XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  – CYCLE  A – 2017

The theme for this Sunday is: which commandment of the law is the greatest?  And the answer of Jesus it is the love of God and love of neighbor.   

BOOK OF EXODUS

Exodus means “exit”  “departure”  

Ø  This is the title the authors of the Greek Bible gave to the second book of the Pentateuch. The Jews call it   “Semot”= names, from the first words of the book. The book begins with a list of the children of Jacob/Israel, to establish the transition from the family of Jacob to the people of Israel.   

Ø  In the Exodus we find the beginning of the people of Israel   

o   Its physical birth = liberation from Egypt  

o   Its spiritual birth = the covenant on Mount Sinai   

o   Between the departure from Egypt and the arrival to Mount Sinai there is the desert.   

Ø  Exodus is one the books of the Old Testament with the largest theological content: liberation, covenant, theophany, law, sanctuary…  

Ø  God has a name that has to do with the verb “to be”

o   His name is Lord  

o   He is the God who saves   

o   God considers Israel his first born  

o   The song of Moses sings the victory of the Lord over Pharaoh.   

o   As the sovereign of Israel God takes care, guides and protects it.   

FIRST READING   Ex 22: 20-26

v  God gives three rules to his people  

o   Do not oppress the alien; you have been foreigners in the land of Egypt.    

o   Do not exploit the widow and the orphan.  They were the image of the marginalized and the destitute of society.  

o   Do not act as an extortioner toward the poor  when you lend money to him   

o   And if you take the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, return it to him before sunset because it is the only thing he has to protect himself from the cold at night.   

v  When all these poor call to me, I will listen to them and I shall make justice.   

v  Because I am merciful    

v  In a course on  Social Justice the teacher explained to us that there is like a connecting thread that runs through all the books of the Old Testament, like the thread that  hold together the beads of a necklace, and this thread  is : God is merciful and takes care of the poor and destitute.    

v  This Sunday the reflection is on the main commandment,   

o   And the reading that the church has chosen for the liturgy of the Word is this reading from the book of Exodus where God teaches us how our life has to be in relation with one another.     

o   We are not told anything either about the respect due to God, or the love He is expecting from us, because to respect our neighbor we need to be full of the love of God.  

o   If I love my neighbor it is because I already love God.    

RESPONSORIAL SALMO: Ps  18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Ø  The five books of the Pentateuch have its replica in the five books in which the psalms have been organized.   

o   First book: psalms  1-41

o   Second book  – psalms 42-72

o   Third book  – psalms  73-89

o   Fourth book   – psalms 90-106

o   Fifth book – psalms 107-150

Ø  After each stanza that the lector will read or the cantor sing, the assembly will repeat   “I love you, Lord, my strength. “     

Ø  Maybe we could during the week think in what situations has God been our strength during the journey of our life.

GOSPEL – Mt 22: 34-40

      The Sadducees had asked Jesus on divorcing one’s wife, with the ill intention to embarrass him in relation with the resurrection of the dead in which they did not believe.   The answer of Jesus silenced them.

      Now it is the turn for the Pharisees, they want to catch him asking a question about the Law. Which is the first and most important commandment?  because there were more than 600 rules in the Law.  

      And Jesus answer with the words of the “shema” Dt 6,4-9  prayer that each good Israelite would recite morning and evening. In his answer Jesus uses Dt 6,4-5 part of the shema and adds one verse from the Leviticus, which is about the love of neighbor Lv 19,18.   

      Jesus unites them as the first and second most important commandment…..    

      And Jesus adds “These two commandments are the foundation of the law and the prophets. That is to say the Old Testament which the Israelites called the Law(Pentateuch) and the Prophets.    

      This explanation of Jesus continues to question us about the suffering in the world caused by our selfishness, suffering of those who die from hunger while those who have enough as ourselves waste it. God says that he will make justice….. because He is merciful.   

SECOND READING  : 1 Tes 1: 5-10

§  Paul reminds the community of Thessalonica his behavior among them and how they have imitated him.   

§  This has happened in the midst of suffering and also of great joy due to the presence of the Holy Spirit.    

§  They helped Paul and this is known by all the communities    

§  This is one of the main characteristics of the church of all times, to be a community, a family in which we rejoice and we suffer together in spite of our shortcomings and sins, but always with the renewed desire to encounter the Lord here and in the everlasting life.  

CLARETIAN CORNER

This vision was impressed me in my hearts and all the words that Christ our Lord told me so very present, that even now that I am writing, and have already passed 14 years, it seems to me that I see and hear our Lord Jesus Christ in the same very way.

