FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – CYCLE B – 2020   

ADVIENTO. 

Ø  We begin the liturgical season of Advent, which means, “coming” of the Lord.

Ø  The first word that we hear is “Be prepared, be alert” 

Ø  Because the Lord is near.   

Ø  Is this a cause of anxiety, of fear?  

Ø  On the contrary the One who comes has already come to live among us,  and he continues to come to be  among us.  

Ø  He comes in the doctors and health personnel who since the beginning of the pandemic  caused by COVID19 have been near those who suffered, those who needed them to heal from their sickness.  

Ø  He is in all those who have put their life in danger to save the life of other human beings, unknown till then, but neighbors for being human. 

Ø  He is in the sick from COVID19 and from other illnesses asking for help like the man wounded on the road whom the Samaritan men helped.  

Ø  He is in every sick person, in every family of the sick to console them, to strengthen them as he did when he faced the reality of his passion, when he received the help of an angel who strengthened him.   

Ø  He is always near us calling and appealing to the goodness of our heart he creates able to love.    

Ø  Let us be vigilant and let us have the heart and the eyes open to see around us.  (cfr.Reflections by Lise Hudon-Bonin) 

FIRST READING   Is 63,16b-17. 19b;64,2b-7

Ø  This text from the Third Isaiah has four paragraphs with a movement like the waves of the sea, moving from one stanza to another. Call  and answer alternate in this beautiful text.

o   First parragraph    

§  The author invokes and calls  the Lord “Come, if you would come… “  

§  Why do you abandon us and leave us to go wandering far from your ways? 

§  Why do you allow our hearts to harden and we do not fear anything  anymore…? Turn your face towards  us Lord!!!  

o   Second Paragraph

§  God answers, the prophet tells Him how the mountains have crumbled with His presence.    

§  You come to seek the one  who practices justice with joy and follows your ways.  

§  It is interesting to see that the author speaks about practicing justice, what is good, with joy. 

§  That is not for forced obligation but willingly, with joy because through these just actions  we help other human beings and we please the One we love, our God and Lord.   

o   Third Parragraph

§  He pictures again the situation of sinfulness of the human being

§  Impure, dry like the fallen leaves, our acts were like soiled clothing.  

§  No one invokes the name of the Lord God, or remembers him…  

§  Because you have hidden your face from us and you have abandon us or handed us over to the power of evil.   

o   Fourth Paragraph

§  The author invokes again God as Father.    

§  You molded us like the clay   

§  We are the work of your hands.   

Ø  Do we see ourselves reflected in these few verses?     

Ø  Does this description resemble our human reality, the reality of our society, of our church?   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  –  PS 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 

R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you;

let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
R. Lord, make us turn to you;

let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you;

let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you;let us see your face and we shall be saved. 

Ø  The psalmist and the Church invite us to repeat with humility and perseverance:

Lord, make us turn to you;

let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Ø  Lord save us! Look at us with mercy and compassion!     

Ø  Let us repeat to Him time and time again, from the depth of our heart, “may your goodness and kindness  surround and keep us close to You.”.   

SECOND READING – 1Cor 1,3-9

Ø  The reading begins with the last part of Paul’ greeting to the community of Corinth.  

Ø  Like in the first reading God is called Father.   

Ø  Paul gives thanks to God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ for the gifts he pours out upon the community.   

Ø  Those gifts are visible to the point that Paul says that the Corinthians do not lack any gift of grace.   

Ø  Jesus Christ will help them to remain steadfast until the end.   

Ø  God, Father of Jesus Christ, is He who calls them to live in communion with his Son Jesus Christ Our Lord.   

Ø  He has called us too, to live in communion with Jesus Christ and with one another.

Ø  We will not be able to be united with Him unless we are united in communion  among us.

GOSPEL OF MARK

Ø  We begin a new liturgical year, the year of Mark. The Church invites us every year to contemplate Jesus through the eyes and the experience of a different evangelist.  Let Mark guide us during this new year to experience Jesus in the way he experienced him.   

Ø  The Gospels tell us real events of the life of Jesus, but the evangelists are less interested in the events themselves than in the meaning of the events under in the light of faith. Thus each one uses the parables, the events, and the miracles that better help them to convey their message about the person of Jesus.  The Gospels are in reality theological reflections on the life, actions and, words of our Lord Jesus. 

Ø  Mark presents Jesus more human but, at the same time, he says from the very beginning of  his Gospel that Jesus is the Son of God.  He will repeat this again in chapter 8 when he narrates the confession of Peter and at the end of the Gospel the Roman centurion will exclaim “truly this man was the son of God.”   

Ø  The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, the first gospel to have been  composed and it has been the base for the composition of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  

Ø  This Gospel is also called the gospel of the disciple, because it is like a handbook for the disciple to learn to be like the Master.  

Ø  Let us enter with our whole being into the Gospel of Mark and let us allow Mark to guide us.   

MARK 13,33-37 

Ø  I write here a reflection made by Luis Alonso Schöekel on this text of the Gospel of Mark(the translation is mine) : 

o   Jesus uses images familiar to them […] here it is about the owner of the house who travels to another place, but his servants do not know when he will come back.   

o   With this parable, Jesus affirms that what is important is not to nurture our passivity, conformism and fear, waiting for the destruction of the world or for the last judgement, but to learn how to discern the signs of the times, to read the will of God in all the moments of our life and to be vigilant to assume responsibly and creatively the construction of the kingdom of God.  

o   We have to live to the full the present time and wait for the parusia with joy.   

o    Let us seek and listen in the midst of this pandemic   what He wants us to do, so that in the midst of this chaos, we may be able to collaborate with Him to establish the Kingdom of God.    

o   There are many signs of his presence within this pandemic. Let us open our eyes and our heart to be able to discover Him and to love Him each day more and more.   

CLARETIAN CORNER 

The grace of the Holy Spirit be always with Your Excellency. Amen.  

My very dear Father: the care that all of us have for your wellbeing does not allow me  to wait for a longer time to write to you,  trusting that the grace of God is with  you.   

I am waiting with expectation your decision about establishing the House of Formation, and our going there. This House is very needed indeed as you know. I see very clearly the need not to lose a  moment of our time.   (Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Letter #59 to St. Anthony M.  Claret Cuba June 2  1857) 

… the nuns have remained there and they are well, thanks to God. Will some of them be able tocome to establish the Novitiate or for any other foundation? Let me know because I have to write to them as soon as possible and the next ship leaves on July 8 . Fr. Currius wants to know  this too  because he has to come and he will take them with him to the place where you indicate to us.  

Since they are professed Nuns they have to go to a cloistered place. Where will they go? I cannot give a place to them because I do not have any here.  Besides,   as you well know for the foundation we need two requirements, one canonical and civil the other as I have read in the canons and laws, and I have also experienced it.  What are we going to do? […] Let me know please and write also to Cuba what you decide, for me I will accept whatever your decision.  (St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Letter #62 to Jose Caixal, Bishop of Urgel. June 15  1857)   

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hudon-Bonin, Lise. “Veiller avec celui que nous attendons. 155,  en Prions en Eglise, Nov.2020

Cartas de los Orígenes de las RR. Ma. Inmaculada Misioneras Claretianas. Madrid 2009.

La Biblia de nuestro pueblo. Texto de  Luis Alonso Schöekel y Adaptación del texto y comentarios: Equipo Internacional.