2007년 6월 9일 연중 제9주간 토요일
제1독서 토빗기 12,1.5-15.20
그 무렵 1 혼인 잔치가 끝나자 토빗은 자기 아들 토비야를 불러 말하였다. “얘야, 너와 함께 갔던 사람에게 품삯을 주고 또 품삯 외에 더 얹어 주도록 배려하여라.”
5 그리하여 토비야는 라파엘을 불러, “그대가 가지고 온 모든 것의 절반을 품삯으로 받고 안녕히 가시오.” 하고 말하였다.
6 그때에 라파엘이 그 두 사람을 은밀히 불러 말하였다. “하느님께서 너희에게 잘해 주셨으니, 살아 있는 모든 이 앞에서 그분을 찬미하고 찬양하여라. 그리고 그분의 이름을 찬미하고 찬송하여라. 하느님께서 하신 일을 존경하는 마음으로 모든 사람에게 알리고, 그분을 찬양하기를 게을리 하지 마라.
7 임금의 비밀은 감추는 것이 좋고, 하느님의 업적은 존경하는 마음으로 드러내어 밝히는 것이 좋다. 선을 행하여라. 그러면 악이 너희에게 닥치지 않을 것이다.
8 진실한 기도와 의로운 자선은 부정한 재물보다 낫다. 금을 쌓아 두는 것보다 자선을 베푸는 것이 낫다.
9 자선은 사람을 죽음에서 구해 주고 모든 죄를 깨끗이 없애 준다. 자선을 베푸는 이들은 충만한 삶을 누린다. 10 그러나 죄와 불의를 저지르는 자들은 바로 저희 자신에게 원수가 된다.
11 나는 이제 너희에게 아무것도 숨기지 않고 진실을 모두 밝히겠다. 나는 이미 너희에게 ‘임금의 비밀은 감추는 것이 좋고, 하느님의 업적은 공경하는 마음으로 드러내는 것이 좋다.’ 하고 분명히 밝혔다. 12 자 이제 보라, 너와 사라가 기도할 때에 너희의 기도를 영광스러운 주님 앞으로 전해 드린 이가 바로 나다. 네가 죽은 이들을 묻어 줄 때에도 그러하였다.
13 그리고 네가 주저하지 않고 잔치 음식을 놓아둔 채 일어나 가서 죽은 이를 매장해 줄 때, 14 너를 시험하도록 파견된 자도 나였다. 또 하느님께서는 나를 파견하시어 너와 네 며느리 사라를 고쳐 주게 하셨다. 15 나는 영광스러운 주님 앞에서 대기하고 또 그분 앞으로 들어가는 일곱 천사 가운데 하나인 라파엘이다.
20 이제 이 세상에서 주님을 찬미하고 하느님을 찬양하여라. 자, 나는 나를 파견하신 분께 올라간다. 너희에게 일어난 모든 일을 기록해 두어라.” 그러고 나서 라파엘은 올라갔다.
복음 마르코 12,38-44
그때에 예수님께서는 군중을 38 가르치시면서 이렇게 이르셨다. “율법 학자들을 조심하여라. 그들은 긴 겉옷을 입고 나다니며 장터에서 인사받기를 즐기고, 39 회당에서는 높은 자리를, 잔치 때에는 윗자리를 즐긴다. 40 그들은 과부들의 가산을 등쳐 먹으면서 남에게 보이려고 기도는 길게 한다. 이러한 자들은 더 엄중히 단죄를 받을 것이다.”
41 예수님께서 헌금함 맞은쪽에 앉으시어, 사람들이 헌금함에 돈을 넣는 모습을 보고 계셨다. 많은 부자들이 큰 돈을 넣었다. 42 그런데 가난한 과부 한 사람이 와서 렙톤 두 닢을 넣었다. 그것은 콰드란스 한 닢인 셈이다.
43 예수님께서 제자들을 가까이 불러 이르셨다. “내가 진실로 너희에게 말한다. 저 가난한 과부가 헌금함에 돈을 넣은 다른 모든 사람보다 더 많이 넣었다. 44 저들은 모두 풍족한 데에서 얼마씩 넣었지만, 저 과부는 궁핍한 가운데에서 가진 것을, 곧 생활비를 모두 다 넣었기 때문이다.”
