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.