XXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B – 2021   

Last Sunday’s readings   

Ø  said that it is not enough to listen to or to read the Law, we have to practice it. 

Ø  And it described also what is the true Law that God has given us:    

o   To love and to serve those in need    

o   To love one another as Jesus has commanded us    

o   To even love our enemies.   

This Sunday the liturgy offers readings that speak to us about  

Ø  Opening ears and mouth (EPHETAH = OPEN). To be free, to live and to proclaim the Law, the Good News of Jesus Christ.  

Ø  Allow God, Jesus, to liberate us from everything that prevents us to be free.  

FIRST READING: Is 35:4-7

      The section of the book of Isaiah from chapter 34:1 to 35:10 has the same style that the part of the book called Second Isaiah (Deutero-Isaiah), thus it seems that these chapters have been written by the same author, poet and cantor of Israel’s return to the promised land. 

      Tell those who fear, do not fear your God; he comes to liberate and save you. 

      This liberation is described in a poetic, beautiful and graphic language.    

o   The eyes of the blind will be opened, as if they had been closed, and that was the reason they could not see. 

o   The ears of the deaf will be opened too, thus the sound will be able to go through and thus  

o   The tongue of the mute will sing    

o   The lame will jump around as does the most agile animal the deer.   

o   What will the tongue, that was mute until then, sing? It will sing the wonders that God has made, makes and will make in the desert.    

o   Not only in the natural desert, but also in the desert of the human heart, that lives closed to the beauty of our God.   

o   On God’s path, everything will recover its original beauty, and even more.  

      This reading is in the liturgy for us, men, and women, from the XXI century.  

o   Regardless of our deafness, muteness, paralysis, regardless of what we are lacking, our God will transform it into freedom, into joy, if we allow him.    

o   Our job will be to allow him to make us able to walk on his ways.    

RESPONSORIAL PSALM : Ps  146

This psalm is a hymn of praise to God creator and protector of the poor.     

 Praise the Lord, my soul!
 The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
 The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
 The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

      The God of Jacob keeps his fidelity forever.

       He does justice to the oppressed, give food to the hungry, frees the captive and protects the foreigner.   

      He gives sight to the blind; he lifts up those who are bowed down.    

      He protects the widow and the orphan.   

      However, he removes from him the wicked who goes through crooked ways.  

      Here we found the same theme as in the first reading; our God is not only Creator and Liberator, but King as well.  

GOSPEL Mark 7:7.31-37

ü  Jesus leaves the region of Tyre goes through  Sidon toward Galilee, and from there to the Decapolis

The Decapolis = Ten cities: [deka=ten and polis=city] was formed by a group of cities in the Eastern border between the Roman Empire, Judea and Syria. They did not constitute a unity among themselves, but they were considered together for their language, culture, geographical and political situation.  All of them are situated now in what are Jordan, Syria, and Israel.   

ü  Jesus is ministering in these pagan cities.     

ü  He adapts himself to the traditions and beliefs of the inhabitants of the region. They need the miracle worker to touch the place that hurts or to touch the sick person, and that he be alone with the one that need to be healed.  

ü  Jesus answering to this need of the people of the region, takes the man apart from the crowd, puts his fingers in the ears of the man, and touches his tongue with his saliva. There was a common belief that the saliva had medicinal properties.  

ü  Afterwards he pronounces the Word “EPHPHATHA” BE OPENED.”

ü  And immediately the man could hear and speak.    

ü  Jesus gives them the order not to say anything about that. We are again confronted with Mark’s “messianic secret.” 

ü  This secret is now necessary because this miracle cannot be understood, in due form, until after the resurrection of Jesus. 

ü  The Church has introduced at the end of the celebration of the sacrament of baptism an optional rite, in which the celebrant says “EPHPHAHA” BE OPENED!

ü  Why? To listen to the Word and to proclaim it.  

SECOND READING . James  2:1-5

«  Brethren do not show any preferences or distinctions or discrimination, if you have accepted the faith in Christ Jesus. 

«  Because if, someone comes to your assembly well dressed and wearing rings, while another comes with dirty and old clothes. If you believe in Christ, you cannot treat them differently. 

«  You cannot give to the rich a place of honor and forget about the poor. 

«  Is it not this, what you have done, says James? You have allowed yourselves to judge between those two persons.  

