나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

December 30

1st Reading: 1 John 2:12-17

The Apostle's Confidence in the Faithful
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[12] I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven
for his sake. [13] I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him
who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because
you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you
know the Father. [14] I write to you, fathers, because you know him
who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are
strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the
evil one.

Detachment from the World
-------------------------
[15] Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the
world, love for the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not
of the Father but is of the world. [17] And the world passes away, and
the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.

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Commentary:

12-14. These verses, which are a kind of aside, are not easy to trans-
late. The main difficulty has to do with the meaning of the expression,
"I am writing (or I insist) because". The Greek conjunction may have
an explanatory meaning (as the New Vulgate translates it): "I am
writing to you that your sins have been forgiven..."; in which case the
Apostle would be trying to build up the Christians' resistance to the
arguments of the heretics; as if he were saying "You can be sure
that your sins have been forgiven...", that is, that it is you not they,
who are Christians.

However, it is also correct in the context to understand it as being
the causal. In this way the Apostle is invoking his authority over these
Christians, confident that they will listen to him; it is as if he were sa-
ying, "I can tell you, and you have the duty and the right to pay heed
to me, because your sins have been forgiven...".

The way he addresses his readers, calling them little children, child-
ren, fathers, young men, is also open to various interpretations. The
first two (little children, children) are usually taken to mean all Chris-
tians, without distinction of age or the length of time they have been
in the Church; whereas the other two (fathers, young men) would be
addressed to those particular groups. However, it is possible that
these are simply rhetorical devices, in which case what is said to
young people is perfectly applicable to older people, and vice versa;
this is the way St Augustine understood it: "Remember that you are
fathers; if you forget Him who is from the beginning, you will have lost
your paternity. Also see yourselves over and over again as young men:
strive to win; win so as to be crowned; be humble in order not to suc-
cumb in the struggle" ("In Epist. Joann. Ad Parthos", 2, 7).

"Because you know him who is from the beginning": a reference to
Jesus Christ, as distinct from the Father, who appears at the start of v.
14. St John puts emphasis on knowing, which covers not just theoreti-
cal knowledge but more particularly a knowledge that comes from faith
and love (cf. note on 2: 3-6).

13. "The evil one": the devil is explicitly mentioned several times in this
letter; he is the enemy of the children of God (2:14; 5:18); a inner from
the beginning (3:8); and has the world in his power (5:18- 19; cf. Jn
16:11).

"The Apostle writes: 'You have overcome the evil one'! And so it is. It
is necessary to keep going back to the origin of evil and of sin in the
history of mankind and the universe, just as Christ went back to these
same roots in the Paschal Mystery of his Cross and Resurrection.
There is no need to be afraid to call the first agent of evil by his name--
the Evil One. The strategy which he used and continues to use is that
of not revealing himself, so that the evil implanted by him from the be-
ginning may receive its development from man himself, from systems
and from relationships between individuals, from classes and nations--
so as also to become ever more a 'structural' sin, ever less identifiable
as 'personal sin'. In other words, so that man may feel in a certain
sense 'freed' from sin but at the same time be ever more deeply im-
mersed in it" (John Paul II, "Letter to Youth", 31 March 1985, 15).

15-17. The term "world" has a number of meanings in Sacred Scripture
(cf. note on Jn 17:14-16). Here it has the pejorative sense of enemy of
God and man (cf. also note on Jas 1:26-27), and includes everything
that is opposed to God--the kingdom of sin. Following Christ involves a
radical choice: "No one can serve two masters" (Mt 6:24); "friendship
with the world is enmity with God" (Jas 4:4).

15-17. 성경 본문에 있어 "세상(world)" 이라는 용어는 다수의 의미들을 가지고
있습니다 (요한 복음서 17,14-16에 대한 주석을 참조하라). 여기서 이 용어는
하느님과 사람의 원수(enemy, 적)라는 경멸하는 의미를 가지고 있으며 (또한
야고보 1,26-27에 대한 주석을 참조하라), 그리고 하느님께 반대되는 모든 것,
즉 죄의 세상(the kingdom of sin)을 포함합니다(includes). 그리스도를
뒤따른다는 것은 다음과 같은 근본적인 선택을 수반합니다(involves):
"아무도 두 주인을 섬길 수 없다" (마태오 복음서 6,24); "누구든지 세상의
친구가 되려는 자는 하느님의 적이 되는 것입니다" (야고보 4,4).

"The pride of life": this is the usual translation in Latin. The original
Greek says more or less "the arrogance of earthly things"; the two
translations are compatible because reliance on material things leads
to pride.

