CCC Cross Reference:
Gen 4:1-2 2335; Gen 4:3-15 401; Gen 4:3-7 2538; Gen 4:4 2569; Gen 4:8-12 2259; Gen 4:10-11 2259; Gen 4:10 1736, 1867, 2268; Gen 4:25-26 2335
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Reading 1
Gn 4:1-15, 25
The man had relations with his wife Eve,
and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,
"I have produced a man with the help of the LORD."
Next she bore his brother Abel.
Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil.
In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD
from the fruit of the soil,
while Abel, for his part,
brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.
The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not.
Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen.
So the LORD said to Cain:
"Why are you so resentful and crestfallen.
If you do well, you can hold up your head;
but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door:
his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master."
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out in the field."
When they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
He answered, "I do not know.
Am I my brother's keeper?"
The LORD then said: "What have you done!
Listen: your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil!
Therefore you shall be banned from the soil
that opened its mouth to receive
your brother's blood from your hand.
If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce.
You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth."
Cain said to the LORD: "My punishment is too great to bear.
Since you have now banished me from the soil,
and I must avoid your presence
and become a restless wanderer on the earth,
anyone may kill me at sight."
"Not so!" the LORD said to him.
"If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold."
So the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight.
Adam again had relations with his wife,
and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth.
"God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel," she said,
"because Cain slew him."
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 50:1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21
R. (14a) Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always."
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
"You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother's son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes."
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
Gospel
Mk 8:11-13
The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,
"Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."
Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Genesis 4:1-15,25
The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. ‘I have acquired a man with the help of the Lord’ she said. She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of Cain. Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil. Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for the Lord, while Abel for his part brought the first-born of his flock and some of their fat as well. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering. But he did not look with favour on Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry and downcast. The Lord asked Cain, ‘Why are you angry and downcast? If you are well disposed, ought you not to lift up your head? But if you are ill disposed, is not sin at the door like a crouching beast hungering for you, which you must master?’ Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out’; and while they were in the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and killed him.
The Lord asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I do not know’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s guardian?’ ‘What have you done?’ the Lord asked. ‘Listen to the sound of your brother’s blood, crying out to me from the ground. Now be accursed and driven from the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood at your hands. When you till the ground it shall no longer yield you any of its produce. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer over the earth.’ Then Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear. See! Today you drive me from this ground. I must hide from you, and be a fugitive and a wanderer over the earth. Why, whoever comes across me will kill me!’ ‘Very well, then,’ the Lord replied ‘if anyone kills Cain, sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for him.’ So the Lord put a mark on Cain, to prevent whoever might come across him from striking him down.
Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she named Seth, ‘because God has granted me other offspring’ she said ‘in place of Abel, since Cain has killed him.’
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 49(50):1,8,16-17,20-21
Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.
The God of gods, the Lord,
has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
‘I find no fault with your sacrifices,
your offerings are always before me.’
Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.
‘But how can you recite my commandments
and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law
and throw my words to the winds?
Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.
‘You who sit and malign your brother
and slander your own mother’s son.
You do this, and should I keep silence?
Do you think that I am like you?’
Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.
Gospel Mark 8:11-13
The Pharisees came up and started a discussion with Jesus; they demanded of him a sign from heaven, to test him. And with a sigh that came straight from the heart he said, ‘Why does this generation demand a sign? I tell you solemnly, no sign shall be given to this generation.’ And leaving them again and re-embarking, he went away to the opposite shore.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Monday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Genesis 4:1-15, 25
The First Children of Adam and Eve
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[1] Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord." [2] And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.
Cain and Abel
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In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, [4] and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, [5] but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. [6] The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? [7] If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."
[8] Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. [9] Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" [10] And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. [11] And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. [12] When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." [13] Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. [14] Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me." [15] Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him.
The birth of Seth
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[25] And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him."
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Commentary:
4:1. To refer to sexual intercourse between man and woman, the Bible uses the term "to know", thereby signalling the human depth of that relationship: although it takes place via the body, it does so in a context of mind and will.
The name of Cain has an explanation in the biblical text: it echoes Eve's exclamation, "I have gotten (in Hebrew, "qaniti"). This shows God's part in the generation of her child. The Bible will keep on teaching that children are a gift from God, and that it is God who gives or withholds fertility. Consequently the Church reminds married couples of their duty "to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters'" (Vatican II, "Gaudium et spes", 50).