«  Listen and reflect my dear brethren, does not God choose the poor of this world to make them rich in faith and heirs of his Kingdom, Kingdom promised to those who love him?   

«  This reflection of James challenges us Catholic Christians from the XXI century, on our behavior and on our heart.  

«  We, like those members of the community of Jerusalem, make differences, but we do not bend over those that God has bend himself over, but we bend ourselves toward our selfishness and our sins.   

«  Let us not forget that:   

o   We have all been created by the same God   

o   All redeemed, by the same Christ Jesus.    

o   All brethren, by creation and by redemption.  

o   All called to the Church by the same baptism and sealed by the same Spirit.   

o   All sent to the same mission: to proclaim the Good News of Salvation.   

o   Each one of us according to his/her way of life must accomplish the mission of the followers of Jesus, of the Church. The responsibilities in the Church are services and not honors, for which they had to treat us differently, better than the rest.   

  J.M.J

 

 M. Antonia París de S. Pedro

 

Madrid, March 20 1868

 

My dear Mother in J.C., I have received your letter from the 10th of the present month, and after reading it I say that I feel as the sister nurse does; but what can we do? God has arranged it so, for our greatest good, let his most holy will be done. 

I am very glad that, with what Rev. Dionisio says, the construction works can continue. Everything will come at its proper time. Experience has taught me that in God’s works, we need much patience, interior peace, humility, resignation and conformity with God’s will.    

We are in Lent, time to think more and more in the Lord’s Passion, for this reason I have composed this holy card, so that the girls of the schools and the other Christian persons could remember Jesus every hour.  

I have delivered the letter to the Archbishop of Cuba and we have spoken about the Constitutions. Have trust in the Lord. My kind regards to all.                                                                 

 Antonio María Archbishop of Trajanópolis

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus.  Convivium Press 2011.

RAVASSI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras. Año B. Bogotá Colombia 2005

RR. DE MARÍA INMACULADA MISIONERAS CLARETIANAS, Cartas de los Orígenes  (Letters from the Origins), 2009.

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. LA BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO. Misioneros Claretianos. China 2008.

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 XXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B - 2021 

The theme for the  22^nd  Sunday in Ordinary time is the law given by our God and Father, the law of life and liberty, which requires from us to abide it in freedom, which is the only way to live in the law of love.   

The three readings speak to us about this same theme. It is not enough to hear and to know intellectually, we need to care for the needs of our sisters and brothers.   

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

Ø  In the Hebrew Scriptures this book is called “These are the words” and in the Greek translation it has been given the name of Deuteronomy: deuterons [second] nomos [law]  

Ø  We find this book after the Book of Numbers and it is the fifth book of the Pentateuch (5 books) which is the name we give to the 5 first books of the Bible, and our Jewish brothers call it the Torah or the Law.  

Ø  “These words” are the words of Moses to the people before the entrance into the promised land, words written in different literary styles, especially in legal vocabulary.  

Ø  The book is organized in 4 speeches pronounced by Moses, who is introduced to us as leader, prophet, and legislator.   

Ø  The biblical tradition likes to have important characters say the teachings the author wants to convey in his work, these characters are not necessarily the authors of these teachings. This is the case of the Book of Deuteronomy.     

Ø  The reformation found in the Book of Deuteronomy 

o   Centralization of worship which brings the   

o   Centralization of justice and of

o   Other religious and social measures.       

FIRST READING : Dt 4:1-2.6-8

«  In the previous chapters, Moses makes a synthesis of the history of the people.  

«  In truth it is not Moses who makes either the synthesis or the speech, but the different authors of the book. 

«  Israel is asked to listen to the commandments and decrees which Moses teaches them in the name of God

«  On fulfilling the precepts and decrees, they will be able to enter and live in the land that God promised their fathers.   

«  Israel cannot take from or add to the law that Moses has taught them in the name of God.    

o   Nothing can be taken from the Law because God is the LAW, which He has given them for their wellbeing, only God knows what is good for us.  

o   Nothing can be added to the law, because whatever we add is the fruit of our pride, which inclines us to be willing “to be like gods.”   

o   The Law is God’s and not ours. We cannot make it either easier or more difficult.  

«  Our wisdom and prudence are found in acting according to the precepts of God.   

