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우리 자신을 아는 지식이 하느님을 아는 지식과 병행합니다. 자신이 누구인지 깊이 깨닫지 못하면 하느님도 깊이 깨닫지 못합니다. 그런데 불행하게도 많은 사람이 자신이 어떤 사람인지 정직하게 대면하려고 하지 않습니다. 아담은 선악과를 따 먹고 나서 구차한 변명을 했습니다. 이스라엘 백성은 예언자들의 입을 막기에 급급했습니다. 자신들이 인정하기 싫은 아픈 진실을 말했기 때문입니다. 성숙한 사람은 자기 모습을 있는 그대로 볼 수 있고, 남에게 있는 그대로 보이는 것을 기꺼이 받아들이는 사람입니다. 그러나 우리 대부분은 가면을 쓰고 살아갑니다. 다른 사람에게 어떻게 보일지에 신경을 많이 씁니다. 그래서 거짓말을 하고 사실을 과장하기도 합니다. 예수님께서는 우리가 하느님을 진정으로 만나기를 바라십니다. 그러려면 가면을 벗어야 합니다. 우리 자신을 정직하게 보고, 있는 그대로의 모습을 인정하는 것은 고통스럽습니다. 그러나 그 과정을 겪은 다음에야 비로소 하느님을 진정으로 만날 수 있습니다. |
March 18,2012 Fourth Sunday of Lent
Reading 1 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity,practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD's temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem. Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers,send his messengers to them,for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.But they mocked the messengers of God,despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets,until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy.Their enemies burnt the house of God,tore down the walls of Jerusalem,set all its palaces afire,and destroyed all its precious objects.Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon,where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah:"Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled."In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah,the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom,both by word of mouth and in writing:"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me,and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people,let him go up, and may his God be with him!"
Responsorial Psalm Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6.
R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you! By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. On the aspens of that land we hung up our harps. R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you! For there our captors asked of us the lyrics of our songs, And our despoilers urged us to be joyous: "Sing for us the songs of Zion!" R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you! How could we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand be forgotten! R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you! May my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not, If I place not Jerusalem ahead of my joy. R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
Reading 2 Eph 2:4-10
Brothers and sisters:God, who is rich in mercy,because of the great love he had for us,even when we were dead in our transgressions,brought us to life with Christ -by grace you have been saved-,raised us up with him,and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,that in the ages to come. He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;it is not from works, so no one may boast.For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance,that we should live in them.
Gospel Jn 3:14-21
Jesus said to Nicodemus:"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,so must the Son of Man be lifted up,so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,but that the world might be saved through him.Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.And this is the verdict,that the light came into the world,but people preferred darkness to light,because their works were evil.For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light,so that his works might not be exposed.But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. |