4:3-8. We can see here how from the start God picks out particular people (without any merit on their part), sometimes giving preference to the youngest or the weakest: Isaac is preferred to Esau, for example; David to his brothers. The origin of Cain's sin lies in the fact that he does not accept God's preference for his younger brother, and he gives way to anger, envy (cf. Wis 10:3) and gloominess. Despite that, God loves Cain too and he invites him to master temptation (v. 7) by acting rightly; but Cain killed his brother Abel.
Cain is the prototype of the perverse and murderous man; Abel, of the just man who blamelessly suffers violent death. For this reason Abel is seen as a figure of Jesus Christ, whose blood spilt on the cross speaks even more eloquently than the blood of Abel: "But you have come [. . .] to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the spiritual blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:24). Cain, on the other hand, symbolizes every man who hates his neighbour, for hatred implies desiring that the other person should not exist. St John interprets the story of Cain in this sense when he writes: "This is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. [. . .] Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and we know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him'' (Jn 3:11-12, 15).
Assuming that Cain was ill-intentioned in his offerings, St Bede the Venerable comments that "men often are placated by gifts from those who have offended them; but God, who 'discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart' (Heb 4: 12), lets himself be placated by no gift as much as by the pious devotion of the offerer. Once he has seen the purity of our heart, he will then also accept our prayers and our works" ("Hexaemeron 2: in Gen, 4:4-5).
4:9-16. The question God puts to Cain is one that is constantly being asked of all human beings as regards their fellows. And the death by violence of any innocent person cries for justice, a cry to which God is never indifferent. He burdens Cain's conscience with the weight of his crime, even though he protects his life by putting a mark on him to prevent anyone taking revenge. In the context of this account, the mark is meant as a protection, not a sign of infamy. The fact that Cain, on account of what he has done, is sent out of God's presence and has to wander on the earth symbolizes the break with God that sin causes.
"Human life is sacred," the Church teaches, "because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being'' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258).
4:25-26. This is the part of mankind which retained its knowledge of the true God, who in due course will reveal himself to Abraham (cf. chap. 12) and Moses (cf. Ex 3:14). Seth's name is given an etymological explanation, but now one connected not with cities and skills (cf. the note on 4:17-24) but with God: Seth gets his name because God gave him to Eve to take the place of Abel. This will be the line of descendants of Adam and Eve from which will come the chosen people, through the calling of Abraham. The fact that there is no mention of Seth's descendants devoting themselves to trades may he designed to show that their specific contribution to mankind was their keeping the knowledge of the true God -- a greater contribution than that made by others.
"In a figurative manner," St Bede explains, "Enoch, the son of Seth, stands for the Christian people who, through faith and the sacrament of the passion and resurrection of the Lord, is born every day, the world over, of water and the Holy Spirit. This people [. . .] in all that it does is always invoking the name of the Lord, saying, Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed by thy name" (Hexaemeron 2in Gen, 4:25-26).
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From: Mark 8:11-13
The Leaven of the Pharisees
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[11] The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him (Jesus), seeking from Him a sign from Heaven, to test Him. [12] And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." [13] And He left them, and getting into the boat again He departed to the other side.
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Commentary:
11-12. Jesus expresses the deep sadness He feels at the hardheartedness of the Pharisees: they remain blind and unbelieving despite the light shining around them and the wonderful things Christ is doing. If someone rejects the miracles God has offered him, it is useless for him to demand new signs, because he asks for them not because he is sincerely seeking the truth but out of ill will: he is trying to tempt God (cf. Luke 16:27-31). Requiring new miracles before one will believe, not accepting those already performed in the history of salvation, amounts to asking God to account for Himself before a human tribunal (cf. Romans 2:1-11). Unfortunately, many people do act like this. But God can only be found if we have an open and humble attitude to Him. "I have no need of miracles: there are more than enough for me in the Gospel. But I do need to see you fulfilling your duty and responding to grace" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 362).
12. The generation to which Jesus refers does not include all the people of His time, but only the Pharisees and their followers (cf. Mark 8:38; 9:19; Matthew 11:16), who do not want to see in Jesus' miracles the sign and guarantee of His messianic mission and dignity: they even attribute His miracles to Satan (Matthew 12:28).
If they do not accept the signs offered to them, they will be given no other sign of the spectacular kind they seek, for the Kingdom of God does not come noisily (Luke 17:20-21) and even if it did they in their twisted way would manage to misinterpret the event (Luke 16:31). According to Matthew 12:38-42 and Luke 11:29-32, they are offered yet another sign--the miracle of Jonah, the sign of the death and resurrection of Christ; but not even this remarkable proof will lead the Pharisees to shed their pride.
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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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