31^st   SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  - CYCLE C – 2019

• Today's Gospel reading is again about a tax collector. 
• Last week's parable was about a tax collector who acknowledged his sinfulness and asked God for forgiveness, and he returned home justified.  
• Today it is about a real character, not a parable, but a real man called Zacchaeus, the tax collector from Jericho. He wanted to see Jesus, and Jesus surprised him because he also wanted to see him. 

THE BOOK OF WISDOM

v Again the liturgy takes the first reading from the wisdom literature, the Book of Wisdom 

v This book is known as a "deuterocanonical book". In the Catholic tradition the deuterocanonical books are considered revealed by God, but this is not  so among the Jewish community of faith and   the other Christian traditions.  

v Chapters 11 to 19 are a meditation on the exodus.    

v Gianfranco Ravassi in his commentary says that chapters 11 to 19 of this jewel of the Jewish Greek literature of Alexandria in Egypt has a chapter on the invincible love of God toward his creatures. 

FIRST READING: Wis 11:22-12,2   

ü  Everything that has been created is small before God, but God takes care of all. 

ü  God takes care especially of the human being, the book of Wisdom tells us that this is so because God can do all things.  

ü  The author continues saying something surprising, God overlooks people's sins, he does not want to see our sins, to give us the opportunity to repent.     

ü  What a different image of God from the one we project sometimes with our words and our attitudes! 

ü  Another beautiful expression is found on verse 26 "but you forgive all because they are yours, O Lord the friend of life.”     

ü  God is the friend of life, and sometimes it seems that we are the friends of death, because the society we have built and continue to build is full of the violence of death.  

ü  We have allowed ourselves to be deceived by the evil spirit who has convinced us that what is good is bad, and what is bad is good! 

ü  God does much more, he reprimands us little by little, in the way only him knows and thus little by little he molds our being, and offers us the opportunity to discover his presence in our life, and when this happens we cannot   reject his love any longer, and thus we surrender ourselves to him.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  145:1-2. 8-9. 10-11. 13,14

R.  I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.

Ø  The praises to God for his works has been sung from generation to generation, up to the psalmist time

Ø  He has to continue this long chain of praises and he does it with his psalm.  

Ø  This praise is the poet's, but also ours.     

Ø  Let us join our voices to this praise, let us sing, dance, joyfully dance because our God loves us and he is great and powerful.   

GOSPEL Lk 19:1-10   

     The Gospel tells the encounter of Jesus with the tax collector, an encounter that brings salvation to that man and to  his entire household.    

     Zacchaeus, is his name, it is the Greek version of his Jewish name Zakkai.  The name Zaccheus means “clean, pure”. Is the meaning of Zaccheus name a joke or a prophecy?

     He is short in stature, but he looks for the way to see Jesus. 

     He had probably heard about this young itinerant prophet who speaks in such a different way than the teachers of the law, a man who shows so much love that it is impossible not to be attracted to him and to follow him.  

     Zacchaeus climbs a sycamore, maybe he thinks that nobody sees him, because for a prominent man as he is, this action would be very humiliating. 

     However, somebody has seen him, and when he walks under the tree, he lifts up his eyes and calls him "today I want to have dinner with you." 

      To have dinner is an expression of intimacy, of friendship. Jesus wants to be friend of Zacchaeus, trully he is already friend of Zacchaeus. Up to now, Zacchaeus does not know it, but today he will discover it and will be happy. 

      He will be happy to feel himself loved by Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God, his son. After this experience, Zacchaeus will love his fellow men and he will realize the wrong he has done, and he will have the determination to amend the evil he has done. 

     Only the unconditional love of Jesus, manifested in his going to the house of Zacchaeus, will give to this man the willingness to give away the fortune he has made stealing from others.   

     As it is customary the Gospel shows us the two tendencies  that are always found among the human beings:   

v He has entered the house of a sinner, it seems that we forget that we all are sinners. 

v Salvation has come to this house, yes with Jesus salvation comes to us and renews all the different aspects of our being. 

v Everything is restored, made a new creation.  

     This fragment of Luke’s Gospels reveals to us the joy of salvation, of the returning home, of the paternal embrace.  

      This is also our experience of forgiveness and conversion.  Is it not?

     THANK YOU LORD BECAUSE THIS CAN ONLY BE YOUR WORK, AND ALSO OUR COOPERATION, BUT AS ALWAYS  YOU HAVE THE INITIATIVE. THANK YOU!  

