나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Thuesday

1st Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: Hebrews 3:7-14

The Need for Faith; the Bad Example Given by the Chosen People
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[7] Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, when you hear his voice, [8] do
not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
[9] where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. [10]
Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray
in their hearts; they have not known my ways.' [11] As I swore in my wrath, 'They
shall never enter my rest."' [12] Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you
an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. [13] But
exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today", that none of you
may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. [14] For we share in Christ, if only
we hold our first confidence firm to the end.

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Commentary:

7-11. A long quotation from Psalm 95 introduces the theme of that "rest" which
the people of the promise will attain at the end of their wayfaring.

7-11. 시편 95로부터의 긴 발췌는 약속의 백성이 그들의 도보 여행(wayfaring)의 끝에
장차 획득하게 될 바로 그 "안식((安息, rest)"이라는 주제를 도입합니다.

In the Book of Genesis we are told that when God finished his work of creation,
he "rested". The "rest" prescribed in the Mosaic Law was a kind of imitation of
what God did, sharing God's happiness, receiving the reward merited by a life
of fidelity and hard work. The Jews had gradually come to a more spiritual under-
standing of "rest" or, as they termed it, "the place of rest". This idea reaches its
highest form of expression in the apocryphal book of Esdras (IV Esdras), where
the prayer is raised to God to grant the faithful departed "eternal rest", "Requiem
aeternam dona eis, Domine". The chosen people were helped to arrive at this
notion of rest by reflecting on the spiritual meaning of the Exodus and the pilgri-
mage to the promised land. The Exodus was also seen as a new creation, with
God "creating" his people. Like the first creation, this second creation would be
followed by "rest"--entry into the promised land. The Epistle to the Hebrews
shares this interpretation of the Exodus but it gives it a Christian perspective by
seeing the Exodus as the Redemption whereby Christ, a new Moses, leads us
to eternal rest.

창세기 책에서 하느님께서, 창조라는 당신의 위업을 끝내셨을 때에, 당신께서
"안식(安息)하셨다(rested)"고 우리는 듣게 됩니다. 모세 율법에 규정되어 있는
"안식(rest)"은 하느님께서 하셨던 바에 대한 모방의 한 종류인데, 그 결과 하느님의
행복을 함께 하고, 충실(fidelity, 믿음)과 고된 일(hard work)로 이루어진 삶에
따른(by) 공로로서 얻게되는(merited) 보상(reward)을 받습니다. 유다인들은
"안식(安息)" 혹은, 그들이 그것 부르듯이, "안식(安息)의 장소"에 대한 어떤 더
영적인 이해에 점진적으로 이미 도달하였습니다. 이러한 개념은 4 에스드라
(IV Esdras)라는 외경(外經)의 책에서 표현에 있어서의 그 최고의 형식에
도달하는데, 거기서 "주님, 그들에게 영원한 안식(安息)을 주소서
(Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine)"(*) 라는 기도는, 세상을 떠난
열심 신자(the faithful)들에게 "영원한 안식(安息)(eternal rest)" 을 허락하도록,
하느님께 올려집니다. 선택된 사람들은, 탈출기(Exodus)의 영적 의미와
약속받은 땅(the promised land)으로의 순례의 영적 의미에 대한 숙고
(reflection)에 의하여, 안식(安息)의 바로 이러한 개념에 도달하도록 도움을
받았습니다. 탈출기는, 하느님께서 당신의 백성을 "창조하심"과 함께, 새 창조
(a new creation)로서 또한 이해되었습니다. 첫 번째 창조와 마찬가지로, 바로
이 두 번째 창조는, 이 약속받은 땅으로 들어감이라는, "안식(安息)"에 의하여
뒤따르게 될 것입니다. 히브리인들에게 보낸 서간은 탈출기에 대한 바로 이러한
해석을 공유하나(shares) 그러나 이 서간은, 바로 그것에 의하여 새 모세(a new
Moses)인 그리스도께서 우리를 영원한 안식(安息)으로 인도하시는, 속량(the
Redemption)으로서 탈출기를 이해함으로써 어떤 그리스도교의 관점을 이
해석에 제공합니다.

