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From: Acts 13:44-52

Paul and Barnabas Preach to the Pagans

[44] The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered together to hear the Word
of God. [45] But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealou-
sy, and contradicted what was spoken by Paul, and reviled him. [46] And Paul
and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the Word of God
should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves
unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. [47] For so the Lord has
commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you
may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’”

[48] And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the Word of
God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. [49] And the Word
of the Lord spread throughout all the region. [50] But the Jews incited the devout
women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecu-
tion against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. [51] But
they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and went to Iconium. [52]
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

45. The opposition of these Jews, who in their jealousy contradict what Paul
says, will from now be the typical attitude of the synagogue to the Gospel. It
emerges everywhere the Apostle goes, with the exception of Beroea (cf. 17:10-
12).

46. Paul may have been hoping that Christianity would flourish on the soil of Ju-
daism, that the Jews would peacefully and religiously accept the Gospel as the
natural development of God’s plans. His experience proved otherwise: he encoun-
tered the terrible mystery of the infidelity of most of the chosen people, his own
people.

Even if Israel had been faithful to God’s promises, it would still have been neces-
sary to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. The evangelization of the pagan world
is not a consequence of Jewish rejection of the Word; it is required by the univer-
sal character of Christianity. To all men Christianity is the only channel of saving
grace; it perfects the Law of Moses and reaches out beyond the ethnic and geo-
graphical frontiers of Judaism.

47. Paul and Barnabas quote Isaiah 49:6 in support of their decision to preach to
the Gentiles. The Isaiah text referred to Christ, as Luke 3:32 confirms. But now
Paul and Barnabas apply it to themselves because the Messiah is “light for the
Gentiles” through the preaching of the Apostles, for they are conscious of spea-
king in Christ’s name and on His authority. Therefore, probably here “the Lord”
refers not to God the Father but to Christ.

51. “They shook the dust from their feet”: a traditional expression: the Jews re-
garded as unclean the dust of anywhere other than the holy land of Palestine.

Our Lord extended the meaning of the phrase when He told the disciples He was
sending them out to preach, “If any one will not receive you or listen to your words,
shake off the dust from your feet” (Matthew 10:14; cf. Luke 9:5). This gesture of
Paul and Barnabas echoes what Jesus said and amounted to “closing the case”
or putting on record the unbelief of the Jews.

*********************************************************************************************
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: Acts 14:21-27

The Return Journey to Antioch

[21] When they had preached the Gospel to that city and had made many disci-
ples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, [22] strengthening
the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that
through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God. [23] And when had
appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they commit-
ted them to the Lord in whom they believed.

[24] Then they passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. [25] And when
they had spoken the Word in Perga, they went down to Attalia; [26] and from
there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of
God for the work which they had fulfilled. [27] And when they arrived, they ga-
thered the Church together and declared all that God had done with them, and
how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

20-22. “If you accept difficulties with a faint heart you lose joy and your peace,
and you run the risk of not deriving spiritual profit from the trial” (St. J. Escriva,
“The Way”, 696).

St. Paul is not cowed by persecution and physical suffering. He knows that this
crisis is the prelude to abundant spiritual fruit, and in fact many people in this re-
gion do embrace the Gospel.

Even though St. Luke records the progress and success of the Word of God, he
also shows that its preachers certainly encounter the cross (cf. 13:14, 50). The
Gospel meets with acceptance everywhere—and also with opposition. “Where
there are many laurels”, St. Ambrose says, “there is fierce combat. It is good for
you to have persecutors: that way you attain more rapid success in your enterpri-
ses” (”Expositio in Ps 118”, 20, 43).

The Apostles have no difficulty in pointing to events to show the disciples that
suffering and difficulties form part of Christian living.

