Sunday Holy Mass
Readings:
http://www.universalis.com/20120826/mass.htm
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First reading
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Joshua 24:1-2,15-18 ©
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Joshua gathered all the
tribes of Israel together at Shechem; then he called the elders, leaders,
judges and scribes of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. Then
Joshua said to all the people, ‘If you will not serve the Lord, choose today whom
you wish to serve, whether the gods that your ancestors served beyond the
River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are now living. As for me
and my House, we will serve the Lord.’
The people
answered, ‘We have no intention of deserting the Lord and serving other gods!
Was it not the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors out of the land of
Egypt, the house of slavery, who worked those great wonders before our eyes and
preserved us all along the way we travelled and among all the peoples through
whom we journeyed? What is more, the Lord drove all those peoples out before
us, as well as the Amorites who used to live in this country. We too will serve
the Lord, for he is our God.’
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Psalm
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Psalm 33:2-3,16-23 ©
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Taste and see that the
Lord is good.
I will bless the Lord at
all times,
his praise
always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul
shall make its boast.
The humble
shall hear and be glad.
Taste and see that the
Lord is good.
The Lord turns his face
against the wicked
to destroy
their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his eyes
to the just
and his ears
to their appeal.
Taste and see that the
Lord is good.
They call and the Lord hears
and rescues
them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to the
broken-hearted;
those whose
spirit is crushed he will save.
Taste and see that the
Lord is good.
Many are the trials of
the just man
but from
them all the Lord will rescue him.
He will keep guard over
all his bones,
not one of
his bones shall be broken.
Taste and see that the
Lord is good.
Evil brings death to the
wicked;
those who
hate the good are doomed.
The Lord ransoms the
souls of his servants.
Those who
hide in him shall not be condemned.
Taste and see that the
Lord is good.
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Second reading
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Ephesians 5:21-32 ©
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Give way to one another
in obedience to Christ. Wives should regard their husbands as they regard the
Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a
husband the head of his wife; and as the Church submits to Christ, so should
wives to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love their wives just
as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy. He
made her clean by washing her in water with a form of words, so that when he
took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything
like that, but holy and faultless. In the same way, husbands must love their
wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to
love himself. A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after
it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church, because it is his body –
and we are its living parts. For this reason, a man must leave his
father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body. This
mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ and the
Church.
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Second reading
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Ephesians 5:2,25-32 ©
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Follow Christ by loving
as he loved you. Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the
Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy. He made her clean by
washing her in water with a form of words, so that when he took her to himself
she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy
and faultless. In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love
their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself. A man
never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the
way Christ treats the Church, because it is his body – and we are its
living parts. For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body. This
mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ and the
Church.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit,
Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of
eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 6:60-69 ©
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After hearing his
doctrine many of the followers of Jesus said, ‘This is intolerable language.
How could anyone accept it?’ Jesus was aware that his followers were
complaining about it and said, ‘Does this upset you? What if you should see the
Son of Man ascend to where he was before?
‘It is the spirit that
gives life,
the flesh has nothing to
offer.
The words I have spoken
to you are spirit
and they are life.
‘But there are some of
you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not
believe, and who it was that would betray him. He went on, ‘This is why I told
you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.’ After this, many
of his disciples left him and stopped going with him.
Then Jesus
said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter
answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and
we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
Navarre Bible
Commentary on the First Reading: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/dailyword/RiN1tkwT9aA
24:1-28 The book of Joshua is
not so much a report about a military campaign
as a vivid lesson in theology
about how faithfully God keeps his promises, and
a call to respond to that
faithfulness. This is borne out by the fact that the book
ends with a ratification of the Covenant: the
nation that has taken possession of
the promised land renews the
undertakings given by their fathers at Sinai. This
ceremony takes place at
Shechem. After an historical introduction recalling what
God has done for the Israelites
(vv. 2-13), Joshua asks the people about their de-
termination to stay faithful to
the Lord (vv. 14-24). Once they have all made a
commitment to serve the Lord
and obey him in everything, the Covenant is cere-
monially ratified (vv. 25-27).
Elements of this rite are to be found in Hittite rites of
vassalage of the second
millennium BC. So, the Covenant is not only a religious
act; it also has the force of
secular law.
