All Saints Day (November 1), 모든 성인 대축일 (11월 1일)
1st Reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
The Great Multitude of the Saved
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[2] Then I (John) saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun, with the
seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had
been given power to harm earth and sea, [3] saying, "Do not harm the earth or
the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their fore-
heads." [4] And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thou-
sand sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.
[9] After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number,
from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their
hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who
sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!" [11] And all the angels stood round the
throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their
faces before the throne and worshipped God, [12] saying, "Amen! Blessing and
glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our
God for ever and ever! Amen."
[13] Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in
white robes, and whence have they come?" [14] I said to him, "Sir, you know."
And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation;
they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
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Commentary:
1-17. This chapter consists of two visions designed to illustrate God's protection
of Christians and the happy circumstances of the martyrs. The victory of the
Church is depicted--of the entire Church, made up of people from the four points
of the compass (vv. 9-12). What is not so clear, however, is who the one hundred
and fort four thousand are, drawn from the twelve tribes of Israel, whom an angel
has marked with the seal of the living God (vv. 1-8). Some commentators inter-
pret them as all being Christians of Jewish background (Judaeo-Christians). O-
thers say that they are those who make up the new Israel which St Paul speaks
about in Galatians 6:17; that is, all the baptized viewed first as still engaged in
their battle (vv. 1-8) and then after they have won victory (vv. 9-17). The most plau-
sible interpretation is that the one hundred and forty four thousand stand for the
Jews converted to Christianity (as distinct from those not converted) --the 'rem-
nant of Israel' (cf. Is 4:2-4; Ezek 9; etc.). St Paul says that they prove the irrevo-
cable nature of God's election (cf. Rom 1l:1-5) and are the first-fruits of the resto-
ration which will come about at the End (cf. Rom 11:25-32).
The hundred and forty-four thousand are included in the second vision; they would
be part of the great multitude "from all tribes and people and tongues". Thus, the
vision in vv. 9-17 takes in the entire Church without any distinctions, whereas the
vision in vv. 1-8 can refer only to a part of the Church--those Jews who, by beco-
ming Christians, made up the original nucleus of the Church. The Church admits
these on the same basis as all those who become Christians later without having
had to pass through any stage of Jewish observance.
1-8. In Jewish tradition angels were divided into two groups--angels of the Pre-
sence and sanctification, and those charged with controlling the forces of nature.
Both kinds appear in this passage.
According to the custom of the time, when something bore the mark of a seal or
brand that meant that it belonged to the seal's owner. This passage is saying
that the one hundred and forty four thousand belong to God and therefore will be
protected by him as his property. This fulfills what Ezekiel prophesied about the
inhabitants of Jerusalem (cf. Ezek 9:1-7): some would be sealed on the forehead
with a tax (the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet) and would therefore escape the
punishment to be inflicted on all the rest: this shows the special way God makes
provision for those who are his not only because he created them but also by a
new title.
The Fathers of the Church saw this mark as symbolizing the character Baptism
impresses on the souls of the faithful to show that they are destined for eternal
life. Thus, the persons preserved from harm are the Jews who were converts to
Christianity: their Baptism marked them out from those Jews who rejected Christ
and were not baptized.
The list of tribes is somewhat different from the usual list which keeps the order
of Genesis 29. The name of Judah is put first because the Messiah came from
that tribe, as St John recently mentioned (cf. 5:5); and there is no mention of the
ribe of Dan, presumably because it fell into idolatry (cf. Judg 17-18) and eventual-
ly disappeared. To make up the tally of twelve the tribe of Joseph is mentioned
twice--as that of Joseph and as that of Manasseh, his first-born.
The number of those sealed (12 x 12 x 1000) symbolizes completeness, totality
--in this instance, a huge multitude, depicted as the new Israel. Included in this
number are the descendants of Jacob who receive Baptism, irrespective of when
they do. Obviously this number is not meant to be taken literally, as if only one
hundred and forty-four thousand people will attain salvation. In this scene all
those of Gentile background who become Christians over the course of history
are explicitly not included. They will appear in the vision which follows.
9-17. Pope John Paul II has commented on this passage as follows: "The people
dressed in white robes whom John sees with his prophetic eye are the redeemed,
and they form a 'great multitude', which no one could count and which is made up
of people of the most varied backgrounds. The blood of the Lamb, who has been
offered in sacrifice for all, has exercised its universal and most effective redemp-
tive power in every corner of the earth, extending grace and salvation to that 'great
multitude'. After undergoing the trials and being purified in the blood of Christ, they
--the redeemed--are now safe in the Kingdom of God, whom they praise and bless
for ever and ever" ("Homily", 1 November 1981). This great crowd includes all the
saved and not just the martyrs, for it says that they washed their robes in the
blood of the Lamb, not in their own blood.
