January 7 

1st Reading: 1 John 5:14-21

Prayer for Sinners
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[14] And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything
according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in
whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.
[16] 1f anyone sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will
ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin
which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. [17] All wrongdoing is
sin, but there is sin which is not mortal.

The Christian's Confidence as a Child of God
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[18] We know that anyone born of God does not sin, but he who was born of
God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

[19] We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the
evil one.

[20] And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding,
to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life. [21] Little children, keep yourselves from
idols.

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Commentary:

13-21. St John's words in v. 13 are evocative of the first epilogue to his Gospel,
where he explains why he wrote that book: "that you may believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name"
(Jn 20:31). In this verse of the letter, the Apostle stresses the efficacy of faith,
which is already an anticipation of eternal life (cf. notes on 1 Jn 3:2; 5:9-12).

His final counsels are designed to strengthen our confidence in prayer and to
urge the need for prayer on behalf of sinners (vv. 14-17); they also stress the
conviction and confidence that faith in the Son of God gives the believer (vv.
18-21).

14-15. Earlier, the Apostle referred to confidence in prayer and to how we can
be sure of receiving what we pray for: that confidence comes from the fact that
"we keep his commandments and do what pleases him" (1 Jn 3:22). Now he
stresses that God always listens to us, if we ask "according to his will". This
condition can be taken in two ways, as St Bede briefly explains: "Insofar as
we ask for the things he desires, and insofar as those of us who approach him
are as he desires us to be" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc."). The asker therefore
needs to strive to live in accordance with God's will, and to identify himself in
advance with God's plans. If one does not try to live in keeping with God's
commandments, one cannot expect him to listen to one's prayers.

When prayer meets those requirements, "we know that we have obtained the
requests made of him", as our Lord himself assured us: "if you ask anything in
my name, I will do it" (Jn 14:14). "It is not surprising, then," the Cure of Ars
teaches, "that the devil should do everything possible to influence us to give up
prayer or to pray badly, because he knows better than we do how terrible it is
for hell and how impossible it is that God should refuse us what we ask him for
in prayer. How many sinners would get out of sin if they managed to have
recourse to prayer!" ("Selected Sermons", Fifth Sunday after Easter).

16-17. "Mortal sin": the meaning of the original text is "sin which leads to death".
The gravity of this sin (St John does not specify its exact nature) recalls the
gravity of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 12:31-32) and of the sin of
apostasy which Hebrews speaks of (Heb 6:4-8).

The Fathers have interpreted this expression in various ways, referring to different
grave sins. In the context of the letter (in the previous chapters St John often
speaks about the antichrists and false prophets who "went out" from the commu-
nity: 2:19) the best interpretation seems to be that of St Bede and St Augustine,
who apply it to the sin of the apostate who, in addition, attacks the faith of other
Christians. "My view is", St Augustine says, "that the sin unto death is the sin
of the brother who, after knowing God by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
attacks brotherly union and in a passion of envy reacts against that very grace
by which he was reconciled to God" ("De Sermo Dom. in monte",l, 22, 73).

If St John does not expressly command his readers to pray for these sinners,
it does not mean that they are beyond recovery, or that it is useless to pray for
them. Pope St Gelasius I teaches: "There is a sin of death for those who persist
in that same sin; there is a sin not of death for those who desist from sin. There
is, certainly, no sin for the pardon of which the Church does not pray or from
which, by the power which was divinely granted to it, it cannot absolve those
who desist from it" ("Ne forte").

Referring to this passage of St John, Pope John Paul II says: "Obviously, the
concept of death here is a spiritual death. It is a question of the loss of the true
life or 'eternal life', which for John is knowledge of the Father and the Son (cf.
Jn 17:3), and communion and intimacy with them. In that passage the sill that
leads to death seems to be the denial of the Son (cf. 1 Jn 2:22), or the worship
of false gods (cf. 1 Jn 5:21). At any rate, by this distinction of concepts John
seems to wish to emphasize the incalculable seriousness of what constitutes
the very essence of sin, namely the rejection of God. This is manifested above
all in apostasy and idolatry: repudiating faith in revealed truth and, making certain
created realities equal to God, raising them to the status of idols"; and false
gods (cf. 1 Jn 5:16-21)." And after referring to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
(cf. Mt 12:31-32) he adds: "Here of course it is a question of extreme and radical
manifestations--rejection of God, rejection of his grace, and therefore opposition
to the very source of salvation (cf. St Thomas, "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 14,
a. 1-3)--these are manifestations whereby a person seems to exclude himself
voluntarily from the path of forgiveness. It is to be hoped that very few persist to
the end in this attitude of rebellion or even defiance of God. Moreover, God in his
merciful love is greater than our hearts, as St John further teaches us (cf.
1 Jn 3:20), and can overcome all our psychological and spiritual resistance. So
that, as St Thomas writes, 'considering the omnipotence and mercy of God, no
one should despair of the salvation of anyone in this life' ("Summa Theologiae,
II-II, q. 14, a. 3, ad 1)" ("Reconciliatio et Paenitentia", 17).

