Monday
12th Week of Ordinary Time
(I) 1st Reading: Genesis 12:1-9
Abram and Lot
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[1] Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and
your father's house to the land that I will show you. [2] And I will make of you a
great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be
a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will
curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves."
[[4] So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was
seventy-five years old when he departed from. [5] And Abram took Sarai his wife,
and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and
the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of
Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, [6] Abram passed through
the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Cana-
anites were in the land. [7] Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, "To your
descendants I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had
appeared to him. [8] Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel,
and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he
built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. [9] And Abram jou-
rneyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
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Commentary:
12:1-6. God's call to Abraham (the name he would give him instead of Abram: cf.
17:5) marks the start of a new stage in his dealings with mankind, because his
covenant with Abraham will prove a blessing to all nations. It means that Abraham
has to break earthly ties, ties with family and place, and put his trust entirely in
God's promise--an unknown country, many descendants (even though his wife is
barren: cf. 11:30) and God's constant protection. This divine calling also involves
a break with the idolatrous cult followed by Abraham's family in the city of Haran
(apparently a moon cult) so as to worship the true God.
Abraham responds to God's call; believing and trusting totally in the divine word,
he leaves his country and heads for Canaan. Abraham's attitude is in sharp con-
trast with the human pride described earlier in connection with the tower of Babel
(cf. 11:1-9), and even more so with the disobedience of Adam and Eve which was
the cause of mankind's break with God.
The divine plan of salvation begins to operate by requiring man to make an act of
obedience: in Abraham's case, he is asked to set out on a journey. This plan will
reach its ultimate goal with the perfect obedience shown by Jesus Christ "made
obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8), whereby all mankind will
obtain the mercy of God (cf. Rom 5:19). Everyone who listens and obeys the
voice of the Lord, all believers, can therefore be regarded as children of Abraham.
"Thus Abraham 'believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.' So
you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture
foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel
beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.' So then,
those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith" (Gal 3:6-9).
Jewish and Christian tradition sees the three things God requires Abram to give
up as epitomizing the demands of faith: "Through these three departures--from
country, kindred and father's house," according to Alcuin's interpretation, "is
meant that we have to leave behind the earthly man, the ties of our vices, and
the world under the devil's power" ("lnterrogationes in Genesim", 154).
Abraham's response also involves an attitude of prayer, an intimate relationship
with God. Although prayer makes its appearance at the very start of the Old
Testament (cf. 4:4, 26; 5:24; etc.), it really comes into its own with our father
Abraham, as the "Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: "When God calls
him, Abraham goes forth 'as the Lord had told him' (Gen 12:4). Abraham's heart
is entirely submissive to the Word and so he obeys. Such attentiveness of the
heart, whose decisions are made according to God's will, is essential to prayer,
while the words used count only in relation to it. Abraham's prayer is expressed
first by deeds: a man of silence, he constructs an altar to the Lord at each stage
of his journey. Only later does Abraham 's first prayer in words appear: a veiled
complaint reminding God of his promises which seem unfulfilled (cf. Gen 15:2-3).
Thus one aspect of the drama of prayer appears from the beginning: the test of
faith in the fidelity of God" (no.2570).
Abraham gets as far as the central part of Palestine, [whence] he moves south,
building as he goes altars to the Lord, to the true God, in places which will be-
come important shrines in later periods. The biblical text shows that Yahweh
accompanies Abraham and that the latter renders him acceptable worship, in
contrast with the idolatrous cult practised by the inhabitants of the country (gi-
ven the generic name of "Canaanites"). God, for his part, in all his appearances
to the patriarch, promises to give this land to his descendants (cf. 13:15; 15:18;
17:8; 26:4). In this way the text is showing the radical source of the legitimacy
of Israel's possession of the land of Canaan. However, this promise of a land to
the descendants of Abraham goes beyond the empirical fact of acquiring territory,
and becomes a symbol of the blessings and the divine gifts in which all mankind
will share.
Speaking about Abraham's faith in the word of God, St Paul interprets Abraham's
"descendants" in the singular, as referring to one descendant only, Jesus Christ,
because only he, being the Son of God and making himself obedient unto death,
possesses all the divine goods and communicates them to man: "Christ re-
deemed us [...] that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon
the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit. [...] Now the promi-
ses were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, 'And to off-
springs,' referring to many; but, referring to one, ' And to your offspring,' which is
Christ" (Gal 3:13-16).
(II) 1st Reading: 2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18
Samaria is invaded and its capital falls
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[5] Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for
three years be besieged it. [6] in the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria
captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and placed
them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the city of the
Medes.
Thoughts on the fall of Samaria
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[7] And this was so because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord
their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand
of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods [8] and walked in the cus-
toms of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in
the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced.
[13]Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, say-
ing, "Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in
accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to
you by my servants the prophets." [14] But they would not listen, but were stub-
born, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. [15a]
They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and
the warnings which he gave them. [18] Therefore the Lord was very angry with Is-
rael, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only.
