Feast of St. James, Apostle

Santiago el Mayor by El Greco

Matthew 20:20–28

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; 28 even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”      

Catholic Exegesis:

The Second Vatican Council teaches  that if we are to derive the true meaning from the sacred texts,  attention must be devoted “not only to their content but to the unity of the whole of Scripture, the living tradition of the entire Church, and the analogy of faith. […] Everything to do with the interpretation of Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church, which exercises the divinely conferred communion and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God” (Dei Verbum, 12).

St. John Paul II, when he promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church,  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).

Cited in the Catechism:

Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, paragraphs 440, 601, 605, 622, 786 and 2235.

Commentary

The mother of the sons of Zebedee makes her request

20:20. The sons of Zebedee are James the Greater and John. Their mother, Salome, thinking that the earthly reign of the Messiah is about to be established, asks that her sons be given the two foremost positions in it. Christ reproaches them for not grasping the true—spiritual—nature of the Kingdom of heaven and not realizing that government of the Church he is going to found implies service and martyrdom. “If you are working for Christ and imagine that a position of responsibility is anything but a burden, what disillusionment awaits you!” (St Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 950).

20:22. “Drinking the cup” means suffering persecution and martyrdom for following Christ. “We are able”: the sons of Zebedee boldly reply that they can drink the cup; their generous expression evokes what St Paul will write years later: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

20:23. “You will drink my cup”: James the Greater will die a martyr’s death in Jerusalem around the year 44 (cf. Acts 12:2); and John, after suffering imprisonment and the lash in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 4:3; 5:40–41), will spend a long period of exile on the island of Patmos (cf. Rev 1:9).

From what our Lord says here we can take it that positions of authority in the Church should not be the goal of ambition or the subject of human intrigue, but the outcome of a divine calling. Intent on doing the will of his heavenly Father, Christ was not going to allocate positions of authority on the basis of human considerations but, rather, in line with God’s plans.

20:26. Vatican II puts a marked emphasis on this service which the Church offers to the world and which Christians should show as proof of their Christian identity: “In proclaiming the noble destiny of man and affirming an element of the divine in him, this sacred Synod offers to co-operate unreservedly with mankind in fostering a sense of brotherhood to correspond to this destiny of theirs. The Church is not motivated by an earthly ambition but is interested in one thing only—to carry on the work of Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for he came into the world to bear witness to the truth, to save and not to judge, to serve and not to be served” (Gaudium et spes, 3; cf. Lumen gentium, 32; Ad gentes, 12; Unitatis redintegratio, 7).

20:27–28. Jesus sets himself as an example to be imitated by those who hold authority in the Church. He who is God and Judge of all men (cf. Phil 2:5–11; Jn 5:22–27; Acts 10:42; Mt 28:18) does not impose himself on us: he renders us loving service to the point of giving his life for us (cf. Jn 15:13); that is his way of being the first. St Peter understood him right; he later exhorted priests to tend the flock of God entrusted to them, not domineering over them but being exemplary in their behaviour (cf. 1 Pet 5:1–3); and St Paul also was clear on this service: though he was “free from all men”, he became the servant of all in order to win all (cf. 1 Cor 9:19ff; 2 Cor 4:5).

Christ’s “service” of mankind aims at salvation. The phrase “to give his life as a ransom for many” is in line with the terminology of liturgical sacrificial language. These words were used prophetically in chapter 53 of Isaiah.

Verse 28 also underlines the fact that Christ is a priest, who offers himself as priest and victim on the altar of the cross. The expression “as a ransom for many” should not be interpreted as implying that God does not will the salvation of all men. “Many”, here, is used in contrast with “one” rather than “all”: there is only one Saviour, and salvation is offered to all.

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

Navarre Bible Commentary:Holy Thursday (Evening Mass)

Washing the Feet of Peter by Sahi

John 13:1-15

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

13 [a]Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. 5 Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. 6 He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,[b] but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “You are not all clean.”

12 When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

Footnotes:

1. 13.1 John begins here to unfold the mystery of the love of Jesus for “his own.” Note the solemn introduction to the “hour” of his passion and death.
2. John 13:10 Other ancient authorities omit except for his feet

Cited in the Catechism:  In promulgating 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 cited in the Catechism, in several paragraphs.

Commentary

13:1. Jewish families sacrificed a lamb on the eve of the Passover, in keeping with God’s command at the time of the exodus when God liberated them from the slavery of the Pharaoh (cf. Ex 12:3–14; Deut 16:1–8). This liberation prefigured that which Jesus Christ would bring about—the redemption of men from the slavery of sin by means of his sacrifice on the cross (cf. 1:29). This is why the celebration of the Jewish Passover was the ideal framework for the institution of the new Christian Passover.

Jesus knew everything that was going to happen; he knew his death and resurrection were imminent (cf. 18:4); this is why his words acquire a special tone of intimacy and love towards those whom he is leaving behind in the world. Surrounded by those whom he has chosen and who have believed in him, he gives them his final teachings and institutes the Eucharist, the source and centre of the life of the Church. “He himself wished to give that encounter such a fulness of meaning, such a richness of memories, such a moving image of words and thoughts, such a newness of acts and precepts, that we can never exhaust our reflection and exploration of it. It was a testamentary supper, infinitely affectionate and immensely sad, and at the same time a mysterious revelation of divine promises, of supreme visions. Death was imminent, with silent omens of betrayal, of abandonment, of immolation; the conversation dies down but Jesus continues to speak in words that are new and beautifully reflective, in almost supreme intimacy, almost hovering between life and death” (Paul VI, Homily on Holy Thursday, 27 March 1975).

