XIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY
TIME – CYCLE A – 2020
Ø The themes of the Liturgy for the last two
Sundays have been about the following, how the
disciple is supposed to be and what it means to follow the Teacher.
o
On the XII Sunday
we heard Jeremiah complaining with God because God did not tell him the
consequences of following him, his friends and fellow citizens, whom he loved
dearly, turned their back against him.
o
On the XIII
Sunday our Teacher spoke to us about the need to do good for love of God, love of the Lord and love for human
kind.
Ø The readings today will teach something else
to us: humility and meekness. Let us listen to and reflect in our heart.
FIRST READING – Zec 9:9-10
Who was the prophet Zechariah?
v His name means “The Lord remembers” or “May
the Lord remember.”
v It seems that he belonged to a priestly family;
he had a great interest in the temple.
v This book has two parts:
the first part (c. 1-8 ) is
written by a prophet called Zechariah.
The second part (c.9-14) was written in a different time by a prophet who has
been called Second Zechariah.
v The prophet of the first part is considered to
be the pioneer of the apocalyptic visions, in his visions we discover fantastic
elements ( red horses, women with wings…) and the presence and action of a
divine messenger.
v The time of his mission was 520 B.C. to
518 B.C.
v His message like the message of all the
prophets is very much related to the political situation of his people.
v Zechariah agrees with the reconstruction of
the temple and of the monarchy, but acknowledges the ethical requirements of
faith.
v Maybe we can say that he wants a
reconstruction of what in the past had helped the people, and it seems that he
does not see this needs under the light of the future.
v The second Zechariah cc. 9-14 was written by
another prophet as we have said above, this prophet wrote between the years 330
B.C. to 300 B.C.
v Although, there are many authors who think that this
part was written in the time of the Persian domination on the V century before
the missions of Nehemiah and Ezra, before the reconstruction.
Message
of the reading for this Sunday
ü
Daughter Zion,
the city of Jerusalem, is invited to rejoice, why? Her king comes humble
and meek.
ü These qualities are reflected on what he is
riding, an ass not a horse, which was considered to be the symbol of power,
dominion, and human pride.
ü This humble and meek king will destroy;
eliminate war, violence from the midst of his people. This is symbolized in the elimination of war
chariots and, the bows and arrows.
ü He will proclaim peace not only for his
people, but for the entire human race.
ü A
prophet before speaking looks at the political situation of his time. The
prophet is always involved in the political situation either of his people or
of the whole world. The prophet discovers and understands the message from God
in those situations.
ü Do
I listen to the voice of God in the midst of my daily life?
RESPONSORIAL PSALM- Ps 144: 1-2. 8-9. 10-11.
13cd-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.
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.
The psalmist will praise and bless God day
after day.
Because God is compassionate, merciful,
generous, faithful, slow to anger, his
love is for all his creatures, he gives support and relieves those who are burdened.
What a wonderful litany of who God is.
The psalmist invites everyone to praise and
bless God.
During this week, in spite of the chaos that
we see in many places around us, let us dedicate some minutes each day to truly
give thanks to our Father and God, of whom Jesus said he was his “Abba=daddy”.
GOSPEL
Mt 11:25-30
§ These verses reveal to us the messianic prayer
of Jesus before the surprising revelation of God to the dispossessed of this
world.
§ Salvation does not depend on the knowledge we
may have of the biblical texts and of the other articles of our faith, but on
the capability to discover the path of God in history and the availability to
accept his call.
§ Together with the transfiguration, this is one
of the highest points of the Gospel.
§ We can discover in this text an exultant joy, fruit
of Jesus experience of God as Father.
§ Jesus invites all the broken hearted, the overwhelmed by suffering,
all those excluded by the social and religious mechanisms of our society; and
he offers them to carry another yoke, another load: the yoke of freedom which requires
humility and meekness
SECOND
READING Rom 8:9. 11-13
o
Paul reminds the
community of Rome that they are in the spirit not in the flesh, that is to say,
that they live for God if they have opened up to the Spirit of God who lives in
them.
o
Because if we
have the Spirit of Jesus, of God, we belong to him.
o
And the One, who
raised Jesus from the dead, will also raise us up.
o
Paul invites us again
to live according to the spirit, and not according to the demands of the flesh.
o
This entails to
live a truly human and honest life, and not a life of sin that dehumanizes us.
o
St. Augustin has
a sentence related to the love of God, he says “Our heart is not at rest until it rests in you.”
CLARETIAN CORNER
Venerable
María Antonia Paris - They will have Seminaries where the young men who will be ordained
should be educated. They should provide
God-fearing men, who are also zealous of his Holy Law, as the Teachers of these
young men. They should educate them
detached of all interests, without there being a distinction of what is yours
and mine in all Seminaries; this even when they themselves cover the expenses,
and if anyone gives any sign that what he really desires is to be ordained for
his own benefit, or to help his family, rather than for God’s glory, he should
not be ordained. Greed has destroyed
religion. Greed has its foot on it and
does not allow it to breathe. (Renewal of the Church # 22 in Paris and Claret, Two Pens Moved
by the Same Spirit,
2010)
St. Anthony Mary Claret - Each diocese must have a theological seminary, that may be a true
seed-bed of good priests . This is a very essential point, since if
the Bishops succeed in forming good clergymen, they will be their
collaborators; but if they have the misfortune to see in their dioceses bad
clergymen, this will be the greatest obstacle for the good, and from no one
will they suffer so much as from the bad clergymen. (From Notes of a Plan
to Keep and Preserve the Beauty of the Church in Paris and Claret, Two Pens Moved by the Same
Spirit)
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