Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

432 Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

CCC Cross Reference:
1 Cor 2:10-15 2038; 1 Cor 2:10-11 152; 1 Cor 2:11 687; 1 Cor 2:16 389
Ps 145:9 295, 342

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Reading 1
1 Cor 2:10b-16

Brothers and sisters:
The Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
Among men, who knows what pertains to the man
except his spirit that is within?
Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God.
We have not received the spirit of the world
but the Spirit who is from God,
so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.
And we speak about them not with words taught by human wisdom,
but with words taught by the Spirit,
describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.

Now the natural man does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God,
for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it,
because it is judged spiritually.
The one who is spiritual, however, can judge everything
but is not subject to judgment by anyone.

For “who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab, 13cd-14

R. (17) The Lord is just in all his ways.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The Lord is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is just in all his ways.

Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is just in all his ways.

Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. The Lord is just in all his ways.

The Lord is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The Lord lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
R. The Lord is just in all his ways.

Gospel
Lk 4:31-37

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.
He taught them on the sabbath,
and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,
and he cried out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!”
Then the demon threw the man down in front of them
and came out of him without doing him any harm.
They were all amazed and said to one another,
“What is there about his word?
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out.”
And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

First reading 1 Corinthians 2:10 – 16

These are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us. Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God: he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit. A spiritual man, on the other hand, is able to judge the value of everything, and his own value is not to be judged by other men. As scripture says: Who can know the mind of the Lord, so who can teach him? But we are those who have the mind of Christ.

Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 144(145):8-14

The Lord is just in all his ways.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.

The Lord is just in all his ways.

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign
and declare your might, O God,
to make known to men your mighty deeds
and the glorious splendor of your reign.

The Lord is just in all his ways.

Yours is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule lasts from age to age.
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all who fall
and raises all who are bowed down.

The Lord is just in all his ways.

Gospel Luke 4:31 – 37

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.

In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.

Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible

Tuesday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

From: 1 Corinthians 2:10b-16

Divine Wisdom
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[10b] [T]he Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. [11] For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. [12] Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. [13] And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.

[14] The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. [15] The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. [16] "For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

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Commentary:

10-12. "God has revealed to us through the Spirit": meaning the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Blessed Trinity, "which is from God" (v. 12) and knows the very depths of God (vv. 10-11). These words reveal to us the divinity of the Holy Spirit; knowing a person implies having intimacy with him; the Holy Spirit knows the depths of God because by nature he is God, equal to the Father and the Son (cf. Mt 11:25). "The Holy Spirit is equally God with the Father and the Son, equally omnipotent and eternal, infinitely perfect, the supreme good, infinitely wise, and of the same nature as the Father and the Son [...]. Scripture also attributes to him the power to sanctify, to vivify, to search the depths of God, to speak through the Prophets, and to be present in all places -- all of which can be attributed to God alone" ("St Pius V Catechism", I, 9, 4).

Jesus had told his Apostles that "when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth" (Jn 16:13); and on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit did open their minds to understand the truth revealed by Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit also acted in St Paul, so that he had the same knowledge of Revelation as the other Apostles (cf. Gal 2:1-10). The same Spirit continues to act in the Church: "The Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of truth, because he proceeds from the Father, eternal Truth, and the Son, substantial truth, receives from each of them, along with his essence, all truth, which he then communicates to the Church, helping never to err" (Leo XIII, "Divinum Illud Munus", 7).

13. The handing on of the faith calls for great care in the terminology used: "The Church, with the long labor of centuries and not without the help of the Holy Spirit, has established a rule of language and confirmed it with the authority of the Councils. This rule, which has more than once been the watchword and banner of orthodox faith, must be religiously preserved, and let no one presume to change it at his own pleasure or under the pretext of new science" (Paul VI, "Mysterium Fidei", 3).

The Church has always been concerned about this need to explain the deposit of faith accurately: "You have received gold," St Vincent of Lerins comments, "let you therefore give gold. I do not want you to give one thing instead of another. I do not want you to be so shameless and deceptive that you give me lead or bronze in place of gold; I do not want something that looks like gold: I want pure gold" ("Commonitorium", 22).

The last part of this verse is unclear and can be translated in various ways as the RSV text and note show.

14-16. The original text says "psychikos". This is not easy to translate. Some versions say "natural man", others "animal man", which is literally what the New Vulgate says. What it means is the person who acts only by using his or her human faculties (intelligence and will) and who therefore can be wise only in the things of this world. The spiritual man is the Christian reborn by the grace of God; grace elevates his faculties to enable him to perform actions which have a supernatural value -- acts of faith, hope and charity. A person who is in the state of grace is able to perceive the things of God, because he carries with him the Spirit in his soul in grace, and he has Christ's mind, Christ's attitude. "We have no alternative", St. Escriva teaches. "There are only two possible ways of living on this earth: either we live a supernatural life, or we live an animal life. And you and I can only live the life of God, a supernatural life" ("Friends of God", 200).

St John Chrysostom very graphically contrasts the capacity of the spiritual man and that of the unspiritual man as far as understanding God's plan of salvation is concerned: "He who has sight sees everything, including the person who has no sight; but the sightless person cannot see the things of the person who has sight sight. We Christians know what our own situation is, and we also know the situation of unbelievers; the unbelievers, however, do not understand ours. Like them we know -- and we know better than they do -- the nature of things present; unbelievers do not know the sublimity of things to come, whereas we already see what will some day become of the world, and what sinners will suffer, and the righteous enjoy" ("Hom. on 1 Cor", 7, "ad loc."). And St Thomas Aquinas: "A conscious person rightly perceives both that he is awake and that the other person is asleep; but the person who is asleep cannot form a correct judgment concerning either himself or the one who is awake. Therefore, things are not the way they are seen by someone asleep: they are as they appear to be to a conscious person [...]. And so the Apostle says that 'the spiritual man judges all things': for a person whose understanding is enlightened and whose affections are regulated by the Holy Spirit forms correct judgments on particular matters to do with salvation. He who is unspiritual has a darkened understanding and disordered affection as far as spiritual things are concerned, and therefore the spiritual man cannot be judged by the unspiritual man, just as the sleeping person cannot judge the one who is awake" ("Commentary on 1 Cor, ad loc.").

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From: Luke 4:31-37

Jesus Preaches in Capernaum
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[31] And He (Jesus) went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And He was teaching them on the Sabbath; [32]and they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.

The Cure of the Demoniac
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[33] And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, [34] "Ah! What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God." [35] But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. [36]And they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." [37] And reports of Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

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Commentary:

33-37. Jesus now demonstrates by His actions that authority which was evident in His words.

34. The demon tells the truth here when he calls Jesus "the Holy One of God", but Jesus does not accept this testimony from the "father of lies" (John 8:44). This shows that the devil usually says something partially true in order to disguise untruth; by sowing confusion in this way, he can more readily deceive people. By silencing and expelling the demon, Jesus teaches us to be prudent and not let ourselves by deceived by half-truths.

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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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