The Covenant lies at the basis
of Christian morality, because it implies the con-
viction that God directs the
course of history and he chooses people who are to
make a specific commitment of
fidelity: "There is no doubt that Christian moral
teaching, even in its Biblical
roots, acknowledges the specific importance of a
fundamental choice which
qualifies the moral life and engages freedom on a ra-
dical level before God. It is a
question of the decision of faith, of the obedience
of faith (cf. Rom 16:26) 'by
which man makes a total and free self-commitment
to God, offering "the full
submission of intellect and will to God as he reveals"
(Dei Verbum, 5). […] In the
Decalogue one finds, as an introduction to the va-
rious commandments, the basic
clause: 'I am the Lord your God . . . ' (Ex 20:2),
which, by impressing upon the
numerous and varied particular prescriptions their
primordial meaning, gives the
morality of the Covenant its aspect of complete-
ness, unity and profundity.
Israel's fundamental decision, then, is about the fun-
damental commandment (cf. Jos
24:14-25; Ex 19:3-8; Mic 6:8)" (Bl John Paul II,
Veritatis splendor, 66).
Pope John Paul
II on Psalm 33:
http://thedivinelamp.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/dec-21-pope-john-paul-ii-on-todays-psalm-33-32/
Hymn
of joy and acclamation to God’s Providence
1. Psalm 32 [33], which
has 22 verses, the same number as the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, is a hymn
of praise to the Lord of the universe and of history. A quiver of joy runs
through it from the very first lines: “Rejoice,
in the Lord, you just! Praiie from the upright is fitting. Praise the Lord with
the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to the Lord a
new song, play skilfully on the strings, with loud shouts” (vv. 1-3). This acclamation(tern’ah)
is accompanied by music and expresses an interior voice of faith and hope, of
joy and trust. The hymn is “new,” not only because it renews the certainty of
the divine presence within creation and human events, but also because it
anticipates the perfect praise that will be intoned on the final day of
salvation, when the Kingdom of God will have attained its glorious realization.
St Basil looks longingly
toward this final fulfilment in Christ when he explains this passage: “In
general, “new’ means something unusual or which has only recently come into
existence. If you think of the astounding, unimaginable way of the Incarnation
of the Lord, you would have to sing a new and unheard of song. And if you
review the regeneration and renewal of all humanity, surrendered of old to sin,
and proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection, then you too would sing a new
and unusual canticle” (Homily on Psalm 32,2; PG 29, 327). In short, according
to St Basil, the Psalmist’s invitation: “Sing to God a new song” means
for believers in Christ: “Do not honour God ccording to the ancient
custom of the “letter’, but in the newness of the “spirit’. Indeed, he who does
not understand the Law externally but recognizes the “spirit’ in it sings a
“new song’ (ibid.)
2. In its central part,
the hymn is articulated in three parts that form a trilogy of praise. In the
first (cf. vv. 6-9), the creative word of God is celebrated. The wonderful
architecture of the universe, like a cosmic temple, did not arise or develop
from a struggle among gods, as some cosmogonies of the ancient Near East
suggested, but from the basis of effective divine word. Just as the first page
of Genesis teaches (cf. Gn 1): “God said … and it was so”.
In fact the Psalmist repeats: “For he spoke, and it came to be,
commanded, and it stood forth” (Ps 32,9).
The man of prayer gives
special importance to control of the sea waters, since in the Bible they are
the sign of chaos and evil. Despite its limits, the world is preserved in being
by the Creator who, as mentioned in the Book of Job, commands the sea to halt
at the seashore: “Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall
your proud waves be stayed” (Jb 38,11).
3. The Lord is also the
sovereign of human history, as stated in the second part of Psalm 32 [33], in
verses 10-15. With vigorous antithesis, the plans of terrestrial powers are
opposed to the wonderful design that God is tracing in history. Human
programmes, intended as alternatives, introduce injustice, evil and violence,
rising up against the divine plan of justice and salvation. And, despite
short-lived and apparent successes, they are reduced to mere machinations,
destined to dissolution and failure. It is summed up in the biblical Book of
Proverbs: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the purpose of
the Lord that will be established” (Prv 19,21). Similarly, the Psalmist reminds
us that, from heaven, his transcendent dwelling, God follows all humanity’s
ways, even the foolish and the absurd, and intuits all the secrets of the human
heart.
“Wherever you go, whatever
you do, whether in darkness, or in the light of day, God’s eye sees you,” St
Basil comments (Homily on Psalm 32,8 PG 29, 343). Happy will be the people
who, accepting the divine revelation, observes its instructions for life,
following its paths through history. In the end, only one thing endures:
“The plan of the Lord stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all
generations” (Ps 32,11).
