CCC Cross Reference:
1 Cor 6:1 823; 1 Cor 6:9-10 1852, 2380; 1 Cor 6:10 2357, 2450; 1 Cor 6:11 693, 1227, 1452, 1695, 2813
Lk 6:12-16 1577; Lk 6:12 2600; Lk 6:19 695, 1116, 1504
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Reading 1
1 Cor 6:1-11
Brothers and sisters:
How can any one of you with a case against another
dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment
instead of to the holy ones?
Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world?
If the world is to be judged by you,
are you unqualified for the lowest law courts?
Do you not know that we will judge angels?
Then why not everyday matters?
If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters,
do you seat as judges people of no standing in the Church?
I say this to shame you.
Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough
to be able to settle a case between brothers?
But rather brother goes to court against brother,
and that before unbelievers?
Now indeed then it is, in any case,
a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another.
Why not rather put up with injustice?
Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?
Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.
Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived;
neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves
nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers
will inherit the Kingdom of God.
That is what some of you used to be;
but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and in the Spirit of our God.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
R. (see 4) The Lord takes delight in his people.
Sing to the Lord a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the Lord loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Gospel
Lk 6:12-19
Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading 1 Corinthians 6:1 – 11
How dare one of your members take up a complaint against another in the law courts of the unjust instead of before the saints? As you know, it is the saints who are to ‘judge the world’; and if the world is to be judged by you, how can you be unfit to judge trifling cases? Since we are also to judge angels, it follows that we can judge matters of everyday life; but when you have had cases of that kind, the people you appointed to try them were not even respected in the Church. You should be ashamed: is there really not one reliable man among you to settle differences between brothers and so one brother brings a court case against another in front of unbelievers? It is bad enough for you to have lawsuits at all against one another: oughtn’t you to let yourselves be wronged, and let yourselves be cheated? But you are doing the wronging and the cheating, and to your own brothers.
You know perfectly well that people who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God: people of immoral lives, idolaters, adulterers, catamites, sodomites, thieves, usurers, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers will never inherit the kingdom of God. These are the sort of people some of you were once, but now you have been washed clean, and sanctified, and justified through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 149:1-6,9
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Sing a new song to the Lord,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel rejoice in its Maker,
let Zion’s sons exult in their king.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music with timbrel and harp.
For the Lord takes delight in his people.
He crowns the poor with salvation.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,
shout for joy and take their rest.
Let the praise of God be on their lips:
this honor is for all his faithful.
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 6:12 – 19
Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.
He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Tuesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
From: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
Recourse to Pagan Courts
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[1] When one of you has a grievance against a brother, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? [2] Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? [3] Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, matters pertaining to this life! [4] If then you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who are least esteemed by the church? [5] I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between members of the brotherhood, [6] but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?
[7] To have lawsuits at all with one another is defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? [8] But you yourselves wrong and defraud, and that even your own brethren.
[9] Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, [10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
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Commentary:
1-6. As usually happens in his letters, in the course of dealing with some more or less important event in the Christian community, the Apostle moves on to a much higher plane, and from there focuses light onto the particular problem.
In this case, the scandal is that Christians are involved in lawsuits against one another (v. 7) and are bringing these cases before pagan courts instead of trying to settle them within the sphere of the Church; Paul, as we can see, is quite incensed: "How dare any of your members..."
Through Baptism, Christians are become holy, justified; that is, they have obtained a share in the life and virtues of Christ and are called to follow his example. Furthermore, like the Apostles (cf. Mt 19:28; Lk 22:30), Christians will judge men and angels on the Last Day. They are, therefore, instruments of and witnesses to divine justice. So, they really should not go to law against each other; and if they do have grievances the Christian community itself should provide people who are equipped to act as arbitrators and have the grace of state to solve the problems that arise. St Paul is not down-playing civil authority and its autonomy, for all authority comes from God (Rom 13:1-5); he himself submitted to Roman tribunals, and he even appealed to Caesar (cf. Acts 25:11-12). The specific advice he gives here -- that Christians should not bring cases before pagan court -- ties in with Jewish practice. Primarily, the Apostle is recommending to Christians to practice fraternity and solve disagreements without going to pagan courts.
Moreover, going to law would be a great disservice to the Gospel: what attraction could a community hold which was divided within itself? [7] It is this grave scandal that he particularly wants to avoid.
3. The only Judge of the living and the dead, of angels and men, is Jesus Christ. Christians are so intimately linked to Christ that St Paul sees no objections to attributing the actions of the head to all the members. Therefore, he does not attempt to speculate on the particular form the Last Judgment will take -- whether, for example, men will judge angels or at least the fallen angels. His aim here may be simply to emphasize the intimate union of the Christian with Christ, which ought to be reflected in just dealings with one another.
