나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Monday

19th Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: Deuteronomy 10:12-22

A Further Call to Faithfulness
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(Moses said to the people,) [12] "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your
God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways,
to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with your
soul, [13] and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I
command you this day for your good? [14] Behold, to the LORD your God
belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it; [15] yet
the LORD set his heart in love upon your fathers and chose their descendants
after them, you above all peoples, as at this day. [16] Circumcise therefore
the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. [17] For the LORD
your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the
terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. [18] He executes justice
for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and
clothing. [19] Love the sojourner therefore; for you were sojourners in the land
of Egypt. [20] You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him and
cleave to him, and by his name you shall swear. [21] He is your praise; he
is your God, who has done for you these great and terrible things which your
eyes have seen. [22] Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons; and\
now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude.

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

10:12-16. With divine teaching skill, the sacred writer emphasizes the
special love the Lord is showing Israel: the Lord of heaven and earth has
"set his heart in love" on them (v. 15; cf. 7:7). It would be difficult to
express more tenderly God's love for his people (cf. the note on 7:7-16).

An uncircumcised heart (v. 16) is a hard heart, insensitive to God's calls
because it is closed in on itself. This is an image often used in both Old
and New Testaments (cf. e.g., 30:6; Jer 4:4; Acts 7:51; Rom 2:29). Christian
tradition sees circumcision of the heart as a figure of Baptism: "Now those
whose hearts are circumcised live and are circumcised by the new Jordan,
which is the baptism forgiveness of sins. [...] Jesus our Savior worked this
circumcision a second time through circumcision of heart of all those who
believe in Him and are cleansed in baptism. [...] Joshua, the son of Nun,
led the people into the promised land; Jesus, our Savior, promised the land
of life to all those who were ready to cross the true Jordan, who believed
and who allowed the foreskin of their heart to be circumcised" (Aphraates,
"Demonstrationes", 11).

10:17-22. It is easy to appreciate the beauty and majesty of this passage;
it is filled with profound respect for the greatness of God and with tenderness
towards the needy. Deuteronomy makes many appeals (e.g., 14:29; 16:11, 14)
on behalf of orphans, widows and strangers (vv. 18-19). This concern for the
weak is a recurring theme in Holy Scripture (cf., e.g., Mal 3:5; Jas 1:26-27).
***************

(II) 1st Reading: Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28c

Introduction
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[2] On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoia-
chin), [3] the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the
land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon
him there.

Ezekiel's vision of the glory of the Lord
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[4] As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud,
with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst
of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze. [5] And from the midst of it came the like-
ness of four living creatures." And this was their appearance: they had the form
of men.

[24] And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of ma-
ny waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of
a host; when they stood still, they let down their wings. [25] And there came a
voice from above the firmament over their heads; when they stood still, they let
down their wings.

[26] And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne,
in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a like-
ness as it were of a human form. [27] And upward from what had the appearance
of his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed
round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it
were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him. [28] Like
the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the ap-
pearance of the brightness round about.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

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Commentary:

1:1-3. As is usual in the prophetical books, the heading identifies the author and
indicates when and where he exercised his ministry. Ezekiel was a priest, and
there is evidence of this throughout the book -- for example, in the stress he puts
on precepts to do with divine worship and in his frequent use of the teaching tech-
niques used by people who held temple positions.