“Cross, toil, anguish: such will be your lot as long as you live. That was the way
Christ went, and the disciple is not above his master” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”,
699). “Each of us has at some time or other experienced that serving Christ our
Lord involves suffering and hardship; to deny this would imply that we had not yet
found God [...]. Far from discouraging us, the difficulties we meet have to spur us
on to mature as Christians. This fight sanctifies us and gives effectiveness to our
apostolic endeavors” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 28 and 216).

23. The appointment of elders in each church means that Christians were inves-
ted with a ministry of government and religious worship, by a liturgical rite of ordi-
nation. These have a share in the hierarchical and priestly ministry of the Apos-
tles, from whom their own ministry derives.

“The ministry of priests [...]”, Vatican II teaches, “shares in the authority by
which Christ Himself builds up and sanctifies and rules His Body” (”Presbytero-
rum Ordinis”, 2). The ministerial office of priests is essential to the life of every
Christian community, which draws its strength from the Word of God and the
Sacraments. Their priesthood, derived from our Lord, is essentially different
from what is called the “priesthood common to all the faithful”.

A man becomes a priest of the New Testament through a special calling from
God. “Our vocation,” John Paul II told a huge gathering of priests in Philadelphia,
“is a gift from the Lord Jesus Himself. It is a personal, individual calling: we have
been called by our name, just as Jeremiah was” (”Homily at the Civic Center”,
4 October 1979).

The priestly life is a sublime vocation which cannot be delegated or transferred
to anyone else. It is a lifelong vocation and means that one has to give himself
entirely to God—and this he can do, with the help of grace, because “we do not
claim back our gift once given. It cannot be that God, who gave us the impulse
to Yes, should now desire to hear us say No....

“It should not surprise the world that God’s calling through the Church should
continue, offering us a celibate ministry of love and service according to our Lord
Jesus Christ’s example. This calling from God touched the very depths of our
being. And after centuries of experience the Church knows how appropriate it is
that priests should respond in this specific way in their lives, to demonstrate the
totality of the Yes they have said to our Lord” (”Ibid.”).

“Since He wishes that no one be saved who has not first believed (cf. Mark 16:
16), priests, like the co-workers of the bishops that they are, have as their first
duty to proclaim to all men the Gospel of God” (Vatican II, “Presbyterorum Ordi-
nis”, 4). To carry out this mission well, a priest needs to be in contact with our
Lord all the time—”a personal, living encounter—with eyes wide open and a heart
beating fast—with the risen Christ” John Paul II, “Homily in Santo Domingo Ca-
tedral”, 26 January 1979).

Reminding priests of their special duty to be witnesses to God in the modern
world, John Paul II invites them not only to bear in mind the Christian people,
from whom they come and whom they must serve, but also people at large; they
should not hide the fact that they are priests: “Do not help the trends towards ‘ta-
king God off the streets’ by yourselves adopting secular modes of dress and be-
havior” (”Address at Maynooth University”, 1 October 1979).

24-26. Paul and Barnabas return to Syrian Antioch, taking in the cities they have
visited—in reverse order: Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch and Perga. At
the port of Attalia they take ship for Syria and arrive shortly afterwards in Antioch.
Their journey, which began around the year 45, has taken four years.

Despite the animosity and persecution they experienced in these cities, the two
missionaries do not avoid returning. They want to complete arrangements for the
government of the new churches and to consolidate the faith of the disciples. The
possible risks involved do not cause them any concern.

“Whosoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake
and the Gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35). “These are mysterious and paradoxical
words,” John Paul II writes. “But they cease to be mysterious if we strive to put
them into practice. Then the paradox disappears and we can plainly see the deep
simplicity of their meaning. To all of us this grace is granted in our priestly life
and in our zealous service” (”Letter to All Priests”, 8 April 1979, 5).

