Monday

5th Week of Lent

1st Reading: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62

The two corrupt elders
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[1] There was a man living in Babylon whose name was Joakim. [2] And he took
a wife named Susanna, the daughter of Hillkiah, a very beautiful woman and one
who feared the Lord. [3] Her parents were righteous, and had taught their daugh-
ter according to the law of Moses. [4] Joakim was very rich, and had a spacious
garden adjoining his house; and the Jews used to come to him because he was 
the most honoured of them all.

[5] In that year two elders from the people were appointed as judges. Concern-
ing them the Lord had said: "Iniquity came forth from Babylon, from elders who
were judges, who were supposed to govern the people.” [6] These men were 
frequently at Joakim’s house, and all who had suits at law came to them.

[7] When the people departed at noon, Susanna would go into her husband’s gar-
den to walk. [8] The two elders used to see her every day, going in and walking
about, and they began to desire her. [9] And they perverted their minds and 
turned away their eyes from looking to Heaven or remembering righteous judg-
ments. 

Susanna condemned to death
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[15] Once, while they were watching for an opportune day, she went in as before
with only two maids, and wished to bathe in the garden, for it was very hot, [16]
And no one was there except the two elders, who had hid themselves and were
watching her. [17] She said to her maids, "Bring me oil and ointments, and shut
the garden doors so that I may bathe.”

[19] When the maids had gone out, the two elders rose and ran to her, and said:
[20] "Look, the garden doors are shut, no one sees us, and we are in love with you;
so give your consent, and lie with us. [21] If you refuse, we will testify against you 
that a young man was with you, and this was why you sent your maids away.”

[22] Susanna sighed deeply, and said, "I am hemmed in on every side. For if I do 
this thing, it is death for me; and if I do not, I shall not escape your hands. [23] I 
choose not to do it and to fall into your hands, rather than to sin in the sight of the
Lord.”

[24] Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and the two elders shouted against
her. [25] And one of them ran and opened the garden doors. [26] When the 
household servants heard the shouting I the garden, they rushed in at the side 
door to see what had happened to her. [27] And when the elders told their tale,
the servants were greatly ashamed for nothing like this had ever been said about 
Susanna.

[28] The next day, when the people gathered at the house of her husband Joakim,
the two elders came, full of their wicked plot to have Susanna put to death. [29] 
They said before the people, "Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, who is
the wife of Joakim.” [30] So they sent for her. And she came, with her parents,
her children, and all her kindred.

[33] But her family and friends and all who saw her wept.

[34] Then the two elders stood up in the midst of the people, and laid their hands
upon her head. [35] And she, weeping, looked up toward heaven, for her heart
trusted in the Lord. [36] The elders said, "As we were walking in the garden alone,
this woman came in with two maids, shut the garden doors, and dismissed the 
maids. [37] Then a young man, who had been hidden, came to her and lay with
her. [38] We were in a corner of the garden and when we saw this wickedness
we ran to them. [39] We saw them embracing, but we could not hold the man, for
he was too strong for us, and he opened the doors and dashed out. [40] So we
seized this woman and asked her who the young man was, but she would not 
tell us. These things we testify.”

[41] The assembly believed them because they were elders of the people and
judges; and they condemned her to death.

[42] Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said, "O eternal God, who 
dost discern what is secret, who art aware of all things before they come to be.”
[43] Thou knowest that these men have borne false witness against me. And 
now I am to die! Yet I have done none of the things that they have wickedly
invented against me!”

[44] The Lord heard her cry.

Daniel intervenes
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[45] And as she was being led away to be put to death, God aroused the holy
spirit of a young lad named Daniel; [46] and he cried with a loud voice, "I am
innocent of the blood of this woman.”

[47] All the people turned to him, and said, "What is this that you have said?”
[48] Taking his stand in the midst of them, he said, "Are you such fools, you sons
of Israel? Have you condemned a daughter of Israel without examination and
without learning the facts? [49] Return to the place of judgment. For these men
have borne false witness against her.”

