July 2, 2007 Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

  2007년 7월 2일 연중 제13주간 월요일

 

 제1독서 창세기 18,16-33

16 사람들은 마므레의 참나무들 곁을 떠나 소돔이 내려다보이는 곳에 이르렀다. 아브라함은 그들을 배웅하려고 함께 걸어갔다.
17 그때에 주님께서 말씀하셨다. “내가 앞으로 하려는 일을 어찌 아브라함에게 숨기랴? 18 아브라함은 반드시 크고 강한 민족이 되고, 세상 모든 민족들이 그를 통하여 복을 받을 것이다.
19 내가 그를 선택한 것은, 그가 자기 자식들과 뒤에 올 자기 집안에 명령을 내려 그들이 정의와 공정을 실천하여 주님의 길을 지키게 하고, 그렇게 하여 이 주님이 아브라함에게 한 약속을 그대로 이루려고 한 것이다.”
20 이어 주님께서 말씀하셨다. “소돔과 고모라에 대한 원성이 너무나 크고, 그들의 죄악이 너무나 무겁구나. 21 이제 내가 내려가서, 저들 모두가 저지른 짓이 나에게 들려온 그 원성과 같은 것인지 아닌지를 알아보아야겠다.”
22 그 사람들은 거기에서 몸을 돌려 소돔으로 갔다. 그러나 아브라함은 주님 앞에 그대로 서 있었다.
23 아브라함이 다가서서 말씀드렸다. “진정 의인을 죄인과 함께 쓸어버리시렵니까? 24 혹시 그 성읍 안에 의인이 쉰 명 있다면, 그래도 쓸어버리시렵니까? 그 안에 있는 의인 쉰 명 때문에라도 그곳을 용서하지 않으시렵니까? 25 의인을 죄인과 함께 죽이시어 의인이나 죄인이나 똑같이 되게 하시는 것, 그런 일은 당신께 어울리지 않습니다. 그런 일은 당신께 어울리지 않습니다. 온 세상의 심판자께서는 공정을 실천하셔야 하지 않겠습니까?”
26 그러자 주님께서 대답하셨다. “소돔 성읍 안에서 내가 의인 쉰 명을 찾을 수만 있다면, 그들을 보아서 그곳 전체를 용서해 주겠다.”
27 아브라함이 다시 말씀드렸다. “저는 비록 먼지와 재에 지나지 않는 몸이지만, 주님께 감히 아룁니다. 28 혹시 의인 쉰 명에서 다섯이 모자란다면, 그 다섯 명 때문에 온 성읍을 파멸시키시렵니까?”
그러자 그분께서 대답하셨다. “내가 그곳에서 마흔다섯 명을 찾을 수만 있다면 파멸시키지 않겠다.”
29 아브라함이 또다시 그분께 아뢰었다. “혹시 그곳에서 마흔 명을 찾을 수 있다면 …… ?”
그러자 그분께서 대답하셨다. “그 마흔 명을 보아서 내가 그 일을 실행하지 않겠다.”
30 그가 말씀드렸다. “제가 아뢴다고 주님께서는 노여워하지 마십시오. 혹시 그곳에서 서른 명을 찾을 수 있다면 …… ?”
그러자 그분께서 대답하셨다. “내가 그곳에서 서른 명을 찾을 수만 있다면 그 일을 실행하지 않겠다.”
31 그가 말씀드렸다. “제가 주님께 감히 아룁니다. 혹시 그곳에서 스무 명을 찾을 수 있다면 …… ?”
그러자 그분께서 대답하셨다. “그 스무 명을 보아서 내가 파멸시키지 않겠다.”
32 그가 말씀드렸다. “제가 다시 한 번 아뢴다고 주님께서는 노여워하지 마십시오. 혹시 그곳에서 열 명을 찾을 수 있다면 …… ?”
그러자 그분께서 대답하셨다. “그 열 명을 보아서라도 내가 파멸시키지 않겠다.”
33 주님께서는 아브라함과 말씀을 마치시고 자리를 뜨셨다. 아브라함도 자기가 사는 곳으로 돌아갔다.

복음 마태오 8,18-22

그때에 18 예수님께서는 둘러선 군중을 보시고 제자들에게 호수 건너편으로 가라고 명령하셨다. 19 그때에 한 율법 학자가 다가와 예수님께, “스승님, 어디로 가시든지 저는 스승님을 따르겠습니다.” 하고 말하였다.
20 그러자 예수님께서 그에게 말씀하셨다. “여우들도 굴이 있고 하늘의 새들도 보금자리가 있지만, 사람의 아들은 머리를 기댈 곳조차 없다.”
21 그분의 제자들 가운데 어떤 이가, “주님, 먼저 집에 가서 아버지의 장사를 지내게 허락해 주십시오.” 하고 말하였다.
22 예수님께서는 그에게, “너는 나를 따라라. 죽은 이들의 장사는 죽은 이들이 지내도록 내버려 두어라.” 하고 말씀하셨다.