*********************************************************************************************
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: Revelation 21:1-5a

A New World Comes Into Being. The New Jerusalem

[1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride ador-
ned for her husband; [3] and I heard a great voice from the throne saying, “Be-
hold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself will be with them; [4] he will wipe away every tear
from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor
crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”

[5a] And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

1-4. The prophet Isaiah depicted the messianic times as a radical change in the
fortunes of the people of Israel—so radical that, as he put it, God was going to cre-
ate new heavens and a new earth, a new Jerusalem full of joy, where the sound
of weeping would never more be heard, where God would make himself plain for
all to see and where everything would be as it was in paradise before sin (cf. Is
65:12-25). The author of the Apocalypse uses this same format to describe the
future Kingdom of God. The imagery of a new heaven and a new earth (taken in
a physical sense) was very much in vogue in Jewish writing around the time of
the Apocalypse (cf. 1 Enoch 72:1; 91:16), and is probably reflected also in 2 Pe-
ter 3:10-13 and Matthew 19:28. Scripture nowhere indicates what form the new
heaven and the new earth will take. However, what is clear is that there will be a
radical “renewal” of the present cosmos, contaminated as it is by the sin of man
and the powers of evil (cf. Gen 2:8-3:24; Rom 8:9-13); through this renewal all
creation will be “recapitulated” in Christ (cf. Eph 1:10; Col 1:16:20). No reference
is made to the sea, probably because in Jewish literature it symbolized the a-
byss, the abode of demonic powers hostile to God.

Those who will inhabit this new world (symbolized by the Holy City, the new Jeru-
salem) are the entire assembly of the saved, the entire people of God (cf. vv. 12-
14)—a holy people disposed to live in loving communion with God (as reflected by
the image of the adorned bride: cf. vv. 2, 9). The promise of a new covenant (Ezek
37:27) will be fulfilled to the letter: God will see to it that none of the evil, suffering
or pain found in this world will find its way into the new world.

This passage of the Book of Revelation strengthens the faith and hope of the
Church—not only St John’s own generation but all generations down the ages for
as long as the Church makes its way through this valley of tears. The Second
Vatican Council says: “We know neither the moment of the consummation of
the earth and of man nor the way the universe will be transformed. The form of
this world, distorted by sin, is passing away and we are taught that God is pre-
paring a new dwelling and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, whose
happiness will fill and surpass all the desires of peace arising in the hearts of
men. Then with death conquered the children of God will be raised in Christ and
what was sown in weakness and dishonor will put on the imperishable: charity
and its work will remain, and all of creation which God made for man, will be set
free from its bondage to decay” (”Gaudium Et Spes”, 39).

5-8. For the first and only time in the entire book God himself speaks. He does
so as absolute Lord of all, to ratify what has just been expounded. While the au-
thor and his readers are still in this world of suffering, God affirms that he—even
now—is creating a new world. There is, then, a connection between present hu-
man suffering and the future world which is taking shape thanks to the mercy of
God.

Although that new world will emerge in its complete form on the last day, the re-
newal of all things has already begun; it began with the life, death and resurrec-
tion of Christ. “The kingdom of life has begun,” St Gregory of Nyssa teaches,
“and the empire of death has been undone. Another generation, another life, ano-
ther way of loving has made its appearance: our very nature is being transformed.
What type of generation am I referring to? A generation which results not from
blood or carnal love or human love, but from God. Are you wondering how that
can be? I shall explain it in a few words. This new creature is begotten by faith;
the regeneration of Baptism brings it to birth; the Church, its nurse, weans it by
her teaching and institutions and nourishes it with her heavenly bread. This new
creature matures through holiness of life; its marriage is marriage with Wisdom;
its children, hope; its home, the Kingdom; its inheritance and its riches, the de-
lights of paradise; its final destiny is not death, but eternal and joyful life in the
dwelling-place of the saints” (”Oratio I In Christi Resurrectionem”). We should
remember that “the Kingdom is mysteriously present here on earth; when the
Lord comes it will enter into its perfection” (”Gaudium Et Spes”, 39).

The promise of a world to come is so sure that although that world has not a-
chieved its full perfection, it can be categorically stated that it is a promise “al-
ready kept”—”It is done”: God himself, the Lord of history guarantees it (cf. note
on Rev 1:8)....

