: 1 Peter 2:20b-25

Duties Towards Masters--Christ's Example
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[20b] But if when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God's approval. [21] For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. [22] He committed no sin; no guile was found on His lips. [23] When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten; but He trusted to Him who judges justly. [24] He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. [25] For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

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Commentary:

18-25. The sacred writer now addresses all domestic servants (the Greek word means all who work in household tasks). He exhorts them to obey their masters, even if they are harsh (verse 18), because God is pleased if they put up with unfairness for His sake (verses 19-20); in doing so they are imitating the example of Jesus (verses 21-25). St. Paul, when addressing slaves in his letters (cf. Ephesians 5:5-9; Colossians 3:22-24), never encourages them to rebel. Christian teaching on social issues is not based on class struggle but on fraternal love: love eventually does away with all discrimination, for all men have created in the image of God and are equal in His sight. This peaceable policy gradually made for the suppression of slavery, and it will also lead to the solution of all social problems (cf. "Gaudium Et Spes", 29).

The fact that St. Peter addresses only servants and does not go on to say anything to masters (as St. Paul usually does: cf. Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:23ff) has led some commentators to suggest that most of the Christians addressed in this letter must have been people of humble condition.

21-25. This passage is a beautiful hymn to Christ on the cross. Christ's sufferings, which fulfill the prophecies about the Servant of Yahweh contained in the Book of Isaiah (52:13-53:12), have not been in vain, for they have a redemptive value. He has taken our sins upon Himself and brought them with Him on the cross, offering Himself as an atoning sacrifice. This means that we are free of our sins ("dead to sin") and can live "to righteousness", that is, can live for holiness with the help of grace.

The example of the suffering of Christ is always a necessary reference point for Christians: however great the trials they experience, they will never be as great or as unjust as those of our Lord. Reflecting on Christ's suffering led St. Bernard to comment: "I have come to see that true wisdom lies in meditating on these things [...]. Some have provided me with wholesome, if bitter, drink, and I have used others as gentle and soothing unction. This gives me strength in adversity and helps me to be humble in prosperity; it -allows me to walk with a sure step on the royal road of salvation, through the good things and the evil things of this present life, free from the dangers which threaten to right and left" ("Sermons on the Song of Songs", 43, 4).

25. The messianic prophecy about the Servant of Yahweh includes the image of the scattered flock (cf. Isaiah 53:6), to which Jesus alludes in His allegory of the Good Shepherd (cf. John 10:11-16). St. Peter, to whom our Lord had given charge of His flock (cf. John 21:15-19), would have had a special liking for imagery connected with shepherding.

Jesus Christ is "the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls" and "the chief Shepherd" (1 Peter 5:4). The etymology of the Greek word--"episcopos" (guardian)--means "overseer"; the word was used in civic life to designate those who were responsible for seeing that the law was kept. In the Dead Sea manuscripts the Hebrew equivalent ("mebaqqer") is used to designate the religious leaders of the schismatic community of Qumran. Whatever might be the origin of the term, in the New Testament the word "episcopos" (bishop) is often used to mean the pastor of the Church (cf., e.g., Acts 20:28; see the note on 1 Peter 5:1-4). Here St. Peter applies to Christ the words the prophet Ezekiel places on the lips of God: "I will seek out My sheep and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered" (Ezekiel 34:12). Our Lord founded the Church as a sheepfold "whose sheep, although watched over by human shepherds, are nevertheless at all times led and brought to pasture by Christ Himself, the Good Shepherd and prince of shepherds (cf. John 10:11; 1 Peter 5:4), who gave His life for His sheep (cf. John 10:11-16)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 6).

From: John 10:1-10

The Good Shepherd
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(Jesus said to the Pharisees,) [1] "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; [2] but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. [3] To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. [5] A stranger they will ot follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." [6] This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what He was saying to them.

