4th Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) - Cycle B
1st Reading: Acts 4:8-12
Address to the Sanhedrin
------------------------------------
[7] And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, "But what power or
by what name did you do this?" [8] Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to
them, "Rulers of the people and elders, [9] if we are being examined today con-
cerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed,
[10] be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
by Him this man is standing before you well. [11] This is the stone which was
rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. [12] And
there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given
among men by which we must be saved."
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
8-12. The Apostles' confidence and joy is quite remarkable, as is their outspo-
kenness in asserting that "we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard"
(verse 20). "This is the glorious freedom of the children of God. Christians who
let themselves be browbeaten or become inhibited or envious in the face of the
licentious behavior of those who do not accept the Word of God, show that they
have a very poor idea of the faith. If we truly fulfill the law of Christ--that is, if we
make the effort to do so, for we will not always fully succeed--we will find our-
selves endowed with a wonderful gallantry of spirit" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of
God", 38).
Christians have a duty to confess their faith where silence would mean its im-
plicit denial, disrespect for religion, an offense against God or scandal to their
neighbor. Thus Vatican II: "Christians should approach those who are outside
wisely, 'in the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech' (2 Corinthians 6:6-7),
and should strive, even to the shedding of their blood, to spread the light of life
with all confidence (Acts 4:29) and apostolic courage. The disciple has a grave
obligation to Christ, his Master, to grow daily in his knowledge of the truth he
has received from Him, to be faithful in announcing it and vigorous in defending
it" ("Dignitatis Humanae", 14).
Pope Paul VI asked Catholics to check on any weak points in their faith, inclu-
ding ignorance and human respect, "that is, shame or timidness in professing
their faith. We are not speaking of that discretion or reserve which in a pluralist
and profane society like ours avoids certain signs of religion when with others.
We are referring to weakness, to failure to profess one's own religious ideas for
fear of ridicule, criticism or others' reactions [...] and which is a cause -- perhaps
the main cause--of the abandonment of faith by people who simply conform to
whatever new environment they find themselves in" ([Pope] Paul VI, "General
Audience", 19 June 1968).
8. Even in the very early days of Christianity Jesus' prediction is borne out: "Be-
ware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils.... When they deliver you up,
do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are
to say will be given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of
your Father speaking through you" (Matthew 10:17-20).
10. "Whom God raised from the dead": St. Peter once again bears witness to the
Resurrection of Jesus, the central truth of apostolic preaching; he uses here the
same words as he did at Pentecost. These are compatible with our holding that
Jesus "rose by His own power on the third day" ([Pope] Paul VI, "Creed of the
People of God", 12). The power by which Christ rose was that of His divine per-
son, to which both His soul and His body remained joined even after death sepa-
rated them. "The divine power and operation of the Father and of the Son is one
and the same; hence it follows that Christ rose by the power of the Father and
by His own power" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", III, q. 53, a. 4).
"By the word 'Resurrection'," the "St. Pius V Catechism" explains, "we are not
merely to understand that Christ was raised from the dead, which happened to
many others, but that He rose by His own power and virtue, a singular preroga-
tive peculiar to Him alone. For it is incompatible with nature and was never given
to man to raise himself by his own power, from death to life. This was reserved
for the almighty power of God. [...] We sometimes, it is true, read in Scripture
that He was raised by the Father; but this refers to Him as man, just as those
passages on the other hand, which say that He rose by His own power, relate
to Him as God" (I, 6, 8).
11. St. Peter applies the words of Psalm 118:22 to Jesus, conscious no doubt
that our Lord had referred to Himself as the stone rejected by the builders which
had become the cornerstone, the stone which keeps the whole structure toge-
ther (cf. Matthew 21:42 and par.).
12. Invocation of the name of Jesus is all-powerful because this is our Savior's
own name (cf. note on Matthew 1:21). Our Lord Himself told His Apostles this:
"If you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name" (John 16:23),
and they, trusting in this promise, work miracles and obtain conversions "in the
name of Jesus". Today--as ever--the power of His name will work wonder in the
souls of those who call upon Him. Monsignor Escriva gives this advice: "Don't
be afraid to call our Lord by His name--Jesus--and to tell Him that you love Him"
("The Way", 303); and the Liturgy of the Hours invites us to pray: "God our
Father, You are calling us to prayer, at the same hour as the Apostles went up
to the temple. Grant that the prayer we offer with sincere hearts in the name of
Jesus may bring salvation to all who call upon that holy name" (Week 1, Monday
afternoon).
2nd Reading: 1 John 3:1-2
We are Children of God
----------------------------------
[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.
*********************************************************************************************
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.
Gospel Reading: John 10:11-18
The Good Shepherd (Continuation)
--------------------------------------------------
[Jesus said to the Pharisees,] [11] "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep. [12] He who is a hireling and not a shepherd,
whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and
flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [13] He flees because he
is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd; I
know my own and my own know me, [15] as the Father knows Me and I know
the Father; and I lay down My life for My sheep. [16] And I have other sheep that
are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed My voice. So there
shall be one flock, one shepherd. [17] For this reason the Father loves Me, be-
cause I lay down My life, that I may take it again. [18] No one takes it from Me,
but I lay it down of My own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it again; this charge I have received from My Father."