[50] Then all the people returned in haste. And the elders said to him, "Come,
sit among us and inform us, for God has given you that right.” [51] And Daniel
said to them, "Separate them far from each other, and I will examine them.”

[52] When they were separated from each other, he summoned one of them and
said to him, "You old relic of wicked days, your sins have now come home, which
you have committed in the past, [53] pronouncing unjust judgments, condemning
the innocent and letting the guilty go free, though the Lord said, "Do not put to
death an innocent and righteous person.” [54] Now then, if you really saw her,
tell me this: Under what tree did you see them being intimate with each other?”
He answered, "Under a mastic tree.” [55] And Daniel said, "Very well! You have
lied against your own head for the angel of God has received the sentence from
God and will immediately cut you in two.”

[56] Then he put him aside, and commanded them to bring the other. And he
said to him, "You offspring of Canaan and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you
and lust has perverted your heart. [57] This is how you both have been dealing
with the daughters of Israel, and they were intimate with you through fear; but a 
daughter of Judah would not endure your wickedness. [58] Now then, tell me:
Under what tree did you catch them being intimate with each other?” He 
answered, "Under an evergreen oak.” [59] And Daniel said to him, "Very well!
You also have lied against your own head, for the angel of God is waiting with
his sword to saw you in two, that he may destroy you both.”

[60] Then all the assembly shouted loudly and blessed God, who saves those 
who hope in him. [61] And they rose against the two elders, for out of their own
mouths Daniel had convicted them of bearing false witness; [62] and they did to
them as they had wickedly planned to do to their neighbour; acting in accordance
with the law of Moses, they put them to death. Thus innocent blood was saved 
that day.

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Commentary: 

13:1-14:42. These chapters which, as we have said, are to be found only in the
Greek manuscripts, form an endpiece to the book of Daniel that has been passed
down to the Church. It fits in with the rest of the book because it, took, has
Daniel as the main protagonist; but here he is not an interpreter of dreams or a
seer of visions: he is a judge raised up by God to save the innocent (chap. 13), a
wise man who shows how ridiculous it is to worship idols, as pagans do (chap. 
14). Taken together, these two chapters set at the end of the book show that life
goes on and that God ensures that justice is done, and that he exposes idols for
what they are.

13:1-64. The episode of Daniel in the lions’ den, and this story of Susanna, with
its well-drawn characters and scenarios, are the two most popular passages in 
the book of Daniel. The Susanna story is set in a Jewish community, and it
forms an independent narrative; it probably existed on its own originally, indepen-
dent of the other stories in the book. The version of Theodotion puts it at the
start of the book, to act as an introduction to Daniel, whose name in fact means
"God is my judge”. there are notable differences between the Septuagint and
Theodotion texts; in the latter, the emphasis is put on Susanna’s innocence; in
the former, it is on the wickedness of the two elders. Throughout the book of
Daniel we have been shown that Daniel knows the secrets about the End; in the
story of Susanna we see that he can read men’s hearts and judge accordingly.

Some Fathers of the Church read this story as an allegory. St Hippolytus, for
example, writes: "Susanna suffered at the hands of the elders what we still
suffer today from the kings of Babylon. Susanna is a figure of the Church; 
Joakim, of Christ. The garden beside their house is an image of the dwelling-
place of the faithful, who are planted like fruitful trees in the Church. Babylon is
the power of this world. The two elders stand for the two enemies of the Church--
the Jews and the pagans. The words, [they] were judges, who were supposed to
govern the people, mean that they handed down unjust sentences against the
just” (Commentarium in Danielem, 1, 15).

13:1-14. This passage describes the context of the story – a well-to-do Jewish
family, all God-fearing people. Susanna could be taken as a symbol of Israel. And
then there are two wicked judges, who are supposed to give the people leader-
ship. These two elders may have some link with the two false prophets who
committed adultery and who are denounced in Jeremiah 29:21-23. The point is
clearly made that what leads them astray is lust. A work attributed to St John
Chrysostom comments on this passage: "If no passion undermines and corrupts
it, the soul will remain clean and unstained. But if he does not guard his eyes,
and looks at whatever he wants around him in the world, […] the poison of desire
will enter through a man’s sight and strike to the bottom of his heart; and he who
was once a sober and modest man will be overwhelmed by a whirlwind of
passions” (De Susanna, col. 591).