18-20. "We know": each of these verses begins this way. He does not mean
theoretical knowledge but that understanding that comes from living faith. St
John is once again stressing the Christian's joyful confidence, which he has
expounding throughout the letter (cf. 2:3-6 and note). This confidence is groun-
ded on three basic truths: 1) he who is born of God does not sin (cf. 1 Jn 3:6-9
and note); 2) "we are of God", and therefore we are particularly free of the world,
which is still in the power of the evil one (cf. 4:4; 5:12); 3) the Son of God has
become man (cf. 4:2; 5:1). The incarnation of the Word is the central truth
which sheds light on the two previous ones, because our supernatural insight is
the effect of the Incarnation (v. 20): Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is also
eternal life, for only in him can we attain that life.

18. "In this Johannine affirmation", Pope John Paul II teaches, "there is an
indication of hope, based on the divine promises: the Christian has received the
guarantee and the necessary strength not to sin. It is not a question therefore of
a sinlessness acquired through one's own virtue or even inherent in man, as the
Gnostics thought. It is a result of God's action. In order not to sin the Christian
has knowledge of God, as St John reminds us in this same passage. But a little
earlier he had written: 'No one born of God commits sin; for God's seed [RSV:
"nature"] abides in him' (1 Jn 3:9). If by 'God's seed' we understand, as some
commentators suggest, Jesus the Son of God, then we can say that in order not
to sin, or in order to gain freedom from sin, the Christian has within himself the
presence of Christ and the mystery of Christ, which is the mystery of God's
loving kindness" ("Reconciliatio et Paentientia", 20).

19. "The whole world is in the power of the evil one": although the Greek term
may be neuter and would allow a more abstract translation ("in the power of evil"),
it is more consistent with the context to take it in a personal sense. St John is
pointing up the contrast between Christ's followers and those of the evil one:
whereas the world (in the pejorative sense) is like a slave in the power of the devil,
true Christians are in Christ, as free people, with a share in Christ's own life. "We
have been born of God through grace and have been reborn in Baptism through
faith. On the other hand, those who love the world are in the power of the enemy,
be it because they have not yet been liberated from him by the waters of regene-
ration or because, after their rebirth, they have once more submitted to his rule
through sinning" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc.").

20. "Him who is true": that is, the only true God as distinct from false gods; the
Jews used to refer to God as "the True", without naming him. When St John goes
on to say that "we are in him, who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ", he is
confessing the divinity of Christ and the fact that he is the only mediator between
the Father and mankind.

21. Although at first sight, this formal exhortation may seem surprising, it was
appropriate in its time, because these first Christians were living in the midst of
a pagan world, and were exposed to the danger of idolatry.

However, St John may be speaking metaphorically: the true danger facing
Christians, then and now, is that of following the idols of the heart--that is, sin;
in which case he is giving this final counsel: Keep away from sin, be on guard
against those whose fallacious arguments could lead you to sin.

Gospel Reading: John 2:1-11

The Wedding at Cana
-------------------
[1] On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the
mother of Jesus was there; [2] Jesus also was invited to the marriage,
with his disciples. [3] When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said
to him, "They have no wine." [4] And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what
have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." [5] His mother said
to the servants. "Do whatever he tells you." [6] Now six stone jars were
standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or
thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they
filled them up to the brim. [8] He said to them, "Now draw some out, and
take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. [9] When the steward
of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where
it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the
steward of the feast called the bridegroom [10] and said to him, "Every
man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then
the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine till now. " [11] This, the
first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory;
and his disciples believed in him. 

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Commentary:

1. Cana in Galilee was probably what is now Kef Kenna, seven kilometers
(four miles) north-east of Nazareth.

The first guest to be mentioned is Mary: St Joseph is not mentioned,
which cannot be put down to St John's forgetfulness: his silence here
and on other occasions in his Gospel leads us to believe that Joseph
had already died.