4. The third and last part
of the Psalm (cf. vv. 16-22) takes up again, from two new angles, the topic of
the unique lordship of God over human affairs. On one hand, he invites the
powerful not to be deluded by the military force of armies and cavalry. Then he
invites the faithful, often oppressed, starving and on the brink of death to
hope in the Lord who will not let them fall into the abyss of destruction. In
this way, the “catechetical” function of the Psalm is also revealed. It is
transformed into a call to faith in a God who is not indifferent to the
arrogance of the powerful and is close to the weakness of humanity, raising it
and sustaining it if it is confident, if it entrusts itself to him, if it
raises its prayer and praise to him.
“The humility of those who
serve God” – St Basil further explains – “shows that they hope in his mercy.
Indeed, anyone who does not trust his own great enterprises or expect to be
justified by his own works, sees in God’s mercy his only hope for salvation” (Homily
on Psalm 32,10; PG 29,347).
5. The Psalm ends with an
antiphon that has become part of the well-known Te Deum hymn: “May your kindness
always be upon us Lord, for we have hoped in you” (v. 22). Divine grace and
human hope meet and embrace. Indeed, God’s loving faithfulness (according to
the meaning of the original Hebrew word used here, hésed), envelops, warms and
protects us like a mantle, offering serenity and giving our faith and hope a
sound foundation.
Navarre Bible
Commentary on the Second Reading: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/dailyword/73p-AJWjypE
21. St Paul here provides a general principle which should govern
relationships
among members of the Church: they should submit to one another,
knowing
that Christ is their true judge. At the same time, the Apostle
uses this principle
to say something about relationships in society, specifically
family relationships;
in these there is an element of natural dependence -- of wife on
husband (5:22-
24), of children on parents (6:1-4), and of servants on masters
(6:5-9). However,
although there is an inbuilt natural element of authority in these
situations, the
Apostle sees it as having a new dimension in the Christian
context, for he is
acutely conscious of the dignity that belongs to each, and of
Christ's lordship
over all.
22-24. The basis of the supernatural grandeur and dignity of
Christian marriage
lies in the fact that it is an extension of the union between
Christ and his Church.
To exhort Christian married couples to live in accordance with
their membership
of the Church, the Apostle establishes an analogy whereby the
husband repre-
sents Christ and the wife the Church. This teaching has its roots
in the Old Tes-
tament, where the relationships between Yahweh and his people are
expressed,
in the preaching of the prophets, in terms of the relationships
between husband
and wife. The husband loves his wife truly, he is completely
faithful to her (Hos
1:3; Jer 2:20; Ezek 16: 1-34). God is forever faithful to the love
he has shown Is-
rael, and he is ever ready to pardon her (cf. Is 54:5-8; 62:4-5;
Jer 31:21-22) and
to re-establish his Covenant with the people (cf. Is 16:5-63).
Jesus also describes
himself as the bridegroom (cf. Mt 9:15; Jn 3:29) and he uses the
image of the
wedding banquet to explain the significance of his coming (cf. Mt
22:1-14; 25:1-
13). He brings into being the New Covenant, which gives rise to
the new people
of God, the Church (cf. Mt 26:26-29 and par.); and so the
relationship between
Christ and the Church appears in the New Testament in terms of
husband-wife;
as the Second Vatican Council put it, "The Church is also
[...] described as the
spotless spouse of the spotless Lamb (Rev 19:7; 21:2, 9; 22:17).
It is she whom
Christ 'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might
sanctify her'
(Eph 5:26). It is she whom he unites to himself by an unbreakable
alliance, and
whom he constantly 'nourishes and cherishes' (Eph 5:29). It is she
whom, once
purified, he willed to be joined to himself, subject in love and
fidelity (cf. Eph 5:
24)" ("Lumen Gentium",6).
St Paul is not just using Christian marriage as a comparison to
explain Christ's
relationship with the Church: he is saying that relationship is
actually symbo-
lized and verified between Christian husband and wife. This means
that marriage
between baptized people is a true sacrament, as the Church has
always taught
and as Vatican II has repeated: "Christ our Lord has
abundantly blessed this
love, which is rich in its various features, coming as it does
from the spring of
divine love and modeled on Christ's own union with the Church.
Just as of old
God encountered his people with a covenant of love and fidelity,
so our Savior,
the spouse of the Church, now encounters Christian spouses through
the sa-
crament of marriage. He abides with them in order that by their
mutual self-gi-
ving spouses will love each other with enduring fidelity, as he
loved the Church
and delivered himself for it. Authentic married love is caught up
into divine love
and is directed and enriched by the redemptive power of Christ and
the salvific
action of the Church, with the result that the spouses are
effectively led to God
and are helped and strengthened in their lofty role as fathers and
mothers"
("Gaudium Et Spes", 48).
