Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 13-May-2024

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 16
29.	His disciples say to him: Behold, now thou speakest plainly, and speakest no proverb.	Dicunt ei discipuli ejus : Ecce nunc palam loqueris, et proverbium nullum dicis :	λεγουσιν αυτω οι μαθηται αυτου ιδε νυν παρρησια λαλεις και παροιμιαν ουδεμιαν λεγεις
30.	Now we know that thou knowest all things, and thou needest not that any man should ask thee. By this we believe that thou camest forth from God.	nunc scimus quia scis omnia, et non opus est tibi ut quis te interroget : in hoc credimus quia a Deo existi.	νυν οιδαμεν οτι οιδας παντα και ου χρειαν εχεις ινα τις σε ερωτα εν τουτω πιστευομεν οτι απο θεου εξηλθες
31.	Jesus answered them: Do you now believe?	Respondit eis Jesus : Modo creditis ?	απεκριθη αυτοις ο ιησους αρτι πιστευετε
32.	Behold, the hour cometh, and it is now come, that you shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.	ecce venit hora, et jam venit, ut dispergamini unusquisque in propria, et me solum relinquatis : et non sum solus, quia Pater mecum est.	ιδου ερχεται ωρα και νυν εληλυθεν ινα σκορπισθητε εκαστος εις τα ιδια και εμε μονον αφητε και ουκ ειμι μονος οτι ο πατηρ μετ εμου εστιν
33.	These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.	Hæc locutus sum vobis, ut in me pacem habeatis. In mundo pressuram habebitis : sed confidite, ego vici mundum.	ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν ινα εν εμοι ειρηνην εχητε εν τω κοσμω θλιψιν εχετε αλλα θαρσειτε εγω νενικηκα τον κοσμον

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

16:29–33

29. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.

30. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.

31. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?

32. Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxix) The disciples were so refreshed with the thought of being in favour with the Father, that they say they are sure He knows all things: His disciples said unto Him, Now speakest Thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ciii) But why do they say so, when the hour in which He was to speak without proverbs was yet future, and only promised? Because, our Lord’s communications still continuing proverbs to them, they are so far from understanding them, that they do not even understand their not understanding them.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxix. 2) But since His answer met what was in their minds, they add, Now we are sure that Thou knowest all things. See how imperfect they yet were, after so many and great things now at last to say, Now we are sure &c. saying it too as if they were conferring a favour. And needest not that any man should ask thee; i. e. Thou knowest what offends us, before we tell Thee, and Thou hast relieved us by saying that the Father loveth us.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ciii. 2) Why this remark? To one Who knew all things, instead of saying, Thou needest not that any man should ask Thee; it would have been more appropriate to have said, Thou needest not to ask any man: yet we know that both of these were done, viz. that our Lord both asked questions, and was asked. But this is soon explained; for both were for the benefit, not of Himself, but of those whom He asked questions of, or by whom He was asked. He asked questions of men not in order to learn Himself, but to teach them: and in the case of those who asked questions of Him, such questions were necessary to them in order to gain the knowledge they wanted; but they were not necessary to Him to tell Him what that was, because He knew the wish of the enquirer, before the question was put. Thus to know men’s thoughts beforehand was no great thing for the Lord, but to the minds of babes it was a great thing: By this we know that Thou camest, forth from God.

HILARY. (vi. de Trin. c. 34) They believe that He came forth from God, because He does the works of God. For whereas our Lord had said both, I came forth from the Father, and, I am come into the world from the Father, they testified no wonder at the latter words, I am come into the world, which they had often heard before. But their reply shews a belief in and appreciation of the former, I came forth from the Father. And they notice this in their reply: By this we believe that Thou camest forth from God; not adding, and art come into the world, for they knew already that He was sent from God, but had not yet received the doctrine of His eternal generation. That unutterable doctrine they now began to see for the first time in consequence of these words, and therefore reply that He spoke no longer in parables. For God is not born from God after the manner of human birth: His is a coming forth from, rather than a birth from, God. He is one from one; not a portion, not a defection, not a diminution, not a derivation, not a pretension, not a passion, but the birth of living nature from living nature. He is God coming forth from God, not a creature appointed to the name of God; He did not begin to be from nothing, but came forth from an abiding (manente) nature. To come forth, hath the signification of birth, not of beginning.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ciii) Lastly, He reminds them of their weak tender age in respect of the inner man. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?

