·
The theme of the
liturgy is prayer, never get tired be persevering.
·
However, like all
the parables that the Lord tells us have more than one interpretation, more
than one message.
·
In the Gospel we
read also that the widow asks for justice, her prayer is very concrete, she
asks the judge to render a just decision for her.
·
Our world is full
of brothers and sisters who day and night cry out for justice, to be treated as
human beings, to enjoy the same benefits as the rest of the population. Let us
think about situations close to us, all those who do not have legal status in
the countries where they live, and ask to be accepted officially in the country.
·
In a commentary
the author asks this question: when we approach the Lord to pray, do we
discover in the heart of our Father the suffering of so many brothers and
sisters, do we hear the cry that comes from all the parts of the earth asking
for justice, equality, brotherhood and solidarity?
·
Or on the
contrary our prayer is only about us, or being worried of what we call
"spiritual", forgetting that the Son of God became flesh to live
among us.
FIRST READING Exodus 7:8-13
ü
This is an
interesting reading from the book of Exodus
ü
The effectiveness
of Moses prayer is based on having his hands raised. i .
ü
So when he gets
tired he has to be helped by two men.
ü
This is what we
read. Let us try to discover the meaning
of this.
ü The support Moses receives may mean also the communal prayer as Jesus said
"when two or three... I am there with them.
ü
The effectiveness
of our prayer does not depend on us, or on those who support us, but in the
presence of Jesus, the only Son of the Father who prays with us and is always
heard by the Father.
ü
The fact that Joshua
won the battle destroying Amelek, is not the message the Lord wants us to get
from this reading. The message is the perseverance in prayer, not the
destruction of the enemy because Jesus
himself taught to love our enemies.
ü
Jesus does not destroy
us for the evil we do, but he allows evil to destroy him and in so doing he
wins evil forever, saving us all and earning life eternal for us.
ü
It depends on us
to accept this salvation which he has already accomplish for all of us.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Ps 121: 1-2,3-4, 5-6, 7-8
OUR HELP IS
FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH
I lift up my eyes toward the mountain
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
May he not suffer your foot to slip
may he slumber not who guards you
indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps
the guardian of Israel
The Lord is
your guardian, the Lord is your shade
he is beside you at your right hand
the sun shall not harm you by day
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will guard you from all evil
he will guard your life
the Lord will guard your coming and your going
both now and forever.
§
The psalmist
sings that his help comes from the Lord.
§
And, in the
verses that come after this sentence, he describes the protection from God
with beautiful images: your foot will not slip... he does not sleep... his
shade protects you...
§
What a beautiful
way to describe trust in the unconditional
and tender love of our God and Father.
GOSPEL Luke 18:1-8
Luke tells us one
of the parables of Jesus which is found only in his Gospel
As it is the case
with all the parables we need to find the real meaning, not the meaning of the
material words.
There are two
characters: the corrupt judge who has all power, and the woman who is powerless
and suffers injustice from her oppressors.
As the parable
unfolds this roles are changed, the judge loses his power in front of the
insistence of the woman, who ends up having power over the judge.
A judge should
always dictate judge sentences, this is his mission.
Thus there is
nothing worse than a corrupt judge. Amos in his book speaks about that.
Power always corrupts
those who have it, no matter what kind of power we might have: in society, in
politics, in finances, at work, in the church, at home, in the school.... Power
intoxicates us, like wine when we drink
it in excess.
But the woman,
who like any poor does not have anything else to lose, comes over and over
bothering the judge until the day when he imparts justice to her, so that she
will not come anymore.
Jesus tells us
that if this unjust judge is able to make justice to the woman, God will do
much more for us.
But he does not
want to compare the behavior of the judge with God's behavior.
What Jesus wants
to teach us with this parable is the perseverance in prayer without getting
tired.
The insistence in
prayer is not because God does not listen to us at the first time, it is
because we are not ready, our heart is still hard and we do not allow the Lord
to transform us, we take our time to accept his action in us.
The more our heart is closed to be soften, longer will be the time to receive what we ask for.
It is not God who
takes time, it is us.
SECOND READING 2 Tm 3:14-4,2.
v
We continue
listening to what the author of the letter tells to his disciple Timothy:
§
remain faithful
to what you have learned
§
remember what you
have known of the Scriptures since your childhood
§
Scripture is
capable of giving you wisdom for salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ.
§
All Scripture is
inspired by God and is useful for teaching
§
I charge you to
proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient,
using all the means at your hand.
CLARETIAN CORNER
. as for me, everything was to
cry and to pray day and night to my God and most blessed Mary to deign to
enlighten them so we could go out at once from the situation. I said to myself
what will they say at home if I make them spend uselessly and I will not
profess? And what will Mo.
At each town I preached in, the first half of the service
was marked by persecutions and calumnies by the wicked of the town. Halfway
through the mission these people would be converted and everyone would sing my
praises. Then the government and the higher officials would begin persecuting
me. This is why my bishop made me go from one town to another town far away. In
this way, the government's persecution of me became something of a joke because
by the time a warrant had been put out against me in one province of Catalonia,
I had already finished the mission there and gone off to another province. And
by the time they got around to persecuting me there, I was already off to yet
another province. Despite all the government's efforts to pursue and apprehend
me, they were never able to succeed. St.
Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters,
Autobiography, 457.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
CLARET, Antonio María Claret, Autobiografía.
PAGOLA, José
A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Meditations
on the Gospels for Year C.
PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiografía
RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según
las Escrituras, Año C.
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