Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings 30-May-2025

At Corinth one night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.’ So Paul stayed there preaching the word of God among them for eighteen months.

But, while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a concerted attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. ‘We accuse this man’ they said ‘of persuading people to worship God in a way that breaks the Law.’ Before Paul could open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘Listen, you Jews. If this were a misdemeanour or a crime, I would not hesitate to attend to you; but if it is only quibbles about words and names, and about your own Law, then you must deal with it yourselves – I have no intention of making legal decisions about things like that.’ Then he sent them out of the court, and at once they all turned on Sosthenes, the synagogue president, and beat him in front of the court house. Gallio refused to take any notice at all.

After staying on for some time, Paul took leave of the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut off, because of a vow he had made.

God is king of all the earth.

All peoples, clap your hands,

cry to God with shouts of joy!

For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,

great king over all the earth.

God is king of all the earth.

He subdues peoples under us

and nations under our feet.

Our inheritance, our glory, is from him,

given to Jacob out of love.

God is king of all the earth.

God goes up with shouts of joy;

the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

Sing praise for God, sing praise,

sing praise to our king, sing praise.

God is king of all the earth.

Christ has risen, he who created all things,

and has granted his mercy to men.

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

you will be weeping and wailing

while the world will rejoice;

you will be sorrowful,

but your sorrow will turn to joy.

A woman in childbirth suffers,

because her time has come;

but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering

in her joy that a man has been born into the world.

So it is with you: you are sad now,

but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy,

and that joy no one shall take from you.

When that day comes,

you will not ask me any questions.’

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

1 posted on 05/30/2025 4:43:53 AM PDT by annalex

KEYWORDS: catholic; easter; jn16; prayer;

2 posted on 05/30/2025 4:44:18 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

To: nickcarraway; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; ArrogantBustard; Catholicguy; RobbyS; marshmallow; ...

Alleluia Ping

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3 posted on 05/30/2025 4:44:59 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

4 posted on 05/30/2025 4:45:29 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 16
20.	Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.	Amen, amen dico vobis : quia plorabitis, et flebitis vos, mundus autem gaudebit ; vos autem contristabimini, sed tristitia vestra vertetur in gaudium.	αμην αμην λεγω υμιν οτι κλαυσετε και θρηνησετε υμεις ο δε κοσμος χαρησεται υμεις δε λυπηθησεσθε αλλ η λυπη υμων εις χαραν γενησεται
21.	A woman, when she is in labour, hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.	Mulier cum parit, tristitiam habet, quia venit hora ejus ; cum autem pepererit puerum, jam non meminit pressuræ propter gaudium, quia natus est homo in mundum.	η γυνη οταν τικτη λυπην εχει οτι ηλθεν η ωρα αυτης οταν δε γεννηση το παιδιον ουκετι μνημονευει της θλιψεως δια την χαραν οτι εγεννηθη ανθρωπος εις τον κοσμον
22.	So also you now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you.	Et vos igitur nunc quidem tristitiam habetis, iterum autem videbo vos, et gaudebit cor vestrum : et gaudium vestrum nemo tollet a vobis.	και υμεις ουν λυπην μεν νυν εχετε παλιν δε οψομαι υμας και χαρησεται υμων η καρδια και την χαραν υμων ουδεις αιρει αφ υμων
23.	And in that day you shall not ask me any thing. Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you.	Et in illo die me non rogabitis quidquam. Amen, amen dico vobis : si quid petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, dabit vobis.	και εν εκεινη τη ημερα εμε ουκ ερωτησετε ουδεν αμην αμην λεγω υμιν οτι οσα αν αιτησητε τον πατερα εν τω ονοματι μου δωσει υμιν

5 posted on 05/30/2025 4:48:18 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

20. Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

21. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

22. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxix) Then He shews that sorrow brings forth joy, short sorrow infinite joy, by an example from nature; A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ci) This comparison does not seem difficult to understand. It was one which lay near at hand, and He Himself immediately shews its application. And ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice. The bringing forth is compared to sorrow, the birth to joy, which is especially true in the birth of a boy. And your joy no man taketh from you: their joy is Christ. This agrees with what the Apostle saith, Christ being risen from the dead dieth no more. (Rom. 6:9)

