Feast of Holy Family, Cycle A


1st Reading: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14

Duties Towards Parents
-----------------------------------
[2] For the Lord honored the father above the children, and he confirmed the
right of the mother over her sons. [3] Whoever honors his father atones for sins, 
4] and whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasure. [5] Who-
ever honors his father will he gladdened by his own children, and when he prays
he will he heard. [6] Whoever glorifies his father will have long life, and whoever
obeys the Lord will refresh his mother; [7] he will serve his parents as his
rnasters.

[12] 0 son, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he
lives; [13] even if he is lacking in understanding, show forbearance; in all your
strength do not despise him. [14] For kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
and against your sins it will be credited to you.

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Commentary:

3:1-16:23. Throughout the book each doctrinal passage is followed by a section
to do with practical applications, sapiential thoughts on moral conduct, eulogies
of virtues and sapiential advice on where to seek things that are truly good, etc.
This is the first such section. In it the reader will find an exhortation to prudence
in all its various forms.

3:1-16. Traditional wisdom encourages people to be observant and to reflect on
life in order to discover the best route to happiness. Here it focuses on the
relationship between children and their parents: honoring one’s parents brings
blessings.

However, Ben Sirach’s viewpoint is primarily a religious one. “Whoever fears the
Lord will honor his father” (v. 7, RSV note m). The Decalogue laid this down very
clearly: “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded
you; that your day may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the
land ...“ (Deut 5:16; cf. Ex 20:12), and these verses are a valuable commentary
that is generous in its praise of those who attend to that commandment. Very
appropriately, the Church uses these verses as the first reading on the feast of
the Holy Family, for God honors Mary and St Joseph by entrusting Jesus to
their care.

Finally (cf. vv. 12-26), the passage dwells on children’s duties to their parents
when they can no longer look after themselves: The fourth commandment re-
minds grown children of their "responsibilities toward their parents". As much
as they can, they must give them material and moral support in old age and in
times of illness, loneliness or distress. Jesus recalls this duty of gratitude (cf.
Mk 7:10-12)” ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 2218).


2nd Reading: Colossians 3:12-21

Progress in the Spiritual Life
-----------------------------------------
[12] Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness,
lowliness, meekness, and patience, [13] forbearing one another and, if one has a
complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so
you also must forgive. [14] And above all these put on love, which binds everything
together in perfect harmony. [15] And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to
which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. [16] Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom,
and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your
hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Morals in Family Life
------------------------------
[18] Wives, be subject to your husband as is fitting in the Lord. [19] Husbands,
love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. [20] Children, obey your parents
in everything, for this pleases the Lord. [21] Fathers, do not provoke your children,
lest they become discouraged.

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Commentary:

12-13. Putting on the new nature is not just an external action, like putting on
different clothes. It is a transfiguration involving the whole person--soul and body,
mind and will. This interior change begins to operate when one makes a firm
resolution to lead a fully Christian life; but it calls for an on-going effort, day in
day out, to practice all the virtues. "Conversion is something momentary;
sanctification is the work of a lifetime. The divine seed of charity, which God
has sown in our souls, wants to grow, to express itself in action, to yield results
which continually coincide with what God wants. Therefore, we must be ready
to begin again, to find again--in new situations--the light and the stimulus of our
first conversion" (J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 58).

The virtues which the Apostle lists here as characteristic of the new man are all
expressions, in one way or another, of charity, which "binds everything together
in total harmony" (v. 14). Meekness, patience, forgiveness and gratefulness all
reflect an essential virtue --humility. Only a humble person can be forgiving and
truly appreciative, because only he realizes that everything he has comes from
God. This realization leads him to be understanding towards his neighbor, forgi-
ving him as often as needs be; by acting in this way he is proving the genuine-
ness of his faith and love.

See the note on Eph 4:20-24.

14. The comparison of the new nature to a new outfit is extended here by a further
metaphor: charity is the belt which keeps everything together. Without it the other
virtues would fall apart: supernatural virtue could not survive (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-3). St
Francis de Sales uses simple examples to explain this truth: "Without cement
and mortar, which knits the bricks together and strengthens the walls, the entire
building is bound to collapse; a human body would simply disintegrate unless it
had nerves, muscles and tendons; and if charity were absent, virtues simply could
not stay together" (St Francis de Sales, "Treatise on the Love of God", 11, 9).

