24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B (나해 연중 제24주일)


1st Reading: Isaiah 50:5-9a

Third Song of the Servant of the Lord
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[5] The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not back-
ward. [6]I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out
the beard; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

[7] For the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been confounded; therefore
I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; [8] he
who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary? Let him come near me. [9a] Behold, the Lord GOD helps
me; who will declare me guilty?

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Commentary:

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번역자 주: 가톨릭 보편 교회의 전례력에 있어 네 개의 "고통받는 종의 노래들"은 다음과 같이 
발췌되고 있다:
(i) 첫 번째 고통받는 종의 노래는 이사야서 42,1-4/9
    (매년 성 월요일 및 매년 주님 세례 축일 제1독서에 포함됨), 
(ii) 두 번째 고통받는 종의 노래는 이사야서 49,1-6
    (매년 성 화요일, 가해 연중 제2주일 및 매년 세례자 요한 탄생 대축일 제1독서), 
(iii) 세 번째 고통 받은 종의 노래는 이사야서 50,4-9/11
    (매년 성 수요일 제1독서, 나해 연중 제24주일 제1독서, 매년 주님 수난 성지 주일  
    제1독서를 포함함), 그리고 
(iv) 네 번째 고통받는 종의 노래는 이사야서 52,13-53,12 
    (매년 성 금요일 제1독서, 나해 제29주일 제1독서를 포함함)에 있다.
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50:4-9. The second song dealt with the servant's mission (cf. 49:6); the third song
focuses on the servant himself. The term "servant" as such does not appear here,
and therefore some commentators read the passage as being a description of a
prophet and not part of the songs. Still, the context (cf. 50:10) does suggest that
the protagonist is the servant. The poem is neatly constructed in three stanzas,
each beginning with the words, "The Lord God" (vv. 4, 5, 7), and it has a conclu-
sion containing that same wording (v. 9). The first stanza emphasizes the servant's
docility to the word of God; that is, he is not depicted as a self-taught teacher with
original ideas, but as an obedient disciple. The second (vv. 5-6) speaks of the suf-
fering that that docility has brought him, without his uttering a word of complaint.
The third (vv. 7-8) shows how determined the servant is: if he suffers in silence, it
is not out of cowardice but because God helps him and makes him stronger than
his persecutors. The conclusion (v. 9) is like the verdict of a trial: when all is said
and done, the servant will stand tall, and all his enemies will be struck down.

The evangelists saw the words of this song as finding fulfillment in Jesus -- espe-
cially what the song has to say about the suffering and silent fortitude of the ser-
vant. The Gospel of John, for example, quotes Nicodemus' acknowledgment of
Christ's wisdom: "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no
one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him" (Jn 3:21). But the
description of the servant's sufferings was the part that most impressed the early
Christians; that part of the song was recalled when they meditated on the passion
of Jesus and how "they spat in his face; and struck him; and some slapped him"
(Mt 26:67) and later how the Roman soldiers "spat upon him, and took the reed
and struck him on the head" (Mt 27:30; cf. also Mk 15:19; Jn 19:3). St Paul refers
to v. 9 when applying to Christ Jesus the role of intercessor on behalf of the elect
in the suit pressed constantly against them by the enemies of the soul: "Who
shall bring any charge against God's elect?" (Rom 8:33).

St Jerome sees the servant's docility as a reference to Christ: "His self-discipline
and wisdom enabled him to communicate to us the knowledge of the Father. And
he was obedient onto death, death on the cross; he offered his body to the blows
they struck, his shoulders to the lash; and though he was wounded on the chest
and on his face, he did not try to turn away and escape their violence" ("Commen-
tarii In Isaiam", 50, 4). This passage is used in the liturgy of Palm Sunday (along
with Psalm 22 and St Paul's hymn in the Letter to the Philippians 2:6-11), before
the reading of our Lord's passion.

2nd Reading: James 2:14-18

Faith Without Good Works Is Dead
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[14] What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not
works? Can this faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack
of daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and
filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?
[17] So faith, by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

[18] But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your
faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

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Commentary:

[번역자 주: 이 제2독서는, 여기를 클릭하면 우리말 번역문을 읽을 수 있는, 짝수 해 
연중 제6주간 제1독서(야고보 2,14-24.26)에 포함된다].

