From: Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10
Shortcomings of priests
[1] “And now, O priests, this command is for you. [2] If you will not listen, if you
will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then
I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings.
[8] But you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble
by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of
hosts, [9] and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inas-
much as you have not kept my ways but have shown partiality in your instruction.”
[10] Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we
faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
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Commentary:
The second part of the oracle (2:1-9) is an exhortation to priests. The prophet re-
proaches them for not honouring the Lord (2:1; cf. 1:6) and for causing many to
stumble “by your instruction” (2:8), or “by the Law” (which is another possible
translation), and moreover they have shown partiality (2:9): it all means that they
are breaking the covenant that the Lord made with Levi (2:4-5; cf. Deut 18-8; 33:
8-11). For their ministry to be effective (2:2-3), they should practise the virtues
that Levi had — fear of God, humility, sincerity in speech (2:5-6). This last aspect
is given special emphasis: a priest does not speak on his own behalf; he is the
Lord’s messenger (”mal’ak”), and his words should have the wisdom of the Law
(2:7). The Second Vatican Council says something that recalls this passage, on
the subject of the priest’s mission to preach: “The people of God are joined toge-
ther primarily by the word of the living God. And rightfully they expect this from
their priests. Since no one can be saved who does not first believe, priests, as
co-workers with their bishops, have the primary duty of proclaiming the Gospel
of God to all. In this way they fulfill the command of the Lord ... and [they] estab-
lish and build up the people of God” (”Presbyterorum ordinis”, 4).
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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: 1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13
First Gospel Preaching in Thessalonica (Continuation)
[9] For you remember our labor and toil, brethren; we worked night and days that
we might not burden any of you, while we preached to you the gospel of God.
Their Patience
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Commentary:
7-9. St Paul could have “made demands” in a double sense — by using the full
force of his apostolic authority, and by exercising his right to financial support
from the community (cf. 1 Cor 9:14); but he did neither one thing (vv. 7-8) nor the
other (v. 9).
On the contrary, he passed on the Gospel message and worked with the disin-
terested love and dedication of a nursing mother. St John Chrysostom, putting
himself in St Paul’s place, comments as follows: “It is true that I preached the
Gospel to you in obedience to a commandment from God; but I love you with so
great a love that I would have been ready to die for you. That is the perfect model
of sincere, genuine love. A Christian who loves his neighbor should be inspired
by these sentiments. He should not wait to be asked to give up his life for his
brother; rather, he should offer it himself” (”Hom. on 1 Thess, ad loc.”).
“The work of evangelization presupposes in the evangelizer an ever-increasing
love for those whom he is evangelizing [...]. What is this love? It is much more
than that of a teacher; it is the love of a father; and again, it is the love of a mo-
ther. It is this love that the Lord expects from every preacher of the Gospel, from
every builder of the Church. A sign of love will be the concern to give the truth and
to bring people into unity [...]. Yet another sign of love will be the effort to transmit
to Christians not doubts and uncertainties born of an erudition poorly assimilated
but certainties that are solid because they are anchored in the Word of God. The
faithful need these certainties for their Christian life; they have a right to them, as
children of God” (Paul VI, “Evangelii Nuntiandi”, 79).
The Apostle’s hardworking life strengthened his moral authority when he had to
warn people against the temptation of idleness (cf. 1 Thess 4:11; it also was a
very good example for the early generations of Christians.
13. Initially divine Revelation was passed on to others orally. “It [Gospel prea-
ching] was done by the Apostles, who handed on (by the spoken word of their
preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established) what
they themselves received—whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life
and his works, or whether as something learned from the Holy Spirit” (Vatican II,
“Dei Verbum”, 7). Thus, “the apostles, in handing on what they themselves had
received warn the faithful to maintain the traditions which they had learned either
by word of mouth or by letter (cf. 2 Thess 2:15); and they warn them to fight hard
for the faith that had been handed on to them once and for all (cf. Jude 3). What
was handed on by the apostles comprises everything that serves to make the
people of God live their lives in holiness and increase their faith. In this way the
Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every ge-
neration all that she herself is, all that she believes” (”Dei Verbum”, 8).
Preaching is truly the “word of God” not only because it faithfully passes Revela-
tion on but also because God himself speaks through those who proclaim the
Gospel (cf. 2 Cor 5:20). This explains why “the word of God is living and active”
(Heb 4:12), and “such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve
the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength
for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life” (”Dei
Verbum”, 21).
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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.