Wednesday, June 21, 2017


 XII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  - 2017

FIRST READING  - Jer 20: 10-13

Ø  The first reading is taken from chapter 20 of the book of Jeremiah, chapter called “the confessions of Jeremiah.” 

Ø  The prophet is suffering from the betrayal of his friends, but also because his best friend “God”, who has called him from his mother’s womb to be a prophet, in some way he has also deceived him (seduced) or disappointed.   

Ø  Or at least he has never told him the consequences of his faithfulness to God’s call.   

Ø  The whole chapter shows feelings of sorrow, and at the same time, of trust in the God whom Jeremiah loves with all his being. 

Ø  Maybe in the feelings expressed by Jeremiah we might be able to see our own sufferings.  

Ø   May we be able to have also this same love, and may we be able to say with St. Paul “I know whom I have trusted.”  

Let us see what the first reading for this Sunday tells us  

v v. 10 we have the cause of the suffering of Jeremiah, the betrayal of his friends who want to report him to see what he will do, to see if he continues to be faithful.  

v v.  11  with this inner suffering, Jeremiah feels at the same time a great confidence in the love of God who has called him, the confidence of his protecting presence in his life.   

v v. 12 Jeremiah now addresses God, who “sees our deepest being and our heart. “

v As if he would say: “God you know that my works are according to what you have asked me to do.” And he asks God to avenge him.

v  v. 13 It is a song of deep joy, why? Because the Lord has freed the poor man from the power of evil.  
RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps 68: 8-10. 14 y 17. 33-35

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my children,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness;
in your great mercy turn toward me.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!''
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

The three parts of this psalm follows the same movement of the first reading     
*     The first

o   He says what is happening to him, he has become a  stranger for those of his town, of his race, of his family.    

o   The reason is because “zeal for the  house of God consumes me”   and

o   And thus the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.

*     The second   

o   He calls and invokes God to come to deliver him   

o   But in the psalm there is a peace and tenderness which is not found in the confessions of Jeremiah, who is still struggling with his sufferings.   

o   For the psalmist God is good and kind.     

*     The third    

o   The responsorial psalm ends calling heaven, earth and sea 

o   Because God is never deaf to the cry of the poor whom he never abandons. 

And as a background music the assembly repeats the theme of this Sunday:  God is good and listens to us, even  when our experience is that God keeps silence, and it seems as though he does not hear the cry of our suffering. 

GOSPEL Mt 10: 26-33

v vv. 26-27 Jesus says to his disciples

o   that they do not have to fear men, because there is nothing hidden that will not be known. 

o   And he invites them to speak and say what he has told them even those things which were whispered to their ears. 

v v. 28 The one you have to fear is he who can not only kill you but throw you into hell. 

v vv. 29-31 Jesus tells them the reason why they do not have to fear   

o   He invites them to look around, to creation and fix their eyes on the birds which nobody pays attention to, like “the sparrows.”   

o   And however none is forgotten by the Father who takes care of them.   

o   And he leads them to look at themselves, “all the hairs of you head are counted…”  Do we realice what he is saying?    

o   Then if even our hairs are important for our Father, and if the sparrows are important too, why do we fear?   

o   Because we are worth much more than many sparrows.   

v vv.32-33 I have never been able to understand the two verses that follow, I do not understand what the Lords really wants to say   

o   If I acknowledge him, he will acknowledge me, but if not….   

o   These words are written by the evangelist because he had heard them from Jesus.    

o   But my difficulty to understand is because from the Gospel we know that the heart of the Lord forgives always. We have examples like Peter, “I do not know this man…” “Peter do you love me…” Feed my sheep, my lambs…  

o   I am sure that one day I will understand these two verses.     

SECOND READING  - Rom 5: 12-15

§  Paul reflects on the reality of sin  

§  That, he says, entered the world through the sin of a man  

§  This helps me to think about the consequences of  our sins, even those that nobody knows or sees. Any sin affects the entire human race as well as any good deed also affects it but in a positive way.  

