SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – C – 2021

ü  John announces that a new and better future is possible if we take refuge under the shadow of the Word of God

ü  The birth of Jesus takes place in a concrete political environment as well as in concrete religious environment.

ü  Thus, nothing will fall outside his redemption.

FIRST READING – Bar 5:1-9

o   The prophet Baruc invites Jerusalem to remove her robe of sadness and with her we are also invited to rejoice

o   Jerusalem put on queen’ clothes as a queen preparing for a celebration

o   Also put a diadem on your head, why?

o   Because God  makes  your splendor shine, because God will give you a new name: Peace-justice , the glory of God’s worship.

o   Stand up and see your children return from all parts of the earth where they had to migrate seeking asylum.

o   Because God has decided to lower the pride of those who believe to be important (the mountains and the hills will be made low) and exalt those who  are lowly and poor (the valleys will be filled to level ground)

o   God makes all these wonders, as a new Exodus.

o   The reading ends saying that God will lead Israel, will lead us, in joy, under the light of his glory, with mercy and justice.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM 126 

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
   we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
   and our tongue with rejoicing. 
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
  “The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
   we are glad indeed. 
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
   like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those who sow in tears
   shall reap rejoicing. 
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
   carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
   carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Ø  The author describes the joy of those who after their exile return to their country to their home. 

Ø  The pagans from the countries where they return are also surprised to see them so full of joy.

Ø  In this psalm there is a very beautiful image to describe the joy and the pain of this people: the time of sowing in which the sower does not know if the seed will germinate and reach its maturity. But when the time of the harvest comes and it is abundant he rejoices to see the fruit of his work.

Ø  In the same way they went to the exile weeping, now they come back laughing and singing. 

SECOND READING:  Phil. 1: 4-6. 8-11

v Paul remembers with joy and thankfulness the community of Philippi

v They were his partners in the proclamation of the gospel

v  Paul prays that what God has begun in them, their sanctification, he will continue to complete it. 

v May your love grow more and more and be transformed in a better knowledge and spiritual sensibility.  

GOSPEL – Lk 3:1-6

      John the Baptist begins his proclamation in the desert, his call to conversión to prepare the way for the coming of the One who has to come.

       Luke places this beginning of preaching in a concrete historical time: in politics he mentions the names of the Roman emperor and the Governor of Judea. In religión he says the name of the high priest. 

      He also tells that John was the son of Zachariah whom we met in the first chapter of his Gospel when Luke narrated the visitation of Mary to her kinswoman Elizabeth, the mother of John. 

      Al lof this helps us to realice that Jesus is not an imagination, not only a spiritual being, but a human being, and this human being is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity made flesh like ours; with all our limitations except sin.  

      John invites us to lower our pride, to raise our hope, to acknowledge our sins, to smooth the edges of our temperament. Why?

      to see the salvation that God is at work in the world. We only nee deyes to acknowledge his presence in the good that is done in different places of our earth by different persons from all races, creeds, colors, languages. 

COME LORD JESUS!   ¡MARANATHA!

CLARETIAN CORNER

Not without serious setbacks in the long and painful navigation we undertook, we finally boarded these coasts and the pious inhabitants of Cuba welcomed us with open arms, receiving every day unequivocal proof of their charity, and expressing many parents of the most well-regarded in the population by their social position and strong religiosity alive desires that as soon as possible we request the due authorization for the canonical and legal establishment of the holy institute of teaching that we wish to profess.

One of us, Your  Excellency has already undoubtedly received the crown she was coming to seek, God thus arranged it by his inscrutable judgments which we abide by; this and the other trials with which the Lord has visited us, and proved our vocation. All of this has encouraged us, because in contradictions we know very well that God works are better manifested. 

In the Peninsula there are not a few young women who wish to associate themselves with our  company, and who only wait to be called to come to our aid and share with us our work and our glories.

