From: Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11
The Herald of Good Tidings
[10] I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my soul shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
[11] For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring forth before all the nations.
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Commentary:
1-11. Into the air of great joy reflected in the previous hymn, the prophet inserts
this very important oracle about the new messenger (vv. 1-3). The rest of the
chapter is made up of three stanzas that celebrate the wonders of the holy city.
These can be seen in profound, spiritual renewal (vv. 4-7), perfect fulfillment of
the promises made to the ancient patriarchs (vv. 8-9), and joy-in-worship, com-
parable to that of a bridegroom and bride, or that of the farmer on seeing a rich
harvest (vv. 10-11).
The remarkable events and features of the city point to the time of the End, the
time of the Lord’s definitive, salvific intervention. In this context, these new
things are ultimate and definitive. Because in the New Testament the Church is
called “God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9), erected on the foundation of the apostles (1
Cor 3:11), Christian tradition has seen the new, glorious Jerusalem as a symbol
of the Church that makes its way through this world and will be made manifest
at the end of time (cf. “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 756-757).
61:1-3 This very compact oracle depicts the eschatological messenger speaking
a soliloquy. It is one of the key passages in the book of Isaiah. It clearly has con-
nections with the songs of the Servant, especially the second song (49:1-6). The
pouring out of the Spirit involves anointing, as in the case of the king (cf. 11:2)
and in that of the Servant of the Lord (42:1). But the messenger is more than a
king, more than a prophet, more than the community dwelling in the holy city in
the latter days. His mission is a dual one – to be a messenger and a comforter.
As a messenger, like a king’s ambassador in times of war, he brings good ti-
dings: he announces redemption for slaves, release for prisoners (cf. Jer 34:8,
17). His message proclaims a new order of things where there will be no need for
repression, and where concord and well-being will prevail. The “year of the Lord’s
favour” (v. 2) is similar to the jubilee year (cf. Lev 25:9-19) or the sabbatical year
(cf. Ex 21:2-11; Jer 34:14; Ezek 46:17) in the sense that it is a day chosen by
the Lord, and different from any other; but here it means the point at which God
shows himself to be most gracious and bestows definitive salvation (cf. 49:8). It
is also called the day of vengeance (v. 2) because on that day, essentially a day
of good news, the wicked, too, will receive their just deserts.
As a comforter he will bind up hearts broken by illness or misfortune, and give
encouragement to those who weep and revive those who mourn in Zion. When
the comforter is the Lord or a messenger of his (cf. 40:1), one can expect him
to re-establish his people, to set things right, (the way they were at the begin-
ning), to renew the broken Covenant and re-establish institutions that had been
dismantled, that is, bring about a situation where everything is in plentiful supply.
People who have reached rock bottom (the poor, prisoners, etc.) will be given a
place of honour on that day, and a wreath, perfume and a mantle of praise (v. 3).
In sacred texts of the post-exilic period, the concept of the “poor” (or “afflicted”:
cf. note m) already went beyond the social category of those least well off: it
had a religious connotation, meaning “the humble”, those who saw themselves
as having no value before God and who simply put their faith in his divine mercy.
The final definition of the “poor” will emerge in the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12).