§  And Paul says something very logical, sin has always existed even before the law of Moses, but if there is no law there is no punishment either. 

§  And at the beginning this punishment helps us to avoid sin. This is not what is perfect but it can help

§  Paul sees Adam as a figure of Jesus.  

§  And as sin entered the world through Adam, in Jesus sin has been forgiven and grace has been poured out abundantly

CLARETIAN CORNER

… But we faced everything and we left behind  everything for the love of Jesus Christ, anxious for a greater perfection and to dedicate ourselves to his holy service where there is a greater spiritual need, and where the religious education may be less  attended and our efforts more accepted in the eyes of God, because we did not make any  plans, except those who would lead to the greater glory of God and fulfillment of the holy law we embraced…    

Not without serious difficulties during the long and dangerous navigation that we did, we arrived to these coasts and, the pious people of Cuba welcomed us with open arms, having received every day clear evidence of their charity, and many parents from families in good standing, due to their social position and their strong religiosity ,  have manifested their eagerness that we request as soon as possible the authorization for the canonical and legal establishment of the holy institute for  education that we want to profess. 

Taken from the letter of  María Antonia to the Bishop Claret  September 25, 1852).



 My dear Sister in Jesus Christ: I have received your two valued letters, one written in the Canary Islands and the other in Cuba. Thanks to God you have arrived. Now rest, pray for me to God so that he may inspire us the way he wants to be served by you. As you have told me, although I am not present,  what I have arranged before leaving  is being fulfilled.    

My kind regards to all the sisters and all of you may count on my service. (Letter of Bishop Claret to María Antonia, from Manzanillo – Cuba June 3, 1852.)

Wednesday, June 14, 2017


SUNDAY OF CORPUS CHRISTI – 2017  
Ø  Once the Easter time is over after the celebration of Pentecost, the liturgy takes us again to the ordinary time. 
Ø  However the first two Sundays of the ordinary time which follow Pentecost, are dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity and to the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Ø  Today I invite you to meditate from the heart, allowing our feelings to blossom and so help us to dream in this wonder made by Christ out of love.   
Ø  Allow our heart to be enkindled, let us fall in love with Jesus to be able to feel what his heart felt when he left us the Eucharist, his presence among us.   
Ø  We will not reflect on all the readings as we do every week, but I invite all of us  to meditate on the sequence.   
Lauda Sion Salvatorem is a sequence prescribed for the Roman Catholic Mass of The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  It was written by St. Thomas Aquinas around 1264, at the request of Pope Urban IV for the new Mass of this Feast, along with Pange lingua, Sacris solemniis, Adoro te devote, and Verbum supernum prodiens, which are used in the Divine Office.
The hymn tells of the institution of the Eucharist and clearly expresses the belief of the Roman Catholic Church in Transubstantiation, that is, that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus during the celebration of the Eucharist.
Lauda Sion is one of only four medieval Sequences which were preserved in the Missale Romanum published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–1563)—the others being Victimae paschali laudes (Easter), Veni Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost), and Dies Irae (Requiem Masses). (A fifth, Stabat Mater, would later be added in 1727.) Before Trent, many feasts had their own sequences.[2] The Lauda Sion is still sung today, though its use is optional in the post-Vatican II Ordinary form.
I will write the Sequence in bold and the explanations in italic.
Sequence


Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:

Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.

These two verses invite to praise our Savior and Lord.  

Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick'ning and the living
Bread today before you set:



Jesus in the Gospel of John c. 6 says that He is the true bread that the Father gives us, as it was also the Father who gave the mana, it was not Moses who gave it to them. Who eats this bread, which is Jesus, will live for ever . Jn 6.48   


From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the Twelve at supper met.

When it was evening he came with the Twelve. And as they reclined at table and were eating… Mc 14,17-18

Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your heart let praises burst:

For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that supper was rehearsed.