SECOND READING  2 Tes 1:11-22

v We are not one hundred percent sure that this letter has been written by Paul, the scholars keep looking for answers. It seems that it was written by one of his disciples.     

v The author prays to God for the community of Thessalonica, that it may be worthy of the call it has received, and thus live its faith responsibly.    

v All of this for the glory and honor of our Lord Jesus Christ's name. 

v It seems that the community was upset by things that had been told them.    

v The author says that he has not written anything of what upsets them. 

v Afterwards he calms them,  explaining that the second coming of the Lord is not as imminent as some think.

v On this theme of the second coming, there is a great difference between the first letter and the second to the Thessalonians. In the first Paul himself was speaking as if it was imminent. 

  CLARETIAN CORNER

While I and all the novices were in the holy exercises for the profession, his Excellency MGR. Claret came to Barcelona to sail. My confessor commanded me to write to him telling my anguish since it was necessary to profess or to leave. So that if he would be kind to answer me, as soon as possible, on what was the besting so difficult a case and to tell me either to go on with the profession or to postpone it, since we had only twelve days. This was the only step I needed to get tranquil, but God our Lord who never willed me to put my trust in men but in His Divine Providence, permitted him not to answer and not to depart from Spain leaving me in a sea of confusion without having anything determined. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 98.

I found copying patterns difficult at first, but by applying myself day and night, both on workdays and holidays, to study, writing, and designing, I came to be successful at it. I only wish that I had applied myself as busily to virtue, so that I might have become better than I am. When, after much thought, I had managed to take a design apart and put it back together, I felt such a sensation of joy and satisfaction that I would walk back home quite beside myself with contentment. I learned all this without a teacher. In fact, far from teaching me how to understand patterns and imitate them perfectly, my instructors in the art actually tried to conceal it from me. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 59.     

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Antonio María Claret, Autobiografía.

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

PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiografía

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras, Año C.

The Catholic Study Bible -New American Bible.

30^th  SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  – CYCLE C – 2019

v We continue our meditation on prayer as we have done the last two Sundays. 

v Today we will reflect on the need to ask for forgiveness, to recognize that we are sinners.  

v Asking for forgiveness is a condition to begin our celebration of the Eucharist and also our personal prayer. 

THE BOOK OF SIRACH

v This book is called also Ecclesiasticus, and it has been   used over the centuries in the liturgical celebrations of the Church. 

v It is the only book of the Old Testament of which we know the author, place,  date of its composition and of its translation from Hebrew into Greek, because all this information is found in the book itself.

v It was written around 132 before Christ. By that time Israel was dominated by the Hellenistic Culture which had caused   in the young generations the loss of Israel’s  tradition and   faith.

v Hellenistic culture is the same as Greek culture. 

v The author wants to help his Jewish brothers and sisters, old and young,  to recover the meaning of their faith 

v This book belongs to the Wisdom Books; it is accepted as revealed by the Catholic Church, but not so either by the People of Israel or the Protestant Churches. For this reason it is called a deutero-canonical book, this means a book belonging to the second lists of the books in the Bible. The books belonging to the first list are called canonical books and are accepted by the three groups.

FIRST READING Sir 35,12-14. 16-18

Ø  The Lord, our God does not have preferences, he treats all of us equally. 

Ø  If he has any preferences is toward the little, the despised, the discriminated against.  

Ø  And thus God is not deaf 

o   To the cry of the orphan  

o   Or when the widow pours out her complains before Him.   

Ø  And the author adds something else  

o   God hears those who serve Him   

o   Their prayers reach to heaven     

Ø  The author says “The Lord will not delay”  

Ø  And, what happens when we experience that God does not answer right away?  

Ø  He is the only one who can give us the answer to this question in our life.   

Ø  Let us talk intimately with Him while we pray silently and lovingly.   

Responsorial Psalm Ps 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23

R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

·       After listening to the first reading the whole assembly will repeat singing “The Lord hears the cry of the poor”

·       Certainly the Lord is not far, He is so near that he hears the cry of the poor, of the afflicted, of anyone who suffers from  any  of the many poverties in  our world.  

·       On reading this psalm it comes to my mind the words of the Lord to Moses in the Book of Exodus: I have seen … I have heard…. their suffering…. I come to liberate them.   

