Tuesday

5th Week of Easter

1st Reading: Acts 14:19-28

Paul Is Stoned
----------------------
[19] Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium; and having persuaded the
people, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was
dead. [20] But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered
the city; and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

The Return Journey to Antioch
--------------------------------------------
[21] When they had preached the Gospel to that city and had made many dis-
ciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, [22] strengthening
the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that
through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God. [23] And when
had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they com-
mitted them to the Lord in whom they believed.

[24] Then they passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. [25] And when
they had spoken the Word in Perga, they went down to Attalia; [26] and from
there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of
God for the work which they had fulfilled. [27] And when they arrived, they ga-
thered the Church together and declared all that God had done with them, and
how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. [28] And they remained no
little time with the disciples.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

19. Paul mentions this stoning in his Second Letter to the Corinthians. "Five
times I have received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes less one. Three times
I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned" (11:24f).

20-22. "If you accept difficulties with a faint heart you lose joy and your peace,
and you run the risk of not deriving spiritual profit from the trial" (St. J. Escriva,
"The Way", 696).

St. Paul is not cowed by persecution and physical suffering. He knows that this
crisis is the prelude to abundant spiritual fruit, and in fact many people in this re-
gion do embrace the Gospel.

Even though St. Luke records the progress and success of the Word of God, he
also shows that its preachers certainly encounter the cross (cf. 13:14, 50). The
Gospel meets with acceptance everywhere--and also with opposition. "Where
there are many laurels", St. Ambrose says, "there is fierce combat. It is good
for you to have persecutors: that way you attain more rapid success in your
enterprises" ("Expositio in Ps 118", 20, 43).

The Apostles have no difficulty in pointing to events to show the disciples that
suffering and difficulties form part of Christian living.

"Cross, toil, anguish: such will be your lot as long as you live. That was the way
Christ went, and the disciple is not above his master" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way",
699). "Each of us has at some time or other experienced that serving Christ our
Lord involves suffering and hardship; to deny this would imply that we had not yet
found God [...]. Far from discouraging us, the difficulties we meet have to spur us
on to mature as Christians. This fight sanctifies us and gives effectiveness to our
apostolic endeavors" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 28 and 216).

23. The appointment of elders in each church means that Christians were invested
with a ministry of government and religious worship, by a liturgical rite of ordination. 
These have a share in the hierarchical and priestly ministry of the Apostles, from
whom their own ministry derives.

"The ministry of priests [...]", Vatican II teaches, "shares in the authority by which
Christ Himself builds up and sanctifies and rules His Body" ("Presbyterorum Or-
dinis", 2). The ministerial office of priests is essential to the life of every Christian
community, which draws its strength from the Word of God and the Sacraments.
Their priesthood, derived from our Lord, is essentially different from what is called
the "priesthood common to all the faithful".

A man becomes a priest of the New Testament through a special calling from
God. "Our vocation," John Paul II told a huge gathering of priests in Philadelphia,
"is a gift from the Lord Jesus Himself. It is a personal, individual calling: we have
been called by our name, just as Jeremiah was" ("Homily at the Civic Center", 4
October 1979).

The priestly life is a sublime vocation which cannot be delegated or transferred
to anyone else. It is a lifelong vocation and means that one has to give himself
entirely to God--and this he can do, with the help of grace, because "we do not
claim back our gift once given. It cannot be that God, who gave us the impulse
to Yes, should now desire to hear us say No....

"It should not surprise the world that God's calling through the Church should
continue, offering us a celibate ministry of love and service according to our Lord
Jesus Christ's example. This calling from God touched the very depths of our
being. And after centuries of experience the Church knows how appropriate it is
that priests should respond in this specific way in their lives, to demonstrate the
totality of the Yes they have said to our Lord" ("Ibid.").

"Since He wishes that no one be saved who has not first believed (cf. Mark 16:16),
priests, like the co-workers of the bishops that they are, have as their first duty to
proclaim to all men the Gospel of God" (Vatican II, "Presbyterorum Ordinis", 4). 
To carry out this mission well, a priest needs to be in contact with our Lord all the
time--"a personal, living encounter--with eyes wide open and a heart beating fast
--with the risen Christ" (John Paul II, "Homily in Santo Domingo Catedral", 26
January 1979).

Reminding priests of their special duty to be witnesses to God in the modern
world, John Paul II invites them not only to bear in mind the Christian people, from
whom they come and whom they must serve, but also people at large; they should
ot hide the fact that they are priests: "Do not help the trends towards 'taking God
off the streets' by yourselves adopting secular modes of dress and behavior"
("Address at Maynooth University", 1 October 1979).

24-26. Paul and Barnabas return to Syrian Antioch, taking in the cities they have
visited--in reverse order: Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch and Perga. At
the port of Attalia they take ship for Syria and arrive shortly afterwards in Antioch.
Their journey, which began around the year 45, has taken four years.

Despite the animosity and persecution they experienced in these cities, the two
missionaries do not avoid returning. They want to complete arrangements for the
government of the new churches and to consolidate the faith of the disciples.
The possible risks involved do not cause them any concern.

"Whosoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake
and the Gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:35). "These are mysterious and paradoxical
words," (Pope) John Paul II writes. "But they cease to be mysterious if we strive
to put them into practice. Then the paradox disappears and we can plainly see
the deep simplicity of their meaning. To all of us this grace is granted in our
priestly life and in our zealous service" ("Letter to All Priests", 8 April 1979, 5).


Gospel Reading: John 14:27-31a

The Promise of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)
----------------------------------------------------------------
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [27] "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let
them be afraid. [28] You have heard Me say to you, 'I go away, and I will come to
you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the
Father is greater than I. [29] And now I have told you before it takes place, so that
when it does take place, you may believe. [30] I will no longer talk much to you,
for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over Me; [31a] but I do as
the Father has commanded Me."

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

27. Wishing a person peace was, and still is, the usual form of greeting among
Jews and Arabs. It is the greeting Jesus used, and which the Apostles continued
to use, as we can see from their letters (cf. 1 Peter 1:3; 3 John 15; Romans 1:7;
etc.). The Church still uses it in the liturgy: for example, before Communion the
celebrant wishes those present peace, a condition for worthily sharing in the holy
sacrifice (cf. Matthew 5:23) and also a fruit of that sacrifice.

On our Lord's lips this common greeting acquires its deepest meaning; peace is
one of the great messianic gifts (cf. Isaiah 9:7; 48:18; Micah 5:5; Matthew 10:22;
Luke 2:14; 19:38). The peace which Jesus gives us completely transcends the
peace of the world, which can be superficial and misleading and compatible with
injustice. The peace of Christ is, above all, reconciliation with God and reconci-
liation of men with one another; it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (cf.
Galatians 5:22-23); it is "serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, simplicity of heart,
a bond of love, a union of charity: no one can inherit God if he does not keep His
testament of peace, or live in unity with Christ if he is separated from Christianity"
(St. Augustine, "De Verbis Domini Serm.", 58).

"Christ 'is our peace' (Ephesians 2:14). And today and forever He repeats to us:
'My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you'. [...] Never before in the his-
tory of mankind has peace been so much talked about and so ardently desired as
in our day. [...] And yet again and again, one can see how peace is undermined
and destroyed. [...] Peace is the result of many converging attitudes and realities;
it is the product of moral concerns, of ethical principles based on the Gospel mes-
sage and fortified by it. [...] In his message for the 1971 Day of Peace, my
revered predecessor, that pilgrim of peace, Paul VI, said: "True peace must be
founded upon justice, upon a sense of the untouchable dignity of man, upon the
recognition of an indelible and happy equality between men, upon the basic prin-
ciple of human brotherhood, that is, of the respect and true love due to each man,
because he is man'. This same message I affirmed in Mexico and in Poland. I
reaffirm it here in Ireland. Every human being has inalienable rights that must be
respected. Each human community--ethnic, historical, cultural or religious--has
rights which must be respected. Peace is threatened every time one of these rights
is violated. The moral law, guardian of human rights, protector of the dignity of
man, cannot be set aside by any person or group, or by the State itself, for any
cause, not even for security or in the interests of law and order. The law of God
stands in judgment over all reasons of State. As long as injustices exist in any
of the areas that touch upon the dignity of the human person, be it in the political,
social or economic field, be it in the cultural or religious sphere, true peace will not
exist. [...] Peace cannot be established by violence, peace can never flourish in
a climate of terror, intimidation and death. It is Jesus Himself who said: 'All who
take the sword will perish by the sword' (Matthew 26:52). This is the word of God,
and it commands this generation of violent men to desist from hatred and violence
and to repent" (John Paul II, "Homily at Drogheda", 29 September 1979).

The peace and joy which Christ brings us should be typical of believers: "Get rid
of those scruples that deprive you of peace.--What takes away your peace of soul
cannot come from God.

"When God comes to you, you will feel the truth of those greetings: My peace I
give to you..., peace I leave you..., peace be with you..., and you will feel it even
in the midst of troubles." (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 258).

28. Jesus Christ, as Only-begotten Son of God, possesses divine glory for all
eternity; but while He is on earth this glory is veiled and hidden behind His holy
human nature (cf. 17:5; Philippians 2:7). It only shows itself on a few occasions,
such as when He performs miracles (cf. 2:11) or at the Transfiguration (cf. Matthew
17:1-8 and paragraph). Now, through His death, resurrection and ascension into
Heaven Jesus wil be glorified--in His body also--as He returns to the Father and
enters into His glory. Therefore, His departure from this world should be a source
of joy for His disciples; but they do not properly understand what He is saying,
and they are saddened because hey are more aware of the Master being physi-
cally separated from them than the glory which awaits Him.

When Jesus says that the Father is greater than He, He is thinking about His
human nature; as man Jesus is going to be glorified, ascending as He does to
the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ "is equal to the Father in His dignity,
less than the Father in His humanity" ("Athanasian Creed"). St. Augustine exhorts
us to "acknowledge the twofold nature of Christ--the divine, by which He is equal
to the Father; the human, by which He is less than the Father. But the one and
the other are together not two, but one Christ' ("In Ioann. Evang.", 78, 3). However,
although the Father and the Son are equal in nature, eternity and dignity, our
Lord's words can also be understood by taking "greater" to refer to His origin: only
the Father is "beginning without beginning", whereas the Son proceeds eternally
from the Father by way of a generation which is also eternal. Jesus Christ is God
from God, Light from Light, True God from True God (cf. Nicene Creed).

30. Clearly the world is good, for it has been created by God, and God loved it so
much that He sent His Only-begotten Son (cf. John 3:16). However, in this passage
"world" means all those who reject Christ; and "the ruler of the world" is the devil
(cf. John 1:10; 7:7; 15:18-19). The devil opposed the work of Jesus right from the
start of His public life when he tempted Him in the desert (cf. Matthew 4:1-11 and
paragraph). Now, in the passion, he will apparently overcome Christ. This is the
hour of the power of darkness when, availing of Judas' treachery (cf. Luke 22:53;
John 13:27), the devil manages to have our Lord arrested and crucified.
　

*********************************************************************************************
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].