"The thirtieth year": this seems to provide the key to dating Ezekiel's ministry,
but it is not easy to decide how this should be interpreted. It could he a reference
to the prophet's age at the start of his mission, as if he were to say, "when I was
thirty years old," or it could be a reference to when the theophany that he is about
to describe (vv. 2-3) occurred. Since that in fact happened in 593 BC (see below),
the thirty years would refer to the period of time that had elapsed since that event.
He could mean that he had the visions thirty years after the finding of the book of
Deuteronomy in 622 BC, in the time of King Josiah (cf. 2 Kings 22:1-23:30), or
that he was thirty. From Origen onwards (Homilae in Ezechielem, 1, 4), most
scholars take it that the reference is to the age of Ezekiel at the time. Thirty was
an important age for a priest, because that was when he began to exercise a
priest's duties in the temple (cf. Num 4:23, 30), and it is probable that that was
the point when Ezekiel received the word of the Lord and began his prophetical
ministry. Jesus, too, was "about thirty years of age" (Lk 3:23) when he began his
public ministry; and the Fathers point out the parallel: "When he was thirty years
old, the heavens were opened and Ezekiel the prophet saw visions of God on the
banks of the river Chebar. When he was thirty years old, our Lord travelled to the
Jordan; the heavens were opened and the Spirit descended in the form of a dove,
and a voice cried out from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased" (St Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Ezechielem prophetam, 1,2, 5).

Verses 2-3 are in the third person, unlike the rest of the passage, which is in the
first person singular. They specify the date of the start of Ezekiel's ministry. "the
first year of the exile of King Jehoiachin", that is, 593 BC, for that first deportation
took place in 597 (cf. 2 Kings 24:10-17). These two verses giving the prophet's
name and the year when his ministry began were probably added by a later au-
thor.

The Chebar is a tributary of the Euphrates; archaeological remains have been
discovered on its banks which show that there was a Jewish settlement there
from the sixth century BC on. By mentioning the location twice, the text wants
to make it clear that the theophany or vision took place outside the land of Is-
rael, in Babylon, and that, therefore, the Lord had remained with his followers
even when they were living among the Gentiles, in a pagan and unclean land.

The fact that Ezekiel has a prophet's role is conveyed by the use of two wor-
dings. The first, "the word of the Lord came to (him)", occurs in many other pro-
phetical books (Hos 1:1; Joel 1:1; etc.); the second, "the hand of the Lord was
upon him" (cf. 3:22; 8:1; 33:22; 37:1; 40:1) is used more in connexion with the
early non-writer prophets, specifically those in the time of Elijah (1 Kings 18:46).
Thus, Ezekiel is being depicted as a person of great importance, a priest by de-
scent, a true defender of the faith like Elijah, and a prophet like his immediate
predecessors.

1:4-3:27. This fairly homogenous section introduces the two protagonists of the
book -- God and the prophet. God reveals himself in all his majesty in a remark-
able theophany: Ezekiel is able to see the splendour of his glory (1:4-28). The
prophet is depicted as the person entrusted with the Lord's words and charged
with passing them on to the people (2:1-3:15). Ezekiel is made a watchman; he
must warn the people and look out for them at all times, no matter what it takes:
"What did Ezekiel do to prompt my admiration? Having been ordered to accuse
Jerusalem of her sins, he set his heart wholly on obedience to the Lord's com-
mand and paid no heed to the persecution he might encounter because of his
preaching" (Origen, Homiliae in Ezechielem, 6, 1).

1:4-28. This is an awesome vision. The prophet watches in amazement as he
sees the throne arrive (v. 26), on which is seated "a likeness as it were of a hu-
man form", which becomes "the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (v. 28). The
"glory of the Lord" is something that cannot be described. What can one say?
It is like "gleaming bronze" (v. 4), "like burning coals of fire, like torches" (v. 13),
"like sapphire" (v. 26) etc.; human language is at a complete loss to describe
the grandeur of God's glory. The account of the vision shows that God stands
above everything; he is ineffable. St Cyril of Jerusalem puts it this way: "Do you
want to know why it is impossible to understand the nature of God? [...] Tell me
about the cherubim [...]. In so far as it is possible, the prophet Ezekiel offered
a description of them: each one had four faces: the faces of a man, of a lion, of
an eagle, and of a bull [...]. If we cannot form a clear idea of the cherubim, even
with the help of this prophetic description; if we cannot make out the image of
the throne as the prophet has described it, how can we expect to understand the
one seated on the throne, the invisible and ineffable God? It is impossible for us
to comprehend who God is; but by seeing all his works, it is possible for us to
praise and worship him" (Catecheses ad illuminandos, 9, 3).