June 9, 2007
Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1
Tb 12:1, 5-15, 20
Tobit called his son Tobiah and said to him,
“Son, see to it that you give what is due to the man
who made the journey with you; give him a bonus too.”
So he called Raphael and said,
“Take as your wages half of all that you have brought back,
and go in peace.”
Raphael called the two men aside privately and said to them:
“Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory.
Before all the living,
acknowledge the many good things he has done for you,
by blessing and extolling his name in song.
Honor and proclaim God’s deeds,
and do not be slack in praising him.
A king’s secret it is prudent to keep,
but the works of God are to be declared and made known.
Praise them with due honor.
Do good, and evil will not find its way to you.
Prayer and fasting are good,
but better than either is almsgiving accompanied by righteousness.
A little with righteousness is better than abundance with wickedness.
It is better to give alms than to store up gold;
for almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin.
Those who regularly give alms shall enjoy a full life;
but those habitually guilty of sin are their own worst enemies.
“I will now tell you the whole truth;
I will conceal nothing at all from you.
I have already said to you,
‘A king’s secret it is prudent to keep,
but the works of God are to be made known with due honor.’
I can now tell you that when you, Tobit, and Sarah prayed,
it was I who presented and read the record of your prayer
before the Glory of the Lord;
and I did the same thing when you used to bury the dead.
When you did not hesitate to get up
and leave your dinner in order to go and bury the dead,
I was sent to put you to the test.
At the same time, however,
God commissioned me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah.
I am Raphael, one of the seven angels
who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord.”
“So now get up from the ground and praise God.
Behold, I am about to ascend to him who sent me;
write down all these things that have happened to you.”
Responsorial Psalm
Tobit 13:2, 6efgh, 7, 8
R. (1b) Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
He scourges and then has mercy;
he casts down to the depths of the nether world,
and he brings up from the great abyss.
No one can escape his hand.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
So now consider what he has done for you,
and praise him with full voice.
Bless the Lord of righteousness,
and exalt the King of ages.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
In the land of my exile I praise him
and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Bless the Lord, all you his chosen ones,
and may all of you praise his majesty.
Celebrate days of gladness, and give him praise.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Gospel
Mk 12:38-44
In the course of his teaching Jesus said,
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext,
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation.”
He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”
Commentary
It is time for Raphael to reveal to Tobit and Tobias that he is the one who presented their prayers to the Lord and was commissioned by God to heal him, to bring Tobias to his wife. And he teaches them how to praise God-they who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord. He tells them, "A king's secret is prudent to keep, but the works of God are to be made known with due honor." We are to do the works of God, the works of mercy, and to live with honor and bless God for all things. Do we live like these men and women of Tobit's time in exile, relying on God and in due time knowing how history is being played out under God's eyes and care?
Jesus warns of religion that is not practiced but played at, in ritual, clothes, and people who parade their piety for others' benefit. The widow who gives, even out of her sustenance to survive (like Tobit and his family), is the one who worships truly. Jesus tells us to observe this way of worship and life, not what is false and shallow and self-serving.
Every so often I am reminded, or perhaps I need to be reminded, that “it’s not about me.” I think of that when I read of Jesus saying, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces...” For these scribes, their position, and the honor due to them, was what it was all about, not the service that they rendered to others. It’s apparently a big deal to wear a long robe and get good seats. It’s what celebrities in Jesus’ time enjoyed, and I suppose people looked at the scribes as people now look at today’s celebrities and say, “How cool.”
But living the right kind of life is not about long robes, good seats, honors, or being cool or having a high position. It’s not about me, and it’s not about us; it’s about what we do, what service we give to others as a worship to God. The widow puts in her two little coins. She gives all. It’s not about us. It’s about what we do, and the focus of what we give, whether monetarily or in other ways. Living a God-centered life is not about giving a certain amount in the collection plate—it’s about serving with all you have, all you can do, all you are.
by
Robert Whipple, Jr.
English Department
We forgive a great deal of ‘official goodness’ because we are grateful to see goodness of any kind. But in some ways official goodness is worse than badness, because it gives goodness a bad taste. This may explain why the clergy are an object of scorn in almost every generation. It may also explain why in Ireland long ago there was a belief that a ‘silenced priest’ had great spiritual power. A silenced priest was one who for some misdemeanour was forbidden to minister. He was still a priest, but now he had the added value of being unofficial; and it was believed that he was all the closer to God for that.