*********************************************************************************************
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.

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 13
31.	When he therefore was gone out, Jesus said: Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.	Cum ergo exisset, dixit Jesus : Nunc clarificatus est Filius hominis, et Deus clarificatus est in eo.	οτε εξηλθεν λεγει ο ιησους νυν εδοξασθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου και ο θεος εδοξασθη εν αυτω
32.	If God be glorified in him, God also will glorify him in himself; and immediately will he glorify him.	Si Deus clarificatus est in eo, et Deus clarificabit eum in semetipso : et continuo clarificabit eum.	ει ο θεος εδοξασθη εν αυτω και ο θεος δοξασει αυτον εν εαυτω και ευθυς δοξασει αυτον
33.	Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You shall seek me; and as I said to the Jews: Whither I go you cannot come; so I say to you now.	Filioli, adhuc modicum vobiscum sum. Quæretis me ; et sicut dixi Judæis, quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire : et vobis dico modo.	τεκνια ετι μικρον μεθ υμων ειμι ζητησετε με και καθως ειπον τοις ιουδαιοις οτι οπου υπαγω εγω υμεις ου δυνασθε ελθειν και υμιν λεγω αρτι
34.	A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.	Mandatum novum do vobis : ut diligatis invicem : sicut dilexi vos, ut et vos diligatis invicem.	εντολην καινην διδωμι υμιν ινα αγαπατε αλληλους καθως ηγαπησα υμας ινα και υμεις αγαπατε αλληλους
35.	By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.	In hoc cognoscent omnes quia discipuli mei estis, si dilectionem habueritis ad invicem.	εν τουτω γνωσονται παντες οτι εμοι μαθηται εστε εαν αγαπην εχητε εν αλληλοις

31. Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
32. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

ORIGEN. After the glory of His miracles, and His transfiguration, the next glorifying of the Son of man began, when Judas went out with Satan, who had entered into him; Therefore when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. For it is not the eternal only-begotten Word, but the glory of the Man born of the seed of David, which is here meant.

Christ at His death, in which He glorified God, having spoiled principalities and powers, made a show of them, openly triumphing over them (Col 2:15). And again, Made peace by the blood of His cross, to reconcile all things to Himself, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven (Col 1:20). Thus the Son of man was glorified, and God glorified in Him; for Christ cannot be glorified, except the Father be glorified with Him. But whoever is glorified, is glorified by someone.

By whom then is the Son of man glorified? He tells you; If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify if Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him.

CHRYS. i.e. by Himself, not by any other. And shall straightway glorify Him, i.e. not at any distant time, but immediately, while He is yet on the very cross shall His glory appear. For the sun was darkened, rocks were rent, and many bodies of those that slept arose. In this way He restores the drooping spirits of His disciples, and persuades them, instead of sorrowing, to rejoice.

AUG. Or thus: The unclean went out: the clean remained with their cleanser. Thus will it be when the tares are separated from the wheat; The righteous shall shine forth as the sale in the kingdom of their Father (Matt 13:43). Our Lord, foreseeing this, said, when Judas went out, as if the tares were now separated, and He left alone with the wheat, the holy Apostles.

Now is the Son of man glorified; as if to say, Behold what will take place at My glorifying, at which none of the wicked shall be present, none of the righteous shall perish. He does not say, Now is the glorifying of the Son of man signified; but, Now is the Son of man glorified; as it is not that rock signified Christ, or but, That Rock was Christ (1 Cor 10:4).

Scripture often speaks of the things signifying, as if they were the things signified. But the glorifying of the Son of man, is the glorifying of God in Him; as He adds, And God is glorified in Him, which He proceeds to explain; If God is glorified in Him - for He came not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him - God shall also glorify Him in Himself, so that the human nature which was assumed by the eternal Word, shall also be endowed with eternity.