When St Paul exhorts wives to be "subject" to their
husbands, he is not only ta-
king into account the social position of women at the time but
also the fact that
a Christian wife, by the way she relates to her husband, should
reflect the Church
itself, in its obedience to Christ. The husband, for his part, is
asked to be similar-
ly submissive to his wife, for he is a reflection of Jesus Christ,
who gave himself
up even to death out of love for the Church (cf. v. 25). In 1930
Pope Pius XI taught
that "the submission of the wife neither ignores nor
suppresses the liberty to
which her dignity as a human person and her noble functions as
wife, mother,
and companion give her the full right. It does not oblige her to
yield indiscrimina-
tely to all the desires of her husband, which may be unreasonable
or incompa-
tible with her wifely dignity. Nor does it mean that she is on a
level with persons
who in law are called minors, and who are ordinarily denied the
unrestricted ex-
ercise of their rights on the ground of their immature judgment
and inexperience.
But it does forbid such abuse of freedom as would neglect the
welfare of the fa-
mily; it refuses, in this body which is the family, to allow the
heart to be separa-
ted from the head, with great detriment to the body itself and
even with risk of di-
saster. If the husband is the head of the domestic body, then the
wife is its heart;
and as the first holds the primacy of authority, so the second can
and ought to
claim the primacy of love" ("Casti Connubii", 10).
Thus, in contrast with the low regard in which women were held in
the East in
ancient times (when they were in general seen as lesser mortals),
Christian tea-
ching recognizes the essential equality of man and woman:
"Above all it is im-
portant to underline the equal dignity and responsibility of women
with men. This
equality is realized in a unique manner in that reciprocal
self-giving by each one
to the other and by both to the children which is proper to
marriage and the fami-
ly. What human reason intuitively perceives and acknowledges is
fully revealed
by the word of God: the history of salvation, in fact, is a
continuous and luminous
testimony to the dignity of women.
"In creating the human race 'male and female' (Gen 1:27), God
gives man and
woman an equal personal dignity, endowing them with the
inalienable rights and
responsibilities proper to the human person. God then manifests
the dignity of
women in the highest form possible, by assuming human flesh from
the Virgin
Mary, whom the Church honors as the Mother of God, calling her the
new Eve
and presenting her as the model of redeemed woman. The sensitive
respect of
Jesus towards the women whom he called to his following and his
friendship, his
appearing on Easter morning to a woman before the other disciples,
the mission
entrusted to women to carry the good news of the Resurrection to
the Apostles
these are all signs that confirm the special esteem of the Lord
Jesus for women"
(Bl. John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio", 22).
St. Escriva provides another summary of this teaching:
"Women, like men, pos-
sess the dignity of being persons and children of God.
Nevertheless, on this ba-
sis of fundamental equality, each must achieve what is appropriate
to him or her
[...]. Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to
the Church cha-
racteristics which are their own and which they alone can give --
their gentle
warmth and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their
quick-wittedness and
intuition, their simple and deep piety, their constancy ..."
("Conversations", 87).
25-27. Love between husband and wife is also founded on Christ's
love for his
Church. New Testament revelation fixes this high standard for a
husband's love
for his wife because the model for this life is nothing less than
Christ's love for
the Church. St Paul, in fact, expresses this in terms of a
betrothed couple, with
the bride all dressed up to be presented to the bridegroom: Christ
similarly sanc-
tifies and purifies, through Baptism, those who are going to
become members
of his Church. The sacrament of Baptism, reflected in the words
"by the washing
of water with the word", applies that redemption which Jesus
has brought about
through his sacrifice on the cross.
27. 'The Church", Vatican II teaches, "[...] is held, as
a matter of faith, to be un-
failingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with
the Father and
the Spirit is hailed as 'alone holy,' loved the Church as his
Bride, giving himself
up for her so as to sanctify her (cf. Eph 5:25-26); he joined her
to himself as his
body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the
glory of God. There-
fore all in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy or
are cared for by it,
are called to holiness, according to the Apostle's saying: 'For
this is the will of
God, your sanctification' (1 Thess 4:3; cf. Eph 1:4). This
holiness of the Church
is constantly shown forth in the fruits of grace which the Spirit
produces in the
faithful and so it must be; it is expressed in many ways by the
individuals who,
each in his own state of life, tend to the perfection of love,
thus sanctifying others"
("Lumen Gentium", 39).
