나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Saturday after Epiphany

1st Reading: 1 John 5:14-21

Prayer for Sinners
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[14] And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything ac-
cording to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever
we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. [16] 1f any-
one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God
will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal;
I do not say that one is to pray for that. [17] All wrongdoing is sin, but there is
sin which is not mortal.

The Christian's Confidence as a Child of God
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[18] We know that anyone born of God does not sin, but he who was born of
God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

[19] We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil
one.

[20] And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understan-
ding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus
Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. [21] Little children, keep yourselves
from idols.

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Commentary:

13-21. St John's words in v. 13 are evocative of the first epilogue to his Gospel,
where he explains why he wrote that book: "that you may believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (Jn
20:31). In this verse of the letter, the Apostle stresses the efficacy of faith, which
is already an anticipation of eternal life (cf. notes on 1 Jn 3:2; 5:9-12).

13-21. 제13절에서의 성 요한의 표현들은 자신의 복음서에 대한 첫 번째 맺음말
(epilogue)을 생각나게 하는데, 거기서 그는 자신이 이 책을 저술한 이유를 다음과 같이
설명하고 있습니다: "이것들을 기록한 목적은 예수님께서 메시아이시며 하느님의 아드님
이심을 여러분이 믿고, 또 그렇게 믿어서 그분의 이름으로 생명을 얻게 하려는 것이다"
(요한 복음서 20,31). 이 서간의 이 절에서, 이 사도는, 이미 영원한 생명에 대한 하나의
기대인(1요한 3,2; 5,9-12에 대한 주석들을 참조하라), 믿음의 효능에 대하여 강조하고
있습니다.

His final counsels are designed to strengthen our confidence in prayer and to
urge the need for prayer on behalf of sinners (vv. 14-17); they also stress the con-
viction and confidence that faith in the Son of God gives the believer (vv. 18-21).

14-15. Earlier, the Apostle referred to confidence in prayer and to how we can be
sure of receiving what we pray for: that confidence comes from the fact that "we
keep his commandments and do what pleases him" (1 Jn 3:22). Now he stres-
ses that God always listens to us, if we ask "according to his will". This condi-
tion can be taken in two ways, as St Bede briefly explains: "Insofar as we ask
for the things he desires, and insofar as those of us who approach him are as he
desires us to be" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc."). The asker therefore needs to
strive to live in accordance with God's will, and to identify himself in advance with
God's plans. If one does not try to live in keeping with God's commandments,
one cannot expect him to listen to one's prayers.

When prayer meets those requirements, "we know that we have obtained the re-
quests made of him", as our Lord himself assured us: "if you ask anything in my
name, I will do it" (Jn 14:14). "It is not surprising, then," the Cure of Ars teaches,
"that the devil should do everything possible to influence us to give up prayer or
to pray badly, because he knows better than we do how terrible it is for hell and
how impossible it is that God should refuse us what we ask him for in prayer.
How many sinners would get out of sin if they managed to have recourse to
prayer!" ("Selected Sermons", Fifth Sunday after Easter).

16-17. "Mortal sin": the meaning of the original text is "sin which leads to death".
The gravity of this sin (St John does not specify its exact nature) recalls the gra-
vity of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 12:31-32) and of the sin of apo-
stasy which Hebrews speaks of (Heb 6:4-8).

The Fathers have interpreted this expression in various ways, referring to diffe-
rent grave sins. In the context of the letter (in the previous chapters St John often
speaks about the antichrists and false prophets who "went out" from the commu-
nity: 2:19) the best interpretation seems to be that of St Bede and St Augustine,
who apply it to the sin of the apostate who, in addition, attacks the faith of other
Christians. "My view is", St Augustine says, "that the sin unto death is the sin
of the brother who, after knowing God by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, at-
tacks brotherly union and in a passion of envy reacts against that very grace by
which he was reconciled to God" ("De Sermo Dom. in monte",l, 22, 73).

If St John does not expressly command his readers to pray for these sinners,
it does not mean that they are beyond recovery, or that it is useless to pray for
them. Pope St Gelasius I teaches: "There is a sin of death for those who persist
in that same sin; there is a sin not of death for those who desist from sin. There
is, certainly, no sin for the pardon of which the Church does not pray or from
which, by the power which was divinely granted to it, it cannot absolve those
who desist from it" ("Ne forte").

Referring to this passage of St John, Pope John Paul II says: "Obviously, the
concept of death here is a spiritual death. It is a question of the loss of the true
life or 'eternal life', which for John is knowledge of the Father and the Son (cf.
Jn 17:3), and communion and intimacy with them. In that passage the sill that
leads to death seems to be the denial of the Son (cf. 1 Jn 2:22), or the worship
of false gods (cf. 1 Jn 5:21). At any rate, by this distinction of concepts John
seems to wish to emphasize the incalculable seriousness of what constitutes
the very essence of sin, namely the rejection of God. This is manifested above
all in apostasy and idolatry: repudiating faith in revealed truth and, making cer-
tain created realities equal to God, raising them to the status of idols"; and
false gods (cf. 1 Jn 5:16-21)."

