CCC Cross Reference:
Eph 1:16-23 2632; Eph 1:18 158; Eph 1:19-22 272, 648; Eph 1:20-22 668; Eph 1:22-23 830; Eph 1:22 669, 753, 2045
Ps 8:2 300, 2566; Ps 8:3 559; Ps 8:6 2566, 2809
Lk 12:8-9 333; Lk 12:10 1864; Lk 12:12 1287
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Reading 1: Eph 1:15-23
Brothers and sisters:
Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and of your love for all the holy ones,
I do not cease giving thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the Church,
which is his Body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 8:2-3ab, 4-5, 6-7
R. (7) You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
O LORD, our LORD,
how glorious is your name over all the earth!
You have exalted your majesty above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
you have fashioned praise because of your foes.
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place—
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
Gospel: Lk 12:8-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you,
everyone who acknowledges me before others
the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.
But whoever denies me before others
will be denied before the angels of God.
“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven.
When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,
do not worry about how or what your defense will be
or about what you are to say.
For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading: Ephesians 1:15-23
I, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love that you show towards all the saints, have never failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.
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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 8:2-7
You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.
How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth!
Your majesty is praised above the heavens;
on the lips of children and of babes
you have found praise to foil your enemy,
to silence the foe and the rebel.
You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.
When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars which you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in mind,
mortal man that you care for him?
You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.
Yet you have made him little less than a god;
with glory and honour you crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your hand,
put all things under his feet.
You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.
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Gospel: Luke 12:8-12 ©
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of the angels. But the man who disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of God’s angels.
‘Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
‘When they take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.’
Readings and Commentary from Navarre
Saturday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Ephesians 1:15-23
Thanksgiving. The Supremacy of Christ
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[15] For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, [16] I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, [17] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18] having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, [19] and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might [20] which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at the right hand in the heavenly places, [21] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; [22] and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Commentary:
15-23. The news the Apostle has received moves him to thanksgiving and prayer (vv. 15-16). But he immediately returns to contemplate how wonderful it is to know God's goodness, and he asks God to give this gift to the readers of his letter (vv. 17-19). His petition hinges on Jesus Christ, through whom God has revealed his power by giving him dominion (vv. 20-21) and establishing him as head of the Church (vv. 22-23).
15-16. St Paul's solicitude sets a wonderful example, especially for those whose responsibility it is to give Christian instruction to others. Like him, they should pray for those entrusted to their care; they should thank God for their spiritual progress and ask the Holy Spirit to give them the gift of wisdom and understanding. "Fulfill the task entrusted to you with all diligence of body and soul", St Ignatius of Antioch exhorts Polycarp. "Pay special attention to unity for there is nothing more important than this. Make yourself the support of all and sundry, as the Lord is to you. Bear lovingly with them all, as you are doing at present. Pray constantly and beg for ever greater gifts of wisdom. Be watchful and always awake in spirit. Address yourself to people personally, as is the way of God himself' ("Letter to Polycarp", I, 2-3).
This "faith in the Lord Jesus" is not just a matter of believing in Jesus Christ full stop; it is a complete system of belief which is founded on Jesus Christ: those who have received the gift of faith live in Christ, and this life in Christ means that their faith is truly a living faith, one which expresses itself in "love towards all the saints". Faith makes us discover that every baptized person is a son or daughter of God, and thus Christians' fraternal love is a logical consequence of this insight.
17. The God whom St Paul addresses is "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ", that is, the God who has revealed himself through Christ and to whom Jesus himself, as man, prays and asks for help (cf. Lk 22:42). The same God as was described in the Old Testament as "the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob" is now defined as "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ". He is the personal God recognized by his relationship with Christ, his Son, who as mediator of the New Covenant obtains from God the Father everything he asks for. This will be our own experience too if we are united to Christ, for he promised that "if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name" (Jn 16:23; 15:16).
The founder of Opus Dei reminds us that "Jesus is the way, the mediator. In him are all things; outside of him is nothing. In Christ, taught by him, we dare to call Almighty God 'our Father': he who created heaven and earth is a loving Father" ("Christ Is Passing By", 91).