In Jesus’ time, Jewish tradition, found in the targum or Aramaic translation of the
Bible, considered the messenger described here to be a prophet (and for that rea-
son it introduced this oracle with the words “Thus says the prophet”). So, when
Jesus reads this passage in the synagogue of Nazareth he points out that “today
the scripture has been fulfilled” (Lk 4:21) and that he is the prophet of whom Isai-
ah spoke. By doing so, he is saying that he is the Messiah, the Christ, the one
anointed by the Holy Spirit (cf. Is 11:2), not so much as a king but as a prophet
who proclaims salvation. Ever since then, Christian teaching sees Jesus as the
last messenger sent by the Holy Spirit: “The prophet presents the Messiah as
the one who comes in the Holy Spirit, the one who possesses the fullness of this
Spirit in himself and at the same time for others, for Israel, for all the nations, for
all humanity. The fullness of the Spirit of God is accompanied by many different
gifts, the treasures of salvation, destined in a particular way for the poor and suf-
fering, for all those who open their hearts to these gifts — sometimes through the
painful experience of their own existence — but first of all through that interior avai-
lability which comes from faith. The aged Simeon, the ‘righteous and devout man’
upon whom ‘rested the Holy Spirit’, sensed this at the moment of Jesus’ presenta-
tion in the Temple, when he perceived in him the ‘salvation … prepared in the pre-
sence of all peoples’ at the price of the great suffering – the Cross – which he
would have to embrace together with his Mother. The Virgin Mary, who “had con-
ceived by the Holy Spirit’, sensed this even more clearly, when she pondered in
her heart the “mysteries” of the the Messiah, with whom she was associated”
(Dominum et Vivficantem, 16).
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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.
From: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Various Counsels (Continuation)
Closing Prayer and Farewell
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Commentary:
16. Being at peace with God and with others fills one with joy and serenity, so
much so that even great suffering and sorrow, if borne with faith, cannot take a
way one’s joy. “Being children of God, how can we be sad? Sadness is the end
product of selfishness. If we truly want to live for God, we will never lack cheerful-
ness, even when we discover our errors and wretchedness. Cheerfulness finds
its way into our life of prayer, so much so that we cannot help singing for joy.
For we are in love, and singing is a thing that lovers do” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends
of God”, 92).
When someone allows sadness to overwhelm him, even his prayers to God are
of no avail because he is failing to accept God’s will. An anonymous second-
century Christian writer, in a famous document, says: “Why does the prayer of
the melancholy man not reach up to the altar of God? [...] Because supplication
when mixed with melancholy is prevented from ascending pure to the altar. Just
as wine mixed with vinegar has no longer the same flavor, so the Holy Spirit
mixed with melancholy has not the same power of supplication. Cleanse your-
self, therefore, of this evil melancholy, and you will live for God. So, too, will they
live for God who cast away melancholy and clothe themselves entirely in joy”
(”The Shepherd of Hermas”, 10th Commandment, 3).
17. Our Lord impressed on his Apostles the need for prayer at all times, and
underlined this by his own life of prayer (cf. Lk 18:1). “The Apostle”, St Jerome
says, “tells us to pray always. For holy people, even sleep is a prayer. However,
we should have certain times of prayer spread out over the day so that, even if
we are involved in some task, the timetable we have given ourselves will remind
us that duty calls” (”Letter”, 22, 37).
“A Christian life should be one of constant prayer, trying to live in the presence
of God from morning to night and from night to morning. A Christian can never be
a lonely person, since he lives in continual contact with God, who is both near us
and in heaven [...]. in the middle of his daily work, when he has to overcome his
selfishness, when he enjoys the cheerful friendship of other people, a Christian
should rediscover God” (St.J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 116).
18. This verse completes the triptych which shows the Christian how to live in
line with “the will of God”—joy (v. 16), prayer (v. 17) and thanksgiving.
“There is no one”, St Bernard says, “who, if he just thinks about it a little, cannot
find very good reasons to express his gratitude to God” (”Sermon on the Sixth
Sunday after Pentecost”, 2, 1). In addition to life itself and all the natural gifts we
have received, there are the fruits of the Redemption wrought by Christ, and even
“the natural order of things requires that he who has received a favor should, by
repaying it, turn to his benefactor in gratitude” (”Summa Theologiae”, II-II, q. 106,
a. 3). It follows that gratefulness should be a permanent attitude of the children
of God, whether they find themselves in pleasant or disagreeable circumstances,
for they know that “in everything God works for good with those who love him”
(Rom 8:28). “If things go well, let us rejoice, blessing God who makes them pros-
per. And if they go badly? Let us rejoice, blessing God who allows us to share in
the sweetness of his Cross” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 658).
