XXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – CYCLE C - 2019

The theme of our celebration is humility, which is the same as truth and wisdom. We will listen to the words of  Ben Sirach in the first reading, and of Jesus, our teacher, in  the Gospel.  

THE BOOK OF  SIRACH OR ECCLESIASTICUS

·       It is a wisdom book which is part of the deuterocanonical books, the books of the second list.  These are the books that the people of Israel do not recognize as revealed by God, they were written in foreign lands in Greek, not in Hebrew. Our brothers and sisters from other Christian traditions do not acknowledge them either as part of the canonical books.  

·       For us in the Christian of Catholic tradition this book (Ecclesiasticus) is counted among the revealed books.  

·       It is part of the wisdom literature, so common in the Middle East.   

·       Contrary to what was believed the original book, was written not in Greek but in Hebrew by a man known as Simon son of Jesus, who was the grand- father of the man who translated the book into the Greek language. (see foreword of the Catholic Study Bible)

·       In chapter 51, the author Simon son of Jesus says that he has looked for wisdom with passion and this is the wisdom he shares with the reader.   

FIRST READING Sir 3:17-18, 20-, 28-29

The author addresses someone as "my son" It can be his real son or it may also be the way an elder person speaks to a younger one. 

v He gives the following counsels: 

ü  Humility, the reward of conducting oneself with humility will be the love of those who know him or her, they will love him more than they love those who make gifts.  

ü  If you are greater, humble yourself the more.  

ü  Avoid what is beyond your possibilities  

ü  a listening ear  gives joy to the wise.   

     this listening is not of anything, not of gossips, not of novelties... 

     in Scripture a listening ear means to be attentive to what God is saying to us through  the events of life, through other persons and through creation, it has the same meaning as obedience.       

     The joy comes to us when we listen to God and obey him, even when we experience suffering because of that obedience, there is an inner peace.   

ü  The reading ends with the sentence " water quenches the fire, alms atone for  sin."  

RESPONSORIAL PSAL - Ps  68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11

GOD IN YOUR GOODNESS, YOU HAVE MADE A HOME FOR THE POOR.   

The just rejoice and exult before God;

they are glad and rejoice

Sing to God, chant praise to his name;

whose name is the Lord.  

GOD IN YOUR GOODNESS, YOU HAVE MADE A HOME FOR THE POOR.   

The father of orphans and the defender of widows

is God in his holy dwelling.

God gives a home to the forsaken;

he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.

GOD IN YOUR GOODNESS, YOU HAVE MADE A HOME FOR THE POOR.   

A bountiful rain you showered down, O God,

upon your inheritance

you restored the land when it languished;

your flock settled in it;

in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy.

GOD IN YOUR GOODNESS, YOU HAVE MADE A HOME FOR THE POOR.   

GOSPEL - LUKE 14:1,7-14

Ø  Like  the past Sundays, we hear Jesus teaching what is the Kingdom and how are we supposed to behave in the kingdom, which has already begun on earth. 

Ø  Luke tells us that Jesus recommended humility, as a way to behave in relationship with others.  

Ø  The first reading invited us to live a simple life without ambitions or looking for what goes beyond our capacities.   

Ø  Humility according to St. Therese of Avila, is the same as truth. 

Ø  The root of this word

o   is the Latin word humus which means dust of the earth.

o   We have been made from the same matter as the rest of creation.

o   It is the transforming love of God who has transformed our mud into light,

o   into divine life which he has given to us, and which he is willing to continue giving to all and everyone.  

Ø  Let us listen to the teaching of Jesus, what he tells us as he sees the guest at the wedding looking for the first seats, those who are closer to the married couple.  

Ø  Jesus says to us:  

·       If you go to a wedding banquet do not sit at the place of honor  

·       Why? Very simple, if these sits have been assigned to other people by the owner of the house, he will ask you to move back and give your sit to the person for whom it has been reserved. 

·       You will feel shame and will have to stand up and go to a lower place.  