 
At the last supper Jesus gives us the memorial of his passion, institutes the Eucharist and he asks us to remember him whenever we get together for the breaking of the bread and for the  drinking  from the cup. Lc 22,19

Here the new law's new oblation,
By the new king's revelation,
Ends the form of ancient rite:

Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light dispels the gloom of night
.

Jesus is the true lamb who takes away the sin, he was prefigured in the paschal lamb that the Israelites sacrificed for the first time the night before the exodus from Egypt. Jesus is he who leads us to true freedom.    Ex 12,43-51

He is the lamb of the book of Revelation, he was slain, he has the marks of the sacrifice but, he is alive and he is the only one who has the key to understand history, he is the only one who can open the book of life, of history, of the seven seals.  Rev. Cap. 5

The new and eternal covenant, words which the celebrant repeats at each Eucharist. Yes Jesus does with his blood, not with the blood of animals, the new covenant, which God had promised us through the mouth  of the prophet Jeremiah.   Jer 31,31 y ss.

What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial ne'er to cease:

And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow, making
Thus our sacrifice of peace.

This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his precious blood the wine:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said: “Take and eat; this is my body.”  Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood…”  Mt 26,26-28

Sight has fail'd, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a pow'r divine.

Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things are all we see:

Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ entire we know to be.

Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is whole to all that taste:

Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him who cannot waste.

Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless death, or endless life

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discernment the body, eats and drinks judgement on himself.   1Cor 11,27-29

When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe 'tis spoken,
That each sever'd outward token
doth the very whole contain.

Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still the same abides,
still unbroken does remain
.
 
 
Lo! the angel's food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the children's bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.

The bread is food for pilgrims, as we all are.   It is bread for the children, the Eucharist is a call to live as children. Jesus with his death and resurrection wants to share his filiation with us. Jesus said to the women  do not be afraid tell my brothers to go to Galilee… And to Mary Magdalene he says: “Go to my brothers and tell them, I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”    Jn 20,17.

Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the fathers sent.

Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.

I am the good shepherd I know my sheep and they know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I give my life for the sheep.  Jn 10, 14-15 (To know in the Bible it is not an intellectual knowledge but a knowledge from experience and of the whole person, this means that there is a profound  intimacy between the two persons)      

You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav'nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be.
Amen. Alleluia.

Father they are your gift to me, I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  Jn 17,24.


CLARETIAN CORNER

Our Founder Anthony Mary Claret and our Foundress María Antonia París spend many ours with the Most Blessed Sacrament, and during these times  they were enlightened by Jesus about their lives and the works that the Lord was entrusting to them, and on the need to surrender to Him.   

Last Tuesday June 13 we celebrated St. Anthony of Padua, which was the   feastday of Claret and Paris, as well as the priestly ordination of Claret in 1835.    

May both the Founder and the Foundress get for us in this celebration of Corpus Christy an increase of love for the Eucharist and for each one of the human beings who live on this earth with us now.   

Tuesday, June 6, 2017


SUNDAY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY  - 10TH week  in Ordinary Time - 2017.

ü  Before we submerge ourselves in the daily living of our faith, the liturgy invites us to meditate on the adorable mystery of our God and, next week on the mystery of the Eucharist. 

ü  Our God is a community of persons and he has created us in his image, and thus able to enter into relationships, and with the need to communicate with other human beings.  

FIRST READING:   Exodus 34: 4b-6,8-9

Ø  God has called Moses and, very early in the morning, he goes up to Mount Sinai with two stone tablets. 

Ø  God comes down in the cloud, which is one of the symbols that Scripture uses to represent the presence of God.  In the story of the Ascension a cloud conceals the vision of Jesus, and the disciples do not see him anymore. This wants to let us know that Jesus has entered into a new form of life, a new relationship with us.   