28-32. St Paul alludes to the text of Genesis 2:24 which has to do
with marriage
as an institution and applies it to Christ and the Church. He
thereby teaches that
marriage, as established by God from the beginning, is already in
some way
saved, because it is a kind of reflection and symbol of God's love
for mankind.
"Receiving and meditating faithfully on the word of God, the
Church has solemnly
taught and continues to teach that the marriage of the baptized is
one of the se-
ven sacraments of the New Covenant [...].
"By virtue of the sacramentality of their marriage, spouses
are bound to one ano-
ther in the most profoundly indissoluble manner. Their belonging
to each other is
the real representation, by means of the sacramental sign, of the
very relation-
ship of Christ with the Church.
"Spouses are therefore the permanent reminder to the Church
of what happened
on the Cross; they are for one another and for the children
witnesses to the sal-
vation in which the sacrament makes them sharers" (Bl. John
Paul II, "Familiaris
Consortio", 13).
The vocation of marriage is, then, a true way of holiness. The
founder of Opus Dei
was always very emphatic about this: "For a Christian,
marriage is not just a so-
cial institution, much less a mere remedy for human weakness. It
is a genuine su-
pernatural calling. A great sacrament, in Christ and in the
Church, says St Paul
(Eph 5:32). At the same time, it is a permanent contract between a
man and a
woman. Whether we like it or not, marriage instituted by Christ
cannot be dissol-
ved. It is a sacred sign that sanctifies an action of Jesus
whereby he helps the
souls of those who marry and invites them to follow him
transforming their whole
married life into an occasion for God's presence on earth"
("Christ Is Passing By",
23).
The holiness of their family and of those connected with it is
very much a function
of the holiness of the married couple: "But they must not
forget that the secret of
married happiness lies in everyday things, not in daydreams. It
lies in discovering
the hidden joy of coming home in the evening; in affectionate
relations with their
children; in everyday work in which the whole family cooperates;
in good humor in
the face of difficulties that should be met with a sporting
spirit; in making the best
use of all the advances that civilization offers to help us bring
up children, to make
the house pleasant and life more simple" (St. J. Escriva,
"Conversations", 91).
See the note on Col 3:18-19.
31. On the indissolubility of marriage see the notes on Mt
5:31-32; Mk 10:1-12;
10:5-9; Lk 16:18; 1 Cor7:10-11.
Patristic
Commentaries on the Gospel: http://dhspriory.org/thomas/CAJohn.htm#6
AUG. Such is our Lord’s discourse. The people did not perceive that
it had a deep meaning or, that grace went along with it: but receiving the
matter in their own way, and taking His words in a human sense, understood Him
as if He spoke of cutting of the flesh of the Word into pieces, for
distribution to those who believed on Him: Many therefore, not of His enemies,
but even of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying,
who can bear it?CHRYS. i.e. difficult to receive, too much for their
weakness. They thought He spoke above Himself, and more loftily than He had a
right to do; and so said they, Who can bear it? which was answering in fact for
themselves, that they could not. AUG.
And if His disciples thought that saying hard what would His enemies think? Yet
it was necessary to declare a thing, which would be unintelligible to men.
God’s mysteries should draw men’s attention, not enmity. THEOPHYL. When you hear,
however, of His disciples murmuring, understand not those really such, but rather
some who, as far as their air and behavior went, seemed to be receiving
instruction from Him. For among His disciples were some of the people, who were
called such, because they stayed some time with His disciples.AUG. They
spoke, however, so as not to be heard by Him. But He, who knew what was in
them, heard within Himself: When Jesus knew within Himself that His disciples
murmured at it, He said to them, Does this of offend you? ALCUIN. i.e. that I said, you
should eat My flesh, and drink My blood. CHRYS.
The revelation however of these hidden things was a mark of His Divinity: hence
the meaning of what follows; And if you shall see the Son of man ascend up
where He was before; supply, What will you say? He said the same to Nathanael,
Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, believe you? You shall see
greater things than these. He does not add difficulty to difficulty, but to
convince them by the number and greatness of His doctrines. For if He had
merely said that He came down from heaven, without adding any thing further, he
would have offended His hearers more; but by saying that His flesh is the life
of the world, and that as He was sent by the living Father, so He lives by the
Father; and at last by adding that He came down from heaven, He removed all
doubt. Nor does He mean to scandalize His disciples, but rather to remove their
scandal. For so long as they thought Him the Son of Joseph, they could not
receive His doctrines; but if they once believed that He had come down from
heaven and would ascend thither, they would be much more willing and able to
admit them. AUG. Or, these
words are an answer to their mistake. They supposed that He was going to
distribute His body in bits: whereas He tells them now, that He should ascend
to heaven whole and entire: What and if you shall see the Son of man ascend up
where He was before? You will then see that He does not distribute His body in
the way you think. Again; Christ became the Son of man, of the Virgin Mary here
upon earth, and took flesh upon Him: He says then, What and, if you shall see
the Son of man ascend up where He was before? to let us know that Christ, God
and man, is one person, not two; and the object of one faith, not a quaternity,
but a Trinity. He was the Son of man in heaven, as He was Son of God upon
earth; the Son of God upon earth by assumption of the flesh, the Son of man in
heaven, by the unity of the person. THEOPHYL.
