Catechism Links
CCC 436, 1241, 1546: Christ as prophet
CCC 904-907: our participation in Christ’s prophetic office
CCC 103-104: faith, the beginning of eternal life
CCC 1822-1829: charity
CCC 772-773, 953: communion in the Church
CCC 314, 1023, 2519: those in heaven behold God face to face
CCC Cross Reference:
Jer 1:5 2270
1 Cor 12 1988, 2003; 1 Cor 13 735, 800; 1 Cor 13:1-4 1826; 1 Cor 13:4-7 1825; 1 Cor 13:5 953; 1 Cor 13:8 773; 1 Cor 13:12 163, 164, 314, 1023, 1720, 2519; 1 Cor 13:13 1813, 1826, 1841
Lk 4:16-22 1286; Lk 4:16-21 436; Lk 4:18-19 695, 714; Lk 4:18 544, 2443; Lk 4:19 1168
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Reading I
Jer 1:4-5, 17-19
The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17
R. (cf. 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Reading II
Longer Form:
1 Cor 12:31—13:13
Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Or
Shorter Form: 1 Cor 13:4-13
Brothers and sisters:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Gospel:
Lk 4:21-30
Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19
In the days of Josiah, the word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying:
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.
‘So now brace yourself for action.
Stand up and tell them
all I command you.
Do not be dismayed at their presence,
or in their presence I will make you dismayed.
‘I, for my part, today will make you
into a fortified city,
a pillar of iron,
and a wall of bronze
to confront all this land:
the kings of Judah, its princes,
its priests and the country people.
They will fight against you
but shall not overcome you,
for I am with you to deliver you –
it is the Lord who speaks.’
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 70(71):1-6,15,17
My lips will tell of your help.
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, free me:
pay heed to me and save me.
My lips will tell of your help.
Be a rock where I can take refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me;
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free me from the hand of the wicked.
My lips will tell of your help.
It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my help.
My lips will tell of your help.
My lips will tell of your justice
and day by day of your help.
O God, you have taught me from my youth
and I proclaim your wonders still.
My lips will tell of your help.
Second reading 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.
If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever.
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
Love does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.
In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.
Alternative second reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-13
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
Love does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.
In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.
Gospel Luke 4:21-30
Jesus began to speak in the synagogue: ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, surely?’
But he replied, ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying, “Physician, heal yourself” and tell me, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own countryside.”’ And he went on, ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.
‘There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’
When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
The Lord calls Jeremiah
-----------------------------------
[4] Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
[5] "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Vision of the boiling pot
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[17] But you, gird up your loins; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. [18] And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land.[19] They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you."
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Commentary:
1:1-19. The book of Jeremiah is a collection of the prophet's oracles arranged more by subject than in chronological order and interspersed with stories about his life. The heading (vv. 1-3), as in most of the prophetical books, introduces the prophet and tells when he lived. Then, as an introduction to the book, comes an account of the call of Jeremiah (vv. 4-10) along with two visions that give a good description of the man (vv. 11-12 and 13-19).
1:4-10. This account of the call of Jeremiah gives a very good idea of the mysterious nature of every divine call -- a call from all eternity and involving no merit on the part of the person called, in which God makes known to a soul the why and wherefore of his or her life. No one comes into being by accident, for everything that happens is part of God's providence (v. 5).God's action in creating a person is described graphically -- "formed" you in the womb -- a word used to describe what a potter does when he models something in clay. The Lord "knew" Jeremiah -- a reference to his choosing him for a specific mission (cf. Amos 3:2; Rom 8:29); God has a plan for each person, and he endows each with talents that equip him or her to put that plan into effect. The passage also talks of a "consecration", that is, the earmarking of a person or thing for the service of God. God's plan for someone, made before the person is born, emerges in due course, when he or she is old enough to take on the assignments that God has been preparing him for. Glossing this passage, St John Chrysostom, has God say this: "I am the one who knit you together in your mother's womb. Your life is not a work of nature, nor the fruit of suffering. I am the origin and cause of all things: you should obey and offer yourself to me," and he adds: "It does not begin with I consecrated you: first, I knew you; then I consecrated you. Thus is the original choice shown, and after the original choice, the particular calling" (Fragmenta in Ieremiam, 1).
