From: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12
Greeting
[1] Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: [2] Grace to you and peace from God
the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
[3] We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as is
fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one
of you for one another is increasing. [4] Therefore we ourselves boast of
you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your
persecutions and in the afflictions which you are enduring.
[5] This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be made
worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.
Prayer for Perseverance
[11] To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you
worthy of his call, and may fulfill every good resolve and work of
faith by his power, [12] so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be
glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Commentary:
1-2. This heading is similar to tat of the first letter. Two slight
differences bear comment. The first is the adjective "our" applied to God
the Father. This underlines the divine filiation of Christians. Only the
second person, the Word, is the Son of God by nature; human beings are
children of God by adoption, thanks to the Son's deigning to make us sharers
in the divine filiation which is his in all its fullness; in theology this
is expressed in the well-known proposition that we are "filii in Filio,"
sons in the Son. "The Son of God, his only son by nature," St Augustine
says, "deigned to become Son of man, so that we who are sons of man by
nature might become sons of God by grace" ("The City of God", 21,15). And St
lrenaeus explains that "if the Word became flesh, and if the Son of God
became Son of man, he did this so that man, by entering into communion with
the Word and receiving the privilege of adoption, might become a son of God"
("Against Heresies", 2,19).
The Second Vatican Council gives the same teaching when it says that "the
followers of Christ, called by God not in virtue of their works but by his
design and grace, and justified in the Lord Jesus, have been made sons of
God in the baptism of faith and partakers of the divine nature, and so are
truly sanctified" ("Lumen Gentium", 40). The full import of what Christian
life means becomes clear if one keeps in mind "this expressible and simple
fact--that he is our Father and we are his children" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends
of God", 144).
The second difference in the heading (as compared with the first letter) is
that it specifically says that grace comes "from God the Father and [from]
the Lord Jesus Christ". Peace is inseparable from grace, and has its source
in God. That is why the Second Vatican Council emphasized that "peace on
earth, which flows from love of one's neighbor, symbolizes and derives from
the peace of Christ which proceeds from God the Father" ("Gaudium Et Spes",
78).
See the note on 1 Thess 1:1-2.
3-4. As in other letters, the Apostle expresses his deep gratitude to the
Lord (cf. Phil 4:6; Col 3:15-17; 1 Tim 2:1; etc.). By doing so he is
imitating Jesus himself who at the start of prayer used to praise the Father
and give him thanks (cf. Mt 11:25; 15:36; 26:27 and par.; Jn 11:41; etc.).
In its supreme act of worship, the Mass, the Church exclaims at the start of
the Preface: "We do well always and everywhere to give you thanks." In
addition to showing the nobility of our feelings, gratefulness also puts us
in the way of further gifts, because the Lord is particularly well disposed
to a humble and grateful heart. As St Bernard teaches, "someone who humbly
recognizes himself as obliged for gifts and who is grateful for them, is
bound to receive many more. For if he shows that he is faithful in little
things, he has a right to be entrusted with many; whereas on the contrary,
someone who does not appreciate the favors he has been given renders himself
unworthy of being given additional favors" ("Sermons on Psalm 90", 4).
That is why the Christian feels the need to express his gratitude to God:
"Thank you, my Jesus, for your choosing to become perfect Man, with a most
loving and lovable heart; a heart which loves unto death; a heart which
suffers; which is fitted with joy and sorrow; which delights in the things
of men and shows us the way to heaven; which subjects itself heroically to
duty and acts with mercy; which watches over the poor and the rich, which
cares for sinners and the just.... Thank you, my Jesus. Give us hearts to
measure up to Yours!" ([St] J. Escriva, "Furrow", 813).
"Your faith is growing": faith needs to grow, it needs to be alive. It grows
when it is joined to love. The Thessalonians were active in their practice
of faith and love, and this meant that their morale was good despite
persecution and affliction. "Observe how the love and mutual solidarity of
the believers is a great help in resisting evils and bearing affliction," St
John Chrysostom says. "That deep fraternity was a great source of
consolation. It is only a weak faith and an imperfect charity that
afflictions cause to waver; but a solid, robust faith is in fact
strengthened by affliction. A weak, languid soul derives no benefit from
suffering, whereas a generous soul finds in suffering a source of new
energy" ("Hom. on 2 Thess, ad loc.").
5. Fidelity to God, even in a situation which is adverse and difficult; is a
guarantee of future reward. Our Lord sometimes allows us to experience
suffering for the sake of the Gospel; he thereby tests our love and makes us
worthy of the enduring Kingdom which awaits us in the life to come.
In a particularly authoritative way, Paul VI taught that "the Kingdom of God
begun here below in the Church of Christ is not of this world whose form is
passing, and [...] its proper growth cannot be confounded with the progress
of civilization, of science or of human technology, but [...] consists in an
ever more profound knowledge of the unfathomable riches of Christ, an ever
stronger hope in eternal blessings, an ever more ardent response to the Love
of God, and an ever more generous bestowal of grace and holiness among men"
("Creed of the People of God", 27).