«  The author of this part of the book asks a question: what people, what nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us?

Yes, anyone who follows the law, which God has put in the heart of every human being, realizes that he or she is very close to God who guides and protects him or her.  

Responsorial Psalm Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5

  The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Whoever walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.
The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
by whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.
The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord
Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
shall never be disturbed.
The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord 

      The psalmist asks himself LORD WHO CAN ABIDE IN YOUR TENT?  That is, who can be near you abiding in your home, living with you?    

And he answers to his question mentioning a list of behaviors who respond to what God has prescribed in his Law.   This means that those who abide in God and God in them are those who live their lives according to the will of God revealed in the Law.      

GOSPEL OF MARK  7:1-8.14-15.21-23

ü  In this reading, we witness a discussion between the Teachers of the Law and Jesus. 

ü  The Teachers of the law are scandalized, angry, worried because the disciples eat without having previously washed their hand. In truth, they are questioning the behavior of Jesus, but they only mention his disciples.   

ü  Jesus answers with vehemence quoting Isaiah 29:13.   

ü  Jesus attacks the worship that man/woman have invented ignoring what God has said.   

ü  We may discover this same passion against the worship invented to falsely quiet down our hearts, not worshiping our Father, in Is 1:10-20.   

ü  We follow very carefully the liturgical laws, which we have invented ourselves; but at the same time, we forget about the fraternal love, in justice and respect for our brothers and sisters who suffer, are exploited, and humiliated.  

ü  We recite prayers, which is a good thing to do, but at the same time we do not question the many discriminations that we have inside our heart, the pride and self-contentment when we judge ourselves better than the rest because we are in the church; how we ignore those whom we do not like or who are difficult for us.   

ü  But Jesus invites us day after day to be like Him, to act like Him who gave his life for his friends and for his enemies, for all. Jesus loves all of us, those I like and those I do not like.        

ü  To live as Jesus invites us to, we need to allow him to free us to be free, only then we will be able to live according to the commandments.   

LETTER FROM JAMES

§  The seven letters which are not from Paul: James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1,2,3 John and Judas, are called Catholic Letters since the second century.    

§  Apparently, there is no specific reason to call them with this name apart from considering them universal letters addressed to the Church in general.   

§  In the New Testament we find several characters called James:   

o   James the son of Zebedee and brother of John (Mk 1:17; 3,17; Hch 1:22)

o   James the son of Alpheus (Mk 3:18; Hch 1:13

o   James the brother of the Lord (Gal 1:19; 2:9)  

SECOND READING Jas 1:17-18;21-27

o   James reminds all those who have been baptized, that everything that we have, has  been given by God, the giver of all that is good.   

o   God has chosen us as the first fruits of his creatures.  

o   He invites us also to accept with docility, that is with pleasure and thanksgiving, the word that the same God has sowed in us.  Word, which is the Gospel of Jesus.   

o   The Word is not only to be heard, but also to be put into action, this means, according to love (to visit the orphans, the widows in their tribulations…) We may do a list of all those who wait for our love, in our society, in our faith community, in our family, at our work. 

o   God does not need our plans, our programs, our courses, etc. we are the ones who need them. God needs that I love every human being, and this will lead me to do good to everyone, according to what every person needs from me.    

    

Beginning with the day of my profession (August 27 1855)  I say to Your Most Illustrious Lordship   [Caixal] that when His Illustrious Excellency  [Claret] put the crown  I felt a weight so extraordinary on my head that it make bend, and naturally the crown weighed very little since it was formed by very fine flowers.  As I wondered about the great weight, Our Lord told me “This is my daughter, the burden that you carry of the Reformation of my Church; and His Divine Majesty called me three times “my spouse” with great love making me understand that the Eternal Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit loved me much: And Our Lord said to me “My daughter: from now on I want to be in the midst of your heart as on my own throne…  Venerable  María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Report to Caixal 9. 

His Holiness grants faculty to His Most Illustrious Excellency who through his discretion and conscience may admit to the Religious Profession the supplicant Virgins, on the twenty seventh day of August of the present year 1855, infra Missam (within the Mass), that His Most Illustrious Excellency celebrated having been especially authorized; being forty one years old she made the solemn perpetual vows of Poverty, Obedience, Cloister and Chastity.  And she received the veil of the Order of St. Benedict, adopted as the most appropriate for this Institute, being present the already mentioned Presbyters Rev.  José Manuel Díaz Hevia and Rv.Paladio Curríus. And being the truth, and for the record, the new and first Professed Sister of the Institute signs, with the His Most Illustrious Excellency Archbishop already mentioned.

