Monday

10th Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: 2 Corinthians 1:1-7

Greeting
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[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
to the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole
of Achaia:

[2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving
-------------------
[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mer-
cies and God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we
may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with
which we ourselves are comforted by God. [5] For as we share abundantly in
Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. [6]
If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted,
it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the
same sufferings that we suffer. [7] Our hope for you is unshaken; for we blow
that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

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Commentary:

1-11. As in almost all his letters St Paul begins with a greeting (vv. 1-2) and an
act of thanksgiving to God (vv. 3-11). See the note on 1 Cor 1:2-9.

St Paul introduces himself in his usual way--"an apostle of Christ Jesus by the
will of God"--but his description takes on special significance in this instance,
because he will devote a substantial part of the letter to defend his calling as
apostle against people who, apparently, have been questioning his credentials
(cf. chaps. 10-13).

Timothy was well known to the Corinthians: he had worked with Paul in the early
stages of Gospel preaching in Corinth (cf. Acts 18:5) and had visited them on
another occasion as the Apostle's envoy (cf. 1 Cor 4:17;16-10).

1-2. The Romans had divided Greece into two provinces--Macedonia in the north
and Achaia--(comprising central Greece and the Pelloponnese peninsula) in the
north. Corinth was the capital of Achaia. Although St Paul had actually preached
only in Corinth and Athens, the fact that he is addressing Christians "in the
whole of Achaia" says much for the apostolic zeal of those first converts, who
had brought the seed of the Gospel to other parts of the region.

St Paul's description of the Christians as "saints" shows that the Christian voca-
tion involves a calling to strive hard for holiness (cf. "Lumen Gentium", 10).

"Grace and peace": "Grace is the first good, because it is the source of all good
things [...]. The last of all good things is peace, because it is the general goal of
the mind. For, whichever way this word 'peace' is used, it is in the sense of a
goal or end; in eternal glory, in government and in one's manner of living, peace
has the sense of 'end'" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.").

3-11. St Paul's act of thanksgiving here is rather different from that in other let-
ters, where he gives thanks to God for the favors enjoyed by the Christians to
whom he is writing, in order to make them more appreciative of their calling.
Here he thanks God for consoling him in his distress.

3. "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ': the Greek can be interpreted in two
ways--a) God [the Father] who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; b) God [the
Father] who is the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second ver-
sion, which is more likely the correct one, may seem odd at first sight: however,
any difficulty disappears if one bears in mind that Jesus himself in the Gospel
calls the Father "my God": "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God" (Jn 20:17). If one remembers that there are two natures
in Christ--the divine and the human--the expression "the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ" is referring to Jesus as man; whereas "the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ" refers to Jesus' sonship both as God (the eternal sonship of the Word)
and as man (his conception in time in the pure womb of the Blessed Virgin, by
the action of the Holy Spirit, without the intervention of man).

"The Father of mercies": a Hebraicism, often used in the Old Testament, to refer
to God who has "bowels of mercy".

Mercy, according to St Augustine, is "a certain compassion for another's wret-
chedness that arises in our heart, whereby we feel impelled to give him every
possible help" ("De Civitate Dei", IX, 5). And so, St Thomas explains, mercy
is something proper only to God: "Mercy is accounted as being proper to God
therein his omnipotence is revealed to the highest degree" ("Summa Theologiae",
II-II, q. 30, a. 4), for it is capable of relieving every kind of wretchedness.

God's mercy consoles the Apostle in his sufferings, thereby enabling him to con-
sole others. It is this merciful God that is revealed to us by Jesus Christ: "The
truth, revealed in Christ, about God the 'Father of mercies' (2 Cor 1:3) enables us
to see him as particularly close to man, especially when man is suffering, when
he is under threat at the very heart of his existence and dignity" (John Paul II,
"Dives In Misercordia", 2).

5-11. These verses show the deep solidarity that exists among the members of
Christ's mystical body, and between them and their head.

This mutual union and interaction in the members of the Church is what enables
them to share spiritual benefits with one another--the communion of saints; and
it flows between the three parts of the Church--the Church militant or pilgrim (on
earth), the Church suffering (in Purgatory), and the Church triumphant (in heaven);
it is what permits those in one part, for example, to help the others by prayer (cf.
v. 11): "This is truly a tremendous mystery, upon which we can never meditate
enough--that the salvation of many souls depends on the prayers and voluntary
mortifications offered for that intention by the members of the mystical body of
Jesus Christ" (Pius XII, "Mystici Corporis"). Conscious of this fact, the Christian
should offer many prayers, sacrifices and actions for the whole Church--for the
Pope, for bishops and priests, and for all the faithful, especially those most in
need.

