나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Monday

22nd Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The Second Coming of the Lord
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[13] But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are
asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. [14] For since
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring
with him those who have fallen asleep. [15] For this we declare to you by the word
of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall
not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord himself will descend
from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound
of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; [17] then we who are
alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. [18] Therefore com-
fort one another with these words.

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Commentary:

13. "Those who are asleep": this expression, already to be found in some pagan
writings, was often used by the early Christians to refer to those who died in the
faith of Christ. In Christian writings it makes more sense, given Christian belief in
the resurrection of Jesus and in the resurrection of the body. It is not just a eu-
phemism: it underlines the fact that death is not the end. "Why does it say that
they are asleep", St Augustine asks, "if not because they will be raised when
their day comes?" ("Sermon 93", 6). Hence St. Escriva's advice: "When facing
death, be calm. I do not want you to have the cold stoicism of the pagan, but the
fervor of a child of God who knows that life is changed, not taken away. To die is
to live!" ("Furrow", 876).

Even though we have this hope, it is perfectly understandable for us to feel sad
when people we love die. This sadness, provided it is kept under control, is a
sign of affection and piety, but "to be excessively downcast by the death of
friends is to act like someone who does not have the spirit of Christian hope.
A person who does not believe in the resurrection and who sees death as total
annihilation has every reason to weep and lament and cry over those friends and
relations who have passed away into nothingness. But you are Christians, you
believe in the resurrection, you live and die in hope: why should you mourn the
dead excessively?" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on 1 Thess, ad loc.").

14. "It is appointed for men to die once" (Heb 9:27). However, for a person who
has faith, death does not just mean the end of his days on earth. Our Lord Jesus
Christ died and rose again, and his resurrection is a pledge of our resurrection:
death "in Christ" is the climax of a life in union with him, and it is the gateway
to heaven. And so St Paul tells Timothy, "If we have died with him, we shall also
live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him" (2 Tim 2:11-12).

The resurrection the Christian will experience is not only similar to our Lord's; his
resurrection is in fact the cause of ours. St Thomas Aquinas explains this as fol-
lows: "Christ is the model of our resurrection, because he took flesh and he rose
in the flesh. However, he is not only our model; he is also the efficient cause (of
our resurrection) because anything done by the human nature of Christ was done
not only by the power of his human nature but also by the power of the godhead
united to that nature. And so, just as his touch cured the leper by virtue of its
being the instrument of his godhead, so the resurrection of Christ is the cause
of our resurrection" ("Commentary on 1 Thess, ad loc."). Although this passage
of the letter does not say so explicitly, it is implied that we will rise with our bo-
dies, just as Jesus rose with his.

15-17. The religious instruction of the Thessalonians was cut short because St
Paul had to leave the city in a hurry. One of the doubts remaining in their minds
can be expressed as follows: Will the dead be under any disadvantage vis-à-vis
those who are still alive when the Parousia of the Lord happens? The Apostle
replies in two stages: first he says that we will have no advantage of any kind
over them (vv. 15-18); then he makes clear that we do not know when that even
will come about (5:1-2).

In his reply he does not explicitly speak about the general resurrection; he refers
only to those who die "in Christ". He distinguishes two groups as regards the si-
tuation people find themselves in at our Lord's second coming--1) those who are
alive: these will be "caught up", that is changed (cf. 1 Cor 15:51; 2 Cor 5:2-4) by
the power of God and will change from being corruptible and mortal to being in-
corruptible and immortal; 2) those who have already died: these will rise again.

St Paul's reply is adapted to the tenor of the question; so, when he writes "we
who are alive, who are left" he does not mean that the Parousia will happen soon
or that he will live to see the day (cf. Pontifical Biblical Commission, "Reply" con-
cerning the Parousia, 18 June 1915). He uses the first person plural because at
the time of writing both he and his readers were alive. However, his words were
misinterpreted by some of the Thessalonians, and that was the reason he wrote
the second epistle a few months later (in which he puts things more clearly:
"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to
meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to quickly shaken in mind or excited [...],
to the effect that the day of the Lord has come" (2 Thess 2:1-2). However, even
in the first letter there are enough indications that St Paul was not saying the
Parousia was imminent, for he implies that he does not know when it will hap-
pen (cf. 5:1-2).

To describe the signs which will mark the Lord's coming, St Paul uses imagery
typical of apocalyptic writing--the voice of the archangel, the sound of the trum-
pet, the clouds of heaven. These signs are to be found in the Old Testament
theophanies or great manifestations of Yahweh (cf. Ex 19:16); on the day of the
Parousia, too, they will reveal God's absolute dominion over the forces of nature,
as also his sublimity and majesty.

