Saturday

10th Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

The Ministry of Reconciliation (Continuation)
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[14] For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has
died for all; therefore all have died. [15] And he died for all, that those who live
might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was
raised.

[16] From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even
though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus
no longer. [17] Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
passed away, behold, the new has come. [18] All this is from God, who through
Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; [19]
that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their
trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
[20] So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. [21] For our sake
he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.

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Commentary:

14-15. The Apostle briefly describes the effects of Christ's death, a death he un-
derwent out of love for man; elsewhere at greater length (cf. Rom 6:1-11; 14:7-9;
Gal 2:19-20; 2 Tim 2: 11) he goes into this doctrine which is so closely connec-
ted with the solidarity that exists between Jesus Christ and the members of his
mystical body. Christ, the head of that body, died for all his members: and they
have mystically died to sin with and in him. Christ's death, is moreover, the price
paid for men--their ransom which sets them free from the slavery of sin, death
and the devil. As a result of it we belong no longer to ourselves but to Christ (cf.
1 Cor 6:19), and the new life--in grace and freedom--which he has won for us we
must live for his sake: "None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to him-
self. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord [...]. For to
this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and
of the living" (Rom 14:7-9).

"What follows from this?", St Francis de Sales asks. "I seem to hear the voice
of the Apostle like a peal of thunder startling our heart: It is easy to see, Chris-
tians, what Christ desired by dying for us. What did he desire but that we should
become like him? 'That those who live might live no longer for themselves but for
him who for their sake died and was raised.' How powerful a consequence is this
in the matter of love! Jesus Christ died for us; by his death he has given us life;
we only live because he died; he died for us, by us, and in us; our life then is no
longer ours, but belongs to him who has purchased it for us by his death: we are
therefore no more to live to ourselves but to him; not in ourselves but in him; nor
for ourselves but for him" ("Treatise on the Love of God", book 7, chap. 8).

"The love of Christ controls us", urges us: with these words St Paul sums up
what motivates his tireless apostolic activity--the love of Jesus, so immense that
it impels him to spend every minute of his life bringing this same love to all man-
kind. The love of Christ should also inspire all other Christians to commit them-
selves to respond to Christ's love, and it should fill them with a desire to bring to
all souls the salvation won by Christ. "We are urged on by the charity of Christ
(cf. 2 Cor 5:14) to take upon our shoulders a part of this task of saving souls.
Look: the redemption was consummated when Jesus died on the Cross, in
shame and glory, 'a stumbling block' to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles (1 Cor
1:23). But the redemption will, by the will of God, be carried out continually until
our Lord's time comes. It is impossible to live according to the heart of Jesus
Christ and not to know that we are sent, as he was, 'to save sinners' (1 Tim 1:
15), with the clear realization that we ourselves need to trust in the mercy of
God more and more every day. As a result, we will foster in ourselves a vehe-
ment desire to live as co-redeemers with Christ, to save all souls with him"
("Christ Is Passing By", 120f).

16-17. "Even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view": Paul
seems to be referring to knowledge based only on external appearances and on
human criteria. Paul's Judaizing opponents do look on things from a human point
of view, as Paul himself did before his conversion. Nothing he says here can be
taken as implying that St Paul knew Jesus personally during his life on earth (he
goes on to say that now he does not know him personally); what he is saying is
that previously he judged Christ on the basis of his own Pharisee prejudices; now,
on the other hand, he knows him as God and Savior of men.

In v. 17 he elaborates on this contrast between before and after his conversion,
as happens to Christians through Baptism. For through the grace of Baptism a
person becomes a member of Christ's body, he lives by and is "in Christ" (cf.,
e.g., Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10, 15f; Cor 3:9f); the Redemption brings about a new
creation. Commenting on this passage St Thomas Aquinas reminds us that
creation is the step from non-being to being, and that in the supernatural order,
after original sin, "a new creation was necessary, whereby (creatures) would be
made with the life of grace; this truly is a creation from nothing, because those
without grace are nothing (cf. 1 Cor 13:2) [...]. St Augustine says, 'for sin is
nothingness, and men become nothingness when they sin'" ("Commentary on
2 Cor, ad loc.").