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
11-15. "The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep": "Here", says St.
John Chrysostom, "He is speaking of His passion, making it clear this would
take place for the salvation of the world and that He would go to it freely and
willingly" ("Hom. on St. John", 59, 3). Our Lord spoke further about giving abun-
dant pasture; now He speaks about giving His very life: "He did what He said He
would do", St. Gregory comments; "He gave His life for His sheep, and He gave
His body and blood in the Sacrament to nourish with His flesh the sheep He had
redeemed" ("In Evangelia Homilae", 14, "ad loc."). Hired men, on the other hand,
run away if there is any danger, leaving the flock at risk. "Who is the hireling?
He who sees the wolf coming and flees. The man who seeks his own glory, not
the glory of Christ; the man who does not dare reprove sinners. You are the hire-
ling; you have seen the wolf coming and have fled [...] because you held your
peace; and you held your peace, because you were afraid" (St. Augustine, "In
Ioann Evang.", 46, 8).
"Let them remember that their priestly ministry [...] is--in a special way--'ordered'
to the great solicitude of the Good Shepherd, solicitude for the salvation of every
human being. And this we must all remember: that it is not lawful for any one of
us to deserve the name of 'hireling', that is to say, the name of one 'to whom the
sheep do not belong', one who, 'since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do
not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees the
wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; this is because
he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep.' The solicitude of every
good shepherd is that all people 'may have life and have it to the full', so that none
of them may be lost but should have eternal life. Let us endeavor to make this
solicitude penetrate deeply into our souls; let us strive to live it. May it charac-
terize our personality, and be at the foundation of our priestly identity" (John Paul
II, "Letter to Priests", 8 April 1979).
The Good Shepherd knows each of His sheep and calls it by name. This touching
simile seems to be an exhortation to future pastors of the Church, as St. Peter
will later on explain: "Tend the flock that is your charge, not for shameful gain but
eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the
flock" (1 Peter 5:2).
"The holiness of Christ's Spouse has always been shown--as it can be seen today
--by the abundance of good shepherds. But our Christian faith, which teaches us
to be simple, does not bid us to be simple-minded. There are hirelings who keep
silent, and there are hirelings who speak with words which are not those of Christ.
That is why, if the Lord allows us to be left in the dark even in little things, if we
feel that our faith is not firm, we should go to the good shepherd. He enters by
the door as of right. He gives his life for others and wants to be in word and be-
havior a soul in love. He may be a sinner too, but he trusts always in Christ's
forgiveness and mercy" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 34).
16. "One flock, one shepherd": Christ's mission extends to everyone even though
His own preaching is addressed, in the first instance, to the sheep of the house
of Israel, as He Himself revealed to the Canaanite woman (cf. Matthew 15:24),
and even though He sent the Apostles on their first mission (cf. Matthew 10:6) to
preach to the people of Israel. Now, however, foreseeing the fruits of His redemp-
tive death (verse 15), He reveals that these will be applied to "other sheep, that
are not of this fold", that is, Israel, and, after the Resurrection, He does send the
Apostles to all nations (cf. Matthew 28:19), to preach the Gospel to all creation
(cf. Matthew 16:15), beginning in Jerusalem and extending to all Judea, Samaria
and the ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8). This fulfills the ancient promises about
the rule of the Messiah covering the whole world (cf. Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 2:2-6;
66:17-19). The universal scope of salvation caused St. Paul to exclaim: "Re-
member that at one time you...were...separated from Christ, alienated from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no
hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were
far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:11-13; cf.
Galatians 3:27-28; Romans 3:22).
The unity of the Church is to be found under one visible head, for "it was to the
Apostolic College alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord
entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth
the one body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who be-
long in any way to the people of God" (Vatican II, "Unitatis Redintegratio", 3). It
is a Catholic's constant yearning that everyone should come to the true Church,
"God's one flock, which like a standard lifted high for the nations to see, minis-
ters the Gospel of peace to all mankind, as it makes it pilgrim way in hope
towards its goal,the fatherland above" ("ibid.", 2).
17-18. Jesus shows that of His own free will He will give Himself up to death for
the sake of the flock (cf. John 6:51). Having been given supreme authority, Christ
is free to offer Himself as a sacrifice of expiation, and He voluntarily accepts His
Father's commandment, in an act of perfect obedience. "We will never fully
understand Jesus' freedom. It is immense, infinite, as is His love. But the price-
less treasure of His generous holocaust should move us to ask, 'Why, Lord, have
you granted me this privilege which I can use to follow in Your footsteps, but also
to offend You?' Thus we come to appreciate that freedom is used properly when
it is directed towards the good; and that it is misused when men are forgetful and
turn away from the Love of loves" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 26).
*********************************************************************************************
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].