15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C (다해 연중 제15주일)


1st Reading: Deuteronomy 30:10-14

Restoration After Repentance (Continuation)
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(Moses said to the people, ) [10] "If you obey the voice of the Lord your
God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this
book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul.

The Law of God is Accessible to All
-----------------------------------
[11] "For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for
you, neither is it far off. [12] It is not in heaven, that you should say,
'Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it
and do it?' [13] Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who
will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do
it?' [14] But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your
heart, so that you can do it."

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Commentary:

30:11-14. What this passage directly refers to is how privileged Israel was
to have the Law. The sacred writer puts it very beautifully, by using two
nice metaphors in a passage that has a certain poetic rhythm to it. St.
Paul, in his Letter to the Romans (10:6-8), uses this passage, applying it
not to knowledge of the Law but to "the word of faith" that is preached by
the apostles: it is now that word (as previously it was the Law) that makes
manifest the precepts and commandments of God and (like the Law in its
time, too) it should be constantly on our lips and in our heart. Theodoret of
Cyprus (commenting on the Greek Septuagint version, which adds in v. 14
"and in your hands") says: The mouth stands for meditation on the divine
words; the heart, readiness of spirit; the hands for doing what is commanded"
("Quaestiones in Octateuchum", 38).

The Christian people, who possess the New Law and the New Covenant, are
in an even better position than the people of old, for they have been given the
grace of Christ. And so the Council of Trent teaches that "God does not
command impossible things; when he makes a commandment he is telling
you to do what you can and ask (his help) as regards what is beyond you,
and he helps you to fulfill it" (De Iustificatione", 11). In the Old Law, even
though the Israelites did not have available to them the grace won by
Christ, divine Providence helped them to do what was required of them in
anticipation of that grace.


2nd Reading: Colossians 1:15-20

Hymn in Praise of Christ as Head of All Creation
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[15] He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of
all creation; [16] for in him all things were created, in heaven and on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or authorities--all things were created through him and
for him. [17] He is before all things, and in him all things hold
together. [18] He is the head of the body, the church, he is the
beginning; the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be
preeminent. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to
dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things.

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Commentary:

15-20. Now we come to a very beautiful hymn in praise of Christ's
sublime dignity as God and as man. This was a truth deserving emphasis
in view of the danger to the faith which the false apostles' teaching
represented (cf. note on vv. 7-8). However, quite apart from the
particular situation in Colossae, the sublime teaching contained in
this canticle holds good for all times; it is one of the most important
Christological texts in St Paul's writings.

The real protagonist of this passage is the Son of God made man, whose
two natures, divine and human, are always linked in the divine person
of the Word. However, at some points St Paul stresses his divinity (vv.
16, 17, 18b and 19) and at others his humanity (vv. 15, 18a, 18c and
20). The underlying theme of the hymn is Christ's total pre-eminence
over all creation.

We can distinguish two stanzas in the hymn. In the first (vv. 15-17)
Christ's dominion is stated to embrace the entire cosmos, stemming as
it does from his action as Creator: "in him all things were created"
(v. 16). This same statement is made in the prologue to the fourth
Gospel (cf. Jn 1:3), and it is implied in the Book of Genesis, which
tells us that creation was effected by God's word (cf. Gen 1:3, 6, 9,
etc.). Since Christ is the Word of God, he is above all things, and
therefore St Paul stresses that all angels--irrespective of their
hierarchy or order--come under his sway.

Christ's pre-eminence over natural creation is followed by his primacy
in the economy of supernatural salvation, a second creation worked by
God through grace. The second stanza (vv. 18-20) refers to this further
primacy of Christ: by his death on the cross, Christ has restored peace
and has reconciled all things--the world and mankind--to God. Jews and
Gentiles both are called to form part of one body, the Church, of which
Christ is the head; and all the celestial powers are subject to his
authority.

This passage is, then, a sublime canticle celebrating Christ, the head
by virtue of his surpassing excellence and his salvific action. "The
Son of God and of the Blessed Virgin", Pius XII teaches, "must be
called the head of the Church for the special reason of his
preeminence. For the head holds the highest place. But none holds a
higher place than Christ as God for he is the Word of the Eternal
Father and is therefore justly called 'the first-born of all creation'.
None holds a higher place than Christ as man, for he, born of the
immaculate Virgin, is the true and natural Son of God, and by reason of
his miraculous and glorious resurrection by which he triumphed over
death he is 'the first-born from the dead'. And none stands higher than
he who, being the 'one mediator between God and man' (1 Tim 2:5),
admirably unites earth with heaven; who, exalted on the Cross as on his
throne of mercy, has drawn all things to himself" ("Mystici Corporis",
15).

