Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, religious (United States)
CCC Cross Reference:
1 Jn 3:8 385, 392, 394
Jn 1:36 608
Back to Deacon’s Bench '08
Back to SOW II '12
Back to SOW II '13
Back to SOW II '14
Back to SOW II '17
Back to SOW II '18
Back to SOW II '19
Back to SOW II '20
Back to SOW II '23
Reading 1
1 Jn 3:7-10
Children, let no one deceive you.
The person who acts in righteousness is righteous,
just as he is righteous.
Whoever sins belongs to the Devil,
because the Devil has sinned from the beginning.
Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil.
No one who is begotten by God commits sin,
because God’s seed remains in him;
he cannot sin because he is begotten by God.
In this way,
the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain;
no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God,
nor anyone who does not love his brother.
Responsorial Psalm
98:1, 7-8, 9
R. (3cd) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with them for joy before the Lord.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
The Lord comes;
he comes to rule the earth;
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with equity.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Gospel
Jn 1:35-42
John was standing with two of his disciples,
and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God.”
The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
“What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher),
“where are you staying?”
He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying,
and they stayed with him that day.
It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,
was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
He first found his own brother Simon and told him,
“We have found the Messiah,” which is translated Christ.
Then he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said,
“You are Simon the son of John;
you will be called Cephas,” which is translated Peter.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading 1 John 3:7 – 10
My children, do not let anyone lead you astray:
to live a holy life
is to be holy just as he is holy;
to lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil,
since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.
It was to undo all that the devil has done
that the Son of God appeared.
No one who has been begotten by God sins;
because God’s seed remains inside him,
he cannot sin when he has been begotten by God.
In this way we distinguish the children of God
from the children of the devil:
anybody not living a holy life
and not loving his brother
is no child of God’s.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 97(98):1,7-9
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Let the sea and all within it, thunder;
the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
at the presence of the Lord: for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Gospel John 1:35 – 42
On the following day as John stood there again with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God’. Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher –’where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.
One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
January 4 Christmas Weekday
From: 1 John 3:7-10
A Child of God Does Not Sin
------------------------------------------
[7] Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous. [8] He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. [9] No one born of God commits sin; for God's nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. [10] By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
6-9. This passage acts as a preface to v. 10, where the Apostle spells out the criteria for distinguishing the children of God from the children of the devil – the practice of Christian virtues and the keeping of the commandments of God, especially that of brotherly love.
To understand correctly what St John is saying here, it is useful to remember his controversy with the false teachers (the Gnostics): these were trying to deceive the faithful (v. 7) and claimed to have a special knowledge of God (gnosis),which put them above good and evil, so that what the Church regarded as sin they saw as morally indifferent and as incapable of undermining the union with God they claimed they had.
To identify these heretics, the Apostle has recourse to words of our Lord: "the tree is known by its fruit" (Mt 12:33). Thus, the genuine Christian is recognized by deeds of righteousness (v. 7), that is, by keeping the commandments of God and leading a holy life. And the qualities essential to the Christian life are incompatible with sin; these qualities are--divine filiation ("he is born of God": v. 9), intimate union with Christ ("who abides in him": v. 6), and sanctifying grace, together with the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (this seems to be what the expression "God's nature abides in him" means: v. 9). Thus it is understandable that "No one who abides in him (Christ) sins" (v. 6).
In fact, as long as "God's nature abides in him...he cannot sin" (v. 9). Clearly St John does not mean that a Christian is incapable of sinning; at the start of the letter he said, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (1:8). What he wants to make quite clear is that no one can justify his own sin by the device of claiming to be a child of God: the righteousness of the children of God reflects itself in their actions, whereas "he who commits sin is of the devil" (v. 8), for sin cuts one off from God and means one has submitted to the slavery of the devil.
The ancient heresy has grown up again, in a way, in our own time: there are those who claim that union with God is not broken by transgression of commandments, even in grave matter, provided one does not withdraw one's "fundamental option" for God. Against this error, the Magisterium of the Church reminds us that "care must be taken not to reduce mortal sin to an act of 'fundamental option' -- as is commonly said today -- against God, intending thereby an explicit and formal contempt for God or neighbor. For mortal sin exists also when a person knowingly and willingly, for whatever reason chooses something gravely disordered. In fact, such a choice already includes contempt for the divine law, a rejection of God's love for humanity and the whole of creation: the person turns away from God and loses charity" ("Reconciliatio et Paenitentia", 17).
10. "Children of the devil": this is a common Semitic way of speaking, meaning "the devil's supporters". In St John's writings we find references to "children of the devil" (cf. Jn 8:44; Acts 13:10) and to people who are "of the devil" (v. 8), and Judas is even called a "devil" (Jn 6:70; but he never uses an expression like "born of the devil". Therefore, the expressions "children of the devil" and "children of God" cannot be put on the same plane.
Also, "children of God" refers here primarily to the moral dimension of Christian life, as a description (the opposite of "the children of the devil") of those whose actions show they are on God's side. However, being children of God has a radically different meaning from being children of the devil, because it derives from something transcendental--God's causing the Christian to partake of his own divine nature through the life of grace (cf. 1 Jn 3:1-2 and notes on same).
The criteria for distinguishing the two groups mentioned are: the practice of righteousness, that is, striving for holiness and fighting against sin, reviewed in the previous section (vv. 3-9), and the practice of brotherly love, as we shall see in the next section (vv. 11-24).
