FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – CYCLE C – 2018

INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL OF LUKE   

      The  liturgical year,  that we are about to begin, on the first Sunday of Advent, will be guided by the Gospel of Luke. 

      Who is Luke?   

o   They say that he is a doctor. He is the only one who mentions Jesus’ sweat of blood   in Gethsemane, and Paul in his letter to the Colossians 4,13 describes him as “the beloved doctor.” 

o   Luke has not known Jesus personally, he says that to write the Gospel he has done a thorough research of the events related to Jesus (Prologue 1,1-4) He is probably a second generation Christian converted from a pagan religion. 

o   His work is composed of the Gospel and of the Acts of the Apostles. In the Gospel Luke narrates  the facts about the life of Jesus, and in the Acts he  speaks of the life of the Church after the death of Jesus

o   Luke writes in a very good Greek, the best of the New Testament,.

o   Some say that he painted a portrait of the Virgen Mary. We do not know if he was a painter, but he has described in his Gospel and in the Acts the best picture of Mary: her faith, her loving fidelity to the God of Israel.  

      Through the organization of his Gospel, Luke explains to us how he understands the work of salvation accomplished my Jesus.  

o   The first two chapters are called the “infancy narrative”. They tell us about the events which surrounded the annunciation and birth of the Baptist and of Jesus.  

o   In these two chapters, we find the great themes, which we will find in the rest of the Gospel of Luke.  

o   As for the geography of the narration in the first chapters Luke takes us from Jerusalem to Galilee and from Galilee to Jerusalem again, and again to Galilee. From chapter 9,51 Jesus begins with resolution his journey to Jerusalem to undergo all the events related to his Pascal mystery, for our redemption and salvation. 

o    Without saying it explicitly, Luke tells us that Jesus accomplishes what the prophet Isaiah said  “salvation will come from Jerusalem.”

o   The main characteristic of the Gospel of Luke is this journey of Jesus to Jerusalem. Along the way, Jesus is teaching his disciples.  Again, without saying it explicitly, Luke is giving us the message that Jesus is a teacher, which teaches on the way, teaches us during our life journey. 

During the time of Advent and Christmas the three readings have the same theme.    

FIRST READING  – Jeremiah 33: 14-16 

«  The prophet Jeremiah says that days will come… but he does not say what days are these. They are the days of any season, any person, any community, any nation. The days when God makes himself present in a special way, in a clearer way in our life, in our history.  

«  In those days God will fulfill his promise, what promise? The promise made to the house of Israel, to the house of Judah.   

«  The promise is described with images taken from the agricultural world: a shoot, a bud. 

o   The shoot, the bud speaks to us about what is new, about hope, about future.  

o   This shoot will make justice and will establish the right on earth.  

«  God’s presence is in itself this justice, justice that shows to us and helps us to discern the things as God sees them. Justice, which makes us just in the image of God. 

«  This justice will bring salvation and peace to the city of Jerusalem. To the city of men. Its new name will be, instead of Jerusalem, “God-is-our-justice.”   

«  What a beautiful and attractive description of what God accomplishes in us when we welcome him.   He wants to come,   we need to welcome him in order that these wonderful blessings be a reality in each one of us.  

 RESPONSORIAL  PSALM: Ps 25     

R.   To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
and for you I wait all the day. 

R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way. 

R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul. 

ü  The psalms are songs used for prayer.   

ü  The diverse authors use symbols to communicate the different feelings of the human heart, from joy to sadness, to sorrow for the sin committed, to the loss of hope in front of the negative reality of life, and the apparent silence of God.  

ü  They have been attributed to King David, because he is the king who sings to God, but he is the author of only some of the psalms, the rest are from unknown authors.  

ü  The psalms are the expression of the faithful Israelite soul. In order to understand them we need to enter into this world of the human heart, and allow us to be immersed into the feelings manifested in the given psalm.  

ü  The psalms are the prayer of today and always.  

ü  The psalms are organized into five books, in the same way that the Torah, the Law, the Pentateuch is organized into five books also:   Ps 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150. At the end of the last psalm in each of the books there is a doxology or praise to God.  

The theme of today’s psalm is the journey, the way that we ask God to show us.  

      The Lord shows the sinner the way and leads the humble through his ways.   

      The way of the Lord is always goodness, and his friendship is with those who fear him and are faithful to  his covenant.   

SECOND READING  1Tes 3:12-4,2

Ø  This letter is in fact the first written document of the New Testament. It was written around the year 50  of the first century AD.    