19-22. No one should smother the graces and charisms the Holy Spirit grants as
he wishes (cf. 1 Cor 13 and 14); and the gift of prophecy (v. 20) should be held in
special regard. The “prophets” referred to in the New Testament were Christians
to whom God gave special graces to encourage, console, correct or instruct o-
thers. They did not constitute a special class or group, as was the case in the
Old Testament. Some of them may at times have abused their gifts and tried to
impose their counsel on others, but that does not mean that those who had this
gift were not to be held in high regard, for thanks to this charism they were a
great asset to the Church.
“It is only through the sacraments and the ministrations of the Church that the
Holy Spirit makes holy the people of God, leads them and enriches them with
his virtues. Allotting his gifts according as he wills it (cf. 1 Cor 12:11), he also dis-
tributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts he makes
them fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and buil-
ding up of the Church, as it is written, ‘to each is given the manifestation of the
Spirit for the common good’ (1 Cor 12:7). Whether these charisms be very remar-
kable or more simple and widely diffused they are to be received with thanksgiving
and consolation since they are fitting and useful for the needs of the Church. Ex-
traordinary gifts are not to be rashly desired, nor is it from them that the fruits of
apostolic labors are to be presumptuously expected. Those who have charge over
the Church should judge the genuineness and proper use of these gifts, though
their office is not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold
fast to what is good (cf. 1 Thess 5:12 and 19-21)” (Vatican 11, “Lumen Gentium”,
12).
21. This verse refers directly to charisms and the discernment of charisms; but
it can be taken as advice to reflect prudently before taking any decision, so as
always to do the right thing.
23. “Spirit and soul and body”: three aspects which go to make up a well-inte-
grated human person. Spirit and soul are in fact two forms of the same principle.
Here soul refers to the principle of sensitive life, whereas “spirit” is the source
of man’s higher life; his intellectual life derives from his spirit, and this intellectual
life, once enlightened by faith, is open to the action of the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom
1:9).
In this verse God is being invoked to “sanctify” believers, to preserve the purity
of the human person at all levels (spirit, soul and body). Given that even after Bap-
tism man has an inclination towards sin and often does offend the Lord (even if
not gravely), he needs to practice penance in order to stay unsullied. Moreover,
the “sanctification” which God brings about in man affects his entire being. In the
last analysis, Christian holiness is the fullness of the order established by God at
the Creation and reestablished after man’s sin. And so the Apostle invokes God
as “the God of peace”, for peace is, according to theological definition, “tranqui-
llity in order”. Sanctity gives all man’s faculties, physical as well as spiritual, their
perfection and wholeness, thereby rounding off and perfecting the natural order,
without superseding it.
Sanctification is the joint work of God and man. God’s action begins at Baptism
and develops thereafter (cf. 3:13); but for a person to attain lasting sanctity he
needs to make a constant effort to second God’s action. “Conversion is the task
of a moment; sanctification is the work of a lifetime. The divine seed of charity,
which God has sown in our souls, desires to grow, to express itself in deeds, to
yield results which continually coincide with what God wants. Therefore, we
must be ready to begin again, to find again—in new situations—the light and the
stimulus of our first conversion” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 58).
24. “He who calls you”: the Greek text conveys the idea of continuous action.
The calling which God addresses to a person is not an isolated event occurring
at a single point in his life; it is a permanent attitude of God, who is continually
calling us to be holy. Therefore, vocation is not something which can be lost; but
man’s response can cease. Faithfulness is an attitude of God: he always keeps
his promises and never ceases in his salvific purpose: “He who began a good
work in you will bring it to completion” (Phil 1:6); so holiness depends on divine
grace (which is always available) and on man’s response. Final perseverance is
a grace but it will not be denied to anyone who strives to do good. “Buoyed up
by this hope,” St Clement of Rome comments, “let us bind our souls to him who
is true to his word and righteous in his judgments. He who has forbidden us to
use any deception can much less be a deceiver himself” (”Letter to the Corin-
thians”, 1, 27).
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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.