Friday

13th Week of Ordinary Time
　

(I) 1st Reading: Genesis 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67

Abraham Buys the Cave of Mach-pelah
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[1] Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of
the life of Sarah. [2] And Sarah died at Kiriatharba (that is, Hebron) in the
land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for
her. [3] And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and said to the Hittites,
"I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me property among you
for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

[19] After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of
Mach-pelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

The Marriage of Isaac
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[1] Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had blessed
Abraham in all things. [2] And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of
his house, who had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh,
[3] and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and of the
earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the
Canaanites, among whom I dwell, [4] but will go to my country and to my
kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac." [5] The servant said to him,
"Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then
take your son back to the land from which you came?" [6] Abraham said to
him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there. [7] The Lord, the
God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my
birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, 'To your descendants I will give
this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for
my son from there. [8] But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then
you will be free form this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back
there."

The Meeting between Rebekah and Isaac (Continuation)
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[62] Now Isaac had come from Beer-Iahai-roi, and was dwelling in the Negeb.
[63] And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted
up his eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels coming. [64] And
Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the
camel, [65] and said to the servant, "Who is the man yonder, walking in the
field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took her veil
and covered herself. [66] And the servant told Isaac all the things that he
had done. [67] Then Isaac brought her into the tent, and took Rebekah,
and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after
his mother's death.

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Commentary:

23:1-20. The story of Abraham ends, strictly speaking, with the episode,
which shows the initial fulfillment of God's promise of the land to Abraham.
By acquiring a sepulchre and a small plot, he ceases to be a mere resident
alien and acquires rights over this country.

The style of the account and the courtesy conventions used, as well as the
contract of sale, indicate, by their similarity to Hittite customs, the
antiquity of this event. The Hittites, or sons of Heth, carved out a huge
empire in Asia Minor in the second millennium BC. It is not easy to explain
their presence in Canaan in Abraham's time, unless it was that small
isolated groups of Hittites lived there. Or it could be that all non-Semites
living in the country were loosely referred to as "Hittites". In any event,
what the passage does show is that even during Abraham's lifetime the
promise begins to be fulfilled, though by purchase and scarcely more than
in a symbolic way. This is very much in contrast with God's later outright
gift of the entire land to Abraham's descendants.

23:19. In this same spot were buried Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah and
Jacob, so it became as it were a symbol to the Israelites of the fact that
this was their land, even during their time in Egypt. A mosque today stands
on the spot which tradition assigns to the tomb of the patriarchs, venerated
by Jews, Christians and Moslems.

24:1-67. Isaac's marriage is narrated before Abraham's death to underline
the continuity between the story of Abraham and that of Isaac. The next
stage of the history of the patriarchs will focus on the sons of Rebekah--Esau
and Jacob (cf. 25:19ff). Apparently Isaac and Abraham are no longer based
at Mamre (cf. 23:19), but more to the south, in the Negeb desert (cf. 24:62).

This account is very much in line with the context and customs of the
patriarchal period, but its style is more artistic and it has a particularly
discreet way of describing God's intervention. The story is told in five
scenes and five dialogues, interleaved with short narrative notes. In the
first scene Abraham and his servant appear (vv. 1-9); in the second, the
servant and Rebekah (vv. 10-28); in the third, in Rebekah's house, the
servant and Laban (vv. 29-53); in the fourth, at the moment of parting,
Rebekah and her family (54-61); and in the fifth, Rebekah, the servant and
Isaac (vv. 62-67). The narrator seems to savor these vignettes and
dialogues. As regards God's intervention, it should be noted that, although
it is never obvious, he is still really the protagonist, because he is
providentially steering the course of events.