The wedding celebrations lasted quite a while in the East (Gen 29:27;
Judg 14:10, 12, 17; Job 9:12; 10:1). In the course of the celebrations
relatives and friends would come to greet the newly-weds; even people
passing through could join in the celebration. Wine was regarded as an
indispensable element in meals and also helped to create a festive
atmosphere. The women looked after the catering: here our Lady would
have lent a hand, which was how she realized they were running out of
wine.

2. "To show that all states in life are good, [...] Jesus deigned to be
born in the pure womb of the Virgin Mary; soon after he was born he
received praise from the prophetic lips of Anna, a widow, and, invited
in his youth by the betrothed couple, he honored the wedding with the
power of his presence" (St Bede, "Hom. 13", for the second Sunday after
the Epiphany). Christ's presence at the wedding at Cana is a sign that
he blesses love between man and woman joined in marriage: God
instituted marriage at the beginning of creation (cf. Gen 1:27-28);
Jesus confirmed it and raised it to the dignity of a sacrament (cf. Mt
19:6).

3. In the Fourth Gospel the Mother of Jesus--this is the title St John
gives her--appears only twice: once here, and the other time on Calvary
(Jn 19:25). This suggests Mary's involvement in the redemption. A num-
ber of analogies can be drawn between Cana and Calvary. They are
located at the beginning and at the end of Jesus' public life, as if to
show that Mary is present in everything that Jesus did. Her title--
Mother--carries very special tones: Mary acts as Jesus' true Mother
at these two points in which his divinity is being revealed. Also, both
episodes demonstrate Mary's special solicitude towards everyone: in
one case she intercedes when "the hour" has not yet come; in the other
she offers the Father the redeeming death of her Son, and accepts the
mission Jesus confers on her to be the Mother of all believers, who are
represented on Calvary by the beloved disciple.

"In the public life of Jesus Mary appears prominently; at the very begin-
ning when at the marriage feast of Cana, moved with pity, she brought
about by her intercession the beginning of the miracles of Jesus the
Messiah (cf. John 2:1-11). In the course of her Son's preaching she
received the words whereby, in extolling a kingdom beyond the concerns
and ties of flesh and blood, he declared blessed those who heard and
kept the word of God (cf. Mk 3:35; Lk 11:27-28) as she was faithfully
doing (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgri-
mage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto
the cross, where she stood (cf. Jn 19:25), in line with the divine plan,
enduring with her only-begotten Son the intensity of his passion, with
his sacrifice, associating herself in her mother's heart, and lovingly con-
senting to the immolation of this victim which was born of her. Finally,
she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross as a
mother to his disciple, with these words: 'Woman, behold thy son'\
(Jn 19:26-27)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 58).

4. For the meaning of the words of this verse see the section on our
Lady in the "Introduction" above (pp. 35ff). It should also be said that the
Gospel account of this dialogue between Jesus and his Mother does not
give us his gestures, tone of voice etc.: to us, for example, his answer
sounds harsh, as if he were saying, "This is no concern of ours". But
that was not the case.

Woman" is a respectful title, rather like "lady" or "madam"; it is a formal
way of speaking. On the Cross Jesus will use the same word with great
affection and veneration (Jn 19:26).

[The sentence rendered What have you to do with me?" (RSV) is the
subject of a note in RSVCE which says "while this expression always
implies a divergence of view, the precise meaning is to be determined
by the context, which here shows that it is not an unqualified rebuttal,
still less a rebuke." The Navarre Spanish is the equivalent of "What has
it to do with you and me?"] The sentence "What has it to do with you
and me?" is an Oriental way of speaking which can have different nuan-
ces. Jesus' reply seems to indicate that although in principle it was not
part of God's plan for him to use his power to solve the problem the wed-
ding feast had run into, our Lady's request moves him to do precisely
that. Also, one could surmise that God's plan envisaged that Jesus
should work the miracle at his Mother's request. In any event, God willed
that the Revelation of the New Testament should include this important
teaching: so influential is our Lady's intercession that God will listen to
all petitions made through her; which is why Christian piety, with theolo-
gical accuracy, has called our Lady "supplicant omnipotence".

"My hour has not yet come": the term "hour" is sometimes used by Jesus
to designate the moment of his coming in glory (cf. Jn 5:28), but generally
it refers to the time of his passion, death and resurrection (cf. Jn 7:30;
12:23; 13:1; 17:1).