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxix) By this example He also intimates that He loosens the chains of death, and creates men anew. He does not say however that she should not have tribulation, but that she should not remember it; so great is the joy which follows. And so is it with the saints. He saith not, that a boy is born, but that a man, a tacit allusion to His own resurrection.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ci. 6) To this joy it is better to refer what was said above, A little while and ye shall not see Me, and again, a little while and ye shall see Me. For the whole space of time that this world continues is but a little while. Because I go to the Father, refers to the former clause, a little while and ye shall not see Me, not to the latter, a little while and ye shall see Me. His going to the Father was the reason why they would not see Him. So to them who then saw Him in the body He says, A little while and ye shall not see Me; for He was about to go to the Father, and mortals would thenceforth never see Him again, as they saw Him now. The next words, A little while and ye shall see Me, are a promise to the whole Church. For this little while appears long to us while it is passing, but when it is finished we shall then see how little a time it has been.

ALCUIN. The woman is the holy Church, who is fruitful in good works, and brings forth spiritual children unto God. This woman, while she brings forth, i. e. while she is making her progress in the world, amidst temptations and afflictions, hath sorrow because her hour is come; for no one ever hated his own flesh.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ci. 6) Nor yet in this bringing forth of joy, are we entirely without joy to lighten our sorrow, but, as the Apostle saith, we rejoice in hope: (Rom. 12:12) for even the woman, to whom we are compared, rejoiceth more for her future offspring, than she sorrows for her present pain.

ALCUIN. But as soon as she is delivered, i. e. when her laborious struggle is over, and she has got the palm, she remembereth no more her former anguish, for joy at reaping such a reward, for joy that a man is born into the world. For as a woman rejoiceth when a man is born into the world, so the Church is filled with exultation when the faithful are born into life eternal.

BEDE. (in Hom. Dom. Sec. post. vet. Pasch.) Nor should it appear strange, if one who departeth from this life is said to be born. For as a man is said to be born when he comes out of his mother’s womb into the light of day, so may he be said to be born who from out of the prison of the body, is raised to the light eternal. Whence the festivals of the saints, which are the days on which they died, are called their birthdays.

ALCUIN. I will see you again, i. e. I will take you to Myself. Or, I will see you again, i. e. I shall appear again and be seen by you; and your heart shall rejoice.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ci. 5) This fruit indeed the Church now yearneth for in travail, but then will enjoy in her delivery. And it is a male child, because all active duties are for the sake of devotion; for that only is free which is desired for its own sake, not for any thing else, and action is for this end. This is the end which satisfies and is eternal: for nothing can satisfy but what is itself the ultimate end. Wherefore of them it is well said, Your joy no man taketh from you.

16:23–28

23. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxix) Again our Lord shews that it is expedient that He should go: And in that day shall ye ask Me nothing.

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. ci. 4) The word ask here means not only to seek for, but to ask a question: the Greek word from which it is translated has both meanings.

CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxix) He says, And in that day, i. e. when I shall have risen again, ye shall ask Me nothing, i. e. not say to Me, Shew us the Father, and, Whither goest Thou? since ye will know this by the teaching of the Holy Ghost: or, Ye shall ask Me nothing, i. e. not want Me for a Mediator to obtain your requests, as My name will be enough, if you only call upon that: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it you. Wherein He shews His power; that neither seen, or asked, but named only to the Father, He will do miracles. Do not think then, He saith, that because for the future I shall not be with you, that you are therefore forsaken: for My name will be a still greater protection to you than My presence: Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Catena Aurea John 16

6 posted on 05/30/2025 4:49:03 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

The Joy of All Who Sorrow (with coins)

Russian icon

7 posted on 05/30/2025 4:49:32 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

St. Joan of Arc

Feastday: May 30
Patron: of soldiers and France
Birth: 1412
Death: 1431
Canonized: Pope Benedict XV

St. Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France.

On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class in the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. At a very early age, she was said to have heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret.

At first the messages were personal and general, but when she was 13-years-old, she was in her father's garden and had visions of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, each of whom told her to drive the English from French territory. They also asked that she bring the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation.

After their messages were delivered and the saints departed, Joan cried, as "they were so beautiful."