24:1-9. The tone of this passage suggests that Abraham feels he is nearing
his end and he can see that God's promise with regard to his descendants
and the land is being kept. Therefore the patriarch is concerned to find a wife
for his son from among his own family, in line with the customs of
semi-nomadic peoples of that time. However, Abraham is clearly adamant
that Isaac shall not give up living where he is. The form of oath, with the
hand under the thigh (cf. 47:29), which Abraham makes his servant take,
an exceptionally strong one: it obliges the servant, whose faithfulness is
evident, to do exactly what he swears to do. Here, once again, Abraham's
faith copes with all the difficulties his servant foresees. He is fully
confident that God in his providence will sweep away all these obstacles,
which is what happens, as one can gather from the end of the account.

Abraham's decision about the wife Isaac should take points to the importance
a wife has in sustaining her husband's faith and that of her family. St
Ambrose comments that "often a woman's seduction deceives even th
strongest of husbands and causes them to give up religion. [...] For the first
thing that should be sought in conjugal life is religion. [...] Learn, therefore,
what to seek in a woman: Abraham sought not gold or silver or property, but
the gift of a good heart" ("De Abraham", 1, 9, 84-85).

24:66-67. In the beautiful conclusion to the story ("He loved her and so was
comforted after his mother's death") we see borne out the words of Genesis
2:24 about the creation of Eve: "A man leaves his father and his mother and
cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." Jewish and Christian
tradition see the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah as a model of conjugal love.
　

(II) 1st Reading: Amos 8:4-6, 9-12

Exploiters denounced
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[4] Hear this, you who trample upon the needy,
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
[5] saying, "When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain? 
And the sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great, 
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
[6] that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and sell the refuse of the wheat?"

A day of judgment
--------------------------
[9]"And on that day." says the Lord God
"I will make the sun go down at noon,
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
[10] I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth upon all loins,
and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only son,
and the end of it like a bitter day.

[11] "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord God,
"when I will send a famine on the land;
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
[12] They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, 
but they shall not find it.

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Commentary: 

8:1-14. The fourth vision, that of the ripe fruit (vv. 13), introduces a denunciation
of injustices (vv. 4-8) and a further description of the "day of the Lord" (vv. 9-14).
The three things are interconnected. In the vision, the prophet plays with the
words (v. 2) "summer fruit", qayits, and "end", qets (see notes q and r). In this
way he is saying that Israel's rottenness has run its course (vv. 4-8); nothing
can be done about it now -- nothing but wait for the day of the Lord's judgment
(vv. 9-14).

In his denunciation of injustices, Amos mentions, specifically, fraud (v. 5) and
exploitation of others when they are suffering need (v. 6). Church catechesis
uses this and other passages (cf. Deut 24:14-15; 25:13-16; Jas 5:4) to spell
out what the virtue of justice involves: "We should not dedicate our lives to the
accumulation of money and wealth when there are so many others who strug-
gle to survive in abject poverty; thus shall we heed the warning contained in the
words of the prophet Amos: Hear this, you who trample upon the needy, and
bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, 'When will the new moon be over
that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale" (St
Gregory Nazianzen, De pauperum amore [Oratio, 14], 24).

The end of the passage (vv. 9-14) contains the second description of the "day
of the Lord" (cf. 5:18-20). The darkness motif in the earlier oracle is developed
here by reference to an eclipse (v. 9), but the prophet also brings in other themes
-- lamentation and pain (v. 10), weakness in those who should be strong (v. 13),
and, particularly, the fruitless search for the word of God (vv. 11-12). It will be a
terrible day, when no one can draw benefit from the word of God. Maybe for this
reason, the fourth petition of the Our Father ("Give us this day our daily bread")
includes a reference to the bread of the Word of God: "There is a famine on
earth, 'not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of
the Lord' (Amos 8:11). For this reason the specifically Christian sense of this
fourth petition concerns the Bread of Life -- the Word of God accepted in faith,
the Body of Christ received in the Eucharist (cf. Jn 6:26-58)" (Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 2835).