·       However, if you sit at the last place, then you will have the chance to move to a higher place.   

·       If we think higher of us than what we really are, we will suffer a lot of humiliations, but if we recognize who we are, simple and  lowly persons created and loved by God,  then the Lord will honor us.

·       After that parable Jesus says some words that always make us wonder, because we do not fully understand  what do  they mean.   

·       Do not invite those who can repay you... relatives, friends, important persons... What is wrong about inviting them to a dinner in our home? Does not friendship grow through those celebrations?   

·       Yes, but Jesus does not say that, he is simply saying that we should not take advantage of other people, inviting them to get something from them.

·       The list of guests he mentions is the image of those who cannot pay us back: lame, poor, blind... 

·       Blessed are you because they cannot repay you, it is the heavenly Father who will repay you on the last day, the day of the retribution because you have served your brothers and sisters in need.  

SECOND READING : Heb 12:18-19,22-24a

     This passage of the letter to the Hebrews, offers to us the contrast between the theophanies of the Old Covenant, and those of the New Covenant.  

     In the Old Covenant the theophanies to the patriarchs, during the exodus, to the prophets are always described by means of terrifying natural phenomena. It is a way to explain to us that God is THE OTHER, transcendent, whom we cannot approach or touch.   

     The description of the presence of God among us in the New Covenant are through the person of a simple man, Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, known as the son of Joseph and of Mary, who lived a  life like the life of any Israelite of his time with simplicity and fidelity.  

     This man so simple is the Second Person of the Trinity who comes to us under kind and attractive signs.  

     This man is the mediator of the New Covenant which is so different from the Old one in its manifestations. 

So, that is what happened a few days after my profession: he was told that he had to be the angel of the Apocalypse. He himself told me this (full of admiration and astonishment) the day he came to say goodbye for the visit – I think it was November 1 1855, and I made my profession on August 27 of the same year. Venerable María Antonia Paris, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 80

During these same years of my childhood and youth, I had a very warm devotion toward the Blessed Virgin Mary. I only wish that I had the same devotion now. To use Rodriguez's comparison,  I am like those old servants in great houses who hardly do anything and, like old pots and pans, are kept in the household more out of pity and charity than for any great usefulness. That is how I am in the service of the Queen of heaven and earth: she puts up with me out of pure charity. To show that this is the plain truth, without the least exaggeration, I am going to relate what I used to do in honor of Mary Most Holy. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 43.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Anthony Mary , Autobiography.

PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiography

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras, Año C.

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso, Commentary to the Biblia de nuestro Pueblo

PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Meditations on the Gospels for Year C.

 

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XXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  – CYCLE C –   2019

     The Word of God of today’s liturgy reminds us that the Lord trusts always in humankind. 

     Let us give fruits of justice and peace on our journey.   

     Let us believe as Jesus did in the God of the impossible.

FIRST READING  Is 66:18-21

v This text belongs to the third part of the Book of Isaiah, Third Isaiah.   The historical time is the time after the return from the exile.

v The Lord says:

o   I know their works and their thoughts, I know them.

o   I come to gather the nations, the peoples who speak different languages. 

o   But in spite of this diversity they will come and they will see the glory of God. 

o   How will God go about to gather the peoples? He will send the fugitives to their nations.  

o   And on coming  back to Israel they will  bring the exiled, their brothers and sisters from Israel, as an offering to the Lord. 

o   Those who had been exiled will return in glory, riding horses and camels, proud and strong animals.   

o   They will arrive into Jerusalem, the sacred mountain of God  

o   The author compares this return to the worship which the chosen people was giving to God in the temple   

o   From among them, God will call priests and Levites, men who will serve God in the temple.  

o   What a grandiose vision of the return.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM:  Ps  117:1-2

This psalm belongs to the group of hymns, psalms which are considered hymns, which praise God singing his greatness.  

R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
 Praise the LORD all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

The psalmist invites us, invites all the nations, to praise the Lord because his love is great and He is always faithful.   