Let Your Excellency benevolently welcome our plea, hoping that your religiosity will authorize our foundation in due form by the means established by the sacred canons and laws of the kingdom that govern these overseas possessions.

Your humblest subjects.

Sr. Maria Antonia Paris                                                                       Sr. Maria Josefa Caixal

Sr. María Rosa Gual                                                                            Sr. Maria Encarnación Gual

Holy Visit of Cuba, September 25, 1852 (Second part of Letter 2)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DURAND, Marie-Laure. Croisée d’ogives in Prions en Eglise, 1-31 December, 2021.  

PARIS, Ma. Antonia. Letters

 

 

 

 

1 – FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – CYCLE C – 2021 

Ø  With the time of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year, a new liturgical cycle.

Ø  During the time of Advent, we prepare ourselves to welcome, give thanks and celebrate the coming among us of the Son of God, to be one of us

Ø  During this new liturgical year we will use the Gospel of Luke. The church in her liturgical reformation, after the Council Vatican II, offered to us the opportunity to read the 3 synoptic gospels in three years. The purpose is to help us to know Christ better through the eyes of those evangelists who had known the first witnesses or someone who had known them.   

Ø  The Jesus Luke describes is full of proximity, mercy, accepting everyone with great freedom.  He is the Good Shepherd who rejoices to find the lost coins, who goes out  to  meet his prodigal son that returns home… 

Ø  It has been said that Luke besides bien a physician was a painter. We do not know if this is true but he painted with his words. 

Ø  Luke with few strokes offers us a wonderful picture of Mary, as a woman of an incomparable beauty, who  being a teenager knew how to say yes to God.  

Ø  Let us see what the liturgy offers in this first Sunday of Advent.  

FIRST READING  – Jer 33:14-16

·         This reading from the prophet Jeremiah has a tone of fulfillment and hope.  

·         In those days, what days? The people of Israel and the Church have always understood “those days” as the end of time of history. 

·         God will fulfill his promises of joy to the houses of Israel and Judah, to the Church.  

·         And God will make a germinate a germ in the midst of his people.

·         This germ in Jesus who came as King of the truth, who has done justice to the sin of mankind in his own body.  

·          In this way he has saved us. The reading ends saying that this germ will be called "The Lord-is-our-righteousness"

·         Jesus elsewhere in this Gospel of Luke will tell us to "go and do the same."

·         Yes, let us go and do the same as our pastor has done, let us do justice in and with our lives.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps 25

R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
   teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my savior,
   and for you I wait all the day. 
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Good and upright is the LORD;
   thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
   and teaches the humble his way. 
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
   toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
   and his covenant, for their instruction. 
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul. 

v Lord show us the way

v We want to walk in your path, Lord.

v  Now that we are preparing for the Synod: “For a Synodal Church: communion, participation and mission" we say from the bottom of our hearts "discover us Lord your ways”.

SECOND READING – 1 Thes 3:12-4,2

      The apostle asks that the Lord give us such a love for God and for our brothers and sisters   

      That it strengths our heart,

      make us irreproachable on the day of the Lord's coming 

      And then Paul invites us to lead a holy life, following the indications that he himself gave to his community of Thessalonica. 

      This invitation is also addressed to us.  Let us see how we can live, more and more every day, according to those who believe and hope. It is not about doing things; it is about loving and thus being more free in ourselves every day and letting others be free.

GOSPEL -  Lk 2:25-28.34-36

§  Luke says that Jesus told his people of his second coming, that is, the end of history.  

§  This text has an apocalyptic style and therefore uses natural phenomena to explain something much deeper, which is the encounter of the human being with his Creator. Like those servants who had to give an account of what their master gave them before leaving; when the master asks them to explain how they have used the talents they had received,  they start worrying.   Giving accounts always puts us in tension even if we have not done anything wrong. 

§  The strong natural phenomena such as hurricanes, volcanoes, thunder, and lightning always appear in the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments to describe the coming of God (Exodus, the death of Jesus on the cross…).