13:15-44. The dramatic tension reaches its climax with the sentence passed o
Susanna. Faced with the dilemma of saving her life by sinning against the Lord,
or by dying by staying faithful to her husband and to God, Susanna opts for the
second course of action. She is a model for the people in the trails they have to
endure. She cannot prove her innocence to the people, but she can certainly
assert it to God, who knows all hidden things; and then she waits (v. 42). "How
often does the trickery of those moved by envy and intrigue force many noble
Christians into the same corner? They are offered only one choice – offend God
or ruin their reputation. The only acceptable and upright solution is, at the same
time, highly painful. Yet they must decide: 'Let me rather fall into your power 
through no act of mine, than commit sin in the Lord’s sight’” (St Josemaria 
Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 68).

13:45-64. Nothing can be hidden from God ("He is a great eye, ever watchful:
nothing that happens in the world can be hidden from him”: St Hippolytus,
Commentarium in Danielem, 1, 33) and his judgments are just and true. Here he
acts by rousing the spirit of prophecy (here called "the holy spirit”) in Daniel, who
as a young man is very different to the elders. Daniel criticizes the people for 
being taken in so easily by the elders, and he convinces them to reopen the case.
He tries to discover the truth, without being overawed by the seniority of the two
judges. He uses a simple trick to divine the truth. All come to see that Susanna
is a virtuous woman, true to her husband. She thus becomes a symbol of Israel’s
faithfulness to her God. In the earlier part of the book Daniel was esteemed by
foreign kings; now the text shows that his own people, too, hold him in high 
regard. This is a further reason for accepting the revelations made through him.


Gospel Reading: John 8:1-11 (Year A & B)

The Adulterous Woman
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[2] Early in the morning He (Jesus) came again to the temple; all the people
came to Him, and He sat down and taught them. [3] The scribes and the Pha-
risees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the
midst [4] they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of
adultery. [5] Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you
say about her?" [6] This they said to test Him, that they might have some charge
to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground.
[7] And as they continued to ask Him, He stood up and said to them, "Let him
who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."[8] And once
more He bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground. [9] But when they
heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was
left alone with the woman standing before Him. [10] Jesus looked up and said to
her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" [11] She said, "No
one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again."

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Commentary:

1-11. This passage is absent from many ancient codexes, but it was in the Vul-
gate when the Magisterium, at the Council of Trent, defined the canon of Sacred
Scripture. Therefore, the Church regards it as canonical and inspired, and has
used it and continues to use it in the liturgy. It is also included in the New Vul-
gate, in the same position as it occupied before.

St. Augustine said that the reason doubts were raised about the passage was
that it showed Jesus to be so merciful that some rigorists thought it would lead
to a relaxation of moral rules--and therefore many copyists suppressed it from
their manuscripts (cf. "De Coniugiis Adulterinis", 2, 6).

In commenting on the episode of the woman caught in adultery Fray Luis de
Granada gives these general considerations on the mercy of Christ: "Your
feelings, your deeds and your words should be akin to these, if you desire to
be a beautiful likeness of the Lord. And therefore the Apostle is not content
with telling us to be merciful; he tells us, as God's sons, to put on `the bowels
of mercy' (cf. Colossians 3:12). Imagine, then, what the world would be like if
everyone arrayed themselves in this way.

"All this is said to help us understand to some degree the great abundance of
the goodness and compassion of our Savior, which shine forth so clearly in
these actions of His, for [...] in this life we cannot know God in Himself; we can
know Him only through His actions. [...] But it should also be pointed out that
we should never act in such a way in view of God's mercy, that we forget about
His justice; nor should we attend to His justice forgetting about His mercy; for
hope should have in it an element of fear, and fear an element of hope" ("Life of
Jesus Christ", 13, 4).