7-8. This is the reason why St Paul is so hard on the Corinthians. They have failed to understand and to apply what our Lord said in the Sermon on the Mount about bearing injuries (Mt 5:39-42). Worse still, they have gone to law against each other in contravention of the standard set by those early Christians, who had one heart and soul (cf. Acts 4:32). And they have tried to solve their disagreements in pagan courts which know nothing of Christian brotherhood. St John Chrysostom points out the transgressions the Corinthians are guilty of: "For one thing, not bearing injuries patiently; for another, offending others; then looking for arbitrators to decide on the matter, finally, using this procedure in a dispute with a Christian, a brother in the faith" ("Hom. on 1 Cor, ad loc.").
St Paul's advice about money can usefully be read in the light of Romans 12:17-21: this shows us that he is not saying that a passive and weak attitude to difficulties is the right one: difficulties should be faced and an effort made to do positive good, at all times, to everyone.
"Let us especially resolve not to judge others, not to doubt their good will, to drown evil in an abundance of good, sowing loyal friendship, justice and peace all around us. And let us resolve never to become sad if our upright conduct is misunderstood by others; if the good which, with the continuous help of our Lord, we try to accomplish is misinterpreted by people who delight in unjustly guessing at our motives and who accuse us of wicked designs and deceitful behavior. Let us forgive always, with a smile on our lips. Let us speak clearly, without hard feelings, when in conscience we think we ought to speak. And let us leave everything in the hands of our Father God, with a divine silence -- Jesus was silent' (Mt 26:63 -- if we are confronted with personal attacks, no matter how brutal and shameful they might be. Let us concern ourselves only with doing good deeds: God will see to it that they shine before men (Mt 5:16)" ("Christ Is Passing By", 72).
9-10. In this list of sins, similar to that given in the previous chapter (cf. 1 Cor 5:10-11), St Paul explicitly teaches that those who commit these sins will not inherit the Kingdom, that is, will not attain eternal salvation. The whole list is a kind of explanation of what "unrighteousness" means. Thus, not only those go against righteousness who wrongly go to law or defraud others: righteousness, justice, in the language of the Bible is equivalent to holiness and therefore is opposed to every kind of sin.
"Do not be deceived": the Greek can also be translated as "Do not let yourselves be deceived" (cf. Eph 5 :5-6). Certainly, to make out that such actions are good is worse than to commit them. And yet in Corinth, and in other places at other times, there have been and are false ideologies which interpret sinfulness as virtue. To combat tendencies that seek to tone down or deny the reality of grave sin, the Church points out that "a person sins mortally not only when his action comes from direct contempt for love of God and neighbor, but also when he consciously and freely, for whatever reason, chooses something which is seriously disordered [...]. Pastors of souls must exercise patience and generosity; but they are not allowed to render God's commandments null, nor to reduce unreasonably people's responsibility" (SCDF, "Declaration Concerning Sexual Ethics", 10). Like Christ, pastors should be uncompromising with evil and merciful to evildoers.
11. This reminder about the dignity of Christians brings to an end this series of warnings. It reminds the Corinthians of their Baptism, its effects and their need to return to their initial holiness.
These last words clearly contain a reference to the Trinitarian formula used at Baptism (cf. Mt 28:19). The inclusion of the name of the three persons of the Blessed Trinity implies an act of faith in God, One and Three, and recognition that grace and justification are given us by the Father, have been merited by his Son Jesus Christ, and are applied to us through the action of the Holy Spirit.
Three words sum up the effects of Baptism--"washed", "sanctified", and "justified"(cf. Acts 22:16; Eph 5:16; Tit 3:5); in addition to erasing original sin, and any personal sin, Baptism gives us sanctifying grace and the infused virtues: "The followers of Christ, called by God not in virtue of their works but by his design and grace, and justified in the Lord Jesus, have been made sons of God in baptism, the sacrament of faith, and partakers of the divine nature, and so are truly sanctified. They must therefore hold on to and perfect in their lives that sanctification which they have received from God" ("Lumen Gentium", 40).
Reminding them of baptismal innocence, St Paul encourages the Corinthians to return to that state by a new conversion. After Baptism, the sacrament of Penance received with the right dispositions restores sanctifying grace and is, moreover, a means Christ chooses to conserve men in grace and bring them growth in grace: "The sacrament of Penance contributes [much] to the development of the Christian life" (Vatican II, "Christus Dominus", 30).