Do not suppose from this that the body of Christ came down from heaven, as the
heretics Marcion and Apollinarius say; but only that the Son of God and the Son
of man are one and the same. CHRYS.
He tries to remove their difficulties in another way, as follows, It is the
spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing: that is to say, You ought to
understand My words in a spiritual sense: he who understands them carnally is
profited nothing. To interpret carnally is to take a proposition in its bare
literal meaning, and allow no other. But we should not judge of mysteries in
this way; but examine them with the inward eye; i.e. understand them
spiritually. It was carnal to doubt how our Lord could give His flesh to eat.
What then? Is it not real flesh? Yes, verily. In saying then that the flesh
profits nothing, He does not speak of His own flesh, but that of the carnal
hearer of His wordAUG. Or thus, the flesh profits nothing. They had
under stood by His flesh, as it were, of a carcass, that was to be cut up, and
sold in the shambles, not of a body animated by the spirit. Join the spirit to
the flesh, and it profits much: for if the flesh profited not, the Word would
not have become flesh, and dwelt among us. The Spirit has done much for our
salvation, by means of the flesh. AUG.
For the flesh does not cleanse of itself, but by the Word who assumed it: which
Word, being the principle of life in all things, having taken up soul and body,
cleanses the souls and bodies of those that believe. It is the spirit, it,
then, that quickens: the flesh profits nothing; i.e. the flesh as they
understood it. I do not, He seems to say, give My body to be eaten in this
sense. He ought not to think of the flesh carnally: The words that I speak to
you, they are spirit, and they are life. CHRYS.
i.e. are spiritual, have nothing carnal in them, produce no effects of the
natural sort; not being under the dominion of that law of necessity, and order
of nature established on earth.AUG. If then you understand them
spiritually, they are life and spirit to you: if carnally, even then they are
life and spirit, but not to you. Our Lord declares that in eating His body, and
drinking His blood, we dwell in Him, and He in us. But what has the power to
affect this, except love? The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit, which is given to us. CHRYS.
Having spoken of His words being taken carnally, He adds, But there are some of
you that believe not. Some, He says, not including His disciples in the number.
This insight shows His high nature.AUG. He says not, There are some
among you who understand not; but gives the reason why they do not understand.
The Prophet said, Except you believe, you shall not understand. For how can he
who opposes be quickened? An adversary, though he avert not his face, yet
closes his mind to the ray of light which should penetrate him. But let men
believe, and open their eyes, and they will be enlightened. CHRYS. To let you know that it
was before these words, and not after, that the people murmured and were
offended, the Evangelist adds, For Jesus knew from the beginning, who they were
that believed not, and who should betray Him. THEOPHYL.
The Evangelist wishes to show us, that He knew all things before the foundation
of the world: which was a proof of His divinity. AUG. And after distinguishing
those who believed from those who did not believe, our Lord gives the reason of
the unbelief of the latter, And He said, Therefore said I to you, that no man
can come to Me, except it were given him of My Father. CHRYS. As if He said, Men’s
unbelief does not disturb or astonish Me: I know to whom the Father has given
to come to Me. He mentions the Father, to show first that He had no eye to His
own glory; secondly, that God was His Father, and not Joseph. AUG. So then (our) faith is
given to us: and no small gift it is. Wherefore rejoice if you believe; but be
not lifted up, for what have you which you did not receive? And that this grace
is given to some, and not to others, no one can doubt, without going against
the plainest declarations of Scripture. As for the question, why it is not
given to all, this cannot disquiet the believer, who knows that in consequence
of the sin of one man, all are justly liable to condemnation; and that no blame
could attach to God, even if none were pardoned; it being of His great mercy
only that so many are. And why He pardons one rather than another, rests with
Him, whose judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out.