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(*) 번역자 주:
(1) 여기서 "장례미사"의 입당송인 "레퀴엠"의 가사가 외경인 에즈라 4서
2,34-35에서 발췌되고 있음을 말하고 있다.

(2) 다음은 굿뉴스 서버 제공의 우리말 가톨릭 대사전에 주어진 "장례미사"에
대한 설명인데, 비록 제2차 바티칸 공의회로 인해 개정되기 전의 라틴 전례
중의 장례미사의 입당송인 "레퀴엠"에 대하여 설명하고 있으나, 이 입당송
가상의 출처가, 이 글에서처럼, 구체적으로 제시되어 있지 못한 것이 유감이다:

http://info.catholic.or.kr/dictionary/view.asp?ctxtIdNum=744&keyword=레퀴엠

(3) 외경(外經, Apocrypha)인 4에즈라 2,34-35의 영문 본문과 1969년 이전의
가톨릭 교회의 전례에 있어 이 외경 구절들의 사용에 대한 더 자세한 내용은
다음의 글에 있다:

7. The author of the letter reaffirms that Sacred Scripture--in this case Psalm
95 --is the work of the Holy Spirit. As such it always carries a contemporary
message; it is a form God uses to speak to all men in all periods of history.
Readiness to listen to God and do his will today and now is an important part
of Christian living (cf. 3:13). A Christian should be docile to God speaking in his
heart; he should be quick to respond to all the little invitations God gives him to
deny himself and advance in holiness. No excuse is ever valid for delaying to
give a positive response to grace. "Do your duty 'now', without looking back on
'yesterday', which has already passed, or worrying over 'tomorrow', which may
never come for you" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 253). "Now! Return to your
noble life now. Don't let yourself be fooled: 'now' is not too soon...nor too late"
("ibid.", 254).

8. Man is free; he can resist grace, and unfortunately often does. "It is not God's
goodness that is to blame for faith not coming to birth in men, but the inadequate
dispositions of those who hear the preaching of the word" (St Gregory Nazianzen,
"Oratio Catechetica Magna", 31). Scripture calls this resistance to grace "hard-
ness of heart" (cf., e.g., Ex 4:21; Rom 9:18; Deut 15:7; Jer 7:26; Acts 19:6).

When withholding belief or resisting conversion, people sometimes claim to have
intellectual difficulties, but, very often, the real problem has to do with their dispo-
sitions, with not "wanting" to respond to grace. The disobedience and "hardness
of heart" or stubbornness of the chosen people is a recurring subject in the Old
Testament (cf., e.g., Ex 32:9; Deut 9:13; 2 Kings 17:14; Is 46:12; Jer 5 :3; Ezek
2:4; etc.). Their rebellion against God's commands was due to pride, which turned
them into a people whose forehead was as hard as brass, whose neck was "an
iron sinew" (Is 48:4; cf. Acts 7:51), a people uncircumcised in heart, with uncir-
cumcised ears (cf. Jer 9:26; 6: 10). Conversion cannot operate if someone has
that attitude. For this reason our Lord, and later his Apostles, referred to the
Jews' rejection of him, in order to make Christians steadfast in faith (cf. Is 6:9;
Mt 13:13; In 12:40; Acts 28:26).

9. Psalm 95 contains a reference to the Israelites' rebellion when God put them
to the test in the wilderness. The episode took place in Rephidim, on the border
of the wilderness of Zin, in the south-east of the Sinai peninsula. Having made
their way out of Egypt, the people grew impatient; they complained about how
Yahweh was treating them, and put him to the test by asking him to work a mira-
cle (Ex 17:1-7). God did work a miracle: at Horeb he ordered Moses to strike the
rock with his rod, and out of it flowed water to relieve the people's thirst. The
place was therefore given the name of Massah (meaning temptation) and Meri-
bah (meaning fault-finding or exasperation). This episode in Jewish history came
to symbolize the disgruntlement which typified the Jews in the desert, an attitude
which even affected Moses in Kadesh (cf. Num 20:1-13). The leader of the chosen
people, in circumstances similar to those of the earlier incident, struck the rock
twice, not expecting anything to happen. On account of this he did not merit to
enter the promised land: he was only allowed to see it from Mount Nebo, where
he died (Deut 34:1-8).0

"Putting God to the test", " tempting" him, is a sin of presumption. It involves ex-
posing oneself imprudently and needlessly to physical or spiritual risk from which
God's ordinary providence does not provide protection (cf. Mt 4:5-7).

