Saturday

26th Week of Ordinary Time
　

(I) 1st Reading: Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29

Song of exhortation and consolation for the exiles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[5] Take courage, my people,
O memorial of Israel!
[6] It was not for destruction
that you were sold to the nations,
but you were handed over to your enemies
because you angered God.
[7] For you provoked him who made you,
by sacrificing to demons and not to God.
[8] You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up,
and you grieved Jerusalem, who reared you.

Jerusalem makes lamentation to the cities round about
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9] For she saw the wrath that came upon you from God,
and she said:
"Hearken, you neighbours of Zion,
God has brought great sorrow upon me;
[10]for I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters,
which the Everlasting brought upon them.
[11]With joy I nurtured them,
but I sent them away with weeping and sorrow.
[12]Let no one rejoice over me, a widow
and bereaved of many;
I was left desolate because of the sins of my children,
because they turned away from the law of God.

Jerusalem calls on her children to be converted and to have hope
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[27]"Take courage, my children, and cry to God,
for you will be remembered by him who brought this upon you.
[28]For just as you purposed to go astray from God,
return with tenfold zeal to seek him.
[29]For he who brought these calamities upon you
will bring you everlasting joy with your salvation."

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

4:5-5:9. This brings us to the fourth section of the book. Themes of lamentation,
hope, conversion and consolation alternate here. The narrative concerns Jerusa-
lem, who shares her sorrow with her children scattered among the nations, ac-
knowledges her inability to help them, and confesses that her only hope is the
Lord God of Israel. It begins (4:5-8) with words of consolation and encourage-
ment. Then Jerusalem makes a lamentation to the cities of Judah (4:9-16) and
to her own children, exhorting them to conversion (4:17-29). This is followed by
a song of rejoicing (4:30-37) and an optimistic summing up of the whole book 
(5:1-9).

4:5-8. The chosen people will be punished for their unfaithfulness, but still there
are grounds for hope: a remnant, a "memorial" (v. 5), will remain loyal and will re-
turn from exile. This goes to show that the punishment meted out by God does
not imply the destruction of the people; it is meant as a corrective, and marks
the start of a new people. The theme of the "remnant of Israel" appears often in
the prophets (cf. Amos 5:15; Mic 4:7; Is 4:2-6; 10:20-21; Jer 3:14; 5:18; Ezek
14:22; etc.) and is a reminder that everything that happens is guided by the
hand of God.

4:9-16. Now it is Jerusalem who speaks. She is depicted as a widow and mother 
who sees that her children have been led off into captivity: "Jerusalem is called a
widow because she has been deprived of the divine care that was once given to
her" (Theodoret of Cyprus, Interpretation in Baruch, 4, 12). It is a lament for those
who have gone, leaving her alone – an echo of the poetry of the book of 
Lamentations.

4:17-29. But the punishment imposed by God will not last forever; there is good
reason to hope, based on the compassion and goodness of the Everlasting One;
he will deliver them (v. 22). The return of the exiles is announced, and the joy of
the holy city – in tones reminiscent of the last part of the book of Isaiah (cf. Is 
60:1-4; 63:7-9; 66:10-11) and some of Jeremiah's oracles (cf. Jer 30:18-22). The
passage is both a song of consolation and an exhortation to turn to the Lord.


(II) 1st Reading: Job 42.1-3, 5-6, 12-17

Job accepts that God has acted rightly
--------------------------------------------------------
[1] Then Job answered the Lord:
[2] I know that thou canst do all things,
and that no purpose of thine can he thwarted.
[3] Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, 
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 
[…]
[5] I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees thee;
[6] therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”

God’s blessing on Job
---------------------------------
[12] And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he
had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen,
and a thousand she-asses. [13] had also seven sons and three daughters. [14]
And he called the name of the first Jemimah; and the name of the second Keziah;
and the name of the third Keren-happuch. [15] And in all the land there were no
women so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among
their brothers. [16] And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw
his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. [17] And Job died, an old man,
and full of days.

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

42:1-6. The last verses of the poetical section of the book are given to Job to
speak. In them he answers two challenges raised by the Lord. To the first (v.
3) Job replies by confessing that he did speak without knowing all the facts, that
is, without appreciating the harmony with which creation is imbued, the awesome
fact that even seemingly useless and destructive things have their part to play.
This is a sort of “sapiential’ response. To God’s second appeal (v. 4). Job’s reply
is full of faith: he acknowledges that God has manifested himself in person: now
he has seen him with his eyes (v. 5), as Moses and the prophets saw him, Job
feels consoled, and he is moved to repentance now that he has actually met
God. This meeting, more than the words he has heard, is what brings about his
conversion: “It is one thing to hear your voice and another to see you before our
eyes; for just as all things are made clear in the light of the sun, and darkness
and every trace of shadow is banished, so the sight of your resplendent face,
when it dawns over the soul. dissipates all ignorance and error. When I see you
before me, I berate and reprove myself, and I suffer bitter pain for ever having
offended you” (Fray Luis de Leon, Expositio libri lob, 42, 6).

