25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B (나해 연중 제25주일)
1st Reading: Wisdom 2:1a, 12-20
Life Leads to Death (Continuation)
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[12] "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us
and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and ac-
cuses us of sins against our training.
[17] Let us see if his words are true, and let
us test what will happen at the end of his life; [18] for if the righteous man is
God's son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
[19] Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he
is, and make trial of his forbearance. [20] Let us condemn him to a shameful
death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected."
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Commentary:
게시자 주: 다음의 주소에 접속하면, 지혜서
1,16-2,24에 대한 나바르 성경
주석서의 해설을 학습할 수 있다:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/navarre/lent_4_fri.htm
<----- 필독 권고
2:10-20. Not content with enjoying the pleasures of life, the ungodly go further:
they persecute the just man because he is a constant reproach to them. They
want to see if God, whom the just man calls his father, will protect and rescue
him. He calls God his father? Let us see what protection God gives him. If God
fails to come to his aid, then they are proved right, and the just man wrong.
Their words are echoed in the insults offered by scribes and Pharisees to
Jesus when he was on the cross (cf. Mt 27:40-43; Mk 15:31-32; Lk 23:35-37).
Interestingly, the just man calls himself a "child of God" (v. 13). This is some-
thing new in Jewish thinking, because prior to this it was the entire people of
Israel or the king their representative who was considered a "son of God" (cf.
Ex 4:22; Deut 14:1; 32:6; Ps 2; Is 30:1, 9; Hos 11:1). But in the later books of
the Old Testament (for example, in Sir 23:4; 51:14) we begin to see the father-
hood of God towards every just person. The title of "child of God" is applied to
all the righteous, and more properly to the Messiah, who is the Righteous One.
As the RSV note "e" points out, the Greek word "pais" which it translates as
"child" can also mean "servant". The "servant" in the Old Testament acquires
special significance from the book of Isaiah forward, where the "Suffering Ser-
vant" appears (cf. Is 52:13-53:12). This man will, through his suffering, set Is-
rael free of Its sins. This dual meaning of "pais" prepares the way for the reve-
lation of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Servant of the Lord.
2nd Reading: James 3:16-4:3
True and False Wisdom
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[13] Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good life let him show
works in the meekness of wisdom. [14] But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish
ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. [15] This wisdom
is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. [16]
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile
practice. [17] But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.
[18] And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
The Source of Discord
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[1] What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is not your pas-
sions that are at war in your members? [2] You desire and do not have; so you
kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not
have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive because you ask
wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
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Commentary:
13-18. These verses point out the qualities of Christian wisdom (cf. 1:5). After
exhorting his readers to manifest their wisdom by their actions (verse 13), he
attacks the signs of false wisdom (verses 14-16) and explains the qualities of the
true (verses 17-18).
St. Paul also makes a distinction between worldly wisdom--the wisdom of man
when he veers away from his correct goal--and the wisdom of God, which rea-
ches its highest expression on the Cross (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-3:3). St. James
pays particular attention to the practical effects of godly wisdom--meekness,
mercy and peace.
False wisdom, on the contrary, leads to bitter zeal, rivalry and resentment: it is
"earthly" because it rejects things transcendental and supernatural; "unspiritual"
(merely natural, "psychi" in the original Greek), as befits people who follow their
nature as wounded by Original Sin, deprived of the help of the Spirit (cf. notes on
1 Corinthians 2:14-16; Jude 19-20); "devilish", in the sense that such people are
inspired by the devil, who is envious (cf. Wisdom 2:24), "a liar and the father of
lies" (John 8:44).
18. What this verse means is that the "peacemakers" of the Beatitudes (cf.
Matthew 5:6 and note) create around themselves an environment making for
righteousness (holiness), and they themselves benefit from the peace they sow.
"There can be no peace,"John XXIII says, "between men unless there is peace
within each of them: unless, that is, each one builds up within himself the order
wished by God" ("Pacem In Terris", 165).
The "harvest of righteousness" is the equivalent of righteousness itself: it is ke-
eping the law of the Gospel, doing good works, which show true wisdom. The
passage is reminiscent of Isaiah 32:17-18: "and the effects of righteousness
will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever. My
people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet res-
ting places."