Ever since this vision I have loved very much evangelical poverty ( I loved her already very much before) because our Lord told me that Holy Poverty should be the foundation of this new Apostles, and for lack of this holy virtue all religious order has collapsed. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 10-11.   

I often say to myself: It is of faith that there is a heaven for the good and a hell for the wicked. It is of faith, too, that the pains of hell are eternal. It is also of faith that a single mortal sin is enough to damn a soul because of the infinite malice of mortal sin, which is an offense against an infinite God. Since these principles are all so certain, the thought of the ease with which people sin--as if it were like taking a glass of water, as if it were something funny or amusing--the thought of the crowds that stay continuously in mortal sin and are thus on the road to death and hell--this thought robs me of rest, and I feel like running and crying out. And I tell myself:

If I saw someone about to fall into a pit or a fire, I would surely run and cry out a warning to save him from falling. Why shouldn't I do the same to save someone from falling into the pit and fire of hell? Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters,  11-12

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, SAN ANTONIO  MARÍA. Autobiography.

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. El camino abierto por Jesús. 2011

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. La Buena Noticia de Jesús. Cycle A. 2016

PARIS, VENERABLE MARÍA ANTONIA. Autobiography.

SAGRADA BIBLIA – Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2010.

STOCK, Klemens . La Liturgia de la Palabra. Comentario a los Evangelios dominicales y festivos. Ciclo A 2001

XXIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - CYCLE A – 2017

THE BOOK OF THE SECOND ISAIAH

Ø  The second part of the Book of Isaiah cc 40-55 reveals a historical reality different from that of the first part or Book of Isaiah from Jerusalem   

Ø  The people from the Kingdom of Judah had been deported to Babylon  

Ø  In the year 539 BC Cyrus, the Persian, enters triumphant in Babylon and proclaims the liberty of all the deported, who are allowed to return to their country.   

Ø  The Second Isaiah, so called because we do not know his name, could be one of the deported that were coming back to their country.    

Ø  His ministry has two different moments although it is always about consolation:

o   cc. 40-48 the texts speak about the exiled who have to begin the way back home. The prophet consoles and encourages them explaining the meaning of the time of the exile. 

o   cc.  49-55 The texts are about those who have come back from exile and do not feel welcome by those who remained in the country. The prophet’s mission is to console them. In this part of the book we find the poems of the Servant of Yahweh, and also the   openness of the pagan nations to the God of Israel.   

FIRST READING  Is 45:1. 4-6

Ø  The Lord, the God of Israel speaks to Cyrus, the king of Persia, a pagan king, and calls him  his anointed.  

Ø  And tells him how he has taken him by hand to be his instrument for the liberation of the peoples.   

Ø  God has called Cyrus and God will accomplish the work of liberation for love of his servant Jacob, and for his chosen one Israel.    

Ø  He says to Cyrus that he has called him by name     

Ø  How true it is that we are all children of our God, not only those who believe in Him, but all.   

Ø  He says to Cyrus that his title of honor has been given by Him, although Cyrus does not know it.  

Ø  What a wonderful reading, which opens up the heart and uncovers unexpected and infinite horizons to our faith. God takes care of all of us and he asks all of us to be his collaborators, believers and pagans, just and sinners, from different colors, races and religions…. and even unbeleivers.  The one who opens his heart to his presence, in spite of not knowing him, does good works, changes the direction  of his life.   

Ø  Every generation remembers Cyrus, the pagan king, who did not know the true God of Israel but who was his collaborator. 

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM:  Ps  96: 1 y 3. 4-5. 7-8. 9-10a y c

Ø  R. (7b) Give the Lord glory and honor.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bring gifts, and enter his courts.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Worship the LORD, in holy attire;
tremble before him, all the earth;
say among the nations: The LORD is king,
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.

Ø  This psalm sings the wonders done by God and invites us to announce nation after  nation the wonders God  does. 

Ø  He is the only  one who is God 

Ø  God governs the nations with justice and he calls all human beings and invites us to do the same, he calls us to be his collaborators.    

GOSPEL  Mt 22:15-21

Ø  The Pharisees were not too happy, they were angry, because Jesus in the Temple had destroyed their business, and also they did not like the parables of the two sons, the tenants of the vineyard and the wedding feasts of the son because they clearly questioned and accused them for their behavior. 

Ø  Since they are intelligent and well educated they believe that they know much more than this young and poor rabbi who has always been a carpenter. And they agree to put Jesus to the test.  

Ø  They ask him about the taxes, this has always been and continues to be a problem, something we do not like, to pay taxed to the country and for them it was worst because it was for a foreign and oppressive country they hated.  

