Ø Said
to us that it is not enough to listen to or read the Law, we have to practiced
it.
Ø And
they also helped us to reflect on what is the true law which God has given us:
o
To love
and to serve those who need us most
o
To love one another as Jesus has loved us.
o
To love also our enemies.
This coming Sunday the
liturgy will present to us readings which speak of:
Ø Opening
the ears and the mouth in order to be free to live and to proclaim the Law, the
Good News of Christ Jesus.
Ø Of
allowing God, allowing Jesus to liberate us from all that enslaves us and do
not allow us to be free.
FIRST READING: Is 35:4-7
Chapters
34,1-35,10 of Isaiah have the same literary genre and style as the Deuto-Isaiah
or Second Isaiah. The scholars believe that these two chapters have been
written by the author of the Deutero-Isaiah.
Tell to those whose heart is frightened, fear
not! Your God comes!
The liberation is described in poetic words and
images:
o
The eyes of the blind will be opened,
o
The ears of the deaf will also be opened and will allow the sounds to go thru and thus
o
The tongue of the mute will sing
o
The lame will leap like a dear
o
What will the tongue, which had been mute,
sing? It will sing the marvels God has
made in the desert.
o
Not only in the natural desert, but also in the
desert of the human heart which remains closed to the beauty of our God.
o
As God passes by, everything regains its
original beauty.
The Church puts in its liturgy this Reading for
us, men and women of the 21st century, of St. Juliana Parish and from any other
parish.
o
No matter what our blindness, deafness,
dumbness, paralysis might be, our God will transform it in freedom and joy, if
we cling to him.
o
Our work will be to allow Him to fashion us so
we may be able to walk in his ways.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Psalm 146
This psalm is a hymn
to God the Creator and the Protector of the poor. It is psalm of praise.
RESPONSE: PRAISE THE LORD MY SOUL
The God of Jacob is faithful for ever.
He defends the oppress, gives food the hungry,
frees the captive and protects the foreigner.
He gives sight to the blind, protects the orphan
and the widow
But keeps the wicked far from him
GOSPEL Mark 7: 31-37
ü Jesus
leaves the región of Tyre goes thru Sydon towards the Sea of Galilee, and goes
to the region called Decapolis.
ü The Decapolis = ten cities : deka= ten
and polis= city). The ten cities were not a
political unit, but a cultural unit .
ü Jesus
is performing his ministry in the pagan cities.
ü And
Jesus adapts himself to the customs and believes of the region’s inhabitants. They needed that the miracle worker touched
the sick or suffering part of sick person body, and also that the miracle
worker be with the sick alone.
ü Jesus
responds to that need of the region’s inhabitants and takes the man apart, puts
his finger into his ears and with his saliva touches his tongue, and pronounces
the word EPHPHATHA which means BE OPEN.
ü It
was also common belief that the saliva had healing properties.
ü Immediately
the man hears and speaks.
ü Jesus
commands them not to say anything to anyone. This is what is called the
“Messianic Secret.”
ü This
secret is necessary here in pagan territory more than in Israel. The miracles
that Jesus perfoms will not be completely understood only after his
resurrection, which will shed light over
the life and mission of Christ among us.
ü The
Church uses this word at the end of the baptismal rites.
ü OPEN
YOUR HEART? To listen to and to preach the Good News, the Gospel.
SECOND READING: Jas 2:1-5
«
Brothers
show no partiality. Do not make distinctions, do not discrimínate, if
you adhere to the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
«
If someone well dressed and another in shabby
clothes comes into our assembly, let us not make distinctions between
them.
«
We cannot give to the rich a place of honor and
abandon the poor.
«
Listen and reflect dear brothers and sisters,
did God not choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and
heirs of the Kingdom of God?
«
This words of James question our behavior as Catholics of the XXI century. It
questions our actions but more than so our heart.
«
Among ourselves we make distinctions in the same
way as the Jerusalem community was doing.
«
Let us not forget that
o
All of us have been created by God himself
o
All of us have been redeemed by Christ
Jesus
o
We are all brothers and sisters by creation and
by redemption.
o
All of us have been called to be part of the Church
through baptism, and we have all been sealed by the same Spirit.
o
We have all been entrusted with and sent to the
same mission: to proclaim the Good News
of Salvation.
o
Each one from its own way of life and all
together as the Church community we have to accomplish the mission entrusted to
us.
The main concern of the missionary is to
conform his life with that of Christ, as we have said in the first number of
these notes, in his most holy life he will find hidden manna, which he will
find good at any time. Therefore, do not get apart from his divine Model if he
wants to fulfill the mission entrusted to him by God. María Antonia París, Foundress of the
Claretian Missionary Sisters. The
Apostolic Missionary 2.30.
I had observed that the holy virtue of poverty not
only edified people and upset the idol of mammon but also helped me greatly to
grow in humility and advance in perfection. I can sum up what I learned by
experience in the following comparison: The virtues are like the strings on a
harp. Poverty is the shortest and thinnest chord and hence gives the highest
sound. The shorter we are in life's conveniences, the higher we reach on the
scale of perfection. Thus we see that Jesus spent 40 days and nights without
anything to eat. He and his Apostles ate barley loaves, and they even ran out
of these at times. Once the Apostles were so short of food that they took ears
of grain and rubbed them in their hands to kill their hunger with the grains.
They were even criticized for this by the Pharisees because they did it on a
sabbath. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian
Missionary Sisters, Autobiography,
370.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Antonio María . Autobiography 370.
PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Convivium Press 2011.
PARIS, María Antonia. “The Apostolic
Missionary ”.
RAVASSI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras. Año B. Bogotá Colombia 2005
SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. LA BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO (The Bible of our
People). Claretian Missionaries. China 2008.
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