1. We know that on a number of occasions our Lord withdrew to the Mount of
Olives to pray (cf. John 18:2; Luke 22:39). This place was to the east of Jerusa-
lem; the Kidron Valley (cf. John 18:1) divided it from the hill on which the temple
was built. It had from ancient times been a place of prayer: David went there to
adore God during the difficult period when Absalom was in revolt (2 Samuel 15:
32), and there the prophet Ezekiel contemplated the glory of Yahweh entering
the temple (Ezekiel 43:1-4). At the foot of the hill there was a garden, called
Gethsemane or "the place of the oil-press", an enclosed plot containing a plan-
tation of olive trees. Christian tradition has treated this place with great respect
and has maintained it as a place of prayer. Towards the end of the fourth century
a church was built there, on whose remains the present church was built. There
are still some ancient olive trees growing there which could well derive from those
of our Lord's time.

6. The question put by the scribes and Pharisees has a catch: our Lord had\
often shown understanding to people they considered sinners; they come to Him
now with this case to see if He will be equally indulgent--which will allow them to
accuse Him of infringing a very clear precept of the Law (cf. Leviticus 20:10).

7. Jesus' reply refers to the way stoning was carried out: those who witnessed
the crime had to throw the first stones, and then others joined in, to erase the
slur on the people which the crime implied (cf. Deuteronomy 17:7). The ques-
tion put to Jesus was couched in legal terms; He raises it to the moral plane (the
basis and justification of the legal plane), appealing to the people's conscience.
He does not violate the law, St. Augustine says, and at the same time He does
not want to lose what He is seeking--for He has come to save that which was
lost: "His answer is so full of justice, gentleness and truth. [...] O true answer
of Wisdom. You have heard: Keep the Law, let the woman be stoned. But how
can sinners keep the Law and punish this woman? Let each of them look inside
himself and enter the tribunal of his heart and conscience; there he will discover
that he is a sinner. Let this woman be punished, but not by sinners; let the Law
be applied, but not by its transgressors" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 33,
5).

11. "The two of them were left on their own, the wretched woman and Mercy. 
But the Lord, having smitten them with the dart of justice, does not even deign
to watch them go but turns His gaze away from them and once more writes on
the ground with His finger. But when the woman was left alone and they had all
gone, He lifted up His eyes to the woman. We have already heard the voice of
justice; let us now hear the voice of gentleness. I think that the woman was the
more terrified when she heard the Lord say, `Let him who is without sin among
you be the first to throw a stone at her,' [...] fearing now that she would be
punished by Him, in whom no sin could be found. But He, who had driven away
her adversaries with the tongue of justice, now looking at her with the eyes of
gentleness asks her, `Has no one condemned you?' She replies, `No one, Lord.'
And He says, `Neither do I condemn you; I who perhaps you feared would punish
you, because in Me you have found no sin.' Lord, can it be that You favor sinners?
Assuredly not. See what follows" `Go and sin no more.' Therefore the Lord also
condemned sin, but not the woman' (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 33, 5-6).

Jesus, who is the Just One, does not condemn the woman; whereas these people
are sinners, yet they pass sentence of death. God's infinite mercy should move
us always to have compassion on those who commit sins, because we ourselves
are sinners and in need of God's forgiveness.

Gospel Reading: John 8:12-20 (Year C)

Jesus, the Light of the World
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[12] Again Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the light of the world; he who fol-
lows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." [13] The Phari-
sees then said to Him, "You are bearing witness to Yourself; Your testimony is
not true." [14] Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness to Myself, My testimo-
ny is true, for I know whence I have come and whither I am going, but you do not
know whence I have come or whither I am going. [15] You judge according to the
flesh, I judge no one. [16] Yet even if I do judge, My judgment is true, for it is not
I alone that judge, but I and He who sent Me. [17] In your law it is written that the
testimony of two men is true; [18] I bear witness to Myself, and the Father who
sent Me bears witness to Me." [19] They said to Him therefore, "Where is Your
Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me,
you would know My Father also." [20] These words He spoke in the treasury, as
He taught in the temple; but no one arrested Him, because His hour had not yet
come.

