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SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
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 Gather the poor, the feeble, the lame and the blind
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Comprehensive Catholic Commentary
by
Fr. George Leo Haydock
provided by
John Gregory
Editor's Note: We continue with this special feature provided by John Gregory with the Haydock Commentary found at the bottom of each page of the Douay-Rheims Bible. We publish it here in conjunction with the Epistle and Gospel for the Sunday Mass, with the cogent comprehensive Catholic Commentary penned by Father George Leo Haydock.
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Second
Sunday after Pentecost
Epistle: 1 St. John 3: 13-18
13 Wonder not, brethren, if the world hate you. 14 We know
that we have passed
from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death. 15 Whosoever
hateth his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in himself.
Commentary on Verses 14-15: We know that we
have passed from death to life; i.e. from the death of sin to the life of grace:
we know it by a moral certainty, when we experience in our heart a love of our
neighbour. – He that loveth not God and his neighbour, abideth in
death. He that hateth his brother with a mortal hatred, or to a
considerable degree, is a murderer.
16 In this we have known
the charity of God, because He hath laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Commentary on Verse 16: The charity of God,
because He hath laid down His life for us. Jesus Christ, therefore, who laid down
His life for us, was God. It is true at present the words of God are
wanting in most Greek MSS.: yet the Prot. Translation has them. Wi
17 He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see
his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed, and in truth.
Gospel:
St. Luke 14: 16-24
16 But He said to him: A certain man made a great supper, and invited many.
Commentary on Verse 16: By this man we are
to understand Christ Jesus, the great mediator between God and man. He sent
his servants, at supper-time, to say to them that were invited, that they
should come; i.e. He sent His apostles to call the people of Israel, who had been
invited to His supper on almost innumerable occasions: but they not only
refused the invitation, but also murdered the Lord who had invited them. We
may remark, that the three different excuses exactly agree with what S. John
says: All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and
concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life. The one says, I have
married a wife, by which may be understood the concupiscence of the flesh;
another says, I have bought five yoke of oxen, by which is denoted the
concupiscence of the eyes; and the pride of life is signified by the purchase
of the farm, which the third alleges in his justification. S. Aug. de
verb. Dei.
17 And he sent his servant at the hour of supper to say to them that were invited, that they
should come, for
now all things are
ready. 18 And they began all at once to
make excuse. The
first said to him:
I have bought a farm, and I must needs go out and see it: I pray thee, hold me excused. 19 And another said: I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them: I pray thee, hold me excused. 20 And another said: I have married a wife, and therefore I
cannot come. 21 And the servant
returning, told these things to his lord. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant: Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the
city, and bring in hither the poor, and the feeble, and the blind, and the lame. 22 And the servant said: Lord, it is done as thou
hast commanded,
and yet there is room. 17
23 And the Lord said to the servant: Go out
into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Commentary on Verse 23: Compel them to
come in. This is almost the only expression in the New Testament,
which can give to the intolerant a plea for persecution. The spirit of the
gospel is the spirit of mildness, and the compulsion which it authorizes to
bring infidels or heretics into the Church, is such as we use towards our
friends, when we press them to accept of our hospitality. The great pope, S.
Gregory, forbade the Jews to be persecuted in Rome, who refused to receive the
faith of Christ. “That is a new and unheard of kind of preaching,” says he, “which
demands assent by stripes.” A.
24 But I say
unto you, that none of those men that were invited,
shall taste of My
supper.
HAYDOCK COMMENTARY Second Sunday after Pentecost
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