And shall straightway glorify Him. He predicts His own resurrection, which was to follow immediately, not at the end of the world, like ours. Thus it is; Now is the Son of man glorified; the now referring not to His approaching Passion, hut the resurrection which was immediately to follow it: as if that which was so very soon to be, had already taken place.

HILARY. That God is glorified in Him, refers to the glory of the body, which glory is the glory of God, in that the body borrows its glory from its association with the Divine nature because God is glorified in Him, therefore He will; glorify Him in Himself, in that He who reigns in the glory arising from the glory of God, He forthwith passes over into God's glory, leaving the dispensation of His manhood wholly to abide in God.

Nor is He silent as to the time And shall straightway glorify Him. This referring to the glory of His resurrection which was immediately to follow His passion, which He mentions as present, because Judas had now gone out to betray Him; whereas that God would glorify Him in Himself, He reserves for the future. The glory of God was strewn in Him by the miracle of the resurrection; but He will abide in the glory of God when He has left the dispensation of subjection.

The sense of these first words, Now is the Son of man glorified, is not doubtful: it is the glory of the flesh which is meant, not that of the Word But what means the next, And God is glorified in Him? The Son of man is not another Person from the Son of God for, the Word was made flesh (John 1:14). How is God glorified in this Son of man, who is the Son of God?

The next clause helps us; If God is glorified in Him, God also will glorify Him in Himself. A man is not glorified in himself, nor, on the other hand, does God who is glorified in man, because He receives glory, cease to be God. So the words, God is glorified in Him, either mean that Christ is glorified in the flesh, or that God is glorified in Christ. If God means Christ, it is Christ who is glorified in the flesh; if the Father, then it is the Sacrament of unity, the Father glorified in the Son. Again, God glorifies in Himself God glorified in the Son of man.

This overthrows the impious doctrine that Christ is not very God, in verity of nature. For how can that which God glorifies in Himself be out of Himself? He whom the Father glorifies must be confessed to be in His glory, and He who is glorified in the glory of the Father, must be understood to be in the same case with the Father.

ORIGEN. Or thus: The word glory is here used in a different sense from that which some Pagans attach to it, who defined glory to be the collected praises of the many. It is evident that glory in such a sense is a different thing from that mentioned in Exodus, where it is said, that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exod 40:34), and that the face of Moses was glorified. The glory here mentioned is something visible, a certain divine appearance in the temple, and on Moses' face; but in a higher and more spiritual sense we are glorified, when with the eye of the understanding we penetrate into the things of God.

For the mind when it ascends above material things, and spiritually sees God, is defied: and of this spiritual glory, the visible glory on the face of Moses is a figure: for his mind it was that was defied by converse with God. But there is no comparison between the excellent glory of Christ, and the knowledge of Moses, whereby the face of his soul was glorified: for the whole of the Father's glory shines upon the Son, who is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person (Heb 1:3). Yea, and from the light of this whole glory there go forth particular glories, throughout the whole rational creation; though none can take in the whole of the divine glory, except the Son.

But so far as the Son was known to the world, so far only was He glorified. And as yet He was not fully known. But afterward the Father spread the knowledge of Him over the whole world, and then was the Son of man glorified in those who knew Him. And of this glory He has made all who know Him partakers: as said the Apostle: We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18), i.e. from His glory receive glory.

When He was approaching then that dispensation, by which He was to become known to the world, and to be glorified in the glory of those who glorified Him, He says, Now is the Son of man glorified (Matt 11:27). And because no man knows the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him, and the Son by the dispensation was about to reveal the Father; for this reason He said, And God is glorified in Him. Or compare this with the text below: He that has seen Me, has seen the Father. The Father who begat the Word is seen in the Word, who is God, and the image of the invisible God. But the words may be taken in a larger sense. For as through some the name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles, so through the saints whose good deeds are seen and acknowledged by the world, the name of the Father in heaven is magnified.