*********************************************************************************************
From: John 1:35-42
The Calling of the First Disciples
-----------------------------------------------
[35] The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; [36] and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" [37] The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [38] Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to Him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are You staying?" [39] He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. [40] One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. [41] He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah' (which means Christ). [42] He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "So you are Simon, the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
35-39. Through these words of the Baptist, these two disciples are moved by grace to approach the Lord. John's testimony is an example of the special graces God distributes to attract people to Himself. Sometimes He addresses a person directly by stirring his soul and inviting him to follow Him; at other times, as in the present case, He chooses to use someone close to us who knows us, to bring us to meet Christ.
The two disciples already had a keen desire to see the Messiah; John's words move them to try to become friends of our Lord: it is not merely natural curiosity but Christ's personality which attracts them. They want to get to know Him, to be taught by Him and to enjoy His company. "Come and see" (John 1:39; cf. 11: 34)--a tender invitation to begin that intimate friendship they were seeking. Time and personal contact with Christ will be needed to make them more secure in their vocation. The Apostle St John, one of the protagonists in this scene, notes the exact time it took place: "it was about the tenth hour", roughly four in the afternoon.
Christian faith can never be just a matter of intellectual curiosity; it affects one's whole life: a person cannot understand it unless he really lives it; therefore, our Lord does not at this point tell them in detail about His way of life; He invites them to spend the day with Him. St Thomas Aquinas comments on this passage saying that our Lord speaks in a lofty, mystical way because what God is (in Himself or in grace) can only be understood through experience: words cannot describe it. We grow in this understanding by doing good works (they immediately accepted Christ's invitation and as a reward "they saw"), by recollection and by applying our mind to the contemplation of divine things, by desiring to taste the sweetness of God, by assiduous prayer. Our Lord invited everyone to do all this when He said, "Come and see", and the disciples discovered it all when, in obedience to our Lord, "they went" and were able to learn by personal experience, whereas they could not understand the words alone (cf. "Commentary on St John, in loc".).
40-41. The Evangelist now gives us the name of one of the two disciples involved in the previous scene; he will mention Andrew again in connection with the multiplication of the loaves (John 6:8) and the last Passover (John 12:22).
We cannot be absolutely sure who the second disciple was; but since the very earliest centuries of the Christian era he has always been taken to be the Evangelist himself. The vividness of the account, the detail of giving the exact time, and even John's tendency to remain anonymous (John 19:16; 20:2; 21:7,20) seem to confirm this.
"St John the Apostle, who pours into his narrative so much that is first-hand, tells of his first unforgettable conversations with Christ. `"Master, where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They went and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.'
"This divine and human dialogue completely changed the life of John and Andrew and Peter and James and so many others. It prepared their hearts to listen to the authoritative teaching which Jesus gave them beside the Sea of Galilee" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ is Passing By", 108).
Those hours spent with our Lord soon produce the first results of apostolate. Andrew, unable to contain his joy, tells Simon Peter the news that he has found the Messiah, and brings him to Him. Now, as then, there is a pressing need to bring others to know the Lord.
"Open your own hearts to Jesus and tell Him your story. I don't want to generalize. But one day perhaps an ordinary Christian, just like you, opened your eyes to horizons both deep and new, yet as old as the Gospel. He suggested to you the prospect of following Christ earnestly, seriously, of becoming an apostle of apostles. Perhaps you lost your balance then and didn't recover it. Your complacency wasn't quite replaced by true peace until you freely said 'yes' to God, because you wanted to, which is the most supernatural of reasons. And in its wake came a strong, constant joy, which disappears only when you abandon Him" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 1).
42. What was it like when Jesus looked at someone? From what He says here, He seems both imperious and tender. On other occasions His glance is enough to invite a person to leave everything and follow Him, as in the case of Matthew (Matthew 9:9); or He seems to be full of love, as in His meeting with the rich young man (Mark 10:21), or He seems angry or sad, because of the Pharisees' unbelief (Mark 2:5), or compassionate, towards the widow of Nain (Luke 7:13). He is able to move Zacchaeus' heart to conversion (Luke 19:5); and He Himself is moved by the faith and generosity of the poor widow who gave in alms everything she had (Mark 12:41-44). His penetrating look seems to lay the soul bare to God and provoke one to self-examination and contrition -- as happened to the adulterous woman (John 8:10) and to Peter who, after denying Christ (Luke 22: 61) wept bitterly (Mark 14:72).
"You shall be called Cephas": naming something is the same as taking possession of the thing named (cf. Genesis 17:5; 22:28; 32:28; Isaiah 62:2). Thus, for example, Adam when he was made lord of creation, gave names to creating things (Genesis 2:20). "Cephas" is the Greek transcription of an Aramaic word meaning stone, rock: therefore, St. John, writing in Greek, has to explain the meaning of the word Jesus used. Cephas was not a proper name, but our Lord put it on Peter to indicate his role as His vicar, which He will later on reveal (Matthew 16:16-18): Simon was destined to be the stone, the rock, of the Church.
The first Christians regarded this new name as so significant that they used it without translating it (cf. Galatians 2:9, 11, 14); later its translation "Peter" (Petros, Petrus) became current, pushing the Apostle's old name -- Simon – into the background. "Son of John": ancient manuscripts include variants, such as "son of Jona".
*********************************************************************************************
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment