« We
may say that the readings speak of the true Wisdom, the wisdom that comes from
God. The wisdom that helps us to see
everything in perspective.
« In
the Gospel, Jesus answers the man who wants to know about eternal life, by
telling him where he will find true wisdom that will lead him to eternal
life.
FIRST READING :
Wis 7:7-11
Ø In
verses 1-6 of this chapter 7, the King introduces himself and says that he is
like any other man.
Ø And thus
he prays to get the wisdom he needs to fulfill his mission as King of his
people.
Ø The
text that begins with verse 7 is very similar to the text we find in 1 Kgs 3,
where we are told about a dream of Solomon at Gibeon, where God tells him to
ask anything from him, and Solomon asks only for wisdom to govern his people.
Ø After
mentioning prudence he speaks of the spirit of Wisdom
Ø Which
he prefers to
o
all
royal power,
o
wealth which is nothing compared to wisdom
o
precious
stones
o
gold which compared to wisdom is nothing more
than dust
o
silver which is like clay compared to
wisdom.
Ø He
prefers it more than health and beauty
Ø He
wanted it to be his mentor
Ø He
adds that with it all good things came to him
Ø What
a beautiful text which describes for us the wisdom that comes from God. Whoever
has it, leaves behind everything he has,
which he considers to be garbage and nothing.
Ø In a
commentary by the biblical scholar Alonso Schökel found in the Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo, we read:
The wisdom of God cannot
be recognized until we become reconciled with our own human nature, and from
there, contemplate wisdom as a gift which surpasses all the good things we may
obtain. It is a gift which, as any other true gift, increases as we share it.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps. 90 FILL US WITH YOUR LOVE, O LORD, AND WE WILL
SING FOR JOY!
ü This
psalm is a meditation on the meaning of
time.
ü In
the verses the liturgy uses, we ask God that he may have compassion, that his
kindness may come upon us.
ü The
last verse makes us understand that, at the end man will be what he has done of
himself, and what he has allowed God to do in him.
GOSPEL Mk 10:17-30
« Jesus
continues his journey to Jerusalem.
« A
man approaches him, he is very much interested in talking to Jesus:
« He
wants to know what he has to do to get eternal life. This is a quite reasonable
question.
« John
Paul II in the encyclical Veritatis
Splendor (The Splendor of Truth) says, that the question this man has is a vital question,
which any human being has and wants to
know the answer.
« It
is not a question about laws and rules; it is an existential question about
life.
« Jesus
reminds this man that only God is good.
« And
gives him the answer according to the teachings of the Law, to enter eternal
life, fulfill the commandments.
What commandments? All those related to the
relationship with your neighbor: you
shall not kill (5), you shall not commit adultery (6); you shall not steal (7)
you shall not lie (8) you shall not defraud (9-10), honor you father and your
mother (4)
This man is very much satisfied with himself
because he has fulfilled these commandments since his young years.
« Now
the dialogue takes another turn
Jesus looks at the man with love and offers him
something else, he reveals to him the wealth he is lacking:
§ Leave
everything, but do not throw it away, sell it
§ Give
the money to the poor, so that others may profit from what you have
§ Then,
only then, after leaving, selling and giving, follow me.
§ To
leave, sell and give have meaning only in relation to the following of Jesus
We have been told that this man is rich; wealth
is not something bad in itself, because it comes from the goods that God has
given us in creation.
Riches are evil when we make of them our God, and
we cannot live without them.
This man is truly rich in the earthly meaning;
he is not able to discover the beauty, the wisdom about what Jesus is proposing
to him.
Thus he leaves sad, he came with joy and
decision to follow the road to eternal life, but he did not hear what he wanted
to hear.
« Now
Jesus looks at his disciples and
Says to them how difficult it is for whomever
has the heart fixed on earthly riches to enter the kingdom of God.
They are astonished, but Jesus calms them, they
cannot but God can everything if we allow him to.
Jesus makes a comparison which seems to us an
exaggeration, to make his point: the camel and the needle.
Peter asks, probably representing all the
others, at the end what will we have, since we have left everything to follow
you.
You will have one hundred fold during this life,
but this will be among persecutions and sufferings.
Eternal life will come afterwards in the “future
age. “
SECOND READING : Heb 4:12-13
ü The Word
of God is not like the human word, which changes and is false.
ü The
Word of God is living and effective. It is the creative Word.
ü It
is sharper than a two-edged sword, it means that the Word discerns between good
and evil. And it does not do it based on appearances, but from the depth of
truth.
ü Nothing
is hidden from it, its light illumines everything.
ü Verse
13 says that we must render an account to the Word, an account of our truth and
of our falsehood.
CLARETIAN CORNER
Very soon the Lord
consoled me, because His Majesty always acts in this way: He made me reach the
peak of tribulation and then , when nobody can help me, His divine majesty puts
his powerful hand and, in a moment, the tribulation stops because the Lord has
this art, to interchange pain and joy. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian
Missionary Sisters, Aut. 89.
The first time I read these words of the Apostle I was
horrified to learn that he called knowledge without meekness
"devilish." Good God! Devilish! Yes, it is devilish, for experience
has taught me that a bitter zeal is a weapon that the devil uses, and that the
priest who works without meekness serves Satan, not Christ. When such a man
preaches, he frightens away his listeners; when he hears confessions, he
frightens away his penitents (and if they do confess their sins they do so
badly because they are embarrassed and hide their sins out of fear). I have
listened to many general confessions of penitents who had hidden their sins
because of so-called confessors who had harshly reprimanded them. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of
Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 376.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiography
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography
PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus –
Meditations on the Gospel for Year B.
RAVASI, GIANFRANCO. Según las
Escrituras – Año B. Traducido por Justiniano Beltrán. Bogotá 2005.
SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. LA BIBLIA DE
NUESTRO PUEBLO. Misioneros Claretianos. China 2008.
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