But in whom was He so glorified as in Jesus, Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth? Such being the Son, He is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. And if God is glorified in Him, the Father returns Him more than He gave. For the glory of the Son of man, when the Father glorifies Him, far exceeds the Father's glory, when He is glorified in the Son: it being fit that the greater should return the greater glory. And as this, viz. the glorifying of the Son of man, was just about to be accomplished, our Lord adds, And will straightway glorify Him.

33. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. you shall seek me: and as I said to the Jews, Whither I go, you cannot come; so now I say to you.
34. A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another.

AUG. After He had said, And shall straightway glorify Him, that they might not think that God was going to glorify Him in such a way, as that He would no longer have any converse with them on earth, He says, Little children, yet a little while I am with you: as if He said, I shall indeed straightway be glorified by My resurrection, but I shall not straightway ascend to heaven. For we read in the Acts of the Apostles, that He was with them forty days after His resurrection. These forty days are what He means by, A little while I am with you.

ORIGEN. Little children, He says; for their souls were yet in infancy. But these little children, after His death, were made brethren; as before they were little children, they were servants.

AUG. It may be understood too thus: I am as yet in this frail flesh, even as you are, until I die and rise again. He was with them after His resurrection, by bodily presence, not by participation of human frailty. These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you (Luke 24:44). He says to His disciples after His resurrection; meaning, while I was in mortal flesh, as you are. He was in the same flesh then with them, but not subject to the same mortality. But there is another Divine Presence unknown to mortal senses, of which He said, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world (Matt 28:20).

This is not the presence meant by, A little while I am with you; for it is not a little while to the end of the world: or even if it is a little while, because that in the eye of God, a thousand years are as one day, yet what follows shows that it is not what our Lord is here alluding to; for He adds, Whither I go you cannot follow Me now. At the end of the world they were to follow Him, whither He went; as He said below; Father, I will that they be with Me, where I am

ORIGEN. But may there not be a deeper meaning in the words, yet a little while &c. After a little while He was not with them. In what sense not with them? Not because He was not with them according to the flesh, in that He was taken from them, was brought before Pilate, was crucified, descended into hell: but because they all forsook Him, fulfilling His prophecy: All you shall be offended because of Me this night. He was not with them, because He only dwells with those who are worthy of Him. But though they thus wandered from Jesus for a little while, it was only for a little while; they soon sought Him again. Peter wept bitterly after his denial of Jesus, and by his tears sought Him: and therefore it follows, you shall seek Me, and as I said to the Jews, whither I go, you cannot follow Me now. To seek Jesus, is to seek the Word, wisdom, righteousness, truth, all which is Christ. To His disciples therefore who wish to follow Him, not in a bodily sense, as the ignorant think, but in the way He ordains, Whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. Our Lord said, Whither I go you cannot follow Me now. For though they wished to follow the Word, and to confess Him, they were not yet strong enough to do so; The Spirit was not yet given to them, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.

AUG. Or He means that they were not yet fit to follow Him to death for righteousness' sake. For how could they, when they were not ripe for martyrdom? Or how could they follow our Lord to immortality, they who v ere to die, and not to rise again till the end of the world? Or how could tines follow Him to the bosom of the Father, when none could partake of that felicity, but they whose love was perfected? When He told the Jews this, He did not add now. But the disciples, though they could not follow Him then, would be able to do so afterwards, and therefore He adds, So now I say to you.

ORIGEN. As if He said, I say it to you, but with the addition of now, The Jews, who He foresaw would die in their sins, would never be able to follow Him; but the disciples were unable only for a little time.

CHRYS. And therefore He said, little children; for He did not mean to speak to them, as He had to the Jews. you cannot follow Me now, He says, in order to rouse the love of His disciples. For the departure of loved friends kindles all our affection, and especially if they are going to a place where we cannot follow them. He purposely too speaks of His death, as a kind of translation, a happy removal to a place, where here mortal bodies do not enter

AUG. And now He teaches them how to fit themselves to follow. Him: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. But does not the old law say, you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18)? Why then does He call it a new commandment? Is it because it strips us of the old man, and puts on us the new? That it renews the hearer, or rather the doer of it? Love does do this; but it is that love which our Lord distinguishes from the carnal affection: As I have loved you, that you also love one another. Not the love with which men love one another, but that of the children of the Most High God, w ho would be brethren of His only-begotten Son, and therefore love one another with that love with which He loved them, and would lead them to the fulfillment of their desires.

