From: 1 John 4:19-5:4
God is Love. Brotherly Love, the Mark of Christians (Continuation)
[19] We love, because he first loved us. [20] If anyone says, “I love God,” and
hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has
seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. [21] And this commandment we
have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also.
Everyone Who Believes in Jesus Overcomes the World
[1] Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and every
one who loves the parent loves the child. [2] By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. [3] For this is
the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are
not burdensome. [4] For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this
is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.
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Commentary:
19. Commenting on this passage, St Augustine exclaims: “How could we have
loved him if he had not first loved us? By loving him, we become his friends; but
he loved us when we were his enemies, in order to make us his friends. He loved
us first and gave us the boon of loving him. We did not yet love him, but on loving
him we become beautiful. What is a misshapen and deformed man doing, loving
a beautiful woman? [...] Can he, by loving, change and become beautiful? [...].
Our soul, my brethren, is ugly due to iniquity; loving God makes it beautiful. What
kind of love is this which makes the lover beautiful? God is always beautiful, never
deformed, never changeable. He, who is ever beautiful, first loved us” (”In Epist.
loann. ad Parthos”, 9, 9).
“We love”: this can also be translated as “we should love one another”, repeating
4:11. But here it seems to have an emphatic meaning: we are capable of loving.
20-21. “He is a liar”: this is a very harsh statement (cf. 1:6-10; 2:4): being a liar
means being on the devil’s side, for the devil is the father of lies (cf. Jn 8:44).
Loving God means keeping all the commandments (cf. Jn 14:15; 15:10), and the
principal commandment is that of charity; therefore, it is not possible to love God
without loving one’s neighbor. Clement of Alexandria records a beautiful phrase
of Christian tradition on this point when he says, “Seeing your brother is seeing
God” (”Stromata”, 1, 19; 2, 15).
St John concludes this exhortation to charity by giving a new format to Christ’s
commandment, which makes it quite clear that love of neighbor is inseparable
from love of God: true charity is a current that runs from God to the Christian and
from the Christian to his fellow men. “The true disciple of Christ is marked by love
both of God and of his neighbor” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 42).
1-5. The fifth chapter is a summary of the entire letter, focusing on faith in Jesus
Christ (vv. 6-12) and the confidence that faith gives (vv. 13-21).
In the opening verses (vv.1-5) St John points to some consequences of faith: he
who believes in Christ is a child of God (v. 1); he loves God and men, his brothers
(v. 2); he keeps the commandments (v. 3) and shares in Christ’s victory over the
world (vv. 4-5).
1. “He who loves the parent...”: it is axiomatic that one who loves his father also
loves his brothers and sisters, because they share the same parent. The New
Vulgate clarifies the scope of this maxim in this letter by adding the word “Deum”:
“He who loves God his father...” loves him who is born of God; Christian fraternity
is a consequence of divine filiation.
4. “This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith”: faith in Jesus Christ is
of crucial importance because through it every baptized person is given a share
in Christ’s victory. Jesus has overcome the world (cf. Jn 16:33) by his death and
resurrection, and the Christian (who through faith becomes a member of Christ)
has access to all the graces necessary for coping with temptations and sharing
in Christ’s own glory. In this passage the word “world” has the pejorative meaning
of everything opposed to the redemptive work of Christ and the salvation of man
that flows from It.