When she was sixteen-years-old, she asked her relative, Durand Lassois, to take her to Vaucouleurs, where she petitioned Robert de Baudricourt, the garrison commander, for permission to visit the French Royal Court in Chinon.

Despite Baudricourt's sarcastic response to her request, Joan returned the following January and left with the support of two of Baudricourt's soldiers: Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy.

Jean de Metz admitted Joan had confided in him, saying, "I must be at the King's side ... there will be no help if not from me. Although I would rather have remained spinning [wool] at my mother's side ... yet must I go and must I do this thing, for my Lord wills that I do so."

With Metz and Poulengy at her side, Joan met Baudricourt and predicted a military reversal at the Battle of Rouvray near Orléans, which were confirmed several days later by a messenger's report. When Baudricourt realized the distance of the battle's location and the time it would have taken Joan to make the journey, he concluded she had seen the reversal by Divine revelation, which caused him to believe her words.

Once she had Baudricourt's belief, Joan was granted an escort to Chinon through hostile Burgundian territory. For her safety, she was escorted while dressed as a male soldier, which later led to charges of cross-dressing, but her escorts viewed as a sound precaution.

Two members of her escort confirmed they and the people of Vaucouleurs gave her the clothing and had been the ones to suggest she don the outfit.

When she arrived in the Royal Court, she met in a private conference with Charles VII and won his trust. Yolande of Aragon, Charles' mother-in-law, planned a finance relief expedition to Orléans and Joan asked to travel with the army while wearing armor, which the Royal government agreed to. They also provided Joan's armor and she depended on donations for everything she took with her.

With a donated horse, sword, banner, armor, and more, Joan arrived to Orléans and quickly turned the Anglo-French conflict into a religious war.

Charles' advisors worried Joan's claims of doing God's work could be twisted by his enemies, who could easily claim she was a sorceress, which would link his crown to works of the devil. To prevent accusations, the Dauphin ordered background inquiries and a theological exam at Poitiers to verify Joan's claims.

In April 1429, the commission of inquiry "declared her to be of irreproachable life, a good Christian, possessed of the virtues of humility, honesty and simplicity." Rather than deciding on whether or not Joan was acting on the basis of divine inspiration, theologians at Poitiers told the Dauphin there was a "favorable presumption" on the divine nature of her mission.

Charles was satisfied with the report but theologians reminded him Joan must be tested. They claimed, "[t]o doubt or abandon her without suspicion of evil would be to repudiate the Holy Spirit and to become unworthy of God's aid."

They suggested her test should be a test of her claim to lift the siege of Orléans, as she originally predicted would happen.

In response to the test, Joan arrived at Orléans on April 29, 1429, where Jean d'Orléans, the acting head of the ducal family of Orléans, ensured she was excluded from war councils and kept ignorant of battles.

During the five months prior to Joan's arrival to Orléans, the French had only attempted one offensive assault, which resulted in their defeat, but after her arrival, things began to change.

Though Joan claimed the army was always commanded by a nobleman and that she never killed anyone in battle since she preferred only to carry her banner, which she preferred "forty times" better than a sword, several noblemen claimed she greatly effected their decisions since they accepted she gave Divinely inspired advice.

On May 4, the Armagnacs captured the fortress of Saint Loup and the next day led to fortress Saint-Jean-le-Blanc, which was deserted. With Joan at the army's side, English troops approached the army to stop their advance but a cavalry charge was all it took to turn the English away without a fight.

The Armagnacs captured an English fortress build around the Les Augustins monastery and attacked the English stronghold Les Tourelles on May 7. Joan was shot with an arrow between her neck and shoulder as she held her banner outside Les Tourelles, but returned to encourage the final assault to take the fortress. The next day, the English retreated from Orléans and the siege was over.

When Joan was in Chinon and Poitiers, she had declared she would show a sign at Orléans, which many believe was the end of the siege. Following the departure of the English, prominent clergymen began to support her, including the Archbishop of Embrun and the theologian Jean Gerson, each of which wrote supportive treatises.

