THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT - CYCLE C - 2019
INTRODUCT
To help me in finding the meaning of
these readings, I have looked at the Gospels from cycles A and B: A, is about
encounter of the Samaritan woman with Jesus, B, is the purification of the
Temple by Jesus; both readings are taken from the Gospel of John.
The
theme that we can discover in these readings is conversion, a conversion which
is fidelity to our call or vocation.
FIRST READING Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15
Ø Today’s reading speaks of the call YHWH makes to Moses.
Ø Moses comes with the flock of his father in law to the Horeb, Sinai, the mountain of God.
Ø God reveals himself to Moses
o as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that is, the God of the fathers.
o God is the God of history who takes care of the oppressed, the needy, and the one who suffers. This means that he is a God close to human beings who can say, “I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their complaints against their oppressors and I have come to deliver them.”
o God besides being so close (immanent) is also a transcendent God:
§ The burning bush which is not consumed
§ The order given to Moses to take off his shoes because he is on holy ground. God is present there.
§ His mysterious name
o The name
§ For the peoples of the Bible the name is the same as the person, it has to be respected like the person is respected.
§ In addition, to know the name of a person is in certain measure to have dominion over him or her, to be able to manipulate him or her.
§ God cannot be manipulated, because he is the very OTHER. He says to Moses his name which seems enigmatic, or even a way not to say his true name
§ However, in reality, this is his true name, his identity I AM WHO AM, it means I am the one who does not depend on others to exist, I exist by myself.
Ø After
explaining to Moses why he has come, he tells him to go to deliver his brothers
and sisters.
Ø You
will tell them I AM (YHWH) sends me to you to deliver you from Egypt and to
lead you into a fertile land.
Ø What
a beautiful text which narrates the conversation between God who calls and the
one called that looks for excuses because he is afraid but finally he finds his
strength in God to be faithful “I am with you.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 103
ü Psalm
103 is a hymn to the mercy of God
ü It
begins and ends with a blessing.
ü It
has two sections: a) a song to love and pardon (3-10) b) a song to love and frailty (11-19)
God loves us with an infinite love and an unparalleled
tenderness
ü God
is Father full of kindness.
ü Jesus,
the image of the invisible God, reveals this kindness and love from the cross “Father
forgive them…”
R. The
Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills,
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills,
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
SECOND
READING 1 Cor 10:1-6. 10-12
Paul reminds the community of Corinth how those who left Egypt and
journeyed through the desert had the same experiences: the sea, the cloud, the
manna, the Law.
However, their fate was different due to the different way each one
accepted the gratuitous gifts that God gave them.
Paul continues to say that this happened to teach us. To teach what? Fidelity
to the call we have received in baptism.
And it is also a call not only to be faithful but, humble and trusting in the Lord. “Therefore whoever, thinks he is standing secure, should take care
not to fall.
GOSPEL Lk 13:1-9
ü Some people came to Jesus
and, told him about the Galileans, that
Pilate had killed. We do not know with
what intention they communicated that to Jesus.
ü Jesus takes the
opportunity to remind all his listeners that this happened to them not because
they were worst sinners than the rest of us, but that all of us need to
“convert to the Lord” and do good works, be faithful to our call, on the contrary,
we will perish. We will not perish
because Pilate or somebody else will kill us, but because with our sins we will
bring death upon us.
ü And the Lord continues to
tell them a parable to illustrate what he had told them:
o A man had a fig tree
planted in his orchard.
o When he came to pick up
fruit there was none.
o
He called the gardener and told him to cut it down because for three
years he had come to search for fruit and had found none. Why should it exhaust the
soil for nothing?
o The gardener said to him,
leave it for one more year, I shall cultivate the ground around it and
fertilize.
o If it continues not to
give fruit you can cut it down.
ü This parable seems like
the history of salvation accomplished by Jesus.
o He is the one who takes
care of the fig tree, wait a little Father, let me go and live among them, and
let me tell them how much you love them and how you wish them to live, and you
will see how they change.
o I will hand myself over
in their hands, loving them unconditionally as you love them, so they can see
your love in me, learn and even if they kill me I will continue to love
them.
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 Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 7.
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 Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 11-12.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiography.
PAGOLA, José A. El
camino abierto por Jesús – Lucas, 2012.
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography.
RAVASI,
Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras – Ciclo
C. San Pablo 2006.
SCHÖKEL , Luis
Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.
SAGRADA BIBLIA, Official Version of
the Spanish Conference of Bishops. 2012.
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