And from that time many of
the disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. CHRYS. He does not say,
withdrew, but went back, i.e. from being good hearers, from the belief which
they once had. AUG. Being
cut off from the body, their life was gone. They were no longer in the body;
they were created among the unbelieving. There went back not a few, but many
after Satan, not after Christ; as the Apostle says of some women, For some had
already turned aside after Satan. Our Lord says to Peter, Get you behind Me. He
does not tell Peter to go after Satan. CHRYS.
But it may be asked, what reason was there for speaking words to them which did
not edify, but might rather have injured them? It was very useful and
necessary; for this reason, they had been just now urgent in petitioning for
bodily food, and reminding Him of that which had been given to their fathers.
So He reminds them here of spiritual food; to show that all those miracles were
typical. They ought not then to have been offended, but should have inquired of
Him further. The scandal was owing to their fatuity, not to the difficulty of the
truths declared by our Lord. AUG.
And perhaps this took place for our consolation; since it sometimes happens
that a man says what is true, and what He says is not understood, and they
which hear are offended and go. Then the man is sorry he spoke what was true;
for he says to himself; I ought not to have spoken it; and yet our Lord was in
the same case. He spoke the truth, and destroyed many. But He is not disturbed
at it, because He knew from the beginning which would believe. We, if this
happens to us, are disturbed. Let us desire consolation then from our Lord’s
example; and withal use caution in our speech. BEDE. Our Lord knew well the
intentions of the other disciples which stayed, as to staying or going; but yet
He put the question to them, in order to prove their faith, and hold it up to
imitation: Then said Jesus to the twelve, Will you also go away? CHRYS. This was the right way
to retain them. Had He praised them, they would naturally, as men do, have
thought that they were conferring a favor upon Christ, by not leaving Him: by
showing, as He did, that He did not need their company, He made them hold the
more closely by Him. He does not say, however, Go away, as this would have been
to cast them off; but asks whether they wished to go away; thus preventing
their staying with Him from any feeling of shame or necessity: for to stay from
necessity would be the same as going away. Peter, who loved his brethren,
replies for the whole number, Lord, to whom shall we go? AUG. As if he said, You cast us
from You: give us another to whom we shall go, if we leave You. CHRYS. A speech of the greatest
love: proving that Christ was more precious to them than father or mother. And
that it might not seem to be said, from thinking that there was no one whose
guidance they could look to, he adds, You have the words of eternal life: which
showed that he remembered his Master’s words, I will raise Him up, and, has
eternal life. The Jews said, Is not this the Son of Joseph? how differently
Peter: We believe and are sure, that you art that Christ, the son of the living
God. AUG. For we believed,
in order to know. Had we wished first to know, and then to; believe, we could
never have been able to believe. This we believe, and know, that You are the
Christ the Son of God; i.e. that You are eternal life, and that in Your flesh
and blood you give what You are Yourself. CHRYS.
Peter however having said, We believe, our Lord excepts Judas from the number
of those who believed: Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and
one of you is a devil? i.e. Do not suppose that, because you have followed Me,
I shall not reprove the wicked among you. It is worth inquiring, why the
disciples say nothing here, whereas afterwards they ask in fear, Lord, is it I?
But Peter had not yet been told, Get you behind Me, Satan; and therefore had as
yet no fear of this sort. Our Lord however does not say here, One of you shall
betray Me, but, is a devil: so that they did not know what the speech meant,
and thought that it was only a case of wickedness in general, that He was
reproving. The Gentiles on the subject of election blame Christ foolishly. His
election does not impose any necessity upon the person with respect to the
future, but leaves it in the power of His will to be saved or perish. BEDE. Or we must say, that He
elected the eleven for one purpose, the twelfth for another: the eleven to fill
the place of Apostles, and persevere in it to the end; the twelfth to the
service of betraying Him, which was the means of saving the human race. AUG. He was elected to be an
involuntary and unconscious instrument of producing the greatest good. For as
the wicked turn the good works of God to an evil use, so reversely God turns
the evil works of man to good. What can be worse than what Judas did? Yet our
Lord made a good use of his wickedness; allowing Himself to be betrayed, that
He might redeem us. In, Have I not chosen you twelve, twelve seems to be a
sacred number used in the case of those, who were to spread the doctrine of the
Trinity through the four quarters of the world. Nor was the virtue of that
number impaired, by one perishing; inasmuch as another was substituted in his
room. GREG. One of you is
a devil: the body is here named after its head. CHRYS. Mark the wisdom of
Christ: He neither; by exposing him, makes him shameless and contentious; nor
again emboldens him, by allowing him to think himself concealed.
