나바르 매일미사 독서/묵상

Thursday

23rd Week of Ordinary Time

(I) 1st Reading: Colossians 3:12-17

Progress in the Spiritual Life
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[12] Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kind-
ness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, [13] forbearing one another and, if
one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has for-
given you, so you also must forgive. [14] And above all these put on love, which
binds everything together in perfect harmony. [15] And let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be
thankful. [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and ad-
monish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you
do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God the Father through him.

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

12-13. Putting on the new nature is not just an external action, like putting on
different clothes. It is a transfiguration involving the whole person--soul and body,
mind and will. This interior change begins to operate when one makes a firm re-
solution to lead a fully Christian life; but it calls for an on-going effort, day in day
out, to practice all the virtues. "Conversion is something momentary; sanctifica-
tion is the work of a lifetime. The divine seed of charity, which God has sown in
our souls, wants to grow, to express itself in action, to yield results which con-
tinually coincide with what God wants. Therefore, we must be ready to begin
again, to find again--in new situations--the light and the stimulus of our first con-
version" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 58).

The virtues which the Apostle lists here as characteristic of the new man are all
expressions, in one way or another, of charity, which "binds everything together
in total harmony" (v. 14). Meekness, patience, forgiveness and gratefulness all
reflect an essential virtue --humility. Only a humble person can be forgiving and
truly appreciative, because only he realizes that everything he has comes from
God. This realization leads him to be understanding towards his neighbor, forgi-
ving him as often as needs be; by acting in this way he is proving the genuine-
ness of his faith and love.

See the note on Eph 4:20-24.

14. The comparison of the new nature to a new outfit is extended here by a fur-
ther metaphor: charity is the belt which keeps everything together. Without it the
other virtues would fall apart: supernatural virtue could not survive (cf. 1 Cor 13
1-3). St Francis de Sales uses simple examples to explain this truth: "Without
cement and mortar, which knits the bricks together and strengthens the walls,
the entire building is bound to collapse; a human body would simply disintegrate
unless it had nerves, muscles and tendons; and if charity were absent, virtues
simply could not stay together" (St Francis de Sales, "Treatise on the Love of
God", 11, 9).

"Love, as the bond of perfection and fullness of the law (cf. Col 3:14; Rom 13:
10), governs, imbues, and perfects all the means of sanctification" (Vatican II,
"Lumen Gentium", 42). Therefore, "if we want to achieve holiness--in spite of
personal shortcomings and miseries which will last as long as we live--we must
make an effort, with God's grace, to practice charity, which is the fullness of the
law and the bond of perfection. Charity is not something abstract, it entails a
real, complete, self-giving to the service of God and all men --to the service of
that God who speaks to us in the silence of prayer and in the hubbub of the
world and of those people whose existence is interwoven with our own. By li-
ving charity--Love --we live all the human and supernatural virtues required of a
Christian" (St. J. Escriva, "Conversations", 62).

15. The "peace of Christ" is that which flows from the new order of grace which
he has established; grace gives man direct access to God and therefore to that
peace he so much yearns for. "Thou has made us for thyself and our hearts are
restless till they rest in thee" (St Augustine, "Confessions", 1, 1). This is not a
peace the world can give (cf. Jn 14:27), because it is not a function of purely
material progress or well-being, nor does it derive from the sort of peace that
should obtain among nations. "Peace on earth, which men of every era have
most eagerly yearned for, can be firmly established only if the order laid down
by God is dutifully observed" (John XXIII, "Pacem In Terris", 1).