In this passage, "putting God to the test" means demanding more proof than
necessary that God is steadfast in his will and continues to protect his chosen
people. "God should not be asked to account for his activities", St John Chry-
sostom comments; "if one asks him to prove his power, his providence, his soli-
citude, it is the same as not yet being fully convinced of his power and goodness
and mercy" ("Hom. on Heb.", 6).

11. There are three kinds of rest. The first is the "sabbath", when God rested
after creating the world; then there is the rest provided by the promised land of
Canaan after countless afflictions and difficulties; and "finally there is the true
rest which belongs to the Kingdom of heaven, where the elect rest from their la-
bors and afflictions: the sabbath is a reflection and symbol of that rest" ("Hom.
on Heb.", 6).

St Thomas Aquinas applies the term "rest" to peace of body and soul and says
that there are different kinds of peace--physical ease (cf. Lk 12:19); the peace of
conscience a person has who does right in the sight of God; and the peace of
eternal happiness in heaven (cf. "Commentary on Heb, ad loc.").

12. "Falling away from the living God" seems to be something more serious than
reverting to Judaism; it implies the sad possibility of total loss of belief in God.
Thus, in the case of those to whom the epistle was written, a reversion from the
Gospel to Judaism would not be simply a matter of returning to a previous reli-
gious position but rather a deliberate act involving voluntary resistance to grace
and a complete break with God. For people who had not received the Revelation
of Jesus Christ, the Jewish religion certainly did provide access to God; but for
those who by embracing Christianity had thereby received the fullness of Reve-
lation, renunciation of Christ would mean a virtually irreparable sin (cf. Heb 6:4-6).
There is never a valid excuse for giving up the faith.

The Church teaches and prescribes to its children the need to be true to the faith
even at the cost of life itself. From the very beginning this was the kind of fidelity
practised by the martyrs and confessors of the faith. "They cut our hands off,
they nail us to crosses, they throw us to wild beasts, imprison us and burn us,
and we submit to every kind of torture; yet everyone knows that we do not betray
our faith. Rather, the worse our sufferings, the more there are who embrace faith
and devotion in the name of Jesus (St Justin, "Dialogue with Trypho", 110,4).

Some Christians today are called to stay true in the face of violent persecution;
they and others also have to overcome fear of ridicule, and the temptation to hide
their convictions from unbelievers. The words of the letter remind us that there is
a danger that whereas in earlier times force failed to achieve its objective, nowa-
days fear of ridicule could cause us to be ashamed of Christ or to deny him.
"'And in a paganized or pagan environment when my life clashes with its surroun-
dings, won't my naturalness seem artificial?' you ask me. And I reply: 'Undoub-
tedly your life will clash with theirs; and that contrast--faith confirmed by works!--
is exactly the naturalness I ask of you" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 380).

13. The more Christians practise charity, the easier it is for them to be steadfast
in the faith. Fraternity, mutual brotherly support, helps provide protection from the
devil's efforts to make us sin: "'Frater qui adiuvatur a fratre quasi civitas firma".
Brother helped by brother is a fortress.' Think for a moment and make up your
mind to live the fraternal spirit that I have always asked of you" (St. J. Escriva,
"The Way", 460).

Aware of his personal weakness and of the need to help others and to let him-
self be helped, the Christian keeps striving to practise this fraternity. He loves
the good he sees in others, and he tries to uproot in himself and others anything
that implies a defect. Fraternity, therefore, leads to "fraternal correction", a word
of advice which is always full of understanding, being the outcome of a desire to
live in harmony with others and to remove divisions and barriers. Christian frater-
nity binds the Church together.

"Not in vain is there in the depths of man's being a strong longing for peace, for
union with his fellow man, for mutual respect for personal rights, so strong that
it seeks to transform human relations into fraternity. This longing reflects some-
thing which is most deeply imprinted upon our human condition: since we are all
children of God, our fraternity is not a cliche or an empty dream; it beckons as a
goal which, though difficult, is really ours to achieve" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of
God", 233).

