Replies

Mk 6:17-29
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
17	For Herod himself had sent and apprehended John, and bound him prison for the sake of Herodias the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her.	ipse enim Herodes misit ac tenuit Iohannem et vinxit eum in carcere propter Herodiadem uxorem Philippi fratris sui quia duxerat eam
18	For John said to Herod: It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.	dicebat enim Iohannes Herodi non licet tibi habere uxorem fratris tui
19	Now Herodias laid snares for him: and was desirous to put him to death and could not.	Herodias autem insidiabatur illi et volebat occidere eum nec poterat
20	For Herod feared John, knowing him to be a just and holy man: and kept him, and when he heard him, did many things: and he heard him willingly.	Herodes enim metuebat Iohannem sciens eum virum iustum et sanctum et custodiebat eum et audito eo multa faciebat et libenter eum audiebat
21	And when a convenient day was come, Herod made a supper for his birthday, for the princes, and tribunes, and chief men of Galilee.	et cum dies oportunus accidisset Herodes natalis sui cenam fecit principibus et tribunis et primis Galilaeae
22	And when the daughter of the same Herodias had come in, and had danced, and pleased Herod, and them that were at table with him, the king said to the damsel: Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee.	cumque introisset filia ipsius Herodiadis et saltasset et placuisset Herodi simulque recumbentibus rex ait puellae pete a me quod vis et dabo tibi
23	And he swore to her: Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give thee, though it be the half of my kingdom.	et iuravit illi quia quicquid petieris dabo tibi licet dimidium regni mei
24	Who when she was gone out, said to her mother, What shall I ask? But her mother said: The head of John the Baptist.	quae cum exisset dixit matri suae quid petam et illa dixit caput Iohannis Baptistae
25	And when she was come in immediately with haste to the king, she asked, saying: I will that forthwith thou give me in a dish, the head of John the Baptist.	cumque introisset statim cum festinatione ad regem petivit dicens volo ut protinus des mihi in disco caput Iohannis Baptistae
26	And the king was struck sad. Yet because of his oath, and because of them that were with him at table, he would not displease her:	et contristatus rex propter iusiurandum et propter simul recumbentes noluit eam contristare
27	But sending an executioner, he commanded that his head should be brought in a dish.	sed misso speculatore praecepit adferri caput eius in disco et decollavit eum in carcere
28	And he beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a dish: and gave to the damsel, and the damsel gave it her mother.	et adtulit caput eius in disco et dedit illud puellae et puella dedit matri suae
29	Which his disciples hearing came, and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.	quo audito discipuli eius venerunt et tulerunt corpus eius et posuerunt illud in monumento

(*) 27-28 breakdown differs.

From: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The Second Coming of the Lord
-----------------------------
[13] But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who
are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
[14] For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so,
through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
[15] For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who
are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede
those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord himself will descend
from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with
the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise
first; [17] then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we
shall always be with the Lord. [18] Therefore comfort one another with
these words.

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Commentary:

13. "Those who are asleep": this expression, already to be found in
some pagan writings, was often used by the early Christians to refer to
those who died in the faith of Christ. In Christian writings it makes
more sense, given Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus and in
the resurrection of the body. It is not just a euphemism: it underlines
the fact that death is not the end. "Why does it say that they are
asleep", St Augustine asks, "if not because they will be raised when
their day comes?" ("Sermon 93", 6). Hence Monsignor Escriva's advice:
"When facing death, be calm. I do not want you to have the cold
stoicism of the pagan, but the fervor of a child of God who knows that
life is changed, not taken away. To die is to live!" ("Furrow", 876).

Even though we have this hope, it is perfectly understandable for us to
feel sad when people we love die. This sadness, provided it is kept
under control, is a sign of affection and piety, but "to be excessively
downcast by the death of friends is to act like someone who does not
have the spirit of Christian hope. A person who does not believe in the
resurrection and who sees death as total annihilation has every reason
to weep and lament and cry over those friends and relations who have
passed away into nothingness. But you are Christians, you believe in
the resurrection, you live and die in hope: why should you mourn the
dead excessively?" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on 1 Thess, ad loc.").

