XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - CYCLE B – 2018
« Faith
is the most precious gift that God has given to us.
« Faith
enables us to discover the loving presence of God in our life.
« Faith
is a the light that illumines our way toward the eternal embrace of the three divine Persons.
« Today’s
readings open the eyes of the soul to the meaning of faith.
FIRST READING : Jer
31:7-9
Ø Again
the liturgy offers a Reading taken from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.
o
The reading is from chapter 31 which together with chapter 30
are called the little book of consolation.
o
These chapters have a message similar to that of
the Book of Consolation or the Second Isaiah, which tells of the wonders that
God will do during the second exodus, the return from the Babylonian exile, the
journey of the captives toward Jerusalem, their beloved and long missed
homeland.
Ø The
prophet invites to shout with joy for Jacob, Israel. To shout for joy because
the Lord has saved his people, the remnant of Israel, the faithful remnant, the
anawin, the little ones, the poor,
the oppressed and marginalized, who have been faithful.
Ø The
prophet puts before our eyes a wonderful sight; it is the huge crowd that God
gathers from all the corners of the earth where they had been exiled. The
prophet himself exclaims, how large is the multitude that comes back.
Ø It
is composed by blind and lame people, image of the sufferings from the past,
there are also
among those who return,
pregnant women about to give birth, image of the life which is being born,
image of the future.
Ø God
speaks and says that if they left weeping
o
Now they come back full of consolation because
God leads them and
o
To running waters, this means that they are not
anymore in the desert, they are where water flows and gives life
o
He leads them through smooth roads, easy to walk
on.
o
We may apply all these images to our spiritual
journey.
o
The exiled who return, those who migrate from
their homeland seeking peace, bread and a land to call home, they continue their journey in search
of…. As the exiled from the first reading, whom God gathers and guides toward
the land that will be their home
Ø God
speaks to us today, in the XXI century, through these readings he calls us to open our
eyes and see the reality around us, the
suffering of so many displaced persons, and to remember that our ancestors have also been part of that multitude, which the Lord loves
and guides, waiting for us to open our hearts and our arms, as He does for us,
welcoming our brothers and sisters who
knock at our doors.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Sal. 126
R.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
ü
It is a psalm of joy.
ü It
speaks of a reality of suffering and sadness in the past, they left weeping,
they sowed in tears
ü To a
situation of happiness and joy such, that their mouth was filled with laughter
and songs.
ü What
God has done is so great that even the nations acknowledge it
ü
God has changed the conditions of their lives in
a way that only God can do it. He
has changed mourning into dancing.
The change is such that if they sowed in tears now they come
back rejoicing carrying the sheaves.
GOSPEL MK 10:46-52
« In
the two previous Sundays Mark has presented to us three
men that could see with their eyes, but were blind in relation to the teachings
of Jesus.
o
The man who wanted to reach eternal life
o
The disciples who wanted the first seats
« Today
Mark introduces to us a blind man who cannot see the light of the sun, but in
the depth of his being he has the light of faith which makes him cry out Son of David, has pity on me, Lord that I may see!
« Not
too often do the Evangelists give the name of a blind man, but here Mark says
that it is Bartimeus the son (Bar) of Timeous or Timothy. The Gospels mentioned very often-blind
persons, it seems that this was a common condition in Israel.
« Jesus
calls him, and asks what do you want from me? Lord I
want to see. Jesus says to him go your faith has saved you.
« The
light, the ability to see is compared in Scripture with faith, which is the ability
to see the truth of God, to discover his presence in our life, in the world.
« Jesus
does not touch him; he only asks him and then says your faith has saved you. The
Lord is speaking to us of something, which goes beyond our natural sense of
sight, faith in Jesus.
« For
several weeks Mark has presented Jesus in his journey toward Jerusalem where he
will give his life for us, and as he travels he teaches his disciples
o
The hard lesson of how to be a disciple, to be
like the Master
o
Lesson which reached its highest pick last week
when Jesus taught about service as a service which is given, not doing things,
but giving up our own life in service to others, so that men and women may be able also to see
with the eyes of faith.
o
And, this service is the supreme love, like the
love of Christ on the cross, the call to love every human being as brother and
sister in imitation of Christ.
o
Today, the severity and also the fear that Jesus’ words on the following after
him, may cause
o
Becomes lighter, and full of light like the eyes
of the blind man Bartimeus,
o
We have
read in the first reading, the exiles return like the reapers singing as they
carry their sheaves.
o
He who gives his life for love will receive the
same gift as Bartimeus, the light of the inner eyes, the light of faith, which
enables us to discover the loving presence of our God, even in the midst of
shadows.
SECOND READING :
Heb 5:1-6
ü We continue the Reading of
the letter to the Hebrews
ü We
have already said that in this letter the author makes a theological reflection
on the priesthood of Christ, eternal and only high priest of the New Law,
the New Covenant.
ü The
author says that any high priest
o
Is of the
same condition as the rest of his brothers and sisters
o
That he has not given to himself this
priesthood, that he has received it from
God who has called him.
o
He is called to offer sacrifices for his sins
and for the sins of others
o
Since he is part of the same people; he
knows weakness and sin because he experiences them too.
o
Neither Christ did confer to himself the dignity
of priesthood, but he received it from the One who said to him:
§ You are my Son, today I have begotten you.
And You
are priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech, who offered
bread and wine.
§ The
One who said to him at the Jordan River You
are my son, in whom I am well pleased,.
CLARETIAN CORNER
One night while praying and in bitter tears, pleading to our Lord that
by the merits of His Passion and death to have mercy on the necessities of His
church which at that time were many, our Lord told me and pointing at Mgr.
Claret as if I saw him between our Lord and me.” This, my daughter, is the
apostolic person whom you have asked me for so many years and with so much
tears”.
His Divine Majesty showed me the
grace He poured on that holy soul for the preaching of the gospel, and our Lord
told me that there was no other remedy for the peace of the church. I did not
know that person. Only a few days before I heard that a certain chaplain by the name of Monsen
Claret began preaching with much zeal about the honor due to God and the
salvation of souls. It seems to me that have been at least eleven or twelve years
ago. Venerable María Antonia
Parías, Foundress, Autobiography 19.
The
queen made the Spiritual Exercises that first year and has made them annually
ever since. She always leaves them with a great sense of contentment and has
asked others to make them. She especially likes the text of them that I
published, and she has asked me to bring her copies so that she can have the
pleasure of giving them as gifts; and she counsels the recipients to at least
read them.
All the ladies of the court have a copy of both The Straight Path and the Spiritual Exercises. Their Majesties both
enjoyed The Straight Path so much
that I had a deluxe edition brought out for them by Aguado Printers in Madrid.
At present, both Their Majesties and the ladies of the court lead very edifying
lives: they hear Mass, read the lives of the saints daily, recite the Holy
Rosary, and frequent the Sacraments. The queen and the infanta, as well as many
ladies of the court, come to me for confession. They all keep busy all the
time. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the
Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 615-16.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Anthony Mary . Autobiography.
PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Meditation on the Gospels of Year B. Convivium,
Bogotá 2011.
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography,
in Writings
Ravassi, Gianfranco. Según las
Escrituras- Año B. San Pablo Bogotá
2005.
Sagrada Biblia, Versión oficial de la Conferencia episcopal española,
Madrid 2011.
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