When the Lord Jesus comes in all his glory, those who had died in the Lord
(who already were enjoying the vision of God in heaven) and those who have
been changed will go to meet the Lord "in the air", for both will now have glori-
fied bodies (cf. 1 Cor 15:43) endowed with the gift of "agility", "by which the
body will be freed from the heaviness that now presses it down, and will take
on a capability of moving with the utmost ease and swiftness, wherever the
soul pleases" ("St. Pius V Catechism", I, 12, 13).

After the general judgment, which will take place that day, the righteous will be
"always with the Lord." That is in fact the reward of the blessed--to enjoy forever,
in body and soul, the sight of God, thereby attaining a happiness which more
than makes up for whatever they have had to do to obtain it, for "the sufferings
of this present life are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed
to us" (Rom 8:18). "If at any time you feel uneasy at the thought of our sister
death because you see yourself to be such a poor creature, take heart. Think
of this: Heaven awaits us; what will it be like when all the infinite beauty and
greatness and happiness and Love of God are poured into the poor clay vessel
that the human being is, to satisfy it eternally with the freshness of an ever-new
joy?" (St. J. Escriva, "Furrow", 891).

(II) 1st Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

St. Paul's Preaching in Corinth
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[1] When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimo-
ny of God in lofty words or wisdom. [2] For I decided to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [3] And I was with you in weakness and in
much fear and trembling; [4] and my speech and my message were not in plau-
sible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, [5] that your
faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

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Commentary:

1-3. The Apostle had come to Corinth from Athens, as we know from the Acts
of the Apostles (17:16-34); in that city he had not made many converts, despite
his brilliant discourse in the Areopagus. This fact, and the moral corruption of
Corinthian society, may explain his arriving "in much fear and trembling" (v. 3);
he must have felt that he had a difficult task ahead of him. As it turned out, he
must have met many difficulties: our Lord appeared to him at night in a vision to
comfort and encourage him: "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent;
for I am with you" (Acts 18:9-10). St Paul, therefore, putting no reliance on care-
fully argued speeches, proclaims Christ crucified, to make sure that faith is
grounded on God alone.

St Paul sums up his entire message here "Jesus Christ and him crucified". The
Church, on whom it devolves to continue the mission of the Apostles, does no-
thing but make Jesus Christ known: "Our spirit is set in one direction," Pope
John Paul II reminds us; "the only direction for our intellect, will and heart is to-
wards Christ our Redeemer, towards Christ, the Redeemer of man. We wish to
look towards him because there is salvation in no one else but him, the Son of
God -- repeating what Peter said, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life' (Jn 6:68) [...]. The Church lives his mystery, draws unwea-
ryingly from it and continually seeks ways of bringing this mystery of her Master
and Lord to mankind--to the peoples, the nations, the succeeding generations,
and every individual human being--as if she were ever repeating, as the Apostle
did, 'For I decided to blow nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him cru-
cified' (1 Cor 2:2). The Church stays within the sphere of the mystery of the Re-
demption, which has become the fundamental principle of her life and mission"
("Redemptor Hominis", 7).

Every Christian, for his part, should try to see that those around him "desire to
know Jesus Christ and him crucified and that they be firmly convinced and with
the most heartfelt piety and devotion believe that no other name under heaven
has been given to men by which we may be saved (cf. Acts 4:12), since he is
the expiation for our sins (cf. 1 Jn 2:2)" ("St Pius V Catechism", Introduction,
10).

4-5. Just as Paul's preaching did not rely on eloquence, so too faith must not be
based on human wisdom (cf. note on 1 Cor 1:20-25). He says that he based his
message on "demonstration of the Spirit and power" -- probably a reference to
the powerful action of divine grace on those who listened to his preaching, with
grace manifesting itself in conversions and extraordinary charisms. This power
of God explains how they came to believe.

God continues to act through the Christian message, which "is unique. It cannot
be replaced. It does not permit either indifference, syncretism or accommodation.
It is a question of people's salvation. It is the beauty of the Revelation that it re-
presents. It brings with it a wisdom that is not of this world. It is able to stir up by
itself faith--faith that rests on the power of God (cf. 1 Cor 2:5). It is truth. It merits
having the apostle consecrate to it all his time and all his energies, and to sacri-
fice for it, if necessary, his own life" (Paul VI "Evangelic Nuntiandi", 5).

