Monday

2nd Week of Advent

1st Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10

Promise of Redemption
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[1] The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and
blossom; like the crocus [2] it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy
and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel
and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.

[3] Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. [4] Say to
those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come
with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." [5]
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
[6] then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for
joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; [7]
the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and
rushes.

[8] And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the
unclean shall not pass over it, and fools shall not err therein. [9] No lion shall be
there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there. [10] And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

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Commentary:

35:1-10 The focus now changes with this hymn celebrating Zion, the holy city.
It presents a picture of the restored Jerusalem in language reminiscent of that
of chapters 11 and 12. God who manifested his presence and protection during
the exodus, when Israel came up out of Egypt, will do so again in wonderful ways
as the redeemed flock back home to Zion. He will show them the route and give
them a highway and be with them in a sort of solemn procession to where he
dwells (v. 8). Just as in Babylon there was a "Holy Way" lined with statues of
lions and dragons that led to the temple of Marduk, the redeemed will have a
truly "Holy Way" to take them to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. The joy of
the returnees is compounded by the instant cure of the blind, deaf and lame (cf.
29:18-19), which is an anticipation of what will happen in the messianic era.

The miracles worked by Jesus demonstrate that the moment of true redemption
foreseen indistinctly by the prophets has come to pass (cf. Mt 11:2-6). St Justin,
showing the Jew Tryphon that this prophecy found fulfillment in Christ, points out:
"Christ is the stream of living water that flows from God; he sprang up in the
desert wastes of ignorance of God; that is, in the parched earth of all the nations.
He, who was born among your people, cured those who were blind from birth,and
the deaf and the lame: by his word alone, they leapt and heard and saw once
more. He raised the dead and gave them new life, and by all his good works
prompted men to see Him for who he is. [...] He did all these things to convince
those who were to believe in him, whatever bodily defects they might have, that
if they obeyed the teachings that he gave them, he would raise them up again at
his Second Coming and make them whole and perfect and immortal as He is"
("Dialogus Cum Tryphone", 69,6).

The Church uses this passage from Isaiah in the Advent liturgy (3rd Sunday,
Cycle A) to encourage the faithful in joyous hope that God will come and bring
salvation.


Gospel Reading: Luke 5:17-26

The Cure of the Paralytic in Capernaum
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[17] On one of those days, as He (Jesus) was teaching, there were Pharisees
and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come from every village of Galilee
and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with Him to heal.
[18] And behold, men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and
they sought to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; [19] but finding no way to
bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down
with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. [20] And when He
saw their faith He said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." [21] And the scribes
and the Pharisees began to question, saying, "Who is this that speaks blas-
phemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?" [22] When Jesus perceived
their questionings, He answered them, "Why do you question in your hearts?
[23] Which is easier, to say, `Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, `Rise and
walk'? [24] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth
to forgive sins"--He said to the man who was paralyzed--"I say to you, rise,
take up your bed and go home." [25] And immediately he rose before them,
and took up that on which he lay, and went home, glorifying God. [26] And
amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe,
saying, "We have seen strange things today."

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Commentary:

17. A little earlier, beside the lake, Jesus addressed His teaching to crowds
(verses 1ff). Here His audience includes some of the most educated Jews.
Christ desired not only to teach but also to cure everyone--spiritually and,
sometimes, physically, as He will soon do in the case of the paralytic. The
evangelist's observation at the end of this verse reminds us that our Lord is
ever-ready to use His omnipotence for our good: "I know the plans I have for
you, plans for welfare and not for evil', God declared through the prophet
Jeremiah (29:11). The liturgy applies these words to Jesus, for in Him we
are clearly shown that God does love us in this way. He did not come to
condemn us, to accuse us of meanness and smallness. He came to save
us, pardon us, excuse us, bring us peace and joy." ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ
Is Passing By", 165). On this occasion also Jesus wanted to benefit His
listeners, even though some of them would not receive this divine gift because
they were not well-disposed.

19-20. Our Lord is touched when He sees these friends of the paralytic putting
their faith into practice: they had gone up onto the roof, taken off some of the
tiles and lowered the bed down in front of Jesus.Friendship and faith combine in
obtaining a miraculous cure. The paralytic himself had a like faith: he let himself
be carried around, brought up onto the roof and so forth. Seeing such solid faith
Jesus gives them even more than they expect: He cures the man's body and,
what is much more, cures his soul. Perhaps He does this, as St. Bede
suggests (cf. "In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc."), to show two things: that
the illness was a form of punishment for his sins and therefore the paralytic
could only get up once these sins had been forgiven; and that others' faith and
prayer can move God to work miracles.

In some way, the paralytic symbolizes everyone whose sins prevent him from
reaching God. For example, St. Ambrose says: "How great is the Lord who on
account of the merits of some pardon others, and while praising the former
absolves the latter![...] Therefore, let you, who judge, learn to pardon; you, who
are ill, learn to beg for forgiveness And if the gravity of your sins causes you to
doubt the possibility of being forgiven, have recourse to intercessors, have
recourse to the Church, who will pray for you, and the Lord will grant you, out
of love for her, what He might have refused you" (St. Ambrose, "Expositio
Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").

Apostolic work should be motivated by desire to help people find Jesus Christ. 
Among other things it calls for daring--as we see in the friends of the paralytic;
and it also needs the intercession of the saints, whose help we seek because
we feel God will pay more attention to them than to us sinners.

24. Our Lord is going to perform a public miracle to prove that He is endowed
with invisible, spiritual power. Christ, the only Son of the Father, has power to
forgive sins because He is God, and He uses this power on our behalf as our
Mediator and Redeemer (Luke 22:20; John 20:17-18, 28: 1 Timothy 2:5-6;
Colossians 2:13-14; Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 1:9; Isaiah 53:4-5). Jesus used this
power personally when He was on earth and after ascending into Heaven He
still uses it, through the Apostles and their successors.

A sinner is like a paralytic in God's presence. The Lord is going to free him of
his paralysis, forgiving him his sins and enabling him to walk by giving him grace
once more. In the sacrament of Penance, if Jesus Christ, "sees us cold,
unwilling, rigid perhaps with the stiffness of a dying interior life, His tears will be
our life: `I say to you, My friend, arise and walk,' (cf. John 11:43; Luke 5:24),
leave that narrow life which is no life at all" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing
By," 193).

　

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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].