[7] So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. [8] All who came before Me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. [9] I am the door; if any one enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

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Commentary:

1-18. The image of the Good Shepherd recalls a favorite theme of Old Testament prophetic literature: the chosen people is the flock, and Yahweh is their shepherd (cf. Psalm 23). Kings and priests are also described as shepherds or pastors. Jeremiah inveighs against those pastors who had let their sheep go astray and in God's name promises new pastors who will graze their flocks properly so that they will never again be harassed or anxious (cf. 23:1-6; also 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; Isaiah 40:1-11). Ezekiel reproaches pastors for their misdeeds and sloth, their greed and neglect of their responsibility: Yahweh will take the flock away from them and He Himself will look after their sheep: indeed, a unique shepherd will appear, descended from David, who will graze them and protect them (Ezekiel 34). Jesus presents Himself as this shepherd who looks after His sheep, seeks out the strays, cures the crippled and carries the weak on His shoulders (cf. Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:4-7), thereby fulfilling the ancient prophecies.

From earliest times, Christian art found its inspiration in this touching image of the Good Shepherd, thereby leaving us a representation of Christ's love for each of us.

In addition to the title of Good Shepherd, Christ applies to Himself the image of the door into the sheepfold of the Church. "The Church," Vatican II teaches, "is a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ (cf. John 10:1-10). It is also a flock, of which God foretold that He Himself would be the shepherd (cf. Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11ff.), and whose sheep, although watched over by human shepherds, are nevertheless at all times led and brought to pasture by Christ Himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of shepherds (cf. John 10:11; 1 Peter 5:4), who gave His life for His sheep (cf. John 10:11-15)" ("Lumen Gentium", 6).

1-2. The flock can be harmed in a subtle, hidden way, or in a blatant way through abuse of authority. The history of the Church shows that its enemies have used both methods: sometimes they enter the flock in a secretive way to harm it from within; sometimes they attack it from outside, openly and violently. "Who is the good shepherd? `He who enters by the door' of faithfulness to the Church's doctrine and does not act like the hireling `who sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees'; whereupon `the wolf snatches them and scatters them'" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 34).

3-5. In those times it was usual at nightfall to bring a number of flocks together into one sheepfold, where they would be kept for the night with someone acting as look-out. Then at dawn the shepherds would come back and open the sheepfold and each would call his sheep which would gather round and follow him out of the pen (they were used to his voice because he used to call them to prevent them from going astray) and he would then lead them to pasture. Our Lord uses this image--one very familiar to His listeners--to teach them a divine truth: since there are strange voices around, we need to know the voice of Christ--which is continually addressing us through the Magisterium of the Church--and to follow it, if we are to get the nourishment our soul needs. "Christ has given His Church sureness in doctrine and a fountain of grace in the Sacraments. He has arranged things so that there will always be people to guide and lead us, to remind us constantly of our way. There is an infinite treasure of knowledge available to us: the word of God kept safe by the Church, the grace of Christ administered in the Sacraments and also the witness and example of those who live by our side and have known how to build with their good lives a road of faithfulness to God" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 34).

6. Christ develops and interprets the image of the shepherd and the flock, to ensure that everyone who is well-disposed can understand His meaning. But the Jews fail to understand--as happened also when He promised the Eucharist (John 6:41-43) and spoke of the "living water" (John 7:40-43), or when He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:45-46).

7. After describing His future Church through the image of the flock, Christ extends the simile and calls Himself the "door of the sheep". The shepherds and the sheep enter the sheepfold: both must enter through the door, which is Christ. "I", St. Augustine preached, "seeking to enter in among you, that is, into your heart, preach Christ: if I were to preach other than that, I should be trying to enter by some other way. Through Christ I enter in, not to your houses but to your hearts. Through Him I enter and you have willingly heard me speak of Him. Why? Because you are Christ's sheep and you have been purchased with Christ's blood" ("In Ioann. Evang." 47, 2-3).

8. The severe reproach Jesus levels against those who came before Him does not apply to Moses or the prophets (cf. John 5:39, 45; 8:56; 12:41), nor to the Baptist (cf. John 5:33), for they proclaimed the future Messiah and prepared the way for Him. He is referring to the false prophets and deceivers of the people, among them some teachers of the Law--blind men and blind guides (cf. Matthew 23:16-24) who block the people's way to Christ, as happened just a little before when the man born blind was cured (cf. John 9).

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Readings at Mass

'God has made him both Lord and Christ'

You have come back to the shepherd of your souls

I am the gate of the sheepfold

Christian Art

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

CHAP. 10

SAINT PIUS V, POPE

Feast Day Apr 30