Paul reminds the Community of Thessalonica that we do not know the hour and the day when the Lord will come again in glory.
FIRST READING – BOOK OF PROVERBS 31:10-13. 19-20. 30-31
« The wisdom tradition is not only a patrimony of the people of Israel, all the peoples have developed their own wisdom approach to the world. Each member of the different peoples make their own the particular vision that his or her people have of the reality of God, and of the created word. Each member learns how to relate to others, and how to have a healthy life in society.
« The people of Israel believes that there is an order in creation, and wisdom means to discover this order, and to live accordingly.
« In the first period of the development of Wisdom literature in Israel,
o the people thought that there was an equitation between a good, wise life and a prosperous life and social peace.
o And that a non wise life leads to violence, suffering, war.
« Most of the Book of Proverbs is based on that assumption
« However, as time passes, and the reality of life seems to contradict its belief, Israel reflects and the wise persons among the people discover that human wisdom is not enough, there is the need for a theological wisdom, based on God.
« Little by little, wisdom becomes almost a divine creature made by God before the creation of the world, and that wisdom is offered to all mankind.
« The book of Proverbs presents a mosaic of sayings, with different literary genres and themes.
« The Proverbs are presented as being from Solomon, but this is not accepted without some explanation. Some proverbs might come from Solomon, and even some might have been put together under Solomon’s time.
« But the book has been composed over the spam of almost 500 years.
SUNDAY READING
The text speaks of the wise and gifted woman. Apparently we see here a woman who is pragmatic, totally dedicated to the family business; however under this cold appearance we discover a heart full of love for God and for her family and servants. This woman described in the book of Proverbs apparently is very different from the bride of the Songs of Songs, who offers to her beloved her love. The sweet intimacy of the Songs of Songs gives way in the book of Proverbs to the ordered, calculated and planned actions of the woman it describes In her time some of the activities of this woman were performed by men. The author of Proverbs does not praise beauty, he prefers order and care. On verse 12 her husband is mentioned, and on verse 13 her activities Verse 19 and 20 have to be read together. On verse 19 she works with her hands, and on verse 20 she extends her hands to the poor and needy. This woman knows that on taking care of the needy she honors her creator. Generosity is like a contribution to the re-creating action of God, helping creation to go back to its original justice. That the goods of creation be equally distributed among all, so that all have enough to take care of their needs. In the last verses the religiosity of this woman is praised, because all her actions spring form her love and respect for God. Physical beauty cannot be compared with the beautiful virtues which adorn the inner being of this woman. Compared with her inner beauty the physical beauty has no value. We began this section describing a apparently “cold and hard-working woman”, when we reach to the end of these verses we realize how beautiful that woman is in the eyes of God and in the eyes of her husband and her entire household. RESPONSORIAL PSALM - Psalm 128:1-2.3.4-5
ü Psalm 128 is psalm of pilgrimage, which belongs to the wisdom literature.
ü It has two parts: beatitude (verses 1-3) and blessing (verses 4-6)
ü This psalm praises the person who includes God in his or her life.
ü He who is faithful and has respected the Lord, is blessed and receives the blessing from the Lord. This is the blessing of the woman described in the book of Proverbs.
ü The response will be: Happy are those who fear the Lord.
SECOND READING: FIRST LETTER OF PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS 5:1-6
§ Paul continues to explain to the community of Thessalonica about death and about the second coming of the Lord.
§ But today he tells them that we do not know either the day or the hour,
§ He invites them to be awaken, vigilant, ready to welcome the Lord when he comes
§ He compares the coming of the Lord to the coming of a thief into the house, we do not expect it; or as the pains of childbirth, that also come suddenly to a pregnant woman.
§ What the Old Testament called the Day of Yahweh has become in the New Testament the Day of the Lord. This makes us understand that the last events of history will have a Christian meaning.
GOSPEL – MATTHEW 25:14-30
« This reading is the continuation of last week’s reading.
« This parable from the gospel of Matthew is the third one in which Matthew reminds his community, and reminds us the need to be vigilant, to welcome the Lord when He comes.
« These parables are:
o the steward that was put in charge by his master until he returns, but instead of serving and doing what he was supposed to do, he abused his fellow servants, got drunk and did not work.
o The second of these parables is about the 5 wise young women and the 5 foolish ones.
o The third is the one we will reflect on today.
« In order to be able to fully grasp the meaning of this parable, we need to know the culture of the time.:
o In our Western society we have assumed, for a very long time, that the resources of nature and the financial means never end.
o But the Eastern culture, specially of Jesus’ time, considered the resources and the wealth to be limited. This means that if someone accumulates he or she is taking what belongs to others.
o So we see that the owner is really what his servant says to him: he is a greedy man.
o But this man gives his money to his servants, so they will make it fructify and so he will get the revenue when he comes back. He does not have to do it himself, they will do it for him.
o Two of them do exactly that, they put the money to produce, and they are praised by their master
o The third man does what was customary when you had money from someone else, you would keep it on the ground, so it would be secure and you would be able to give it back intact.
o But here Jesus reverses the meaning: you should have put my money in the bank so I would have the interest on my return.
o Through this parable, this story Jesus reminds us that we need to use the gifts we have received from the bounty of God, and in using them they will grow and multiply
o It is an invitation to live the values of the kingdom, because we cannot be part-time Christians or followers , we need to be full-time if we are going to be real followers or disciples of Jesus.
o We either build the kingdom or we do not build it at all. There is no partial commitment, it has to be full commitment to the Lord, who has given us the gifts=talents.
o Matthew uses this parable to call his community to be aware of the demands of building the kingdom, of being awaken, ready to welcome the Lord.
o We need to wait for the Lord with the same love and enthusiasm as the bride described in the book of the Songs of Songs. She is ready to welcome the one she loves.
o To be ready when the Lord comes is not a question of mind but a question of heart. It is not a question of knowing but of loving.
CLARETIAN CORNER
It has been fulfilled literally because oftentimes, when I was weighed down not knowing how to do so many things overloading me, I invoked her favor for me and for my sisters and she always - helped me, especially in the beginning when our whole community consisted of only these four little ants. (María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters , Autobiography 182)
After focusing on the clergy, I turned my attention to the laity. Because the city was more than a mile long, I had three missions held simultaneously for the convenience of the people. I assigned Fathers Lorenzo San Martí and Anthony Barjau to preach the mission at the church of Our lady of Charity, at one end of town, and Father Manuel Vilaró to preach the mission at St. Anne’s, at the other end of town. I myself preached the mission at Our Lady of Mercy, the largest church in town, located in the center. The mission lasted two months, August and September, and with God’s help it did incalculable good. I also visited the six parishes and other churches of the town.
(St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 526)
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