나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Saturday

16th Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: Exodus 24:3-8

A sacred meal and sprinkling with blood
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[3] Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordi-
nances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words
which the LORD has spoken we will do.” [4] And Moses wrote all the words of the
LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the
mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. [5] And he
sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed
peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. [6] And Moses took half of the blood and
put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. [7] Then he took
the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said,
“All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” [8] And
Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, “Behold the blood
of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these
words.”

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Commentary:

24:1-18. It was common practice for those peoples to ratify pacts by means of a
rite or a meal. This section recounts a meal or rite whereby the Covenant was
sealed. This event is very important for salvation history: it prefigures the sacri-
fice of Jesus Christ, which brought in the New Covenant.

The usual interpretation is that there were two stages in this ratification -- first in-
volving Moses and the elders, that is, authorities (vv. 1-2, 9-11) and then the entire
people (vv. 3-8). Other commentators think that there was only one ceremony,
relayed by two different traditions. In both cases the final editor has tried to make
it clear that both the leaders and the people themselves took part in and formally
accepted the divine Covenant and all it laid down.

24:1-11. Nabab and Abihu are priests of Aaron’s line (cf. 6:33; 28:1; Lev 10:1-2);
the elders represent the people on important matters. The ceremony takes place
on the top of the mountain, which all the leaders ascended – Moses; the priests,
holders of religious authority; and the elders, that is, the civil and legal authori-
ties (cf. 18:21-26).

Only Moses has direct access to God (v. 2), but all are able to see God without
dying: what they see far outstrips in brilliance and luxury the great palaces and
temples of the East (cf. the vision of Isaiah in Is 6:10). In fact, they all share the
same table with God (v. 11): the description is reminiscent of a royal banquet, in
which the guests are treated on a par with the host: thus, the king of Babylonia
will show his benevolence to King Jehoiachin by having him as his dinner guest
(cf. 2 Kings 25:27-30). But it is, above all, a ritual banquet in which sharing the
same table shows the intimate relationship that exists between God and the
leaders of the people, and shows too that both parties are mutually responsible
for the covenant now being sealed.
24:3-8. The ceremony takes place on the ‘slope of the mountain; Moses alone is
the intermediary; but the protagonists are God and his people. The ceremony has
two parts -- the reading and accepting of the clauses of the Covenant (vv. 3-4),
that is, the Words (Decalogue) and the laws (the so-called Code of the Covenant);
then comes the offering which seals the pact.

The acceptance of the clauses is done with all due solemnity, using the ritual
formula: “all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do”. The people, who
have already made this commitment (19:8), now repeat it after listening to Moses’
address (v. 3) and just before being sprinkled with the blood of the offering. The
binding force of the pact is thereby assured,

The offering has some very ancient features -- the altar specially built for the
occasion (v. 4; cf. 20:25); the twelve pillars, probably set around the altar; the
young men, not priests, making the offerings; and particularly the sprinkling with
blood which is at the very core of the rite.

The dividing of the blood in two (one half for the altar which represents God, and
the other for the people) means that both commit themselves to the requirements
of the Covenant. There is evidence that nomadic peoples used to seal their pacts
with the blood of sacrificed animals. But there are no traces in the Bible of blood
being used in that way. This rite probably has deeper significance: given that
blood, which stands for life (cf. Gen 4), belongs to God alone, it must only be
poured on the altar or used to anoint people who are consecrated to God, such
as priests (cf. Ex 29:19-22). When Moses sprinkled the blood of the offering on
to the entire people, he was consecrating it, making it divine property and “a king-
dom of priests” (cf. 19:3-6). The Covenant therefore is not only a commitment to
obey its precepts but, particularly, the right to belong to the holy nation, which is
God’s possession. At the Last Supper, when instituting the Eucharist, Jesus uses
the very same terms, “blood of the Covenant”, thereby indicating the nature of the
new people of God who, having been redeemed, is fully “the holy people of God”
(cf. Mt 26:27 and par.; 1 Cor 11:23-25).

The Second Vatican Council has this to say about the connexion between the
New and Old Covenants, pointing out that the Church is the true people of God:
“God chose the Israelite race to be his own people and established a covenant with
it. He gradually instructed this people -- in its history manifesting both himself and
the decree of his will -- and made it holy unto himself. All these things, however,
happened as a preparation and figure of that new and perfect covenant which was
to be ratified in Christ, and of the fuller revelation which was to be given through the
Word of God made flesh. […] Christ instituted this new covenant, namely the new
covenant in his blood (cf. 1 Cor 11:25); he called a race made up of Jews and
Gentiles which would he one, not according to the flesh, but in the Spirit, and this
race would he the new People of God” (Lumen gentium, 4 and 9).

(II) 1st Reading: Jeremiah 7:1-11

False worship. Discourse concerning the temple
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[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] "Stand in the gate of the
LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD,
all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. [3] Thus says
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I
will let you dwell in this place. [4] Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is
the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.' [5]
"For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly execute justice
one with another, [6] if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow,
or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your
own hurt, [7] then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to
your fathers for ever. [8] "Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. [9] Will
you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and go
after other gods that you have not known, [10] and then come and stand before
me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!' -- on-
ly to go on doing all these abominations? [11] Has this house, which is called by
my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,
says the LORD.