14. This is a repetition of the exhortation in v. 6 to remain true to the end. "Firm
confidence'' is the very opposite of the "falling away" mentioned in v. 12. From
the very beginning of his calling, a Christian is already sharing in Christ's life and
in his glory, but he will not share in it fully until after death, when he will be able
actually to see the Lord.

This sharing in Christ's grace is a treasure which we carry in "earthen vessels"
(2 Cor 4:7) and can lose at any time through sin. We need to nurture this grace
and protect our faith by being watchful and active right through our life: "We have
shared in Christ's death through holy Baptism and we have been buried with him;
we have shared in his resurrection provided we keep our faith intact" (Theodoret
of Cyrus, "Interpretatio Ep. ad Haebreos", III).

The Christian life is a matter of constantly returning to God, beginning anew, and
humbly and decisively correcting our course when we go astray through weak-
ness or indifference.

"What does it matter that we stumble on the way, if we find in the pain of our fall
the energy to pick ourselves up and go on with renewed vigor? Don't forget that
the saint is not the person who never falls, but rather the one who never fails to
get up again, humbly and with a holy stubbornness. If the Book of Proverbs says
that the just man falls seven times a day (cf. Prov 24:16), who are we poor crea-
tures, you and I, to be surprised or discouraged by our own weaknesses and falls!
We will be able to keep going ahead, if only we seek our fortitude in him who says:
'Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest' (Mt
11:28). Thank you, Lord, "quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea" (Ps 42:2), because
you, and you alone, my God, have always been my strength, my refuge and my
support" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 131).
target="_blank">http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/1365.htm

(II) 1st Reading: 1 Samuel 4:1-11

The Ark is Captured by the Philistines. Death of Eli and His Sons
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[1] And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle
against the Philistines; they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines en-
camped at Aphek. [2] The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when
the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who slew about four
thousand men on the field of battle. [3] And when the troops came to the camp,
the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD put us to rout today before the
Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh,
that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” [4]
So the people sent to Shiloh, and brought from there the ark of the covenant of
the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli,
Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

[5] When the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave
a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. [6] And when the Philistines heard
the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp
of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had
come to the camp, [7] the Philistines were afraid; for they said, “A god has come
into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened
before. [8] Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?
These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the
wilderness. [9] Take courage, and acquit yourselves like men, 0 Philistines, Lest
you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; acquit yourselves
like men and fight?"

[10] So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man
to his home; and there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty
thousand foot soldiers. [11] And the ark of God was captured; and the two sons
of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

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Commentary:

4:1-7:1. The vicissitudes of the ark will mark a change in the history of the people:
when the ark leaves its ancient home, Shiloh, the shrine of the era of the judges,
will disappear for ever and a new stage will begin, with a new shrine at the house
of Abinadab, and a new priesthood (7:1). These accounts contain important
teaching; God protects his peoples but the people are not identified with their
God. In ancient times in the East, the victory of one people over another proved
the domination of the god of the victor over the god of the defeated; this is not the
case in Israel: though the people may be overpowered by the Philistines, the Lord,
God of Israel, continues to be the one, supreme God; he can never be vanquished
by false gods. The accounts included in this section contain anecdotes full of
irony and pieces of popular folklore such as the golden tumors and the golden
mice (cf. the note on 6:1-7:1), but basically the message is that the Lord is ruling
over his people and he protects them even at times of great misfortune: even
pagan peoples, such as the Philistines acknowledge that this is the case.

4:1-22. The ark’s disappearance happens in the context of wars against the
Philistines. Here we see that the death of Eli and his sons, the capture of the
ark, and the defeat of the people--all this is due to the sins of the sons of Eli.
God just could not let their sin go unpunished, and he imposed a punishment
so severe that Phinehas’ wife had good reason to exclaim, “The glory has
departed from Israel” (v. 21). These misfortunes pile one on the other, to make
it clear that the worst punishment of all was the loss of the ark: its capture
involved the death of Hophni and Phinehas (v. 11); when Eli hears of his Sons’
death, he falls down dead (v. 18); and Pinehas’ wife, when she is told of these
three misfortunes, gives birth prematurely and dies (v. 20). It would be a mistake
to think that the Philistines have gained the victory: it is rather, God who has
defeated the Israelites because they have ceased to trust in him and instead
have put their faith in institutions and objects which have no enduring value,
such as the shrine and its priests.

