나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Tuesday

12th Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: Genesis 13: 2, 5-18

Abram in Bethel
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[2] No Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. [5] And Lot, who went
with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, [6] so that the land could not
support both of them dwelling together; for theirpossessions were so great that
they could not dwell together, [7] and there was strife between the herdsmen of
Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. At that time the Canaanites and
the Perizzites dwelt in the land.

Abram and Lot Separate
------------------------------------
[8] Then Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between you and me, and be-
tween your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are kinsmen. [9] Is not the whole
land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will
go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left." [10] And
Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw that the Jordan valley was well watered every
where like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar;
this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. [11] So Lot chose for
himself all the Jordan valley, and Lot journeyed east; thus they separated from
each other. [12] Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, while Lot dwelt among the
cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. [13] Now the men of
Sodom were wicked,great sinners against the Lord.

A New Promise to Abram
-------------------------------------
[14] The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Lift up your eyes,
and look from the place where you are, northward .and southward and eastward
and westward; [15] for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your de-
scendants for ever. [16] I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so
that if one can count the dust of the earth, your descendants also can be counted.
[17] Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to
you." [18] So Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre,
which are at Hebron and there he built an altar to the Lord.

********************************************************************************** Commentary:

13:1-18. Abraham prospers in the land God has promised will be his; this is an
early confirmation of God's blessing. But he still has to undergo another test--
family rows over pastures. The patriarch comes across as a peaceable person;
he lets Lot have first choice. Abraham's behavior is a kind of new act of faith in
the divine promise, accepting as he does that God gives the land to whomever
he chooses. Once Lot has gone off, God emphatically reaffirms his promise of
descendants and land, and Abraham will progress across the country, taking
possession of it, as it were. He eventually settles at Hebron. in the south of
Palestine. on the edge of the Negeb desert.

Lot has chosen the rich lands, the Jordan plains; but the sacred writer points out
how near he is to Sodom, the city of sin. Lot will later regret his decision to settle
there (cf. chap. 19). The account seems to imply a geography with no Dead Sea,
at least not as we know it today.

Apropos of this passage, St John Chrysostom points out how family peace was
being undermined by prosperily: "Their flocks grew bigger, great wealth accrued
to them, and immediately harmony between them was disrupted -- where there
had been peace and the bonds of affection, now there was trouble and hostility.
You see, whenever it is a question of mine and yours, there are grounds for the
utmost trouble and a basis for hostility: by contrast, where this isn't the case,
habits of peace and harmony exist together without any confusion" ("Homiliae In
Genesim", 33, 3).

(II) 1st Reading: 2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36

Further threats against Jerusalem
-------------------------------------------------
[9b] [Sennacherib the king] sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, [10]
"Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Do not let your God on whom
you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand
of the king of Assyria. [11] Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria
have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. And shall you be delivered?

A further oracle
----------------------
[14] Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it;
and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
[15] And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: "O LORD the God of Isra-
el, who art enthroned above the cherubim, thou art the God, thou alone, of all the
kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. [16] Incline thy ear, O
LORD, and hear; open thy eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sen-
nacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. [17] Of a truth, O LORD,
the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, [18] and have
cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands,
wood and stone; therefore they were destroyed. [19] So now, O LORD our God,
save us, I beseech thee, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that thou, O LORD, art God alone."

[20] Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the
LORD, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria
I have heard. [21] This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:
"She despises you, she scorns you –
the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you –
the daughter of Jerusalem.

[31] for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band
of survivors. The zeal of the LORD will do this.

[32] "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not
come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast
up a siege mound against it. [33] By the way that he came, by the same he shall
return, and he shall not come into this city, says the LORD. [34] For I will defend
this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."

Death of the Assyrian king
---------------------------------------
[35a] And that night the angel of the LORD went forth, and slew a hundred and
eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. [36] Then Sennacherib king
of Assyria departed, and went home, and dwelt at Nineveh.

********************************************************************************** Commentary:

19:8-9. The final part of the prophet's oracle (cf. 19:7) is fulfilled to the letter. God
uses the king of Ethiopia to force Sennacherib to shelve his plans to take Jerusa-
lem.

19:9-13. The king of Assyria not only does not change his plans but he is dismis-
sive of the God who protects Hezekiah; he puts him on a par with the gods of the
other nations that the Assyrians have defeated and forced into submission. This
is the theme which runs right through this account: there is no God like the God
of Israel, the one true God. Sennacherib's words reflect the commonly held view
at the time that each nation has a god-protector; but they also show that the As-
syrian king, relying on the force of arms, thought himself superior to all those
gods. His plan to take Jerusalem is going to encounter the living and true God.
So, the biblical text goes on, in the words of Hezekiah and Isaiah, to give further
teaching about the unicity of God and about his plan of salvation.

19:14-34. In a significant gesture which implies faith in the presence of God in
the temple, Hezekiah spreads out the Assyrian letter for the Lord to read. In his
prayer the king explains why it is that other nations were conquered (vv. 17-18),
and he asks God to show himself to be the only God there is (v. 19): "There is
only one God: 'The Christian faith confesses that God is one in nature, sub-
stance and essence' ("Roman Catechism:, 1,2,2)" ("Catechism of the Catholic
Church", 200).

