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NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

From: Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4

The prophet’s first complaint
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[2] O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and thou wilt not hear? Or cry to thee “Violence!” and thou wilt not save? [3] Why dost thou make me see wrongs and look upon trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.

God’s reply
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[2] And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it. [3] For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. [4] Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

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Commentary:

1:2-2:4. The message and historical references contained in the book are concentrated in these verses. They appear to be a conversation between the Lord and Habakkuk. The prophet has recourse to the Lord for his help to right grievous wrongs (1:1-4). God’s reply is a surprising one, for he tells the prophet that he is going to raise up a people, violent and cruel, “whose own might is their god” (1:5-11). This disconcerts the prophet: How can it be that, to purify his elect, the Lord should use such an irreligious and pitiless nation (1:12-17)? Still, the prophet does not despair; he decides to remain attentive to the voice of the Lord (2:1) – and the Lord does indeed respond to him by telling him in words what he previously told him by gestures: there is a time for everything; obstacles will overthrow the one whose soul is not upright, but he who is righteous shall live (2:1-4).

1:2-4. In his complaint to God, the prophet lists all the things that have gone wrong for the people – wickedness, violence, neglect of the Law, injustices etc. (vv. 3-4). However, what the prophet finds worst of all is the fact that the Lord does nothing about it (v. 2). The vigour of Habakkuk’s words probably lies in the fact that he is not just bemoaning the people’s lot; he is actually praying – and prayer should never be contrived; it should come straight from the heart: “I say to God simply what I want to say to Him, without using sweet words of beautiful phrases, and He always hears and understands me. […] For me, in times of suffering and times of joy, prayer is an impulse of the heart, a glance up to heaven, an expression of gratitude and love” (St Therese of the Child Jesus, Autobiographial Writings, 25).

2:2-4. As if admitting that the prophet is right, God answers his questions. The first point he makes clear is that when he promises something, it will happen: time may pass, but his word will not pass away unfulfilled (vv. 2-3). And this delay is a test of people’s faithfulness (v. 4).

The last verse here (“Behold … the righteous shall live by his faith”) is important in both the Jewish and Christian biblical traditions. Some rabbis saw it as a summary of all 613 commandments of the Law; the writers of the Qumran commentary understood it to mean that he who kept the Law would escape the Judgment; and in the New Testament it is quoted on a number of occasions in connection with the power of faith and the need for fortitude.

However, the verse is difficult to translate; this can be seen in various translations and even in the way the text is quoted in the New Testament. The Letter to the Hebrews 10:38 quotes this passage, working from the Greek translation, to exhort Christians to persevere in the faith they have received: “My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” Although the author of Hebrews inverts the order of the original, the meaning is unchanged.

Similarly, “faith” (“faithfulness”: RSV note d) translates a very common word (‘emunah) which means stability, faithfulness, faith. It is a quality of God (Deut 32:4) and also of those who honour him (2 Chron 19:9) and who are righteous in his eyes (Prov 12:22). In Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, St Paul quotes the second part of the Habakkuk verse (“the righteous shall live by his faith”) applied to the individual, to ground his teaching on justification by faith rather than by the works of the Law. St Paul’s use of the verse means that it is very important from a Christian point of view.

St Jerome’s interpretation takes account of both the original audience and the Christian readership: “If your faith is weak and you begin to doubt that what was promised will come about, you will cause my soul great displeasure. But the just man, who believes in my word and never doubts the promises I make, will receive eternal life as his reward…It is clear that these words contain a prophecy of the coming of Christ. The problem they contain will be resolved by him: sin will triumph and punishment be never-ending until He comes” (Commentarii in Abucuc, 2, 4). The verse is similar in style to a proverb (or maxim), and can be readily applied to the Christian life. For example, just as the New Testament says of St Joseph that he was a just man (cf. Mt 1:19), the Habakkuk passage can be applied to him as a sign that justice implies faith: “To be just is not simply a matter of obeying rules. Goodness should grow from the inside; it should be deep and vital – for ‘the just man lives by faith’ (Hab 2:4). These words, which later became a frequent subject of St Paul’s meditation, really did apply in the case of St Joseph. He didn’t fulfill the will of God in a routine or perfunctory way; he did it spontaneously and wholeheartedly. For him, the law which every practicing Jew lived by was not a code or a cold list of precepts, but an expression of the will of the living God. So he knew how to recognize the Lord’s voice when it came to him so unexpectedly and so surprisingly” (St Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 41).

From: 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14

Response to Grace
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[6] Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; [7] God did to give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.

St Paul, Herald of the Gospel
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[8] Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but take your share of suffering for the gospel in the power of God,

[13] Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; [14] guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

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Commentary:

6. "The gift of God" is the priestly character which Timothy received on the day of his ordination. St Paul is using very graphic and precise language: by the sacrament of Order a divine gift is conferred on the priest; it is like an ember which needs to be revived from time to time in order to make it glow and give forth the warmth it contains. St Thomas Aquinas comments that "the grace of God is like a fire which does not flow when it is covered by ashes; the same thing happens when grace is covered over in a person by sluggishness or natural fear" ("Commentary on 2 Tim, ad loc.").

The gifts which God confers on the priest "are not transitory or temporary in him, but stable and permanent, attached as they are to an indelible character, impressed on his soul, by which he is made a priest forever (cf. Ps 109:4), in the likeness of Him in whose priesthood he has been made to share" (Pius XI, "Ad Catholici Sacerdotii", 17).

"The laying on of my hands": see the note on 1 Tim 4:14.

7. The gift of God, received in the sacrament of Order by the laying on of hands, includes sanctifying grace and sacramental grace, and the actual graces needed for performing ministerial functions in a worthy manner. The Council of Trent uses this text (vv. 6-7) when it solemnly defines that Priestly Order is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ (cf. "De Sacram. Ordinis", chap. 3).

The minister, then, must be courageous in performing his office: he should preach the truth unambiguously even if it clashes with the surroundings; he should do so with love, and be open to everyone despite their faults; with sobriety and moderation, always seeing the good of souls, not his own advantage. Since the days of the Fathers the Church has urged priests to develop these virtues: "Priests should be compassionate", St Polycarp warns; "they should show mercy to all; they should try to reclaim those who go astray, visit the sick, and care for the poor, the orphan and the widow. They should be concerned always to do what is honorable in the sight of God and men. They should avoid any show of anger, any partiality or trace of greed. They should not be over-ready to believe ill of anyone, not too severe in their censure, being well aware that we all owe the debt of sin" ("Letter to the Philippians", chap. 6).

13-14. In guarding what has been entrusted to him (cf. notes on 1 Tim 6:20 and 2 Tim 1:12), Timothy, like all the pastors of the Church, receives the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit. "Guiding the Church in the way of all truth (cf. Jn 16:13) and unifying her in communion and in the works of the ministry, (the Spirit) bestows upon her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her; and he adorns her with his fruits (cf. Eph 4:11-12; 1 Cor 12:4; Gal 5:22)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 4).

The Holy Spirit has been with the Church since the day of Pentecost, ever-active in the sanctification of all believers. His action includes guaranteeing the faithful transmission of the entire body of teaching revealed by God, ensuring that it be unchanged in any way. The First Vatican Council teaches that the Holy Spirit "was not promised to the successors of St. Peter so that they by their own revelation might make known some new teaching; he was promised so that by means of his help they might reverently guard and faithfully expound the revelation transmitted by the Apostles, that is, the deposit of faith" ("Pastor Aeternus", Chap. 4).