Everyone has to become associated with Christ's passion through suffering, as
St Augustine explains, not without a certain humor: "Many are martyrs in their
beds. The Christian is lying on his couch, tormented by pain. He prays and his
prayers are not heard, or perhaps they are heard but he is being put to the test...
so that he may be received as a son. He becomes a martyr through illness and
is crowned by him who hung upon the Cross" ("Sermon" 286, 8).
"It is consoling and encouraging to know that those who attain heaven constitute
a huge multitude. The passages of Matthew 7:14 and Luke 13:24 which seem to
imply that very few will be saved should be interpreted in the light of this vision,
which shows that the infinite value of Christ's blood makes God's will be done:
"(God) desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"
(1 Tim 2:4).
In vv 14-17 we see the blessed in two different situations--first, before the resur-
rection of the body (v. 14) and, then, after it, when body and soul have been reu-
nited (vv. 15-17). In this second situation the nature of risen bodies is highligh-
ted: they cannot suffer pain or inconvenience of any kind: they are out of harm's
reach; they have the gift of "impassibility" (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", I, 12, 13).
This consoling scene is included in the vision to encourage believers to imitate
those Christians who were like us and now find themselves in heaven because
they have come through victorious. The Church invites us to pray along similar
lines: "Father, you sanctified the Church of Rome with the blood of its first mar-
tyrs. May we find strength from their courage and rejoice in their triumph"
("Roman Missal", Feast of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome, opening
prayer).
2nd Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
We are Children of God
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[1] See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of
God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not
know him. [2] Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is.
A Child of God Does Not Sin
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[3] And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
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Commentary:
1-24. This entire chapter shows how moved the Apostle is when he contemplates
the marvelous gift of divine filiation. The Holy Spirit, who is the author of all Sacred
Scripture, has desired John to pass on to us this unique revelation: we are chil-
dren of God (v. 1).
It is not easy to divide the chapter into sections, because the style is very cyclic
and colloquial and includes many repetitions and further thoughts which make for
great vividness and freshness. However, we can distinguish an opening proclama-
tion of the central message (vv. 1-2) and emphasis on two requirements of divine
filiation--rejection of sin in any shape or form (vv. 3-10), and brotherly love lived to
the full (vv. 11-24).
1. "We should be called children of God": the original Hebrew expression, which
reads "we are called...", is also used by our Lord in the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:9):
"to be called" means the same as "to be called by God"; and in the language of
the Bible, when God gives someone a name he is not simply conferring a title
but is causing the thing that the name indicates (cf., e.g., Gen 17:5), for the word
of God is efficacious, it does what it says it will do. Hence St John's adding: "and
so we are".
Therefore, it is not just a matter of a metaphorical title, or a legal fiction, or adop-
tion human-style: divine filiation is an essential feature of a Christian's life, a mar-
velous fact whereby God gratuitously gives men a strictly supernatural dignity, an
intimacy with God whereby they are "domestici Dei", "members of the household
of God" (Eph 2:19). This explains the tone of amazement and joy with which St
John passes on this revelation.
This sense of divine filiation is one of the central points in the spirituality of Opus
Dei. Its founder wrote: "We do not exist in order to pursue just any happiness.
We have been called to penetrate the intimacy of God's own life, to know and
love God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and to love also--in
that same love of the one God in three divine Persons--the angels and all men.
"This is the great boldness of the Christian faith--to proclaim the value and dignity
of human nature and to affirm that we have been created to obtain the dignity of
children of God, through the grace that raises us up to a supernatural level. An
incredible boldness it would be, were it not founded on the promise of salvation
given us by God the Father, confirmed by the blood of Christ, and reaffirmed and
made possible by the constant action of the Holy Spirit" ("Christ Is Passing By",
133).
"The world does not know us, (because) it did not know him": these words are
reminiscent of our Lord's at the Last Supper: "the hour is coming when whoever
kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do this because
they have not known the Father, nor me" (Jn 16:2-3). Divine filiation brings with
it communion and a mysterious identification between Christ and the Christian.
2. The indescribable gift of divine filiation, which the world does not know (v. 1),
is not fully experienced by Christians, because the seeds of divine life which it
contains will only reach their full growth in eternal life, when we see him "as he
is", "face to face" (1 Cor 13:12); "this is eternal life, that they know thee the on-
ly true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (Jn 17:3). In that direct
sight of God as he is, and of all things in God, the life of grace and divine filia-
tion achieve their full growth. Man is not naturally able to see God face to face;
he needs to be enlightened by a special light, which is given the technical theo-
logical name of "lumen gloriae", light of glory. This does not allow him to "take
in" all God (no created thing could do that), but it does allow him to look at God
directly.