42:7-17. The prose epilogue describes Job’s remarkable rehabilitation. He is in-
deed appreciated as a wise man, for he spoke rightly, and as a good person,
who will successfully intercede on behalf of his opponents. This passage, almost
certainly, must (like the prologue) have been part of the original text; prologue and
epilogue are closely interconnected and have literary features in common. Some
commentators have suggested that this happy ending does not fit in well with the
message in the book, because it seems to confirm the idea that good people en-
joy success and wrongdoers do not. But that is not really the point. The epi-
logue displays the mercy of God who, as supreme judge, desires that all should
be saved; Job, in his case, has found salvation through suffering.

A number of small details help us to see why the book is given this ending: it
contains no mention of Satan, perhaps because his presence was irrelevant to
the question posed in the book. Eliphaz and his friends, who thought that they
were speaking on God’s side, now have to admit they were wrong: they have
not “spoken what is right” (vs. 7-8); they must turn to the Lord; that is the only
way to discover the truth. Finally, Job is comforted and accepted by all his rela-
tives and friends (v. 10-11), and is blessed by God with children, wealth and a
long life (vv. 12-17). So, God does not conform to the way human beings see
things; they, rather, must respect what he does and conform to his wishes.

42:12-17. God’s blessing on Job brings with it many children and much wealth.
It is interesting to see the importance given to his daughters: they enjoy the
same inheritance as their brothers, they are the fairest in all the land (as their
names imply). Jemima (Jamama), according to Arabic etymology means Dove;
Keziah/Cassia is the name of a tree (which must he the acacia, which was con-
sidered in that region to be very beautiful); and Kerena-happuch or “Horn of Anti-
mony” re- ferred to a container for very expensive perfume.

As we have pointed out a number of times, the Fathers see Job as prefiguring
Jesus; this applies also to the restoration of his fortunes: “Job recovered both
his health and his wealth. In the same way, the Lord, through his resurrection,
brings not only good health to those who believe in him, but immortality; and he
restores the whole kingdom of nature, as he himself assured us when he said:
Everything has been given to me by my Father. New children are born of Job
to replace those who died. Similarly, the holy apostles are sons of the Lord in
the same line as were the prophets of old. Job is filled with happiness and in
the end rests in peace. And the Lord is blessed forever, as he was in the begin-
ning, is now, and ever shall be” (St Zeno of Verona, Tractatus, 1, 15).

42:17. This is the same wording as is used in the accounts of the lives of the
patriarchs (Gen 25:8; 35:29). The Fathers of the Church usually interpreted
these words in a broad sense, as a sort of resume of the good things enjoyed by
the blessed in heaven. In line with this, St Thomas writes: “By ‘fullness of days’
is meant not only the possession of many material goods but also an abundance
of spiritual graces, by whose power Job entered into the glory that lasts forever”
(Expositio super Iob, 42, 17).


Gospel Reading: Luke 10:17-24

The Seventy Return From Their Mission
---------------------------------------------------------
[17] The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject
to us in Your name!" [18] And He (Jesus) said to them, "I saw Satan fall like light-
ning from Heaven. [19] Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents
and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.
[20] Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but
rejoice that your names are written in Heaven."

Jesus Gives Thanks
-----------------------------
[21] In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank Thee, Fa-
ther, Lord of Heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise
and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was Thy
gracious will. [22] All things have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one
knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son
and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."

[23] Then turning to the disciples He said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which
see what you see! [24] For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see
what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

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

20. Our Lord corrects His disciples, making them see that the right reason for
rejoicing lies in hope of reaching Heaven, not in the power to do miracles which
He gave them for their mission. As He said on another occasion, "On that day
many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast
our demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then
will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you evildoers'" (Mat-
thew 7:22-23). In other words, in the eyes of God doing His holy will at all times
is more important than working miracles.

21. This passage of the Gospel is usually called our Lord's "hymn of joy" and is
also found in St. Matthew (11:25-27). It is one of those moments when Jesus re-
joices to see humble people understanding and accepting the word of God.

Our Lord also reveals one of the effects of humility--spiritual childhood. For ex-
ample, in another passage He says: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and be-
come like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3). 
But spiritual childhood does not involve weakness, softness or ignorance: "I have
often meditated on this life of spiritual childhood, which is not incompatible with
fortitude, because it demands a strong will, proven maturity, an open and firm
character [...]. To become children we must renounce our pride and self-suffi-
ciency, recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves. We must realize that
we need grace, and the help of God our Father to find our way and keep it. To
be little, you have to abandon yourself as children do, believe as children, beg
as children beg" [St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 10 and 143).

22. "This statement is a wonderful help to our faith," St. Ambrose comments,
"because when you read 'all' you realize that Christ is all-powerful, that He is not
inferior to the Father, or less perfect than He; when you read 'have been delivered
to me', you confess that Christ is the Son, to whom everything belongs by right
of being one in substance [with the Father] and not by grace of gift" ("Expositio
Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").

Here we see Christ as almighty Lord and God, consubstantial with the Father,
and the only one capable of revealing who the Father is. At the same time, we
can recognize the divine nature of Jesus only if the Father gives us the grace of
faith--as He did to St. Peter (cf. Matthew 16:17).

23-24. Obviously, seeing Jesus with one's own eyes was a wonderful thing for
people who believed in him. However, our Lord will say to Thomas, "Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29). St. Peter, for his part,
tells us: "Without having seen Him you love Him; though you do not see Him
you believe in Him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome
of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9).
　

*********************************************************************************************
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].