Every Christian who strives to live in accordance with his vocation is a sower
of holiness and justice-with-peace: "Through your work, through the whole net-
work of human relations," (St. Escriva says, "you ought to show the charity of
Christ and its concrete expression in friendship, understanding, human affec-
tion and peace. Just as Christ 'went about doing good' (Acts 10:38) throughout
Palestine, so much you also spread peace in your family circle, in civil society,
at work, and in your cultural and leisure activities" ("Christ Is Passing By", 166).
1. "Wars" and "fighting" are an exaggerated reference to the contention and
discord found among those Christians. "Passions", as elsewhere in the New
Testament, means concupiscence, hedonism, pleasure-seeking (cf. verse 3;
Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3; 2 Peter 2:13).
St. James points out that if one fails to fight as one should against one's evil
inclinations, one's inner disharmony overflows in the form of quarreling and figh-
ting. The New Testament often refers to the good kind of fight, which confers
inner freedom and is a prerequisite for salvation (cf., e.g., Matthew 11:12;
Romans 7:14-25; 1 Peter 2:11).
"How can you be at peace if you allow passions you do not even attempt to
control to drag you away from the 'pull' of grace?
"Heaven pulls you upwards; you drag yourselves downwards. And don't seek
excuses--that is what you are doing. If you go on like that, you will tear your-
self apart" (St. J. Escriva, "Furrow", 851).
2-3. St. James is describing the sad state to which free-wheeling hedonism
(specifically, greed for earthly things) leads.
"You do not receive, because you ask wrongly": "He asks wrongly who shows
no regard for the Lord's commandments and yet seeks Heavenly gifts. He also
asks wrongly who, having lost his taste for Heavenly things, seeks only earthly
things--not for sustaining his human weakness but to enable him to indulge
himself" (St. Bede, "Super Iac. Expositio, ad loc.").
Gospel Reading: Mark 9:30-37
Second Prophecy of the Passion
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[30] They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And He (Jesus) would
not have any one know it; [31] for He was teaching His disciples, saying to them,
"The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him;
and when He is killed, after three days He will rise." [32] But they did not under-
stand the saying, and they were afraid to ask Him.
Being the Servant of All
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[33] And they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house He asked
them, "What were you discussing on the way?" [34] But they were silent; for on
the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. [35] And
He sat down and called the Twelve; and He said to them, "If any one would be
first, he must be last of all and servant of all." [36] And He took a child, and
put him in the midst of them; and taking him in His arms, He said to them, [37]
"Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; and whoever re-
ceives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me".
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Commentary:
30-32. Although moved when He sees the crowds like sheep without a shepherd
(Matthew 9:36), Jesus leaves them, to devote time to careful instruction of the
Apostles. He retires with them to out-of-the-way places, and there He explains
points of His public preaching which they had not understood (Matthew 13:36).
Here, specifically, for a second time, He announces His death and resurrection.
In His relationships with souls Jesus acts in the same way: He calls man to be
with him in the quiet of prayer and there He teaches him about His more intimate
plans and about the more demanding side of the Christian life. Later, like the
Apostles, Christians were to spread this teaching to the ends of the earth.
34-35. Jesus uses this argument going on behind his back to teach His dis-
ciples about how authority should be exercised in His Church--not by lording it
over other, but by serving them. In fulfilling His own mission to found the Church
whose head and supreme lawgiver He is, He came to serve and not to be served
(Matthew 20:28).
Anyone who does not strive to have this attitude of self-forgetful service, not only
lacks one of the main pre-requisites for proper exercise of authority but also runs
the risk of being motivated by ambition or pride. "To be in charge of an apostolic
undertaking demands readiness to suffer everything, from everybody, with infinite
charity" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 951).
36-37. To demonstrate to His Apostles the abnegation and humility needed in
their ministry, He takes a child into His arms and explains the meaning of this
gesture: if we receive for Christ's sake those who have little importance in the
world's eyes, it is as if we are embracing Christ Himself and the Father who sent
Him. This little child whom Jesus embraces represents every child in the world,
and everyone who is needy, helpless, poor or sick--people who are not naturally
attractive.
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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].