A letter addressed to “Dean Jonathan Swift, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland” arrived a couple of years ago, requesting the Dean’s particular views on the clergy, in the interests of a term paper that a college student was writing. The questioner was late by more than 250 years, but the answer was lying there all the while. Swift (1667-1745) had written: “I never saw, heard, nor read that the clergy were beloved in any nation where Christianity was the religion of the country. Nothing can render them popular but some degree of persecution.”
As we time-travel back from there to the present let’s visit Emerson (1803-1882) and hear what he has to say: “It is the best part of a man, I sometimes think, that revolts most against his being a minister. His good revolts from official goodness.” No joy there either.
If we wonder why there is anticlericalism in every age, the answer would be that there is clericalism in every age. When people see unaffected goodness they recognise it, unless they have a very biased view. Jesus recognised goodness in many who were rejected by the official holy people of his time, while he heaped scorn on the latter. He was strongly anticlerical.
He was opposed to those Pharisees, one might object, but your modern anticleric is opposing Christian ministers.
Yes, but recall what he said when two of his own closest disciples began jockeying with the others for position. “He called them to him and said to them, “You know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:42-45). He himself never paraded in special robes or sought places of honour. He was stripped of his garments and died nailed to a cross.
"This poor widow has put in more than the rest"
What is true religion? Jesus warns his disciples against the wrong kind of religion. In his denunciation of the scribes (the religious experts of his day) , he warns against three things: the desire for prominence rather than selfless service; the desire for deference and recognition (and seeking esteem from others) rather than seeking to promote the good of others through humble service and love; and thirdly, attempting to use one’s position (even a religious position) for self-gain and self-advancement. True religion is relating rightly to God and to one’s neighbor with love, honor, and reverence. The Lord puts his Spirit within us that we may be filled with the joy of his presence, the joy of true worship, and the joy of selfless giving and love for others. True reverence for God frees the heart to give liberally, both to God and to neighbor.
Jesus taught his disciples a dramatic lesson in giving with love. Love doesn't calculate; it spends lavishly! Jesus drove this point home to his disciples while sitting in the temple and observing people offering their tithes. Jesus praised a poor widow who gave the smallest of coins in contrast with the rich who gave greater sums. How can someone in poverty give more than someone who has ample means? Jesus' answer is very simple: love is more precious than gold! Jesus taught that real giving must come from the heart. A gift that is given with a grudge or for display loses most of its value. But a gift given out of love, with a spirit of generosity and sacrifice, is invaluable. The amount or size of the gift doesn't matter as much as the cost to the giver. The poor widow could have kept one of her coins, but instead she recklessly gave away all she had! Jesus praised someone who gave barely a penny – how insignificant a sum – because it was everything she had, her whole living. What we have to offer may look very small and not worth much, but if we put all we have at the Lord's disposal, no matter how insignificant it may seem, then God can do with it and with us what is beyond our reckoning. Do you know the joy and freedom of giving liberally
to God and to neighbor with gratitude and love?
"Lord, all that I have is yours. Take my life, my possessions, my time and all that I have and use them as you desire for your glory."
Psalm 71:8-9,14-17,22
8 My mouth is filled with thy praise, and with thy glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.
14 But I will hope continually, and will praise thee yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of thy righteous acts, of thy deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come, I will praise thy righteousness, thine alone.
17 O God, from my youth thou hast taught me, and I still proclaim thy wondrous deeds.
22 I will also praise thee with the harp for thy faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to thee with the lyre, O Holy one of Israel.
'PRAISE HIM WITH FULL VOICE' (Tb 13:6)
'Do not be slack in praising Him.' Tobit 12:6
Tobit and Tobiah had a visitor from heaven, the angel Raphael. The angel had spent his existence praising God in the glory of heaven. No wonder Raphael's vocabulary is composed primarily of praise; that's what he always has done in heaven.