"삶의 교만(the pride of life)":(*) 이 표현은 라틴어에 있어 통상적 번역입니다.
원 그리스어는 거의(more or less) "세상의 사물들에 기인하는 거만
(arrogance of earthly things)" 을 말하며, 이 두 번역들은 모순이 없는데
(compatible) 왜냐하면 물질적인 사물들에 대한 의존은 교만(pride, 자만)
쪽으로 인도하기 때문입니다.

[내용 추가 일자: 2018년 3월 17일]
-----
(*) 번역자 주: 영어로 "the pride of life"를 과거에 필자가 "새 번역 성경"의
대응하는 번역 표현인 "살림살이에 대한 자만"으로 번역하였으나, 그러나
이 우리말 번역이 문슨 말인지 알 수 없는, 따라서 번역 오류이기 때문에, 대신에,
"삶의 교만"으로 번역하였다. 이에 대한 더 자세한 내용은 다음에 있다:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/1908.htm <----- 필독 권고
[이상, 2018년 3월 17일자 내용 추가 끝]

The list St John gives here of the signs of a worldly life summarizes
everything opposed to fidelity to the love of God.

성 요한(St. John)이 여기서 제시하는 어떤 세속의 삶(a worldly life)에 대한
표지(signs)들의 나열은 하느님에 대한 사랑(the love of God, 즉,
하느님이 사랑받게 되는 사랑) 쪽으로 충실(fidelity)에 반대되는 모든 것을
요약합니다.

"Lust of the flesh is not limited to disordered sensuality. It also means
softness, laziness bent on the easiest, most pleasurable, way, any
apparent shortcut, even at the expense of fidelity to God [...]. We can
and ought to fight always to overcome the lust of the flesh, because,
if we are humble, we will always be granted the grace of our Lord."
([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Pas sing By", 5).

"육의 욕망(lust of flesh)은 질서가 결핍된 관능(disordered sensuality)에
제한된 것이 아닙니다. 이 욕망은 또한, 심지어 하느님에 대한 충실
(fidelity)을 희생하면서까지 [...], 가장 쉬운, 가장 즐거움을 주는
방식, 임의의 외관상의 지름길에 굴복당한(bent on), 감각들에 기꺼이
동의함(softness)(*), 게으름(laziness)을 의미합니다. 우리는 육의 욕망을
극복하기 위하여 항상 싸울 수 있고 또 싸워야만 하는데, 왜냐하면, 우리가
겸손하다고(humble) 하면, 우리에게 우리의 주님의 은총이 항상 수여될
것이기 때문입니다" [[성] 호세마리아 에스크리바([St] J. Escriva),
"Christ Is Pas sing By", 5].

-----
(*) 번역자 주: "softness" 를 "감각들에 기꺼이 동의함"으로 번역한 것은
다음의 Merriam-Webster Dctionary에 주어진 설명 1a 를 따른 것이다:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/wdictionary/softness
-----

"St John tells us that the other enemy is the lust of the eyes, a deep-
seated avariciousness that leads us to appreciate only what we can
touch. Such eyes are glued to earthly things and, consequently, they
are blind to supernatural realities. We can, then, use this expression
of Sacred Scripture to mean that disordered desire for material things,
as well as that deformation which views everything around us--other
people, the circumstances of our life and of our age--in a merely hu-
man way.

"성 요한은 다른 원수는, 우리로 하여금 오로지 우리가 접촉할(touch) 수
있는 바를 높이 평가하도록 이끄는 어떤, 깊이 자리잡고 있는, 탐욕의
상태(avariciousness)인, 눈의 욕망(lust of eyes)이라고 우리에게
말합니다. 그러한 눈들은 세속의 사물들에 달라붙어서 떨어지지 않으며,
그리하여, 결과적으로, 이 눈들은 초자연적 실재(supernatural realities)들에
대하여 알아보는 눈이 없습니다. 이러한 방식으로, 우리는 성경 본문의 바로
이 표현을, 우리 주변의 모든 것을, 즉 다른 사람들, 우리의 삶의 그리고
우리의 시대의 여건들을 어떤, 단지 인간적인, 방식(human way)으로
바라보는 바로 그 기형(deformation)뿐만이 아니라, 물질적 사물들에 대한
어떤, 질서가 결핍된, 욕망(a disordered desire)을 의미하기 위하여 사용할
수 있습니다.

Then the eyes of our soul grow dull. Reason proclaims itself capable of
understanding everything, without the aid of God. This is a subtle temp-
tation which hides behind the power of our intellect, given by our Father
God to man so that he might know and love him freely. Seduced by this
temptation, the human mind appoints itself the center of the universe,
being thrilled with the prospect that 'you will be like God' (Gen 3:5). So
filled with love for itself, it turns its back on the love of God.

