Tuesday, November 13, 2012

XXXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - CYCLE B – NOVEMBER 18, 2012


 
«  The end of the liturgical year is near.  
«  The readings this week have an apocalyptic tone. 
«  Let us try to discover the real meaning of the images presented both in the Old Testament, and in the Gospel. 
«  Let us “remove the sandals” from our feet, as God said to Moses, because we are on holy ground, where God comes to us through signs taken from nature.   

FIRST READING: Daniel 12: 1-3 
Ø  The book of Daniel has characteristics which are unique: 
o   It begins in Hebrew  
o   From 2:4 to the end of chapter 7 it is written in Aramaic.  
o   Then is turns  again to the Hebrew from chapter 8  to 12:13.  
o   The Greek translation has passages   which are not found in the Hebrew-Aramaic text: the prayer of three young man in the furnace  3:24-90; the story of Susanna ch.13, Daniel and the idols  ch. 14. 
o   The Church has incorporated them among the canonical books, while the Jews and the Christian denominations from the Reformation do not consider them canonical.  

Ø  The message of this book, like the message of the book of Revelation in the New Testament, is  about hope. After the sufferings of the present time, which in that time were domination of Antioch IV and his   profanation of the Temple, the Kingdom of God will be established.  

o   During the time of waiting the earthly kingdoms are called to acknowledge the sovereignty of God, and also to respect the right to profess our own religion. All of this will happen on due time, nobody knows the date.   

o   To the people of Israel God asks them to be faithful like the three young men in the furnace. 

o   As we advance in the Reading of the book we realize that to be part of the kingdom of God will not coincide with being part of the Jewish people, because some of them abandon the covenant. 

o   Not even being distinguished  persons assures that they are just (story of Susanna)

o   The apocalyptic hope of Daniel is not against the loyal cooperation in the worldly affairs, Daniel works in the court of the King of Babylon. 

Ø  The literary style is very interesting  

o   Apocalypse means Revelation, a revelation that has to be done in order to understand the meaning of the texts. 

o   The messages are brought by angels, or by persons who have gone to heaven and come back as messengers    

o   To describe the coming or the presence of the Most High God, the authors describe awesome natural phenomena. 

o   The good and the evil are represented by real or fantastic animals.   

Ø  To understand the message we need to go deep into the meaning of the signs, only then we will be able to discover the real meaning.   

Ø  We may say that the text is written using a symbolic language. 

Ø  Today’s Reading

o   In verses 1-3 we find the biblical foundation for the resurrection of the dead. 

o   For many commentators these verses are the high point of the revelation in the book of Daniel.   

o   They are also an answer to the question on justice. Those who are good suffer in this world, while the evil men usually prosper. The book of Daniel says that God will reward his faithful ones and that an everlasting punishment will come upon the evildoers.  

o   We do not know when these wonderful things will take place, its time is hidden behind numbers and enigmatic words.   

o   Peace and security come from the knowledge that this is the Word of God, and God is always faithful.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  – Psalm  16 – YOU ARE MY INHERITANCE O LORD!   

*      God is my lot. These words remind to us the distribution of the promised  land among the Tribes, the Tribe of Levi was not allotted any land, God is its inheritance.   

*      The cup has the meaning of joy, the cup of blessing, of salvation; but the cup means also suffering, will you be able to drink the cup I am going to drink?...as Jesus asked the two brothers James and John.  

*      The joy in the Lord is so great that the whole person is involved: soul and body.  

*      You showed me the path of life, and You  will never abandon me.   

*      Thus I will rejoice in your presence for ever.   

GOSPEL  MARK 13:24-32

§  Mark describes Jesus pronouncing this speech.

§  In those days, what days? The days when the things Jesus is telling us will happen. There is not an exact chronological date.   

§  As in the Book of Daniel, Jesus speaks of tribulations.    

§  A commentator says: the sun will not give its light anymore, neither the moon, the stars will fall. All of this will happen because their light is not needed anymore, our light will be the Lamb, as we read in the Book of Revelation.  

§  When these things happen it will be the Second Coming of the Lord, described as the coming of a Son of Man over the clouds with power and majesty. What a wonderful description of whom Jesus is: true God and true man, at the same time.   

§  His servants the angels will gather the chosen ones from the four corners of the earth. This means all. No one is lost, all are present to Him.  

§  Jesus invites his disciples to read the signs of the time as they read the signs from nature.  He gives the comparison of the fig tree, when its branches sprout leaves we know that summer is near.   In the same way when we see the things which are told to us in a symbolic language, happen, it means that the second coming is near. His words will never pass away.   

§  What a consoling gospel, full of hope for all, but in a very especial way for those who are suffering!
COME LORD JESUS DO NOT DELAY YOUR COMING! 

SECOND READING : Heb 10:11-14.18

ü  Every priest performs his ministry every day, offering a sacrifice which cannot save. 

ü  He has offered only one sacrifice and He is seated at the right hand of the Father, this means that Jesus is God as the Father.   

ü  He waits for the moment when his enemies will be put beneath his feet. His enemies will give him the honor they did not want to give to him during his mortal life, and not even afterwards during our human history.   

ü  He has consecrated those who are his own by means of his only sacrifice.   

ü  He consecrates us, to make us his own for ever. All called to this consecration.  

 CLARETIAN CORNER

Now that I have said something about how much God our Lord is pleased by a disinterested heart, this great king of heaven and earth has protected, guided and governed me since the moment His powerful hand took me out of the convent of Tarragona (which was my first heaven) until he brought me to this new world, Santiago, Cuba city, with so great security in the midst of so many and imminent risks that only your infinite power, my God could save my life. Venerable Maria Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 93.    

I understood, my God, how important it is for a missionary's effectiveness that he not only be beyond reproach, but appear so to everyone because people pay more attention to what they see in a missionary than to what they hear him say. This is why it was said of Jesus, the model of missionaries, "He began to do and teach.''  Doing comes first, then teaching. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 388. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía  en Escritos
RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras-Año B. San Pablo 2005.
Schökel, Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.
Sagrada Biblia. Versión oficial de la Conferencia episcopal española.

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