When the mystery of a person's calling begins to be revealed, their initial reaction can be one of fear, because they are very conscious of their limitations and feel that they are not up to the tasks that the Lord entrusts them with. Jeremiah, for example, argues that he is too young (v. 6).We do not know how old he was at the time, for the word he uses to describe his age (na'ar) is imprecise. He was probably only an adolescent (cf. Gen 37:2; 1 Sam 2:18; 3:1-21). In responding to a vocation, one needs to listen, above all, to God who calls, who never leaves his chosen ones on their own, and who always gives them the wherewithal to carry out the mission he is charging them with (vv. 7-8).
The Lord's symbolic gesture of putting out his hand to touch Jeremiah's mouth, as if to fill it with divine words, is similar to other gestures found in accounts of the calling of prophets (cf. Is 6:7; Ezek 2:8-3:3; Dan 10:16). It is to tell the man not to be concerned: he can rest assured that God will give him the right words to express himself. It is a promise similar to that made by Jesus to his disciples: he assured them of the Holy Spirit's help when the time came for them to bear witness to him (cf. Mt 10:19-20).
The assignment given to Jeremiah implies a heavy responsibility; he will need fortitude if he is to carry it out (v. 10). It involves in the first place doing destructive things (plucking up, breaking down, destroying and overthrowing) and only then come constructive roles (building and planning). St Gregory the Great will apply the same idea to the attention that is called for in the pastoral care of the faithful: "One cannot build up if what disturbs the foundation has not been destroyed. In other words, the sweet words of good preaching are sown in vain if the thorns of self-love have not first been plucked from the hearts of listeners" (Regular pastoralis, 3, 34).
13-19. Jeremiah is shown a pot that is beginning to boil over (v. 13). He is given to understand the meaning of the disquieting news that is reaching Jerusalem -- rumours of advances by foreign armies that threaten the holy city from the north (vv. 14-15). These reports are a warning that God sends his people to encourage them to admit their unfaithfulness (v. 16). In this way the Lord is beginning to announce a future punishment, which we shall hear much more about as the book develops -- a chastisement to be inflicted on the people of Judah and Jerusalem for failing to keep the Covenant.
It will be up to Jeremiah to speak to them, reproaching them for their sins and explaining the reasons for events (vv. 17-18) -- not an easy task, but God will give him the strength to perform it (v. 19).
This passage outlines the framework, the setting, of the oracles and narratives contained in the book. God never forgets his people and, in a time of crisis, when the kingdom of Judah is about to collapse, he chooses Jeremiah and sends him out on his mission. God means him to show the people the real reasons for all the distress they will meet and, once all the various disasters have come to pass, he intends Jeremiah to console them and assure them that God never abandons them.
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From: 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
[31] But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you still a more excellent way.
Hymn to Charity
------------------------
[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. [4] Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; [5] it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
[8] Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [9] For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. [11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. [12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. [13] So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
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Commentary:
31. "Earnestly desire the higher gifts": according to some Greek manuscripts this can be translated "earnestly seek the greater gifts." St Paul is encouraging his Christians to put greater value on those gifts of the Holy Spirit which contribute most to the goal of the Church than on those which are spectacular. He probably has in mind the teaching he will develop (chap. 14) about the superiority of graces and charisms to do with teaching and catechesis.
