XXIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  - CYCLE C - 2019

·       The theme of the liturgy is prayer, never get tired be persevering. 

·       However, all the parables  have more than one interpretation, more than one message.  

·       In the Gospel we read also that the widow asks for justice, her prayer is very concrete, she asks the judge to render a just decision for her. 

·       Our world is full of brothers and sisters who day and night cry out for justice, to be treated as human beings, to enjoy the same benefits as the rest of the population. Let us think about situations close to us, all those who do not have legal status in the countries where they live, and ask to be accepted officially in the country.

·       In a commentary, the author asks this question: when we approach the Lord to pray, do we discover in the heart of our Father the suffering of so many brothers and sisters?  do we hear the cry that comes from all the parts of the earth asking for justice, equality, brotherhood and solidarity? 

·       Or on the contrary our prayer is only about us, or being worried of what we call "spiritual", forgetting that the Son of God became flesh to live among us.    

FIRST READING  Exodus  17:8-13

ü  This is an interesting reading from the book of Exodus

ü  The effectiveness of Moses prayer is based on   having his hands raised.   

ü  Therefore, when he gets tired he has to be helped by two men.   

ü  This is what we read.  Let us try to discover the meaning of this.

ü  The support Moses receives may  mean also the communal prayer as Jesus said "when two or three... I am there with them. 

ü  The effectiveness of our prayer does not depend on us, or on those who support us, but in the presence of Jesus, the only Son of the Father who prays with us and is always heard by the Father.

ü  The fact that Joshua won the battle destroying Amelek, is not the message the Lord wants us to get from this reading. The message is the perseverance in prayer, not the destruction of the enemy because Jesus himself taught to love our enemies. 

ü  Jesus does not destroy us for the evil we do, but he allows evil to destroy him and in so doing he destroys  evil forever, saving us all and, earning life eternal for us. 

ü  It depends on us to accept this salvation which he has already accomplished for all of us. 

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM:  Ps 121: 1-2,3-4, 5-6, 7-8

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH

I lift up my eyes toward the mountain

whence shall help come to me?

My help is from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

May he not suffer your foot to slip

may he slumber not who guards you

indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps

the guardian of Israel

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH

 The Lord is your guardian, the Lord is your shade

he is beside you at your right hand

the sun shall not harm you by day

nor the moon by night.

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH

The Lord will guard you from all evil

he will guard your life

the Lord will guard your coming and your going

both now and forever.

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH

§  The psalmist sings that his help comes from the Lord. 

§  In the verses that come after this sentence, he describes the protection from   God with beautiful images: your foot will not slip... he does not sleep... his shade protects you...

§  What a beautiful way to describe trust in the unconditional and tender love of our God and Father.   

GOSPEL  Luke 18:1-8

     Luke tells us one of the parables of Jesus which is found only in his Gospel

     As it is the case with all the parables, we need to find the real meaning, not the meaning of the material words. 

     There are two characters: the corrupt judge who has all power, and the woman who is powerless and suffers injustice from her oppressors. 

     As the parable unfolds this roles are changed, the judge loses his power in front of the insistence of the woman, who ends up having power over the judge. 

     A judge should always dictate just sentences this is his mission. 

     Thus, there is nothing worse than a corrupt judge. Amos in his book speaks about that. 

     Power always corrupts those who have it, no matter what kind of power we might have: in society, in politics, in finances, at work, in the church, at home, in the school.... Power intoxicates us, like wine when we drink it in excess.  

     The woman, who like any poor does not have anything else to lose, comes over and over bothering the judge until the day when he imparts justice to her, so that she will not come   anymore. 

     Jesus tells us that if this unjust judge is able to make justice to the woman, God will do much more for us. 

     However,  he does not want to compare the behavior of the judge with God's behavior. 

     What Jesus wants to teach us with this parable is the perseverance in prayer without getting tired. 

     The insistence in prayer is not because God does not listen to us at the first time, it is because we are not ready, our heart is still hard and we do not allow the Lord to transform us, we take our time to accept his action in us.    

     It is not God who takes time, it is us.    

SECOND READING  2 Tm 3:14-4,2.

v We continue listening to what the author of the letter tells to his disciple Timothy: 

§  remain faithful to what you have learned 

§  remember what you have known of the Scriptures since your childhood 

§  Scripture is capable of giving you wisdom for salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ. 

§  All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching 

§  I charge you to proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient, using all the means at your hand.     

 CLARETIAN CORNER

While my confessor was still doubtful in making the decision because of the importance of the matter, he decided to go have his exercises with his Excellency, Mgr. Claret (who was going to start his last exercises and bid farewell to his dear brothers), and to consult the matter, while in my convent everything was being prepared for the profession. At last, my confessor came back from the interview, more or less in the same way as he went there, without any decision from Bishop Claret. Because he could not get anything from him except that the fruit was already ripe but not yet in season, and that in the mean while he would see how was that new world and if there was good disposition there. Venerable Maria Antonia Paris, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 96.

Because I wanted to improve my knowledge of manufacturing techniques, I asked my father to send me to Barcelona. He agreed and took me there. But, like St. Paul, I had to earn what I needed for food, clothing, books, teachers, etc., with my own two hands. My first move was to submit a petition to the Board of Trade for admission to classes in design. My request was granted and I used it to some advantage.  Who would have guessed that God would one day use in the interests of religion the studies in design that I undertook for Early Life business reasons? And, in fact, these skills have been most useful to me in designing prints for catechisms and works on mysticism. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 56.

BIBLIOGAPHY

CLARET, St. Anthony Mary Claret. Autobiography

PAGOLA, José Antonio. El camino abierto por Jesús. Lucas.

PARÍS, Venerable María Antonia. Autobiography.

LA BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO. Texto: Luis A. Schökel