15. "그리스도의 평화" 는 당신께서 이미 제정하셨던 은총의 새 질서(the new
order of grace)로부터 흘러나오는 바로 그러한 평화를 말하는데, 이는 은총이
하느님께로, 그리하여 그 결과, 당신께서 무척 갈망하시는, 바로 그 평화로의 직접적인
접근을 사람에게 제공하기 때문입니다. "당신께서는 당신 자신을 위하여 우리를 이미
만드셨으며 그리고 우리의 심장(hearts, 본심)들은 그들이 당신 안에서 영면할 때까지
부단히 활동합니다" [성 아우구스티노(St Augustine, "Confessions", 1, 1]. 이 평화는
세상이 줄 수 있는 어떤 평화가 아닌데 (요한 복음서 14,27 참조), 왜냐하면 이 평화는
순전히 물질적인 과정의 어떤 기능(a function) 혹은 행복(well-being)이 아니며, 그리고
이 평화는 나라들 사이에서 반드시 획득하여야만 하는 평화의 종류로부터 유래하지
않기 때문입니다. "모든 시대의 사람들이 가장 열심히 갈망해 왔던 지상의 평화(peace
of earth)는 오로지 하느님에 의하여 규정된 질서(the order)가 충실하게(dutifully)
준수될 때에만 확고하게 수립될 수 있습니다" [교황 요한 23세(John XXIII), "지상의
평화(Pacem In Terris)", 1].

The peace of Christ, then, is "a peace that comes from knowing that our Father
God loves us, and that we are made one with Christ. It results from being under
the protection of the Virgin, our Lady, and assisted by St Joseph. This is the
great light that illuminates our lives. In the midst of difficulties and of our personal
failings, it encourages us to keep up our effort" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing
By", 22).

그래서 그리스도의 평화는 "우리의 성부이신 하느님께서 우리를 사랑하심을,
그리고 우리가 그리스도와 하나가 됨을, 아는 것으로부터 오는 한 개의 평화입니다.
이 평화는 동정녀이신 우리의 여인의 보호 아래에 있음으로부터 결과로서 발생하며,
그리고 성 요셉(St. Joseph)에 의하여 도움을 받습니다. 이 평화는 우리의 삶들을
조명하는 커다란 빛입니다. 어려움들 및 우리의 개인적 실패들의 한 가운데에서,
이 평화는 우리의 노력을 계속도록 우리를 격려합니다" [성 호세마리아 에스크리버
(St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 22].

16. "The word of Christ": the whole corpus of our Lord's teachings, of which the
Apostles are accredited witnesses. This should be ever-present to the Christian's
soul and "dwell...richly" in him, imbuing everything he does: the word of Christ is
the best nourishment of one's life of prayer and an inexhaustible source of practi-
cal teaching; and it is to be found in the first instance in the books of the New
Testament. St John Chrysostom says that these writings "are teachers which
never cease to instruct us [...]. Open these books. What a treasury of good re-
medies they contain! [...]. All you need do is look at the book, read it and remem-
ber well the wise teachings therein. The source of all our evils is our ignorance of
the sacred books" ("Hom. on Col, ad loc.").

St Paul also reminds us that our appreciation should lead us to glorify the Lord
with songs of joy and gratitude. We can use ready-made hymns for this purpose,
and also the Psalms, which the Church has always used in its liturgy to praise
God and to nourish the spiritual life. "Just as the mouth savors good food, so
does the heart savor the Psalms" (St Bernard, "Sermons on the Song of Songs",
7, 5).

See the note on Eph 5:19.

17. All genuinely human things can and should be sanctified (cf. 1 Cor 10:31),
by being done perfectly and for love of God.

The Second Vatican Council has recalled this teaching: "Lay people [...], while
meeting their human obligations in the ordinary conditions of life, should not se-
parate their union with Christ from their ordinary life; through the very performance
of their tasks, which are God's will for them, they actually promote the growth of
their union with him. This is the path along which lay people must advance, fer-
vently, joyfully" ("Apostolicam Actuositatem", 4).

This teaching was very much part of the message and life of the founder of Opus
Dei: "I assure you, my children, that when a Christian carries out with love the
most insignificant everyday action, that action overflows with the transcendence
of God. That is why I have told you repeatedly, and hammered away once and
again on the idea, that the Christian vocation consists in making heroic verse
out of the prose of each day. Heaven and earth seem to merge, my children, on
the horizon. But where they really meet is in your hearts, when you sanctify your
everyday lives" ("Conversations", 116).

