CCC Cross Reference:
Jas 2:7 432, 2148
Ps 34:3 716
Mk 8:27 472; Mk 8:31-33 557; Mk 8:31 474, 572, 649
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Reading 1
Jas 2:1-9
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality
as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly,
and a poor person with shabby clothes also comes in,
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes
and say, “Sit here, please,”
while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves
and become judges with evil designs?
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that he promised to those who love him?
But you dishonored the poor.
Are not the rich oppressing you?
And do they themselves not haul you off to court?
Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you?
However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.
But if you show partiality, you commit sin,
and are convicted by the law as
transgressors.
Responsorial Psalm
34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Glorify the Lord with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the Lord heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Gospel
Mk 8:27-33
Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading James 2:1 – 9
My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?
Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him. In spite of this, you have no respect for anybody who is poor. Isn’t it always the rich who are against you? Isn’t it always their doing when you are dragged before the court? Aren’t they the ones who insult the honorable name to which you have been dedicated? Well, the right thing to do is to keep the supreme law of scripture: you must love your neighbor as yourself; but as soon as you make distinctions between classes of people, you are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the Law.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33(34):2-7
This poor man called; the Lord heard him.
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.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him.
Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him.
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him.
Gospel Mark 8:27 – 33
Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Thursday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
From: James 2:1-9
Respect for the Poor
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[1] My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. [2] For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, [3] and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "Have a seat here, please," while you say to the poor man, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," [4] have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? [5] Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him? [6] But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, is it not they who drag you into court? [7] Is it not they who blaspheme that honorable name by which you are called?
[8] If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well. [9] But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
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Commentary:
1-13. Apparently some of the Christians to whom this letter was addressed were guilty of discriminating against people on the grounds of social standing--a clear instance of inconsistency between faith and actions, a key theme which James has already touched on (cf. 1:19-27) and will develop later (cf. 2:14-26). He may well be taking an example from something that actually happened (verses 1-4) to make the very vigorous point that discrimination is opposed to the Gospel (verses 5-7) as indeed to the Law (verses 8-11); and he makes it plain that this type of behavior will be severely punished by God when He comes to judge (verses 12-13).
1-4. God "is not partial and takes no bribe" (Deuteronomy 10:17). Discrimination among people is often condemned in the Old Testament--in the Law as well as in the Prophets and the Wisdom books (cf., e.g. Leviticus 19:15; Isaiah 5:23; Micah 3:9-11; Psalm 82:2-4). In the Gospel even our Lord's enemies admit that He is impartial and does not make unfair distinctions (cf. Matthew 22:16).
In line with this teaching, the Church takes issue with every form of discrimination. "All men are endowed with a rational soul and are created in God's image; they have the same nature and origin and, being redeemed by Christ, they enjoy the same divine calling and destiny; there is here a basic equality between men and it must be given ever greater recognition. Undoubtedly not all men are alike as regards physical capacity and intellectual and moral powers. But forms of social or cultural discrimination in basic personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language or religion, must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 29).
1. "The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory": literally "the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory." This phrase can be interpreted in slightly different ways depending on how one understands "of glory". The most likely interpretation is that this is an instance of a Semitic genitive used in place of the adjective "glorious" or "glorified"; in which case St. James is referring to Jesus Christ who, after His ascension and resurrection, enjoys, also in His capacity as man, the highest honor and glory.
The RSV takes up the idea found in 1 Corinthians 2:8 where St. Paul calls Christ "the Lord of glory": since in the Old Testament "glory" was the splendor of the majesty of Yahweh (cf. Exodus 24:16), by applying this divine attribute to Christ His divinity is being explicitly asserted. If this is the correct translation, it may be a form of words taken from early Christian liturgy.
Some translate it in another way which puts even greater stress on Christ's divinity: "The faith of the glory (that is, the divinity) of our Lord Jesus Christ."
All these translations are compatible with one another and complementary to one another.