 

 

 

 

 

 July 2, 2007

 Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

  

 Reading 1
Gn 18:16-33

Abraham and the men who had visited him by the Terebinth of Mamre
set out from there and looked down toward Sodom;
Abraham was walking with them, to see them on their way.
The LORD reflected: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
now that he is to become a great and populous nation,
and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him?
Indeed, I have singled him out
that he may direct his children and his household after him
to keep the way of the LORD
by doing what is right and just,
so that the LORD may carry into effect for Abraham
the promises he made about him.”
Then the LORD said:
“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great,
and their sin so grave,
that I must go down and see whether or not their actions
fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me.
I mean to find out.”

While the two men walked on farther toward Sodom,
the LORD remained standing before Abraham.
Then Abraham drew nearer to him and said:
“Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?
Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;
would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it
for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing,
to make the innocent die with the guilty,
so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike!
Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?”
The LORD replied,
“If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom,
I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham spoke up again:
“See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord,
though I am but dust and ashes!
What if there are five less than fifty innocent people?
Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
But Abraham persisted, saying, “What if only forty are found there?”
He replied, “I will forbear doing it for the sake of forty.”
Then Abraham said, “Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on.
What if only thirty are found there?”
He replied, “I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there.”
Still Abraham went on,
“Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord,
what if there are no more than twenty?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
But he still persisted:
“Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.
What if there are at least ten there?”
He replied, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.”

The LORD departed as soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham,
and Abraham returned home.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 103:1b-2, 3-4, 8-9, 10-11

R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.

Gospel
Mt 8:18-22

When Jesus saw a crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Another of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead.”

 

 

 Commentary

 

 

The Lord and Abraham set out for Sodom and God tells him what he is planning on doing. Abraham (our father in faith) bargains with God to save the city. First he pleads for a reprieve with 50, then 45, 30, 20, and ends with 10. And the Lord accepts Abraham's plea. Who do we plead for and seek to save even though their evil is crying out to God? Will we ever be known for such care for total strangers and evildoers? (Or remember that we are no different than them?)

Jesus is shadowed by crowds everywhere, all the time. A scribe approaches him and wants to be his follower. Jesus tries to tell him that it won't be easy-even the foxes have lairs and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man, crucified, rejected, and not welcomed in the world, has nowhere to lay his head. But Jesus says to us: "Follow me." Will we?

 

 

 The scribe at the beginning of today's gospel reading says "Teacher, wherever you go I will come after you." Jesus responds rather curiously by saying that He has no fixed abode...

At that time the Temple stood, massive and confidence-inspiring, fixed in the center of Jerusalem, and the life of the Jewish community centered around it: after all, that was where Jahweh chose to let his glory ("shekinah") abide. But Jesus promises the scribe no such physical, solid, and visible home. He does not even offer a "teaching" that could be as carefully spelled out in minute detail as the Law had to offer, the refuge of an absolute and literal answer to every question in the smallest detail. That would be a metaphorical Temple, another place where the faithful might believe themselves certain to encounter God.

Jesus' words suggest, without absolutely pointing at it, that Jesus is driven by the Spirit of God and must go where It leads. We could consider Jesus to be inviting the scribe to join Him in following the Spirit, and we could hear those words as addressed to us, with even more import. Taking all that Jesus said and did, we understand and choose to follow Him. Our baptism, our confirmation, our prayer all point in that direction --- or they should.

But do we actually accept to go wherever that is, always moving on to the other towns, ever ready to be truly present to unaccustomed individuals and situations, always seeking for a deeper understanding and love as the Spirit brings us to life and spiritual maturity? Are we generous enough, do we trust God enough, to set off on that lifelong pilgrimage to the Heavenly City with Jesus as our Teacher and the Holy Spirit as our guide?

Do we leave behind our fixation on the dependable Temple (not even on the God within), in our trust in the solid, clear, and fixed Law, in order to follow the constantly advancing Jesus and the untrammeled Spirit? Can we set off, trying always to humbly choose our divine Shepherd rather than any merely human support, ideas, guidance, or person?