14-26. This passage forms the core of the letter. The sapiential method (often
used in the Old Testament) and pedagogical style of the passage help to en-
grave the message on the readers' minds: unless faith is accompanied by works,
it is barren, dead. This basic message, with different variances, is stated up to
five times (verses 14, 17, 18, 20, 26), in a cyclical, repetitive way.

The initial rhetorical question (verse 14) and the simple, vivid example of a per-
son who is content with giving good advice to someone in urgent need of the
bare essentials (verses 15-16), catch the disciples' attention and predispose
them to accept the core message, which is couched in the form of a sapiential
maxim (verse 17).

The narrative retains its conventional tone, with a series of questions; we are
given three examples of faith: firstly (a negative example), the faith of demons,
which is of no avail (verses 18-19); contrasting with this, the faith of Abraham,
the model and father of believers (verses 20-23); and finally, the faith of a sinner
whose actions won her salvation, Rahab, the prostitute (verses 24-25). The last
sentence once again repeats the essential idea: "faith apart from works is dead"
(verse 26). 

14. This teaching is perfectly in line with that of the Master: "Not every one who
says to Me, 'Lord, Lord', shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does
the will of My Father who is in Heaven" (Matthew &;21).

A faith without deeds cannot obtain salvation: "Even though incorporated into the
Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains
indeed in the bosom of the Church, but 'in body' not 'in heart'. All children of the
Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results not
from their own merits but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in
thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they
shall be the more severely judged" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 14).

In the Christian life, therefore, there needs to be complete consistency between
the faith we profess and the deeds we do. "Unity of life", one of the key features
of the spirituality of Opus Dei, tries to counter the danger of people leading a dou-
ble life, "on the one hand, an inner life, a life related to God; and on the other, as
something separate and distinct, their professional, social and family lives, made
up of small earthly realities [...]. There is only one life, made of flesh and spirit.
And it is that life which has to become, in both body and soul, holy and filled with
God: we discover the invisible God in the most visible and material things" (St. J.
Escriva, "In Love with the Church", 52).

15-16. This very graphic example is similar to that in the First Letter of St. John:
"If any one has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his
heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" (1 John 3:17); and the
conclusion is also along the same lines: "Little children, let us not love in word or
speech but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18). St. Paul gives the same teaching:
"the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power" (1 Corinthians 4:20).
Actions, works, measure the genuineness of the Christian life; they show whe-
ther our faith and charity are real.

Almsgiving, for example, so often praised and recommended in Scripture (cf.,
e.g., Deuteronomy 15:11; Tobias 4:7-11; Luke 12:33; Acts 9:36; 2 Corinthians 8:
9), is very often a duty. Christ "will count a kindness done or refused to the poor
as done or refused to Himself [...]. Whoever has received from the divine bounty
a large share of temporal blessings whether they be external or material, or gifts
of the mind, has received them for the purpose of using them for the perfecting of
his own nature, and, at the same time, that he may employ them, as the steward
of God's providence, for the benefit of others" (Leo XIII, "Rerum Novarum", 24).

17. As well as involving firm adherence to revealed truth, faith must influence a
Christian's ordinary life and be a standard against which he measures his con-
duct. When one's works are not in accordance with one's beliefs, then one's faith
is dead.

Christian teaching also describes as "dead faith" the faith of a person in mortal
sin: because he is not in the grace of God he does not have charity, which is as
it were the soul of all the other virtues. "Faith without hope and charity neither
perfectly unites a man with Christ nor makes him a living member of His body.
Therefore it is said most truly that 'faith apart from works is dead' (James 2:17ff)
and useless" (Council of Trent, "De Iustificatione", 7).

18. The Apostle makes it crystal clear that faith without work makes no sense at
all. "The truth of faith includes not only inner belief, but also outward profession,
which is expressed not only by declaration of one's belief, but also by the actions
by which a person shows that he has faith" (St. Thomas, "Summa Theologiae",
II-II, q. 124, a. 5).

Gospel Reading: Mark 8:27-35

Peter's Profession of Faith
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[27] And Jesus went on with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi;
and on the way He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" [28] And
they told Him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the
prophets." [29] And He asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter answered
Him, "You are the Christ." [30] And He charged them to tell no one about Him.

Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection. Christian Renunciation
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[31] And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things,
and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed,
and after three days rise again. [32] And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him,
and began to rebuke Him. [33] But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked
Peter, and said, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but
of men."