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From: Luke 6:12-19
The Calling of the Apostles
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[12] In these days He (Jesus) went out into the hills to pray; and all night He continued in prayer to God. [13] And when it was day, He called His disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom He named Apostles: [14] Simon, whom He named Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, [15] and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, [16] and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
The Sermon on the Mount
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[17] And He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; [18] and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. [19] And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came forth from Him and healed them all.
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Commentary:
12-13. The evangelist writes with a certain formality when describing this important occasion on which Jesus chooses the Twelve, constituting them as the apostolic college: "The Lord Jesus, having prayed at length to the Father, called to Himself those whom He willed and appointed twelve to be with Him, whom He might send to preach the Kingdom of God (cf. Mark 2:13-19; Matthew 10:1-42). These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen from among them (cf. John 21:15-17). He sent them first of all to the children of Israel and then to all peoples (cf. Romans 1:16), so that, sharing in His power, they might make all peoples His disciples and sanctify and govern them (cf. Matthew 28: 16-20; and par.) and thus spread the Church and, administering it under the guidance of the Lord, shepherd it all days until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 28:20). They were fully confirmed in this mission on the day of Pentecost (cf. Act 2:1-26) [...]. Through their preaching the Gospel everywhere (cf. Mark 16:20), and through its being welcomed and received under the influence of the Holy Spirit by those who hear it, the Apostles gather together the universal Church, which the Lord founded upon the Apostles and built upon Blessed Peter their leader, the chief cornerstone being Christ Jesus Himself (cf. Revelation 21:14; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:20). That divine mission, which was committed by Christ to the Apostles, is destined to last until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 28:20), since the Gospel, which they were charged to hand on, is, for the Church, the principle of all its life for all time. For that very reason the Apostles were careful to appoint successors in this hierarchically constituted society" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 19-20).
Before establishing the apostolic college, Jesus spent the whole night in prayer. He often made special prayer for His Church (Luke 9:18; John 17:1ff), thereby preparing His Apostles to be its pillars (cf. Galatians 2:9). As His Passion approaches, He will pray to the Father for Simon Peter, the head of the Church, and solemnly tell Peter that He has done so: "But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail" (Luke 22:32). Following Christ's example, the Church stipulates that on many occasions liturgical prayer should be offered for the pastors of the Church (the Pope, the bishops in general, and priests) asking God to give them grace to fulfill their ministry faithfully.
Christ is continually teaching us that we need to pray always (Luke 18:1). Here He shows us by His example that we should pray with special intensity at important moments in our lives. "'Pernoctans in oratione Dei. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.' So St. Luke tells of our Lord. And you? How often have you persevered like that? Well, then...." (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 104).
On the need for prayer and the qualities our prayer should have, see the notes on Matthew 6:5-6; 7:7-11; 14:22-23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; 11:1-4; 22:41-42.
12. Since Jesus is God, why does He pray? There were two wills in Christ, one divine and one human (cf. "St. Pius X Catechism", 91), and although by virtue of His divine will He was omnipotent, His human will was not omnipotent. When we pray, what we do is make our will known to God; therefore Christ, who is like us in all things but sin (Hebrews 4:15), also had to pray in a human way (cf. "Summa Theologiae", III, q. 21, a. 1). Reflecting on Jesus at prayer, St. Ambrose comments: "The Lord prays not to ask things for Himself, but to intercede on my behalf; for although the Father has put everything into the hands of the Son, still the Son, in order to behave in accordance with His condition as man, considers it appropriate to implore the Father for our sake, for He is our Advocate [...]. A Master of obedience, by His example He instructs us concerning the precepts of virtue: 'We have an advocate with the Father' (1 John 2:1)" ("Expositio Evangelii sec. Lucam, in loc.").
14-16. Jesus chose for Apostles very ordinary people, most of them poor and uneducated; apparently only Matthew and the brothers James and John had social positions of any consequence. But all of them gave up whatever they had, little or much as it was, and all of them, bar Judas, put their faith in the Lord, overcame their shortcomings and eventually proved faithful to grace and became saints, veritable pillars of the Church. We should not feel uneasy when we realize that we too are low in human qualities; what matters is being faithful to the grace God gives us.
19. God became man to save us. The divine person of the Word acts through the human nature which He took on. The cures and casting out of devils which He performed during His life on earth are also proof that Christ actually brings redemption and not just hope of redemption. The crowds of people from Judea and other parts of Israel who flock to Him, seeking even to touch Him, anticipate, in a way, Christians' devotion to the holy Humanity of Christ.
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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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