The prophet's oracle also clear that the God of Israel is the only God, because every-
thing that happen is in line with his designs, even the Assyrian victories (vv. 25-
26), and because the Lord knows all the doings of men (v. 27). God has decided
to save Jerusalem as a "remnant" of Israel (vv. 29-31), in keeping with his promise
to David (v. 34): "Faced with God's fascinating and mysterious presence, man dis-
covers his own insignificance. [...] Before the glory of the thrice-holy God, Isaiah
cries out: 'Woe is me! I am lost; for l am a man of unclean lips' (Is 6:5). The apos-
tle John says likewise: 'We shall reassure our hearts before him whenever our
hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything'
(1 Jn 3:19-20)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 208).

19:35-37. The disaster that befell the Assyrian army was probably some kind of
pestilence. On the angel of the Lord, cf. the note on 2 Samuel 24:1-25. The sec-
ond part of Isaiah's oracle is now fulfilled (cf. 19:7), and it is made clear that the
god whom Sennacherib worships has no power to save him. Sennacherib's death
occurred in 681 BC; an Assyrian monolith dedicated to King Esarhaddon records
his assassination by his sons.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Respect for Holy Things
-----------------------------------
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [6] "Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not
throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to
attack you.

The Golden Rule
------------------------
[12] "So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is
the law and the prophets.

The Narrow Gate
------------------------
[13] "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that
leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. [14] For the gate is
narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

********************************************************************************** Commentary:

6. Jesus uses a popular saying to teach prudent discernment in the preaching
of the word of God and distribution of the means of sanctification. The Church
has always heeded this warning, particularly in the sense of respect with which
it administers the Sacraments--especially the Holy Eucharist. Filial confidence
does not exempt us from the sincere and profound respect which should imbue
our relations with God and with holy things. ***********
***********
***********

6. 예수님은 하느님의 말씀의 설교 및 성화의 수단(the means of sanctification)들의
분배에 있어 현명한 분별력을 가르치기 위하여 한 개의 대중적 속담(a popular saying)을
사용하십니다. 특히 그것과 함께 교회가 성사(the Sacraments)들을, 특별히 성체성사
(the Holy Eucharist)를, 관장하는 경의(respect)의 의미로 이러한 경고(warning)에 항상
주의하였습니다. [입양된] 자식으로서의 확신이, 하느님과 그리고 거룩한 것(holy
things, sancta)들(*)과 우리의 관계들에 반드시 스며들어야 하는, 진솔하고 깊은
경의로부터 우리를 면제하지(exempt) 않습니다.

-----
(*) 번역자 주: "거룩한 것들(the holy things, sancta)"은, 예를 들어, 하느님의 자비,
하느님의 말씀들, 예수 그리스도, 예수 그리스도의 가르침들, 예수 그리스도와 성령의
작용, 은총(graces)들, 하늘 나라(하느님의 나라), "거룩한 교회", 성사(the sacraments)들,
특히 성찬례the Holy Eucharist, 성체성사), 향주삼덕[신덕/믿음(faith), 망덕/희망
(hope), 애덕/사랑(charity)]들 등의 초자연적 덕(supernatural virtues)들, 성령의 선물
(gifts)들, 성령의 열매(fruits)들, 은사(charisms), 다른 영의 선물(the other spiritual
gifts)]들, "거룩한 교회"의 가르침들, 하늘(heaven)과 땅(earth)과 예루살렘(마태오 5,33) 등,
우리의 성화(sanctification)를 위하여 하느님으로부터 그리고 당신의 거룩한
교회에 맡겨진 신앙의 유산(the deposit of faith) 및 이 유산으로부터 유래하는
모든 것들, 즉 우리의 구원의 재화(the goods of salvation)들을 말한다. (가톨릭
교회 교리서 요약편 제194항 참조). 다음의 글을 또한 읽도록 하라:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/1388.htm
-----

12. This "golden rule" gives a guideline to realize our obligations towards and the
love we should have for others. However, if we interpreted it superficially it would
become a selfish rule; it obviously does not mean "do utdes" ("I give you some-
thing so that you will give me something") but that we should do good to others
unconditionally: we are clever enough not to put limits on how much we love our-
selves. This rule of conduct will be completed by Jesus' "new commandment"
(John 13:34), where He teaches us to love others as He Himself loved us.

13-14. "Enter": in St. Matthew's Gospel this verb often has as its object the
"Kingdom of Heaven" or equivalent expressions (life, the marriage feast, the joy
of the Lord, etc.). We can interpret "enter" as an imperious invitation.

The way of sin is momentarily pleasant and calls for no effort, but it leads to eter-
nal perdition. Following the way of a generous and sincere Christian life is very
demanding--here Jesus speaks of a narrow gate and a hard way--but it leads to
Life, to eternal salvation.

The Christian way involves carrying the cross. "For if a man resolve to submit
himself to carrying this cross--that is to say, if he resolve to desire in truth to
meet trials and to bear them in all things for God's sake, he will find in them all
great relief and sweetness wherewith he may travel upon this road, detached
from all things and desiring nothing. Yet, if he desires to possess anything --
whether it comes from God or from any other source--with any feeling of attach-
ment, he has not stripped and denied himself in all things; and thus he will be
unable to walk along this narrow path or climb upward by it" (St. John of the
Cross, "Ascent of Mount Carmel", book 2, chapter 7, 7).
　

*********************************************************************************************
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.