Saturday

25th Week of Ordinary Time
　

(I) 1st Reading: Zechariah 2:1-5, 10-11a (RSVCE), Zechariah 2:5-9, 14-15a (NAB)

Third vision: the measurer
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[1] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his
hand! [2] Then I said, "Where are you going?" And he said to me, "To measure
Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what is its length." [3] And behold,
the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to
meet him, [4] and said to him, "Run, say to that young man, 'Jerusalem shall be
inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle in
it. [5] For I will be to her a wall of fire round about, says the Lord, and I will be the
glory within her.'"

[10] Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come and I will dwell in the
midst of you, says the Lord. [11a] And many nations shall join themselves to
the Lord in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you.

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Commentary: 

2:1-13. What the prophet now sees and hears concerns the city of Jerusalem.
It is going to be remodeled as an open city, without walls; its defense will be
provided by God himself and therefore more people will be able to live there. The
man with the measuring line is an angel, as are the other two figures mentioned.
The idea of measuring the city in order to rebuild it is also found in Ezekiel 40-42
and Jeremiah 31:38-40 and, later, Revelation 11:1.

The vision is followed by an oracle (vv. 6-10) in which the Lord speaks through
the angel. He invites the Jews to leave Babylon and return to the holy land. This
is a call that is also found in Isaiah and Jeremiah (cf. Is 48:20; Jer 50:8; 51:6). It
could be that some were reluctant to move. God promises that in Judah they will
be safe from other nations because they are his beloved people, the “apple of his
eye” (v. 8), and his angel will defend them. Moreover, he will settle there, and
many nations will become his people (vv. 10-11).

Presence of the Lord, security against enemies and a way for the nations to be-
come people of God -- these are the features that Judah and Jerusalem will have
following the return from exile. In this sense, they prefigure the Church. Com-
menting on v. 4, St Jerome points out: “Reading in a spiritual sense, all of these
things are to he found in the Church, which is "without walls", or, as the Septua-
gint puts it, "katakarpos"; that is, filled with an abundance of fruit and a great
multitude of men and asses [...]. The men and the asses [cattle, animals] stand
for the two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles; those who came to faith in Christ
through the fulfillment of the Law are called men; we, however, who were idola-
trous and lived as though in a wilderness, being far from the Law, and alone, be-
cause of our distance from the prophets who suffered, are the asses [...j. But
these animals hear the voice of the good shepherd, and know him, and they fol-
low him” ("Commentarii in Zachariam", 2, 4).

2:10. This call for rejoicing, similar to that made by the prophet Zephaniah (cf.
Zeph 3:14) and one made later (9:9), is repeated in the angel Gabriel’s greeting
to the Blessed Virgin when he tells her that she is to conceive the Messiah (cf.
Lk 1:28). That event will truly bring about what is said here, for Mary is “the mo-
ther of him in whom ‘the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily’ (Col 2:9)” (Cate-
chism of the Catholic Church, 722). John Paul II sees Mary, the Mother of the
Redeemer, prefigured in the title “daughter of Zion” found here: “Her presence in
the midst of Israel -- a presence so discreet as to pass almost unnoticed by the
eyes of her contemporaries -- shone very clearly before the Eternal One, who
had associated this hidden ‘daughter of Sion’ (cf. Zeph 3:14: Zeph 2:10) with the
plan of salvation embracing the whole history of humanity” ("Redemptoris Mater,
3).
　

(II) 1st Reading: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8

Wisdom and youth
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[9] Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the
days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.
But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

[10] Remove vexation from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for
youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Thoughts on death
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[1] Remember also your Creator in the day’s of your youth. I before the evil days
come, and the years draw nigh, when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
[2] before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the
clouds return after the rain; [3] in the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and
those that look through the windows are dimmed, [4] and the doors on the street
are shut; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the voice of
a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; [5] they are afraid also of
what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grass-
hopper drags itself along and desire fails; because man goes to his eternal home,
and the mourners go about the streets; [6] before the silver cord is snapped, or
the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel
broken at the cistern, [7] and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the
spirit returns to God who gave it.

[8] Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

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Commentary:

11:8-10. Life is short, and the future that awaits everyone is uncertain (“vanity”:
v. 8). Hence the advice given in vs. 9-10. The Preacher is not recommending
hedonistic materialism; one needs to be ever mindful that God punishes and
rewards, although, as the author sees it, that happens within the bounds of this
life.

12:1-7. The second part of the book began by pointing out that a person who
seeks true wisdom does not dodge difficult issues, including that of death (7:1-2).
The author rounds off this part by focussing on the Creator and on the end of
man’s life. Death, and what will happen when it comes, is described very force-
fully here. The wisdom of man cannot penetrate beyond it. Viewed from the per-
spective of death, man’s life is a temporary gift given him by God. One can glance
back at one’s youth and also at the years one may still have ahead (v. 1) and
ponder the tenuous nature of life and remember that death is coming. This is
truly the office of a teacher of wisdom -- to help individuals see what possibilities
lie open to them, so that they can make free and responsible choices. This is
what the Preacher has done, as he says at the end of his text. “Death is the end
of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change,
grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end
of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our morta-
lity helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to
fulfilment’’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1007).

12:8. This verse repeats almost word for word what was said at the start of the
book (cf. 1:2). The statement, in addition to acting as a title to the book, con-
firms that even the lifestyle outlined in the final chapters (cf. 7:9-12:7) is still “va-
nity of vanities”. True wisdom consists in realizing this and accepting it. Chris-
tian asceticism has accepted the general thrust of the Preacher’s message
(detachment from worldly values, and attachment to God’s commandments) and
indeed its written form -- use of short, incisive phrases, and a use of contrasts to
good effect. Christian commitment has often been described in such terms -- as
the imitation of Christ combined with rejection of the worlds vanities: ‘‘He who
follows me does not walk in darkness, says the Lord. These words are Christ’s.
in which he counsels us to imitate his life and deeds if we truly desire to be en-
lightened and freed from all blindness of heart. Our study should consist, there-
fore, in a consideration of the life of Jesus. [...] Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,
unless one strives to love and serve God alone. The height of wisdom is to set
aside this world in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Vanity is to seek the
riches that perish and to place one’s hope in them. It is vanity, too, to seek hu-
man glory and boast of it. Vanity is to yield to the desires of the body, for which
you must bear a greater punishment in the afterlife. It is vanity to desire long life
and not to live it well. Vanity is to concern yourself only with this life and fail to
contemplate the life to come. It is vanity to give your love to things that will so
soon pass away and not to seek earnestly the joy that will last forever. Call to
mind often that saying from the Scriptures: “Neither has eye seen, nor ear heard,”
and try to tear your heart away from what is visible, to move beyond into what
remains invisible” (Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 1, 1-5).


Gospel Reading: Luke 9:43b-45

Second Prophecy of the Passion
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[43b] But while they were all marvelling at everything He (Jesus) did, He said to
His disciples, [44] "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is to
be delivered into the hands of men." [45] But they did not understand this saying,
and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were
afraid to ask Him about this saying.

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Commentary:

44. Christ predicts His passion and death a number of times. Initially He does
so in veiled terms (John 2:19; Luke 5:35) to the crowd; and later, much more
explicitly, to His disciples (Luke 9:22), though they fail to understand His words,
not because what He says is not clear, but because they do not have the right
dispositions. St. John Chrysostom comments: "Let no one be scandalized by
this imperfection in the Apostles; for the Cross had not yet been reached nor the
grace of the Spirit given" ("Hom. on St. Matthew", 65).
　

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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].