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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: Luke 4:14-22
Jesus Fasts and is Tempted in the Wilderness (Continuation)
[14] And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report con-
cerning him went out through all the surrounding country. [15] And he taught in
their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus Preaches in Nazareth
[16] And He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and He
went to the synagogue, as His custom was, on the Sabbath Day. And He stood
up to read; [17] and there was given to Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He
opened the book and found the place where it was written, [18] “The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, [19] to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord.” [20] And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant,
and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. [21] And
He began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
[22] And all spoke well of Him, and wondered at the gracious words which pro-
ceeded out of His mouth; and they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
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Commentary:
16-30. For the Jews the Sabbath was a day of rest and prayer, as God comman-
ded (Exodus 20:8-11). On that day they would gather together to be instructed in
Sacred Scripture. At the beginning of this meeting they all recited the “Shema”,
a summary of the precepts of the Lord, and the “eighteen blessings”. Then a pas-
sage was read from the Book of the Law — the Pentateuch — and another from
the Prophets. The president invited one of those present who was well versed in
the Scriptures to address the gathering. Sometimes someone would volunteer
and request the honor of being allowed to give this address — as must have hap-
pened on this occasion. Jesus avails Himself of this opportunity to instruct the
people (cf. Luke 4:16ff), as will His Apostles later on (cf. Acts 13:5, 14, 42, 44;
14:1; etc.). The Sabbath meeting concluded with the priestly blessing, recited
by the president or by a priest if there was one present, to which the people an-
swered “Amen” (cf. Numbers 6:22ff).
18-21. Jesus read the passage from Isaiah 61:1-2 where the prophet announces
the coming of the Lord, who will free His people of their afflictions. In Christ this
prophecy finds its fulfillment, for He is the Anointed, the Messiah whom God has
sent to His people in their tribulation. Jesus has been anointed by the Holy Spirit
for the mission the Father has entrusted to Him. “These phrases, according to
Luke (verses 18-19), are His first messianic declaration. They are followed by the
actions and words known through the Gospel. By these actions and words Christ
makes the Father present among men” (John Paul II, “Dives In Misericordia”, 3).
The promises proclaimed in verses 18 and 19 are the blessings God will send
His people through the Messiah. According to Old Testament tradition and Jesus’
own preaching (cf. note on Matthew 5:3), “the poor” refers not so much to a parti-
cular social condition as to a very religious attitude of indigence and humility to-
wards God, which is to be found in those who, instead of relying on their posses-
sions and merits, trust in God’s goodness and mercy. Thus, preaching good
news to the poor means bringing them the “good news” that God has taken pity
on them. Similarly, the Redemption, the release, the text mentions, is to be un-
derstood mainly in a spiritual, transcendental sense: Christ has come to free us
from the blindness and oppression of sin, which, in the last analysis, is slavery
imposed on us by the devil. “Captivity can be felt”, St. John Chrysostom teaches
in a commentary on Psalm 126, “when it proceeds from physical enemies, but
the spiritual captivity referred to here is worse; sin exerts a more severe tyranny,
evil takes control and blinds those who lend it obedience; from this spiritual pri-
son Jesus Christ rescued us” (”Catena Aurea”). However, this passage is also in
line with Jesus’ special concern for those most in need. “Similarly, the Church en-
compasses with her love all those who are afflicted by human misery and she re-
cognizes in those who are poor and who suffer the image of her poor and suffe-
ring Founder. She does all in her power to relieve their need and in them she
strives to serve Christ” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 8).
18-19. The words of Isaiah which Christ read out on this occasion describe very
graphically the reason why God has sent His Son into the world — to redeem
men from sin, to liberate them from slavery to the devil and from eternal death. It
is true that in the course of His public ministry Christ, in His mercy, worked ma-
ny cures, cast out devils, etc. But He did not cure all the sick people in the world,
nor did He eliminate all forms of distress in this life, because pain, which entered
the world through sin, has a permanent redemptive value when associated with
the sufferings of Christ. Therefore, Christ worked miracles not so much to release
the people concerned from suffering, as to demonstrate that He had a God-given
mission to bring everyone to eternal salvation.
The Church carries on this mission of Christ: “Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I
am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). These simple
and sublime words, which conclude the Gospel of St. Matthew, point out “the
obligation to preach the truths of faith, the need for sacramental life, the promise
of Christ’s continual assistance to His Church. You cannot be faithful to our Lord
if you neglect these supernatural demands — to receive instruction in Christian
faith and morality and to frequent the Sacraments. It is with this mandate that
Christ founded His Church [...]. And the Church can bring salvation to souls only
if she remains faithful to Christ in her constitution and teaching, both dogmatic
and moral.