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Commentary:
17:5-41. The Northern kingdom comes to an end with the fall of Samaria. Un-
doubtedly that event was traumatic for the chosen people. But the sacred writer
focuses mainly on the religious aspect of the drama. For one thing, he offers an
explanation of it in terms of the overall relationship between God and his people:
the events he describes are a lesson for Judah to learn (vv. 7-23). Also, he uses
the situation created by the Assyrian takeover to show that the Samaritan popu-
lation of his own time can no longer be regarded as part of the chosen people (vv.
24-41).
17:5-6. Assyrian chronicles attribute the overrun of Samaria to Sargon II, who
succeeded Shalmaneser V in December 722 BC, and they record that 27,290
Israelites were deported, which would have been ten per cent of the population.
This would mean that the deportation took place in 721 BC. Assyria's policy
was to deport the upper classes, who would have been best placed to organized
resistance.
The date of the fall of Samaria connects with the last year of Hoshea's reign: he
ceased to be king in 724 BC. During the three-year siege Samaria had no king.
17:7-23. The fall of Samaria is described very briefly, whereas the causes of its
downfall are reported at length. The sacred writer wants to show that sin was
the cause of the catastrophe – a very grave sin when set against the generosity
of God's gifts.
Now, only the tribe of Judah survives – not that it has proven faithful to the Lord
(vv. 18-19). For the sacred writer the fall of the Northern kingdom marks the end
of a long process which began with Jeroboam and the making of the two golden
calves (cf. 1 Kings 12:25-33). By turning their backs on the house of David, the
Northerners became estranged from the presence of God. By explaining things
in this way, the sacred writer's message is that God has promised salvation and,
specifically, continuity of the Davidic dynasty (2 Sam 7:14). The Northern king-
dom cut itself off from the house of David, and now it has ceased to exist. But
Judah endures; even though it, too, sinned, it puts its trust in God to keep his
promise. The redactor of the books of the Kings is well aware that Jerusalem,
too, will be destroyed and that the people of Judah will be sent into exile (cf. 1
Kings 9:7-9), yet God will still be present among them: the people of Judah will
not disappear, for God is faithful to the promise he made to the house of David.
The fall of the Northern kingdom was certainly a lesson for Judah, a lesson it
failed to learn (cf. Jer 16:10-13). But it is also a lesson for all men, in all ages:
abandoning God and distancing oneself from Christ, the Son of David, puts man
in danger of eternal perdition. Commenting on the downfall of the two kingdoms,
St Macarius drew a spiritual lesson: "Alas for the soul deprived of the loving care
of Christ that causes it to bear the good fruits of the Spirit!; because, knowing it-
self to be abandoned, full of thorns and thistles, instead of producing fruit, it ends
up on the bonfire. Alas for the soul in which Christ the Lord does not live!, be-
cause, feeling abandoned, it becomes the seed-bed for all vices" (Homiliae spiri-
tuals, 28, 2).
Gospel Reading: Matthew 7:1-5
Various Precepts: Do Not Judge
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [1] "Judge not, that you be not judged. [2] For with
the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be
the measure you get. [3] Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye,
but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? [4] Or how can you say to your
brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own
eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will
see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
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Commentary:
1. Jesus is condemning any rash judgments we make maliciously or carelessly
about our brothers' behavior or feelings or motives. "Think badly and you will not
be far wrong" is completely at odds with Jesus' teaching.
In speaking of Christian charity St. Paul lists its main features: "Love is patient
and kind [...]. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5, 7). Therefore, "Never think badly of anyone,
not even if the words or conduct of the person in question give you good grounds
for doing so" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 442).
"Let us be slow to judge.--Each one sees things from his own point of view, as
his mind, with all its limitations, tells him, and through eyes that are often
dimmed and clouded by passion" ("ibid"., 451).
1-2. As elsewhere, the verbs in the passive voice ("you will be judged", "the
measure you will be given") have God as their subject, even though He is not
explicitly mentioned: "Do not judge OTHERS, that you be not judged BY GOD".
Clearly the judgment referred to here is always a condemnatory judgment; there-
fore, if we do not want to be condemned by God, we should never condemn our
neighbor. "God measures out according as we measure out and forgives as we
forgive, and comes to our rescue with the same tenderness as He sees us ha-
ving towards others" (Fray Luis de Leon, "Exposicion Del Libro De Job", chapter
29).
3-5. A person whose sight is distorted sees things as deformed, even though in
fact they are not deformed. St. Augustine gives this advice: "Try to acquire those
virtues which you think your brothers lack, and you will no longer see their defects,
because you will not have them yourselves" ("Enarrationes In Psalmos", 30, 2, 7).
In this connection, the saying, "A thief thinks that everyone else is a thief" is in
line with this teaching of Jesus.
Besides: "To criticize, to destroy, is not difficult; any unskilled laborer knows how
to drive his pick into the noble and finely-hewn stone of a cathedral. To construct:
that is what requires the skill of a master" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 456).
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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].