CCC Cross Reference:
Heb 8:6 1070; Heb 8:8-10 1965
Ps 85:11 214; Ps 85:12 2795
Mk 3:13-19 551, 787; Mk 3:13-14 858; Mk 3:14-19 1577; Mk 3:14-15 765; Mk 3:15 1673; Mk 3:16 552
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Reading 1
Heb 8:6-13
Brothers and sisters:
Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless,
no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead
them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
“Know the Lord,”
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.
When he speaks of a “new” covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. (11a) Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Gospel
Mk 3:13-19
Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Hebrews 8:6-13
We have seen that Christ has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator, founded on better promises. If that first covenant had been without a fault, there would have been no need for a second one to replace it. And in fact God does find fault with them; he says:
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks –
when I will establish a new covenant
with the House of Israel and the House of Judah,
but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
They abandoned that covenant of mine,
and so I on my side deserted them. It is the Lord who speaks.
No, this is the covenant I will make
with the House of Israel
when those days arrive – it is the Lord who speaks.
I will put my laws into their minds
and write them on their hearts.
Then I will be their God
and they shall be my people.
There will be no further need for neighbor to try to teach neighbor,
or brother to say to brother,
‘Learn to know the Lord.’
No, they will all know me,
the least no less than the greatest,
since I will forgive their iniquities
and never call their sins to mind.
By speaking of a new covenant, he implies that the first one is already old. Now anything old only gets more antiquated until in the end it disappears.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 84(85):8,10-14
Mercy and faithfulness have met.
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy
and give us your saving help.
His help is near for those who fear him
and his glory will dwell in our land.
Mercy and faithfulness have met.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
Mercy and faithfulness have met.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
Mercy and faithfulness have met.
Gospel Mark 3:13-19
Jesus went up into the hills and summoned those he wanted. So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils. And so he appointed the Twelve: Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges or ‘Sons of Thunder’; then Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Friday of the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
From: Hebrews 8:6-13
Christ Is High Priest of a New Covenant, Which Replaces the Old
(Continuation)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[6] But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. [7] For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.
[8] For he finds fault with them when he says: "The days will come, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; [9] not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord. [10] This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [11] And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know me, fromthe least of them to the greatest. [12] For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."
[13] In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is be- coming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
3-6. To compare the earthly and heavenly tabernacles, the author resorts to analogy and metaphor, which is all that he can do. Bearing this in mind, one should not interpret the words of this passage as meaning that Jesus Christ consummated his sacrifice only in heaven, for the sacrifice of Calvary happened only once and was complete in itself. What this passage is saying is that, in heaven, Christ, the eternal Priest, continuously presents to the Father the fruits of the Cross. In the New Covenant there is only one sacrifice--that of Jesus Christ on Calvary; this single sacrifice is renewed in an unbloody manner every day in the sacrifice of the Mass; there Jesus Christ the only Priest of the New Law -- immolates and offers, by means of priests who are his ministers, the same victim (body and blood) which was immolated in a bloody manner once and for all on the Cross.
7-12. The comparison between the two covenants, the Old made with Moses and written on stone, and the New, engraved on the minds and hearts of the faithful (cf. 2 Cor 3:3; Heb 10:16, 17) is developed with the help of a quotation from Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34), where the prophet announces the spiritual alliance of Yahweh with his people. Jeremiah's words, quoted from the Greek translation (very close to the original Hebrew), refer directly to the restoration of the Jews after the Exile. Now that the chosen people have been purified by suffering they are fit to be truly the people of God: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people"; this promise of intimate friendship is the core of the prophecy. That is what it means when it says the Law will be written on the minds and hearts of all, and all even the least -- shall know God. It may be that Jeremiah sensed the messianic restoration that lay beyond the restoration of the chosen people on its return from exile; certainly we can see that this oracle finds its complete fulfillment only with the New Covenant: the return from Babylon was merely an additional signal/symbol of the perfect Covenant which Christ would establish. For it is in that New Covenant that God truly forgives sins and remembers them no more.
The Old Covenant is said not to have been faultless, or sinless. This does not mean it was bad; rather; as St Thomas explains, it was powerless to atone for sins, it did not provide people with the grace to avoid committing sins, it simply showed people how to recognize sins, those who lived under the Old Law continued to be subject to sin (cf. "Commentary on Heb.", 7, 2).