Anthony Mary Claret, Archbishop of Cuba.     María Antonia de San Pedro   (from the Act of the Profession of María Antonia) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALVAREZ, GOMEZ. History of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, ch 6.

DESCLÉES DE BROUWER. Biblia de Jerusalén, nueva edición totalmente renovada

PARIS, María Antonia. “Report to Caixa”l

RAVASSI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras. Año B. Bogotá Colombia 2005

SAGRADA BIBLIA, versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española. Madrid 2011

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21 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B – 2021 

 

      The readings for this Sunday’s liturgy are an invitation to choose between the true God and the false idols:

o   Joshua asks the Israelites whether they really want to follow the God who liberated them from Egypt, or whether they prefer to go back to the securities of the bondage in Egypt.  

o   Jesus asks his disciples whether they want to leave him too, because his words are tough.  

o   Who are we going to choose and follow?  

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

«  This book narrates que conquest of the Promised Land by Israel. 

«  The conquest is described    

o   In a synthetic and simple way 

o   Probably it was neither so easy, nor so straightforward.   

o   The tribes must have conquered different parts of the land of Canaan during a long period of time and by fighting. 

o   Some would have come as workers, other as nomad shepherds…   

«  This book is essential to realize the fulfilment of the promises to the fathers, of giving them the land; otherwise the exodus from Egypt would have been in vain. 

«  The Scripture scholars look at this book in different ways:   

o   Some consider it so much close to the rest of the Pentateuch that they believe it should be part of it, and that would make a Hexateuch (6 books).  

o   Others consider it so much like the Deuteronomy but very different from the other four books, thus they speak of a Tetrateuch (4 books). 

«  The composition of this book: 

o   Most of the book seem to have been written by a Deuteronomist author.  

o   Later an author or several authors from the priestly tradition added the following:  

§  The distribution of the land   

§  The sanctuary cities  

§  The levitical cities  

«  THEOLOGY OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA:   

o   The land is a gift from Yahweh to Israel, his chosen people, it is the land promised to the fathers.  

o   This gift comes with a condition: faithfulness. 

o   Whenever Israel forgets about this, it loses the land

o   This was the way that Israel could   explain  and understand the meaning of the exile to Babylon, because it had  not been faithful to God.  

o   If it dreams to go back, it will have to be faithful and not contaminating itself with the non-believers.  

 

FIRST READING : Joshua 24:1-2ª,15-17,18b

Ø  Joshua, Moses’ successor, who has led the people in its entrance in the promised   land, now, before his death he assembles the tribes in Shechem, the heart and the center of the promised and conquered land and he asks them the great question: who do you want to serve? 

Ø  In the Old Testament the verb, “to serve” does not have a servile meaning, but it means to adhere joyfully and freely to the project of God.  

Ø  Joshua reminds the people what God has done for them since the call to Abraham, and how he has fulfilled his promises, and he adds AS FOR ME AND MY FAMILY WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.   

Ø  The people answer, “we will serve the Lord. He is our God!   

Ø  This section of the book is presented in the form of a covenant, as the pacts made among the Hittites between the lords and their vassals: the remembrance of what the Lord had done for his vassals, the terms of the pact and the witnesses.     

This pact has two directions one vertical between the tribes and Yahweh, the other one horizontal, the pact with Yahweh establishes a union pact between the tribes, giving them a sense of being a people. 

Responsorial Psalm Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21

R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Many are the troubles of the just one,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him;
he watches over all his bones;
not one of them shall be broken.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

 

GOSPEL John, 55.60-69

ü  We have reached the end of chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. Jesus has fed   the crowd, He has called himself the bread that comes down from heaven, he has said that we have to eat his flesh and drink his blood to have life eternal. Those who heard him were not able to accept this vocabulary and have left. 

ü  Jesus addresses his disciples that have doubts also, with the great question: Do you want to leave too?  