What Christ did for his own may be summed up in this sentence: “He loved them to the end.” It shows the intensity of his love—which brings him even to give up his life (cf. Jn 15:13); but this love does not stop with his death, for Christ lives on after his resurrection and he continues loving us infinitely: “It was not only thus far that he loved us, who always and forever loves us. Far be it from us to imagine that he made death the end of his loving, who did not make death the end of his living” (St Augustine, In Ioann. Evang., 55, 2).

13:2. The Gospels show us the presence and activity of the devil running right through Jesus’ life (cf. Mt 4:1–11; Lk 22:3; Jn 8:44; 12:31; etc.). Satan is “the enemy” (Mt 13:39), “the evil one” (1 Jn 2:13). St Thomas Aquinas (cf. Comm. on St John, in loc.) points out that, in this passage, on the one hand we clearly see the malice of Judas, who fails to respond to this demonstration of love, and on the other hand great emphasis is laid on the goodness of Christ, who reaches out beyond Judas’ malice by washing his feet also and by treating him as a friend right up to the moment when he betrays him (cf. Lk 22:48).

13:3–6. Aware that he is the Son of God, Jesus voluntarily humbles himself to the point of performing a service appropriate to household servants. This passage recalls the Christological hymn in St Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant …” (Phil 2:5–7).

Christ had said that he came to the world “not to be served but to serve” (Mk 10:45). In this scene he teaches us the same thing, through specific example, thereby exhorting us to serve each other in all humility and simplicity (cf. Gal 6:2; Phil 2:3). “Once again he preaches by example, by his deeds. In the presence of his disciples, who are arguing out of pride and vanity, Jesus bows down and gladly carries out the task of a servant […] This tactfulness of our Lord moves me deeply. He does not say: ‘If I do this, how much more ought you to do?’ He puts himself at their level, and he lovingly chides those men for their lack of generosity.

“As he did with the first twelve, so also, with us, our Lord can and does whisper in our ear, time and again: exemplum dedi vobis (Jn 13:15), I have given you an example of humility. I have become a slave, so that you too may learn to serve all men with a meek and humble heart” (St Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, 103).

Peter understands particularly well how thoroughly our Lord has humbled himself, and he protests, in the same kind of way as he did on other occasions, that he will not hear of Christ suffering (cf. Mk 8:32 and par.). St Augustine comments: “Who would not shrink back in dismay from having his feet washed by the Son of God.… You? Me? Words to be pondered on rather than spoken about, lest words fail to express their true meaning” (In Ioann. Evang., 56, 1).

13:7–14. Our Lord’s gesture had a deeper significance than St Peter was able to grasp at this point; nor could he have suspected that God planned to save men through the sacrificing of Christ (cf. Mt 16:22ff). After the Resurrection the apostles understood the mystery of this service rendered by the Redeemer: by washing their feet, Jesus was stating in a simple and symbolic way that he had not come “to be served but to serve”. His service, as he already told them, consists in giving “his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45).

Our Lord tells the apostles that they are now clean, for they have accepted his words and have followed him (cf. 15:3)—all but Judas, who plans to betray him. St John Chrysostom comments as follows: “You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. That is: You are clean only to that extent. You have already received the Light; you have already got rid of the Jewish error. The Prophet asserted: ‘Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil from your souls’ (Is 1:16).… Therefore, since they had rooted out all evil from their souls and were following him with complete sincerity, he declared, in accordance with the Prophet’s words: ‘He who has bathed is clean all over’ ” (St John Chrysostom, Hom. on St John, 70, 3).

Also, when our Lord speaks about the apostles being clean, now, just before the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, he is referring to the need for the soul to be free from sin if it is to receive this sacrament. St Paul repeats this teaching when he says: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27). On the basis of these teachings of Jesus and the apostles, the Church lays down that anyone who is conscious of having committed a grave sin, or who has any positive doubt on that score, must go to confession before receiving Holy Communion.

13:15–17. Jesus’ whole life was an example of service towards men, fulfilling his Father’s will to the point of dying on the cross. Here our Lord promises us that if we imitate him, our Teacher, in disinterested service (which always implies sacrifice), we will find true happiness which no one can wrest from us (cf. 16:22; 17:13). “ ‘I have given you an example’, he tells his disciples after washing their feet, on the night of the Last Supper. Let us reject from our hearts any pride, any ambition, any desire to dominate; and peace and joy will reign around us and within us, as a consequence of our personal sacrifice” (St Josemaría Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, 94).

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

Navarre Bible Commentary:Tuesday, 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

"The Unfruitful Fig Tree and the Servants Duty" by Nelly Bube.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

32nd Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 17:7-10

Humble service 

7 “Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Cited in the Catechism:  In promulgating 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

17:7–10. Jesus is not approving this master’s abusive and arbitrary behaviour. He is using an example very familiar to his audience to show the attitude a person should have towards his Creator: everything, from our very existence to the eternal happiness promised us, is one huge gift from God. Man is always in debt to God; no matter what service he renders him he can never adequately repay the gifts God has given him. There is no sense in a creature adopting a proud attitude towards God. What Jesus teaches us here we see being put into practice by our Lady, who replied to God’s messenger, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38).

Finally, he stresses that there is no room for feelings of self-importance (vv. 7–10). Clearly he is not recommending or praising the landowner’s behaviour. But he is saying that the virtue shown in keeping God’s commandments will win us the admiration of others and bring us inner consolation, and that when that happens, we should not think we are special but should instead remind ourselves that we are only doing what God requires: “Do not boast unworthily of the fact that you are a son of God: remember the power of grace, and your own poor nature. Do not glory in your service to the Lord: it is no more than your duty. The sun shines, and the moon, and the angels do their duty. […] We should not praise ourselves, nor tempt God’s judgment […]. God’s judgment will come in his good time” (St Ambrose, Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam, ad loc.).

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