The Apostle also calls God "the Father of glory". The glory of God means his greatness, his power, the infinite richness of his personality, which when it is revealed inspires man with awe. Already, in the history of Israel, God revealed himself through his saving actions in favor of his people. Asking God to glorify his name is the same as asking him to show himself as our Savior and to give us his gifts. But the greatest manifestation of God's gory, of his power, was the raising of Jesus from the dead, and the raising, with him, of the Christian (cf. Rom 6:4; 1 Cor 6:14). In this passage St Paul asks God "the Father of glory" to grant Christians supernatural wisdom to recognize the greatness of the blessings he has given them through his Son; that is, to acknowledge that he is their Father and the origin of glory. By asking for a "spirit of wisdom and revelation" the Apostle is seeking special gifts -- on the one hand, wisdom, that gift of the Holy Spirit which enables one to penetrate the mystery of God: "Who has learned thy counsel, unless thou hast given wisdom and sent thy holy Spirit from on high?" (Wis 9:17). This wisdom which the Church has been given (cf. Eph l:8) can be communicated to Christians in a special way, as a special gift or charism of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle also asks God to give them a spirit "of revelation", that is, the grace of personal revelations, such as he himself (cf. 1 Cor 14:6) and other Christians (cf. 1 Cor 14:26) received. It is not a matter of revelation or recognition of new truths, but rather of special light from the Holy Spirit so as to have a deeper appreciation of the truth of faith, or of the will of God in a particular situation.
18-19. Along with this deeper knowledge of God, St Paul asks that Christians be given a fuller and livelier hope, because God and hope are inseparable. He recognizes the faith and charity of the faithful to whom he is writing (cf. 1:15); now he wants hope to shine more brightly for them; he wants God to enlighten their minds and make them realize the consequences of their election, their calling, to be members of the holy people of God, the Church. Hope, therefore, is a gift from God. "Hope is a supernatural virtue, infused by God into our soul, by which we desire and expect eternal life, promised by God to his servants, and the means necessary to obtain it" ("St Pius X Catechism", 893).
The ground for hope lies in God's love and power which have been manifested in the resurrection of Christ. This same power is at work in the Christian. Because God's plan for our salvation is an eternal one, he who has called us will lead us to an immortal life in heaven. The fact that God's power is at work in us (cf. Rom 5:5) does not mean that we encounter no difficulties. St. Escriva reminds us that "as we fight this battle, which will last until the day we die, we cannot exclude the possibility that enemies both within and without may attack with violent force. As if that were not enough, you may at times be assailed by the memory of your own past errors, which may have been very many. I tell you now, in God's name: do not despair. Should this happen (it need not happen; nor will it usually happen), then turn it into another motive for uniting yourself more closely to the Lord, for he has chosen you as his child and he will not abandon you. He has allowed this trial to befall you so as to have you love him the more and discover even more clearly his constant protection and love" ("Friends of God", 214).
20-21. The Apostle is in awe at the marvels which God's power has worked in Jesus Christ. He sees Christ as the source and model of our hope. "For, just as Christ's life is the model and exemplar of our holiness, so is the glory and exaltation of Christ the form and exemplar of our glory and exaltation" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Eph, ad. loc".).
As elsewhere in the New Testament (cf. Acts 7:56; Heb 1:3; 1 Pet 3:22), the fact that the risen Christ is seated "at the right hand" of the Father means that he shares in God's kingly authority. The Apostle is using a comparison with which people of his time were very familiar -- that of the emperor seated on his throne. The throne has always been the symbol of supreme authority and power. Thus, the "St Pius V Catechism" explains that being seated at the right hand "does not imply position or posture of body, but expresses the firm and permanent possession of royal and supreme power and glory, which he received from the Father" (I, 7, 3).
Christ's pre-eminence is absolute: he is Lord of all creation, material as well as spiritual, earthly as well as heavenly. "All rule and authority and power and dominion": this refers to the angelic spirits (cf. note on Eph 3:10), whom the false preachers were presenting as superior to Christ. St Paul argues against them: Jesus Christ at his resurrection was raised by God above all created beings.
22-23. In previous letters St Paul described the Church as a body (cf. Rom 12: 4f; 1 Cor 12:12ff). Here, and in Colossians 1:18, he pursues this comparison and says that it is the body of Christ, and that Christ is its head. He returns to this teaching elsewhere in the Captivity Epistles (cf. Col 1:18; Eph 5:23f). The image of body and head highlights the life-giving and salvific influence of Christ on the Church, and at the same time emphasizes his supremacy over the Church (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Eph, ad loc.", and also the note on Col 1:18). This fact fills Christians with joy: by joining the Church through Baptism, they have become truly members of our Lord's body. "No, it is not pride", Paul VI says, " nor arrogance nor obstinacy nor stupidity nor folly that makes us so sure of being living, genuine members of Christ's body, the authentic heirs of his Gospel" ("Ecclesiam Suam", 33).
This image also reveals Christ's close union with his Church and his deep love for her: "he loved her so much", St John of Avila observes, "that although what normally happens is that a person raises his arm to take a blow and protect his head, this blessed Lord, who is the head, put himself forward to receive the blow of divine justice, and died on the Cross to give life to his body, that is, us. And after giving us life, through penance and the sacraments, he endows us, defends and keeps us as something so very much his own, that he is not content with calling us his servants, friends, brethren or children: the better to show his love and render us honor, he gives us his name. For, by means of this ineffable union of Christ the head with the Church his body, he and we are together called 'Christ"' ("Audi, Filia", chap. 84).