Commenting on this verse, the "St Pius V Catechism" explains that "beatitude
consists of two things--that we shall behold God such as he is in his own nature
and substance; and that we ourselves shall become, as it were, gods. For those
who enjoy God while they retain their own nature, assume a certain admirable
and almost divine form, so as to seem gods rather than men" (I, 13, 7).
"When he appears": two interpretations are possible, given that in Greek the verb
has no subject: "when (what we shall be) is revealed we shall be as he is"; or, as
the New Vulgate translates it, "when he (Christ) is revealed we will be like him
(Christ)". The second interpretation is the more likely.
3. "Purifies himself': Christian hope, which is grounded on Christ, is something
active and it moves the Christian to "purify himself". This verb is evocative of the
ritual purifications required of priests in the Old Testament prior to engaging in
divine service (cf. Ex 19:10; Num 8:21; Acts 21:24); here, and in other places
in the New Testament, it means interior purification from sins, that is, righteous-
ness, holiness (1 Pet 1:22; Jas 4:8). Our model is Jesus Christ, "as he is pure";
he is the One who has never had sin, the Righteous One (1 Jn 2: 29; 3:7); a
Christian has no other model of holiness, as Jesus himself said: "Learn from
me" (Mt 11:29; cf. Jn 14:6). "We have to learn from him, from Jesus, who is our
only model. If you want to go forward without stumbling or wandering off the path,
then all you have to do is walk the road he walked, placing your feet in his foot-
prints and entering into his humble and patient Heart, there to drink from the
wellsprings of his commandments and of his love. In a word, you must identify
yourself with Jesus Christ and try to become really and truly another Christ
among your fellow men" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 128).
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:1-12a
The Beatitudes
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[1] Seeing the crowds, He (Jesus) went up on the mountain, and when He sat
down His disciples came to Him. [2] And He opened His mouth and taught
them, saying: [3] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven. [4] Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. [5]
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [6] Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [7] Bles-
sed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. [8] Blessed are the pure of
heart, for they shall see God. [9] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called children of God. [10] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righ-
teousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. [11] Blessed are you
when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you
falsely on My account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
Heaven."
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Commentary:
[번역자 주: 오늘의 복음 말씀은, 여기를
클릭하면 우리말 번역문들을 읽을 수 있는,
가해 연중 제4주일 복음 말씀 그리고 나해 연중 제10주간
월요일 복음 말씀과 거의
동일하다].
1. The Discourse, or Sermon, on the Mount takes up three full chapters of St.
Matthew's Gospel--Chapters 5-7. It is the first of the five great discourses of
Jesus which appear in this Gospel and it contains a considerable amount of
our Lord's teaching.
It is difficult to reduce this discourse to one single theme, but the various tea-
chings it contains could be said to deal with these five points: 1) the attitude a
person must have for entering the Kingdom of Heaven (the Beatitudes, the salt
of the earth, the light of the world, Jesus and His teaching, the fullness of the
Law); 2) uprightness of intention in religious practice (here the "Our Father"
would be included); 3) trust in God's fatherly providence; 4) how God's children
should behave towards one another (not judging one's neighbor, respect for holy
things, the effectiveness of prayer, and the golden rule of charity); 5) the condi-
tions for entering the Kingdom (the narrow gate, false prophets and building
on rock).
"He taught them": this refers both to the disciples and to the multitude, as can
be seen at the end of the Sermon (Matthew 7:28).
2. The Beatitudes (5:3-12) form, as it were, the gateway to the Sermon on the
Mount. In order to understand the Beatitudes properly, we should bear in mind
that they do not promise salvation only to the particular kinds of people listed
here: they cover everyone whose religious dispositions and moral conduct meet
the demands which Jesus lays down. In other words, the poor in spirit, the
meek, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the
merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who suffer persecution
in their search for holiness--these are not different people or kinds of people but
different demands made on everyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ.
Similarly, salvation is not being promised to different groups in society but to
everyone, no matter what his or her position in life, who strives to follow the
spirit and to meet the demands contained in the Beatitudes.
All the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us de-
finitive salvation not in this world, but in the next. But the spirit of the Beatitudes
does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. The Beatitudes imply
a completely newapproach, quite at odds with the usual way man evaluates
things: they rule out any kind of pharisaical religiosity, which regards earthly
happiness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhap-
piness and misfortune as a form of punishment. In all ages the Beatitudes put
spiritual goods on a much higher plane than material possessions. The healthy
and the sick, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor--all are called, in-
dependently of their circumstances, to the deep happiness that is experienced
by those who live up to the Beatitudes which Jesus teaches.
The Beatitudes do not, of course, contain the entire teaching of the Gospel, but
they do contain, in embryo, the whole program of Christian perfection.
