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From: 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2

Prayer for perseverance

[11] To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of
his call, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power, [12] so
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, accor-
ding to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The coming of the Lord

[1] Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to
meet him, we beg you, brethren, [2] not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited,
either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that
the day of the Lord has come.

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Commentary:

11. St Paul takes up the thread of the prayer he began in v. 4, asking God to
keep the believers true to their calling. He himself is a very good example of how
teachers of Christian doctrine should approach their work; he does not confine
himself to expounding the truths of faith: the first step he takes is to pray for his
work to be fruitful. St Augustine observes that anyone who wants to teach the
word of God “tries as far as possible to make his words understandable, pleasing
and persuasive. But he should be convinced that if he is to obtain a good result
it will be due more to the piety of his prayers than to his gifts of speech. And so,
praying for those he is to address, he should be more a supplicant than a spea-
ker. When the time comes for him to speak, before actually doing so he should
raise his parched soul to God that he may utter only what he has himself eaten
and drunk” (”Christian Instruction”, 4, 15).

The Apostle asks God to make the Thessalonians “worthy of his call”, that their
efforts should have the support of divine grace, for no supernatural action can be
planned, begun or brought to a conclusion without the grace of God (cf. Boniface
II, “Per filium nostrum, Dz-Sch”, 399). Hence the liturgical prayer: “Lord, be the
beginning and end of all that we do and say. Prompt our actions with your grace,
and complete them with your all-powerful help” (”Liturgy of the Hours”, morning
prayer, Monday Week 1).

12. The Greek formula here translated as “according to the grace of our God and
the Lord Jesus Christ” could also be interpreted as “according to the grace of our
God and Lord Jesus Christ” â€“ in which case we would have here a confession of
Christological faith which would be of enormous value on account of its antiquity.
It would be an acknowledgment of Christ being both God (Theos) and Lord (Ky-
rios), that is, Jesus Christus, Dominus et Deus noster. However, the expression
“our God” often appears in Pauline writings (cf., in this very chapter, vv. 2 and 11);
he also frequently uses the formula “Lord Jesus Christ”. This suggests that there
is a distinction between “our God” and “the Lord Jesus Christ” (or even “our Lord
Jesus Christ”); hence the preferred translation.

1-2. The main theme of the letter is given here â€“ the timing of the second coming
of the Lord. Some people had been unsettling the minds of the Thessalonians by
saying that the Parousia was about to happen.

The phrase “by spirit” is a reference to people claiming to have a charismatic
gift of prophecy from the Holy Spirit who were spreading their own ideas as if they
came from God. Others preferred to pass off what they had to say as coming from
St Paul (orally or in writing).

Those who try to mislead the people of God by teachings contrary to Christian
faith often use methods of the same sort. By twisting the meaning of Sacred
Scripture (cf. Mt 4:6) they not infrequently promote wrong teaching as if it were
a revelation from the Holy Spirit. The Second Vatican Council has reminded us
how to identify subjective interpretation of that kind: “The task of giving an au-
thentic interpretation, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has
been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority is
exercised in the name of Jesus Christ” (”Dei Verbum”, 10).

Even in our own day there are sects and impressionable people who put a lot of
effort into working out when the second coming will take place, sometimes ma-
king specific predictions which the passage of time disproves. They are missing
the main point, which is that we should be always on the watch, always ready
joyfully to meet the Lord.

“To the effect that the day of the Lord has come”: this is literally what the Greek
says â€“ or “as if the day of the Lord is here”, in the sense of “about to come any
minute now”. The New Vulgate [and the Navarre Spanish: trs.] translate it as “as
if the day of the Lord were imminent”, which is faithful to the tenor of the text and
reads more clearly.

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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 19:1-10

The Conversion of Zacchaeus

[1] He (Jesus) entered Jericho and was passing through. [2] And there was a rich
man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. [3] And he sought
to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was
small of stature. [4] So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to
see Him, for He was to pass that way. [5] And when Jesus came to the place,
He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I
must stay at your house today.” [6] So he made haste and came down, and re-
ceived Him joyfully. [7] And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in
to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” [8] And Zacchaeus stood and said to
the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have de-
frauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” [9] And Jesus said to him, “To-
day salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. [10]
For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”

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Commentary:

1-10. Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind; He has healed many sick people,
has raised the dead to life and, particularly, has brought forgiveness of sin and
the gift of grace to those who approach Him in faith. As in the case of the sinful
woman (cf. Luke 7:36-50), here He brings salvation to Zacchaeus, for the mis-
sion of the Son of Man is to save that which was lost.

Zacchaeus was a tax collector and, as such, was hated by the people, because
the tax collectors were collaborators of the Roman authorities and were often
guilty of abuses. The Gospel implies that this man also had things to seek for-
giveness for (cf. verses 7-10). Certainly he was very keen to see Jesus (no doubt
moved by grace) and he did everything he could to do so. Jesus rewards his ef-
forts by staying as a guest in his house. Moved by our Lord’s presence Zac-
chaeus begins to lead a new life.

The crowd begin to grumble against Jesus for showing affection to a man they
consider to be an evildoer. Our Lord makes no excuses for his behavior: He ex-
plains that this is exactly why He has come—to seek out sinners. He is putting
into practice the parable of the lost sheep (cf. Luke 15:4-7), which was already
prophesied in Ezekiel: “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed,
and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak” (34:16).

4. Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, and to do so he has to go out and mix with
the crowd. Like the blind man of Jericho he has to shed any kind of human re-
spect. In our own search for God we should not let false shame or fear of ridi-
cule prevent us from using the resources available to us to meet our Lord. “Con-
vince yourself that there is no such thing as ridicule for whoever is doing what is
best” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 392).

5-6. This is a very good example of the way God acts to save men. Jesus calls
Zacchaeus personally, using his name, suggesting he invite Him home. The Gos-
pel states that Zacchaeus does so promptly and joyfully. This is how we should
respond when God calls us by means of grace.

8. Responding immediately to grace, Zacchaeus makes it known that he will re-
store fourfold anything he obtained unjustly—thereby going beyond what is laid
down in the Law of Moses (cf. Exodus 21:37f). And in generous compensation
he gives half his wealth to the poor.” Let the rich learn”, St. Ambrose comments,
“that evil does not consist in having wealth, but in not putting it to good use; for
just as riches are an obstacle to evil people, they are also a means of virtue for
good people” (”Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.”). Cf. note on Luke 16:
9-11).

10. Jesus’ ardent desire to seek out a sinner to save him fills us with hope of
attaining eternal salvation. “He chooses a chief tax collector: who can despair
when such a man obtains grace?” (St. Ambrose, “Expositio Evangelii Sec.
Lucam, in loc.”).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.