Following the example of Jesus and the apostles, the Fathers often try to find
in the prophetical writings of the Old Testament things that are later borne out
in the life of Christ. Verses 9-10, it has been suggested, prophesy the death of
Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem that he foretold (cf. Mt 24:2 and par.):
"Some prophesied that there would come to Jerusalem a man, scorned and
without glory and acquainted with suffering (cf. Is 53:3), seated on the colt of
an ass (cf. Zech 9:9); he would offer his back to the lash and his cheeks to
their blows, and be led like a lamb to the slaughter (cf. Is 53:7). They would
give him gall and vinegar to drink (cf. Ps 68:21); all his friends and allies would
forsake him; and he would spread out his hands all the day (cf. Is 65:2), and be
jeered and mocked by the crowd, who divide out his clothes among themselves
and for his vestments cast lots; he would be crushed into the dust of death (cf.
Ps 21:6-7). Thus was it foretold: how He was made flesh, and journeyed to Je-
rusalem, and suffered his passion, crucified and subjected to the cruelest tor-
tures that men could devise (...). But Amos' words, 'And on that day,' says the
Lord God, 'I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad
daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamenta-
tion' (Amos 8:9-10), is a clear prophecy of two things: the setting of the sun in
the sixth hour, when the Lord was hanging from the cross; and that the feast
days the people celebrate according to the Law and the songs they sang would
become days of lamentation and mourning dirges when they are handed over to
the Gentiles" (St Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, 4, 33, 12).


Gospel Reading: Matthew 9:9-13

The Call of Matthew
-------------------
[9] As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew
sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he
rose and followed Him.

[10] And as He sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors
and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples. [11] And
when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your
Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" [12] But when He heard
it, He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those
who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and
not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

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Commentary:

9. "Tax office": a public place for the payment of taxes. On "following
Jesus", see the note on Matthew 8:18-22.

The Matthew whom Jesus calls here is the Apostle of the same name
and the human author of the first Gospel. In Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27
he is called Levi the son of Alphaeus or simply Levi.

In addition to Baptism, through which God calls all Christians (cf. note
on Matthew 8:18-22), the Lord can also extend, to whomever He chooses,
a further calling to engage in some specific mission in the Church. This
second calling is a special grace (cf. Matthew 4:19-21; Mark 1:17-20;
John 1:30; etc.) additional to the earlier calling through Baptism. In 
other
words, it is not man who takes the initiative; it is Jesus who calls, and
man who responds to this call by his free personal decision: "You did
not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16).

Matthew's promptitude in "following" Jesus' call is to be noted. When
God speaks, soul may be tempted to reply, "Tomorrow; I'm not ready
yet." In the last analysis this excuse, and other excuses, are nothing
but a sign of selfishness and fear (different from that fear which can be
an additional symptom of vocation: cf. John 1). "Tomorrow" runs the
risk of being too late.

As in the case of the other Apostles, St. Matthew is called in the midst
of the ordinary circumstances of his life: "What amazes you seems
natural to me: that God has sought you out in the practice of your
profession! That is how He sought the first, Peter and Andrew, James
and John, beside their nets, and Matthew, sitting in the custom-house.
And--wonder of wonders!--Paul, in his eagerness to destroy the seed of
the Christians" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 799).

10-11. The attitude of these Pharisees, who are so prone to judge
others and classify them as just men or sinners, is at odds with the
attitude and teaching of Jesus. Earlier on, He said, "Judge not, that
you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), and elsewhere He added, "Let him
who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (John
8:7).

The fact is that all of us are sinners; and our Lord has come to redeem
all of us. There is no basis, therefore, for Christians to be scandalized
by the sins of others, since any one of us is capable of committing the
vilest of sins unless God's grace comes to our aid.

12. There is no reason why anyone should be depressed when he
realizes he is full of failings: recognition that we are sinners is the only
correct attitude for us to have in the presence of God. He has come to
seek all men, but if a person considers himself to be righteous, by
doing so he is closing the door to God; all of us in fact are sinners.

13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic
style. A more faithful translation would be: "I desire mercy MORE THAN
sacrifice". It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer
Him: He is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the heart, for
charity should imbue everything a Christian does--especially his worship
of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Matthew 5:23-24).
　

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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].