*********************************************************************************************
From: Mark 3:13-19
Jesus Chooses Twelve Apostles
-----------------------------------------------
[13] And He (Jesus) went up into the hills, and called to Him those whom He desired; and they came to Him. [14] And He appointed twelve, to be with Him, and to be sent out to preach [15] and have authority to cast out demons; [16] Simon whom He surnamed Peter; [17] James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom He surnamed Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; [18] Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, [19] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
13. "He called to Him those whom He desired": God wants to show us that calling, vocation, is an initiative of God. This is particularly true in the case of the Apostles, which is why Jesus could tell them, later on, that "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (Jn 15:16). Those who will have power and authority in the Church will not obtain this because first they offer their services and then Jesus accepts their offering: on the contrary, "not through their own initiative and preparation, but rather by virtue of divine grace, would they be called to the apostolate" (St. Bede, "In Marci Evangelium Expositio, in loc.").
14-19. The Twelve chosen by Jesus (cf. 3:14) receive a specific vocation to be "people sent out", which is what the word "apostles" means. Jesus chooses them for a mission which He will give them later (6:6-13) and to enable them to perform this mission He gives them part of His power. The fact that He chooses d"twelve" is very significant. This is the same number as the twelve Patriarchs of Israel, and the Apostles represent the new people of God, the Church founded by Christ. Jesus sought in this way to emphasize the continuity that exists between the Old and New Testaments. The Twelve are the pillars on which Christ builds His Church (cf. Gal 2:9); their mission to make disciples of the Lord (to teach) all nations, sanctifying and governing the believers (Mt 28:16-20; Mk 16: 15; Lk 24:45-48; Jn 20:21-23).
14. The Second Vatican Council sees in this text the establishment of the College of the Apostles: "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. Mk 3:13-19; Mt 10:1-42). These apostles (cf. Lk 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen from amongst them" (cf. Jn 21: 15-17) [...]. "That divine mission, which was committed by Christ to the apostles, is destined to last until the end of the world (cf. Mt 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 their hierarchically constituted society." ("Lumen Gentium", 19-20). Therefore, the Pope and the bishops, who succeed to the College of the Twelve, are also called by our Lord to be always with Jesus and to preach the Gospel, aided by priests.
Life in union with Christ and apostolic zeal must be very closely linked together; in other words, effectiveness in apostolate always depends on union with our Lord, on continuous prayer and on sacramental life: "Apostolic zeal is a divine craziness I want you to have. Its symptoms are: hunger to know the Master; constant concern for souls; perseverance that nothing can shake" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 934).
16. At this point, before the word "Simon" the sentence "He formed the group of the twelve" occurs in many manuscripts (it is similar to the phrase "He appointed twelve" in v. 14) but it is not included in the New Vulgate. The repetition of the same expression and the article in "the twelve" show the importance of the establishment of the Apostolic College.
*********************************************************************************************
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.
Reading 1
Heb 8:6-13
Brothers and sisters:
Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless,
no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead
them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
“Know the Lord,”
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.
When he speaks of a “new” covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. (11a) Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Gospel
Mk 3:13-19
Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Hebrews 8:6-13
We have seen that Christ has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator, founded on better promises. If that first covenant had been without a fault, there would have been no need for a second one to replace it. And in fact God does find fault with them; he says:
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks –
when I will establish a new covenant
with the House of Israel and the House of Judah,
but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
They abandoned that covenant of mine,
and so I on my side deserted them. It is the Lord who speaks.
No, this is the covenant I will make
with the House of Israel
when those days arrive – it is the Lord who speaks.
I will put my laws into their minds
and write them on their hearts.
Then I will be their God
and they shall be my people.
There will be no further need for neighbor to try to teach neighbor,
or brother to say to brother,
‘Learn to know the Lord.’
No, they will all know me,
the least no less than the greatest,
since I will forgive their iniquities
and never call their sins to mind.
By speaking of a new covenant, he implies that the first one is already old. Now anything old only gets more antiquated until in the end it disappears.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 84(85):8,10-14
Mercy and faithfulness have met.
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy
and give us your saving help.
His help is near for those who fear him
and his glory will dwell in our land.
Mercy and faithfulness have met.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
Mercy and faithfulness have met.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
Mercy and faithfulness have met.
Gospel Mark 3:13-19
Jesus went up into the hills and summoned those he wanted. So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils. And so he appointed the Twelve: Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges or ‘Sons of Thunder’; then Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Friday of the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
From: Hebrews 8:6-13
Christ Is High Priest of a New Covenant, Which Replaces the Old
(Continuation)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[6] But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. [7] For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.
[8] For he finds fault with them when he says: "The days will come, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; [9] not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord. [10] This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [11] And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know me, fromthe least of them to the greatest. [12] For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."
