Solemnity of Christmas (Dawn, December 25)
1st Reading: Isaiah 62:11-12
Names of the new Jerusalem
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[11] Behold, the Lord has proclaimed
to the end of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.”
[12] And they shall be called The holy people,
The redeemed of the Lord;
and you shall be called Sought out,
a city not forsaken.
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Commentary:
The Navarre has no commentary for this reading. Please reflect on God's
word and invite the Holy Spirit to enter your heart with His inspiration.
2nd Reading: Titus 3:4-7
Renewal of the Christian Life in the Holy Spirit
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[Beloved], [4] ... when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior
appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness,
but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in
the Holy Spirit, [6] which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ
our Savior, [7] so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in
hope of eternal life.
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Commentary:
[T]he coming of Christ has opened up a new panorama (vv. 4-7). As elsewhere in
these letters (cf. 1 Tim 3:15; Tit 2:11-14), we have here a hymn to Christ which
may well have come from primitive Christian liturgy or from a confession of faith.
It summarizes Christian teaching on the Incarnation, the Redemption and the
application of salvation to the individual.
According to this text, the Incarnation is the revelation of God our Savior, who
makes known his goodness ("benignity", a word which often occurs in the Old
Testament and sometimes in the New: cf. Rom 2:4; 11: 22; Gal 5:22; Eph 2:7)
and "loving goodness" (literally "philanthropy", a word taken from Greek). The
Redemption is referred to in Old Testament language: "he saved us in virtue of
his own mercy."
Finally, the Christian's access to salvation is something gratuitous: without any
prior merit on our part, God's mercy has sought us out (v. 5; cf. note on Rom
:27-31); Baptism is the door to salvation, for it is the sacrament of "regeneration
and renewal" (cf. Eph 5:26); the Holy Spirit sent by Christ (cf. Jn 14:26) makes
the waters of Baptism effec- tive; his grace gives life to the soul and entitles it to
eternal life (cf. Gal 4:7; Rom 8:16-17). The Council of Trent specified that
"justification is not only the remission of sins, but sanctification and renovation of
the interior man through the voluntary reception of grace and gifts whereby a man
becomes just instead of unjust and a friend instead of an enemy, that he may be
an heir in the hope of life everlasting" ("De Iustificatione", chap. 7).
The magnificent resume of faith in Christ contained in Titus 3:3-7 also helps
Christians see how to approach their work and social involvement; the Second
Vatican Council has reminded us once again that "the promised and hoped-for
restoration has already begun in Christ. It is carried forward in the sending of the
Holy Spirit and through him continues in the Church in which, through our faith,
we learn the meaning of our earthly life, while we bring to term, with hope of
future good, the task allotted to us in the world by the Father, and so work out
our salva- tion" ("Lumen Gentium", 48).
Gospel Reading: Luke 2:15-20
The Adoration of the Shepherds (Continuation)
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[15] When the angles went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to
one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened
to us, which the Lord has made known to us." [16] And they went with haste,
and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. [17] And when they
saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this
child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19] But
Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had
been told them.
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Commentary:
[오늘의 복음 말씀은 매년
천주의 성모 마리아 대축일(1월 1일) 복음 말씀(루카
2,16-21)과
거의 동일하다].
15-18. The birth of the Savior Messiah is the key event in the historyof mankind,
but God wanted it to take place so quietly that the world went about its business
as if nothing had happened. The only people he tells about it are a few shepherds.
It was also to a shepherd, Abraham,that God gave his promise to save mankind.
The shepherds make their way to Bethlehem propelled by the sign they have
received. And when they verify it they tell what they heard from the angel and
about seeing the heavenly host. They are the first witnesses of the birth of the
Messiah. "The shepherds were not content with believing in the happy event
which the angel proclaimed to them and which, full of wonder, they saw for a
fact; they manifested their joy not only to Mary and Joseph but to everyone
and, what is more, they tried to engrave it on their memory. 'And all who heard
it wondered at what the shepherds told them.' And why would they not have
wondered, seeing on earth him who is in heaven, and earth and heaven recon-
ciled; seeing that ineffable Child who joined what was heavenly--divinity--and
what was earthly--humanity--creating a wonderful covenant through this union.
Not only were they in awe at the mystery of the Incarnation, but also at the
great testimony born by the shepherds, who could not have invented something
they had not heard and who publish the truth with a simple eloquence" (Photius,
"Ad Amphilochium", 155).
16. The shepherds hasten because they are full of joy and eager to see the Savior.
St Ambrose comments: "No one seeks Christ halfheartedly" ("Expositio Evangelii
Sec. Lucam., in loc."). Earlier on, the evangelist observed that our Lady, after the
Annunciation, "went in haste" to see St Elizabeth (Lk 1:39). A soul who has given
God entry rejoices that God has visited him and his life acquires new energy.
19. In very few words this verse tells us a great deal about our Lady. We see the
serenity with which she contemplates the wonderful things that are coming true
with the birth of her divine Son. She studies them, ponders them and stores them
in the silence of her heart. She is a true teacher of prayer. If we imitate her, if we
guard and ponder in our hearts what Jesus says to us and what he does in us,
we are well on the way to Christian holiness and we shall never lack his doctrine
and his grace. Also, by meditating in this way on the teaching Jesus has given
us, we shall obtain a deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ, which is how
"the Tradition that comes from the Apostles makes progress in the Church, with
the help of the Holy Spirit. There is a growth in insight into the realities and words
that are being passed on. This comes about in various ways. It comes through
the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts.
It comes from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which they experience. And
it comes from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of
succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum",
8).
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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].