14. "It is appointed for men to die once" (Heb 9:27). However, for a
person who has faith, death does not just mean the end of his days on
earth. Our Lord Jesus Christ died and rose again, and his resurrection
is a pledge of our resurrection: death "in Christ" is the climax of a
life in union with him, and it is the gateway to heaven. And so St Paul
tells Timothy, "If we have died with him, we shall also live with him;
if we endure, we shall also reign with him" (2 Tim 2:11-12).

The resurrection the Christian will experience is not only similar to
our Lord's; his resurrection is in fact the cause of ours. St Thomas
Aquinas explains this as follows: "Christ is the model of our
resurrection, because he took flesh and he rose in the flesh. However,
he is not only our model; he is also the efficient cause (of our
resurrection) because anything done by the human nature of Christ was
done not only by the power of his human nature but also by the power of
the godhead united to that nature. And so, just as his touch cured the
leper by virtue of its being the instrument of his godhead, so the
resurrection of Christ is the cause of our resurrection" ("Commentary
on 1 Thess, ad loc."). Although this passage of the letter does not say
so explicitly, it is implied that we will rise with our bodies, just as
Jesus rose with his.

15-17. The religious instruction of the Thessalonians was cut short
because St Paul had to leave the city in a hurry. One of the doubts
remaining in their minds can be expressed as follows: Will the dead be
under any disadvantage "vis-a-vis" those who are still alive when the
Parousia of the Lord happens? The Apostle replies in two stages: first
he says that we will have no advantage of any kind over them (vv. 15-
18); then he makes clear that we do not know when that even will come
about (5:1-2).

In his reply he does not explicitly speak about the general
resurrection; he refers only to those who die "in Christ". He
distinguishes two groups as regards the situation people find
themselves in at our Lord's second coming--1) those who are alive:
these will be "caught up", that is changed (cf. 1 Cor 15:51; 2 Cor 5:
2-4) by the power of God and will change from being corruptible and
mortal to being incorruptible and immortal; 2) those who have already
died: these will rise again.

St Paul's reply is adapted to the tenor of the question; so, when he
writes "we who are alive, who are left" he does not mean that the
Parousia will happen soon or that he will live to see the day (cf.
Pontifical Biblical Commission, "Reply" concerning the Parousia, 18
June 1915). He uses the first person plural because at the time of
writing both he and his readers were alive. However, his words were
misinterpreted by some of the Thessalonians, and that was the reason he
wrote the second epistle a few months later (in which he puts things
more clearly: "Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and
our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to quickly shaken
in mind or excited [...], to the effect that the day of the Lord has
come" (2 Thess 2:1-2). However, even in the first letter there are
enough indications that St Paul was not saying the Parousia was
imminent, for he implies that he does not know when it will happen (cf.
5:1-2).

To describe the signs which will mark the Lord's coming, St Paul uses
imagery typical of apocalyptic writing--the voice of the archangel, the
sound of the trumpet, the clouds of heaven. These signs are to be found
in the Old Testament theophanies or great manifestations of Yahweh (cf.
Ex 19:16); on the day of the Parousia, too, they will reveal God's
absolute dominion over the forces of nature, as also his sublimity and
majesty.

When the Lord Jesus comes in all his glory, those who had died in the
Lord (who already were enjoying the vision of God in heaven) and those
who have been changed will go to meet the Lord "in the air", for both
will now have glorified bodies (cf. 1 Cor 15:43) endowed with the gift
of "agility", "by which the body will be freed from the heaviness that
now presses it down, and will take on a capability of moving with the
utmost ease and swiftness, wherever the soul pleases" ("St. Pius V
Catechism", I, 12, 13).

After the general judgment, which will take place that day, the
righteous will be "always with the Lord." That is in fact the reward of
the blessed--to enjoy forever, in body and soul, the sight of God,
thereby attaining a happiness which more than makes up for whatever
they have had to do to obtain it, for "the sufferings of this present
life are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to
us" (Rom 8:18). "If at any time you feel uneasy at the thought of our
sister death because you see yourself to be such a poor creature, take
heart. Think of this: Heaven awaits us; what will it be like when all
the infinite beauty and greatness and happiness and Love of God are
poured into the poor clay vessel that the human being is, to satisfy it
eternally with the freshness of an ever-new joy?" ([St] J. Escriva,
"Furrow", 891).

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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.