BEDE. Which can be understood in two ways, either as reproaching, or affirming. If the former, the meaning is, Ye have awaked somewhat late to belief, for behold the hour cometh, yea is now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to his home. If the latter, it is, That which ye believe is true, but behold the hour cometh, &c.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ciii) For they did not only with their bodies leave His body, when He was taken, but with their minds the faith.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxix) Ye shall be scattered; i. e. when I am betrayed, fear shall so possess you, that ye will not be able even to take to flight together. But I shall suffer no harm in consequence: And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ciii) He wishes to advance them so far as to understand that He had not separated from the Father because He had come forth from the Father.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxix. 2) These things have I said unto you, that ye might have peace: i. e. that ye may not reject Me from your minds. For not only when I am taken shall ye suffer tribulation, but so long as ye are in the world: In the world ye shall have tribulation.

GREGORY. (xxvi. Moral. c. xi.) As if He said, Have Me within you to comfort you, because you will have the world without you.

AUGUSTINE. (Tract. ciii. 3) The tribulation of which He speaks was to commence thus, i. e. in every one being scattered to his home, but was not to continue so. For in saying, And leave Me alone, He does not mean this to apply to them in their sufferings after His ascension. They were not to desert Him then, but to abide and have peace in Him. Wherefore He adds, Be of good cheer.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxx) i. e. raise up your spirits again: when the Master is victorious, the disciples should not be dejected; I have overcome the world.

AUGUSTINE. When the Holy Spirit was given them, they were of good cheer, and, in His strength, victorious. For He would not have overcome the world, had the world overcome His members. When He says, These things have I spoken to you, that in Me ye might have peace, He refers not only to what He has just said, but to what He had said all along, either from the time that He first had disciples, or since the supper, when He began this long and wonderful discourse. He declares this to be the object of His whole discourse, viz. that in Him they might have peace. And this peace shall have no end, but is itself the end of every pious action and intention.

Catena Aurea John 16

Saint of the Day for May 13

The Story of Our Lady of Fatima

Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children–Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia dos Santos–received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia.

Mary gave the children three secrets. Following the deaths of Francisco and Jacinta in 1919 and 1920 respectively, Lucia revealed the first secret in 1927. It concerned devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell. When Lucia grew up she became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at the age of 97.

Pope John Paul II directed the Holy See’s Secretary of State to reveal the third secret in 2000; it spoke of a “bishop in white” who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this vision to the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981.

The feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930; it was added to the Church’s worldwide calendar in 2002.

Reflection

The message of Fatima is simple: Pray. Unfortunately, some people—not Sister Lucia—have distorted these revelations, making them into an apocalyptic event for which they are now the only reliable interpreters. They have, for example, claimed that Mary’s request that the world be consecrated to her has been ignored. Sister Lucia agreed that Pope John Paul II’s public consecration in St. Peter’s Square on March 25, 1984, fulfilled Mary’s request. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prepared a June 26, 2000, document explaining the “third secret.”

Mary is perfectly honored when people generously imitate her response “Let it be done to me as you say” (Luke 1:38). Mary can never be seen as a rival to Jesus or to the Church’s teaching authority, as exercised by the college of bishops united with the bishop of Rome.

franciscanmedia.org

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

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

First Reading:

From: Acts 19:1-8

Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus
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[1] While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. [2] And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." [3] And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." [4] And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." [5] On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [6] And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. [7] There were about twelve of them in all.

Paul's Preaching and Miracles at Ephesus
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[8] And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God.

