XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME- CYCLE A   -  OCTOBER 15, 2017

ü   The first reading and the Gospel speak of the Kingdom of God by means of analogies. 

ü  For Paul his strength is in God.   

FIRST READING   Is 25:6-10ª

Ø  This Reading is taken from the first part of the book that we call Book of Isaiah, whose author is the First Isaiah or  Isaiah from Jerusalem. 

Ø  His prophetic activity can be situated between the years 740 to 687 B.C. 

Ø  It covers three periods:   

o   First period that is short, it goes from the death of King Uzziah to the death of his son Jotham in 735.  It is a time of peace; the country enjoys a good prosperity.   

o   Second period 734-733 time of political unrest. 

o   The third period longer than the previous ones, the leaders of the country seek the contact with Egypt to free themselves from the Assyrian protection.  

WHAT DOES THE READING FOR THIS SUNDAY TELL US? 

-        The change they experience is provoked by God, and the author uses four symbols to describe it:  

o   The mountain, place of the banquet  

o   The banquet   

o   The presence of a multitude of peoples  

o   The change from suffering to wellbeing.  

-        Isaiah speaks of what will happen on this holy mountain, Jerusalem    

o   The holy mountain is at the beginning Jerusalem, but it becomes the happy eternity where death will be destroyed. 

o   Not only death or the end of our earthly life, but the many interior and exterior deaths we suffer, provoked by others or by us.

o   Whenever we speak of wellbeing we speak of abundant and tasty fruits, good wines. 

o   All veils will be destroyed on this holy mountain, the veil that covers the peoples, the veil of ignorance, of lack of freedom, of everything that darkens in us the capacity to discover the presence of God in us, in all and in everything.  

o   Death will be destroyed forever on this mountain which symbolizes the heavenly Jerusalem, as well as every  place an situation of encounter with God.  When He is present even if we die we will live.    

o   On this mountain God will wipe out the tears from the eyes, what a beautiful and consoling promise! How many tears are shed in our world, how much human suffering!  

o   All of this which the prophet describes is the work of God to whom we turn our eyes to be saved. 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Sal 23: 1-3a. 3b – 4.5.6 

R. (6cd) I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. 

     Psalm of a great beauty that describes the peace and security of the person who feels the presence and company of God in his or her life.

     As if one would go through life in the hands of the Lord, like the little bird fallen from the nest.  

     Company and security which the psalmist describes with very evocative images: the prairies, the water of the springs, the table and the oil which anoints and perfumes. 

     The psalmist ends the psalm saying that  goodness and kindness will always be his companions throughout his life,  

     All of this and much more surround us when we feel and experience the presence of the Lord in our life.  In fact he surrounds us always, but we only perceive it when the Lord makes this gift to us, then we feel ourselves in the loving presence of our God and Lord. 

GOSPEL Mt 22: 1-14

Ø   Jesus is speaking again with the leaders and priests of his people, he is trying by all means to convince and conquer those men who pull away more and more from their vocation as representatives of Jesus’ Father, the God of Israel, who has called them to be his representatives on earth. 

Ø  It is about wedding banquet, the wedding is the most joyful and lovely celebration in all the cultures, and for every couple that are in love with each other. 

Ø  The kingdom of God is like a feast, a wedding celebration. 

Ø  As in the parable of the vineyard, here the king sends his servants and messengers to remind those invited to the feast of his son’s wedding that everything is ready.  

Ø  But we are told that those invited ignored this reminder.   

Ø  A second time he sends other servants and we are told that those invited cannot go to the feast  because they have other more important things to do. 

Ø  The King becomes angry and sends his servants to invite anyone they find on the roads, any place. God does not abandon his project in spite of our little or no cooperation, he looks for other solutions.  

Ø  And all sorts of people come to the celebration some are good others are bad…. 

Ø  There is even one who does not wear the wedding garment.  Probably one who did not accept to wear the wedding garment offered to him as it was customary.

Ø  Is that man, like us when through the journey of our life, so many times, we refuse to wear the wedding garment that was given to us in our baptism when the priest gave us the white garment and  told us to keep it until the time when the Lord will call us?   

Ø  Jesus describes the consequences of not using the wedding garment as: “bind his hands and feet, darkness, bad relationships with others…

Ø  May the Lord grant us to cultivate the joy in our life, joy which will help us to recognize the Lord always walking with us during the journey of our earthly life, and this conviction will in turn increase our joy.   

SECOND READING    Phil 4:12-14. 19-20

Ø  Paul thanks the community of Philippi for their help. He had a very especial and loving relationship with this community that always show its love for him.  

Ø  But he tells them something that is very good for a missionary and evangelizer, maybe for all of us also: I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.

Ø  God will provide according to their needs, probably this is his experience.  

Ø  Yes, even if we are in need, God continues to provide for us in one way or another, sometimes we do not even understand it. 

Ø  God creates us, provides for us, we only have to open the eyes of faith and love to discover his work in us.

CLARETIAN CORNER  

We Dream of a Church...

As a Church we want to be a community of  Jesus’ followers: 

-        Founded in love, interpersonal relationships, dialogue and listening. 

-        Who loves life because it is a gift from God; showing this love in her joy in spite of sufferings. 

-        In a constant process of conversion and of a search for God 

-        Who discovers the inner secret which dwells in her, shows it in the way she lives, and transmits it to others.  

-        That joins action and contemplation 

-        That lives in the world, loving it and thus denouncing with her life and words its evils, and at the same time offering the Gospel values. 

-        That responds to the mandate of Jesus, to go into the whole world and preach the Good News that God is Father, that He loves, welcomes and accompanies us. 

-        That knows that she is being sent in mission; in a constant effort to give concrete answers to the problems,  that the world will present to her.  

-        Centered in the human person; promoting freedom and development, recognizing the human dignity. 

-        A Church of all because she is universal. 

-        A Church, a community which has eyes to see the injustices and, like the prophets of Israel, reminds and helps  to remember that the earth belongs to all, being herself a clear witness of poverty.    

-        Samaritan woman that understands her world, that pours oil and wine over   the wounds of so many persons who are abandoned on the margins of the roads of life. 

-        In a word, a Church who shows the face of Christ, a Church clothed only with the Gospel. (Paris and Claret two Pens Guided… pg. 178-179 of the Spanish edition.)

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 MUÑOZ, M. Hortensia and TUTZO, Regina. Paris and Claret to Pens Guided by the  Same Spirit. Called to Renew the Church,  2010.

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. El camino abierto por Jesús.(The Way Open by Jesus) 2011.

PAPA FRANCISCO, Angelus October 12, 2014.

SAGRADA BIBLIA –Commentaries.  Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2010.