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Commentary:

7:1-20. Chapter 26 gives more detailed information about the situation covered in
these verses, and what the outcome was. We are told there that Jeremiah made
this speech in the temple "in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah" (26:1), that is, in 608 BC. Shortly before that, Josiah had died in battle (2
Kings 23:29-30; 2 Chron 35:19-24), having done maintenance work on the tem-
ple and having introduced a programme of religious reform based on the centrali-
zation of worship in Jerusalem. Josiah was succeeded by Jehoahaz, whose reign
lasted only three months (cf. Kings 23:31; 2 Chron 36:2), followed by Josiah's bro-
ther Jehoiakim. That latter reign saw a tolerance of the idolatrous practices that
Josiah had striven to uproot.

The people of Judah felt sure that having the temple in their territory would guar-
antee divine favour and protection for them, and they became surer still after 701,
when the Assyrian troops of Sennacherib turned back from the walls of Jerusalem
without entering the holy city. The high profile that the temple received as a result
of Josiah's reforms helps to explain the blind confidence felt by the people that
they had nothing to fear if they stayed close to that sanctuary. So, at the time
when Jeremiah was uttering these oracles, even though the temple was there in
all its splendour, religious practice was far from being in line with what the Lord
commanded. Hence the prophet's insistence on conversion, on true religion,
which manifests itself in fidelity to the Lord, in charity and justice (vv. 5-7). Rites
performed in the temple are of no avail if people don't listen to the Lord and if they
continue to commit all sorts of sins. Naïve confidence in the temple is not enough
(v. 4). To be safe and secure they must obey the Law of God (vv. 8-10). The tem-
ple has no magic power, and it will suffer the same fate as the shrine of Shiloh (v.
14), the famous centre of worship that housed the ark of the Covenant before it
was moved to Jerusalem (Josh 18:1; Judg 21:19) and that was probably des-
troyed by the Philistines. Unless they mend their ways, the people of Jerusalem
will be expelled, just like their brethren in the Northern kingdom, the Ephraimites
(v. 15).

Despite his preaching, Jeremiah finds that they fail to repent. Not only do they
not listen to him: they think that the temple guarantees their safety, yet they
combine that belief with pagan rites in honour of Isthar, the "queen heaven", the
Assyrian goddess of fertility (vv. 16-18). God will surely punish them (vv. 19-20).

The expression "den of robbers" (v. 11), employed here to describe the temple
when used by people who are very far from being obedient to the Lord, will occur
again when Jesus expresses his pain at all the noise made by traders in the tem-
ple and at people's disrespect for that holy place (Mt 21:12-13 and par.). Jeremi-
ah is not condemning religious worship in the temple of Jerusalem (nor does Je-
sus); he is saying that they have emptied it of meaning. In any event, after the
coming of Christ, worship of the Lord is no longer confined to rites or external ac-
tions performed in some particular place; people can worship God in their hearts
whenever they happen to be. Therefore St Jerome writes: "Those who say to
themselves constantly, 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord', should listen to what the Apostle says: 'Do you not know
that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?' (1 Cor 3:16). Are
you in Jerusalem? Are you in Brittany? It does not matter. The heavenly Pre-
sence lies open before us always, for the kingdom of God is within us " (Episto-
lae, 2, 58, 2).

Gospel Reading: Matthew 13:24-30

The Parable of the Weeds
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[24] Another parable he (Jesus) put before them, saying, "The kingdom
of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field;
[25] but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds
among the wheat, and went away. [26] So when the plants came up and
bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. [27] And the servants of the
householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in
your field? How then has it weeds?' [28] He said to them, 'An enemy has
done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and
gather them?' [29] But he said, 'No; lest in gathering the weeds you
root up the wheat along with them. [30] Let both grow together until
the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds
first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into
my barn.'"

The Mustard Seed; The Leaven
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[31] Another parable He put before them saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is
like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; [32] it
is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs
and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its
branches."

[33] He told them another parable. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a leaven
which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all lea-
vened."

[34] All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed He said nothing to
them without a parable. [35] This was to fulfill what was spoken by the pro-
phet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden
since the foundation of the world."

The Parable of the Weeds Explained
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[36] Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples
came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field."
[37] He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; [38] the
field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the Kingdom; the
weeds are the sons of the evil one, [39] and the enemy who sowed them is
the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. [40]
Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close
of the age. [41] The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out
of His Kingdom all causes of sin and evildoers, [42] and throw them out into
the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. [43] Then the
righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has
ears, let him hear."

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Commentary:

24-25. "The situation is clear: the field is fertile and the seed is
good; the Lord of the field has scattered the seed at the right moment
and with great skill. He even has watchmen to make sure that the field
is protected. If, afterwards, there are weeds among the wheat, it is
because men have failed to respond, because they--and Christians in
particular--have fallen asleep and allowed the enemy to approach"
([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 123).

25. This weed--cockle--looks very like wheat and can easily be mistaken
for it until the ears appear. If it gets ground up with wheat it
contaminates the flour and any bread made from that flour causes severe
nausea when eaten. In the East personal vengeance sometimes took the
form of sowing cockle among an enemy's wheat. Roman law prescribed
penalties for this crime.