Personal
Reflections:
*
Ngonyan na mga nakaaging Domingo paulit-ulit niatong nadangog na si Jesus an
Tinapay nin Buhay. Na Siya hale sa
langit asin itinatao sa tawo para kakanon.
An tawo na nagkakakan Saiya magkakaigwa nin buhay na daing kasagkoran.
*
Tunay na laman ining hostia na satong kinakakan cada vez kita nagko-comunion
asin tunay ining dugo na satong iniinom sa Sacramento kan Santa Misa. Nasabotan ini kan mga nagdadangog ki Cristo
sosog ki Juan capitolo 6, kaya ngani hindi ini kinoreheran kan satuyang
Kagurangnan. Inulit-ulit pa Niya para
masabutan talaga. An problema an pagsabot
dai sinusundan kan pagtanggap. Sabi kan
mga nakadangog kay Jesus, masakit ining tataramon, sisay an makakatanggap
kaini. Kaya an kadakulan sainda di na
nagsunod ki Cristo poon kaidto.
*
Ngonyan na nasabutan na kan tawo, nasabutan na niato kung ano talaga an boot
sabihun ni Jesus manongod sa Saiyang Hawak asin Dugo, yaon na an tema kan
pagtanggap na iyo an nadangog niato ki Josue capitolo 24. Naintiendihan na niato, ngonyan na an pagpili
kun tatanggapon ini o hindi. Magsunod o
hindi magsunod. Ki Cristo kita o sa iba. Iyo ini an hapot.
*
Sa satuyang pag-decision maray man na paghorop-horopan ta an simbag na
negativo. A ver daw ngonyan kun bako na
kita magsunod ki Jesu Cristo. Hapot ni
Pedro sa Evangelio, hapot ta man ngonyan asin satuyang simbagon: kan kiisay pa
kita maduman?
*
Sa kapwa niato? Maski ano pa ninda
kamaray, tawo man sinda parejo niato.
Parejo man niato an saindang mga problema, dificultades asin mga
kakulangan. Kung hindi niato mapano an
satuyang pagkukulang kita mismo, pan-o man kita makakapano sa kakulangan kan
iba, sinda man bako man makakapano sa satuya.
Pararejo kita kurulang. Ining mga
argumentong ini puede ta na maiaplicar sa gabos na pararejo tang mga linalang:
an mga hayop, mga halaman, asin mga bagay.
Sa mga katood? Na nagkakawarara. Sa kasikatan?
Na nalalaos. Sa cuarta? Na nauubos.
*
Sa sciencia kita maduman? Na frutas man
kan intelecto kan tawo. Na maski ngani
kahalangkaw an naabot na kaini pirmi ini magkukulang para kita mapanoan ta ini
hale man lang sa satuya. Kun ano an puno
iyo an bunga. Marahay rahay man an
maabtan kaini, insuficiente pa man giraray para mapano an satuyang kakulangan.
*
Tunay na wara kitang madudumanan na makakapuno sa satuya kun di an Dios na
satong Kagurangnan. Tunay na Siya lang
an may Tataramon kan Buhay na daing kasagkoran, an magpupuno sa satuyang
kakulangan. Dahil Siya an satuyang
Kaggibo, Siya man an satuyang Kagtao, mas ki ano an kaipuhan ta, tunay na necesidad,
Siya an solucion. Dahel linalang kita
kan Kagurangnan, cabezado kita Niya.
Dahel Siya an Dios, kitang mga tawo dai mapapatonong hanggan di kita
nasa Saiya.
*
Sa simbag na negativo, sa simbag na habo ta sa Dios, wara kita pakadtoan. Warang wara.
*
Kaya mga tugang, ngonyan na ika-veinte-uno kan Tiempo Ordinario, ini an agyat
kan Satuyang Kagurangnan satuya. A ver
daw asin hilinga naton kun may madudumanan pa kamo kun di Siya. A ver daw mangalagkalag kita gamit an satuyang
mga mata asin mga isip kun may makukua kita na magpupuno kan satuyang mga
kakaulang kun di Siya. A ver daw kun may
makakabasog sa satuya para sa Buhay na daing kasagkoran kun di Siya.
*
Mag-decision kita ngonyan gabos kita, asin kita na mga naka-decision na
panibag-ong decision ngonyan an satong gibohon.
Decision na uulit-uliton ta aro-aldaw pagkamata maski na magluya man ini
bag-o magkaturog. Saimo kami
Kagurangnan, kan sisay pa man kami maduman, Ika sana an may Tataramon kan Buhay
na daing kasagkoran. Amen.
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