The Second Vatican Council also sees in this passage of Colossians a basis for
ecumenical dialogue with non-Catholics: "And if in moral matters there are many
Christians who do not always understand the Gospel in the same way as Catho-
lics, and do not admit the same solutions for the more difficult problems of mo-
dern society, they nevertheless want to cling to Christ's word as the source of
Christian virtue and to obey the command of the Apostle: [Col 3:17 follows]"
("Unitatis Redintegratio", 23).

(II) 1st Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1b-7, 11-13

Idols Have No Real Existence
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[1b] "Knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up. [2] If any one imagines that he
knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. [3] But if one
loves God, one is known by him.

[4] Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has
no real existence," and that "there is no God but one." [5] For although there
may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth--as indeed there are many "gods"
and many "lords"--[6] yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are
all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom
are all things and through whom we exist.

Not Scandalizing the Weak
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[7] However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through being hitherto
accustomed to idols, eat food as really offered to an idol; and their conscience,
being weak, is defiled. [11] And so by your knowledge this weak man is des-
troyed, the brother for whom Christ died. [12] Thus, sinning against your breth-
ren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
[13] Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother's falling, I will never eat meat,
lest I cause my brother to fall.

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

8:1-10:31. In these chapters St Paul deals with food offered to idols. In pagan
religions a portion of the sacrificial food went to the donors, who could consume
it in the temple itself (cf. 1 Cor 8:10), or take it home. The meat could also be
sold in the market. For some Christians this posed no problem; but for others--
who were afraid that by eating this meat they were in some way taking part in
the idolatrous worship from which it came (cf. 8:7} various practical questions
arose: when buying meat, ought they to ask where it came from? (cf. 10:25-26);
could they accept invitations to meals at which food of this type might be served?
(cf. 10:27ff). The Council of Jerusalem, which took place around 48-50, had writ-
ten to the Christians of Antioch, Syria and Cilicia telling them to abstain from
food which had been sacrificed to idols (cf. Acts 15:23-29). When St Paul was
preaching in Corinth two years later, he probably did not say anything on this
subject, given the very pagan environment of that city--very different from the
experience of the communities the Council had been addressing: if the faithful
at Corinth had to avoid meat of this kind, they should have had to isolate them-
selves from their fellow-citizens.

In replying to the questions put to him, the Apostle first explains the general prin-
ciples that apply: they may eat meat of this type, for idols have no real existence
(8:1-6), but sometimes charity requires that they do abstain from it (8:7-13); he
illustrates what he says by quoting what he himself does (9:1-27) and lessons
drawn from the history of Israel (10:1-13); and, finally, he deals with particular
queries the Corinthians have raised (10:14-33).

1-6. Clearly, idols are mere things and therefore food sacrificed to them can be
eaten without any qualms (10:25-27). But some Christians did not yet grasp this,
and they were being shocked to see other Christians eating this food (cf. 8:7-13).
So, St Paul again reminds the Corinthians (cf. 1: 18-34) that they must not rely
on their "knowledge" unless it be accompanied by charity. "The source of all the
Corinthians' problems", St John Chrysostom comments, "was not their lack of
knowledge but their lack of charity and lack of concern for their neighbor. This
was the cause of the divisions in that church, the cause of the vanity which was
blinding them and of all the disorder for which the Apostle has censured them
and will censure them. He will often speak to them about charity, and try to cla-
rify, so to speak, the fount of all good things [...]. Have love: that way your know-
ledge will not lead you astray. I should like your knowledge to outstrip that of
your brethren. If you love them, far from being aloof and looking down on them,
you will strive to have them share your insights" ("Hom. on 1 Cor, 20, ad loc.").

3. "One is known by him [God]": that is, God has recognized him as one of his
own, God is pleased with him: it is almost the same as "God has called him",
"God has chosen him".

4-6. St Paul reminds the Corinthians, who were living in a pagan and polytheistic
environment, of the first and basic truth of the Christian creed: there is only one
true God. Even though the idols which pagans worship were called "gods" (as in
Greek mythology) or "lords" (as heroes or divinized emperors were described),
they were such only in the imagination of men. The only one who really merits
these titles is the living and true God who is revealed to us in Sacred Scripture
as One and Three.