§  In this gospel we encounter again the mysterious character of Daniel's book the "Son of Man.” He is always a figure of authority; he is someone with power and strength.

§  The evangelist says, transmitting to us what Jesus said, that when we see these events, we should raise our heads because our salvation has arrived. What events? 

o   Everything that is described as signs in the stars, in the sky, on earth can be everything that happens to us, not only of natural phenomena, but  wars and struggles between us humans. Not only wars between nations but also  between the members of the same family and in our hearts.

§  We are invited to be awake, that is, to be alert and do not let sin seduce us and destroy us.

§  To be awake to wait for him as the bride of the Song of Songs awaits the groom who comes illuminating the darkness, that is, giving joy and a fullness that we cannot even imagine.

§  Let us repeat what the first communities, full of enthusiasm and love, said Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!

	CLARETIAN CORNER

 

 

 

To Anthony Mary Claret, Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba

Your Most Illustrious Excellency,

María Antonia París, María Josefa Caixal, María Rosa Gual y María Encarnación Gual from the convent of the School Sisters of the Company of Mary, located in the City of Tarragona, to Your Most Illustrious Excellency, with due respect, we make present: that after having spent some of them several years of novitiate in that Monastery from which they come, admitted to religious profession as some of their companions did, they preferred to move to this Great Antilles as most in need of the spiritual help of religious education, taking part, in their own way, in the Holy Mission that brought Y.M.I.E.. to these shores with your companions.

Communicated the thought and consulted with its worthy and zealous spiritual directors the wise and virtuous Rv. José Caixal, Canon,  and the Reverend Father Master Tomás Gatell of the Order of Preachers; after  mature examination and repeated tests, they believed that our desire was nothing, but a special vocation of the Lord to which we should correspond on our part: Y.M.I.E.  was consulted, and your opinion of weight in this matter, corroborated the thought.  (the rest of   letter 2, next week) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY2

PARIS, María Antonia París. Epistolario. Presentación, introducciones a las cartas y notas por P. Juan Manuel Lozano cmf. 1993.

   34 - SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME -  B - 2021

CHRIST KING OF THE UNIVERSE 

«  We have reached the last Sunday of the liturgical year, the 34th Sunday in ordinary time. In this Sunday the liturgy of the church celebrates Jesus as King of the Universe. 

«  On the first Sunday in Ordinary time, we have celebrated the Baptism of the Lord Jesus. After his baptism in the Jordan River, the voice of the Father said to Jesus “You are my beloved Son.” 

«  Jesus has healed, taught, forgiven, and discussed with the religious authorities of his people, in a word, Jesus has lived a full human life, showing the unconditional love of the Father for all of us.   

«  During the 33 Sundays in Ordinary time, we have seen Jesus vulnerable on many occasions, and now the Church presents him as King and Lord.   

«  Even being king and Lord, he has not abandoned his tenderness, his compassion; on the contrary his kingship is of love, justice, and kindness for all.  

FIRST READING: Daniel 7:13-14 

Ø  Last week, we explained some interesting details of this book. Today we will concentrate in the message in chapter 7. 

Ø  The reading introduces the character of the “Son of man” title, which Jesus will apply to himself on many occasions.  

Ø  It is a title of sovereignty, of authority because to this character in the book of Daniel 

o   Royal power and dominion   will be given     

o   All the peoples and languages will respect him and will bow down before him.

o    I transcribe here the commentary of Luis Alonso Schökel:  

§  In our time, the believer cannot just simply wait for a heavenly being, which will come to judge the oppressors and the oppressing structures.  

§  In and from faith, the Christian person, who is convinced of the liberating, consoling, and encouraging value of the Word and of Jesus Project, must transform his struggles and sweats into current prophecy.  

§  Time has not changed the way God thinks.