"Love, as the bond of perfection and fullness of the law (cf. Col 3:14; Rom 13:10),
governs, imbues, and perfects all the means of sanctification" (Vatican II, "Lumen
Gentium", 42). Therefore, "if we want to achieve holiness--in spite of personal
shortcomings and miseries which will last as long as we live--we must make an
effort, with God's grace, to practice charity, which is the fullness of the law and
the bond of perfection. Charity is not something abstract, it entails a real,
complete, self-giving to the service of God and all men --to the service of that God
who speaks to us in the silence of prayer and in the hubbub of the world and of
those people whose existence is interwoven with our own. By living charity--Love
--we live all the human and supernatural virtues required of a Christian" (J. Escriva,
"Conversations", 62).

15. The "peace of Christ" is that which flows from the new order of grace which
he has established; grace gives man direct access to God and therefore to that
peace he so much yearns for. "Thou has made us for thyself and our hearts are
restless till they rest in thee" (St Augustine, "Confessions", 1, 1). This is not a
peace the world can give (cf. Jn 14:27), because it is not a function of purely
material progress or well-being, nor does it derive from the sort of peace that
should obtain among nations. "Peace on earth, which men of every era have
most eagerly yearned for, can be firmly established only if the order laid down
by God is dutifully observed" (John XXIII, "Pacem In Terris", 1).

The peace of Christ, then, is "a peace that comes from knowing that our Father
God loves us, and that we are made one with Christ. It results from being under
the protection of the Virgin, our Lady, and assisted by St Joseph. This is the
great light that illuminates our lives. In the midst of difficulties and of our personal
failings, it encourages us to keep up our effort" (J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By",
22).

16. "The word of Christ": the whole corpus of our Lord's teachings, of which the
Apostles are accredited witnesses. This should be ever-present to the Christian's
soul and "dwell...richly" in him, imbuing everything he does: the word of Christ is
the best nourishment of one's life of prayer and an inexhaustible source of prac-
tical teaching; and it is to be found in the first instance in the books of the New
Testament. St John Chrysostom says that these writings "are teachers which
never cease to instruct us [...]. Open these books. What a treasury of good
remedies they contain! [...]. All you need do is look at the book, read it and
remember well the wise teachings therein. The source of all our evils is our
ignorance of the sacred books" ("Hom. on Col, ad loc.").

St Paul also reminds us that our appreciation should lead us to glorify the Lord
with songs of joy and gratitude. We can use ready-made hymns for this purpose,
and also the Psalms, which the Church has always used in its liturgy to praise
God and to nourish the spiritual life. "Just as the mouth savors good food, so
does the heart savor the Psalms" (St Bernard, "Sermons on the Song of Songs",
7, 5).

See the note on Eph 5:19.

17. All genuinely human things can and should be sanctified (cf. 1 Cor 10:31),
by being done perfectly and for love of God.

The Second Vatican Council has recalled this teaching: "Lay people [...], while
meeting their human obligations in the ordinary conditions of life, should not
separate their union with Christ from their ordinary life; through the very perfor-
mance of their tasks, which are God's will for them, they actually promote the
growth of their union with him. This is the path along which lay people must
advance, fervently, joyfully" ("Apostolicam Actuositatem", 4).

This teaching was very much part of the message and life of the founder of Opus
Dei: "I assure you, my children, that when a Christian carries out with love the
most insignificant everyday action, that action overflows with the transcendence
of God. That is why I have told you repeatedly, and hammered away once and
again on the idea, that the Christian vocation consists in making heroic verse
out of the prose of each day. Heaven and earth seem to merge, my children, on
the horizon. But where they really meet is in your hearts, when you sanctify your
everyday lives" ("Conversations", 116).

The Second Vatican Council also sees in this passage of Colossians a basis for
ecumenical dialogue with non-Catholics: "And if in moral matters there are many
Christians who do not always understand the Gospel in the same way as Catho-
lics, and do not admit the same solutions for the more difficult problems of modern
society, they nevertheless want to cling to Christ's word as the source of Christian
virtue and to obey the command of the Apostle: [Col 3:17 follows]" ("Unitatis
Redintegratio", 23).