6. Both the Father and the Son are God and Lord: "Just as St Paul does not take
from the Father the rank of Lord, when he says that the Son is the only Lord, so
he is not denying the Son the rank of God, when he says that the Father is the
one and only God" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on 1 Cor, 20, ad loc.") In fact the
title "Lord" is used with reference to God; so, calling Jesus Christ "Lord" is the
same as calling him "God"; besides, what the Apostle here says of the Father,
he attributes elsewhere to the Son; and vice versa (cf., e.g., Rom 11:36; Eph
4:5-6; Col 16-17; Heb 2:10). Creation is something that is done by all three divine
persons of the Blessed Trinity, and the Blessed Trinity is also the end or goal of
all created things (cf. Fourth Council of the Lateran, "De Fide Catholica", chap 1).

Although St Paul does not mention the Holy Spirit in this passage, he does speak
of him elsewhere in the letter (cf. 2:10ff; 6:19-20).

7-13. Charity requires that one abstain from food sacrificed to idols, if eating can
cause scandal to others, can be "a stumbling block to the weak" (v. 9). The Apos-
tle's teaching is clear: if there is any danger of scandalizing someone for whom
Christ has died, "I will never eat meat" (v. 13; cf. similar teaching in Rom 14:14-23).

The scandal caused to those Christians is an example of what is called giving
"scandal to the weak", whereby an action in itself good or indifferent can lead
others into sin because of their ignorance, weakness or poor understanding of the
faith. In such cases also one should, out of charity, try to avoid giving scandal (cf.
note on Rom 14:13-21).

11-13. St Paul emphasizes the gravity of the scandal given by those Corinthians
who in the blindness of their pride failed to realize the harm they were doing to
other brothers in the faith: they might lead into perdition someone "for whom
Christ died"; our Lord sacrificed himself on the cross for each and every person
in every generation. "How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he
'gained so great a Redeemer' ("Exsultet" at the Easter Vigil), and if God 'gave us
his only son' in order that man 'should not perish but have eternal life' (cf. Jn
3:16)" (John Paul II, "Redemptor Hominis" 10). One should never lose sight of the
immense value of every individual, a value which can be deduced especially from
the price paid for him--the death of Christ. "For every soul is a wonderful treasure;
every person is unique and irreplaceable. Every single person is worth all the
blood of Christ" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 80).

The Apostle also points out that by giving scandal "you sin against Christ": our
Lord himself said this: "as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you
did it to me" (Mt 25:40; cf. 25:45); this was something deeply engraved on Paul's
soul ever since the time, when he was persecuting Christians, he heard Jesus
say to him, "Why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4). The Christian should always
see Christ in others.

From this it follows logically that, if necessary, as he says, "I will never eat meat."
One must be ready for any sacrifice if the salvation of a soul is at stake.

Gospel Reading: Luke 6:27-38

Love of Enemies
------------------------
[27] "But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate
you, [28] bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. [29] To him
who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away
your cloak do not withhold your coat as well. [30] Give to every one who begs
from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. [31]
And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

[32] "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners
love those who love them. [33] And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. [34] And if you lend to
those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners
lend to sinners, to receive as much again. [35] But love your enemies, and do
good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and
you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.
[36] Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

[37] "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be
condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; [38] give, and it will be given to you;
good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your
lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

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

27. "In loving our enemies there shines forth in us some likeness to God our
Father, who, by the death of His Son, ransomed from everlasting perdition and
reconciled to Himself the human race, which previously was most unfriendly and
hostile to Him" ("St. Pius V Catechism", IV, 14, 19). Following the example of
God our Father, we must desire for everyone (even those who say they are our
enemies) eternal life, in the first place; additionally, a Christian has a duty to re-
spect and understand everyone without exception, because of his or her intrinsic
dignity as a human person, made in the image and likeness of the Creator.