And after referring to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 12:31-32) he
adds: "Here of course it is a question of extreme and radical manifestations--re-
jection of God, rejection of his grace, and therefore opposition to the very source
of salvation (cf. St Thomas, "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 14, a. 1-3)--these are
manifestations whereby a person seems to exclude himself voluntarily from the
path of forgiveness. It is to be hoped that very few persist to the end in this atti-
tude of rebellion or even defiance of God. Moreover, God in his merciful love is
greater than our hearts, as St John further teaches us (cf. 1 Jn 3:20), and can
overcome all our psychological and spiritual resistance. So that, as St Thomas
writes, 'considering the omnipotence and mercy of God, no one should despair
of the salvation of anyone in this life' ("Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 14, a. 3, ad
1)" ("Reconciliatio et Paenitentia", 17).

18-20. "We know": each of these verses begins this way. He does not mean
theoretical knowledge but that understanding that comes from living faith. St
John is once again stressing the Christian's joyful confidence, which he has ex-
pounding throughout the letter (cf. 2:3-6 and note). This confidence is grounded
on three basic truths: 1) he who is born of God does not sin (cf. 1 Jn 3:6-9 and
note); 2) "we are of God", and therefore we are particularly free of the world,
which is still in the power of the evil one (cf. 4:4; 5:12); 3) the Son of God has
become man (cf. 4:2; 5:1). The incarnation of the Word is the central truth which
sheds light on the two previous ones, because our supernatural insight is the
effect of the Incarnation (v. 20): Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is also
eternal life, for only in him can we attain that life.

18. "In this Johannine affirmation", Pope John Paul II teaches, "there is an
indication of hope, based on the divine promises: the Christian has received the
guarantee and the necessary strength not to sin. It is not a question therefore of
a sinlessness acquired through one's own virtue or even inherent in man, as the
Gnostics thought. It is a result of God's action. In order not to sin the Christian
has knowledge of God, as St John reminds us in this same passage. But a little
earlier he had written: 'No one born of God commits sin; for God's seed [RSV:
"nature"] abides in him' (1 Jn 3:9). If by 'God's seed' we understand, as some
commentators suggest, Jesus the Son of God, then we can say that in order
not to sin, or in order to gain freedom from sin, the Christian has within himself
the presence of Christ and the mystery of Christ, which is the mystery of God's
loving kindness" ("Reconciliatio et Paentientia", 20).

19. "The whole world is in the power of the evil one": although the Greek term
may be neuter and would allow a more abstract translation ("in the power of
evil"), it is more consistent with the context to take it in a personal sense. St
John is pointing up the contrast between Christ's followers and those of the evil
one: whereas the world (in the pejorative sense) is like a slave in the power of
the devil, true Christians are in Christ, as free people, with a share in Christ's
own life. "We have been born of God through grace and have been reborn in
Baptism through faith. On the other hand, those who love the world are in the
power of the enemy, be it because they have not yet been liberated from him
by the waters of regeneration or because, after their rebirth, they have once
more submitted to his rule through sinning" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc.").

20. "Him who is true": that is, the only true God as distinct from false gods;
the Jews used to refer to God as "the True", without naming him. When St
John goes on to say that "we are in him, who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ",
he is confessing the divinity of Christ and the fact that he is the only mediator
between the Father and mankind.

21. Although at first sight, this formal exhortation may seem surprising, it was
appropriate in its time, because these first Christians were living in the midst of
a pagan world, and were exposed to the danger of idolatry.

However, St John may be speaking metaphorically: the true danger facing
Christians, then and now, is that of following the idols of the heart--that is, sin;
in which case he is giving this final counsel: Keep away from sin, be on guard
against those whose fallacious arguments could lead you to sin.

　

Gospel Reading: John 3:22-30

John Again Bears Witness
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[22] After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea; there he re-
mained with them and baptized. [23] John also was baptizing at Aenon near
Salim, because there was much water there; and people came and were bap-
tized. [24] For John had not yet been put in prison.

[25] Now a discussion arose between John's disciples and a Jew over purifying.
[26] And they came to John, and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you be-
yond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, here he is, baptizing, and all are
going to him." [27] John answered, "No one can receive anything except what
is given him from heaven. [28] You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am
not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. [29] He who has the bride is the
bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices
greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. [30] He
must increase, but I must decrease."

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Commentary:

22-24. A little later on (Jn 4:2) the evangelist makes it clear that it was not Jesus
himself who baptized, but his disciples. Our Lord probably wanted them from the
very beginning to get practice in exhorting people to conversion. The rite referred
to here was not yet Christian Baptism--which only began after the resurrection of
Christ (cf. Jn 7:39; 16:7; Mt 28: 19)--but "both baptisms, that of St John the Bap-
tist and that of our Lord's disciples [...], had a single purpose-to bring the baptized
to Christ [...] and prepare the way for future faith" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on
St John", 29, 1).

