THIRD
SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – A - 2020
FIRST READING Isaiah
8,23-9,3
The land of Zebulun and
the land of Naphtali are situated around
the Sea of Galilee in the Northern
Kingdom, Israel, the Southern Kingdom was Judah.
The people of Israel had
been conquered and taken in exile by a foreign king.
Although there were
always rivalries between the two kingdoms, the
people in Judah were worried about their brothers and sisters of the Kingdom of
Israel.
In this oracle the
prophet announces that a great light will appear in the region of darkness
He describes the feelings
of the people who enjoy that great light with beautiful images:
o
Abundant joy like the joy of the harvest, or when people won the war
o
The yoke that oppresses them will be destroyed.
o
The rode of the taskmaster will also be destroyed, as it happened in
the days of Midian
o
The joy we experience when we feel the presence of the Lord in our
life.
This will be the mission
of the future Messiah, future king, that God promised to David. He will make of the two peoples: Israel and
Gentiles one people.
This becomes true in
Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, and the Messiah who by his cross and
resurrection makes of the two peoples one.
RESPONSORIAL
PSALM – Ps 27,1. 4. 13-14
R. The
Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation
Psalm 27 has a great
similarity to psalm 23. It is a psalm of
great literary beauty. It has a especial
spiritual meaning. It is a hymn that invites us to trust in God. We read this psalm also at funeral masses.
In the biblical tradition
“light” is related to “life” and to “
happiness”.
If God is my refuge, whom
should I fear? Of whom should I be afraid?
Trust, faith, is the main
theme of this psalm.
The psalmist wants to live
in the house of God all the days of his life.
House of God may mean the Temple of Jerusalem or the Temple of the New
Jerusalem, Heaven.
To contemplate the beauty
of God may mean “to see God.”
The psalmist is convinced
that he will see the goodness of the
Lord in the land of the living.
He invites us to wait for
the Lord with courage.
Do I wait for the Lord?
SECOND
READING: FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
1,10-13.17
ü
Paul has written several letters to the Community in Corinth. All the
fragments from these letters have been
put together in the two letters that we know now.
ü
The Community of Corinth had accepted faith with enthusiasm, but
sometimes without enough depth, they
mixed with the Christian faith some of their former pagan practices
ü
Paul loved this community very much, he wrote the letters to help them
understand and live the Christian message, the Gospel, he visited them several
times.
ü
But the community of Corinth did not always love and respect Paul.
They did not recognize him as an apostle
like the others, they did not consider him a good preacher…
ü
In next Sunday’s Reading
o
Paul asks the community to remain united and not fight against each
other.
o
Not to be proud of having been
baptized by Appolus or Paul …..
o
Because we all belong to Christ, this is our glory
o Who has been crucified
for us? Christ and nobody else.
o
Paul is happy that he has not baptized anyone of them, because he had not
been sent to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with wordy wisdom lest the cross of Christ be rendered void of
its meaning.
GOSPEL MATTHEW 4,12-23
§
In the first part of this gospel reading we are told that Jesus leaves
Judea to return to Galilee when he learns that John has been arrested. He does
not remain in Nazareth but goes to Capernaum the town of Peter and Andrew.
§
When Jesus was a child he had to move to another place for safety, now
when he is adult he will continue to move to safer places several times, until
his hour will come.
§
The gospel repeats what we have read in the first reading.
§
After that, the gospel tells us that Jesus begins to proclaim the
kingdom, inviting to change one’s life.
§
His preaching is very different from John’s preaching. It is an
invitation, not a command. Jesus will bend over every human suffering; he will
touch the sick to let them experience the closeness of God.
§
He calls his first disciples. The call to the disciples is presented
differently in the four gospels. Here Matthew presents Jesus walking around the
Sea of Galilee and he calls some fishermen to follow him.
§
Peter and Andrew, his brother, have a boat, probably belonging to the
family business; James and John, his brother, are working with their father Zebedee. When
Jesus calls them they leave everything behind to follow Jesus .
§
In a future time He will send them to do his same mission.
§
What words did Jesus use to call them, how did he look at those men
that they were so ready to follow him?
§
The last part of this gospel gives a picture of the activity of Jesus
in Galilee.
o
He teaches in the synagogues in the different villages.
o
He proclaims the Kingdom and heals those who are affected by different
sicknesses and sufferings.
o
Jesus, at the moment of his baptism, heard the voice of the Father
telling him that he was his beloved Son. He is tempted in the desert where he
has gone to prepare himself for the mission the Father has given to him.
o
Now Jesus starts to fulfill his mission among us.
CLARETIAN CORNER
The first knowledge that Mª Antonia had of Claret was in
her prayer. As she was praying to God to have compassion for the needs of the
Church, the Lord made her see and hear: “This,
my daughter, is the apostolic man whom
you have asked me for so many years and with so many tears.” As it happens in the
vocational stories in the Bible, Claret is the sign given to Mª Antonia to assure her that what is required from her
will be accomplished. Time and new experiences will confirm it: “Our Lord told me: Fr. Claret will give you a hand in founding the first
houses of the Order… and he added that this same priest would give me much to
suffer.”[…] When they finally meet, Claret says to Mª Antonia: “… not to hesitate, that it would
be done … that the fruit was already ripe
but not yet in season, …now, I know already that you are here.” Meanwhile,
silence was the only answer given to Mª Antonia[…] “…so, I remained in my convent as before, and
he (Claret) continued in his missions, maybe without remembering me anymore, until the time God had established
from his eternity, for us to transfer to this new world, where he wanted to
begin his Work… and so it has happened in this foundation, that though the
Archbishop was unwilling to be concerned for this or that, he has been, by Divine impulse, concerned for
everything... The ongoing mutual knowledge and the great spiritual
similarities between them, will little by little make possible, a sincere
friendship, a mutual companionship which will manifest itself largely
through their letters. The time they spend working together in Cuba
was especially rich. Two strong and firm
temperaments, which without planning it, were united by God for the same
Project.
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