·       God is always the same, if He has acted like this with that people of slaves, He will do the same today. This is the hope we have, no matter what our situation of oppression, suffering, humiliation is  He will come and liberate us at the opportune moment, without delay.  

GOSPEL LUKE  18: 9-14 

     Last Sunday we read the first verses of chapter 18 that were about persevering in  prayer

     Today, again, Luke speaks to us about prayer by means of a parable. 

     Like all the parables of Jesus, today's parable is short and to the point. It gives to us a message that upsets our way to look at reality, to look at the persons around us. 

     Two men went to the temple to pray, let us see what happens in their  prayer. 

     Jesus, like a true artist, with two brushstrokes paints for us a picture worth more than a thousand words or theological explanations. 

     One of these men, was a Pharisee, that is, he belonged to the holiest group, the group of those who were faithful to the Law, a model of behavior for all who saw them.

     He tells God, how good he himself is, how he is very different from all the other men who are thieves, liars, evildoers, like that other man who is at the back of the temple praying to God.  

     He gives to God a list of his good works, maybe God does not know them, or has forgotten about them. 

     The other side of the picture shows to us the other man, the tax collector, the worst group that could exist in Israel, because that man had become rich with the money he stole from his own people, he was at the service of the oppressor of his people, the Roman Empire. 

     This man does not have anything to offer, but his extreme poverty, his sins which he acknowledges before God. He asks for forgiveness, for purification, for acceptance even not having anything to offer. 

     With a great surprise for us and for the people that were listening to Jesus, he says to us that of these two men the one who went home justified was the tax collector. Why? 

     Probably because he really talked to God, he presented himself before God as he was, he was truthful, he accepted that he had nothing to offer except his sins. And we know that God has a very especial inclination toward the poor and needy. His love cannot resist the cry of the poor.

     On the contrary, the Pharisee did not speak to God, he spoke to himself, he made of himself and idol, thus he did not pray and thus he did not get anything from God, because he did not ask for anything, because he was not poor but rich and sinless. 

     This parable, so beautiful and simple, has to question us, how is our prayer, to whom do we talk to God or to an idol, the idol of our own person.  

     Let us ask ourselves, how do I see myself before God and before myself? 

     Our happiness is found in the truth, in the acceptance of who we are, blessed may we be if we acknowledge that we are poor and needy, our Father will bend over us and lift us up to himself like a father does with his child who has fallen.

SECOND READING  2 Tm 4:6-8.16-18

§  This fragment of the letter to Timothy has two parts. In the first part Paul looks back at his life, and feels as he had reached or is about to reach his goal.   

§  In the second part he speaks with sadness about how all abandoned him at his trial 

o   He asks the Lord to forgive those who abandoned him, like Jesus on the cross “Father forgive them… or Stephen when he was stoned to death “Lord do not count this sin…”   

o   Then, as if he were talking to himself, he realizes that the Lord has been with him all the time and, that He has given him the strength to proclaim Him to the gentiles.   

o   The Lord protects him and will take him to his kingdom.   

§ 

He finishes this part of his letter saying “To Him glory for all ages. Amen.” 

CLARETIAN CORNER 

I was not contented at all with this response, rather I complained to my confessor for not having forced him to answer if I would profess or not because only with that, would I be tranquil since I was not eager to go or to remain, even though not to make my profession was tearing my soul because I had been ardently desiring it not only from my ten years of novitiate but since I had the use of reason. But, as soon as this saint would have said that to leave the convent could be for the glory of God (which was to divide my soul) I would have conformed myself to God’s will for, since God our Lord made me understand the holiness of that soul and the gifts of grace entrusted to him by his divine majesty, my confidence in him was so great that I seemed to hear God’s voice through his. But our Lord was not pleased to give this consolation: he preferred me to drink the chalice up to the last drop. María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 57.

      Of all the things I have studied or worked at during my life, I have understood none better than manufacturing. Apropos of this, in the firm I worked for, there were catalogs of patterns shown at the yearly displays in Paris and London, and they were kept up-to-date to be in step with the latest fashions. God gave me such a ready wit in this that all I have to do was analyze any pattern and in short order a copy would emerge from the loom exact to the last detail, or even with improvements if my employer so desired. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 58.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Saint Anthony Mary. Autobiography.

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

PARIS, Venerable María Antonia. Autobiography.

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras, Año C.

The Catholic Study Bible -New American Bible.

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