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Commentary:

1-7. This presence in Ephesus of a group of disciples who had received only John's baptism is open to various interpretations. The text seems to imply that they were not, properly speaking, Christians but people who followed the Baptist's teaching and whom Paul regarded as incipient Christians, to the point of calling them disciples. We say this because in the New Testament being a Christian is always connected with receiving Baptism and having the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 3:5; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Gal 3:2; Acts 11:17; etc.).

2. Leaving aside questions as to the origin and composition of this group of disciples, their simple statement about knowing nothing about the Holy Spirit and his part in fulfilling the messianic promises points to the need to preach Christian doctrine in a systematic, gradual and complete way.

Christian catechesis, John Paul II reminds us, "must be systematic, not improvised but programmed to reach a precise goal; it must deal with essentials, without any claim to tackle all disputed questions or to transform itself into theological research or scientific exegesis; it must nevertheless be sufficiently complete, not stopping short at the initial proclamation of the Christian mystery such as we have in the kerygma; it must be an integral Christian initiation, open to all the other factors of Christian life" ("Catechesi Tradendae", 21).

3-4. "The whole teaching and work of John," St Thomas Aquinas writes, "was in preparation for Christ, as the helper and under-craftsman are responsible for preparing the materials for the form which the head-craftsman produces. Grace was to be conferred on men through Christ: 'Grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ' (Jn 1 :17). And therefore, the baptism of John did not confer grace, but only prepared the way for grace in a threefold way--in one way, by John's teaching, which led men to faith in Christ; in another way, by accustoming men to the rite of Christ's Baptism; and in a third way, through penance, which prepared men to receive the effect of Christ's Baptism" ("Summa Theologiae", III, q. 38, a. 3).

5. "They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus": the view of most commentators is that this does not mean that the Trinitarian formula which appears in Mt 28:19 (cf. note on Acts 2:38) ("in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit") was not used. The reference here may simply be a way of distinguishing Christian Baptism from other baptismal rites which were features of Judaism in apostolic times--particularly John the Baptist's rite. Besides, Christian Baptism was administered on Jesus Christ's instructions (cf. Mt 28:19), in union with him and using his power: Jesus' redemptive action is initiated by the Father and expresses itself in the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

6. This passage speaks of the laying on of hands, something distinct from Baptism, as seen already in Acts 8:14-17, whereby the Holy Spirit is received. This is the sacrament which will come to be called Confirmation and which has been conferred, from the beginnings of the Church, as one of the sacraments of Christian initiation.

Referring to Confirmation, John Paul II has said: "Christ's gift of the Holy Spirit is going to be poured out upon you in a particular way. You will hear the words of the Church spoken over you, calling upon the Holy Spirit to confirm your faith, to seal you in his love, to strengthen you for his service. You will then take your place among fellow-Christians throughout the world, full citizens now of the People of God. You will witness to the truth of the Gospel in the name of Jesus Christ. You will live your lives in such a way as to make holy all human life. Together with all the confirmed, you will become living stones in the cathedral of peace. Indeed you are called by God to be instruments of his peace [...].

"You, too, are strengthened inwardly today by the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that each of you in your own way can carry the Good News to your companions and friends. [...]. The same Holy Spirit comes to you today in the sacrament of Confirmation, to involve you more completely in the Church's fight against sin and in her mission of fostering holiness. He comes to dwell more fully in your hearts and to strengthen you for the struggle with evil [...]. The world of today needs you, for it needs men and women who are filled with the Holy Spirit. It needs your courage and hopefulness, your faith and your perseverance. The world of tomorrow will be built by you. Today you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit so that you may work with deep faith and with abiding charity, so that you may help to bring to the world the fruits of reconciliation and peace. Strengthened by the Holy Spirit and his manifold gifts [...], strive to be unselfish; try not to be obsessed with material things" ("Homily at Coventry Airport", 30 May 1982).

As is the case with Baptism and Holy Orders, Confirmation imprints an indelible mark or character on the soul.

8-10. This summarized account of Paul's activity in Ephesus is filled out by the account we are given of the Apostle's farewell to the elders of that city (cf. 20: 18-35) and by information contained in his letters to the Corinthians. Paul made Ephesus the base for his missionary work in the surrounding region, for which he counted on help from Timothy, Erastus, Gaius, Titus and Epaphras of Colossae.

