나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Thursday

1st Week of Lent

1st Reading: Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25 (New American Bible) [Esther
Esther’s Prayer
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[1] And Esther the queen seized with deathly anxiety, fled to the Lord; [3] And
she prayed to the Lord God of Israel, and said: "0 my Lord, thou art our King;
help me, who am alone and have no helper but thee, [4] for my danger is in my
hand. [5] Ever since I was born I have heard in the tribe of my family that thou,
0 Lord, didst take Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers from among all
their ancestors, for an everlasting inheritance, and that thou didst do for them
all that thou didst promise. [12] Remember, 0 Lord; make thyself known in this
time of our affliction, and give me courage, 0 King of the Gods and Master of all
dominion! [13] Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion, and turn his
heart to hate the man who is fighting against us, so that there may be an end
of him and those who agree with him. [14] But save us by thy hand, and help
me, who am alone and have no helper but thee, 0 Lord. [15a] Thou hast know-
ledge of all things."

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

14:1-19. Esther’s prayer is an example of the new tone of trusting prayer notice-
able in this book and which is quite close to the New Testament style of prayer.
Also, there is a kind of litany in it reminiscent of the style of Psalm 136. In all
simplicity, Esther implores God’s help, confident that he who has done so much
for his people over the course of history will not leave them unprotected in their
present need.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 7:7-12

The Effectiveness of Prayer
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(Jesus told His disciples,) [7] "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will
find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For every one who asks receives,
and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. [9] Or what
man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he
asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? [11] If you then, who are evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in
Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

The Golden Rule
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[12] "So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is
the law and the prophets."

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

7-11. Here the Master teaches us in a number of ways about the effectiveness
of prayer. Prayer is a raising of mind and heart to God to adore Him, to praise
Him, to thank Him and to ask Him for what we need (cf. "St. Pius X Catechism",
255). Jesus emphasizes the need for petitionary prayer, which is the first spon-
taneous movement of a soul who recognizes God as his Creator and Father.
As God's creature and child, each of us needs to ask Him humbly for everything.

In speaking of the effectiveness of prayer, Jesus does not put any restriction:
"Every one who asks receives", because God is our Father. St. Jerome com-
ments: "It is written, to everyone who asks it will be given; so, if it is not given to
you, it is not given to you because you do not ask; so, ask and you will receive"
("Comm. in Matth.", 7). However, even though prayer in itself is infallible, some-
times we do not obtain what we ask for. St. Augustine says that our prayer is
not heard because we ask "aut mali, aut male, aut mala." "Mali" (= evil people):
because we are evil, because our personal dispositions are not good; "male"
(= badly): because we pray badly, without faith, not persevering, not humbly;
"mala" (= bad things): because we ask for bad things, that is, things which are
not good for us, things which can harm us (cf. "De Civitate Dei, XX", 22 and 27;
"De Serm. Dom. In Monte", II, 27, 73). In the last analysis, prayer is ineffective
when it is not true prayer. Therefore, "Pray. In what human venture could you
have greater guarantee of success?" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 96).

12. This "golden rule" gives us a guideline to realize our obligations towards and
the love we should have for others. However, if we interpreted it superficially it
would become a selfish rule; it obviously does not mean "do utdes" ("I give you
something so that you will give me something") but that we should do good to
others unconditionally: we are clever enough not to put limits on how much we
love ourselves. This rule of conduct will be completed by Jesus' "new command-
ment" (John 13:34), where He teaches us to love others as He Himself has loved
us. 14:1, 3-5, 12-15a (Revised Standard Version)]
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12. 이 "황금률"은 다른 이들을 위하여 우리가 가져야만 하는 우리의 의무들 및 사랑을
깨닫기 위한 하나의 지침(a guideline)을 우리에게 제시하고 있다. 그러나 만약에
우리가 이 구절을 피상적으로 이해하면 이 구절은 하나의 이기적인 규정(a selfish rule)이
될 것이나, 이 구절은 "do ut des"("내가 너에게 어떤 것을 주니 너도 나에게 어떤 것을
내 놓아야 할 것이다.")를 뜻하는 것이 분명히 아니고, 우리가 아무런 조건 없이 다른
이들에게 선행을 하여야 함을 뜻하는데, 이는 우리가 자신들을 얼마나 사랑하는가에
대하여 제한을 두지 않을 만큼 우리는 충분하게 현명하기(clever) 때문이다. 처신에 관한
이 규정은 예수님의 "새 계명"(요한 복음서 13,34)에 의하여 완성될 것인데, 거기서
예수님께서는, 당신께서 몸소 우리를 사랑하셨던 것처럼, 우리가 다른 이들을 사랑할 것을
가르치신다.　

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번역자 주:
위에서 do ut des("내가 너에게 어떤 것을 주니 너도 나에게 어떤 것을 내 놓아야 할 것이다.")는
라틴어 구절이라고 하며, 위의 해설은 "황금률"을 "do ut des, 즉 호혜주의(the principle of
reciprocity)를 표방하는 이기주의"로 피상적으로 이해하여서는 안 된다고 말하고 있습니다.

황금률에 대한 더 나은 이해를 위하여 마련한 엮은이의 졸글은 여기에 있습니다 (클릭하십시오)
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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.