§   It is up to us to do works of justice, solidarity, and fraternity amid a divided world, which is governed by the forces of evil.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps.  93   

R.  THE LORD IS KING; HE IS ROBED IN MAJESTY
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. THE LORD IS KING; HE IS ROBED IN MAJESTY
And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.
R. THE LORD IS KING; HE IS ROBED IN MAJESTY
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed;
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
R. THE LORD IS KING; HE IS ROBED IN MAJESTY

      This psalm belongs to the IV book of psalms (psalms 90-106.) 

      It is a hymn to the divine kingship 

      His power gives firmness to creation   

      The decrees of the Lord are faithful and true.   

      His house is adorned with holiness     

      The kingship and power of God is his holiness, his love, his kindness, his tenderness toward his creation.  

GOSPEL OF JOHN 18:33-37

§  John narrates the encounter between Jesus and Pilate through a series of seven scenes.  

§  The one we will read this Sunday is the second.  

§  It takes place inside the palace of Pilate.

§  During the interrogation Jesus declares himself king, but a king who does not belong to this world, in a word he declares himself God.  

§  He has come to give witness to the truth. What truth? The truth of God and, the truth of the human being.    

Only the one, who accepts the truth, can listen to his voice, the voice of the Master.   

SECOND READING: Rv 1:5-8

ü  This Reading is taken from the first chapter of the book of Revelation.   

ü  After the introduction and the greeting to the churches, the author of the book describes, in a poetic way, who Jesus is:  

o   He is the faithful witness  

o   He is the first among the dead and the King of the kings of the world.  

o   He loves us and has liberated us from our sins with his blood.  

o   He has made of us a kingdom of priests for God his Father.  

ü  He comes upon the clouds; this reminds us the son of man of the vision of the book of Daniel.  

ü  All even those who killed him will see him.  

ü  And after that Jesus introduces himself saying:   

o   I am the alpha and the omega    

o   The one who is, was and will come, the all-powerful 

CLARETIAN CORNER  

To Mother Antonia París 

Fontfroide, August 29, 1870 

My dear Mother in J.C., I have received your letter from the 23rd of the present month, after reading it I respond.  

The weather of Rome has not done good to me, besides this year there have been many special circumstances, like a very hot weather; having to go through the streets of Rome from half past seven to two in the afternoon, and many days I had to walk because I could not find a car to rent. Finally, the very serious business of the Council on the pope’s infallibility, all these things have affected me; thus, on May 23 I had a cerebral affection. I resisted and suffered much, my friends were alarmed, the remedies provided by the Physicians were practiced and are practiced.   

After the Superior of the Congregation knew it, he went to find me and took me to Prades so that with the change of climate and the other circumstances I could be remedied, because I was quite bad with a headache that did not leave me day and night less, that did not let me sleep or rest. 

Fifteen days after I was in Prades, I was notified that the French Government commanded and obliged that all newly arrived Spaniards had to be interned; and so, I had to go to this town called Fontfroide of the Diocese of Carcassonne, in which I am.  The name Fontfroide means cold fountain.   It is a monastery of very good Trappist Religious and they treat me very well; and since I am in this Monastery I feel much better, thank God.

This is in substance what has happened; you know that the Bishops of Lleida, Huesca, Barcelona, and Tarragona died. 

            The Bishops of Spain have been persecuted by our countrymen; but God has exalted us on the other hand, for all have celebrated the Spanish Episcopate for their costume, morality, doctrine, union. May God be blessed and praised.

  My kind regards to the sisters and to you 

Antonio María, arzobispo de Trajanópolis. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras-Año B. San Pablo 2005.

RR. DE MARÍA INMACULADA MISIONERAS CLARETIANAS. Cartas de los Orígenes. Madrid 2009.

SCHÖKEL, LUIS ALONSO. La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

CONFERENCIA EPISCOPAL ESPANOLA. Sagrada Biblia. Versión oficial.