Last week Jesus gave his inaugural speech at the Synagogue of Nazareth.
Through his words we realized that he introduced his ministry as the Jubilee
Year. He is our Jubilee.
Next Sunday Jesus will say of himself that he is a prophet.
As a prophet he will suffer, like every prophet, the rejection of his
own people.
JEREMIAH
«
The prophet Jeremiah lived in very painful times: wars, persecutions,
and finally the deportation to Babylon.
«
His oracles are full of suffering for the infidelities of his people to
the Covenant.
«
He suffers also for the destruction of his holy city Jerusalem.
«
He has very harsh words against the leaders of his people, whom he makes
responsible for the misfortunes they are suffering.
«
The central theme of his theology is the Covenantal Theology, he uses
images as:
o
Prostitution to speak of idolatry of his people Israel
o
Lovers to speak of the idols to which they offer incense and
sacrifices.
«
He has also oracles full of love and gentleness.
«
Some chapters of the book are like an intimate diary of his relationship
with God, whom he loves tenderly and passionately. But sometimes he experiences
God as far, he feels abandoned and even betrayed by the God he loves.
«
He gives his entire life to God for the service of his people whom he
loves tenderly.
FIRST READING Jer 1:4-5, 17-19
Ø
God speaks to Jeremiah and says to him
o
Before you were formed in the womb I knew you
o
Before you were born I consecrated you
o
I appointed you prophet of the nations.
Ø
These words are able to fill anyone with enthusiasm, and to make him or
her fall in love with God, but
Ø
God continues saying to Jeremiah: And now
o Be on guard, prepare yourself
o
Do not be afraid of those who oppose you, those who threaten you.
o Because
§
I have made of you a fortified city
§ A bronze pillar
§ An iron wall
o
Even if they fight against you, do not be afraid, because I the Lord
will be with you.
The Lord keeps saying these same words to each one of us.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps. 71
In
you, O Lord, I take refuge
Let me
never be put to shame
In
your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
Incline
your ear to me, and save me.
Be my
rock of refuge
A
stronghold to give me safety
For
you are my rock and my fortress
O my
God, recue me from the hand of the wicked.
For
you are my hope, O Lord,
My
trust, O God, from my youth
On you
I depend from birth
From
my mother’s womb you are my strength
My
mouth shall declare your justice
Day by
day your salvation
O God,
you have taught me from my youth
And
till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
This
psalm shows hope and security in the shelter of God’s presence.
Our
response will be: I WILL SING OF YOUR SALVATION.
GOSPEL Lk
4:21-30
ü We take the
narrative at the Synagogue of Nazareth from the place where we left it last
week.
ü Jesus has just
announced his program of action and let the people know that he has been anointed
by the Spirit who sends him to proclaim good news.
ü The people are
pleased to listen to him, but the situation is going to change very soon: is he
not the son of Joseph the carpenter? He belongs to our town, he must not be so
good as he looks. Maybe he is hiding
something.
ü Jesus reminds
them the saying: no prophet is accepted in his own country and
ü He also
reminds them about two prophets:
o
Elijah who was sent to the widow at Zarephath
o
Elisha who healed a leper who did not belong to the
people of Israel.
ü These
comparisons of Jesus made them furious
ü They are so angry
that they try to kill him
ü But Jesus
walks away from them without harm. His hour has not come yet.
SECOND READING 1Cor 12:31-13,13
Paul includes in his letter to the Community of
Corinth that had so many problems, this wonderful hymn to love.
This hymn is found not only in the Bible and in
many of our hymns and songs,
But it is also considered a Literary piece of art, patrimony of the human race.
When we want to speak about love frequently we use
this hymn of Paul to the Corinthians. Compared with love nothing has any value:
o
To speak in tongues
o
The gift of prophecy, the ability to explain the
deepest mysteries of our faith
o
The moving mountains
o
To give everything, even our
life to defend our faith, martyrdom.
Love never dies
Prophecy will be silenced, faith will be
transformed into vision
Paul continues and gives a wonderful description of
what love really is:
o
Love is kind, love is patient
o
Love is neither jealous nor selfish
o
Love rejoices always in the truth
o
Love never rejoices in what is evil …
Then he compares what happens in our childhood and
adulthood.
We are invited to grow up to adulthood, and abandon
what is childlike, to become adults in faith.
Of the three virtues which help us to enter into a
relationship with God: faith, hope and charity
The greatest is charity=love, the other two will
not be necessary when we see God face to face in eternity. 
“Now my companions are at the end of their mission, and afterwards, we
will all gather and consult with the Bishop of Barcelona who will arrive now
and is my close friend and we will see how the matter will be dealt with. But
God our Lord who had decided in his eternal decrees to guide the flight to the other part of the
world, permitted another obstacle that in my opinion, banished some of his
ideas, undoubtedly because God’s plans were very different from those of this holy man and mine, because
certainly , neither had he ever thought of the cross God had prepared him
entrusting to him the government of this vast island, nor, by then, had I ever
thought of crossing those seas. So, I remained in my convent as before, and he
continued in his mission, for us to transfer to this new world where he wanted
to start his work. Venerable María Antonia París, Founder of the Claretian
Missionary Sisters 62.
One thing that the Lord gave me to understand is that it
is important for a missionary to deny himself in taking food and drink. The
Italians have a saying to the effect that no one gives credit to saints who
like to eat. People would like to think of missionaries as men who are more
heavenly than earthly and that we are like saints' statues that don't need to
eat or drink. In this respect, our Lord has given me the very special grace of
being able to get along without eating, or with eating very little. Saint Anthony Mary Claret,
Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 403.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
CLARET,
Antonio María. Autobiografía.
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía
RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras – Ciclo C. San Pablo 2006.
SCHÖKEL , Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.
SAGRADA BIBLIA, Versión Oficial de la Conferencia
Episcopal Española
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