[13] In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is be- coming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
3-6. To compare the earthly and heavenly tabernacles, the author resorts to analogy and metaphor, which is all that he can do. Bearing this in mind, one should not interpret the words of this passage as meaning that Jesus Christ consummated his sacrifice only in heaven, for the sacrifice of Calvary happened only once and was complete in itself. What this passage is saying is that, in heaven, Christ, the eternal Priest, continuously presents to the Father the fruits of the Cross. In the New Covenant there is only one sacrifice--that of Jesus Christ on Calvary; this single sacrifice is renewed in an unbloody manner every day in the sacrifice of the Mass; there Jesus Christ the only Priest of the New Law -- immolates and offers, by means of priests who are his ministers, the same victim (body and blood) which was immolated in a bloody manner once and for all on the Cross.
7-12. The comparison between the two covenants, the Old made with Moses and written on stone, and the New, engraved on the minds and hearts of the faithful (cf. 2 Cor 3:3; Heb 10:16, 17) is developed with the help of a quotation from Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34), where the prophet announces the spiritual alliance of Yahweh with his people. Jeremiah's words, quoted from the Greek translation (very close to the original Hebrew), refer directly to the restoration of the Jews after the Exile. Now that the chosen people have been purified by suffering they are fit to be truly the people of God: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people"; this promise of intimate friendship is the core of the prophecy. That is what it means when it says the Law will be written on the minds and hearts of all, and all even the least -- shall know God. It may be that Jeremiah sensed the messianic restoration that lay beyond the restoration of the chosen people on its return from exile; certainly we can see that this oracle finds its complete fulfillment only with the New Covenant: the return from Babylon was merely an additional signal/symbol of the perfect Covenant which Christ would establish. For it is in that New Covenant that God truly forgives sins and remembers them no more.
The Old Covenant is said not to have been faultless, or sinless. This does not mean it was bad; rather; as St Thomas explains, it was powerless to atone for sins, it did not provide people with the grace to avoid committing sins, it simply showed people how to recognize sins, those who lived under the Old Law continued to be subject to sin (cf. "Commentary on Heb.", 7, 2).
*********************************************************************************************
From: Mark 3:13-19
Jesus Chooses Twelve Apostles
-----------------------------------------------
[13] And He (Jesus) went up into the hills, and called to Him those whom He desired; and they came to Him. [14] And He appointed twelve, to be with Him, and to be sent out to preach [15] and have authority to cast out demons; [16] Simon whom He surnamed Peter; [17] James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom He surnamed Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; [18] Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, [19] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
13. "He called to Him those whom He desired": God wants to show us that calling, vocation, is an initiative of God. This is particularly true in the case of the Apostles, which is why Jesus could tell them, later on, that "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (Jn 15:16). Those who will have power and authority in the Church will not obtain this because first they offer their services and then Jesus accepts their offering: on the contrary, "not through their own initiative and preparation, but rather by virtue of divine grace, would they be called to the apostolate" (St. Bede, "In Marci Evangelium Expositio, in loc.").
14-19. The Twelve chosen by Jesus (cf. 3:14) receive a specific vocation to be "people sent out", which is what the word "apostles" means. Jesus chooses them for a mission which He will give them later (6:6-13) and to enable them to perform this mission He gives them part of His power. The fact that He chooses d"twelve" is very significant. This is the same number as the twelve Patriarchs of Israel, and the Apostles represent the new people of God, the Church founded by Christ. Jesus sought in this way to emphasize the continuity that exists between the Old and New Testaments. The Twelve are the pillars on which Christ builds His Church (cf. Gal 2:9); their mission to make disciples of the Lord (to teach) all nations, sanctifying and governing the believers (Mt 28:16-20; Mk 16: 15; Lk 24:45-48; Jn 20:21-23).
14. The Second Vatican Council sees in this text the establishment of the College of the Apostles: "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. Mk 3:13-19; Mt 10:1-42). These apostles (cf. Lk 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen from amongst them" (cf. Jn 21: 15-17) [...]. "That divine mission, which was committed by Christ to the apostles, is destined to last until the end of the world (cf. Mt 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 their hierarchically constituted society." ("Lumen Gentium", 19-20). Therefore, the Pope and the bishops, who succeed to the College of the Twelve, are also called by our Lord to be always with Jesus and to preach the Gospel, aided by priests.
Life in union with Christ and apostolic zeal must be very closely linked together; in other words, effectiveness in apostolate always depends on union with our Lord, on continuous prayer and on sacramental life: "Apostolic zeal is a divine craziness I want you to have. Its symptoms are: hunger to know the Master; constant concern for souls; perseverance that nothing can shake" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 934).
16. At this point, before the word "Simon" the sentence "He formed the group of the twelve" occurs in many manuscripts (it is similar to the phrase "He appointed twelve" in v. 14) but it is not included in the New Vulgate. The repetition of the same expression and the article in "the twelve" show the importance of the establishment of the Apostolic College.
*********************************************************************************************
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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