After the Orléans victory, Joan was able to persuade Charles VII to allow her to march into other battles to reclaim cities, each of which ended in victory. When the military supplies began to dwindle, they reached Troyes, where Brother Richard, a wandering friar, had warned the city about the end of the world and was able to convince them to plant beans, which yields an early harvest. Just as the beans ripened, Joan and the army arrived and was able to restore their supplies.

Following their march to Troyes, Joan and the French military made its way to Paris, where politicians failed to secure Duke Philip of Burgundy's agreement to a truce. Joan was present at the following battles and suffered a leg wound from a crossbow bolt. Despite one failed mission - taking La-Charité-sur-Loire" - Joan and her family were ennobled by Charles VII in reward of her actions on the battlefield.

A truce with England came following Joan's ennoblement but was quickly broken. When Joan traveled to Compiègne to help defend against an English and Burgundian siege, she was captured by Burgundian troops and held for a ransom of 10,000 livres tournois. There were several attempts to free her and Joan made many excape attempts, including jumping from her 70-foot (21m) tower, landing on the soft earth of a dry moat, but to no avail. She was eventually sold to the English for 10,000 gold coins and was then tried as a heretic and witch in a trial that violated the legal process of the time.

Clerical notary Nicolas Bailly, who was responsible to collect testimony against Joan, was unable to find any evidence against her. Without evidence, the courts lacked grounds to initiate trial but one was opened anyway. They denied Joan the right to a legal advisor and filled the tribunal with pro-English clergy rather than meeting the medieval Church's requirement to balance the group with impartial clerics.

When the first public examination opened, Joan pointed out that the partisans were against her and she asked for "ecclesiastics of the French side" to provide balance, but her request was denied.

Jean Lemaitre, the Vice-Inquisitor of Northern France, objected to the trial from the beginning and many eyewitnesses later reported he was forced to cooperate after the English threatened to kill him. Other members of the clergy were threatened when they refused as well, so the trial continued.

The trial record includes statements from Joan that eyewitnesses later claimed astonished the court since she was an illiterate peasant who was able to escape theological traps. The most well-known exchange was when Joan was "[a]sked if she knew she was in God's grace, she answered: 'If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.'"

The question is a trap because the church doctrine was that no one could be certain of being in God's grace. If she answered yes, she would have been charged with heresy, but if she answered no, she would have been confessing her own guilt. Notary Boisguillaume later testified that "[t]hose who were interrogating her were stupefied."

Many members of the tribunal later testified important parts of the transcript were altered.

Joan was held in a secular prison guarded by English soldiers, instead of being in an ecclesiastical prison with nuns as her guards per Inquisitorial guidelines. When Joan appealed to the Council of Basel and the Pope to be placed in a proper prison, Bishop Cauchon denied her request, which would have stopped his proceeding.

While imprisoned, Joan wore military clothing so she could tie her clothing together, making it harder to be raped. There was no protection in a dress, and a few days after she started wearing one she told a tribunal member that "a great English lord had entered her prison and tried to take her by force." Following the attempted rape, Joan returned to wearing male clothing as a precaution and to raise her defenses against molestation.

Jean Massieu testified her dress had been taken by the guards and she had nothing else to wear.

When she returned to male clothing, she was given another count of hersy for cross-dressing, though it was later disputed by the inquisitor presiding over court appeals after the war. He found that cross-dressing should be evaluated based on context, including the use of clothing as protection against rape if it offered protection.

In accordance to the inquisitor's doctrine, Joan would have been justified in wearing armor on a battlefield, men's clothing in prison and dressing as a pageboy when traveling through enemy territory.

The Chronique de la Pucelle states it deterred molestation when Joan was camped in the field but she donned a dress when men's garments were unnecessary.

Clergy who testified at the posthumous appellate trial confirmed that she wore male clothing in prison to deter molestation.

Though the Poitiers record did not survive the test of time, Joan had referred the court to the Poitiers inquiry when questioned about her clothing and circumstances indicate the Poitiers clerics approved the practive. She had also kept her hair short through the military campaigns and during her imprisonment, which Inquisitor Brehal, theologian Jean Gerson and all of Joan's supporters understood was for practical reasons.

Despite the lack of incriminating evidence, Joan was condemned and sentenced to die in 1431.