Ø  Jesus asks for the coin used to pay the taxed.   

Ø  And he asks whose face is it?   

Ø  Cesar’s they answered, than it is very obvious that they will have to return to Cesar the coins because they have his picture on it.   

Ø  But Jesus adds something, which we use and repeat a lot, but I think we miss the point many times.   

Ø  Give to Cesar what belongs to him, what has his image, but give to God what belongs to him.   

Ø  And I read something that I found so interesting and helpful to understand the words of Jesus.   

Ø  Give to God what belongs to him, what is it? My time, my talent, my treasure…? What I read said: if you give back to Cesar what belongs to him, the coin to pay the taxes because it has its image, than we have to give back to God his image which is our own being, nothing less  “let us make man in our image….”   

SECOND READING  1 Thes 1,1-5b

Ø  We will begin the first letter of Paul to the community of Thessalonica.  

Ø  If we read this text alone, we could personalize it saying the name or our parish.    

Ø  And listen to the words Paul says to the community in Thessalonica as words said to each one of us “we give thanks for you, for you John, for you Sylvia, for you Rosendo, for you Mary….   We remember   

o   The activity of your faith   

o   The effort of your love

o   The firmness of you hope     

o   That is how the three theological virtues received in your baptism are acting in your daily life.   

o   And all of this In Jesus Christ, you and the whole community are in Jesus Christ, and you allow Him to guide you.     

Ø  And Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy remind the community that they have been chosen; in the first reading it was God who reminded that to Cyrus      

Ø  And in the last verse we read Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy remind the community that their preaching was not only with words but, also with the strength of the Holy Spirit. 

CLARETIAN CORNER

He put again before me all the religious orders and made me see the deplorable state of the universal church and told me with heartfelt words that the evils of this holy church had no other remedy that the observance of his most holy law.

At this moment I saw our Lord Jesus Christ, I had him present in very special way. He had so much pain for the evil of the church, that it seemed as if his Divine eyes were bursting into tears, and told me sorrowfully: “look, my daughter, if with tears I would be able to renew the spirit of my church, I would shed tears of blood. Because I did not spare myself to shed all my blood for her creation, but I left myself as pledge and memory of my infinite love for her, for her conversion until the end of time. (Our Lord granted me again this vision for the following night during prayer)

Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress ofthe Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography  8-9.

The reason is that, as I have said, I am so soft-hearted and compassionate that I can't bear seeing misfortune or misery without doing something to help. I would take the bread out of my own mouth to give it to the poor. In fact, I would abstain from putting it into my mouth in order to have something to give to those who are asking for it. I am even scrupulous about spending anything at all on myself when I think of the needs I can remedy. Well, then, if these momentary physical misfortunes affect me so much, it is understandable what I feel in my heart at the thought of the everlasting pains of hell--not for me, but for all those who willingly live in mortal sin. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 10. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, SAINT ANTHONY  MARY. Autobiography.

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. El camino abierto por Jesús. 2011

PARIS, VENERABLE MARÍA ANTONIA. Autobiography.

SAGRADA BIBLIA – Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2010.

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME- CYCLE A   -  OCTOBER 15, 2017

ü   The first reading and the Gospel speak of the Kingdom of God by means of analogies.  

ü  For Paul his strength is in God.   

FIRST READING   Is 25:6-10ª

Ø  This Reading is taken from the first part of the book we call Book of Isaiah, whose author is the First Isaiah or  Isaiah from Jerusalem. 

Ø  His prophetic activity can be situated between the years 740 to 687 B.C. 

Ø  It covers three periods:   

o   First period that is short, it goes from the death of King Uzziah to the death of his son Jotham in 735.  It is a time of peace, the country enjoys a good prosperity.   

o   Second period  734-733 time of political unrest. 

o   The third period longer than the previous ones, the leaders of the country seek the contact with Egypt to free themselves from the Assyrian protection.  

WHAT DOES THE READING FOR THIS SUNDAY TELL US?  

-          The change they experience is provoked by God, and the author uses four symbols to describe it:   

o   The mountain, place of the banquet  

o   The banquet   

o   The presence of a multitude of peoples  

o   The change from suffering to wellbeing.   