6. "Your comfort and salvation: the term "salvation" also includes spiritual health,
which culminates in eternal salvation. Our desire for spiritual health, our hope of
salvation, gives us the patience or fortitude we need for the battles of this life;
and this patience leads to salvation.
　

(II) 1st Reading: 1 Kings 17:1-6

Elijah foretells the drought
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[1] Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord the 
God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these
years, except by my word." [2] And the word of the Lord came to him, [3] "Depart
from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is east
of the Jordan. [4] You shall drink from the brook and I have commanded the ra-
vens to feed you there."

The ravens bring Elijah food 
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[5] So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and dwelt by
the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. [6] And the ravens brought him bread
and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from
the brook.

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Commentary: 

1 Kings 17:1-2 - 2 Kings 1:18. The ample coverage given to the reign of Ahab is
not so much due to the actions of the king as to the fact that God raised up at
this time prophets who played a critical role in maintaining knowledge and wor-
ship of the God of Israel when they were under threat. The most outstanding of
these prophets is Elijah. It is quite likely that the narratives to do with Elijah were
lifted straight out of another text and inserted here, like other accounts of pro-
phets of the same time -- an unnamed prophet (chap. 20) and Micaiah the son
of Imlah (chap. 22), both of whom speak to the king on God's behalf during the
war against Syria.

17:1-19:21. The great drought, which is the backdrop of chapters 17-19, seems 
to be a divine punishment for the king's idolatry reported in the previous chapter;
but the main thing it does is to provide an opportunity to show the superiority of 
the God of Israel over the Canaanite god Baal. Elijah, whose name means "my 
God is the Lord", is an itinerant prophet who, like the patriarchs, moves around
the country in obedience to the word of the Lord.

God makes himself known in a new way through the prophet Elijah. The same 
God who manifested himself as friend and protector of the patriarchs, and who
gave the Law to Moses, now reveals himself as the Lord of creation and of na-
ture. To the Canaanites the god Baal was master of the forces of nature -- rain,
storms, fertility etc. Through the prophet Elijah the true God reveals himself to
be distinct from and higher than all those forces, no matter what their power (cf.
19:11-13), as well as being their Lord (cf. 17:1). Elijah is the champion of the
rights of God and of the poor (cf. chap 21) and in this sense he is a model for
all the prophets that will come after him, the so-called writer prophets. "Elijah is
the 'father' of the prophets, 'the generation of those who seek him, who seek the
face of the God of Jacob' (Ps 24:6)" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2582).

17:1-4. It is possible that in Gilead, a region in the Transjordan, the religious tra-
dition of Israel was kepti n a purer form than in Samaria, where Jezebel's influ-
ence reigned. "Before whom I stand" (v. 1): Elijah uses this technical expres-
sion to present himself as a servant of God (in the same sort of way as courtiers,
who stand in the presence of the king, serve the king) and as his representative.

The prophet's oracle ("As the Lord lives . .": v. 1), which appears in the text out
of nowhere, spells outright rejection of the cult of Baal, the god of rain, because
only the God of Israel is the master of nature. Moreover, since the prophet repre-
sents God, what he says (since it always accords with the divine will) will be
what God does. This will happen also with those who bear witness to Jesus in
the New Testament: they act with the power of the Lord and through their faithful
testimony they are able to emerge victorious over an opposition or any obstacle
they meet, as the apostle John teaches, apropos of the two witnesses, when he
recalls this episode of Elijah (cf. Rev 11:6, 12). St John Chrysostom comments
that "in the time of Elijah, the heavens were opened and closed again, but only
to let rain fall or to prevent it. Now, however, God has opened the gates of heaven
to allow us to enter; and not only so that we ourselves may enter, but -- and this
is a greater marvel yet -- so that we may bring all others along with us; so great
is this faith and power that we are given over what is his" (Homiliae in Matthaeum,
12,4).

17:5-7. The "brook Cerith" (location uncertain) may have been a small gorge run-
ning north from the river Yarmuk. The food given the prophet is reminiscent of the
manna that God gave his people in the wilderness (cf. Ex 16:8-12).