게다가(then) 우리의 영혼의 눈들은 둔감하게 됩니다(grow dull). 이성
(reason)은, 하느님의 도움 없이, 스스로 모든 것을 이해할 능력이 있다고
선언합니다. 이것은, 사람(man)이 자유롭게 하느님을 알고 사랑할(love) 수
있도록, 우리의 성부 하느님에 의하여 사람에게 주어진, 우리의 지성의
힘(power) 뒤에 숨어 있는 어떤 미묘한 유혹(a subtle temptation)입니다.
바로 이 유혹에 부추겨져, 인간의 마음은 스스로를 우주의 중심이라
공식적으로 이름하여(appoints), 그 결과 '너희가 하느님처럼 될
것이다' (창세 3,5) 라는 가망(prospect)으로 전율합니다. 스스로에
대한 사랑(love for itself)으로 너무도 가득 차, 인간의 마음은 하느님의
사랑(the love of God)으로부터 등을 돌립니다.

In this way does our existence fall prey unconditionally to the third
enemy: pride of life. It's not merely a question of passing thoughts
of vanity or self-love, it's a state of general conceit. Let's not deceive
ourselves, for this is the worst of all evils, the root of every false step.
The fight against pride has to be a constant battle, to such an extent
that someone once said that pride only disappears twenty-four hours
after each of us has died. It is the arrogance of the Pharisee whom
God cannot transform because he finds in him the obstacle of self-
sufficiency. It is the haughtiness which leads to despising others, to
lording it over them, to mistreating them. For 'when pride comes, then
comes disgrace' (Prov 11:2)" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By",
6).

바로 이러한 방식으로 우리의 경험은 삶의 교만(the pride of life)이라는
세 번째 원수에게 무조건적으로 희생자로 전락합니다. 이것은 단순히
허무(vanity) 혹은 자기애(self-love)에 대한 지나가는 생각들에
대한 어떤 의문이 아니고, 이것은 일반적인 자부심(general conceit)의
어떤 상태를 말합니다. 우리 자신들을 속이지(deceive) 말도록 합시다,
이는 바로 이러한 속이는 행위가, 모든 거짓의 단계의 뿌리인, 모든 악
(evils)들 중에서 가장 악(the worst)이기 때문입니다. 교만(pride, 자만)에
반하여 싸우는 것은, 과거에 어떤 자가 교만은 우리들 각자가 이미 죽은
이후 24시간에라야 오로지 사라진다고 말하였던 그러한 정도에 이르기까지,
어떤 지속적인 전쟁이어야만 합니다. 하느님께서 변화시킬 수 없는 것은
바리사이(Pharisee)의 바로 그 거만(arrogrance)인데 왜냐하면 하느님께서는
그자 안에서 자족(自足, self-sufficiency)이라는 장애물(obstacle)을
발견하시기 때문입니다. 다른 이들을 경멸함으로, 그들 위에 이 행위를
주재함(lording)으로, 그들을 학대함으로, 인도하는 것은 바로 오만함
(haughtiness)입니다. 이는 '오만이 오면 수치도 오기' (잠언 11,2)
때문입니다" [[성] 호세마리아 에스크리바([St] J. Escriva), "Christ Is
Pas sing By", 6].

Gospel Reading: Luke 2:36-40

Anna's Prophecy
---------------
[36] And there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the
tribe of Ahser; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband
seven years from her virginity, [37] and as a widow till she was eighty-
four. She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and
prayer night and day. [38] And coming up at that very hour she gave
thanks to God, and spoke of Him to all who were looking for the re-
demption of Jerusalem.

The Childhood of Jesus
----------------------
[39] And when they had performed everything according to the law of
the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. [40] And
the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of
God was upon Him.

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Commentary:

36-38. Anna's testimony is very similar to Simeon's; like him, she too
has been awaiting the coming of the Messiah her whole life long, in
faithful service of God, and she too is rewarded with the joy of seeing
Him. "She spoke of Him," that is, of the Child--praising God in her
prayer and exhorting others to believe that this Child is the Messiah.

Thus, the birth of Christ was revealed by three kinds of witnesses in
three different ways--first, by the shepherds, after the angel's announ
cement; second, by the Magi, who were guided by a star; third, by
Simeon and Anna, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

All who, like Simeon and Anna, persevere in piety and in the service of
God, no matter how insignificant their lives seem in men's eyes, become
instruments the Holy Spirit uses to make Christ known to other. In His
plan of redemption God avails of these simple souls to do much good to
all mankind.

39. Before their return to Nazareth, St. Matthew tells us (2:13-23), the
Holy Family fled to Egypt where they stayed for some time.

40. "Our Lord Jesus Christ as a child, that is, as one clothed in the
fragility of human nature, had to grow and become stronger but as the
eternal Word of God He had no need to become stronger or to grow.
Hence He is rightly described as full of wisdom and grace" (St. Bede,
"In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc.").

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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.