GOSPEL – Lk 13:22-30

     Jesus on his way to Jerusalem passes through towns and villages.  

     In one of these places or on the road, someone asks: Lord, are they few those who will be saved? 

     Jesus does not give a concrete answer, but he says that each one is called to follow the way of goodness “the narrow gate.”

     As humans, we are very much accustomed to measure everything by means of statistic. How many?    

     I think that this question is wrong; each human being is the work of God who loves him or her because they are his work of art, his son or his daughter.    

     He works mysteriously in the human heart. We see only the outside and we dare to judge what we do not know. 

     In each human heart, we say, that a battle takes place between good and evil, and this is certainly true  

     But I prefer to think that in each human heart, during the lifetime of each one of us, a love story between the Creator and his creature is being weaved.  

     And many of us, we do not realize this until some especial moment in our life, moments of joy  but especially moments of suffering, then we are more ready to discover the presence of our God in our life.  We become aware of his tender and merciful love for us.

     Jesus speaks of those, who believe they save themselves  because of their efforts, that they have the “passport” to enter into God’s Kingdom. They do not know or have forgotten that the Kingdom is a  gift.

     They know much about God and speak also very much about him, but they do not speak to Him. 

     Jesus does not recognize their teaching, probably because they did it for their own pride not for the service of their brothers and sisters.   

     Again, here in the Gospel we are given a sense of universality: East, West, North,  South… This is the image of the eternity, of salvation with Jesus. 

     Let our heart be filled with this light, this hope, this trust and security in the unconditional love of God our Father.  

     But let us be at the same time vigilant and alert, to avoid the possibility to be of those who teach with pride and treat their fellow men and women with arrogance, oppressing them instead of serving them.  

SECOND READING : Hebrews 12:5-7.11-13

ü  The author  of this letter reminds us the exhortation  that had been given to us 

ü  “Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord “

ü  These words can help us in difficult times, when it seems that God is deaf when we call him, that he does not listen to our prayers. 

ü  And thus we think that what is happening is his punishment for our sins  

ü  I do not think that God sends the sickness, or the accidents, or the bad relationships among the members of the family, between the couples, or makes our children do drugs….   

ü  But I really believe that when we find ourselves in any difficulty, when we found ourselves completely lost; it is the moment when we are ready to discover the presence of God in our life.  

ü  The suffering we endure, may sometimes for a while, harden our heart,  make us bitter, proud, rebellious,  but it will eventually help us to open up  to God, whom we have ignored for so many years.   

ü  It is the time to begin a journey of conversion, a change in direction in our life, to encounter the God who has been waiting for us since the first moment of our conception, when he has created us and loved us. It is also the time when we realize the existence of the other human beings, our brothers and sisters.     

ü  God says to us the same words he said  to Jeremiah “before  you were fashioned in your mother’s womb I had chosen you, before you were born I consecrated you….  

ü  Let these thoughts and words fill us with tenderness, trust and thankfulness to our Father for loving us unconditionally  

ü  His commandments, his calls, his admonitions and exhortations have the purpose to make easy the way of salvation, there are not meant to make it difficult or complicated.

ü  Let us always remember that he knows us and loves us.     

CLARETIAN CORNER

One day, in prayer, I was crying very much asking the Lord to declare to me if it was pleasing to Him that obedience imposed by my confessor of writing the gifts and graces received from the Lord for I felt more repugnance than ever, and our Lord told me: “Yes, my daughter, obey always and in everything; this anguish you feel is hell trying to impede my glory. Tell your confessor, my servant, to help you. “I think this was on the same day our Lord told me that this servant of his, pleased Him very much because of his humility.   Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 78

      At this time I chanced upon another book called A Good Day and a Good Night , which I read with great pleasure and profit. After reading from it awhile, I would close it, press it to my heart, look up to heaven with tears in my eyes, and say, "Lord, how many good things I was ignorant of. My God, my Love, who could ever help loving you?"

