Monday
4th Week of Lent
1st Reading: Isaiah 65:17-21
New Heavens and a New Earth
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(Thus says the LORD,) [17] “For behold, I create new heavens and the former
things shall not be remembered or come into mind. [18] But be glad and rejoice
for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her
people a joy. [19] I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; no more
shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. [20] No more
shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does
not fill out his days, for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner
a hundred years old shall be accursed. [21] They shall build houses and inhabit
them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit."
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Commentary:
65:17-18 Here we have a clear and succinct description of the new state of affairs
at the end of time--"new heavens and a new earth”. As at the Creation, God in
person, and he alone, will create them; but now they will have a heavenly form, for
joy and gladness will be unceasing and eternal. This wording became very influen-
tial in Jewish religious thinking as can be seen from apocryphal texts (cf. 2 Ezra
6:16), and even more so in Christian tradition: in the Revelation to John, these are
he opening words of the vision about the definitive and full establishment of the
ingdom of God (Rev 21:1--22:5). And the Second Letter of Peter urges the faithful
to transform this world in preparation for the coming of “new heavens and a new
earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet 3:13). “At the end of time, the King-
dom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous
will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. The universe itself will be
renewed: ‘The Church ... will receive her perfection only in the glory of heaven,
when will come the time of the renewal of all things. At, that time, together with
the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely related to man and which
attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ’ ("Lumen
Gentium", 48). Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will trans-
form humanity and the world, ‘new heavens and a new earth’ (2 Pet 13; cf. Rev
21:1). It will be the definitive realization of God’s plan to bring under a single head
‘all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth’ (Eph 1:10). In this new
universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among men. He will
wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall
there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have
passed away’ (Rev 21:4).” [...] The visible universe, then, is itself destined to
be transformed, ‘so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no
further obstacles, should be at the service of the just’ (St Irenaeus, "Adv. Haer."
5, 32, 1), sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ” ("Catechism of the
Catholic Church", 1042-1044 and 1047).
Gospel Reading: John 4:43-54
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
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[43] After the two days he departed to Galilee. [44] For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his own country. [45] So when he came to Gali-
lee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem
at the feast, for they too had gone to the feast.
The Cure of the Royal Official's Son
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[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine.
And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When he heard
that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come
down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. [48] Jesus therefore
said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." [49] The
official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." [50] Jesus said to
him, "Go, your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him
and went his way. [51] As he was going down, his servants met him and told him
that his son was living. [52] So he asked them the hour when he began to mend,
and they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." [53] The
father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him" Your son will live";
and he himself believed, and all his household. [54] This was now the second
sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
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Commentary:
46. St John is speaking about a royal official, probably in the service of Herod
Antipas who, although he was only tetrarch or governor of Galilee (cf. Lk 3:1),
was also referred to as king (cf. Mk 6:14). The official, therefore, would have
been someone of high rank (v. 51), who lived in Capernaum, a town with a cus-
toms post. This is why St Jerome thought he must have been a "palatinus", a
palace courtier, as the corresponding Greek word implies.
48. Jesus seems to be addressing not so much the official as the people of Gali-
lee who flock to him to get him to perform miracles and work wonders. On another
occasion our Lord reproaches the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum
for their disbelief (Mt 11:21-23), because the miracles he worked there would have
been enough to move the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, and even Sodom
itself to do penance. The Galileans in general were inclined to watch him perform
miracles than listen to his preaching. Later on, after the miracle of the multiplica-
tion of the loaves, they will look for Jesus to make him king--but they are slower
to believe when he tells them about the Eucharist (Jn 6:15, 53,62). Jesus asks
people to have a strong, committed faith which, though it may draw support from
miracles, does not require them. Be that as it may, in all ages God continues to
work miracles, which help bolster our faith.
"I'm not one for miracles. I have told you that in the Holy Gospel I can find more
than enough to confirm my faith.--But I can't help pitying those Christians--pious
people, 'apostles' many of them--who smile at the idea of extraordinary ways, of
supernatural events. I feel the urge to tell them: Yes, this is still the age of mira-
cles: we too would work them if we had faith!" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 583).
49-50. In spite of Jesus' apparent coldness, the official keeps trying: "Sir, come
down before my child dies". Although his faith is imperfect, it did bring him to
travel the thirty-three kilometers (twenty miles) between Capernaum and Cana,
and despite his important position here he was, begging our Lord for help. Jesus
likes the man's perseverance and humility; he rewards his faith: '"Si habueritis
fidem, sicut granum sinapis! If your faith were the size of a mustard seed!...''
What promises are contained in this exclamation of the Master!" (St. J. Escriva,
"The Way", 585).
The Fathers compare this miracle with that of the centurion's servant, contrasting
the amazing faith of the centurion--from the start--with the initially imperfect faith
of this official from Capemaum. St John Chrysostorn comments: "Here was a
robust faith [in the case of this official]; therefore, Jesus made him the promise,
so that we might learn from this man's devotion; his faith was as yet imperfect,
and he did not clearly realize that Jesus could effect the cure at a distance; thus,
the Lord, by not agreeing to go down to the man's house, wished us to learn the
need to have faith" ("Hom. on St John", 35).
53. The miracle is so convincing that this man and all his family become believers.
All parents should do what they can to bring their household to the faith. As St
Paul says, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own
family, he has disowned the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim 5:8). Cf.
Acts 16:14, where we are told that Lydia brought her whole household along with
her to be baptized: Acts 18:8 mentions Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue doing
the same thing, as does the prison warden (Acts 16:33).
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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.
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