Suffering, like faith, should he accepted as a mark of God's special love:
"it has been granted to you that...you should not only believe in him but
also suffer for his sake" (Phil 1:29). Making the same point John Paul II
reminds us that "in bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ
has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each
man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering
of Christ" ("Salvifici Doloris", 19).
11. St. Paul takes up the thread of the prayer he began in v. 4, asking
God to keep the believers true to their calling. He himself is very
good example of how teachers of Christian doctrine should approach
their work; he does not confine himself to expounding the truths of
faith: the first step he takes is to pray for his work to be fruitful.
St. Augustine observes that anyone who wants to teach the word of God
"tries as far as possible to make his words understandable, pleasing
and persuasive. But he should be convinced that if he is to obtain a
good result it will be due more to the piety of his prayers than to his
gifts of speech. And so, praying for those he is to address, he should
be more a supplicant than a speaker. When the time comes for him to
speak, before actually doing so he should raise his parched soul to God
that he may utter only what he has himself eaten and drunk" ("Christian
Instruction", 4, 15).
The Apostle asks God to make the Thessalonians "worthy of his call",
that their efforts should have the support of divine grace, for no
supernatural action can be planned, begun or brought to a conclusion
without the grace of God (cf. Boniface II, "Per Filium Nostrum,
Dz-Sch", 399). Hence the liturgical prayer: "Lord, be the beginning
and end of all that we do and say. Prompt our actions with your grace,
and complete them with your all-powerful help" ("Liturgy of the Hours",
Morning Prayer, Monday Week 1).
12. The Greek formula here translated as "according to the grace of our
God and the Lord Jesus Christ" could also be interpreted as "according
to the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ"--in which case we would
have here a confession of christological faith which would be of
enormous value on account of its antiquity. It would be an
acknowledgment of Christ being both God ("Theos") and Lord ("Kyrios"),
that is, "Iesus Christus, Dominus et Deus noster". However, the
expression "our God" often appears in Pauline writings (cf., in this
very chapter, vv. 2 and 11); he also frequently uses the formula "Lord
Jesus Christ". This suggests that there is a distinction between "our
God" and "the Lord Jesus Christ" (or even "our Lord Jesus Christ");
hence the preferred translation.
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
From: Matthew 23:13-22
Jesus Indicts the Scribes and Pharisees
(Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees,) [13] "But woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the Kingdom of
Heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those
who would enter to go in. [15] Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte,
and when he becomes proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of
Hell as yourselves.
[16] "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, `If any one swears by the
temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple,
he is bound by his oath.' [17] You blind fools! For which is greater,
the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? [18] And you
say, `If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if one swears
by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' [19] You
blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the
gift sacred? [20] So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and
everything on it; [21] and he who swears by the temple, swears by it
and by him who dwells in it; [22] and he who swears by Heaven, swears
by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it."
Commentary:
13. Here comes our Lord's invective against the behavior of the scribes
and Pharisees: His "woes" condemn their past conduct and threaten them
with punishment if they do not repent and mend their ways.
14. As RSV points out, "other authorities add here (or after verse 12)
verse 14, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers;
therefore you will receive greater condemnation." Our Lord is not
reproaching them for praying long prayers but for their hypocrisy and
cupidity. By going in for a lot of external religious practices, the
Pharisees wanted to be recognized as devout men and then trade on that
reputation particularly with vulnerable people. Widows, for example,
would ask them to say prayers; the Pharisees in turn would ask for
alms. What Jesus means here is that prayer should always come from an
upright heart and a generous spirit.
15. "Proselyte": a pagan convert to Judaism. The root of the word
means "he who comes", he who--coming from idolatry--joins the chosen
people in response to a calling from God. The Pharisees spared no
effort to gain converts. Our Lord reproaches them not for this, but
because they were concerned only about human success, their motivation
being vainglory.
The sad thing about these proselytes was that, after receiving the light
of Old Testament revelation, they remained under the influence of
scribes and Pharisees, who passed on to them their own narrow outlook.
22. Our Lord's teaching about taking oaths is given in the Sermon on
the Mount (Matthew 5:33-37). Jesus does away with the nitpicking
casuistry of the Pharisees by focusing directly on the uprightness of
the intention of the oath-taker and by stressing the respect due to
God's majesty and dignity. What Jesus wants is a pure heart, with no
element of deceit.
Our Lord particularly reproves any tendency to undermine the content of
an oath, as the Doctors of the Law tended to do, thereby failing to
respect holy things and especially the holy name of God. He therefore
draws attention to the commandment of the Law which says, `You shall
not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" (Exodus 20:7; Leviticus
19:12; Deuteronomy 5:11).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reading I 
THE PING!