28. Jesus Christ teaches us by example that this is a real precept and not just
a pious recommendation; even when nailed to the cross He prayed to His Father
for those who had brought Him to such a pass: "Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do" (Lk 23:34). In imitation of the Master, St Stephen, the
first martyr of the Church, when he was being stoned, prayed to our Lord not to
hold the sin against his persecutors (cf. Acts 7:60). In the liturgy of Good Friday
the Church offers prayers and suffrages to God on behalf of those outside the
Church, asking Him to give them the grace of faith; to release from their igno-
rance those who do not know Him; to give Jews the light to the truth; to bring
non-Catholic Christians, linked by true charity, into full communion with our
Mother the Church.

29. Our Lord gives us more examples to show us how we should act if we want
to imitate the mercy of God. The first has to do with one of what are traditionally
called the "spiritual works of mercy"--forgiving injuries and being patient with
other people's defects. This is what He means in the first instance about turning
the other cheek.

To understand what our Lord is saying here, St. Thomas comments that "Sacred
Scripture needs to be understood in the light of the example of Christ and the
saints. Christ did not offer the cheek to be struck in the house of Annas (Jn 18:
22ff), nor did St. Paul when, as we are told in the Acts of the Apostles, he was
beaten in Philippi (Acts 16:22f). Therefore, we should not take it that Christ lite-
rally meant that you should offer the other cheek to some to hit you; what He
was referring to was your interior disposition; that is, if necessary we should be
ready not to be intolerant of anyone who hurts us, and we should be ready to put
up with this kind of treatment, or worse than that. That was how the Lord acted
when He surrendered His body to death" ("Commentary on St John", 18, 37).

36. The model of mercy which Christ sets before us is God Himself, of whom St.
Paul says, 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions" (2 Cor
1:3-4). "The first quality of this virtue", Fray Luis de Granada explains, "is that it
makes men like God and like the most glorious thing in Him, His mercy (Lk 6:36).
For certainly the greatest perfection a creature can have is to be like his Creator,
and the more like Him he is, the more perfect he is. Certainly one of the things
hich is most appropriate to God is mercy, which is what the Church means when
it says that prayer: 'Lord God, to whom it is proper to be merciful and forgiving...'.
It says that this is proper to God, because just as a creature, as creature, is
characteristically poor and needy (and therefore characteristically receives and
does not give), so, on the contrary, since God is infinitely rich and powerful, to
Him alone does it belong to give and not to receive, and therefore it is appropriate
for Him to be merciful and forgiving" ("Book of Prayer and Meditation", third part,
third treatise).

This is the rule a Christian should apply: be compassionate towards other peo-
ple's afflictions as if they were one's own, and try to remedy them. The Church
spells out this rule by giving us a series of corporal works of mercy (visiting and
caring for the sick, giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty...) and spiritual
works of mercy (teaching the ignorant, correcting the person who has erred,
forgiving injuries...): cf. "St Pius X Catechism", 944f.

We should also show understanding towards people who are in error: "Love and
courtesy of this kind should not, of course, make us indifferent to truth and good-
ness. Love, in fact, impels the followers of Christ to proclaim to all men the truth
which saves. But we must distinguish between the error (which must always be
rejected) and the person in error, who never loses his dignity as a person even
though he flounders amid false or inadequate religious ideas. God alone is the
judge and searcher of hearts; He forbids us to pass judgment on the inner guilt
of others" (Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 28).

38. We read in Sacred Scripture of the generosity of the widow of Zarephath,
whom God asked to give food to Elijah the prophet even though she had very little
left; He then rewarded her generosity by constantly renewing her supply of meal
and oil (1 kings 17:9ff). The same sort of thing happened when the boy supplied
the five loaves and two fish which our Lord multiplied to feed a huge crowd of peo-
ple (cf. Jn 6:9)--a vivid example of what God does when we give Him whatever we
have, even if it does not amount to much.

God does not let Himself be outdone in generosity: "Go, generously and like a
child ask Him, 'What can You mean to give me when You ask me for "this"?'"
(St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 153). However much we give God in this life, He will
give us more in life eternal.
**********
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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.