During his stay in Ephesus he wrote 1 Corinthians and the Letter to the Galatians.

8. Paul returns to the synagogue where he taught previously (cf. 18:19-21); the Jews' resistance and lack of understanding do not lessen his zeal.

Gospel Reading:

From: John 16:29-33

Fullness of Joy (Continuation)
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[29] His (Jesus') disciples said, "Ah, now You are speaking plainly, not in any figure! [30] Now we know that You know all things, and need none to question You; by this we believe that You came from God." [31] Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? [32] The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave Me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me. [33] I have said this to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

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Commentary:

25-30. As can be seen also from other passages in the Gospels, Jesus spent time explaining His doctrine in more detail to His Apostles than to the crowd (cf. Mark 4:10-12 and paragraph)—to train them for their mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world (cf. Matthew 28:18-20). However, our Lord also used metaphors or parables when imparting instruction to the Apostles, and He does so in this discourse of the Last Supper--the vine, the woman giving birth, etc.: He stimulates their curiosity and they, because they do not understand, ask Him questions (cf. verses 17-18). Jesus now tells them that the time is coming when He will speak to them in a completely clear way so that they will know exactly what He means. This He will do after the Resurrection (cf. Acts 1:3). But even now, since He knows their thoughts, He is making it ever plainer to them that He is God, for only God can know what is happening inside someone (cf. 2:25). Verse 28, "I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father" summarizes the mystery of Christ's Person (cf. John 1:14; 20:31).

31-32. Jesus moderates the Apostles' enthusiasm, which expresses itself in a spontaneous confession of faith; He does this by asking them a question which has two dimensions. On the one hand, it is a kind of reproach for their having taken too long to believe in Him: it is true that there were other occasions when they expressed faith in the Master (cf. John 6:68-69; etc.), but until now they have not fully realized that He is the One sent by the Father. The question also refers to the fragility of their faith: they believe, and yet very soon they will abandon Him into the hands of His enemies. Jesus requires us to have a firm faith: it is not enough to show it in moments of enthusiasm, it has to stand the test of difficulties and opposition.

33. The Second Vatican Council teaches in connection with this passage: "The Lord Jesus who said `Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world' (John 16:33), did not by these words promise complete victory to His Church in this world. This sacred Council rejoices that the earth which has been sown with the seed of the Gospel is now bringing forth fruit in many places under the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord, who is filling the world" ("Presbyterorum Ordinis", 22).

Please join Cardinal Burke’s novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’ (Started March 12—Never too late to join!)

Let us pray.

O Virgin Mother of God, we fly to your protection and beg your intercession against the darkness and sin which ever more envelop the world and menace the Church. Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, gave you to us as our mother as He died on the Cross for our salvation. So too, in 1531, when darkness and sin beset us, He sent you, as Our Lady of Guadalupe, on Tepeyac to lead us to Him Who alone is our light and our salvation.

Through your apparitions on Tepeyac and your abiding presence with us on the miraculous mantle of your messenger, Saint Juan Diego, millions of souls converted to faith in your Divine Son. Through this novena and our consecration to you, we humbly implore your intercession for our daily conversion of life to Him and the conversion of millions more who do not yet believe in Him. In our homes and in our nation, lead us to Him Who alone wins the victory over sin and darkness in us and in the world.

Unite our hearts to your Immaculate Heart so that they may find their true and lasting home in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Ever guide us along the pilgrimage of life to our eternal home with Him. So may our hearts, one with yours, always trust in God's promise of salvation, in His never-failing mercy toward all who turn to Him with a humble and contrite heart. Through this novena and our consecration to you, O Virgin of Guadalupe, lead all souls in America and throughout the world to your Divine Son in Whose name we pray. Amen.

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Readings at Mass

The moment Paul laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them

Be brave, for I have conquered the world

Christian Art

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

Saint of the Day for May 13