SECOND SUNDAY IN
ORDINARY TIME – B – 2021
The first reading and the Gospel speak
of vocation as call and, of the response of those called.
BOOK OF SAMUEL –
· The two books of Samuel are placed between the
book of Judges and the books of Kings.
· The two books of Samuel were a single book and
o
They were among the “Former Prophets” (Joshua,
Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings ) in the Jewish tradition
o
Or among the historical books (Joshua, Judges,
1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther y 1-2 Maccabees)
of the Christian tradition.
· The books of Samuel have been composed from
diverse oral and written traditions.
· The main theme of the books is the
monarchy.
· The monarchy could only be understood as under
the only kingship of God.
· At the same time the monarchy open the way to
the messianic hopes.
FIRST
READING 1 Sm 3:3b-10.19
Ø Samuel has been offered to the Lord by his
mother Hannah, in thanksgiving for having conceived and given birth to him,
since she was barren.
Ø The child lives in the temple under the care
of the priest Eli.
Ø
The author says
that Samuel did not know the Lord and his way to relate with humans, thus he
does not understand when he hears his name for three times. The boy thought it was
Eli who called him.
Ø At the beginning Eli does not pay too much
attention to the child, but later he realizes that it is Yahweh who is calling
the boy.
Ø When you hear the voice again say: “Speak
Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Ø The reading ends praising Samuel, the Lord was
with him and not permitting any
word of his to be without effect.
Ø When we read the book we realize how Samuel,
after meeting the Lord, develops a friendship and deep intimacy with Him during
his whole life.
Ø What a beautiful way to answer the call! We
all have received a call, let me rephrase: We are all called here and now, the
Lord continues to call us during our entire life, and it is our decision to
answer or not his call in the diverse situations of our life.
RESPONSORIAL
PSALM – Ps 40: 2-10
v . (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have
waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R. Here
am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
"In the written scroll it is prescribed for
me,
to do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!"
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD,
know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
This psalm is beautiful, let us
reflect on some of the thoughts taken from its verses.
o
The psalmist has
waited for the Lord and God has listened to him and put a hymn to God in his mouth
o
God does not want
either holocaust or sacrifices, he wants us “here I am”
o
The Law of God is
in the heart of the psalmist; his desire is to do the will of God.
o
I have not been
silent; I have announced your justice.
GOSPEL Jn 1:35-42
John the Baptist is with two of his disciples
to whom he signals Jesus as the Lamb of God.
They follow him, without saying anything
Jesus asks them: what do you seek? I have read
a commentary that says: at the beginning of the Gospel of John the question in
the lips of Jesus is: what do you
seek? And at the end of the Gospel on Resurrection day, the question to Mary
Magdalene is: whom do you seek?
There has been a process from this first
encounter to the resurrection.
They ask Him: where do you live?
And the answer is: come and see
And John tells us that they went and stayed
with Him that day.
John remembers even the hour of this first encounter,
around 4 p.m.
John was so
impressed by this first encounter which changed his life, that even in his old
age he remembers it as if it had been yesterday.
Yes, who has a true personal encounter with
the Lord, will never forget this experience which will guide from that moment
his/her life.
Andrew, the other disciple who stayed with
Jesus that night, goes on the following day to meet his brother Simon and
invites him to meet the Teacher Jesus
And Jesus gives him a new name, sign of the
change of life which will progressively take place in the fisherman from
Galilee. From that moment on he will be
called Peter, which means Rock.
From that moment on Peter remains enthusiastic
with Jesus with whom he begins a great friendship.
The fisherman from Galilee, Peter, will have
to work hard to assimilate the teachings of the Master, and to become the
fundamental rock of the church of Jesus.
SECOND READING 1Cor 6:13c-15ª, 17-20
ü Paul reminds the community of Corinth that the
body is not for immorality but for the Lord.
ü As God raised Jesus he will also raise us up.
ü We are united to Christ, and who is united to
him has his Spirit within him/her.
ü And again Paul asks the community to stay away
from immorality, since any sin is outside the body except immorality, which is
a sin against our own body.
ü Because our body is the Temple of the Holy
Spirit.
ü
We have been redeemed at a high price,
thus let us glorify God with our body.
Madrid,
April 13 1860
My dear Mother in J.C., I have received your
letter […]
Thanks to God I enjoy good health, and I
am doing a Novena to the Most Blessed Sacrament with a very abundant attendance
of the people from the Royal Court. During Lent I have peached in the Court and
I have gone to the Escorial (Monastery
in that city near Madrid) where I have also preached and given a Mission in the town of Valdemorillo;
everyone has confessed, and besides I have confirmed more than a thousand
people of this town. When I see the need there is of the divine doctrine, and
the hunger that people have to hear it, I am anxious to go out and shout in the
whole world preaching the divine word […]
My kind regards to the Community and count
on your servant and chaplain Anthony
Mary Claret archbishop. (Letter 186 to Mother Maria Antonia Paris, translated from Spanish, in Cartas de los Orígenes)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cartas de los Orígenes (Letters from the Origins) of the RR.
of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters. Madrid 2009
Sagrada Biblia, official edition of the Spanish
Conference of Bishops. Madrid 2012.
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