28. "When the careless servants ask the Lord why weeds have grown in
his field, the explanation is obvious: 'inimicus homo hoc fecit: an
enemy has done this.' We Christians should have been on guard to make
sure that the good things placed in this world by the Creator were
developed in the service of truth and good. But we have fallen
asleep--a sad thing, that sluggishness of our heart while the enemy and
all those who serve him worked incessantly. You can see how the weeds
have grown abundantly everywhere" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By",
123).

29-30. The end of this parable gives a symbolic explanation of why God
allows evil to have its way for a time--and for its ultimate
extirpation. Evil is to run its course on earth until the end of time;
therefore, we should not be scandalized by the presence of evil in the
world. It will be obliterated not in this life, but after death; at the
Judgment (the harvest) the good will go to Heaven and the bad to Hell.

31-32. Here, the man is Jesus Christ and the field, the world. The grain of
mustard seed is the preaching of the Gospel and the Church, which from ve-
ry small beginnings will spread throughout the world.

The parable clearly refers to the universal scope and spread of the Kingdom
of God: the Church, which embraces all mankind of every kind and condition,
in every latitude and in all ages, is forever developing in spite of obstacles,
thanks to God's promise and aid.

33. This comparison is taken from everyday experience: just as leaven gra-
dually ferments all the dough, so the Church spreads to convert all nations.

The leaven is also a symbol of the individual Christian. Living in the middle
of the world and retaining his Christian quality, he wins souls for Christ by
his word and example: "Our calling to be children of God, in the midst of the
world, requires us not only to seek our own personal holiness, but also to go
out onto all the ways of the earth, to convert them into roadways that will car-
ry souls over all obstacles and lead them to the Lord. As we take part in all
temporal activities as ordinary citizens, we are to become leaven acting on
the mass" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 120).

34-35. Revelation, God's plans, are hidden (cf. Matthew 11:25) from those
who are disposed to accept them. The Evangelist wishes to emphasize the
need for simplicity and for docility to the Gospel. By recalling Psalm 78:2,
he tells us once more, under divine inspiration, that the Old Testament pro-
phecies find their fulfillment in our Lord's preaching.

36-43. While making its way on earth, the Church is composed of good and
bad people, just men and sinners: they are mixed in with one another until
the harvest time, the end of the world, when the Son of Man, in His capacity
as Judge of the living and the dead, will divide the good from the bad at the
Last Judgment--the former going to eternal glory, the inheritance of the
saints; the latter, to the eternal fire of Hell. Although the just and the sinners
are now side by side, the Church has the right and the duty to exclude those
who cause scandal, especially those who attack its doctrine and unity; this
it can do through ecclesiastical excommunication and other canonical penal-
ties. However, excommunication has a medicinal and pastoral function--to
correct those who are obstinate in error, and to protect others from them.

36-43. 지상에서 자신의 길을 나아고 있는 동안에, 교회는 선한(good) 사람들과
나쁜(bad) 시림들인, 의로운 자(the just)들과 죄인(the sinners)들로 구성되어
있으며, 그리고 그들은, 사람의 아들(the Son of Man)이, 죽은 이와 산 이의
심판자로서의 당신의 자격으로, 최후의 심판에서 선한 이들과 나쁜 이들을 분리할
(divide) 때인, 그리하여 전자들은 성도(saints)들의 상속인 영원한 영광(eternal
glory)으로 가고, 그리고 후자들은 지옥(Hell)의 영원한 불(eternal fire)로 가는
때인, 수확의 시기까지, 서로 섞여져 있습니다(are mixed in with one another).
비록 의로운 자들과 죄인들이 지금 나란히(side by side) 있지만, 교회는 나쁜 표양
(악한 표양, 걸림돌, 스캔들, scandal)을 야기하는 자들을, 특히 교회의 교리
(doctrine)와 단일성(unity)을 공격하는 자들을, 배제할(exclude) 권리와 임무를
가지고 있으며, 그리고 이것을 교회는 교회 조직상의 파문(excclesiastical
excommunication)과 다른, 교회법에 의거한 처벌(canonical penalties)들에
의하여 행할 수 있습니다.(**) 그러나, 파문은, 오류에 있어 고집이 센 자들을 교정하기
위한, 그리고 그들로부터 다른 이들을 보호하기 위한, 치료적(medicinal) 및 사목적
역할(function)을 가지고 있습니다.

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(**) 번역자 주:
(1) 번역자 주: "파문(excommunication)"에 대하여서는 다음의 주소에 있는
1코린토 5,1-8에 대한 해설을 또한 참고하라:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/navarre/ot_23_mon.htm

(2) "나쁜 표양(악한 표양, 걸림돌, 스캔들. scandal)"에 대한 가톨릭 보편 교회의
전통적 가르침은 다음의 글에 있다:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/1058.htm

(3) "이단(heresy)"에 대한 가톨릭 보편 교회의 전통적 정의(definition)는 다음의 글에
있으니 필히 읽도록 하라:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/841.htm
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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.