St Augustine sees in this passage an allegory of Christ and his Church: "The ho-
ly prophet Elijah is a figure of the Lord and Saviour. Just as Elijah suffered perse-
cution at the hands of the Jews, the true Elijah, our Lord, was rejected and con-
demned by the Jews. Elijah left his people and Christ left the synagogue. Elijah
went out into the desert and Christ came into this world. Elijah was fed in the de-
sert by crows, and Christ was nourished in the desert of this world by the faith of
the Gentiles. The crows that brought food to Elijah in accordance with the Lord's
command symbolize the Gentile peoples. Thus it is written of the church of Gen-
tiles: 'I am black but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem.' Why black and beautiful?
Black by birth, and made beautiful by grace. Why black? 'Because I was con-
ceived in iniquity and born of my mother in sin.' Why beautiful? 'Sprinkle me with
the hyssop and I will be made clean, wash me and I will be made whiter than
snow'" (Sermons attributed to St Augustine, Sermons, 40, 1).

Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:1-12

The Beatitudes
----------------------
[1] Seeing the crowds, He (Jesus) went up on the mountain, and when He sat
down His disciples came to Him. [2] And He opened His mouth and taught
them, saying: [3] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven. [4] Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. [5]
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [6] Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [7] Bles-
sed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. [8] Blessed are the pure of
heart, for they shall see God. [9] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called children of God. [10] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righ-
teousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. [11] Blessed are you
when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you
falsely on My account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
Heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you."

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Commentary:

[번역자 주: 오늘의 복음 말씀은, 여기를 클릭하면 우리말 번역문들을 읽을 수 있는, 
가해 연중 제4주일 복음 말씀과 동일하며, 매년 모든 성인 대축일 (11월 1일) 복음 말씀
(마태오 5,1-12ㄱ)과 거의 동일하다].

1. The Discourse, or Sermon, on the Mount takes up three full chapters of St.
Matthew's Gospel--Chapters 5-7. It is the first of the five great discourses of
Jesus which appear in this Gospel and it contains a considerable amount of our
Lord's teaching.

It is difficult to reduce this discourse to one single theme, but the various tea-
chings it contains could be said to deal with these five points: 1) the attitude a
person must have for entering the Kingdom of Heaven (the Beatitudes, the salt
of the earth, the light of the world, Jesus and His teaching, the fullness of the
Law); 2) uprightness of intention in religious practice (here the "Our Father" would
be included); 3) trust in God's fatherly providence; 4) how God's children should
behave towards one another (not judging one's neighbor, respect for holy things,
the effectiveness of prayer, and the golden rule of charity); 5) the conditions for
entering the Kingdom (the narrow gate, false prophets and building on rock).

"He taught them": this refers both to the disciples and to the multitude, as can
be seen at the end of the Sermon (Matthew 7:28).

2. The Beatitudes (5:3-12) form, as it were, the gateway to the Sermon on the
Mount. In order to understand the Beatitudes properly, we should bear in mind
that they do not promise salvation only to the particular kinds of people listed
here: they cover everyone whose religious dispositions and moral conduct meet
the demands which Jesus lays down. In other words, the poor in spirit, the meek,
those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful,
the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who suffer persecution in their
search for holiness--these are not different people or kinds of people but different
demands made on everyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ.

Similarly, salvation is not being promised to different groups in society but to
everyone, no matter what his or her position in life, who strives to follow the spirit
and to meet the demands contained in the Beatitudes.

All the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us
definitive salvation not in this world, but in the next. But the spirit of the Beatitudes
does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. The Beatitudes imply a
completely new approach, quite at odds with the usual way man evaluates things:
they rule out any kind of pharisaical religiosity, which regards earthly happiness
as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhappiness and
misfortune as a form of punishment. In all ages the Beatitudes put spiritual goods
on a much higher plane than material possessions. The healthy and the sick, the
powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor--all are called, independently of their
circumstances, to the deep happiness that is experienced by those who live up to
the Beatitudes which Jesus teaches.

The Beatitudes do not, of course, contain the entire teaching of the Gospel, but
they do contain, in embryo, the whole program of Christian perfection.

3. This text outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious
concept of poverty was deeply rooted in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Zephaniah
2:3ff). It was more to do with a religious attitude of neediness and of humility
towards God than with material poverty: that person is poor who has recourse to
God without relying on his own merits and who trusts in God's mercy to be saved.
This religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called "spiritual
childhood". A Christian sees himself as a little child in the presence of God, a
child who owns nothing: everything he has comes from God and belongs to God.
Certainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be
detached from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks
certain people--religious--to be legally detached from ownership and thereby bear
witness to others of the transitoriness of earthly things.