CHRYS. Or, as I have loved you: for My love has not been the payment of something owing to you, but had its beginning on My side. And you ought in like manner to do one another good, though you may not owe it.

AUG. But; do not think that that greater commandment, viz. that we: should love the Lord our God, is passed by. For, if we understand the two precepts aright, each is implied in the other. He who loves God cannot despise His commandment that he should love his neighbor; and he who loves his neighbor in a heavenly spiritual way, in the neighbor loves God. That is the love which our Lord distinguishes from all human love, when He adds, As I have loved you, what did He, in loving us, love, but God in us; not who was in us, but so that He might be? Wherefore let each of us so love the other, as that by this working of love, we make each other the habitations of God.

CHRYS. Passing over the miracles, which they were to perform, He makes love: the distinguishing mark of His followers; By this shall all men know that you are My disciples' if you have love one to another. This it is that evidences the saint or the disciple, as He calls him.

AUG. As if He said, Other gifts are shared with you by those who are not mine; birth, life, sense, reason, and such good things as belong alike to man and brutes; nay, and tongues, sacraments, prophecy, knowledge, faith, bestowing of goods upon the poor,; giving the body to be burned: but forasmuch as they have not charity, they are tinkling cymbals, they are nothing: nothing profits them.

Catena Aurea John 13

From: John 13:31-33a, 34-35

The New Commandment

[31] When he (Judas Iscariot) had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man
glorified, and in Him God is glorified; [32] if God is glorified in Him, God will also
glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him at once. [33] Little children, yet a little
while I am with you. [34] A new commandment I give you, that you love one an-
other; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [35] By this all
men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

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Commentary:

31-32. This glorification refers above all to the glory which Christ will receive
once He is raised up on the cross (John 3:14; 12:32). St. John stresses that
Christ’s death is the beginning of His victory: His very crucifixion can be consi-
dered the first step in His ascension to His Father. At the same time it is glori-
fication of the Father, because Christ, by voluntarily accepting death out of love,
as a supreme act of obedience to the Will of God, performs the greatest sacri-
fice man can offer for the glorification of God. The Father will respond to this
glorification which Christ offers Him by glorifying Christ as Son of Man, that is,
in His holy human nature, through the His resurrection and ascension to God’s
right hand. Thus the glory which the Son gives the Father is at the same time
glory for the Son.

Christ’s disciple will also find His highest motivation by identifying himself with
Christ’s obedience. St. Paul teaches this very clearly when he says: “Far be it
from me to glory except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14).

33. From this verse onwards the evangelist recounts what is usually called the
discourse of the Last Supper; in it we can distinguish three parts. In the first, our
Lord begins by proclaiming the New Commandment (verses 33-35) and predicts
Peter’s denials (verses 36-38); He tells them that His death means His going to
the Father (Chapter 4), with Whom He is one because He is God (verses 1-14);
and He announces that after His resurrection He will send them the Holy Spirit,
who will guide them by teaching them and reminding them of everything He told
them (verses 15-31).

The second part of the discourse is contained in Chapters 15 and 16. Jesus pro-
mises to those who believe in Him a new life of union with Him, as intimate as
that of a vine and its branches (15:1-18). To attain this union one must keep His
New Commandment (verses 9-17). He forewarns them about the contradictions
they will suffer, and He encourages them by promising the Holy Spirit who will
protect them and console them (verses 18-27). The action of the Paraclete or
Consoler will lead them to fulfill the mission Jesus has entrusted to them (16:1-
15). The fruit of the presence of the Holy Spirit will be fullness of joy (verses 16-
33).