      The realization of how much good I have derived through reading good and piovs books has prompted me to distribute them generously, in the hope that they will bring my neighbors, whom I love, the same happy results they brought to me. May all men know how good and lovable and loving God is. My God, make all creatures come to know, love, and serve you with full faith and fervor. All you creatures love your God, for He is good and his mercy is endless.

St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 41-42

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, San Antonio María. Autobiografía.

MATHIEU, Yvan. « Dieu toujours à l’œuvre. » Prions en Église, Août 2019.

PARIS, Venerable María Antonia . Autobiografía

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. Comentario a La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

XX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - CYCLE C - 2019

This Sunday's liturgy presents to us the demands of being faithful to the Covenant with our God, faithful to the following of Jesus, Our Lord. 

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH

ü  It is the VII century BC, many changes occur in the international arena, changes that affect the life of many nations.   

ü  Syria is losing its power in front of the growing strength of the Babylonian Empire. On the other hand, Egypt profits the weakness of Syria to overpower this nation. 

ü  Meanwhile the strength of Babylon over the peoples of the region is growing. Each king or governor tries to ally him with the others to be able to face this growing power.   

ü  The kings of Judah play with different political tactics, sometimes they submit to the power of Babylon, sometimes they rebel against it. All of this has a devastating result over the nation.    

ü  In this political situation, Jeremiah reflects and recognizes the unfaithfulness of his nation to God's covenant, and the consequences of it. Thus, he denounces the sins but announces what will be best for his people.    

ü  He tells them to ally themselves with the growing power of Babylon, to spare the people and their institutions.  

ü  When we read the book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we perceive the great love that this man had for the God of the Covenant, and for his people.  

ü  This two loves bring many sufferings and even death to him. 

ü  Let us see the message of this Sunday's liturgy. 

FIRST READING  Jer 38: 4-6, 8-10

v The powerful men of the nation are interested in themselves more than in the wellbeing of their nation. They do not want to listen to the words of Jeremiah.   

v Thus, they go to the king asking him to do something. The king, as so many other kings and governors, is a coward, and hands Jeremiah into their hands, to do with him whatever they feel fit.  Doesn't that remember what happened to Jesus? 

v However, there are also people in favor of Jeremiah who ask the king to save him. 

v The king allows them to take care of Jeremiah, and to free him.   

v Many men and women through history have experienced the persecution and death because they have spoken for those who are oppressed, and cannot speak.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 40: 2,3,4,18

·       This psalm describes a person who is suffering and trusts unconditionally in God. 

·       These words and these feelings are appropriate to describe the feelings of Jeremiah.  

·       However, not only of Jeremiah, but also of all of us who at some moment of our life, or maybe right now, are in a situation of suffering, or illness, or despair.   

·       Let us recite this psalm, and make our own the words and the feelings of the psalmist.   

·       After each verse, we repeat the words LORD COME TO MY AID!    

R. Lord, come to my aid!
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
The LORD heard my cry.
He drew me out of the pit of destruction,
 out of the mud of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a crag;
 he made firm my steps.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
And he put a new song into my mouth,
 a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in awe
 and trust in the LORD.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
Though I am afflicted and poor,
 yet the LORD thinks of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
 O my God, hold not back!
R. Lord, come to my aid!

GOSPEL - Luke 12:49-53

     In the liturgy of the Sundays in Ordinary time the first reading and the gospel have the same theme. 

     Each reading helps to understand the other. 

     In the first reading, we have seen Jeremiah suffering persecution for his love and fidelity to God.  

     Reading the Gospel of this Sunday's Eucharist we listen to Jesus, who tells us what changes does his presence produce in our life, many times we do not welcome or like them.

     Gianfranco Ravasi in his commentary about this gospel reading says that Jesus presents to us 3 images, let us examine them one by one:   

·       Fire. Jesus says that he has come to set the earth on fire. The symbol of fire is very frequently used to describe the effects of love in our life. When we love, it seems as if our inner being is on fire.  Jesus is consumed by his unconditional love for the Father and for us. We have seen that also in Jeremiah.    