4. "Those who mourn": here our Lord is saying that those are blessed who suffer
from any kind of affliction--particularly those who are genuinely sorry for they sins,
or are pained by the offenses which others offer God, and who bear their suffering
with love and in a spirit of atonement.

"You are crying? Don't be ashamed of it. Yes, cry: men also cry like you, when
they are alone and before God. Each night, says King David, I soak my bed with
tears. With those tears, those burning manly tears, you can purify your past and
supernaturalize your present life" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 216).

The Spirit of God will console with peace and joy, even in this life, those who weep
for their sins, and later will give them a share in the fullness of happiness and glory
in Heaven: these are the blessed.

5. "The meek": those who patiently suffer unjust persecution; those who remain
serene, humble and steadfast in adversity, and do not give way to resentment or
discouragement. The virtue of meekness is very necessary in the Christian life.
Usually irritableness, which is very common, stems from a lack of humility and
interior peace.

"The earth": this is usually understood as meaning our Heavenly Fatherland.

6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an essentially
religious one (cf. notes on Matthew 1:19 and 3:15; Romans 1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22
and 24). A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the Will of God,
which is discovered in the commandments, in one's duties of state in life (social,
professional and family responsibilities) and through one's life of prayer. Thus,
righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as what nowadays is
usually called "holiness" (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10; Revelation 22:11; Genesis 15:6;
Deuteronomy 9:4).

As St. Jerome comments ("Comm. on Matthew", 5, 6), in the fourth Beatitude our
Lord is asking us not simply to have a vague desire for righteousness: we should
hunger and thirst for it, that is, we should love and strive earnestly to seek what
makes a man righteous in God's eyes. A person who genuinely wants to attain
Christian holiness should love the means which the Church, the universal vehicle
of salvation, offers all men and teaches them to use--frequent use of the Sacra-
ments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, a valiant effort to meet one's
social, professional and family responsibilities.

7. Mercy is not a just a matter of giving alms to the poor but also of being under-
standing towards other people's defects, overlooking them, helping them cope with
them and loving them despite whatever defects they may have. Being merciful
also means rejoicing and suffering with other people.

8. Christ teaches us that the source of the quality of human acts lies in the heart,
that is, in a man's soul, in the depths of his spirit. "When we speak of a person's
heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving
dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses
the expression `heart' in its full human meaning, as the summary and source,
expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions. A man is
worth what his heart is worth" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 164).

Cleanness of heart is a gift of God, which expresses itself in a capacity to love, in
having an upright and pure attitude to everything noble. As St. Paul says, "what-
ever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy
of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8). Helped by God's grace, a
Christian should constantly strive to cleanse his heart and acquire this purity,
whose reward is the vision of God.

9. The translation "peacemakers" well convey the active meaning of the original
text--those who foster peace, in themselves and in others and, as a basis for that,
try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Being at peace with God
is the cause and effect of every kind of peace. Any peace on earth not based
on this divine peace would be vain and misleading.

"They shall be called sons of God": this is an Hebraicism often found in Sacred
Scripture; it is the same as saying "they will be sons of God". St. John's first
letter (3:1) provides a correct exegesis of this Beatitude: "See what love the
Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are".

10. What this Beatitude means, then, is: blessed are those who are persecuted
because they are holy, or because they are striving to be holy, for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven.

Thus, blessed is he who suffers persecution for being true to Jesus Christ and
who does so not only patiently but joyfully. Circumstances arise in a Christian's
life that call for heroism--where no compromise is admissible: either one stays
true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost in terms of reputation, life or possessions,
or one denies Him. St. Bernard ("Sermon on the Feast of All Saints") says that
the eighth Beatitude is as it were the prerogative of Christian martyrs. Every
Christian who is faithful to Jesus' teaching is in fact a "martyr" (a witness) who
reflects or acts according with this Beatitude, even if he does not undergo
physical death.

11-12. The Beatitudes are the conditions Jesus lays down for entering the
Kingdom of Heaven. This verse, in a way summing up the preceding ones, is an
invitation to everyone to put this teaching into practice. The Christian life, then, is
no easy matter, but it is worthwhile, given the reward that Jesus promises.

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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. 그리고 우리말 번역에 대한 
저작권은 엮은이에게 있으며, 본문 중의 우리말 번역문들을 복사하여 가져가는 것을
허락하지 않습니다.]