The Apostle also describes the Church, the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:12) as his "fullness" (cf. note on Col 1:19). What he means is that, through the Church, Christ becomes present in and fills the entire universe and extends to it the fruits of his redemptive activity. By being the vehicle which Christ uses to distribute his grace to all, the Church is different from the Israel of the Old Testament: it is not confined to a particular geographical location.
Because the Church has limitless grace, its call is addressed to all mankind: all men are invited to attain salvation in Christ. "For many centuries now, the Church has been spread throughout the world," St. Escriva comments, "and it numbers persons of all races and walks of life. But the universality of the Church does not depend on its geographical extension, even though that is a visible sign and a motive of credibility. The Church was catholic already at Pentecost; it was born catholic from the wounded heart of Jesus, as a fire which the Holy Spirit enkindles [...]. 'We call it catholic', writes St Cyril, 'not only because it is spread throughout the whole world, from one extreme to the other, but because in a universal way and without defect it teaches all the dogmas which men ought to know, of both the visible and the invisible, the celestial and the earthly. Likewise, because it draws to true worship all types of men, those who govern and those who are ruled, the learned and the ignorant. And finally, because it cures and makes healthy all kinds of sins, whether of the soul or of the body, possessing in addition -- by whatever name it may be called -- all the forms of virtue, in deeds and in words and in every kind of spiritual gift' ("Catechesis", 18, 23)" ("In Love with the Church", 9).
All grace reaches the Church through Christ. The Second Vatican Council reminds us: "He continually endows his body, that is, the Church, with gifts of ministries through which, by his power, we serve each other unto salvation so that, carrying out the truth in love, we may through all things grow into him who is our head" ("Lumen Gentium", 7). This is why St Paul calls the Church the "body" of Christ; and it is in this sense that it is the "fullness" ("pleroma") of Christ – not because it in any way fills out or completes Christ but because it is filled with Christ, full of Christ, forming a single body with him, a single spiritual organism, whose unifying and life-giving principle is Christ, its head. This demonstrates Christ's absolute supremacy; his unifying and life-giving influence extends from God to Christ, from Christ to the Church, and from the Church to all men. It is he in fact who fills all in all (cf. Eph 4:10; Col 1:17-19; 2:9f).
The fact that the Church is the body of Christ is a further reason why we should love it and serve it. As Pope Pius XII wrote: "To ensure that this genuine and whole-hearted love will reign in our hearts and grow every day, we must accustom ourselves to see Christ himself in the Church. For it is indeed Christ who lives in the Church, and through her teaches, governs and sanctifies; and it is also Christ who manifests himself in manifold disguise in the various members of his society" ("Mystici Corporis", 43).
From: Luke 12:8-12
Various Teachings of Jesus (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [8] "And I tell you, every one who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; [9] but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. [10] And every one who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. [11] And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; [12] for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
Commentary:
8-9. This follows logically from Christ's previous teaching: worse than physical evils, worse even than death, are evils of the soul, that is, sin. Those who out of fear of temporal suffering deny our Lord and are unfaithful to the demands of the faith will fall into a greater evil still: they will be denied by Christ Himself on the Day of Judgment; whereas those who are penalized in this life because of their faithfulness to Christ will receive the eternal reward of being recognized by Him and will come to share His glory.
10. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists in maliciously attributing to the devil actions which have God as their origin. A person who does that prevents God's pardon from reaching him: that is why he cannot obtain forgiveness (cf. Matthew 12:31; Mark 3:28-30). Jesus understands and excuses the weakness of a person who makes a moral mistake, but He is not similarly indulgent to someone who shuts his eyes and his heart to the wonderful things the Spirit does; that was the way these Pharisees acted who accused Jesus of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebul; it is the way unbelieving people act who refuse to see in Christ's work a sign of the goodness of God, who reject the invitation God offers them and who thereby put themselves outside the reach of salvation (cf. Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-31). See the note on Mark 3:28-30.
[The note on Mark 3:28-30 states:
28-30. Jesus has just worked a miracle but the scribes refuse to recognize it "for they had said 'He has an unclean spirit'" (verse 30). They do not want to admit that God is the author of the miracle. In this attitude lies the special gravity of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit -- attributing to the prince of evil, to Satan, the good works performed by God Himself. Anyone acting in this way will become like the sick person who has so lost confidence in the doctor that he rejects him as if an enemy and regards as poison the medicine that can save his life. That is why our Lord says that he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not forgiven: not because God cannot forgive all sins, but because that person, in his blindness towards God, rejects Jesus Christ, His teaching and His miracles, and despises the graces of the Holy Spirit as if they were designed to trap him (cf. "St. Pius V Catechism", II, 5, 19; St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 14, a. 3).]
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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