Saturday

2nd Week of Lent

1st Reading: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20

Prayer for Jerusalem
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[14] Shepherd thy people with thy staff, the flock of thy inheritance, who dwell
alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them feed in Báshan and Gi-
lead as in the days of old. [15] As in the days when you came out of the land
of Egypt I will show them marvellous things.

Hymn to the Lord
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[18] Who is a God like thee, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger for ever because
he delights in steadfast love. [19] He will again have compassion upon us, he will
tread our iniquities under foot. Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the
sea. [20] Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham,
as thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

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Commentary:

7:14-17. These verses also deal with hope in the future restoration, but it is now
expressed in the form of a prayer to the Lord. He is asked for a return to the way
things were in the early days of the chosen people--a repetition of wondrous
works that will astound the Gentiles (vv. 16-17) and convince them of the power
of the Lord v. 16). The prayer also desires the Lord to be the only shepherd of his
people (v. 14; cf. 5:3), who now occupy the whole of Palestine again, a land that
is most fertile. Bashan and Gilead, on the eastern banks and highlands of the
Jordan, were areas renowned for rich pasture-land.

7:18-20. The last three verses of the book, in a liturgical tone, celebrate the Lord’s
steadfast love. Witnessing the works of the Lord (his pardoning of sins, and put-
ting them out of his mind: vv. 18-19; his faithfulness to his promises, no matter
what: v. 20), all that the believer can do is be grateful and live in awe: "Who is a
God like thee?” (v. 18). Many of the terms used in this short hymn (remnant, inheri-
tance, faithfulness, etc.) have come up earlier in the book and are being rehearsed
again here. But we can appreciate theirimportance more if we remember the way
Micah is echoed in the Benedictus of Zechariah in the New Testament. That hymn
sums up very well the hope in the Messiah harbored by generation upon genera-
tion of the people of God, and when we reread it, it will help to revive our own hope
in the definitive (second) coming of the Lord: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation
for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy pro-
phets from of old” (Lk 1:68-70).


Gospel Reading: Luke 15:1-3; 11-32

Parables of God's Mercy
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[1] Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him (Jesus).
[2] And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives
sinners and eats with them."

The Prodigal Son
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[3] So He told them this parable: [11] "There was a man who had two sons; [12]
and the younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me the share of property
that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them. [13] Not many days la-
ter, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country,
and there he squandered his property in loose living. [14] And when he had spent
everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. [15]
So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him
into his fields to feed swine. [16] And he would gladly have fed on the pods that
the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. [17] But when he came to himself
he said, `How can many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to
spare, but I perish here with hunger! [18] I will arise and go to my father, and I
will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you; [19] I am
no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.'"
[20] And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance,
his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed
him. [21] And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against Heaven and be-
fore you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' [22] But the father aid to
his servants, `Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on
his hand, and shoes on his feet; [23] and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let
us eat and make merry; [24] for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he
was lost, and is found.' And they began to make merry.

[25] "Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the
house, he heard music and dancing. [26] And he called one of the servants and
asked what this meant. [27] And he said to him, `Your brother has come, and
your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and
sound.' [28] But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and
entreated him, [29] but he answered his father, `Lo, these many years I have
served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid,
that I might make merry with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours came,
who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!' [31]
And he said to him, `Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
[32] It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and
is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

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Commentary:

[번역자 주: 오늘의 복음 말씀은, 여기를 클릭하면 그 해설을 읽을 수 있는, 다해 연중 
제24주일 복음 말씀(루카 15,1-32)에 포함된다].

1-32. Jesus' actions manifest God's mercy: He receives sinners in order to con-
vert them. The scribes and Pharisees, who despised sinners, just cannot under-
stand why Jesus acts like this; they grumble about Him; and Jesus uses the
opportunity to tell these Mercy parables. "The Gospel writer who particularly
treats of these themes in Christ's teaching is Luke, whose Gospel has earned
the title of `the Gospel of mercy'" (John Paul II, "Dives In Misericordia", 3).

In this chapter St. Luke reports three of these parables in which Jesus describes
the infinite, fatherly mercy of God and His joy at the conversion of the sinner.

The Gospel teaches that no one is excluded from forgiveness and that sinners
can become beloved children of God if they repent and are converted. So much
does God desire the conversion of sinners that each of these parables ends with
a refrain, as it were, telling of the great joy in Heaven over a sinner who repents.

1-2. This is not the first time that publicans and sinners approach Jesus (cf. Mat-
thew 9:10). They are attracted by the directness of the Lord's preaching and by
His call to self-giving and love. The Pharisees in general were jealous of His in-
fluence over the people (cf. Matthew 26:2-5; John 11:47) a jealousy which can
also beset Christians; a severity of outlook which does not accept that, no mat-
ter how great his sins may have been, a sinner can change and become a saint;
a blindness which prevents a person from recognizing and rejoicing over the good
done by others. Our Lord criticized this attitude when He replied to His disciples'
complaints about others casting out devils in His name: "Do not forbid him; for no
one who does a mighty work in My name will be able soon after to speak evil of
Me" (Mark 9:39). And St. Paul rejoiced that others proclaimed Christ and even
overlooked the fact they did so out of self-interest, provided Christ was preached
(cf. Philippians 1:17-18).

11. This is one of Jesus' most beautiful parables, which teaches us once more
that God is a kind and understanding Father (cf. Matthew 6:8; Romans 8:15; 2
Corinthians 1:3). The son who asks for his part of the inheritance is a symbol of
the person who cuts himself off from God through sin. "Although the word `mer-
cy' does not appear, this parable nevertheless expresses the essence of the di-
vine mercy in a particularly clear way" (John Paul II, "Dives In Misericordia", 5).

12. "That son, who receives from the father the portion of the inheritance that is
due him and leaves home to squander it in a far country `in loose living', in a cer-
tain sense is the man of every period, beginning with the one who was the first to
lose the inheritance of grace and original justice. The analogy at this point is very
wide-ranging. The parable indirectly touches upon every breach of the covenant
of love, every loss of grace, every sin" ("Dives In Misericordia", 5).

14-15. At this point in the parable we are shown the unhappy effects of sin. The
young man's hunger evokes the anxiety and emptiness a person feels when he is
far from God. The prodigal son's predicament describes the enslavement which
sin involves (cf. Romans 1:25; 6:6; Galatians 5:1): by sinning one loses the free-
dom of the children of God (cf. Romans 8:21; Galatians 4:31; 5:13) and hands
oneself over the power of Satan.

17-21. His memory of home and his conviction that his father loves him cause
the prodigal son to reflect and to decide to set out on the right road. "Human life
is in some way a constant returning to our Father's house. We return through
contrition, through the conversion of heart which means a desire to change, a
firm decision to improve our life and which, therefore, is expressed in sacrifice
and self-giving. We return to our Father's house by means of that sacrament of
pardon in which, by confessing our sins, we put on Jesus Christ again and be-
come His brothers, members of God's family" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ is Passing
By", 64).

20-24. God always hopes for the return of the sinner; He wants him to repent.
When the young man arrives home his father does not greet him with reproaches
but with immense compassion, which causes him to embrace his son and cover
him with kisses.

20. "There is no doubt that in this simple but penetrating analogy the figure of the
father reveals to us God as Father. The conduct of the father in the parable and
his whole behavior, which manifests his internal attitude, enables us to rediscover
the individual threads of the Old Testament vision of mercy in a synthesis which
is totally new, full of simplicity and depth. The father of the prodigal son is faithful
to this fatherhood, faithful to the love that he had always lavished on his son. This
fidelity is expressed in the parable not only by his immediate readiness to wel-
come him home when he returns after having squandered his inheritance; it is
expressed even more fully by that joy, that merrymaking for the squanderer after
his return, merrymaking which is so generous that it provokes the opposition and
hatred of the elder brother, who had never gone far away from his father and had
never abandoned the home.

"The father's fidelity to himself [...] is at the same time expressed in a manner
particularly charged with affection. We read, in fact, that when the father saw the
prodigal son returning home `he had compassion, ran to meet him, threw his arms
around his neck and kissed him.' He certainly does this under the influence of a
deep affection, and this also explains his generosity towards his son, that gene-
rosity which so angers the elder son" ("Dives In Misericordia", 6).

"When God runs towards us, we cannot keep silent, but with St. Paul we exclaim,
"ABBA PATER": `Father, my Father!' (Romans 8:15), for, though He is the creator
of the universe, He doesn't mind our not using high-sounding titles, nor worry about
our not acknowledging His greatness. He wants us to call Him Father; He wants
us to savor that word, our souls filling with joy [...].

"God is waiting for us, like the father in the parable, with open arms, even though
we don't deserve it. It doesn't matter how great our debt is. Just like the prodigal
son, all we have to do is open our heart, to be homesick for our Father's house,
to wonder at and rejoice in the gift which God makes us of being able to call our-
selves His children, of really being His children, even though our response to Him
has been so poor" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 64).

25-30. God's mercy is so great that man cannot grasp it: as we can see in the
case of the elder son, who thinks his father loves the younger son excessively,
his jealousy prevents him from understanding how his father can do so much to
celebrate the recovery of the prodigal; it cuts him off from the joy that the whole
family feels. "It's true that he was a sinner. But don't pass so final a judgment
on him. Have pity in your heart, and don't forget that he may yet be an Augus-
tine, while you remain just another mediocrity" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 675).

We should also consider that if God has compassion towards sinners, He must
have much much more towards those who strive to be faithful to Him. St. The-
rese of Lisieux understood this very well: "What joy to remember that our Lord is
just; that He makes allowances for all our shortcomings, and knows full well how
weak we are. What have I to fear then? Surely the God of infinite justice who
pardons the prodigal son with such mercy will be just with me `who am always
with Him'?" ("The Story of a Soul", Chapter 8).

32. "Mercy, as Christ has presented it in the parable of the prodigal son, has the
interior form of the love that in the New Testament is called AGAPE. This love is
able to reach down to every prodigal son, to every human misery, and above all
to every form of moral misery, to sin. When this happens, the person who is the
object of mercy does not feel humiliated, but rather found again and `restored to
value'. The father first and foremost expresses to him his joy, that he has been
`found again' and that he has `returned to life'. This joy indicates a good that has
remained intact: even if he is a prodigal, a son does not cease to be truly his fa-
ther's son; it also indicates a good that has been found again, which in the case
of the prodigal son was his return to the truth about himself" ("Dives In Misericor-
dia", 6).
　

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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].