“Let us reject, therefore, the suggestion that the Church, ignoring the Sermon on
the Mount, seeks a purely human happiness on earth, since we know that her
only task is to bring men to eternal glory in Heaven. Let us reject any purely na-
turalistic view that fails to value the supernatural role of divine grace. Let us reject
materialistic opinions that exclude spiritual values from human life. Let us equally
reject any secularizing theory which attempts to equate the aims of the Church
with those of earthly states, distorting its essence, institutions and activities into
something similar to those of temporal society” (St. J. Escriva, “In Love with the
Church”, 23 and 31).
18. The Fathers of the Church see in this verse a reference to the three persons
of the Holy Trinity: the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) of the Lord (the Father) is upon Me
(the Son); cf. Origen, “Homily 32”. The Holy Spirit dwelt in Christ’s soul from
the very moment of the Incarnation and descended visibly upon Him in the form
of a dove when He was baptized by John (cf. Luke 3:21-22).
“Because He has anointed Me”: this is a reference to the anointing Jesus
received at the moment of His Incarnation, principally through the grace of the
hypostatic union. “This anointing of Jesus Christ was not an anointing of the bo-
dy as in the case of the ancient kings, priests and prophets; rather it was entire-
ly spiritual and divine, because the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him sub-
stantially” (”St. Pius X Catechism”, 77). From this hypostatic union the fullness
of all graces derives. To show this, Jesus Christ is said to have been anointed
by the Holy Spirit Himself — not just to have received the graces and gifts of the
Spirit, like the saints.
19. “The acceptable year”: this is a reference to the jubilee year of the Jews,
which the Law of God (Leviticus 25:8) lays down as occurring every fifty years,
symbolizing the era of redemption and liberation which the Messiah would usher
in. The era inaugurated by Christ, the era of the New Law extending to the end
of the world, is “the acceptable year”, the time of mercy and redemption, which
will be obtained definitively in Heaven.
The Catholic Church’s custom of the “Holy Year” is also designed to proclaim
and remind people of the redemption brought by Christ, and of the full form it
will take in the future life.
20-22. Christ’s words in verse 21 show us the authenticity with which He
preached and explained the Scriptures: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled
in your hearing.” Jesus teaches that this prophecy, like the other main prophe-
cies in the Old Testament, refers to Him and finds its fulfillment in Him (cf. Luke
24:44ff). Thus, the Old Testament can be rightly understood only in the light of
the New — as the risen Christ showed the Apostles when He opened their minds
to understand the Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:45), an understanding which the Holy
Spirit perfected on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:4).
22-29. At first the people of Nazareth listened readily to the wisdom of Jesus’
words. But they were very superficial; in their narrow-minded pride they felt hurt
that Jesus, their fellow-townsman, had not worked in Nazareth the wonders He
had worked elsewhere. They presume they have a special entitlement and they
insolently demand that He perform miracles to satisfy their vanity, not to change
their hearts. In view of their attitude, Jesus performs no miracle (His normal res-
ponse to lack of faith: cf., for example, His meeting with Herod in Luke 23:7-11);
He actually reproaches them, using two examples taken from the Old Testament
(cf. 1 Kings 17:9 and 2 Kings 5:14), which show that one needs to be well-dis-
posed if miracles are to lead to faith. His attitude so wounds their pride that they
are ready to kill Him. This whole episode is a good lesson about understanding
Jesus. We can understand Him only if we are humble and are genuinely resolved
to make ourselves available to Him.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate.
The following is the longer version of the vital prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1888 after his startling vision as to the future of the Church. This prayer was dedicated for the Feast of St. Michael 1448 years from the date of the election of the first Leo - Pope Saint Leo the Great. Everyone is familiar with the first prayer below which was mandated by His Holiness as part of the Leonine Prayers after Low Mass. Below are both the short and longer versions of this poignant prayer which should never be forgotten. 
Look down upon me, O good and gentle Jesus, while before Thy face I humbly kneel, and with burning soul pray and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment; the while I contemplate with great love and tender pity Thy five most precious wounds, pondering over them within me, calling to mind the words which David Thy prophet said of Thee, my good Jesus: "They have pierced My hands and My feet; they have numbered all My bones." 