15. By the unaided use of reason man can work out that God exists, but
he could never, on his own, have grasped the essence of God: in this
sense God is said to be invisible (cf. St Thomas, "Commentary on Col,
ad loc."). This is why it is said in St John's Gospel that "no one has
ever seen God" (Jn 1:18).

In Sacred Scripture we are told that man was created "in the image of
God" (Gen 1:26). However, only the second person of the Blessed
Trinity, the Son, is the perfect image and likeness of the Father. "The
image [likeness] of a thing may be found in something else in two ways;
in one way it is found in something of the same specific nature--as the
image of the king is found in his son; in another way it is found in
something of a different nature, as the king's image on the coin. In
the first sense the Son is the image of the Father; in the second sense
man is called the image of God; and therefore in order to express the
imperfect character of the divine image in man, man is not simply
called 'the image' but is referred to as being 'according to the
image', whereby is expressed a certain movement or tendency to
perfection. But it cannot be said that the Son of God is 'according to
the image', because he is the perfect image of the Father" ("Summa
Theologiae", I, q. 35, a. 2 ad 3). And so, "for something to be truly
an image, it has to proceed from another as similar to it in species,
or at least in some aspect of the species" ("Summa Theologiae", I, q.
35, a. 1, c.) To say that the Son is "image of the invisible God" means
that the Father and the Son are one-in-substance--that is, both possess
the same divine nature--, with the nuance that the Son proceeds from
the Father. It also conveys the fact that they are two distinct
persons, for no one is the image of himself.

The supreme revelation of God is that effected by the Son of God
through his Incarnation. He is the only one who can say, "He who has
seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). His sacred humanity, therefore,
reflects the perfections of God, which he possesses by virtue of the
hypostatic union--the union of divine nature and human nature which
occurs in his person, which is divine. The second Person of the
Trinity restored man to his original dignity. The image of God,
imperfect though it be, which there is in every man and woman, was
blurred by Adam's sin; but it was restored in Christ: God's true
self-image takes on a nature the same as ours, and thanks to the
redemption wrought by his death, we obtain forgiveness of sins (v. 14).

Jesus Christ is the "first-born of all creation" by virtue of the
hypostatic union. He is, of course, prior to all creation, for he
proceeds eternally from the Father by generation. This the Church has
always believed, and it proclaims it in the Creed: "born of the Father
before time began ..., begotten, not made, of one being
[consubstantial] with the Father" ("Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed").

In Jewish culture, the first-born was first in honor and in law. When
the Apostle calls Jesus "the first-born of all creation", he is
referring to the fact that Christ has pre-eminence and headship over
all created things, because not only does he pre-date them but they
were all created "through him" and "for him" (v. 16).

16-17. Jesus Christ is God; this is why he has pre-eminence over all
created things. The relationships between Christ and creation are
spelled out by three prepositions. "In him all things were created": in
Christ: he is their source, their center and their model or exemplary
cause. "All things were created through him and for him": through him,
in other words, God the Father, through God the Son, creates all
things; and for him, because he is the last end, the purpose or goal of
everything.

St Paul goes on to say that "in him all things hold together"; "the Son
of God has not only created everything: he conserves everything in
being; thus, if his sovereign will were to cease to operate for even an
instant, everything would return into the nothingness from which he
drew everything that exists" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on Col, ad loc.").

All created things, then, continue in existence because they share,
albeit in a limited way, in Christ's infinite fullness of existence or
perfection. His dominion extends not only over celestial things but
also over all material things, however insignificant they may seem: it
embraces everything in heaven and in the physical universe.

The sacred text also points to Christ's supremacy over invisible
creation, that is, over the angels and celestial hierarchies (cf. Heb
1:5). If St Paul stresses this fact, it is to expose the errors of
those who were depicting Jesus as a creature intermediary between
corporeal beings and spiritual created beings, and, therefore, lower
than the angels.

