Monday, August 13, 2012

XX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – CYCLE B - 2012




«  The first reading is taken from the book of Proverbs.  

«  When we read this book we are surprised to see how fragmented it is, it is like a mosaic of different literary form, thoughts, sayings…   

«  In most of this book the theological thought of the O.T. seems to be absent. 

«  It is part of the Wisdom Books:  Job, Ecclesiastes, Sirach,  Song of Songs.

«  These books want to give an answer to very common and vital questions that men and women of all times have had,  about life and death, suffering, love and hate, etc…      

«  It is the most secular of the Wisdom books. We might say that it is like a handbook about moral behavior, a teaching on how to be part of the human community.  

«  Israel used this kind of literature after the return from the Babylonian exile. It is not a literary genre that has its origin in Israel, but in the peoples that surrounded the people of God.    

«  Due to the fragmentation of the book we may deduce that it has had several different authors who lived in different times.  It seems though that the book, as we know it now, was part of what Israel called the Writings, in 200 BC. 

«  To give to Solomon the authorship over this book is a device very much used in the Ancient World. A given author would use the name of a famous person instead of the proper name so his book would be accepted.   So in Israel

o   Solomon, the wise king, was considered to be the author of the Wisdom books; but he cannot be the author of Proverbs, since the book was written over the span of centuries.
o   David, the singer and musician,  of the poetry and of the psalms
o   Moses, the law giver, of the Law. .

Let us reflect on the   

First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6

I give here a very personal reflection on this text, with the intention to help us in our prayer life. The more systematic explanation about the book has already been given above.    

Ø  This passage presents very beautiful images

Ø  Wisdom is presented as a woman:   

o   Who builds her house on seven columns.  Number seven has in the Bible a meaning of fullness. If we look at the New Testament the Holy Spirit is portrayed in the Book of Revelation as the seven spirits of God, which means the fullness of the Spirit of God.  

o   Who prepares her table with rich food and good wine, images which make us think about the joy of eating and drinking at a banquet. The gift of Wisdom which the Holy Spirit gives to us, is not about knowledge but about tasting, about enjoying, about being delighted in the experience of God.       

o   The text says that she sends her maidens, but in the next sentence she is the one who invites, who calls. Would that be that she calls but through her maidens? As God calls all of us through other people?    

o   In this image of the table and the invitation to the banquet we may understand or discover the overabundance of Wisdom, which gives herself out to whoever welcomes her. 

o   She calls the simple, the poor, those who do not have much understanding, those who are ready to accept her, because they lack the understanding that she is willing to give to them; she invites them at her table to enjoy her food and her drink, to allow them to be filled with her wisdom.

o   With her wisdom they will be able to reject sin, reject stupidity, because sin is always nonsense, a stupidity.

o   Thus they will be able to progress on the way of understanding 

o   Those who accept the call of Wisdom will be able to say with the psalmist: 

            TASTE AND SEE HOW GOOD THE LORD IS   

GOSPEL John 6:51-58 

*      We continue with the speech on the Bread of Life.  

*      John in his gospel does not have the intention to inform us about the events in the life of Jesus,  rather he uses some of the events in the life of Jesus to make a theological reflection on the meaning of those events

*      The event here is that Jesus feeds 5000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fish which a young boy offers to him. 

*      This event offers to John the opportunity to talk about the true bread from heaven, Jesus. 

*      In this Reading: 

o   Jesus proclaims himself bread from heaven. Who eats it will live forever. 

o   The Jews argue among themselves and are angry, because Jesus presents himself as transcendent (coming from heaven), but they know his family. 

o   Jesus repeats the same words: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and do not drink his blood you will not live. The real translation for the word used for eating is “chewing.” 

o   When we eat his body and drink his blood in the Eucharist, a union similar to that of Jesus with his Father is established between Jesus and his disciple.   

o   The disciple becomes a child of the Father,  because he is united to the Son of the Father who became flesh for the salvation of the world. As a son or a daughter the disciple enters into an intimate relationship with the Father, similar to the intimacy that Jesus has with the Father.   

o   This union through the bread and wine –body and blood of Jesus- is not meant to be still but to give the disciple the strength to go and  share with others this intimacy with the Lord.    

SECOND READING: Ephesians: 5,15-20

In the liturgy of the Sundays in ordinary time, the second reading usually does not have the same theme as the first reading  and the Gospel. Usually we start   a letter and every Sunday we read some fragments of it until it is finished.   

§  However this Sunday the Reading from the letter to the Ephesians has the same theme as Proverbs and the Gospel: wisdom as a light for those who welcome Jesus into their lives.   

§  The author invites the community to live wisely making the best of the present time. 

§  Seeking to know the will of God. 

§  Being prudent in eating and drinking. In the book of Proverbs Wisdom offered the overabundance of her food and drink as a sign of her generosity, this drink and food represent the gift of wisdom.  In the letter the food and the drink in excess are a sign of a life without wisdom.  

§  In place of these excesses the author invites the community to pray, to praise, to give thanks for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

§  What a wonderful plan for the life of those who want to follow the Lord Jesus, our Lord and God.

§  Last Sunday we were invited to make of our life a liturgy to our Lord and God. This week we are invited again to make of our life a praise of thanksgiving to our Lord and God.   

 CLARETIAN CORNER



The missionary must be always kind and be all to all but without losing his composure and religious circumspection. Beware that due to his carelessness the veneration and respect ought to be given to the priestly character that he is invested, be lost. Do not familiarize with anybody but be kind to everybody. During his travels he must speak little and meditate very much.  His lodging in the cities be in the hospital. He must be respectful to everybody if he wants to be respected as it is proper to a minister of the Lord; for this, will be good to him not to take liberties with anybody.   Do not argue with anybody, his way of talking be simple, saying: “This is so and so” or “It is not so” and not begin a dispute trying to have his own way, but yield to everybody. María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, The Apostolic Missionary 1-5.  

From the very beginning I have been thrilled by the preaching style of Jesus, his likenesses and parables. And how He was persecuted! He was a sign of contradiction, persecuted for his teaching, his works, and his very person. Finally, they took his life amid affronts, torments, and insults, making Him suffer the most shameful and painful death imaginable. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 222. 





    


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