[34] And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If
any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. [35] For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses
his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 

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Commentary:

29. Peter's profession of faith is reported here in a shorter form than in Matthew
16:18-19. Peter seems to go no further than say that Jesus is the Christ, the
Messiah. Eusebius of Caesarea, in the fourth century, explains the Evangelist's
reserve by the fact that he was the interpreter of St. Peter, who omitted from his
preaching anything which might appear to be self-praise. The Holy Spirit, when
inspiring St. Mark, wanted the Gospel to reflect the preaching of the prince of
the Apostles, leaving it to other evangelists to fill out certain important details to
do with the episode of the confession of Peter.

The sketchiness of the narrative still show Peter's role quite clearly: he is the
first to come forward affirming the messiahship of Jesus. Our Lord's question,
"But who do you say that I am?", shows what Jesus is asking the Apostles for
-- not an opinion, more or less favorable, but firm faith. It is St. Peter who ex-
presses this faith (cf. note on Matthew 16:13-20).

31-33. This is the first occasion when Jesus tells His disciples about the suffe-
rings and death He must undergo. He does it twice more, later on (cf. Mark 9:31
and 10:32). The Apostles are surprised, because they cannot and do not want
to understand why the Master should have to suffer and die, much less that He
should be so treated "by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes." But
Peter, with his usual spontaneity, immediately begins to protest. And Jesus re-
plies to him using the same words as He addressed the devil when he tempted
Him (cf. Matthew 4:10); He wants to affirm, once again, that His mission is spi-
ritual, not earthly, and that therefore it cannot be understood by using mere hu-
man criteria: it is governed by God's designs, which were that Jesus should re-
deem us through His passion and death. So too, for a Christian, suffering, united
with Christ, is also a means of salvation.

34. When Jesus said "If any nam would come after me ...", he was well aware
that in fulfilling his mission he would be brought to death on a cross; this is why
he speaks clearly about his passion (vv:31-32). The Christian life, lived as it
should be lived, with all its demands, is also a cross which one has to carry,
following Christ. 

Jesus' words, which must have seemed extreme to his listeners, indicate the
standard he requires his followers to live up to. He does not ask for short-lived
enthusiasm or occasional dedication; he asks everyone to renounce himself, to
take up his cross and follow him. For the goal he sets men is eternal life. This
whole Gospel passage has to do with man's eternal destiny. The present life
should be evaluated in the light of this eternal life: life on earth is not definitive,
but transitory and relative; it is a means to be used to achieve definitive life in
heaven: "All that, which worries you for the moment, is of relative importance.
What is of absolute importance is that you be happy, that you be saved" (St.
J. Escriva, The Way, 297). 

"There is a kind of fear around, a fear of the Cross, of our Lord's Cross. What
has happened is that people have begun to regard as crosses all the unpleasant
things that crop up in life, and they do not know how to take them as God's chil-
dren should, with supernatural outlook. So much so, that they are even removing
the roadside crosses set up by our forefathers. . . ! "In the Passion, the Cross
ceased to be a symbol of punishment and became insteada sign of victory. The
Cross is the emblem of the Redeemer: in quo est salus,vita et resurrectio nostra:
there lies our salvation, our life and our resurrection" (St. J. Escriva, The Way of
the Cross, II, 5). 

35. "Life": in the original text and the New Vulgate the word literally means "soul."
But here, as in many other cases, "soul" and "life" are equivalent. The word "life"
is used, clearly, in a double sense: earthly life and eternal life, the life of man
here on earth and man's eternal happiness in heaven. Death can put an end to
earthly life, but it cannot destroy eternal life (cf. Mt 10:28), the life which can
only be given by Him who brings the dead back to life. 

Understood in this way, we can grasp the paradoxical meaning of our Lord's
phrase: whoever wishes to save his (earthly) life will lose his (eternal) life. But
whoever loses his (earthly) life for me and the Gospel, will save his (eternal) life.
What, then, does saving one's (earthly) life mean? It means living this life as if 
here were none other -- letting oneself be controlled by the lust of the flesh and
the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (cf. 1 Jn 2: 16). And losing one's (earthly)
life means mortifying, by continuous ascetical effort, this triple concupisence --
that is, taking up one's cross (v. 34} -- and consequently seeking and savouring
the things that are God's and not the things of the earth (cf. CoI3:1-2). 

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