18-19. In the period when this epistle was written, especially in the East, women
were regarded as inferior to men. St Paul does not make a direct attack on the
customs of his time, but the way he focuses the question of the role of women
provides the elements of an answer to it. He identifies what a woman's role in the
family should be: it is true that the husband has an important part to play, but the
wife also has a role to perform and one which is non-transferable. The wife is not
the husband's slave: she is his equal in dignity and must be treated by him with
respect and sincere love. It is taken for granted that the family needs a center of
authority, and that this authority belongs to the husband, in accordance with
God's design (cf. 1 Cor 11:3, 12-14). "The place and task of the father in and for
the family is of unique and irreplaceable importance [...]. In revealing and in
reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God (cf. Eph 3:15), a man is called upon
to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the
family" (John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio", 25).

God gave Eve to Adam as his inseparable companion and complement (cf. Gen
2:18); she was therefore duty-bound to live in peace with him. Man and woman
have different, though complementary, roles in family life; they are equal in
dignity, by virtue of the fact that they are human persons: "The unity of marriage,
distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity
which must be accorded to man and woman in mutual and unreserved affection"
(Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 49).

Therefore, a husband should make a special effort to love and respect his wife:
"You are not her master", writes Saint Ambrose, "but her husband; she was not
given to you to be your slave, but your wife [...]. Reciprocate her attentiveness to
you and be grateful to her for her love" ("Exameron", 5, 7, 19 quoted in "Familiaris
Consortio", 25).

See the note on Eph 5:22-24 and 5:25-33.

20-21. Children should obey their parents in everything, as God has commanded
(cf. Ex 20:12; Sir 3:8ff)--a commandment which shows that this is something which
is part of human nature. Obviously for a child's obedience to "please the Lord" it
must not involve doing anything that is opposed to God's will, for Jesus taught that
"he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Mt 10:37).

For their part, parents must do everything they can to bring up their children well.
In every family there should be an "educational exchange between parents and
children (cf. Eph 6:1-4; Col 3:20f) in which each gives and receives. By means of
love, respect and obedience towards their parents, children offer their specific and
irreplaceable contribution to the construction of an authentically human and
Christian family (cf. "Gaudium Et Spes", 48). They will be aided in this if parents
exercise their unrenounceable authority as a true and proper 'ministry', that is, as
a service to the human and Christian well-being of their children, and in particular
as a service aimed at helping them acquire a truly responsible freedom"
("Familiaris Consortio", 21).

See the note on Eph 6:1-4.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

The Flight Into Egypt
------------------------------
[13] Now when they (the Magi) had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the Child and His mother,
and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search
for the Child, to destroy Him." [14] And he rose and took the Child and His
mother by night, and departed to Egypt, [15]and remained there until the death
of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of
Egypt have I called My Son."

The Return to Nazareth
----------------------------------
[19] But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt, saying, [20] "Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to
the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." [21] And he
rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. [22] But
when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the
district of Galilee. [23] And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that
what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a
Nazarene."

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Commentary:

14. St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, draws a particular
attention to Joseph's faithfulness and obedience: "On hearing this, Joseph
was not scandalized, nor did he say, `This is hard to understand. You yourself
told me not long ago that He would save His people, and not He is not able to
save even Himself. Indeed, we have to flee and undertake a journey and be
away for a long time...'. But he does not say any of these things, because
Joseph is a faithful man. Neither does he ask when they will be coming back,
even though the angel had left it open when he said `and remain there till I tell
you.' This does not hold him back: on the contrary, he obeys, believes and
endures all trials with joy" ("Hom. on St. Matthew", 8).

It is worth noting also how God's way of dealing with His chosen ones contains
light and shade: they have to put up with intense sufferings side by side with
great joy: "It can be clearly seen that God, who is full of love for man, mixes
pleasant things with unpleasant ones, as He did with all the Saints. He gives
us neither dangers nor consolations in a continual way, but rather He makes
the lives of the just a mixture of both. This was what He did with Joseph"
("ibid".).