18. "He is the head of the body, the church": this image shows the
relationship of Christ with the Church, to which he sends his grace in
abundance, bearing life to all its members. 'The head," St Augustine
says, "is our very Savior, who suffered under Pontius Pilate and now,
after rising from the dead, is seated at the right hand of the Father.
And his body is the Church [...] For the whole Church, made up of the
assembly of the faithful--for all the faithful are Christ's
members--has Christ, as its head, who rules his body from on high"
("Enarrationes in Psalmos", 56, 1).

St Paul unequivocally teaches that the Church is a body. "Now if the
Church is a body it must be something one and undivided, according to
the statement of St Paul: 'We, though many, are one body in Christ'
(Rom 12:5). And not only must it be one and undivided, it must also be
something concrete and visible, as our Predecessor of happy memory, Leo
XIII, says in his Encyclical "Satis Cognitum": 'By the very fact of
being a body the Church is visible.' It is therefore an aberration from
divine truth to represent the Church as something intangible and
invisible, as a mere 'pneumatic' entity joining together by an
invisible link a number of communities of Christians in spite of their
difference in faith.

"But a body requires a number of members so connected that they help
one another. And, in fact, as in our mortal organism when one member
suffers the others suffer with it, and the healthy members come to the
assistance of those who are ailing, so in the Church individual members
do not live only for themselves but also help one another, alleviating
their suffering and helping to build up the entire body" (Pius XII,
"Mystici Corporis", 7).

"He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead": this can be said
because he was the first man to rise from the dead, never again to die
(cf. 1 Cor 15:20; Rev 1:5), and also because thanks to him it enabled
men to experience resurrection in glory (cf. 1 Cor 15:22; Rom 8:11),
because they are justified through him (cf. Rom 4:25).

So, just as the previous verses looked to Christ's pre-eminent role in
creations the hymn now focuses on his primacy in a new creation--the
rebirth of mankind, and all creation in its train, in the supernatural
order of grace and glory. Christ rose from the dead to enable us also
to walk in newness of life (cf. Rom 6:4). Therefore, in every way Jesus
Christ is "pre-eminent."

19. The word "pleroma" translated here as "fullness", has two meanings
in Greek: one, an active meaning, describes something that "fills" or
"completes"; for example, a ship's full load can be referred to as its
pleroma. The other meaning is passive, "that which is filled" or "that
which is complete", so that a ship can be said to be "pleroma" when it
is fully loaded. In this passage St Paul is using the word in both
senses: Christ is the fullness (passive sense) of the Godhead (cf. Col
2:9), because he is full of all the perfections of the divine essence;
and he is the fullness (active sense), because he fills the Church and
all creation.

St John Chrysostom suggests that "the word 'fullness' is to be taken to
mean the divinity of Jesus Christ [...]. This term has been chosen the
better to show that the very essence of the godhead resides in Jesus
Christ" ("Hom. on Col, ad loc.").

Since Christ possesses the divine nature, he also possesses the
fullness of the supernatural gifts, for himself and for all mankind.
Hence St Thomas' comment that pleroma "reveals the dignity of the head
in so far as it has the fullness of all grace" (Commentary on Col, ad
loc.). In this sense, Christ is the fullness of the Church, for as its
head he vivifies his body with all kinds of unmerited gifts. Finally,
the entire created universe can be termed the "fullness" ("pleroma") of
Christ, because everything that exists in heaven and on earth has been
created and is maintained in existence by him (cf. vv. 16-17); they are
ever-present to him and are ruled by him (cf. Is 6:3; Ps 139:8; Wis
1:7; etc.). Thus, the world, which was created good (cf. Gen 1:31)
tends towards its fulfillment insofar as it clearly reflects the imprint
God gave it at the start of creation.

20. Since Christ is pre-eminent over all creation, the Father chose to
reconcile all things to himself through him. Sin had cut man off from
God, rupturing the perfect order which originally reigned in the
created world. By shedding his blood on the cross, Christ obtained
peace for us; nothing in the universe falls outside the scope of his
peace-giving influence. He who in the beginning created all things in
heaven and on earth has reestablished peace throughout creation.