Ø  And the book of exodus continues saying that God proclaims his name  

Ø  His name is LORD, and he continues to explain who he is 

o   He is merciful and generous    

o   Slow to anger and rich in love and faithfulness.   

§  God is rich in kindness, tender al welcoming love  

§  God is faithful to himself, to his word, to his love for his creation.

Ø  On hearing the words of God, Moses prostates himself in adoration, this is the posture of man before God, in his presence there cannot be any arrogance, we all feel our nothingness and thus we incline ourselves to the dust. 

Ø  But Moses feels that God loves him, that God is good, and that God listens to he who speaks and asks something from him. 

o   If I have your favor, I ask you to journey with us   

o   Even if sometimes we are a stubborn people    

o   Forgive our sins and accept us as your own. 

Ø  Jesus is the God- with- us who has come to dwell and journey with us.   He has said that he will be with us until the end of time, and he has also said that he who sees him sees the Father, that is to say, that Jesus is the image of the Father, the sacrament of the Father.  

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM– Daniel 3:52-55

R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!.

v The Lord is the God of our fathers.   

v The temple of the Lord is his creation and especially the human being.  

v His gaze fills everything with his love and tenderness.  

SECOND READING  2Cor 13:11-13

*     Paul invites us to   

o   Encourage one another  

o   Live in peace    

*     And he continues saying that God who is the God of peace and love will be with us.  

*     He invites us to greet each other with the holy kiss.  

*     And he says that the saints, greet us. Who are this saints? All those baptized.   

*     This fragment ends with an invocation to the Most Holy Trinity  

o   The grace of the Lord Jesus    

o   The love of God (Father)  

o   And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us.   

GOSPEL, Jn 3:16-18

v God has loved the world so much that he has given us his only son.  We may say: God loves the world so much that he gives us his only Son. (in the present tense) 

v Why? Because God is always present,  he is neither “I was”  nor “I will be”. 

v And he has given us his son so that believing in him we may be saved, that is to say, we may be able to welcome his salvation which is given us plentifully without having previously done anything to receive it. 

v And God sends his son not to condemn the world but to save it.  

v We condemn ourselves to be far from God when we do not believe, when we do not welcome the gift that is offered to us graciously.  

v I pondered, as I do frequently, and I asked myself, where we get the idea that if we do such and such we will be condemned. But on the contrary God through the Gospel of John says to us, that neither the Father nor Jesus the incarnate son of God condemns anyone, on the contrary Jesus is sent and comes to us in order to share with us his being the Son and to save us.

 CLARETIAN CORNER
My God, One and Triune, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  In your infinite wisdom,   give me, O Lord,   your light  to know you and to know me. To know also all that you want me to do, to serve and love you with all my being as much as it is possible in this life with your divine grace.  O my God, teach me what is good for the family you have entrusted to me and for each one of my beloved sisters. Please enlighten them so that they may know all that you want each one to do, in order to be docile and do not oppose  your divine inspirations and most holy will. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Fragment of Maria Antonia’s Morning Prayer. 

The first ideas I can remember date back to when I was five years old. When I went to bed, instead of sleeping—I never have been much of a sleeper--I used to think about eternity. I would think "forever, forever, forever." I would try to imagine enormous distances and pile still more distances on these and realize that they would never come to an end. Then I would shudder and ask myself if those who were so unhappy as to go to an eternity of pain would ever see an end to their suffering. Would they have to go on suffering? Yes, forever and forever they will have to bear their pain !

This troubled me deeply, for I am by nature very compassionate. The idea of an eternity of torment made such a deep impression on me, either because of the tenderness it evoked in me or because of the many times I thought about it, that it is surely the thing that to this day I remember best. The power of this idea has made me work in the past, still makes me work, and will make me work as long as I live, in converting sinners, in preaching, in hearing confessions, in writing books, in distributing holy cards and pamphlets, and in having familiar conversations...  Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 8 and 9.