5-7. Many of the people to whom the letter was written must have been quite poor (cf. note on 1:2-4; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29). St. James reminds them that God wants to make them rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus in fact had given as a sign of His messiahship the fact that the Gospel is proclaimed to the poor (cf. Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22) and He also taught that "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5: 3). "Christ was sent by the Father 'to preach good news to the poor...to heal the contrite of heart' (Luke 4:18), 'to seek and to save the lost' (Luke 19:10). Similarly, the Church encompasses with her love all those who are afflicted by human misery and she recognizes in those who are poor and who suffer, the image of her poor and suffering Founder. She does all in her power to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve Christ" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 8).
Of the rich on the other hand, the Apostle speaks with unusual harshness. As elsewhere in Sacred Scripture, those who deserve such severe condemnation are people who are bent on building up their possession as if ownership were the only purpose in life, not minding what means they used, and oppressing and ill-treating the poor (cf. note on Luke 6:24).
Behavior of this type is so serious that it amounts to "blaspheming that honorable name by which you are called" (verse 7)--blasphemy by scandalous action rather than by words. This "name" can mean both the name "Jesus" – called down on them at Baptism--and that of "Christian", a name already being given to those first followers of the Master (cf. Acts 11:26).
What St. James says here can in no sense be used to justify the "class struggle" which some materialistic doctrines propose. The Magisterium of the Church has often pointed out that the application of Christian principles should make for harmony and concord between the various groups in society (cf. Leo XIII, "Rerum Novarum", 14). James' words certainly do urge everyone to make a real effort to promote the human dignity of all: "The evil inequities and oppression of every kind which afflict millions of men and women today openly contradict Christ's Gospel and cannot leave the conscience of any Christian indifferent" (SCDF, "Libertatis Conscientia", 57).
8-11. The Apostle extends his argument against discrimination, recalling what is said in the Old Testament (with which his original readers would have been familiar, since many of them were Jewish converts to Christianity). As we have pointed out previously (cf. note on 2:1-4) all unjust discrimination is condemned in the Old Testament
8. "The royal law" is spelled out in the Book of Leviticus (19:18). St. James calls it this perhaps because, in addition to commanding love of God above all things, it is the basis and root of all the other commandments (cf. Matthew 22:34-40).
Jesus corrected narrow interpretations of that law of charity (cf. Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 10:25-37) and formulated the "new commandment" at the Last Supper: "that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love another" (John 13:34). In proposing this new standard ("as I have loved you") our Lord gives new content and meaning to the precept of brotherly love. This commandment is the law of the new people of God, the Church (cf. "Lumen Gentium", 9).
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From: Mark 8:27-33
Peter's Profession of Faith
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[27] And Jesus went on with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" [28] And they told Him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the prophets." [29] And He asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter answered Him, "You are the Christ." [30] And He charged them to tell no one about Him.
Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection. Christian Renunciation
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[31] And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. [32] And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. [33] But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men."
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Commentary:
29. Peter's profession of faith is reported here in a shorter form than in Matthew 16:18-19. Peter seems to go no further than say that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Eusebius of Caesarea, in the fourth century, explains the Evangelist's reserve by the fact that he was the interpreter of St. Peter, who omitted from his preaching anything which might appear to be self-praise. The Holy Spirit, when inspiring St. Mark, wanted the Gospel to reflect the preaching of the prince of the Apostles, leaving it to other evangelists to fill out certain important details to do with the episode of the confession of Peter.
The sketchiness of the narrative still show Peter's role quite clearly: he is the first to come forward affirming the messiahship of Jesus. Our Lord's question, "But who do you say that I am?", shows what Jesus is asking the Apostles for -- not an opinion, more or less favorable, but firm faith. It is St. Peter who expresses this faith (cf. note on Matthew 16:13-20).
31-33. This is the first occasion when Jesus tells His disciples about the sufferings and death He must undergo. He does it twice more, later on (cf. Mark 9:31 and 10:32). The Apostles are surprised, because they cannot and do not want to understand why the Master should have to suffer and die, much less that He should be so treated "by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes." But Peter, with his usual spontaneity, immediately begins to protest. And Jesus replies to him using the same words as He addressed the devil when he tempted Him (cf. Matthew 4:10); He wants to affirm, once again, that His mission is spiritual, not earthly, and that therefore it cannot be understood by using mere human criteria: it is governed by God's designs, which were that Jesus should redeem us through His passion and death. So too, for a Christian, suffering, united with Christ, is also a means of salvation.
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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.
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