"A still more excellent way": this undoubtedly refers to charity, which he goes on to describe and praise (chap. 13). Therefore, what is called his "hymn to charity" is not a digression, much less a later addition, but an outpouring of the Apostle's soul, which perfectly explains why charity is the greatest of all gifts, a sure route to holiness and salvation, and the identifying mark of the Christian: "the first and most necessary gift is charity, by which we love God above all things and our neighbor because of him. [...] This is because love, as the bond of perfection and fullness of the law (cf. Col 3:14, Rom. 13:10), governs, gives meaning to, and perfects all the means of sanctification. Hence the true disciple of Christ is marked by love both of God and of his neighbor" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 42).
1-13. This wonderful hymn to charity is one of the most beautiful pages in Pauline writing. The literary style of the chapter is designed to present charity in all its splendor. St Paul sings the praises of love as seen from three points of view -- the superiority and absolute need of this gift (vv. 1-3); its features and practical expression (vv. 4-7); and the fact it endures for ever (vv. 8-13).
Love, the charity of which St Paul is speaking, has nothing to do with selfish desire for physical passionate possession; nor is it restricted to mere philanthropy, whose motivation is purely humanitarian: charity is a love which is to be found in the new order of things established by Christ; its origin, context and purpose are radically new; it is born of the love of God for men, a love so intense that he sacrificed his only-begotten Son (In 3:16). The Christian is enabled to respond to this love of God by this gift of the Holy Spirit, charity (cf. Gal 5:22; Rom 15:30), and by virtue of this divine love he discovers God in his neighbor: he recognizes that all are children of the one Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ: "Our love is not to be confused with sentimentality or mere good fellowship, nor with that somewhat questionable zeal to help others in order to convince ourselves of our superiority. Rather, it means living in peace with our neighbor, venerating the image of God that is found in each and every person and doing all we can to get them in their turn to contemplate that image and learn to turn to Christ" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 230).
To make this clear St Paul mentions those gifts which appear to be most exceptional -- the gift of tongues; knowledge; and heroic actions.
Firstly, the gift of tongues. St Thomas Aquinas comments that the Apostle "rightly compares words lacking in charity to the sound of lifeless instruments, to the sound of a bell or cymbals, whose sound though clear is a dead sound. The same occurs in the speech of someone who has no charity; no matter how brilliant it be, it comes across as something dead, because it is of no help as far as meriting eternal life is concerned" ("Commentary on 1 Cor, ad loc."). By way of emphasis St Paul speaks of the tongues of angels as the highest degree of the gift of tongues.
"I am nothing": this conclusion could not be more emphatic. A little further on (1 Cor 15:10), St Paul will himself say that "by the grace of God I am what I am", to make us see that from God's love for man (grace) derives man's love for God and for his neighbor for God's sake (charity).
Knowledge and faith, which need not ever be separated, also acquire their full meaning in the Christian who lives by love: "Each one according to his own gifts and duties must steadfastly advance along the way of a living faith, which arouses hope and works through love" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 41).
Strictly speaking, martyrdom is the supreme act of love. St Paul is referring here as in the previous points to hypothetical cases or merely external gestures, which seem to be token detachment and generosity, but are in fact mere appearances: "If someone does not have charity", St Augustine says, "even though he may have these gifts at the moment, they will be taken away from him. What he has will be taken away because he is missing the main thing, that whereby he will have everything and which will keep him safe [...]. He has the power to possess, but he has no charity in what he does; and because he lacks charity, what he has in his possession will be taken from him" ("Enarrationes in Psalmos", 146, 10).
4-7. In his listing of the qualities of charity, St Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, begins with two general features -- patience and kindness -- which the Bible attributes to God. Both of these lead on to thirteen particular ways in which love expresses itself.
Patience is a quality often praised in the Bible: in the Psalms God is said to be slow to anger (Ps 145:8); patience means great serenity in the face of injury; kindness has to do with being inclined to do good to others. St Thomas Aquinas explains this by starting with the etymology of the word: "Kindness ["benignitas", benignity] is like good fuel ["bona igneitas"]: just as fire causes solid substances to become liquid and start to melt, charity sees to it that a person does not keep his things for himself but distributes them to others" ("Commentary on 1 Cor, ad loc."). Since to charity are attributed qualities which in the first instance apply to God, we can see the excellence of this virtue: "Charity towards our neighbor is an expression of our love of God. Accordingly, when we strive to grow in this virtue, we cannot fix any limits to our growth. The only possible measure for the love of God is to love without measure: on the one hand, because we will never be able to thank him enough for what he has done for us; and on the other, because this is exactly what God's own love for us, his creatures, is like: it overflows without calculation or limit" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 232).
"Love is patient", St Gregory the Great comments, "because it bears serenely the injury it suffers. It is kind, because it repays evil with good. It is not jealous, because it covets nothing in this world: it does not know what it is to envy world- ly prosperity. It is not boastful, because it yearns only for spiritual reward and it is not carried away by external things. It is not arrogant, because it thrives only on the love of God and neighbor and avoids whatever would take it from the path of righteousness. It is not covetous, because although it ardently pursues its own spiritual goals, it does not desire the goods of others. It does not insist on its own way, because it scorns as alien those things it temporarily possesses here below: it seeks to hold on only to what is enduring. It is not irritable, and even though injuries seek to provoke it, it does not let itself have any desire for vengeance, for no matter how difficult a time it may have in this life, it hopes for greater rewards in the next. It is not resentful, because it has invested its thought in the love of purity, and having rooted out all hatred it is incapable of harboring in its heart any type of aversion. It does not rejoice at wrong, because it feels affection for others and does not rejoice at seeing the ruin of its enemies. It rejoices in the right, because by loving others as it loves itself, it is as pleased to see goodness in them as if it were indeed something to its own personal advantage" ("Moralia", X, 7-8, 10).
7. The repetition of the word "all" reinforces the absolute, essential, value of charity. This is not hyperbole, much less a depiction of utopia: it is recognition of the fact, as the Word of God confirms, that love lies at the very source of all Christian virtue. "Since we are all children of God," the founder of Opus Dei reminds us, "our fraternity is not a cliché or an empty dream; it beckons as a goal which, though difficult, is really ours to achieve.
"As Christians we must show that affection of this kind is in fact possible, whatever cynics, skeptics, those disappointed in love or those with a cowardly outlook on life might say. It may be quite difficult to be truly affectionate, for man was created free and he can rebel against God in a useless and bitter way. But it is possible and people can attain it, because it flows as a necessary consequence of God's love for us and our love for God. If you and I want it, Jesus also wants it. Then we will obtain a full and fruitful understanding of the meaning of suffering, sacrifice and unselfish dedication in ordinary life" ("Friends of God", 233).
8-13. Love is enduring; it will never disappear. In this sense it is greater than all God's other gifts to man; each of those gifts is designed to help man reach perection and eternal beatitude; charity, on the other hand, is beatitude, blessedness, itself. A thing is imperfect, St Thomas comments, for one of two reasons -- either because it contains certain defects, or because it will later be superseded. In this second sense knowledge of God and prophecy are overtaken by seeing God face to face. "Charity, on the other hand, which is love of God, does not disappear but, rather, increases; the more perfect one's knowledge of God, the more perfectly does one love him" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on 1 Cor, ad loc.").
St Paul is constantly reminding us to pursue the goal of charity, the bond of perfection (cf. Col. 3:14). Following his example the saints teach the same message; St Teresa of Avila puts it in this way: "I only want you to be warned that, if you would progress a long way on this road and ascend to the mansions that we desire, it is not a matter of thinking much, but of loving much; do, then, whatever most arouses you to love. Perhaps we do not know what it is to love; that would not greatly surprise me; for love consists, not in what most pleases us, but in the strength of our determination to desire to please God in everything and to endeavor to do everything we can not to offend him, and to pray him ever to advance the honor and glory of his Son and the growth of the catholic Church" ("Interior Castle", IV, 1, 7).