ü  Peter, as in the confession at Caesarea Philippi, which Matthew presents in his gospel, says: to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and you are the Holy One of God.     

ü  This episode of Jesus’ life has a great importance in the Gospel of John. It has been called the Galilean crisis.  It establishes a before and an after. Afterwards Jesus leaves his native land and travels to the South, toward Jerusalem which will be the end of his earthly life.   

ü  Here the disciples are faced with a decisive choice in their lives, like Israel in Shechem. 

ü  The liturgy presents to us the same question, who do we want to follow?  Jesus who gives life, but whose following is difficult, and his proposals are most of the time incomprehensible? or do we prefer the comfort offered by our society, which is a way that leads to death?   

ü  The choice is ours; we will find at the end of our journey whatever we may have chosen during our life.  

ü  Hopefully our answer will be like Joshua’s “I and my family we will follow the Lord, or like Peter, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life; you are the holy one of God.  

 

SECOND READING Ephesians 5: 21-32

We continue with the letter to the Ephesians.   

«  The author of the letter has spoken up to this point about the union and harmony that must exist among the members of the Church.   

«  Now he turns his eyes toward the family, the domestic church, to remind them also about unity and harmony of its members  among them and with Christ. 

«  The author uses the expressions of his time, that he does not want to make it the Word of God, what is the Word of God is the meaning of what it is manifested in human words. Probably in our time we would use other words to convey the same meaning that “submission” conveys. 

The marriage union is called to be the image of the union between Christ and the Church.  The relationship between man and woman united in matrimony has to be the reflection and the image of the relationship existing between Christ and his Church: a union of mutual love and surrendering.   

 

             CLARETIAN CORNER 

These texts are related to the foundation of my Congregation RR. of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters.   During the month of August there are 3 dates very meaningful for us Claretians.   On August 15 1851 we remember what we call the charismatic foundation, date when the foundress María Antonia Paris and four companions made a vow not to separate from each other and go wherever the bishop would send them in mission.  On August 25 1855 the bishop of Santiago de Cuba Saint Anthony Mary Claret signed the decree of the foundation of the Congregation in Santiago de Cuba and on August 27 of the same year 1855 María Antonia París made her profession also in Santiago de Cuba,  being the first member of the new congregation. Thus, a new congregation was founded in the church. 

Thus making use of the apostolic faculties granted to Us in  the already mentioned Rescript   we accept the time they have spent in  strict closure as Novitiate, and we also approve and adopt from now on as more conformable and apt to this Institute, the habit and religious veil of the Order of St. Benedict which they put on when they began the Novitiate  by virtue of the authorization that We gave them, while we elevated to His Holiness our plead;   and indeed we admit them to the Religious Profession, which We will receive in the way established by the same Sacred Rescript, from our  beloved daughter  Ma. Antonia de San Pedro, on the twenty-seven day of the current month of August; and that of her Sisters and our beloved daughters, we will receive it on the third day of next September, and once the profession will be done, we will pronounce them as RELIGIOUS OF THE APOSTOLIC INSTITUTE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD AND OUR LADY.     

Given in our Archbishop’s Palace of Santiago de Cuba, on the twenty-five of August and in the Lord’s year one thousand eight hundred fifty-five. Anthony M. Archbishop of Cuba

 

So, I made my long –awaited profession on August 27 of the same year in the hands of my prelate, to the joy of everybody, and more happiness in my soul-this one cannot be expressed- notwithstanding the difficult preparation with so many cares in the assurance of the foundation, the lower a point in the fervor of my spirit. With my thought fixed in the moment of pronouncing the holy vows, the moment seemed to me like centuries, and even, with so many serious circumstances met in my profession, none of them was sufficient to disturb the peace and calm of my soul.  Venerable María Antonia París, Autobiografía 225. 

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

CLARET, ANTONIO MARÍA, Document of the Foundation of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters. 

PARIS, MARÍA ANTONIA, Autobiografía

RAVASSI, GIANFRANCO, Según las Escrituras Año B. San Pablo Bogotá Colombia 2005. 

SAGRADA BIBLIA. Official version of the Spanish Conference of Bishops. B.A.C.  Madrid 2011.

SCHOKEL, LUIS ALONSO, La Biblia de nuestro pueblo. Misioneros Claretianos, Ediciones Mensajero, China 2010.