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Commentary:

12. This is the beginning of another dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees.
The scene is the precincts of the temple--to be more precise, what was called
he "court of the women"; this came before the court of the people, which in turn
came before the court of the priests, which contained the altar of holocausts (cf.
note to Luke 1:21).

It is still the feast of Tabernacles (cf. John 7:2); and it was the custom on the first
night to fill the court of the women with the bright light of huge lamps which lit up
the sky. This brought to mind the bright cloud of God's presence which guided
the Israelites through the wilderness during the Exodus. It was probably during
this feast that Jesus spoke of Himself as "the Light". In any event, the image of
light is often found in the Old Testament to designate the Messiah: the prophet
Isaiah predicted that a great light would shine for the people who walked in dark-
ness, beginning with the tribes of the North (Isaiah 9:1-6; cf. Matthew 4:15-16)
and that the Messiah would not only be the King of Israel but the light of the na-
tions (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6); and David spoke of God as a light enlightening the soul
of the righteous man and giving him strength (Psalm 27:1). This image, therefore,
was well understood during Jesus' time: Zechariah uses it (Luke 1:78), as does
Simeon (Luke 2:30-32), to show his joy on seeing the ancient prophecies fulfilled.

Our Lord applies this image to Himself in two ways: He is the light which enligh-
tens our minds, for He is the fullness of divine Revelation (cf. John 1:9, 18); and
He is also the light which enlightens our hearts to enable us to accept this Reve-
lation and live according to it (cf. John 1:4-5). This is why Jesus asks them to fol-
low Him and become sons of light (cf. John 12:36), although He knows that many
will reject this light because they do not want their evil deeds to be uncovered (cf.
John 3:20).

"See how the words of the Lord accord with the truth of the Psalm: 'With Thee is
the fountain of life; in Thy light do we see light' (Psalm 36:10). The psalmist con-
nects light with the source of life, and the Lord speaks of a 'light of life'. When we
are thirsty, we look for a fountain; when we are in darkness we look for light. [...]
Not so with God: He is light and fountain. He who shines for you to enable you to
see, flows for you to enable you to drink" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang., 34, 6).

13-18. The Pharisees try to dilute the force of Jesus' arguments: they make out
that He has only His own word to go on and no one can bear witness on his own
behalf: so what He says has no validity.

In a similar situation (cf. John 5:31ff) Jesus had cited four witnesses to support
Him -- John the Baptist's teaching, the miracles He Himself performed, the words
His Father spoke when He was baptized in the Jordan, and Sacred Scripture.
Here Jesus affirms the validity of His own testimony (verse 4) on the grounds that
He is one with the Father. This is the same as saying that His is more than hu-
man testimony. "He speaks to tell them that He comes from God, that He is God,
and that He is the Son of God, but He does not say so openly, because He al-
ways connects humility with profundity. God deserves that we should believe in
Him" (St. John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St. John", 51).

19. The Pharisees, who did not want to admit Jesus' divine origin, now ask Him
for proof that what He says is true. Their question is insidious and malicious, for
they do not think He can show them the Father.

Knowing Jesus, that is, believing in Him and accepting the mystery of His divinity,
means knowing the Father. John 12:44-45 repeats the same teaching in other
words. And Jesus is saying the same when He reproaches Philip: "Have I been
with you so long and you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen
the Father" (John 14:9). Jesus is the visible manifestation of the invisible God, the
ultimate, definitive revelation of God to men (cf. Hebrews 1:1-3). Jesus Christ "by
the total fact of His presence and self-manifestation--by words and works, signs
and miracles, but above all by His death and glorious resurrection from the dead,
and finally by sending the Spirit of truth [...] revealed that God was with us, to de-
liver us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life" (Va-
tican II, "Dei Verbum", 4).

20. "The treasury", where money for the poor was collected, was located in the
women's courtyard. For more information see the note on Luke 21:1-4.
　

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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].