Gospel Reading: Luke 4:16-30

Jesus Preaches in Nazareth
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[16] And He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and He
went to the synagogue, as His custom was, on the Sabbath Day. And He stood
up to read; [17] and there was given to Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He
opened the book and found the place where it was written, [18] "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, [19] to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord." [20] And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant,
and sat down; and the eyes of all in thesynagogue were fixed on Him. [21] And
He began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

[22] And all spoke well of Him, and wondered at the gracious words which pro-
ceeded out of His mouth; and they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" [23] And He
said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to Me this proverb, `Physician, heal your-
self; what we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in your own country.'"
[24] And He said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.
[25] But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah,
when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a
great famine over all the land; [26] and Elijah was sent to none of them but only
to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. [27] And there
were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha; and none of them
was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." [28] When they heard this, all in
the synagogue were filled with wrath. [29] And they rose up and put Him out of
the city, and led Him to the brow on the hill on which their city was built, that they
might throw Him down headlong. [30] But passing through the midst of them He
went away.

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Commentary:

16-30. For the Jews the Sabbath was a day of rest and prayer, as God comman-
ded (Exodus 20:8-11). On that day they would gather together to be instructed
in Sacred Scripture. At the beginning of this meeting they all recited the "Shema",
a summary of the precepts of the Lord, and the "eighteen blessings". Then a pas-
sage was read from the Book of the Law--the Pentateuch--and another from the
Prophets. The president invited one of those present who was well versed in the
Scriptures to address the gathering. Sometimes someone would volunteer and
request the honor of being allowed to give this address--as must have happened
on this occasion. Jesus avails Himself of this opportunity to instruct the people
(cf. Luke 4:16ff), as will His Apostles later on (cf. Acts 13:5, 14, 42, 44; 14:1;
etc.). The Sabbath meeting concluded with the priestly blessing, recited by the
president or by a priest if there was one present, to which the people answered
"Amen" (cf. Numbers 6:22ff).

18-21. Jesus read the passage from Isaiah 61:1-2 where the prophet announces
the coming of the Lord, who will free His people of their afflictions. In Christ this
prophecy finds its fulfillment, for He is the Anointed, the Messiah whom God has
sent to His people in their tribulation. Jesus has been anointed by the Holy Spirit
for the mission the Father has entrusted to Him. "These phrases, according to
Luke (verses 18-19), are His first messianic declaration. They are followed by
the actions and words known through the Gospel. By these actions and words
Christ makes the Father present among men" (John Paul II, "Dives In Misericor-
.dia", 3).

The promises proclaimed in verses 18 and 19 are the blessings God will send
His people through the Messiah. According to Old Testament tradition and
Jesus' own preaching (cf. note on Matthew 5:3), "the poor" refers not so much
to a particular social condition as to a very religious attitude of indigence and
humility towards God, which is to be found in those who, instead of relying on
their possessions and merits, trust in God's goodness and mercy. Thus, prea-
ching good news to the poor means bringing them the "good news" that God
has taken pity on them. Similarly, the Redemption, the release, which the text
mentions, is to be understood mainly in a spiritual, transcendental sense:
Christ has come to free us from the blindness and oppression of sin, which, in
the last analysis, is slavery imposed on us by the devil. "Captivity can be felt",
St. John Chrysostom teaches in a commentary on Psalm 126, "when it pro-
ceeds from physical enemies, but the spiritual captivity referred to here is worse;
sin exerts a more severe tyranny, evil takes control and blinds those who lend it
obedience; from this spiritual prison Jesus Christ rescued us" ("Catena Aurea").
However, this passage is also in line with Jesus' special concern for those most
in need. "Similarly, the Church encompasses with her love all those who are
afflicted by human misery and she recognizes in those who are poor and who
suffer the image of her poor and suffering Founder. She does all in her power
to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve Christ" (Vatican II, "Lumen
Gentium", 8).

18-19. The words of Isaiah which Christ read out on this occasion describe very
graphically the reason why God has sent His Son into the world--to redeem men
from sin, to liberate them from slavery to the devil and from eternal death. It is
true that in the course of His public ministry Christ, in His mercy, worked many
cures, cast out devils, etc.But He did not cure all the sick people in the world,
nor did He eliminate all forms of distress in this life, because pain, which entered
the world through sin, has a permanent redemptive value when associated with
the sufferings of Christ. Therefore, Christ worked miracles not so much to re-
lease the people concerned from suffering, as to demonstrate that He had a God-
given mission to bring everyone to eternal salvation.

The Church carries on this mission of Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am
with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20). These simple and
sublime words, which conclude the Gospel of St. Matthew, point out "the obliga-
tion to preach the truths of faith, the need for sacramental life, the promise of
Christ's continual assistance to His Church. You cannot be faithful to our Lord if
you neglect these supernatural demands--to receive instruction in Christian faith
and morality and to frequent the Sacraments. It is with this mandate that Christ
founded His Church [...]. And the Church can bring salvation to souls only if she
remains faithful to Christ in her constitution and teaching, both dogmatic and
moral.

