« This
coming Sunday is Mission Sunday traditionally called “DOMUND”.
« The
readings speak again of service, but a service given by offering our own life, like the mysterious servant of
Isaiah and Jesus in the Gospel of Mark.
FIRST READING:
Is 53:10-11
Ø The
servant is faithful to God; verse 10 says that the Servant has been crushed in
sufferings, but not for his own sins but for the sins of others.
Ø Through
his suffering, through the offering of his life the Servant shall see his
descendants in a long life. For Israel and also for the other countries
surrounding Israel, to have many descendants was a sign of blessing from God, a
sign that the person was pleasing to God.
Ø As a
consequence of his affliction and of his offering of his life, the Servant will
see the light. The light is always the symbol of the presence of God, of love
and of truth.
Ø Through
his sufferings he will justify many, and will take away their sins. His
sufferings are redemptive, for this he will be able to justify many.
Ø Beautiful
image of the mission of the Servant, whom the Church, through its theological
reflection over the centuries, has recognized the person of Jesus, his mission, his giving up his life, his unconditional
surrendering on the cross for the
salvation of many, of all.
Ø The
Church invites us every Sunday, through the liturgical readings, to follow the
way of Jesus. Today the Church invites us to offer our life to the Lord, so He
may unite our sacrifice to his sacrifice for the good of men and women, our
brothers and sisters.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps 33 LORD
MAY YOUR MERCY BE ON US, AS WE PLACE OUR TRUST IN YOU
ü The plan of God is eternal, but for us human
beings it is unfolded in history, it takes time for us to discover it, and to
accomplish it. But the Lord accompanies us and protects us through our journey
in history.
ü
The Lord, as the psalm says, loves justice and
right, and his kindness fills the earth. What a consolation from these words!
ü The
psalmist continues to say words of peace and consolation: the eyes of the Lord
are upon those who hope in his kindness.
ü The
last verse that we will say this coming Sunday is: our soul waits for the Lord, who
is our help and our shield. With this protection, whom do we fear?
GOSPEL MK 10:35-45
« Last
Sunday we read the story of the man who wanted to know how to get eternal life.
But he was so much attached to his possessions that he was unable to leave them
behind and follow the Lord Jesus. He
lost the opportunity to follow the good Teacher.
« The
disciples have heard what will be the recompense of those who leave everything
behind and follow the Lord, the Teacher.
« But
now two brothers, called also the Sons
of thunder, come to request a place of honor a distinction for them. (In the
Gospel of Matthew the request is made by their mother)
« In
the future kingdom, in eternity they want to sit at the places of honor, they
have not understood either the lesson
that Jesus has taught to the man who wants to get to eternal life, or the lesson that Jesus taught
them some days before on service. The first will be the last, the leader will
be the servant.
« This
is the eternal weakness of us humans, we want to be different, the first, the
one distinguished from the rest, but we look for this in the wrong place, we
should look for it in God who will make us happy.
«
And Jesus assures them that they will drink the
cup he is going to drink, and will be baptized with his same baptism, which is
the death on the cross. It can be any death suffered to give witness to God.
«
This means that he assures them that they will
be very close to him, so close that they will share his own cross, but the
seats of honor is the Father who decides. For my part I think that there are no
seats of honor in the future kingdom, no one will be more important than some
body else, because the only important is God, the only who is unique is
God. All of us are servants, sometimes
useless servants, some other times good
servants.
«
In the Synod on the New Evangelization which is
being celebrated at the Vatican, a Bishop from the Philippines had a very
interesting and challenging intervention. I am going to transcribe some of it
here because I think it can help us to reflect on our Christian life as a
community and as individuals.
Why is there a strong wave of secularization, a storm of
antipathy or plain cold indifference towards the church in some parts of the
world necessitating a new wave of evangelization programs?”
The new evangelization calls for new humility. The Gospel cannot thrive in pride. When pride seeps into the heart of the Church, the Gospel proclamation is harmed. The task of new evangelization must begin with a deep sense of awe and reverence for humanity and her culture. Evangelization has been hurt and continues to be impeded by the arrogance of its messengers. The hierarchy must shun arrogance, hypocrisy and bigotry. We must punish the errant among us instead of covering up our own mistakes. We are humans among our human flock. All our beauty and holiness we owe to God. This humility will make us more credible new evangelizers. Our mission is to propose humbly not to impose proudly.
