Navarre Bible Commentary:Friday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time

The Second Coming by Klontzas

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Friday, October 26, 2012

29th Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 12:54-59

The Coming of Christ

[54] He (Jesus) also said to the multitudes, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, 'A shower is coming'; and so it happens. [55] And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. [56] You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearances of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

[57] "And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? [58] As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. [59] I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper."

Cited in the Catechism:  In declaring the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Blessed John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium."  He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are not cited in the Catechism.

Commentary:

56. Jesus' listeners knew from experience how to forecast the weather. However, although they knew the signs of the Messiah's coming announced by the prophets, and were hearing His preaching and witnessing His miracles, they did not want to draw the logical conclusion; they lacked the necessary goodwill and upright intention, and they just closed their eyes to the light of the Gospel (cf. Romans 1:18ff).

This attitude is also found to be very widespread in our own time, in forms of cer- tain kinds of atheism denounced by the Second Vatican Council: "Those who will- fully try to drive God from their heart and to avoid all questions about religion, not following the biddings of their conscience, are not free from blame" (Gaudium Et Spes, 19).

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.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome