Thursday, October 25, 2012

XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – CYCLE B - 2012



 
«  Faith is the most wonderful gift that God has given us. 
«  Faith enables us to discover the loving presence of God in our life. 
«  Faith is the light which illumines our journey toward the eternal embrace of the Three Divine Persons. 
«  The readings for this Sunday teach us the meaning of faith. We are celebrating the Year of Faith.    

FIRST READING : Jer 31:7-9
Ø  We have already met Jeremiah in former Sundays, let us try to know a little bit more about his book. 
o   The text we will read is taken from what is called “the small book of Consolation = chapters 30 and 31.”  

o   These chapters have a parallel in the book of the Second Isaiah called the Book of  Consolation. The Second Isaiah speaks of the marvels God will do again in the second Exodus, the return of the exiles from Babylon to their beloved country, to the city of God  Jerusalem. Wonderful works of God which will remind the people of the wonders of the first Exodus.     

Ø  The prophet invites to shouting of joy for Jacob – Israel.  To shout with joy because the Lord has saved his people, the remnant of Israel, the anawin, the little, the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed who have remained faithful.   

Ø  The prophet puts in front of our eyes a wonderful vision, they are a multitude coming from all the corners of the earth where they were exiled. 

Ø  This large crowd is formed by the blind, the lame symbols of the past sufferings and also by   

Ø  Pregnant women who are about to give birth, image of the future, symbolizing the new life, 

Ø  God speaks and says “if they left in tears
o   Now they come back full of the consolation of God who leads them and  
o   Brings them to fountains of water, they are no longer in the desert, 
o   We can apply all these images to our spiritual journey.   
Ø  Again we hear from the voice of the prophet that God is a Father, he is a father to Ephraim,  one of the tribes, the tribe of Joseph whose territory was distributed between the two sons(Ephraim and Manasseh)  who had been born to him in Egypt.  

 

RESPONSOTIAL PSALM  – Ps  126  THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US, WE ARE FILLED WITH JOY.  

ü   It is a psalm of joy    
ü  It speaks of the passage from sorrow to joy; they left in tears, they sowed in tears. 
ü  But now there is joy, their mouth is filled with laughter and songs. 
ü  What God has done for them is so extraordinary that even the nations are surprised on seeing it.  
ü  God has changed the sorrow into dancing. 
If they sowed in sorrow now they return carrying their sheaves with joy.  

GOSPEL MK 10:46-52
«  In the last two Sundays Mark has presented to us some men who even having eyes were blind. They could see the light of the sun but they could not understand the teachings of Jesus. 
o   The rich man who wanted to know how to get to eternal life 
o   The two disciples who wanted the first places in the Kingdom   

«  Now Mark presents to us a blind man who cannot see the light of the sun, but he has inside of his heart the light of faith which enables him to cry out “ Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me” “Master I want to see”       

«  This man is called Bartimaeus   which means son of Timaeus.  

«  Jesus calls him, and after hearing what he wants, Jesus tells him “Go your way, your faith has saved you.”     

«  The light, the possibility to see, is compared in the Scriptures with having faith, which is the possibility to see the truth of God, to discover his presence in our life and in the world. 

«  Jesus does not touch the man, he only speaks and says “your faith has saved you.” With these words Jesus is speaking about a reality which goes beyond the natural sight, he speaks of the faith of the man in Jesus, faith which can save us.  

«  During several Sundays Mark has spoken to us about the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem and his teachings to the disciples.  

o   He tries to teach them the difficult lesson about discipleship, how to be like the Teacher 
o   These series of lessons reached their culmination last Sunday when Jesus spoke of service, not as doing things, but as giving up our life for the salvation of others. 
o   And this service is the ultimate love of Jesus on the cross, the call to love, like Jesus did, any man and any woman as brother and sister.   

«  Today this severity and the fear that these words of the Teacher may awake in us 
o   Is changed in a vision of light as the eyes of the blind man were open to see  
o   As we read in the first Reading the exiled come back singing like the harvesters carrying their sheaves with joy. 
o   He who gives his own life for the sake of love receives the same gift as Bartimaeus, the inner light of faith that enables us to discover the loving presence of our God, even in the midst of darkness.   

SECOND READING : He 5:1-6
ü   This letter is a theological meditation on the Priesthood of Christ. He is the High Priest of the New Covenant, of the New Law.  
ü  The author says that any High Priest   
o    Is of the same human condition as his brothers and sisters  
o   That he has not conferred on himself the priesthood, on the contrary, he has been called by God to the priesthood  
o   He is called to offer sacrifices for his sins and the sins of others  
o   Being member of the human race, he knows the weaknesses and the sins of his people,  because he has experienced them  himself. 
o   Christ did not conferred on himself the dignity of the priesthood, He received it from the One who said to Him:  
§  “You are my son, today I have begotten you” “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”  
§  And in the Jordan “You are my Son, in whom I am well pleased.”   

 

This time, it happened to me while I was so afflicted for the things I have mentioned above – and many other more who made me so disgusted – Our Lord told me with great affection: “Why are you so afflicted, my poor daughter? “Then it came to my mind how well this great, omnipotent Lord fulfills his words, and that the one who took care of maintaining four little ants that we were before has the power to sustain four thousand spouses of His and the whole world as he is actually doing. O, what consolation and trust these words give! Venerable Maria Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters,   Autobiography 90.  

I have learned that zeal is an ardent and violent love that needs to be wisely controlled. Otherwise it might go beyond the limits of modesty and discretion. Not because divine love, however violent, can be excessive in itself, nor in the movements and inclinations it gives to our spirits, but because our understanding fails to choose the proper means or else uses them in a disorderly manner. Uncontrolled zeal takes us over rough and wild roads; moved by anger it fails to keep within the bounds of reason and pushes the heart into disorder. This is how zeal acts indiscreetly, intemperately, so that it becomes evil and reprehensible. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 381.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA
CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.
PAGOLA, José A.  Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Meditation on the Gospels of Year B. Convivium, Bogotá 2011.
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía  en Escritos.  
Ravassi, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras- Año B. San Pablo  Bogotá 2005.
Sagrada Biblia, Versión oficial de la Conferencia episcopal española, Madrid 2011.

  

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