-
Mark’s Gospel
continues to present Jesus in his first days of ministry after his baptism.
-
Paul in his
letter to the Corinthians wishes that the community be without worries
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY
o
It has a central place in the religious history of
Israel. His central nucleus is the Law, a
law that is preached.
§
The book is a
reflection on the deep meaning and value of the law.
§
It is an
exhortation to follow the law as faithfulness to the will of God, as an
expression of the people’s love of God.
o
GENERAL STRUCTURE
§ In its present organization the book is presented as
the words that Moses, close to his
death, addresses to his people before the entrance into the promise land. (Dt 1,1;9,1)
§ The book is formed by three speeches of Moses and an
appendix
FIRST SPEECH Deut
1:1-4,43:
A look toward the past – The exodus from Egypt and
the journey
through the desert
SECOND SPEECH
Deut 4:44-28,68
Central part = The Code of the Covenant
The entrance in the land, some images from the
THIRD SPEECH Deut 28:69-30,20 – looking to the future
Ø
The book of
Deuteronomy is like the introduction to the historical books: Joshua, Judges, 1
and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings.
Ø
It is also
related to some prophetic books: Hoseah, Jeremiah
Ø THEOLOGICAL KEY POINTS
We find in the book of Deuteronomy 5 great themes:
God, the people, the land, the law, the sanctuary.
v
Only one God,
main dogma of Israel’s faith,
which gives meaning to all the other themes
v One nation – Israel = People that belongs to God in an especial way. God gives to this people:
o
The land, and
with the land all the other gifts.
o
One sactuary, where
Israel goes up to worship God.
o The Law to live in society and to be happy.
Ø
DEUTERONOMIST LANGUAGE History , exhortation and Law
o
The Law is the central part. The law is based on
history and is taught by means of exhortations.
o
History intertwined with exhortations.
o
And the exhortations are mixed with
history.
o
We find in this
book a variety of Little units which makes us think about diverse authors.
Ø AUTHOR AND DATE
o
It seems that it
was written by several authors, although it is attributed to Moses because it
is the Book of the Law, like the wisdom books are attributed to Solomon and the
psalms to David.
o
The date is
between 622 B.C. in the time of King Josiah, as they were repairing the temple
they found the Book of the Law which seems to be the book of Deuteronomy, not
in the present form but only the central nucleus and 586 BC date of the destruction of Jerusalem
and deportation to Babylon.
FIRST READING Dt 18:15-20.
«
God will give to
Israel in future times another prophet like Moses who will speak to them
«
This will happen
in response to the petition of Israel on Mount Horeb.
«
They said that
they did not want to hear the voice of God, they did not want to see the great
fire which accompanied the theophany of God.
«
This prophet will
tell them the Words of God with complete faithfulness.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Sal 95,1-2;6-7;
7-9
This psalm
especially the verses we will use this coming Sunday is an exhortation to
o
Worship God
o
Listen to his voice.
IF
TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS
Come let us sing joyfully to the Lord
Let us acclaim the rock of our salvation
Let us come into his presence with
thanksgiving
Let us
joyfully sing psalms to him.
Come let us bow down in worship,
Let us kneel before the Lord who made us
For he is our God
And we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice
“harden not your hearts as at Meribah
As in the day of Massah in the desert
Where your fathers tempted me
They tested me though they had seen my works.”
GOSPEL MARK 1:21-28
§
On the Sabbath
Jesus goes to the Synagogue and preaches. People are astonished on listening to
the wisdom of his words.
§
Jesus begins in a
way that provokes the enthusiasm of the people
o
Among those
present in the assembly there is a man possessed by an evil spirit
o
The evil spirit
confronts Jesus, and says that he know him. Jesus orders it to be silent.
§
In the Gospel of
Mark the disciples never understand what Jesus says.
§
But the evil
spirits know who Jesus is
o
Those present at
the Synagogue ask, what does that mean? A doctrine completely new and taught
with such authority?
o
Jesus has brought
something new, his teaching is complete newness, Have we discovered the newness
of Jesus? Or instead we try to combine what we know which makes us comfortable
with a little bit of Jesus’ newness? But it does
not help us.
o
The words, the
deeds of Jesus, his own person are a challenge for us.
SECOND READING : 1 Cor 7:32-35
ü This Reading continues
last week’s theme. Do not be troubled,
why? Because
everything passes away, but God’s Lord remains forever.
ü
Paul considers
that those who are not married are free from the worries that those married
have.
ü
He does not want
to put any restriction to our personal
decisions, he only wants to alert us that above our decisions in relation to
marriage, the love of God is an absolute priority.
ü
In this fragment
Paul does not discriminate the woman, since he speaks for both man and woman,
putting them at the same level.
CLARETIAN CORNER
In this occasion our Lord
deigned to console me telling me to consult with this good Fr. Currius and to
do what he would tell me; and that this Father would be for me; what St. John
of the Cross was for St. Teresa. And later on, our Lord has told me other
things about this servant of his that are already noted down in the other
papers about all that he had to help in this work, and everything has literally
been fulfilled until now.
In this occasion our Lord
consoled me much and, since then, I surrendered to him the key of all my
secrets with the only purpose that he might guide my soul on the ways of
virtue. (Venerable María
Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 197-98).
Curates were earning a mere pittance. Those of Santiago were receiving only
33 duros, plus votive offerings, half of which went to the bishop and a
so-called sacristan, who did nothing. During my stay in office, curates
received 700 duros on commencing, 1,200 on promotion, and 2,000 on termination.
They also received 200, 400, and 700 duros, respectively, for church expenses
on these occasions.
I also raised
the salaries of canons and provided them with a very well appointed and well
endowed chapel. I brought in good musicians and organists from Spain, and some
magnificent services were held.
I insisted that canons, pastors, and other priests make a
ten-day retreat each year. I also insisted that they always wear the cassock
and imposed a fine of ten duros for noncompliance. Only one failed to comply. I
had him appear in lay garb and made him pay the fine. (St.
Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 552-553).
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
CLARET,
Antonio María, Autobiografía.
GARCÍA LÓPEZ,
Félix, “Deuteronomio”, en Comentario al
Antiguo Testamento I, Casa de la Biblia Salamanca-España 1997.
PARÍS, María Antonia , Autobiografía PÉREZ HERRERO, Francisco, “Evangelio según San
Marcos” en Comentario del Nuevo Testamento, Casa de la Biblia. Salamanca-España1995..