Ø  In this letter, Paul shows a great optimism about the imminent coming back of the Risen Lord, his second coming. Later on, as  time passes and the Lord does not come back yet, at least in the way that Paul expected, the Apostle and the whole Church began to understand everything related to the second coming, in another way.   

Ø  In the second reading for the First Sunday of Advent Paul says to the community of Thessalonica that he wishes to see them, and prays  the Lord to give to the community: 

o   Faith in the mutual and universal love, this is the central and most important part of the teachings and life of Jesus, but also the hardest for us human beings, who  desire to be like our Master, but so many times we miss the point. Only the Lord is able to love and forgive in and through us.  

o    As I look at our society, I ask myself if, as  followers of Jesus, we have allowed him to truly transform us, through his words that invite us to love like Him.

o   There are a great number of realities to look at, and to question ourselves about our being Christian, I will mention only two that frequently hit me:

§  The African continent, where our brothers and sisters, created by our same Father, are born to die from hunger and want.

§  The caravan of people at the door of our country, in which  find  also a great number of poor, but it is, at the same time, the place of affluence.

Ø   I always remember the words of St. John Paul II in his encyclical (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis 1987) in which he mentions the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16,19-31.) The rich man never mistreated Lazarus,  he simply ignored him (SRS 42); and he added that there are many countries that, like  other Lazarus,  are knocking at the door of the affluent countries.

Ø  What gives comfort in all these situations, is the goodness of so many people, that nobody knows,   who open their heart and, like the widow in the Gospel (Mt 12,41-43) share what they have with their brothers and sisters in need. They are the signs of the glory of God among us, because they help us to acknowledge that God continues to be present among us. 

GOSPEL Luke 21, 25-28. 34-36

ü  The three Synoptic Gospels speak of the Second Coming or Parousia of Jesus. 

ü  In chapter 21 of Luke’s Gospel verses 25 to 28  we have the teaching of Jesus about the last things, written in an apocalyptic style. 

ü  Its images are imprinted in our imagination, many times they frighten us, and  also we ask ourselves: when will these things happen, when will we see these natural phenomena?  

ü  We see many times natural events, some of them are fearful, but they are not related to the second coming.  

ü  Thru these words the sacred authors want to communicate to us the sudden coming of God into our human history to save it, never to destroy it. God does not destroy what he has created with so much love. God seeks us to be with him forever in the eternal embrace.  

ü  Let us think for a moment in our own personal encounter with the Lord. Probably it has not been spectacular, but our arrogance, our pride our security in ourselves, our whole life goes into crisis when God reveals himself to us and we accept him.  

ü  The second part of this Reading is found on verses   34-36

o   Through these words of Jesus, Luke exhorts his community to regain the enthusiasm for the proclamation and living out the Gospel.     

o   The Lord also exhorts us to be vigilant, attentive, and responsible, to avoid a foolish way of life, and then we will be prepared for the events that might occur, and  discover in these events the presence of the Lord.  

o   In many of these unexpected and painful events of our life, the Lord makes him  present, calls with a greater insistence to our door, because in these situations we listen to his call, because we look for his comfort and security.   

LET US BE PREPARED TO WELCOME OUR LORD AND MASTER WHEN HE COMES.   

So, I made my long –awaited profession on August 27 of the same year in the hands of my prelate, to the joy of everybody, and more happiness in my soul-this one cannot be expressed- notwithstanding the difficult preparation with so many cares in the assurance of the foundation, the lower a point  in the fervor of my spirit. With my thought fixed in the moment of pronouncing the holy vows, the moment seemed to me like centuries, and even, with so many serious circumstances met in my profession, none of them was sufficient to disturb the peace and calm of my soul. .Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress.  Autobiography 225.  

Every day at prayer I have to make acts of resignation to God's will. Day and night I have to offer up the sacrifice of staying in Madrid, but I thank God for the repugnance I feel. I know that it is a great favor. How awful it would be if the court or the world pleased me! The only thing that pleases me is that nothing pleases me. May you be blessed, God my Father, for taking such good care of me. Lord, just as you make the ocean salty and bitter to keep it pure, so have you given me the salt of dislike and the bitterness of boredom for the court, to keep me clean of this world. Lord, I give you thanks, many thanks, for doing so. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder.    Autobiography 624.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.

JOHN PAUL II, St. Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 1987.

PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía  en Escritos

RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras-Año B. San Pablo 2005.

SCHÖKEL , Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

SAGRADA BIBLIA, versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2012.