11-12. "Then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood": the Old Testament usually avoids mentioning God by name; these words in effect mean "Then I will know God as he knows me." The knowledge which God has of men is not merely speculative: it involves an intimate, personal union which embraces a person's mind and will and all his or her noble aspirations. Thus in Sacred Scripture God is said to know someone when he shows a preferential love for him (1 Cor 8:3), particularly when he chooses him out to be a Christian (Gal 4:8).
Happiness in heaven consists in this direct knowledge of God. To explain this better St Paul uses the simile of the mirror: in those times mirrors were made of metal and produced a reflection which was blurred and dark; but it is still easy for us to understand what St Paul means; as St Thomas explains, in heaven "we shall see God face to face, because we shall see him directly, just as we see a man face to face. And by seeing in this way we become very like God, becoming sharers in his beatitude: for God has knowledge of his own substance in its very essence and therein his happiness lies. Therefore does St John (1 Jn 3:2) write: 'When he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is"' ("Summa Contra Gentiles", III, 51).
In this connection the Church's Magisterium teaches that "in the usual providence of God, the souls of all the saints who departed this world [...] see the divine essence with an intuitive and even face-to-face vision, without the interposition of any creature in the function of object seen; rather, the divine essence immediately manifests itself to them plainly, clearly, openly [...]. We also define that those who see the divine essence in this way take great joy from it, and that because of this vision and enjoyment the souls of those who have already died are truly blessed and possess life and eternal rest" (Benedict XII, "Benedictus Deus, Dz-Sch", 1000f).
13. Faith, hope and charity are the most important virtues in the Christian life. They are called "theological" virtues, "because they have God as their direct and principal object" ("St Pius X Catechism", 859), and it is he himself who infuses them into the soul together with sanctifying grace (cf. ibid., 861).
When discussing the superiority of charity over faith and hope, St Thomas Aquinas says that the greatest of these virtues is that which most directly unites one to good: "Faith and hope attain God in so far as we derive from him the knowledge of truth or the acquisition of good; whereas charity attains God himself that it may rest in him, not that something else should come to us from him" ("Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 23, a.6).
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From: Luke 4:21-30
Jesus Preaches in Nazareth
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[21] And He began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. [22] And all spoke well of Him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth; and they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" [23] And He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to Me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in your own country.'" [24] And He said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is ac- ceptable in his own country. [25] But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; [26] and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. [27] And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." [28] When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. [29] And they rose up and put Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow on the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down headlong. [30] But passing through the midst of them He went away.
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Commentary:
21. Christ's words in verse 21 show us the authenticity with which He preached and explained the Scriptures: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus teaches that this prophecy, like the other main prophecies in the Old Testament, refers to Him and finds its fulfillment in Him (cf. Luke 24:44ff). Thus, the Old Testament can be rightly understood only in the light of the New--as the risen Christ showed the Apostles when He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:45), an understanding which the Holy Spirit perfected on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:4).
22-29. At first the people of Nazareth listened readily to the wisdom of Jesus's words. But they were very superficial; in their narrow-minded pride they felt hurt that Jesus, their fellow-townsman, had not worked in Nazareth the wonders He had worked elsewhere. They presume they have a special entitlement and they insolently demand that He perform miracles to satisfy their vanity, not to change their hearts. In view of their attitude, Jesus performs no miracle (His normal response to lack of faith: cf., for example, His meeting with Herod in Luke 23:7-11); He actually reproaches them, using two examples taken from the Old Testament (cf. 1 Kings 17:9 and 2 Kings 5:14), which show that one needs to be well-disposed if miracles are to lead to faith. His attitude so wounds their pride that they are ready to kill Him. This whole episode is a good lesson about understanding Jesus. We can understand Him only if we are humble and are genuinely resolved to make ourselves available to Him.
30. Jesus does not take flight but withdraws majestically, leaving the crowd paralyzed. As on other occasions men do Him no harm; it was by God's decree that He died on a cross (cf. John 18:32) when His hour had come.
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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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