5. Like a good mother, the Virgin Mary knows perfectly well what her son's
reply means--though to us it is ambiguous ("What has it to do with you and
me?"): she is confident that Jesus will do something to come to the family's
rescue. This is why she tells the servants so specifically to do what Jesus
tells them. These words of our Lady can be seen as a permanent invitation
to each of us: "in that all Christian holiness consists: for perfect holiness
is obeying Christ in all things" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Comm. on St John,
in loc.").

We find the same attitude in Pope John Paul II's prayer at our Lady's shrine
at Knock, when he consecrated the Irish people to God: "At this solemn
moment we listen with particular attention to your words: "Do whatever my
Son tells you". And we wish to respond to your words with all our heart. We
wish to do what your Son tells us, what he commands us, for he has the
words of eternal life. We wish to carry out and fulfill all that comes from him,
all that is contained in the Good News, as our forefathers did for many cen-
turies. [...] Today, therefore, [...] we entrust and consecrate to you, Mother
of Christ and Mother of the Church, our hearts, our consciences, and our
works, in order that they may be in keeping with the faith we profess. We
entrust and consecrate to you each and every one of those who make up
both the community of the Irish people and the community of the People of
God living in this land" ("Homily at Knock Shrine", 30 September 1979)."

6. We are talking about 500-700 liters (100-l50 gallons) of top quality wine.
St John stresses the magnificence of the gift produced by the miracle--as
he also does at the multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6:12-13). One of the
signs of the arrival of the Messiah was abundance; here we have the fulfill-
ment of the ancient prophecies: "the Lord will give what is good, and our
land will yield its increase", as Psalm 85:12 proclaims; "the threshing
floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil" (Joel
2:24; cf. Amos 9:13-15). This abundance of material goods is a symbol of
the supernatural gifts Christ obtains for us through the Redemption: later
on St John highlights our Lord's words: "I came that they may have life,
and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10; cf. Rom 5:20).

7. "Up to the brim": the evangelist gives us this further piece of information
to emphasize the superabundance of the riches of Redemption and also to
show how very precisely the servants did what they were told, as if hinting
at the importance of docility in fulfilling the will of God, even in small details.

9-10. Jesus works miracles in a magnificent way; for example, in the multi-
plication of the loaves and fish (cf. Jn 6:10-13) he feeds five thousand men
-- who eat as much as they want--and the left-overs fill twelve baskets. In
this present miracle he does not change the water into just any wine but
into wine of excellent quality.

The Fathers see in this good wine, kept for the end of the celebrations, and
in its abundance, a prefiguring of the crowning of the history of salvation:
formerly God sent the patriarchs and prophets, but in the fullness of time
he sent his own Son, whose teaching perfects the old Revelation and whose
grace far exceeds the expectations of the righteous in the Old Testament.
They also have seen, in this good wine coming at the end, the reward and
joy of eternal life which God grants to those who desire to follow Christ and
who have suffered bitterness and contradiction in this life (cf. St Thomas
Aquinas, "Commentary on St John, in loc.").

11. Before he worked this miracle the disciples already believed that Jesus
was the Messiah; but they had too earthbound a concept of his salvific
mission. St John testifies here that this miracle was the beginning of a new
dimension in their faith; it became much deeper. "At Cana, Mary appears
once more as the Virgin in prayer: when she tactfully told her Son of a tem-
poral need, she also obtained an effect of grace, namely, that Jesus, in
working the first of his 'signs', confirmed his disciples' faith in him" (Paul
VI, "Marialis Cultus", 18).

"Why are Mary's prayers so effective with God? The prayers of the saints
are prayers of servants, whereas Mary's are a Mother's prayer, whence
flows their efficacy and their authority; and since Jesus has immense love
for his Mother, she cannot pray without being listened to. [...]

"To understand Mary's great goodness, let us remember what the Gospel
says. [...] There was a shortage of wine, which naturally worried the
married couple. No one asks the Blessed Virgin to intervene and request
her Son to come to the rescue of the couple. But Mary's heart cannot but
take pity on the unfortunate couple [...]; it stirs her to act as intercessor
and ask her Son for the miracle, even though no one asks her to. [...] If
our Lady acted like this without being asked, what would she not have
done if they actually asked her to intervene?" (St Alphonsus, "Sunday
Sermons", 48).



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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.

[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].