This reconciliation of all things, ushered in by Christ, is fostered by
the Holy Spirit who enables the Church to continue the process of
reconciliation. However, we will not attain the fullness of this
reconciliation until we reach heaven, when the entire created universe,
along with mankind, will be perfectly renewed in Christ (cf. "Lumen
Gentium", 48).

"The history of salvation--the salvation of the whole of humanity, as
well as of every human being of whatever period--is the wonderful
history of a reconciliation; the reconciliation whereby God, as Father,
in the Blood and the Cross of his Son made man, reconciles the world to
himself and thus brings into being a new family of those who have been
reconciled.

"Reconciliation becomes necessary because there has been the break of
sin from which derive all the other forms of break within man and about
him. Reconciliation therefore, in order to be complete, necessarily
requires liberation from sin, which is to be rejected in its deepest
roots. Thus a close internal link unites "conversion" and
"reconciliation". It is impossible to split these two realities or to
speak of one and say nothing of the other (John Paul II, "Reconciliatio
Et Paenitentia", 13).

Jesus Christ also counts on the cooperation of every individual
Christian to apply his work of redemption and peace to all creation.
The founder of Opus Dei says, in this connection: "We must love the
world and work and all human things. For the world is good. Adam's sin
destroyed the divine balance of creation; but God the Father sent his
only Son to reestablish peace, so that we his children by adoption,
might free creation from disorder and reconcile all things to God"
("Christ Is Passing By", 112).

Gospel Reading: Luke 10:25-37

Parable of the Good Samaritan
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[25] And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him (Jesus) to the test,
saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" [26] He said
to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read?" [27] And he
answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind:
and your neighbor as yourself." [28] And He said to him, "You have
answered right; do this, and you will live." [29] But he, desiring to
justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" [30] Jesus
replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell
among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving
him half dead. [31] Now by chance a priest was going down that road;
and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. [32] So like-
wise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on
the other side. [33] But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where
he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, [34] and went to
him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set
him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
[35] And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
inn-keeper, saying, "Take care of him; and whatever more you spend,
I will repay you when I come back.' [36] Which of these three, do you
think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" [37]
He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to
him, "Go and do likewise."

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Commentary:

25-28. Our Lord's teaching is that the way to attain eternal life is through
faithful fulfillment of the Law of God. The Ten Commandments, which
God gave Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:1-17), express the natural
law in a clear and concrete way. It is part of Christian teaching that the
natural law exists, that it is a participation by rational creatures in the
Eternal Law and that it is impressed on the conscience of every man
when heis created by God (cf. Leo XIII, "Libertas Praestantissimum").
Obviously, therefore, the natural law, expressed in the Ten Command-
ments, cannot change or become outdated, for it is not dependent on
man's will or on changing circumstances.

In this passage, Jesus praises and accepts the summary of the Law
given by the Jewish scribe. This reply, taken from Deuteronomy (6:4ff),
was a prayer which the Jews used to say frequently. Our Lord gives
the very same reply when He is asked which is the principal command-
ment of the Law and concludes His answer by saying, "On these two
commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:40;
cf. also Romans 13:8-9; Galatians 5:14).

There is a hierarchy and order in these two commandments constitu-
ting the double precept of charity: before everything and above every-
thing comes loving God in Himself; in the second place, and as a con-
sequence of the first commandment, comes loving one's neighbor, for
God explicitly requires us to do so (1 John 4:21; cf. notes on Matthew
22:34-40 and 22:37-38).

This passage of the Gospel also included another basic doctrine: the
Law of God is not something negative--"Do not do this"--but something
completely positive--love. Holiness, to which all baptized people are
called, does not consist in not sinning, but in loving, in doing positive
things, in bearing fruit in the form of love of God. When our Lord des-
cribes for us the Last Judgment He stresses this positive aspect of the
Law of God (Matthew 25:31-46). The reward of eternal life will be given
to those who do good.

27. "Yes, our only occupation here on earth is that of loving God--that
is, to start doing what we will be doing for all eternity. Why must we
love God? Well, because our happiness consists in love of God; it
can consist in nothing else. So, if we do not love God, we will always
be unhappy; and if we wish to enjoy any consolation and relief in our
pains, we will attain it only by recourse to love of God. If you want to
be convinced of this, go and find the happiest man according to the
world; if he does not love God, you will find that in fact he is an unhap-
py man. And, on the contrary, if you discover the man most unhappy
in the eyes of the world, you will see that because he loves God he is
happy in every way. Oh my God!, open the eyes of our souls, and we
will seek our happiness where we truly can find it" (St. John Mary Vian-
ney, "Selected Sermons", Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost).