The various elements in the account leave us in no doubt as to the splendour of
the vision, but the details given about each are difficult to understand. Many com-
mentators think that the details were added much later, in an attempt to adapt
the vision to the traditions of divine worship -- for example, to identify the throne
of the glory of the Lord with the carriage that was used for bearing the ark of the
Covenant solemn processions. Certainly, each piece of the vision must have a
meaning, though it may sometimes escape us.

Wind, cloud and fire (cf. v. 4) accompany great theophanies, such that of Sinai
(Ex 19:16-20; Ps 18:9-15, 29:3-10); here they serve to emphasize the heavenly
nature of the vision ("the heavens were opened": v. 1).

"The likeness of four living creatures" (v. 5): the Hebrew word hayot, used for
these, indicates that they are not domestic animals or wild beasts, but mytho-
logical beings of the sort often represented in Assyrian art. In Ezekiel the num-
ber four means fullness (the idea must derive from the four cardinal points--north,
south, east, west): the four creatures have four wings each, and four faces, and
each of them has a wheel so that they can move in any four directions (vv. 15-
17). The creatures are unlike any known creature, for sometimes they are trea-
ted masculine, and sometimes as feminine; sometimes the verb is in the singu-
lar, sometimes in the plural. In some way, they symbolize all living things, hu-
mans and beasts, created to show, in what they are and what they do, the glo-
ry of God in all its splendour. Almost from the beginning, Christian exegesis (cf.
St lrenaeus, Adversus haereses, 3, 11, 18) interpreted the four animals (cf. v.
10) as symbolizing the four evangelists: "Because he begins his Gospel with an
account of the human genealogy [of the Lord], Matthew is symbolized by the
man; Mark is symbolized by the lion because he begins with a loud cry in the
desert: Luke is symbolized by the bull because his book begins with a sacrifice;
John is the eagle because his first focus is on the divinity of the Word I... I: in
trying to see into the heart of the divine he is like the eagle that stares into the
sun" (St Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Ezechielem prophetam, 1, 4, 1).

The "wheels" (vv. 15-21) suggest a war chariot, but they have extraordinary fea-
tures and operate as if they were alive: they are "full of eyes" (v. 18) and "the spi-
rit of the living creatures was in (them)" (v. 20). They symbolize all inanimate crea-
tion -- a dimension of creation which, like man, is designed to reveal the greatness
of the glory of God. The "firmament" (v. 22), in Semitic cosmology, was a huge,
solid plate separating the upper waters from those below; rain resulted when God
opened trapdoors in this plate (cf. Gen 1:6-8). But the firmament also acted as a
divide between heaven and earth; below it, creatures lived their lives; above it, God
lived his. Therefore, the things depicted here as being above the firmament (vv. 24-
28) have to do with God: the voice, the sapphire throne, the fire, etc. are all mani-
festations of divine majesty.

The "glory of God" forms the centre of the vision: all the other details are meant
to underscore the splendour of that glory. In Ezekiel, as in the Priestly tradition
(cf. Ex 13:22; 24:16; 40:35; Lev 9:23-24), the "glory of God" means the presence
of God, who rules over all that he has created and is active among them. When
the glory of God is present, the people are safe, and things go well; when it is
withdrawn, it is a sign that the very worst will happen. Ezekiel records that the
vision comes to him as a "likeness" ("demut" in the Hebrew, as in Genesis 1:26)
of the glory of God. So, St Cyril of Jerusalem makes the point that "The prophet
saw the likeness of the glory of God (Ezek 1:28); he did not see the Lord, but
only the likeness of his glory; he did not even see the glory itself, as it really is,
but only its likeness. And yet, though he saw only the likeness of the glory of
the Lord, the prophet was so moved that he fell to the ground. If so great a man
as the prophet falls to the ground and trembles in the presence of the likeness
of the Lord's glory, any man who tries to see God as he really is will surely die.
And Scripture tells us so: No man shall see the face of God and live" (Cateche-
sis ad lluminandos, 9, 1 ).