 

 by
Chas Kestermeier, S.J.
English Department

 

 

 A LOVE TO DIE FOR

'Far be it from You to do such a thing, to make the innocent die with the guilty.' Genesis 18:25

Abraham believed that the Lord would not make the innocent die with the guilty (Gn 18:25). However, the Lord actually lets the innocent die for the guilty. 'Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,' Jesus, the Innocent one, 'that whoever believes in Him may not die but may have eternal life' (Jn 3:16).

Jesus came to die so that we sinners might have life through Him. 'At the appointed time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for us godless men. It is rare that anyone should lay down his life for a just man, though it is barely possible that for a good man someone may have the courage to die. It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us...When we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him by the death of His Son' (Rm 5:6-8, 10).

We are disciples of Jesus. Therefore, we follow in His footsteps, take up our cross each day, die to ourselves, and offer up our lives for Him (Lk 9:23). It's not humanly possible for us to love the Sodoms and Gomorrahs of this world enough to die on their behalf. However, 'the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us' (Rm 5:5). We love with God's love, not a human love.

'Fix your eyes on Jesus' (Heb 3:1). 'Live in His love' (Jn 15:10). 'He laid down His life for us; we too must lay down our lives' for those He loves (1 Jn 3:16).

Praise: Theresa loved her alcoholic husband. He eventually repented, was delivered of his addiction by Jesus, and they are now a witness to God's healing love.
Prayer: Jesus, may I follow You on Your terms (Lk 9:62).
Promise: 'Not according to our sins does He deal with us, nor does He requite us according to our crimes.' Ps 103:10

 

 

 
Our reading from Genesis today is very anthropomorphic.   It is too “earthy” for our sophisticated minds.    It is from the “Yahwist” tradition.   God almost appears like a human being; he walks along with Abraham.   The Lord tells Abraham that he is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.   Abraham then begins a Semitic bargaining session with the Lord:   Yahweh  is merciful; he wouldn’t want to destroy the cities if he found fifty innocent men there, would he?   Yahweh answers no.   Abraham says, “What about forty-five?”  No.   “What about forty?”   And so on down to ten.    But there are not even ten innocent people.   Geology seems to indicate terrible earthquakes and the explosion of bitumen pits in this area at about this time.   This is another “clue” to the family history.
The gospel tells of someone who says he will follow Jesus wherever he leads.   Jesus tells him that he has no place to call his own home.   The point of these sayings is: Will be truly follow Jesus, no matter where he leads, and not matter what he asks?  

 

 

 «Follow me»

Today, the Gospel presents us —through two personages— a quality the good disciple of Jesus must have: to dispense with all material goods. Before, however, St. Matthew's text points out to a detail I would not like to overlook: «When Jesus saw the crowd press around him...» (Mt 8:18). Crowds gather around the Lord to listen to his words, to be healed of their material and spiritual sicknesses; they are seeking their salvation and a breath of eternal Life amidst a world in conflict.

As at that time, something similar happens in today's world: more or less consciously, we, all, need God's help, to satiate our heart with true spiritual goods, such as a better knowledge of Jesus Christ and a life of friendship and love for Him. Otherwise, we risk tumbling into the trap that fills out our heart with other “gods” giving no meaning to our lives: mobile phones, Internet, tourist holidays to the Bahamas, a frantic work to make more money, a better car than your neighbour or a gym where to excel with the best figure of them all... Right now, this is what is happening to many of us.

In sharp contrast, though, John Paul II's outcry to the youth, full of force and confidence, resounds: «It is possible to be both modern and profoundly faithful to Jesus Christ». It is needed, for this, as the Lord says, our breaking away with what may link us to a much materialized way of life that serves no purpose other than closing the doors to the Holy Spirit.

«The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (...) Follow me» (Mt 8:22), says today's Gospel. And St. Gregory the Great reminds us: «Let temporal things be used, while keeping eternal realities in our desire; let earthly things be utilized for our trek, while desiring the eternal ones for the end of our journey». This is a good criterion to examine whether we are properly following Jesus.

 

 

Many times we become as people who are full of worldly activities and diversions and therefore are not immediately conscious of Christ's Spirit dwelling within them.  We become "the dead burying the dead."  We must be careful though that we do not judge others because of their exterior practices.  Judging I will be judged.  But in my prayer I experience the call of the Spirit to let go of so many things that really do not have a Christ-reality about them.  The secularist culture continually multiplies needs to which I must expend energy to fulfill them.  So I lose sensitivity to the call.  I do not respond totally and spontaneously.  Does the call mean that I must give up the place where I lay my head?  Do I simplify my life?  All these demands must be discerned in the process of my prayer.  Only the Spirit can make real my full donation to Christ; only the Spirit can enable me to discern the directions in which Christ wishes to lead me.  I will trust in fidelity to prayer as the basic means of being receptive and responsive.