And the apostles and brethren, who were in Judea, heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,3 Saying: Why didst thou go in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them?†4 But Peter began and declared to them the matter in order, saying:5 I was in the city of Joppe praying, and I saw in an ecstasy of mind a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even unto me.†6 Into which looking, I considered, and saw fourfooted creatures of the earth, and beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air:7 And I heard also a voice saying to me: Arise, Peter; kill and eat.8 And I said: Not so, Lord; for nothing common or unclean hath ever entered into my mouth.9 And the voice answered again from heaven: What God hath made clean, do not thou call common.10 And this was done three times: and all were taken up again into heaven.11 And behold, immediately there were three men come to the house wherein I was, sent to me from Caesarea.12 And the Spirit said to me, that I should go with them, nothing doubting. And these six brethren went with me also: and we entered into the man’s house.13 And he told us how he had seen an angel in his house, standing, and saying to him: Send to Joppe, and call hither Simon, who is surnamed Peter,14 Who shall speak to thee words, whereby thou shalt be saved, and all thy house.15 And when I had begun to speak, the Holy Ghost fell upon them, as upon us also in the beginning.16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said: John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.17 If then God gave them the same grace, as to us also who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, that could withstand God?18 Having heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying: God then hath also to the Gentiles given repentance unto life.†
Besides, the Lord would not have been censured for partaking of food with Jews, but with heathens, from whose board the Jewish discipline excludes (its disciples).
The psalm's verse numbering differs between the modern lectionary and the Douay-Rheims this library hosts, so the text isn't matched verse-for-verse here yet.
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.†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 hath let out his own sheep, he goeth before them: and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.5 But a stranger they follow not, but fly from him, because they know not the voice of strangers.6 This proverb Jesus spoke to them. But they understood not what he spoke to them.7 Jesus therefore said to them again: Amen, amen I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.8 All others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers: and the sheep heard them not.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.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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
About CSB. A personal translation of the New Testament, rendered directly from the public-domain Greek in a literary style — not a scholarly critical edition, and not for liturgical or doctrinal authority. It is one reader's work, offered for enjoyment; where it matters, weigh it against an established translation. (Placeholder text — final wording to come.)