« On reading the book we realize that the author has a good knowledge of a country which is not Palestine: he knows Greek very well and also the arts, customs, beliefs of the Hellenistic world (Greece). He also knows Egypt and its religions.
« We also realize that the author has begun a dialogue between the faith of Israel and the Greek culture.
« He tries to do a synthesis between the two humanisms (knowledge of the human being): the anthropocentric humanism of the Greeks and the theocentric humanism of Israel.
« At the same time we discover in the book three dangers for the faith of the Israelites:
o A great number and diversity of religions and philosophical systems which offer wisdom, salvation and the knowledge of the meaning of life.
o A hedonic environment (comfort at all levels), and a general immorality which is in contrast with the customs of Israel.
o Persecution against those who wanted to remain faithful to the Mosaic Law.
« This book can shed its light on us the XXI century followers of Jesus.
o We have among us a great number of different religious groups, some come from the Christian faith others come from Eastern religions mainly from Asia
o Hedonism is also in our society, more and more we look for pleasure, com fort, and lack of suffering or difficulty. There is also a worship of the human body which tries to eliminate whatever causes pain or difficulty: sickness, unwanted pregnancies, old age people and others who require something from us, we could go on and on, but these are some situations that challenge us.
o Real physical persecution is a reality in many places of our planet, but there is another more subtle persecution, which is even more dangerous, all the philosophies which are opposed to the moral teachings of the Lord Jesus. Sometimes we, the followers of Jesus, allow all these situations to question and even destroy our faith.
« The date of the composition of this book is thought to be between 150 B.C. , time when the translation of the Old Testament into Greek, called of the LXX, and the occupation of Egypt by the Romans around 30 B.C.
« The author introduces himself as Solomon on chapter 7, 1 and following verses, but this is considered as a pseudonym, the real author uses the name of a well known wise King.
« The place is probably Egypt and in Egypt the city of Alexandria.
« The addressees: the Jewish people who remained faithful to the Law and the Greek from Alexandria interested in knowing the wisdom of the Law of Israel.
SUNDAY’S READING Wisdom 6: 12-16
Ø This Reading is a praise to Wisdom
Ø Wisdom is not difficult to be found for those who seek her, since she is at their door waiting to be invited in.
Ø We discover here what will be very evident in the New Testament, it is not us who seek Wisdom or God, who is Wisdom itself; but God is he who looks for us and comes to meet us.
Ø In the description of this Wisdom we discover the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son who became man to be one of us and live among us, to make us able to partake with him his divine filiation.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM. PSALM 63:2. 3-4. 5-6. 7-8
Psalm 63 is a psalm of trust, the verses we will read this coming Sunday speak of o The longing for God.
o The complete trust of the psalmist in the power and goodness of God.
o And again the longing for the intimacy with God.
MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD.
O God you are my God whom I seek
For you my flesh pines and my soul thirst
Like the earth parched, lifeless and without water.
MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD.
Thus I have gazed toward you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory
For your kindness is a greater good than life; my lips shall glorify.
MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD.
Thus I will bless you while I live; lifting up my hands, I will call upon you name
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
And with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD.
I will remember you upon my couch, and through the night-watches I will meditate on you;
You are my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD.
SECOND READING – 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-17
ü What comes very clear from this Reading is that Paul is convinced, at that time, that he would be one of those who will not die before the coming of the Lord, and thus he will encounter him.
ü Paul says to us that this going from our earthly to eternity (heaven) will be as follows:
o For those who had already died this encounter will happen through the resurrection.
o On the other hand for those still alive it will happen through an encounter with the Lord.
o And it seems that Paul considers himself to be one of those who will meet the Lord during his life.
ü As time was passing by Paul and the promise of the Lord’s return is not fulfilled,
o The Church, meditates, reflects and prays, and guided by the Holy Spirit whe understands that this will truly happen, but we do not know the day or the hour.
o Besides that the Church realizes that the Lord comes to us in many different ways as He told us (see Mt 25:31 and following verses). What we need to do is to be prepared and awaken to discover his presence within the reality of our world (see also Lk 10:25 and following verses).
o God forbid that while we are waiting for him to come… he might pass by and we do not recognize him.
o Israel went to the same process with the notion of the coming of the Messiah. At the beginning they thought that it would happened immediately, but as time went by they realized that, maybe, there was another meaning to the promise. They understood that what was asked from them was the faithfulness to the faith given to them until the time of God would be fulfilled.
GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 25:1-13
This Reading is taken from the last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew before he begins the narrative of the Passover of the Lord in chapter 26.
« What it is described in this parable is a common event of the life of people: a wedding
o One of the main rites was the transfer of the bride to the bridegroom’s house.
o The ceremony began when the bridegroom went to his bride’s home to take her to her new home.
o The delay of the arrival of the bridegroom was something quite normal, since before getting to her he had to deal with her parents to know what kind of gifts he will give to them, since they gave to him a treasure which was the bride herself. This could take quite a long time sometimes.
o The relatives of the bride had to demand much to show how valuable the bride was. And the bridegroom had to show his joy and pleasure to receive his bride.
o As the negotiations are almost done, some of those present go willingly to tell the bride to be ready since the bridegroom was coming.
o The bride is beautifully dressed with her wedding gown, and her friends are waiting with their lamps the arrival of the bridegroom. When he arrives the procession starts towards their new house.
« The delay of the bridegroom is not surprising but what is surprising is that some of the young women who were there would not participate in the wedding banquet.
o The wedding is the most beautiful celebration in the life of a man and a woman.
o Matthew exhorts us to be prepared for the arrival of the bridegroom, which is Jesus.
o Matthew seems to have the intention to awaken his community from its apathetic way of life. The delay of Jesus to come back
§ cannot lead us to be asleep or not attentive
§ or to forget about our responsibilities and commitments.
§ The certainty of his coming, even if he delays it, has to encourage us to be vigilant, with eagerness for the eternal embrace with the Lord, who will come soon.
§ It is an invitation to put into practice, in our life, the words of Jesus. To allow him to enter into our heart through faith, hope and love until the final encounter.
§ This is a personal commitment and work which no one can do for us, as it happened to the young women in the parable. Those who were prepared could not give their oil to the others. We may listen to and counsel our brothers and sisters, or pray for them, but we cannot share with them our way of life.
| CLARETIAN CORNER | God did not leave me abandoned to my pain for a long time. A few days after her death, bitterly complaining to His Divine Majesty (but respecting God’s designs and adoring the hand which wounded me) for having taken my sister who had abilities for everything and left me alone not being good at anything, Our Lord made it clearly known to me that this was expedient for His Glory…. That she would greatly help me from above. And so it happened as in the Apostolic College where all of them were rude and ignorant to make clear that all was the work of the Divine grace. (María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters , Autobiography 181) The first thing I did on arriving in Puerto Principe was to lead the local clergy in the Spiritual Exercises. So as not to leave the parishes unattended, I gave the Exercises in two different shifts. I rented a house big enough for all of us to live in. Then I organized one group of 20 and another of 19. We ate together and lived under the same roof day and night. Our schedule included lectures, meditations, recitation of the Divine Office, and the talks I gave. Everyone made a general confession, drew up a plan of life, and everything was put in order. (St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 525) |
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