Raphael spoke from the abundance of his heart (Lk 6:45), and that abundance was the everlasting praise of God. Raphael couldn't help but praise God, saying: 'Thank God! Give Him the praise and the glory' (Tb 12:6). 'Acknowledge the many good things He has done for you, by blessing and extolling His name...Honor and proclaim God's deeds, and do not be slack in praising Him' (Tb 12:6). 'Thank Him every day; praise Him with song' (Tb 12:18).
Change your vocabulary and bring your praises of God to another level by frequent participation in the Mass, even daily. At Mass, the priest prays that the worship of earth be joined with that of heaven, saying: 'With all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim Your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise.'
Instead of half-hearted platitudes, 'praise Him with full voice' (Tb 13:6). Like the woman in today's Gospel, give Jesus your all when praising Him, not your leftovers (Mk 12:44). Let the high praises of God be in your throat (Ps 149:6). Praise Him with your own words, with the gift of tongues, and with song. With every breath, 'praise the Lord!' (Ps 150:6)
Praise: St. Ephrem praised God in solitude and in choirs, in words and in deeds.
Prayer: 'I will sing praise to my God while I live. Pleasing to Him be my theme; I will be glad in the Lord' (Ps 104:33-34).
Promise: 'Almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin.' Tb 12:9
«A poor widow also came and dropped in two small coins»
Today, as in Jesus' times, some pious persons —and even more so, some religious “professionals”— may be tempted by a kind of spiritual hypocrisy, evidenced through self-conceited attitudes, which we try to justify by our feeling better than all the rest: after all, we are the believers, the practitioners..., the pure ones! If nothing else, at times, deep inside our heart, we may feel like that; without, however, “making a show of being praying” or, even less, trying to “devour anybody's goods”.
In sharp contrast with the masters of the law, the Gospel presents a simple and almost insignificant gesture on the part of a poor widow that provokes Jesus' admiration: «But a poor widow also came and dropped in two small coins» (Mk 12:42). The actual value of her donation is almost nil, but the woman's decision is admirable, heroic: she gives everything she has, her very living.
With this gesture, God and the others went ahead of her and of her own needs. She fully and totally remained in the Providence's hands. She had nothing else to rely upon because, quite willingly, she had given it all to the service of God and to the attention of the poor. Jesus, who saw it, valued her generosity and her desire to praise God and help the poor, as the most important offering of all that had been made —perhaps, most ostentatiously— in that Temple.
Which means that the fundamental and salvation option is to be found in the nucleus of our own conscience, when we decide to open ourselves to God and live at the disposal of mankind; and when the election value is not given by the quality or quantity of the work made, but by the purity of intention and loving generosity.
Raphael reveals himself: He is one of the seven angles who are always in the presence of God. He has been with Tobias through all his trials, and the trials were sent to test and challenge Tobias and family to greater faith. Now everything has reached a great conclusion; all is well. The archangels exhort the family to practice prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. They are to thank God for all his blessings, and to proclaim to all what God has done for them.
The gospel tells us not to be impressed with the external. We are not to do things in order to be noticed, seen, or thanked. We thank God by our lives of virtue in secret. Everyone is impressed by huge donations and philanthropy. But Jesus says that the poor widow put in more than all the rest because she really sacrificed. You can’t pay the bills of a large parish by widow’s pennies. Yet we must always remember that, in God’s eyes, the sacrifices of the needy are more precious than the surplus of the wealthy.
Also St. Ephrem (306-373 A.D.) Ephrem was a voluminous writer of the Fourth Century. He is the only Syrian Father of the Church to be declared “Doctor of the Church.” Born and reared at Nisibis, when this city was ceded to Persia, he retired to a cave overlooking Edessa. Here he wrote most of his works. He spent much time combating a Gnostic sect called the Bardesanes. Ironically, from them he learned one of the greatest vehicles of his writing: songs and poems. He set his teachings to music, some to very popular music. To him is attributed the beginning of singing of hymns in Church. He became a deacon late in life. one great aspect of his writings was his devotion to Mary, the Mother of Christ. He is a wonderful early witness to the Church’s beliefs about Mary. His works are not well known in the western world, since they only began to be translated into Latin in the Eighteenth Century. As his works become available in our language, surely his fame will become greater.
It's wonderful that all these chapters of Mark's Gospel should end by Jesus calling all his disciples together to admire a poor widow who gives all that she has into the
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