Tuesday

2nd Week of Lent

1st Reading: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20

Religion Without Soul
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[10 ]Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching
of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

Call to Conversion
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[16] Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes; cease to do evil, [17] learn to do good; seek justice, cor-
rect oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

The People Must Decide--Obedience or Rebellion
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[18] ”Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool. [19] If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat
the good of the land; [20] But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by
the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken?"

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Commentary:

1:10-20. These verses, too, in some ways form a literary unit in line with the
"lawsuit” ("rib") style often found in prophetical literature: the charge sheet (vv.
10-15) is set against a list of good works, given here in the form of an exhortation
(vv. 16-17), and then comes to the sentence at the end, seen here in the attitude
of the judge, who is God (vv. 18-20).

Harsh words (v. 10) are used: the people of Judah are identified with those of So-
dom and Gomorrah, the epitome of sin and rejection of God. The transgressions
of which they are accused are against acts of worship (vv. 11-15), listed one after
the other--sacrifices, incense offerings, festivals, entreaties. The accusation is
not against acts of worship in themselves, for these are laid down in the book of
Leviticus and therefore are right and proper. What the prophet is inveighing against
is religious formalism and the dichotomy between performance and intention, as
can be seen from the verses that follow. What God desires is sincerity of heart,
virtue, protection for the weak--in other words, proper treatment of others. In laying
down the law here, the Lord shows his readiness to forgive, while still holding out
the threat of punishment (vv. 18-20). 

Some passages of the section are read in the Liturgy during Lent (Tuesday of the
Second Week) to help people check whether they have given God the worship
due to him, and as a call to a sincere change of heart. Christian writers have used
this passage from Isaiah (and other texts from the Scriptures) to explain that true
religion and compassion begin in a person's heart and then express themselves
in actions. For example, one of the apostolic Fathers writes: "Inspired by the
Holy Spirit, the ministers of God's grace will speak of penance. And the Lord of
all things himself spoke of penance, and swore an oath: I do not desire the death
of the wicked man, but that he should change his ways; and he adds: "Cease to
do evil, learn to do good; [...] though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
The Lord desires that all whom he loves would repent, and he affirms it by his
all-powerful will. Let us be obedient, then, to his glorious plan, and, by imploring
his mercy and kindness, let us return to his goodness and be converted, leaving
aside all our vain works, the disputes and jealousies that lead to death” (St
Clement of Rome, "Ad Corinthios", 8, 1-9, 1).

1-17. "Learn to do good”: in order to lead the sort of lives that God wants, we
need to be properly schooled. St Basil comments: "Since moral understanding
is neither self-evident nor clear to all, we must learn to do good deeds through
our study of sound doctrine” ("Enarratio in Isaiam", 1, 40). As well as calling for
sound doctrine, holiness of life requires the practice of virtue, day after day, 
consistently, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. The "human virtues
are [...] the foundation for the supernatural ones. These in turn provide us with
constant encouragement to behave in a noble way. But it is not sufficient merely
to want to have these virtues: we must learn bow to practise them. "Discite bene-
facere" (Is 1:17), learn to do good. We need to make a habit of exercising each
virtue, by actually being sincere, truthful, balanced, calm, and patient--for love is
proved by deeds and we cannot love God only by word, but 'with deeds and in
truth' (1 Jn 3:18)” (St Josemaria Escriva, "Friends of God", 91).


Gospel Reading: Matthew 23:1-12

Vices of the Scribes and Pharisees
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[1] Then said Jesus to the crowds and to His disciples, [2] "The scribes and the
Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; [3] so practice and observe whatever they tell you,
but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. [4] They bind heavy
burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves
will not move them with their finger. [5] They do all their deeds to be seen by
men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, [6] and they
love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, [7] and
salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. [8] But you
are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.
[9] And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in
Heaven. [10] Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ.
[11] He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; [12] whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

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Commentary:

1-39. Throughout this chapter Jesus severely criticizes the scribes and Phari-
sees and demonstrates the sorrow and compassion He feels towards the ordinary
mass of the people, who have been ill-used, "harassed and helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). His address may be divided into three parts:
in the first (verses 1-12) He identifies their principal vices and corrupt practices;
in the second (verses 13-36) He confronts them and speaks His famous "woes",
which in effect are the reverse of the Beatitudes He preached in Chapter 5: no one
can enter the Kingdom of Heaven--no one can escape condemnation to the flames
--unless he changes his attitude and behavior; in the third part (verses 37-39) He
weeps over Jerusalem, so grieved is He by the evils into which the blind pride and
hardheartedness of the scribes and Pharisees have misled the people.

2-3. Moses passed on to the people the Law received from God. The scribes,
who for the most part sided with the Pharisees, had the function of educating the
people in the Law of Moses; that is why they were said to "sit on Moses' seat".
Our Lord recognized that the scribes and Pharisees did have authority to teach
the Law; but He warns the people and His disciples to be sure to distinguish the
Law as read out and taught in the synagogues from the practical interpretations
of the Law to be seen in their leaders' lifestyles. Some years later, St. Paul--a
Pharisee like his father before him--faced his former colleagues with exactly the
same kind of accusations as Jesus makes here: "You then who teach others,
will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 
You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? 
You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you
dishonor God by breaking the law? For, as it is written, `The name of God is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you'" (Romans 2:21-24).

5. "Phylacteries": belts or bands carrying quotations from sacred Scripture
which the Jews used to wear fastened to their arms or foreheads. To mark
themselves out as more religiously observant than others, the Pharisees used
to wear broader phylacteries. The fringes were light-blue stripes on the hems
of cloaks; the Pharisees ostentatiously wore broader fringes.

8-10. Jesus comes to teach the truth; in fact, He is the Truth (John 14:6). As
a teacher, therefore, He is absolutely unique and unparalleled. "The whole of
Christ's life was a continual teaching:His silences, His miracles, His gestures,
His prayer, His love for people, His special affection for the little and the poor,
His acceptance of the total sacrifice on the cross for the redemption of the world,
and His resurrection are the actualization of His word and the fulfillment of reve-
lation. Hence for Christians the crucifix is one of the most sublime and popular
images of Christ the Teacher.

"These considerations are in line with the great traditions of the Church and they
all strengthen our fervor with regard to Christ, the Teacher who reveals God to
man and man to himself, the Teacher who saves, sanctifies and guides, who
lives, who speaks, rouses, moves, redresses, judges, forgives, and goes with us
day by day on the path of history, the Teacher who comes and will come in glory"
(John Paul II, "Catechesi Tradendae", 9).

11. The Pharisees were greedy for honor and recognition: our Lord insists that
every form of authority, particularly in the context of religion, should be exercised
as a form of service to others; it must not be used to indulge personal vanity or
greed. "He who is the greatest among you shall be your servant".

12. A spirit of pride and ambition is incompatible with being a disciple of Christ.
Here our Lord stresses the need for true humility, for anyone who is to follow Him.
The verbs "will be humbled", "will be exalted" have "God" as their active agent.
Along the same lines, St. James preaches that "God opposes the proud, but
gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). And in the "Magnificat", the Blessed
Virgin explains that the Lord "has put down the mighty from their thrones, and
exalted those of low degree [the humble]" (Luke 1:52).
　

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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].