3. This text outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious
concept of poverty was deeply rooted in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Zephaniah
2:3ff). It was more to do with a religious attitude of neediness and of humility
towards God than with material poverty: that person is poor who has recourse to
God without relying on his own merits and who trusts in God's mercy to be saved.
his religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called "spiritual child-
hood". A Christian sees himself as a little child in the presence of God, a child
who owns nothing: everything he has comes from God and belongs to God. Cer-
tainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be detached
from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks certain peo-
ple--religious--to be legally detached from ownership and thereby bear witness to
others of the transitoriness of earthly things.
4. "Those who mourn": here our Lord is saying that those are blessed who suffer
from any kind of affliction--particularly those who are genuinely sorry for they sins,
or are pained by the offenses which others offer God, and who bear their suffering
with love and in a spirit of atonement.
"You are crying? Don't be ashamed of it. Yes, cry: men also cry like you, when
they are alone and before God. Each night, says King David, I soak my bed with
tears. With those tears, those burning manly tears, you can purify your past and
supernaturalize your present life" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 216).
The Spirit of God will console with peace and joy, even in this life, those who
weep for their sins, and later will give them a share in the fullness of happiness
and glory in Heaven: these are the blessed.
5. "The meek": those who patiently suffer unjust persecution; those who remain
serene, humble and steadfast in adversity, and do not give way to resentment or
discouragement. The virtue of meekness is very necessary in the Christian life.
Usually irritableness, which is very common, stems from a lack of humility and
interior peace.
"The earth": this is usually understood as meaning our Heavenly Fatherland.
6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an essentially reli-
gious one (cf. notes on Matthew 1:19 and 3:15; Romans 1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22
and 24). A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the Will of God,
which is discovered in the commandments, in one's duties of state in life (social,
professional and family responsibilities) and through one's life of prayer. Thus,
righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as what nowadays is
usually called "holiness" (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10; Revelation 22:11; Genesis 15:6;
Deuteronomy 9:4).
As St. Jerome comments ("Comm. on Matthew", 5, 6), in the fourth Beatitude
our Lord is asking us not simply to have a vague desire for righteousness: we
should hunger and thirst for it, that is, we should love and strive earnestly to seek
what makes a man righteous in God's eyes. A person who genuinely wants to
attain Christian holiness should love the means which the Church, the universal
vehicle of salvation, offers all men and teaches them to use--frequent use of the
Sacraments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, a valiant effort to meet
one's social, professional and family responsibilities.
7. Mercy is not a just a matter of giving alms to the poor but also of being under-
standing towards other people's defects, overlooking them, helping them cope
with them and loving them despite whatever defects they may have. Being mer-
ciful also means rejoicing and suffering with other people.
8. Christ teaches us that the source of the quality of human acts lies in the heart,
that is, in a man's soul, in the depths of his spirit. "When we speak of a person's
heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving
dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses
the expression 'heart' in its full human meaning, as the summary and source,
expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions. A man is
worth what his heart is worth" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 164).
Cleanness of heart is a gift of God, which expresses itself in a capacity to love,
n having an upright and pure attitude to everything noble. As St. Paul says, "what-
ever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
ovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy
of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8). Helped by God's grace, a
Christian should constantly strive to cleanse his heart and acquire this purity,
whose reward is the vision of God.
9. The translation "peacemakers" well convey the active meaning of the original
text--those who foster peace, in themselves and in others and, as a basis for
that, try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Being at peace with
God is the cause and effect of every kind of peace. Any peace on earth not
based on this divine peace would be vain and misleading.
"They shall be called sons of God": this is an Hebraicism often found in Sacred
Scripture; it is the same as saying "they will be sons of God". St. John's first
letter (3:1) provides a correct exegesis of this Beatitude: "See what love the
Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are".
10. What this Beatitude means, then, is: blessed are those who are persecuted
because they are holy, or because they are striving to be holy, for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Thus, blessed is he who suffers persecution for being true to Jesus Christ and
who does so not only patiently but joyfully. Circumstances arise in a Christian's
life that call for heroism--where no compromise is admissible: either one stays
true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost in terms of reputation, life or possessions,
or one denies Him. St. Bernard ("Sermon on the Feast of All Saints") says that
the eighth Beatitude is as it were the prerogative of Christian martyrs. Every
Christian who is faithful to Jesus' teaching is in fact a "martyr" (a witness) who
reflects or acts according with this Beatitude, even if he does not undergo phy-
sical death.
11-12. The Beatitudes are the conditions Jesus lays down for entering the King-
dom of Heaven. This verse, in a way summing up the preceding ones, is an invi-
tation to everyone to put this teaching into practice. The Christian life, then, is
no easy matter, but it is worthwhile, given the reward that Jesus promises.
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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].