·       Water.  Jesus  speaks of a baptism he has to receive and how he is anxious that this moment comes. This baptism is his death and resurrection for the love of all of us. Death which we will inflict on him because we do not like a God who is so near; this kind of God scares us, because his presence judges our evil actions. In baptism, we die to sin and begin to live a new life, the life of God in us.   

·       Division. Jesus says that he has not come to bring peace, but division. It seems that we are in front of one of those sentences, which Jesus says to awaken us and put us to think.   

v When we accept Jesus in our life, it always brings self-inner division because we have to choose between him and ourselves.   

v To welcome Jesus is to welcome any human being as brother or sister, and this entails an inner struggle.  

v To welcome Jesus demands of us to abandon sin and everything which is related to sin and keeps us farther away from Jesus and from our brothers and sisters. This also causes struggle inside of us.  

v Each one of us can look at our own life and discover his or her struggles, his or her division caused by the following of Jesus.  

v However, this is not negative but positive, because when we surrender to him and to our brothers and sisters, we become free and happy in a way we have never dreamed of.  

v In the first reading, we have discovered the division in the kingdom of Judah due to the preaching of Jeremiah.    

     Allow the love of Jesus to consume in us all that is an obstacle to his love.   

     Allow the waters of baptism to submerge us into the vast ocean of the love of our God. 

     Allow the Word to cause a division between the good that is in each one of us and the evil that is  present likewise. Let us cooperate so that his love may vanquish our evil. 

SECOND READING   - Heb   12:1-4

§   We do not know the name of the author of this letter, which for many centuries has been considered written by Paul.     

§  All the books of the New Testament are about Jesus whom they present in different ways according to the experience of the author and to the communities for whom the book had been written. 

§  The letter to the Hebrews is a meditation on the priesthood of Jesus, the High priest of the New Covenant who has shed his blood for the sake of our salvation and redemption. This salvation and redemption is offered to us through sacramental signs and rites.      

§  Jesus offers a sacrifice, which is not the sacrifice of animals whose blood is offered to God. But on the contrary Jesus offers his own blood for our redemption. 

v In today's reading the author of the letter invites us to contemplate the "cloud of witnesses", that is, the countless brothers and sisters witnesses to faith, who gave their lives through a violent death, or in the monotony of the daily life. 

v We are also invited to run our own race with our eyes on Jesus, the faithful witness, who run his race long before us. 

v If we look at him, if we contemplate his life, we will not become discouraged; on the contrary, we will have the strength to follow our own race until the end, where he will welcome us.   

v In the last sentence, we read that we have not yet shed our blood for the sake of our faith, and maybe we will never shed it. However, we are invited to offer our own life for the love of Jesus and the love of our brothers and sisters, the men and women who journey with us through this earthly life.  

  CLARETIAN CORNER

Some months before the Bull of Approval came from Rome, this good servant of God wrote to me from Puerto Principe – he was there at that time to direct the organization of Beneficence by order of his Excellency. He commanded me in this letter to tell him many things about his spirit and mine. I had nothing special to write because I have been always lazy in giving counsels most especially to people who must give them to me, but, as I am afraid to fail in obedience, (because they use it afterwards), before writing I went to the choir for a while to ask our Lord to inspire me what I had to write. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 75.

In addition to attending these morning and afternoon services, I used to enter the church at nightfall, when hardly anyone was there, and talk alone with our Lord. With great faith, trust, and love, I would speak to God, my good Father. A thousand times over I would offer myself to his service. I wanted to become a priest so that I could dedicate myself to his service day and night. I remember telling Him, "Humanly speaking, I see no hope, but you have the power to make it happen, if you will." Then, with total confidence, I would leave it all in God's hands, trusting Him to do whatever had to be done: which He did, as I shall say later. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 40.     

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Antonio María Claret, Autobiography.

PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiography

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras, Año C.

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso, Comentario a La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.