"The new has come": St John Chrysostom points out the radical change which
the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ has brought about, and the consequent
difference between Judaism and Christianity: "Instead of the earthly Jerusalem,
we have received that Jerusalem which is above; and instead of a material tem-
ple we have seen a spiritual temple; instead of tablets of stone, holding the divine
Law, our own bodies have become the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit; instead of
circumcision, Baptism; instead of manna, the Lord's body; instead of water from
a rock, blood from his side; instead of Moses' or Aaron's rod, the cross of the
Savior; instead of the promised land, the kingdom of heaven" ("Hom on 2 Cor",
11).

18-21. The reconciliation of mankind with God--whose friendship we lost through
original sin--has been brought about by Christ's death on the cross. Jesus, who
is like men in all things "yet without sinning" (Heb 4:14), bore the sins of men
(cf. s 53:4-12) and offered himself on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for all
those sins (cf. 1 Pet 2:22-25), thereby reconciling men to God; through this sa-
crifice we became the righteousness of God, that is, we are justified, made just
in God's sight (cf. Rom 1:17; 3:24-26 and notes). The Church reminds us of this
in the rite of sacramental absolution: "God, the Father of mercies, through the
death and resurrection of his son has reconciled the world to himself [...]."

Our Lord entrusted the Apostles with this ministry of reconciliation (v. 18), this
"message of reconciliation" (v. 19), to pass it on to all men: elsewhere in the
New Testament it is described as the "message of salvation" (Acts 13:26), the
"word of grace" (Acts 14:3; 20:32), the "word of life" ( 1 Jn 1: 1). Thus, the Apos-
tles were our Lord's ambassadors to men, to whom St Paul addresses a pres-
sing call: "be reconciled to God", that is, apply to yourselves the reconciliation
obtained by Jesus Christ--which is done mainly through the sacraments of Bap-
tism and Penance. "The Lord Jesus instituted in his Church the sacrament of
Penance, so that those who have committed sins after Baptism might be recon-
ciled with God, whom they have offended, and with the Church itself whom they
have injured" (John Paul II, "Aperite Portas, 5).

21. "He made him to be sin": obviously St Paul does not mean that Christ was
guilty of sin; he does not say "to be a sinner" but "to be sin". "Christ had no sin,"
St Augustine says; "he bore sins, but he did not commit them" ("Enarrationes
in Psalmos", 68, 1, 10).

According to the rite of atoning sacrifices (cf. Lev 4:24; 5:9; Num 19:9; Mic 6:7;
Ps 40:7) the word "sin", corresponding to the Hebrew "asam", refers to the ac-
tual act of sacrifice or to the victim being offered. Therefore, this phrase means
"he made him a victim for sin" or "a sacrifice for sin". it should be remembered
that in the Old Testament nothing unclean or blemished could be offered to God;
the offering of an unblemished animal obtained God's pardon for the transgres-
sion which one wanted to expiate. Since Jesus was the most perfect of victims
offered for us, he made full atonement for all sins. In the Letter to the Hebrews,
when comparing Christ's sacrifice with that of the priests of the Old Testament,
it is expressly stated that "every priest stands daily at his service, offering re-
peatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ
had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand
of God, then to wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet. For
by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb
10:11-14).

This concentrated sentence also echoes the Isaiah prophecy about the sacrifice
of the Servant of Yahweh; Christ, the head of the human race, makes men sha-
rers in the grace and glory he achieved through his sufferings: "upon him was the
chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed" (Is 53:5).

