CCC Cross Reference:
1 Cor 10:16-17 1329, 1331, 1396; 1 Cor 10:16 1334; 1 Cor 10:17 1621
Ps 116:12 224; Ps 116:13 1330; Ps 116:17 1330
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Reading 1
1 Cor 10:14-22
My beloved ones, avoid idolatry.
I am speaking as to sensible people;
judge for yourselves what I am saying.
The cup of blessing that we bless,
is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ?
The bread that we break,
is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?
Because the loaf of bread is one,
we, though many, are one Body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.
Look at Israel according to the flesh;
are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?
So what am I saying?
That meat sacrificed to idols is anything?
Or that an idol is anything?
No, I mean that what they sacrifice,
they sacrifice to demons, not to God,
and I do not want you to become participants with demons.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons.
You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
Or are we provoking the Lord to jealous anger?
Are we stronger than him?
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 116:12-13, 17-18
R. (17) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
How shall I make a return to the Lord
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
My vows to the Lord I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
Gospel
Lk 6:43-49
Jesus said to his disciples:
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when the flood came, the river burst against that house
but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act
is like a person who built a house on the ground
without a foundation.
When the river burst against it,
it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading 1 Corinthians 10:14 – 22
This is the reason, my dear brothers, why you must keep clear of idolatry. I say to you as sensible people: judge for yourselves what I am saying. The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf. Look at the other Israel, the race, where those who eat the sacrifices are in communion with the altar. Does this mean that the food sacrificed to idols has a real value, or that the idol itself is real? Not at all. It simply means that the sacrifices that they offer they sacrifice to demons who are not God. I have no desire to see you in communion with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take your share at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons. Do we want to make the Lord angry; are we stronger than he is?
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 115 (116):12-13,17-18
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfill
before all his people.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
Gospel Luke 6:43 – 49
Jesus said:
‘There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.
‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord” and not do what I say?
‘Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Saturday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
From: 1 Corinthians 10:14-22
Idolatry and the Eucharist, Incompatible
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[14] Therefore, my beloved, shun the worship of idols. [15] I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say. [16] The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? [17] Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. [18] Consider the practice if Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? [19] What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? [20] No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. [21] You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. [22] Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
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Commentary:
14-22. After illustrating the general principles by reference to what himself does and the lessons of the history of Israel (cf. note on chaps. 8-10), St Paul returns to the subject of food sacrificed to idols. Christians may not attend the banquets which take place at pagan shrines, for that would amount to idolatry. By eating the meat of animals offered to Yahweh, Jews participated in the sacrifice and worship in his honor; and, by receiving the body and blood of the Lord, Christians unite themselves to Christ; similarly, those who take part in idolatrous banquets are associating themselves not with false gods -- which have no existence – but with demons. In the Old Testament it is pointed out that things sacrificed to idols are in fact being offered to demons, who enemies of the worship of God (cf. Deut 32:17; Ps 106: 36-38; Bar 4:7).
St Paul's words confirm basic truths of faith connected with the sublime mystery of the Eucharist -- its sacrificial character, adverted to here by drawing a parallel between it and pagan sacrifices (cf. v. 21; Council of Trent, "De SS. Missae Sacrificio", chap. 1), and the real presence of Christ, as can be seen by the reference to the body and blood of Christ (v. 16). The Church's faith has always maintained that the holy sacrifice of the Mass is the renewal of the divine sacrifice of Calvary; in every Mass Christ once again offers God the Father His body and blood, as a sacrifice for all men, with the difference that what was offered on the cross in a bloody manner is offered on the altar in an unbloody manner. "In the divine sacrifice that is offered in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is present and is offered in an unbloody manner (cf. Heb 9: 27). [...] For it is one and the same victim -- He who now makes the offering through the ministry of priests and He who then offered Himself on the cross; the only difference is in the manner of the offering" ("De SS. Missae Sacrificio", chap. 2). "The Eucharist is above all a sacrifice – he sacrifice of Redemption and at the same time the sacrifice of the New Covenant" (John Paul II, "Letter To All Bishops", 24 February 1980). See also the notes on Mt 26:26-29 and par.
On the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, see the note on 1 Cor 11:27-32. 16-17. The principal effect of the Blessed Eucharist is intimate union with Jesus. The very name "communion" -- taken from this passage of St Paul (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", II, 4, 4) -- points to becoming one with our Lord by receiving his body and blood. "What in fact is the bread? The body of Christ. What do they become who receive Communion? The body of Christ" (Chrysostom, "Hom. On 1 Cor, 24, ad loc.").
St Augustine places these words on Jesus' lips to describe what happens at Holy Communion: "You will not change me into you as happens with bodily food; rather, you will be changed into me" ("Confessions", VII, 10, 16).
Due to this intimate union with Christ, the Eucharist is at one and the same time the sacrament where the entire Church demonstrates and achieves its unity, and where a very special kind of solidarity is developed among Christians. That is why why it is called a "symbol of unity" and a "bond of love;" (Council of Trent, "De SS. Eucharistia", chap. 8; cf. "Lumen Gentium", 7; "Unitatis Redintegratio", 2). The Fathers of the Church have seen a symbol of this union in the very materials -- read and wine -- used to make the Eucharist. The "St Pius V Catechism" sums up this as follows: "the body of Christ, which is one, consists of many members (cf. Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 10:17; 12:12), and of this union nothing is more strikingly illustrative than the elements of bread and wine; for bread is made from many grains and wine is pressed from many clusters of grapes. Thus they signify that we, though many, are most closely bound together by the bond of the divine mystery and made, as it were, one body" (II, 4,18).
"We who are many ...": the literal translation would be "We the many ...". The text derives from a Hebrew expression indicating plurality or even totality as distinct from a single entity or a minority; the RSV catches this idea. The same turn of phrase is found, for example, in Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45; Is 53:11.
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From: Luke 6:43-49
Integrity (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to his disciples,) [43] "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; [44] for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. [45] The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
[46] "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? [47] Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: [48] he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. [49] But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."
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Commentary:
43-44. To distinguish the good tree from the bad tree we need to look at the fruit the tree produces (deeds) and not at its foliage (words). "For there is no lack of people here on earth who, on being approached, turn out to be nothing but large, shiny, glossy leaves. Foliage, just foliage and nothing more. Meanwhile, many souls are looking at us hoping to satisfy their hunger, which is a hunger for God. We must not forget that we have all the resources we need. We have sufficient doctrine and the grace of God, in spite of our wretchedness" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 51).
45. Jesus is giving us two similes--that of the tree which, if it is not good, produces good fruit, and that of the man, who speaks of those things he has in his heart. "The treasure of the heart is the same as the root of the tree," St Bede explains. "A person who has a treasure of patience and of perfect charity in his heart yields excellent fruit; he loves his neighbor and has all the other qualities Jesus teaches; he loves his enemies, does good to him who hates him, blesses him who curses him, prays for him who calumniates him, does not react against him who attacks him or robs him; he gives to those who ask, does not claim what they have stolen from him, wishes not to judge and does not condemn, corrects patiently and affectionately those who err. But the person who has in his heart the treasure of evil does exactly the opposite: he hates his friends, speaks evil of him who loves him and does all the other things condemned by the Lord" ("In Lucae Evangelium Expositio", II, 6).
46. Jesus asks us to act in a way consistent with being Christians and not to make any separation between the faith we profess and the way we live: "What matters is not whether or not we wear a religious habit; it is whether we try to practice the virtues and surrender our will to God and order our lives as His Majesty ordains, and not want to do our will but his" (St Teresa of Avila, "Interior Castle", II, 6).
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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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