The Philistines (in Hebrew, "pelestim") were one of the “sea peoples” (that is,
they were not Semites; cf. Gen 10:14), who had established themselves along
the southern coast of Canaan, Their five most important cities were: (Gaza,
Ashkelon, Ashdod, Oath and Ekron. By extension, the Greek word "Palaistine
(“land of the 'pelestim'”) came to describe the entire land of Canaan, giving rise
to the name of Palestine. However, the Israelites never managed to control the
entire Palestine zone, with the result that all along, from the accounts to do with
the patriarchs (Gen 21:32, 34) up to the books of the Kings, the Philistines are
depicted as irreconcilable enemies of the Israelites.

Gospel Reading: Mark 1:40-45

The Curing of a Leper
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[40] And a leper came to Him (Jesus), beseeching Him, and kneeling said to
Him, "If You will, You can make me clean." [41] Moved with pity, He stretched
out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean." [42] And
immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. [43] And He sternly
charged him, and sent him away at once, [44] and said to him, "See that you
say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your
cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people." [45] But he
went out and began to talk freely about it, and spread the news, so that Jesus
could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people
came to Him from every quarter.

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Commentary:

40-44. Leprosy was seen as a punishment from God (cf. Numbers 12:10-15).
The disappearance of the disease was regarded as one of the blessings of the
messianic times (Isaiah 35:8; cf. Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22). Because leprosy
was contagious, the Law declared that lepers were impure and that they
transmitted impurity to those who touched them and to places they entered.
Therefore, they had to live apart (Numbers 5:2; 12:14ff) and to show that they
were lepers by certain external signs. On the rite of purification, see the note
on Matthew 8:4.

[The note on Matthew 8:4 states:

4. According to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 14), if a leper is cured of his disease,
he should present himself to a priest, who will register the cure and give him a
certificate which he needs to be reintegrated into the civil and religious life of
Israel. Leviticus also prescribes the purifications and sacrifice he should offer.
Jesus' instruction to the leper is, then, in keeping with the normal way of fulfilling
what the laws laid down.]

The passage shows us the faithful and confident prayer of a man needing Jesus'
help and begging Him for it, confident that, if Our Lord wishes, He can free him
from the disease (cf. Matthew 8:2). "This man prostrated himself on the ground,
as a sign of humility and shame, to teach each of us to be ashamed of the stains
of his life. But shame should not prevent us from confessing: the leper showed
his wound and begged for healing. If You will, he says, You can make me clean;
that is, he recognized that the Lord had the power to cure him" (St. Bede, "In
Marci Evangelium Expositio, in loc.").

On the discretion and prudence Jesus required regarding His person, see the
note on Mark 1:34 and Matthew 9:30.

[The note on Mark 1:34 states:

34. Demons possess a supernatural type of knowledge and therefore they recog-
nize Jesus as the Messiah (Mark 1:24). Through the people they possess they
are able to publish this fact. But Our Lord, using His divine powers, orders them
to be silent. On other occasions He also silences His disciples (Mark 8:30; 9:9),
and He instructs people whom He has cured not to talk about their cure (Mark
1:4; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26). He may have acted in this way to educate the people
away from a too human and political idea of the Messiah (Matthew 9:30).
Therefore, He first awakens their interest by performing miracles and gradually,
through His preaching, gives them a clearer understanding of the kind of
Messiah He is.

Some Fathers of the Church point out that Jesus does not want to accept, in
support of the truth, the testimony of him who is the father of lies.]

[The note on Matthew 9:30 states:

30. Why did our Lord not want them to publicize the miracle? Because His plan
was to gradually manifest Himself as the Messiah, the Son of God. He did not
want to anticipate events which would occur in their own good time; nor did He
want the crowd to start hailing Him as Messiah King, because their notion of
messiah was nationalistic, not a spiritual one. However, the crowd did in fact
proclaim Him when he worked the miracles of the loaves and the fish (John
6:14-15): "When the people saw the sign which He had done, they said, `This
is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!' Perceiving then that they
were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew
again to the hills by Himself."]
　

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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.