15. The text of Hosea 11:1 speaks of a child who comes out of Egypt and is a
son of God. This refers in the first place to the people of Israel whom God
brought out of Egypt under Moses' leadership. But this event was a symbol or
prefiguration of Jesus, the Head of the Church, the New People of God. It is in
Him that this prophecy is principally fulfilled. The sacred text gives a quotation
from the Old Testament in the light of its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The Old
Testament achieves its full meaning in Christ, and, in the words of St. Paul, to
read it without keeping in mind J

22. History tells us that Archelaus was ambitious and cruel like his father. By
the time Joseph returned from Egypt, the new king was quite notorious.

"In the different circumstances of his life, St. Joseph never refuses to think, never
neglects his responsibilities. On the contrary, he puts his human experience at
the service of faith. When he returns from Egypt, learning `that Archelaus reigned
over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.' In other words,
he had learned to work within the Divine Plan. And to confirm that he was doing
the right thing, Joseph received an instruction to return to Galilee" ([Blessed] J.
Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 42).

23. Nazareth, where the Anunciation had taken place (Luke 1:26), was a tiny and
insignificant Palestinian village. It was located in Galilee, the most northerly part
of the country. The term "Nazarene" refers to Jesus' geographic origin, but His
critics used it as term of abuse when He began His mission (John 1:46). Even
in the time of St. Paul the Jews tried to humiliate the Christians by calling them
Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). Many prophets predicted that the Messiah would suffer
poverty and contempt (Isaiah 52:2ff.; Jeremiah 11:19; Psalm 22), but the words
"He shall be called a Nazarene" are not to be found as such in any prophetic
text. They are, as St. Jerome points out, a summary of the prophets' teaching
in a short and expressive phrase.

23. 거기서 수태고지(Anunciation)가 있었던 나자렛(Nazareth)은 한 개의 아주 작은 
그리고 중요하지 않은 팔레스티나 지역의 고을이었습니다. 이 고을은 갈릴래아 지역에 
위치해 있었으며, 이 지방의 가장 북쪽 부분이었습니다. "나자렛 사람(Nazarene)" 
이라는 용어는 예수님의 지리학적 출처(geographic origin)에 대한 언급이나, 그러나 
당신께서 당신의 사역(mission)을 시작하셨을 때에 당신의 비난자들은 이것을 욕하는 말
(term of abuse)로서 사용하였습니다 (요한 복음서 1,46). 심지어 성 바오로(St. Paul)
의 시기에 있어서도 유다인(the Jews)들은 그리스도인들(Christians)을 나자렛 
사람들(Nazarenes)이라고 부름으로써 그들에게 창피를 주려고(humiliates) 시도
하였습니다 (사도행전 24,5). 많은 수의 예언자들은 메시아께서 가난과 모욕을 겪을 
것임을 예언하였으나 (이사야 52,2 및 이어지는 몇 개의 절들; 예레미야 11,19; 시편 22), 
그러나 "그는 나자렛 사람이라고 불릴 것이다" (마태오 복음서 2,23) 라는 표현은 어느 
예언적 본문에서 그러한 표현으로서 발견되지 않습니다. 이 표현은, 성 예로니모
(St. Jerome)가 지적하듯이, 한 개의 아주 작은 그리고 의미있는(expressive) 구절에 
대한 예언자들의 가르침에 대한 요약입니다.

However, St. Jerome himself (cf. "Comm. on Isaiah", 11:1) says that the name
"Nazarene" fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1: Christ is the "shoot" ("nezer", in
Hebrew) of the entire race of Abraham and David.

그러나 성 예로니모는 [cf. "Comm. on Isaiah", 11:1] "나자렛 사람" 이라는 이름
(name)이 이사야서 11,1의 예언을 구현한다고 말합니다: 그리스도께서는 아브라함
(Abraham)과 다윗(David)의 전체 자손(race)의 "새싹(shoot)" (히브리어로 "nezer") 
이십니다.

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번역자 주: 예수님께서 '나자렛 사람'으로 불리는 이유에 대한 좀 더 자세한 내용을 다루고 
있는 다음의 글을 또한 참고하라:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/1123.htm 　
-----

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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. 그리고 우리말 번역에 대한 
저작권은 엮은이에게 있으며, 본문 중의 우리말 번역문들을 복사하여 가져가는 것을
허락하지 않습니다.]