Jesus Christ, burdened with our sins and offering himself on the cross as a sa-
crifice for them, brought about the Redemption: the Redemption is the supreme
example both of God's justice--which requires atonement befitting the offense--
and of his mercy, that mercy which makes him love the world so much that "he
gave his only Son" (Jn 3:16). "In the Passion and Death of Christ--in the fact
that the Father did not spare his own Son, but 'for our sake made him sin'--abso-
lute justice is expressed, for Christ undergoes the Passion and Cross because
of the sins of humanity. This constitutes even a 'superabundance' of justice, for
the sins of man are 'compensated for' by the sacrifice of the Man-God. Neverthe-
less, this justice, which is properly justice 'to God's measure', springs complete-
ly from love, from the love of the Father and of the Son, and completely bears
fruit in love. Precisely for this reason the divine justice revealed in the Cross of
Christ is to God's measure', because it springs from love and is accomplished
in love, producing fruits of salvation. The divine dimension of redemption is put
into effect not only by bringing justice to bear upon sin, but also by restoring to
love that creative power in man thanks to which he once more has access to
the fullness of life and holiness that come from God. In this way, redemption in-
volves the revelation of mercy in its fullness" (John Paul II, "Dives In Misercordia",
7).
　

(II) 1st Reading: 1 Kings 19:19-21

The call of Elisha
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[19] So he departed from thee, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was
ploughing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth.
Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. [20] And he left the oxen,
and ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then
I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to 
you?” [21] And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and
slew them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the
people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to
him.

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Commentary: 

19-21. Elisha’s response to Elijah’s call is quite exemplary: he leaves every-
thing behind and puts himself at the disposal of the prophet. That will be how the
apostles respond to Christ (cf. Mt 4:20, 22; etc.), and it should be how anyone
responds when the Lord calls him or her to a mission which involves leaving every-
thing. But the call issued by Jesus is more pressing than Elijah’s, as can be seen
from the Gospel passage where Jesus, in response to someone who says, “I will
follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home,” replies, “No
one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”
(Lk 9:61-62). Obedience to a call involves a radical self-surrender: “Detach your-
self from people and things until you are stripped of them. For, says Pope St.
Gregory, the devil has nothing of his own in this world, and naked he comes to
battle. If you go clothed to fight him, you will soon be pulled to the ground: for
he will have something to catch you by” (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 149).

The name “Elisha” means “My God saves” and it epitomizes this prophet, just
as the name “Elijah” catches the essence of that prophet’s message: “My God
is the Lord.”


Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:33-37

Jesus and His Teaching, the Fulfillment of the Law (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [33] "Again you have heard that it was said to the
men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you
have sworn.' [34] But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by Heaven, for it is
the throne of God, [35] or by the earth, for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem, for
it is the city of the great King. [36] And do not swear by your head, for you can-
not make one hair white or black. [37] Let what you say be simply, 'yes' or 'no';
anything more than this comes from evil."

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Commentary:

33-37. The Law of Moses absolutely prohibited perjury or violation of oaths (Exo-
dus 20:7; Numbers 30:3; Deuteronomy 23:22). In Christ's time, the making of
sworn statements was so frequent and the casuistry surrounding them so intri-
cate that the practice was being grossly abused. Some rabbinical documents
of the time show that oaths were taken for quite unimportant reasons. Parallel
to this abuse of oath-taking there arose no less ridiculous abuses to justify non-
fulfillment of oaths. All this meant great disrespect for the name of God. How-
ever, we do know from Sacred Scripture that oath-taking is lawful and good in
certain circumstances: "If you swear, 'As the Lord lives', in truth, in justice, and
in uprightness, then nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall
they glory (Jeremiah 4:2).

Jesus here lays down the criterion which His disciples must apply in this connec-
tion. It is based on re-establishing, among married people, mutual trust, nobility
and sincerity. The devil is "the father of lies" (John 8:44). Therefore, Christ's
Church must teach that human relationships cannot be based on deceit and in-
sincerity. God is truth, and the children of the Kingdom must, therefore, base
mutual relationships on truth. Jesus concludes by praising sincerity. Throughout
His teaching He identifies hypocrisy as one of the main vices to be combatted
(cf., e.g., Matthew 23:13-32), and sincerity as one of the finest virtues (cf. John
1:47).
　

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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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