Secondly, the new evangelization must be done by new saints and we must be those saints. The great poverty of the world now is the poverty of saints. Whether we come from the first world or third world countries, everybody is looking for models to inspire and emulate. Our youth need models to inspire them. They need living heroes to ignite their hearts and excite them to know Jesus and love Him more. Our experience in the Third World tells me that the Gospel can be preached to empty stomachs but only if the stomach of the preacher is as empty as his parishioners.
Lastly, the new evangelization must be a call for new charity. We will be credible bringers of Gospel joy if the proclamation is accompanied by its twin messenger of charity. The charity of Jesus is the gift of Himself. The charity of the new evangelization must be the gift of Jesus.
The new evangelization needs a new humility; a renewal in holiness and a new face of charity for it to be credible and fruitful.
The new evangelization calls for new humility. The Gospel cannot thrive in pride. When pride seeps into the heart of the Church, the Gospel proclamation is harmed. The task of new evangelization must begin with a deep sense of awe and reverence for humanity and her culture. Evangelization has been hurt and continues to be impeded by the arrogance of its messengers. The hierarchy must shun arrogance, hypocrisy and bigotry. We must punish the errant among us instead of covering up our own mistakes. We are humans among our human flock. All our beauty and holiness we owe to God. This humility will make us more credible new evangelizers. Our mission is to propose humbly not to impose proudly.
Secondly, the new evangelization must be done by new saints and we must be those saints. The great poverty of the world now is the poverty of saints. Whether we come from the first world or third world countries, everybody is looking for models to inspire and emulate. Our youth need models to inspire them. They need living heroes to ignite their hearts and excite them to know Jesus and love Him more. Our experience in the Third World tells me that the Gospel can be preached to empty stomachs but only if the stomach of the preacher is as empty as his parishioners.
Lastly, the new evangelization must be a call for new charity. We will be credible bringers of Gospel joy if the proclamation is accompanied by its twin messenger of charity. The charity of Jesus is the gift of Himself. The charity of the new evangelization must be the gift of Jesus.
The new evangelization needs a new humility; a renewal in holiness and a new face of charity for it to be credible and fruitful.
«
These are strong words pronounced by one of the
bishops, one of the leaders, one the teachers of our Church. But they are words
for all of us, how wonderful that we acknowledge as a Church that we need to be
humble, little, one among others, only then and only then we will be able to be
the yeast that transform the world from inside.
«
May our good Teacher, who is humble of heart,
teach us the beautiful virtue of humility.
SECOND READING : He 4:14-16
ü We
have a high priest who has entered the sanctuary of heaven
ü This
high priest is Jesus, the Son of God
ü This
high priest, Jesus, i sable to understand our human condition because he has
shared it with us. He knows our weaknesses because he has experienced them,
except sin.
ü He
cannot sin because he is God, he is life, and sin is death.
ü The author of the letter invites us to
approach the throne of grace and mercy to find help in due time.
o
The throne beautiful symbol of the authority of
our high priest. It is a symbol because in the kingdom of heaven there are no
thrones, this is a figure of speech.
o
It is a throne of grace, mercy, kindness, all
these words the Old Testament uses to describe God, who is compassionate and
merciful.
The mistress of
novices should found the novices from the beginning in the three virtues of
faith, hope and charity, from which
are born all the other virtues and
evangelical perfection and without them, all the others are like a body without
a soul.”
“Faith
enables them to walk without stumbling in the darkness and night of ignorance;
hope teaches them to live always in the arms of divine providence […] and
charity encourages them to undertake
the most arduous and perfect works, and enkindles within them living
wishes to work for the sanctification of
their neighbours, without neglecting their own. Words of Maria Antonia París, Foundress, quoted in the Constitutions of the Claretian Missionary
Sisters, 82.
The Church Fathers illustrate this matter by a comparison
with the hen. Consider, they tell us,
the great love, care, and zeal a hen has for her chicks. The hen is by nature a
timid, cowardly, and fearful animal, but when she is brooding she has a lion's
heart; her head is always aloft, her eyes are always on the alert, always
looking about for the least sight of danger to her chicks. No matter how great
the foe, she rushes to their defense. She lives in a perpetual state of care
that she shows by her constant clucking. So great is her love for her brood
that she always goes about looking sick and discolored. Lord, what a curious
lesson of zeal you teach me in this example of the hen! Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the
Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography, 380.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía en Escritos.
SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. LA BIBLIA DE
NUESTRO PUEBLO. Misioneros Claretianos. China 2008.
The Catholic Study Bible, second
edition.
Information on the Synod on the
“New Evangelization” taken from “Whispers
in the Loggia.”
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