Eyewitness accounts of Joan's execution by burning on May 30, 1431 describe how she was tied to a tall pillar at the Vieux-Marché in Rouen. She asked Fr. Martin Ladvenu and Fr. Isambart de la Pierre to hold a crucifix before her and an English soldier made a small cross she put in the front of her dress. After she died, the English raked the coals to expose her body so no one could spread rumors of her escaping alive, then they burned her body two more times to reduce it to ashes so no one could collect relics. After burning her body to ash, the English threw her remains into the Seine River and the executioner, Geoffroy Thérage, later said he "... greatly feared to be damned."

In 1452, during an investigation into Joan's execution, the Church declared a religious play in her honor at Orléans would let attendees gain an indulgence by making a pilgrimage to the event.

A posthumous retrial opened following the end of the war. Pope Callixtus III authorized the proceeding, which has also been called the "nullification trial," after Inquisitor-General Jean Bréhal and Joan's mother Isabelle Romée requested it.

The trial was meant to determine if Joan's condemnation was justly handled, and of course at the end of the investication Joan received a formal appeal in November 1455 and the appellate court declared Joan innocent on July 7 1456.

Joan of Arc was a symbol of the Catholic League during the 16th century and when Félix Dupanloup was made bishop of Orléans in 1849, he pronounced a panegyric on Joan of Arc and led efforts leading to Joan of Arc's beatification in 1909. On May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized her.

Centuries after her death, Joan became known as a semi-legendary figure. There were several sources of information about her life, time on the battlefield and trials, with the main sources being chronicles.

Many women have seen Joan as a brave and active woman who operated within a religious tradition that believed a person of any class could receive a divine calling.

Joan of Arc has been depicted in several works by famous writers such as William Shakespeare (Henry VI, Part 1), Voltaire (The Maid of Orleans), Mark Twain (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc), and many many more.

Images depicting Joan of Arc often show her with short hair adorned in armor.

There are several prayers to Joan of Arc, including the "Prayer of Thanks and Gratitude to St. Joan of Arc," written by Andrea Rau:

Dear Patron Saint,

Thank you for accompanying me throughout the day, and in the work that I did. Thank you also for your guidance and your counsel. Please help me to listen to God and to you, dear Saint, that I may do what I am called to do. Please intercede on my behalf and beg God to take all my faults and turn them into virtues. I thank you for all you have done for me, and all the things you have interceded for on my behalf. Please continue to pray for me and for all the souls who need it.

St. Joan of Arc, Pray for us.

catholic.org

8 posted on 05/30/2025 4:58:12 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII in Reims Cathedral

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

1854
Louvre, Paris.

9 posted on 05/30/2025 5:01:49 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY(RSV)

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

First Reading:

From: Acts 18:9-18

Preaching to the Jews and Gentiles (Continuation)
-------------------------------------------------
[9] And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; [10] for I am with you, and no man shall attack you to harm you; for I have many people in this city." [11] And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Paul before Gallio
------------------
[12] But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack upon Paul and brought him before the tribunal, [13] saying, "This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law." [14] But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, I should have reason to bear with you, O Jews; [15] but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I refuse to be a judge of these things." [16] And he drove them from the tribunal. [17] And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to this.

Return to Antioch via Ephesus
-----------------------------
[18] After this Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cencherae he cut his hair, for he had a vow.

***********************************************************************
Commentary:

9. In this vision, given him to strengthen his resolve, Paul sees the Lord, that is, Jesus. The brief message he receives is reminiscent of the language God uses when he addresses the prophets and just men of the Old Testament (cf. Ex 3:12; Josh 1:5; Is 41 :10). The words "Do not be afraid" occur often in divine visions and are designed to allay the impact of God's overpowering presence (cf. Lk 1 :30).

In this case, the words are meant to allay Paul 's premonitions about the severe treatment his opponents will hand out to him in Corinth. The vision once again indicates the graces which the Lord is bestowing on him to support his intense contemplative life, which is also a life of action in the service of Jesus and the Gospel.