22-24. 조금 나중에(요한 복음서 4,2), 이 복음 사가는 세례를 주었던 자가 예수님 당신
자신이 아니라, 당신의 제자들이었음을 분명히 합니다. 우리의 주님께서는 맨 처음부터
그들이 사람들에게 회심(conversion)을 권고하는 습관을 가질 것을 아마도 원하셨을
것입니다. 여기서 언급되고 있는 의식(rite)는 아직은, 그리스도의 부활 이후에 오로지
시작되었던(요한 복음서 7,39; 16,7; 마태오 복음서 28,`9를 참조하라), 그리스도교의 세례
(Christian Baptism)는 아니었으나, 그러나 "세례자 성 요한의 세례 및 우리의 주님의
제자들의 세례, 둘 다의 세례들은 [...] 세례를 받은 이들을 그리스도에게로 데려와 [...]
그리하여 미래의 믿음을 위한 길을 마련하고자 하는 유일한 목표를 가지고 있었습니다"
[성 요한 크리소스토모(St John Chrysostom), "Hom. on St John", 29, 1].

The Gospel gives the exact time and place of this episode. Aenon is an Aramaic
word meaning "wells". Salim was situated to the north-east of Samaria, south of
the town of Scythopolis or Beisan, near the western bank of the Jordan, about
twenty kilometers (thirteen miles) to the south of the Lake of Gennesaret.

이 복음서는 이 에피소드(episode)의 정확한 시기와 장소를 제공합니다. 애논(Aenon)은
"우물(wells)들"을 뜻하는 아람어 단어(Aramaic word)입니다. 살림(Salim)은, 겐네사렛
호수(the Lake of Gennesaret, 즉 갈릴래아 호수)의 남부 지역까지 약 20 킬로미터(3 마일),
요르단 강의 서쪽 강둑 가까이에 있는 스키토폴리스(Scythopolis) 혹은 벳 스안(Beisan,
Beth-shan)이라는 성읍의 남부 지역인, 사마리아(Samaria)의 북동 지역에 위치하고
있었습니다.

The Gospel notes that "John had not yet been put in prison" (v. 24), thus rounding
out the information given by the Synoptics (Mt 4:12; Mk 1:14). We know, therefore,
that Jesus' public ministry began when John the Baptist's mission was still going
on, and, particularly, that there was no competition of any kind between them; on
the contrary, the Baptist, who was preparing the way of the Lord, had the joy of
actually seeing his own disciples follow Jesus (cf. Jn 1:37).

이 복음서는 "그때는 요한이 감옥에 갇히기 전이었다"(제24절)라고 써놓는데, 그 결과
공관 복음서들에 의하여 제공되고 있는(마태오 복음서 4,12; 마르코 복음서 1,14) 정보를
마무릅니다(rounding out). 그러므로 우리는 예수님의 공적 사목이 세례자 요한의 임무가
여전히 진행 중일 때에 시작되었음을 알며, 그리고 특히 그들 사이에 어떠한 종류의
경쟁도 없었음을 알며, 그와는 반대로, 주님의 길을 마련 중이었던 세례자 요한은
자신 고유의 제자들이 예수님을 따르는 것을 실제로 보는 기쁨을 가졌습니다(요한
복음서 1,37을 참조하라).

27-29. John the Baptist is speaking in a symbolic way here, after the style of the
prophets; our Lord himself does the same thing. The bridegroom is Jesus Christ.
From other passages in the New Testament we know that the Church is described
as the Bride (cf. Eph 5:24-32; Rev 19:7-9). This symbol of the wedding expresses
the way Christ unites the Church to himself, and the way the Church is hallowed
and shaped in God's own life. The Baptist rejoices to see that the Messiah has
already begun his public ministry, and he recognizes the infinite distance between
his position and that of Christ: his joy is full because he sees Jesus calling people
and them following him.

"The friend of the bridegroom", according to Jewish custom, refers to the man
who used to accompany the bridegroom at the start of the wedding and play a for-
mal part in the wedding celebration--the best man. Obviously, as the Baptist says,
there is a great difference between him and the bridegroom, who occupies the
center of the stage.

30. The Baptist knew his mission was one of preparing the way of the Lord; he
was to fade into the background once the Messiah arrived, which he did faithfully
and humbly. In the same way, a Christian, when engaged in apostolate, should
try to keep out of the limelight and allow Christ to seek men out; he should be al-
ways emptying himself, to allow Christ fill his life. "It is necessary for Christ to
grow in you, for you to progress in your knowledge and love of him: for, the more
you know him and love him, the more he grows in you. [...] Therefore, people who
advance in this way need to have less self-esteem, because the more a person
discovers God's greatness the less importance he gives to his own human condi-
tion" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St John, in loc.").

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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.