The third part (Chapter 7) gives Jesus’ priestly prayer, in which He asks the Fa-
ther to glorify Him through the cross (verses 1-5). He prays also for His disciples
(verses 6-19) and for all those who through them will believe in Him, so that, sta-
ying in the world without being of the world, the love of God should be in them
and they should bear witness to Christ being the envoy of the Father (verses 20-
26).

34-35. After announcing that He is leaving them (verse 33), Christ summarizes
His commandments in one—the New Commandment. He will repeat it a number
of times during the discourse of the Supper (cf. John 15:12, 17), and St. John in
his First Letter will insist on the need to practice this commandment of the Lord
and on the demands it implies (cf. 1 John 2:8; 3:7-21).

Love of neighbor was already commanded in the Old Testament (cf. Leviticus 19:
18)—and Jesus ratified this when He specified that it was the second precept of
the whole Law and similar to the first: Love God will all your heart and soul and
mind (cf. Matthew 22:37-40). But Jesus gives the precept of brotherly love new
meaning and content by saying “even as I have loved you”. The love of neighbor
called for by the Old Law did also in some way extend to one’s enemies (Exo-
dus 23:4-5); however, the love which Jesus preaches is much more demanding
and includes returning good for evil (cf. Matthew 5:43-44), because Christian love
is measured not by man’s heart but by the heart of Christ, who gives up His life
on the cross to redeem all men (cf. 1 John 4:9-11). Here lies the novelty of Jesus’
teaching, and our Lord can rightly say that it is His commandment, the principal
clause in His last will and testament.

Love of neighbor cannot be separated from love of God: “The greatest command-
ment of the law is to love God with one’s whole heart and one’s neighbor as one-
self (cf. Matthew 22:37-40). Christ has made this love of neighbor His personal
commandment and has enriched it with a new meaning when He willed Himself,
along with His brothers, to be the object of this charity, saying: ‘As you did it to
one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25:40). In assu-
ming human nature He has united to Himself all humanity in a supernatural soli-
darity which makes of it one single family. He has made charity the distingui-
shing mark of His disciples, in the words: ‘By this all men will know that you are
My disciples, if you have love for one another’” (Vatican II, “Apostolicam Actuosi-
tatem”, 8).

Even though Christ is Purity itself, and Temperance and Humility, He does not,
however, make any one of these virtues the distinguishing mark of His disciples:
He makes Charity that mark. “The Master’s message and example are clear and
precise. He confirmed His teaching with deeds. Yet I have often thought that, af-
ter twenty centuries, it is indeed still a NEW commandment, for very few people
have taken the trouble to practice it. The others, the majority of men, both in the
past and still today, have chosen to ignore it. Their selfishness has led them to
the conclusion: ‘Why should I complicate my life? I have more than enough to
do just looking after myself.’

“Such an attitude is not good enough for us Christians. If we profess the same
faith and are really eager to follow in the clear footprints left by Christ when He
walked on this earth, we cannot be content merely with avoiding doing unto oth-
ers the evil that we would not have them do unto us. That is a lot, but it is still
very little when we consider that our love is to be measured in terms of Jesus’
own conduct. Besides, he does not give us this standard as a distant target,
as a crowning point of a whole lifetime of struggle. It is—it ought to be, I repeat,
so that you may turn it into specific resolutions—our starting point, for our Lord
presents it as a sign of Christianity: ‘By this shall all men know that you are
My disciples’” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 223).

And this is what in fact happened among Christians in the early centuries in the
midst of pagan society, so much so that Tertullian, writing around the end of the
second century, reported that people could indeed say, looking at the way these
Christians lived: “See how they love one another” (”Apologeticum”, XXXIX).

*********************************************************************************************
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.

The Last Supper

Agnolo Gaddi

c. 1395
Tempera on wood, 61 x 42 cm
Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg

Last Supper

Jörg Ratgeb

1519
Wood
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart

The Mystical Supper

Modern Russian icon