-          Isaiah speaks of what will happen on this holy mountain, Jerusalem    

o   The holy mountain is at the beginning Jerusalem, but it becomes the happy eternity where death will be destroyed. 

o   Not only death or the end of our earthly life, but the many interior and exterior deaths we suffer,  provoked by others or by us.

o   Whenever we speak of wellbeing we speak of abundant and tasty fruits, good wines. 

o   All veils will be destroyed on this holy mountain, the veil that covers the peoples, the veil of ignorance, of lack of freedom, of everything that darkens in us the capacity to discover the presence of God in us, in all and in everything.   

o   Death will be destroyed forever on this mountain which symbolizes the heavenly Jerusalem, as well as every  place an situation of encounter with God.  When He is present even if we die we will live.    

o   On this mountain God will wipe out the tears from the eyes, what a beautiful and consoling promise! How many tears are shed in our world, how much human suffering.     

o   All of this which the prophet describes is the work of God to whom we turn our eyes to be saved.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Sal 23: 1-3a. 3b – 4.5.6

R. (6cd) I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

      Psalm of a great beauty that describes the peace and security of the person who feels the presence and company of God in his or her life.  

      Company and security which the psalmist describes with very evocative images: the prairies, the water of the springs, the table and the oil which anoints and perfumes.  

      The psalmist ends the psalm saying that  goodness and kindness will always be his companions throughout his life,  

      All of this and much more surround us when we feel and experience the presence of the Lord in our life.    

GOSPEL Mt 22: 1-14

Ø   Jesus is speaking again with the leaders and priests of his people, he is trying by all means to convince and conquer those men who pull away more and more from their vocation as representatives of Jesus’ Father, the God of Israel, who has called them to be his representatives on earth. 

Ø  It is a wedding banquet, the wedding is the most joyful and lovely celebration in all the cultures, and for every couple that are in love with each other. 

Ø  The kingdom of God is like a feast, a wedding celebration. 

Ø  As in the parable of the vineyard, here the king sends his servants and messengers to remind those invited to the feast of his son’s wedding that everything is prepared.   

Ø  But we are told that those invited ignored this reminder.    

Ø  A second time he sends other servants and they are told that those invited cannot go to the feast  because they have other more important things to do.  

Ø  The King becomes angry and sends his servants to invite anyone they find on the roads, any place. God does not abandon his project in spite of our little or no cooperation, he looks for other solutions.   

Ø  And all sorts of people come to the celebration some are good others are bad….  

Ø  There is even one who does not wear the wedding garment.  

Ø  Is that man, like us when through the journey of our life, so many times, we refuse to wear the wedding garment that was given to us in our baptism when the priest gave  us the white garment and, he told us to keep it until the time when the Lord will call us?    

Ø  Jesus describes the consequences of not using  the wedding garment as: “bind his hands and feet, darkness, bad relationships with others…

Ø  May the Lord grant us to cultivate the joy in our life, joy which will help us to recognize the Lord always walking with us during the journey of our earthly life, and this conviction will in turn increase our joy.   

SECOND READING    Phil 4:12-14. 19-20

Ø  Paul thanks the community of Philippi for their help. He had a very especial and loving relationship with this community that always show its love for him.   

Ø  But he tells them something that is very good for a missionary and evangelizer, maybe for all of us also: I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.

Ø  God will provide according to their needs, probably this is his experience.   

Ø  Yes, even if we are in need, God continues to provide for us in one way or another, sometimes we do not even understand it.  

Ø  God creates us, provides for us, we only have to open the eyes of faith and love to discover his work in us.  

CLARETIAN CORNER  

My Lord and my God, if you do not tell me in what religious order you want me to enter so as to comply with your      command, I do not know how this will be don.” Because by all means I wanted to be a religious. “My God, perhaps do you want something new?” (I did not know what I was asking)  I asked this question by Divine inspiration because it please hid Divine Majesty to be asked with simplicity, and if this seemed an  indiscreet question, because in God there is nothing impossible, our Lord did not take it wrong, because it was not asked our of curiosity, much less of mistrust in the infinite power of God,  (Our Lord has give this readiness, that as soon as I know the will of God, there is nothing difficult to me, blessed be God for his goodness. Thus, our Lord told me with much pleasure: “Yes, my daughter, I want a new order, but not new in doctrine but new in practice.” And here (at this moment) our Lord gave me the traits of the whole order and told me that I should be called: “APOSTLES of JESUS CHRIST IN IMITATION of THE BLESSED VIRGiN MARY”. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography7.

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 Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters,  Autobiography 9 

 BIBLIOGRAFÍA

CLARET, SAN ANTONIO  MARÍA. Autobiography.

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. El camino abierto por Jesús.(The Way Open by Jesus) 2011

PAPA FRANCISCO, Angelus October 12, 2014       

PARIS, VENERABLE MARÍA ANTONIA. Autobiography.

SAGRADA BIBLIA –Commentaries.  Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2010.