"Let us reject, therefore, the suggestion that the Church, ignoring the Sermon
on the Mount, seeks a purely human happiness on earth, since we know that her
only task is to bring men to eternal glory in Heaven. Let us reject any purely natu-
ralistic view that fails to value the supernatural role of divine grace. Let us reject
materialistic opinions that exclude spiritual values from human life. Let us equal-
ly reject any secularizing theory which attempts to equate the aims of the Church
with those of earthly states, distorting its essence, institutions and activities into
something similar to those of temporal society" (St. J. Escriva, "In Love with the
Church", 23 and 31).

18. The Fathers of the Church see in this verse a reference to the three persons
of the Holy Trinity: the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) of the Lord (the Father) is upon Me
(the Son); cf. Origen, "Homily 32". The Holy Spirit dwelt in Christ's soul from the
very moment of the Incarnation and descended visibly upon Him in the form of a
dove when He was baptized by John (cf. Luke 3:21-22).

"Because He has anointed Me": this is a reference to the anointing Jesus received
at the moment of His Incarnation, principally through the grace of the hypostatic
union. "This anointing of Jesus Christ was not an anointing of the body as in the
case of the ancient kings, priests and prophets; rather it was entirely spiritual and
divine, because the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him substantially" ("St. Pius
X Catechism" 77). From this hypostatic union the fullness of all graces derives.
To show this, Jesus Christ is said to have been anointed by the Holy Spirit Him-
self -- not just to have received the graces and gifts of the Spirit, like the saints.

19. "The acceptable year": this is a reference to the jubilee year of the Jews,
which the Law of God (Leviticus 25:8) lays down as occurring every fifty years,
symbolizing the era of redemption and liberation which the Messiah would usher
in. The era inaugurated by Christ, the era of the New Law extending to the end of
the world, is "the acceptable year", the time of mercy and redemption, which will
be obtained definitively in Heaven.

The Catholic Church's custom of the "Holy Year" is also designed to proclaim
and remind people of the redemption brought by Christ, and of the full form it will
take in the future life.

20-22. Christ's words in verse 21 show us the authenticity with which He preached
and explained the Scriptures: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hea-
ring." Jesus teaches that this prophecy, like the other main prophecies in the Old
Testament, refers to Him and finds its fulfillment in Him (cf. Luke 24:44ff). Thus,
the Old Testament can be rightly understood only in the light of the New--as the
risen Christ showed the Apostles when He opened their minds to understand the
Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:45), an understanding which the Holy Spirit perfected on
the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:4).

20-22. 제21절에 있는 그리스도의 말씀은 당신께서 그것으로써 성경을 설교하셨으며
그리고 가르치셨던 바로 그 출처(authenticity)의 분명함을 우리에게 보여줍니다: "오늘
이 성경 말씀(this scripture)이 너희가 듣는 가운데에서 이루어졌다." 예수님께서는
이 예언이, 구약 성경에 있는 다른 주된 예언들처럼, 당신을 언급하고 있으며 그리고
그 구현(its fulfillment)을 당신 안에서 발견함(루카 복음서 24,44 및 이어지는 몇 개의
절들을 참조하라)을 가르치십니다. 그러므로, 구약 성경은 신약 성경에 비추어(in the
light of) 오직 올바르게 이해될 수 있는데, 이는 부활하신 그리스도께서 사도들에게,
당신께서 그들의 마음을 열어 성경을 깨닫게 해 주셨던(루카 복음서 24,45를 참조하라)
바로 그때에, 이해력(an understanding)을 제시하셨기(showed) 때문인데, 이 이해력을
성령 강림일에 성령께서 완전하게 하셨습니다.(사도행전 2,4를 참조하라).

22-29. At first the people of Nazareth listened readily to the wisdom of Jesus'
words. But they were very superficial; in their narrow-minded pride they felt hurt
that Jesus, their fellow-townsman, had not worked in Nazareth the wonders He
had worked elsewhere. They presume they have a special entitlement and they
insolently demand that He perform miracles to satisfy their vanity, not to change
their hearts. In view of their attitude, Jesus performs no miracle (His normal res-
ponse to lack of faith: cf., for example, His meeting with Herod in Luke 23:7-11);
He actually reproaches them, using two examples taken from the Old Testament
(cf. 1 Kings 17:9 and 2 Kings 5:14), which show that one needs to be well-
disposed if miracles are to lead to faith. His attitude so wounds their pride that
they are ready to kill Him. This whole episode is a good lesson about understan-
ding Jesus. We can understand Him only if we are humble and are genuinely
resolved to make ourselves available to Him.

30. Jesus does not take flight but withdraws majestically, leaving the crowd para-
lyzed. As on other occasions men do Him no harm; it was by God's decree that
He died on a cross (cf. John 18:32) when His hour had come.
　

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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.