"I tell you," St Teresa of Avila writes, "those of you whom God is not leading by this road [of contemplation], that, as I know from what I have seen and been told by those who are following this road, they are not bearing a lighter cross than you; you would be amazed at all the ways and manners in which God sends them crosses. I know about both types of life and I am well aware that the trials given by God to contemplatives are intolerable; and they of such a kind that, were he not to feed them with consolations, they could not be borne. It is clear that, since God leads those whom he most loves by the way of trials, the more he loves them, the greater will be their trials; and there is no reason to suppose that he hates contemplatives, since with his own mouth he praises them and calls them his friends.

"To suppose that he would admit to his close friendship people who are free from all trials is ridiculous. [...] I think, when those who lead an active life occasionally see contemplatives receiving consolations, they suppose that they never experience anything else. But I can assure you that you might not be able to endure their sufferings for as long as a day" ("Way of Perfection", chap. 18).

10. God has foreseen the people who are going to follow the call of grace. From this it follows that the Christian has a serious obligation to preach the Gospel to as many people as he can. This preaching has a guaranteed effectiveness, as can be seen from its capacity to convert men and women of every race, age, social condition etc. The Gospel is for all. God offers it, through Christians, to rich and poor, to the educated and the uneducated. Any person can accept this invitation to grace: "Not only philosophers and scholars believed in Christ...but also workmen and people wholly uneducated, who all scorned glory, and fear and death" (St. Justin, "Second Apology," 10, 8).

12. Gallio was a brother of the Stoic philosopher Seneca. He had been adopted in Rome by Lucius Iunius Gallio, whose name he took. From an inscription at Delphi (reported in 1905) we learn that Gallio began his proconsulship of Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital, in July 51. Paul must have appeared before Gallio around the end of 52. This is one of the best-established dates we have for the Apostle.

17. It is not quite clear what happened. Sosthenes may have been assaulted by the citizens of Corinth who were using the incident to vent their anti-Jewish feelings. But it is more likely that Sosthenes was in sympathy with the Christians and that the Jews were venting their frustration on him. In 1 Corinthians 1:1 a Christian called Sosthenes appears as co-author (amanuensis) of the letter; some commentators identify him with the ruler of the synagogue in this episode.

18. The vow taken by a "Nazarite" (one "consecrated to God") is described in the sixth chapter of the Book of Numbers. Among other things it involved not cutting one's hair (to symbolize that one was allowing God to act in one) and not drinking fermented drinks (meaning a resolution to practise self-denial). It is not clear whether it was Paul or Aquila who had taken the vow; apparently the vow ended at Cenchreae, for the votee's hair was cut there. For more information, see the note on Acts 21:23-24.

10 posted on 05/30/2025 8:13:42 AM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)

Gospel Reading:

From: John 16:20-23

Fullness of Joy (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [20] "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. [21] When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world. [22] So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. [23] In that day you will ask nothing of Me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name."

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Commentary:

21-22. This image of the woman giving birth (frequently used in the Old Testament to express intense pain) is also often used, particularly by the prophets, to mean the birth of the new messianic people (cf. Isaiah 21:3; 26:17; 66:7; Jeremiah 30:6; Hosea 13:13; Micah 4:9-10). The words of Jesus reported here seem to be the fulfillment of those prophecies. The birth of the messianic people--the Church of Christ--involves intense pain, not only for Jesus but also, to some degree, for the Apostles. But this pain, like birth pains, will be made up for by the joy of the final coming of the Kingdom of Christ: "I am convinced," says St. Paul, "that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).

23-24. See the note on John 14:12-14.

[ Note on John 14:12-14 states: 12-14. Jesus Christ is our intercessor in Heaven; therefore, He promises us that everything we ask for in His name, He will do. Asking in His name (cf. 15:7, 16; 16:23-24) means appealing to the power of the risen Christ, believing that He is all-powerful and merciful because He is true God; and it also means asking for what is conducive to our salvation, for Jesus is our Savior. Thus, by "whatever you ask" we must understand what is for the good of the asker. When our Lord does not give what we ask for, the reason is that it would not make for our salvation. In this way we can see that He is our Savior both when He refuses us what we ask and when He grants it. ]

11 posted on 05/30/2025 8:14:27 AM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)

12 posted on 05/30/2025 8:14:52 AM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)

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'I have many people on my side in this city'

Your hearts will be full of joy that no-one will take from you

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