29-37. In this moving parable, which only St. Luke gives us, our Lord
explains very graphically who our neighbor is and how we should show
charity towards him, even if he is our enemy.

Following other Fathers, St. Augustine ("De Verbis Domini Sermones",
37) identifies the Good Samaritan with our Lord, and the waylaid man
with Adam, the source and symbol of all fallen mankind. Moved by
compassion and piety, He comes down to earth to cure man's wounds,
making them His own (Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John
3:5). In fact, we often see Jesus being moved by man's suffering (cf.
Matthew 9:36; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13). And St. John says: "In this the
love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son
into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that
we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation
for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another" (1 John 4:9-11).

This parable leaves no doubt about who our neighbor is--anyone (without
distinction of race or relationship) who needs our help; nor about how we
should love him--by taking pity on him, being compassionate towards
his spiritual and corporal needs; and it is not just a matter of having the
right feelings towards him; we must do something, we must generously
serve him.

Christians, who are disciples of Christ, should share His love and com-
passion, never distancing themselves from others' needs. One way to
express love for one's neighbor is to perform the "works of mercy", which
get their name from the fact that they are not duties in justice. There are
fourteen such works, seven spiritual and seven corporal. 
The spiritual are: To convert the sinner; To instruct the ignorant; To counsel 
the doubtful; To comfort the sorrowful; To bear wrongs patiently; To forgive 
injuries; To pray for the living and the dead. 
The corporal works are: To feed the hungry; To give drink to the thirsty; 
To clothe the naked; To shelter the homeless; To visit the sick; To visit 
the imprisoned; To bury the dead.

그리스도의 제자들인 그리스도인(Christians)들은, 다른 자들의 필요한 것
(needs)들로부터 결코 거리를 두지 않음으로써,  당신의 사랑(His love)과 
동정심(compassion)을 반드시 함께 나누어야 합니다. 자신의 이웃에 대한 사랑
(love)을 표현하는 한 가지 방식은 "자비에 기인하는 일들(works of mercy, 
자선 활동)" 을 수행하는 것인데, 이 일들은 그 이름을 그들이 정의(justice)에 
있어 의무(duites)들이 아니라는 바로 그 사실로부터 얻습니다(get). 
일곱 개의 영적인(spiritual) 그리고 일곱 개의 육체적인(corporal), 열네 개의 
그러한 일들이 
있습니다.
일곱 개의 영적인 자비에 기인하는 일(자선 활동)들은 다음과 같습니다:  
죄인을 회심시키는 것, 무지한 자들을 가르치는 것, 의심하는 자들을 권고
(충고)하는 것, 슬퍼하는 자들을 위로하는 것, 끈기 있게 부당 행위(wrongs)들을 
견디는 것, 상해(injuries)들을 용서하는 것, 그리고 살아있는 자들과 죽은 자들을 
위하여 기도하는 것.
일곱 개의 육체적인 자비에 기인하는 일(자선 활동)들은 다음과 같습니다:  
배고픈 자들을 먹이는 것, 목마른 자들에게 음료를 제공하는 것, 헐벗은 자들을 
입히는 것, 집 없는 자들을 머물게 하는 것, 병자들을 방문하는 것, 수감된 
자들을 방문하는 것, 그리고 죽은 자들을 묻는 것.

31-32. Very probably one reason why our Lord used this parable was to
correct one of the excesses of false piety common among His contem
poraries. According to the Law of Moses, contact with dead bodies in-
volved legal impurity, from which one was cleansed by various ablutions
(cf. Numbers 19:11-22; Leviticus 21:1-4, 11-12). These regulations were
not meant to prevent people from helping the injured; they were designed
for reasons of hygiene and respect for the dead. The aberration of the
priest and the Levite in this parable consisted in this: they did not know
for sure whether the man who had been assaulted was dead or not, and
they preferred to apply a wrong interpretation of a secondary, ritualistic
precept of the Law rather than obey the more important commandment
of loving one's neighbor and giving him whatever help one can.

　

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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.]