EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME   – CYCLE C – 2019

Ø  The readings for this Sunday help us to reflect on our words and to take care of them, since they are the reflection of our inner life.  

Ø  Jesus invites us not to judge.  

BOOK OF BEN SIRACH  

v It is the only book of the Old Testament that has the signature of its author   (50,27)

v It was written originally in Hebrew, by the master of wisdom Jesus Ben Sirach. 

v Around the year 180 a.C. in Jerusalem.   

v Ben Sirach studied what we now call the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures: The Law, the Prophets and the other Writings of his ancestors.    

v He wrote for the young people of the rich families of Jerusalem   

v He wanted to transmit the religious heritage of Israel to the new generations.   

v He knew how to instill in the young people the values of their traditions and above all, his unconditional faith in God.   

v His grand-child translated the book into Greek, language that was more familiar to the new generations  ( 132-117 a.C)

v This book was excluded from the canon of the books accepted as revealed by the Jewish community, because they believed it had been written originally in Greek.  

v Thus also excluded from the canon of the books accepted by the communities of the Reformation, because they adopted the Hebrew Scriptures.   

FIRST READING   Sir 27: 5-8

ü  According to the author, our defects are visible in our discussions.  

ü  The proof of who we are is manifested in our arguments.   

ü  Our words reveal our mind, which is manifested in our discussions. 

ü  Thus the wise advice is not to praise anyone before listening   him/her to speak, that is to say, to manifest their inner being and reveal how it has been formed through the life experiences.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  - Psam  91 (92)

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,
To proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
Declaring how just is the LORD,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

·       This is an individual thanksgiving psalm, whose structure is:

o   Introduction (2-4)

o   The body of the psalm where the works of the just alternate with those of the wicked.  (5-12)

o   Conclusion (13-16) the actions of God are a stumbling block for the foolish.

·       Following the theme that we began in the first reading, the psalm, by means of suggestive images, praises God because for the just  

·       These will grow like palm trees, like cedars, in the house of the Lord  

·       In their old age they will still be fruitful 

·       With their lives, they will proclaim that in our God there is neither malice nor injustice.   

GOSPEL  Lk 6:39-45

In the Gospel we will read on Sunday there are 3 sayings or teachings of Jesus to his disciples, related to a life of wisdom, not only human but also divine.   

     Something very easy to understand is that a blind cannot be a guide, because he or she does not see 

o   Jesus continues to say that the disciple is not superior to his master, but 

o   When the disciple will finish his or her training  he /she will be like the Master  

o   When will the training be finished?  When we will attain holiness, or in eternal life.  

     The next example participates of the exaggerations that sometimes Jesus uses 

o   A straw can be in the eye but not a wooden beam  

o   Maybe Jesus wants to help us to reflect that, if we do not see, it means that we are like the blind of that saying who cannot guide because he does not see  

o   How easy it is for us to judge, to criticize the actions of the others, without realizing that we have the same defects, and maybe still more!  

     Each tree gives the fruits according to its nature and its health  

o   Jesus says that we will know the tree by its fruits 

o   The same is true about us, because our mouth speaks of what we have in the heart  

o   This is the same thing that the wise man Ben Sirach wanted to tell us in the first reading   

     Am I so blind that I do not see how my fruits really are?  

SECOND READING   1 Cor 15: 54-58

v Paul says that death will be destroyed by the victory, the victory of Christ   

v And the apostle invites us to be fully devoted to the work of Christ   

v The work of Christ is our salvation, the salvation of all 

v With our works we collaborate in the work of Christ    

v Paul adds that our labor, the labors for to announce the salvation, will not be in vain  

v Do we work with enthusiasm; do we cooperate with fervor and joy in the work of the Lord, the salvation of our brothers and sisters?    

CLARETIAN CORNER

 I was shocked at this because I had always believed that all persons who profess perfection served God faithfully and for this I wanted to be a religious. Here, once more our Lord put, as of what I can understand, before the eyes of my soul, because with my bodily eyes I did not see anything, His most Holy Law and Evangelical Counsel.Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters . Autobiography 4

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 ! Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography, 8.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Saint Anthony Mary. Autobiography.

PARIS, Venerable María Antonia. Autobiography

CONFERENCIA EPISCOPAL ESPAÑOLA. Sagrada Biblia, versión oficial.