Gospel Reading: Matthew 17:22-27

Second Prophecy of the Passion; the Temple Tax
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[22] As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man
is to be delivered into the hands of men, [23] and they will kill Him, and He\
will be raised on the third day." And they were greatly distressed.

[24] When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel tax went
up to Peter and said, "Does not your Teacher pay the tax?" [25] He said, "Yes."
And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you
think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From
their sons or from others?" [26] And when he said, "From others," Jesus said
to him, "Then the sons are free. [27] However, not to give offense to them, go
to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when
you open its mouth you will find a shekel; take that and give to them for Me
and for yourself."

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Commentary:

24-27. "Half-shekel", or "didrachma": a coin equal in value to the annual contri-
bution every Jew had to make for the upkeep of the temple--a day's wage of a
laborer. The shekel or stater which our Lord refers to in verse 27 was a Greek
coin worth two didrachmas.

24-27. "반 세켈(Half-shelek)", or "디드라크마(didrachma)": 가치에 있어, 한 명의
일꾼의 하루 품삯인, 성전의 유지를 위하여 각 유다인이 해마다 바쳐야만 하였던
기부에 동등한(equal to) 은전(銀錢) 한 닢[a (silver) coin]을 말합니다.(*) 우리의
주님께서 제27절에서 언급하시는 이 세켈(shekel) 혹은 스타테르(stater)는
2 디드라크마(two didrachmas)의 가치가 있는 한 닢의 그리스 은전(銀錢)
(a Greek coin)이었습니다.

-----
(*) 번역자 주: 다음에 있는, 가톨릭 교회의 전례력에 있어, 나해 사순 제3주일
복음 말씀(요한 복음서 2,13-25)의 제14-15절에 대한 해설을 또한 참고하라:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/navarre/b_lent_3.htm
-----

Jesus uses things great and small to get His teaching across to His disciples.
Peter, who is to be the rock on which He will found His Church (Matthew
16:18-19), He prepares by letting him see His dramatic Transfiguration (17:1-8);
now He gives Peter another inkling of His divinity through an apparently unim-
portant miracle. We should take note of Jesus' teaching method: after His
second announcement of His passion, His disciples are downhearted (Matthew
17:22-23); here He lifts Peter's spirits with this friendly little miracle.

예수님께서는 당신의 가르침이 당신의 제자들에게 건너가도록 하기 위하여 상하
귀천의 구분 없이(great and small) 사물들을 사용하십니다. 그 위에 당신께서 당신의
교회를 장차 기초할 바위로 불릴 예정인 (마태오 복음서 16,18-19) 베드로(Peter)를,
그로 하여금 당신의 극적인 거룩한 변모를 보게함으로써(17,1-8), 당신께서
준비시키시며, 그리고 이제 당신께서는 베드로에게, 한 개의, 언뜻 보기에 중요하지
않은, 기적을 통하여 당신의 신성(divinity)에 대한 또다른 암시(inkling)를 주십니다.
우리는 다음과 같은 예수님의 가르치시는 방식에 대하여 주목하여야만 합니다:
당신의 수난에 대한 당신의 두 번째 선언 후에, 당신의 제자들은 상심하게 되나
(마태오 복음서 17,22-23), 그러나 여기서 당신께서는 바로 이러한 정다운 작은
기적으로써 베드로의 기분(spirits)을 들어올리십니다.

26. This shows how conscientiously our Lord fulfilled His civic duties. Although
the half-shekel tax had to do with religion, given the theocratic structure of Israel
at the time, payment of this tax also constituted a civic obligation.

28. 이것은 얼마나 양심적으로 우리의 주님께서 당신의 공민으로서의 의무들을
구현하셨는지를 보여줍니다. 당시의 이스라엘의 신정주의 구조(theocratic structure)를
가정할 때에(given), 비록 반 세켈 세금이 경신덕(religion)과 관련되어 있었어야 함에도
불구하고, 바로 이 세금의 지불은 또한 한 개의 공민으로서의 의무를 구성하였습니다.
　

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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.