Tuesday, November 2, 2021

 

 32 - SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - B –   2021 

v  Today in the Gospel Jesus tells us that the poor widow put more money in the Temple’s treasury than anybody else.

v  Who does give the most?   

v  We will be surprised…  

THE BOOKS OF KINGS

Ø  The two books of King are the continuation of the two books of Samuel.  

Ø  These books are part of what is called the Deuteronomist history, which goes from the entrance into the promised land to the Babylonian exile (587 BC) 

Ø  The author or authors of these books writes them after the return from the exile.  

Ø  They have the same theology as the rest of the Deuteronomist books: 

o   Monotheism. The God of Israel is the only God.     

o   The messianic hope, for the Southern Kingdom we have the promises of the Emmanuel, which fulfills the promise made to David, that his dynasty will remain on the throne of Israel.   

o   On the other hand, the Northern Kingdom establishes its legitimacy in their condition as heirs of Jacob and Joseph.   

o   The exile is seen as a punishment for their infidelity to the Covenant with Yahweh.  

FIRST READING - I Kgs  17:10-16 

«  In this Sunday’s reading we encounter the prophet, Elijah.  The ministry of this prophet is narrated in what is called the Cycle of Elijah (cc. 17-19 of I Kings). Elijah does his prophetic ministry in the Northern Kingdom; he denounces the infidelity of the kings and of the people.      

«  The country suffers a strong drought and in the book of Kings it is attributed to the words of Elijah who asked God to stop the rain until he, Elijah, will ask him the contrary. 

«  Elijah has asked this as a punishment for the unfaithfulness of the Kingdom of Israel or the Northern Kingdom.   

«  After Solomon’s death, his kingdom had been divided in two Kingdoms: Northern-Israel, Southern- Judah.   

«  The culture of those people attributed all the natural phenomena to God, they are his weapons.   

«  The scene of this Sunday first reading is situated in the context of the great drought and the poverty, which came from it.  

«  Elijah arrives to Zarephath of Phoenicia as God had told him. 

«  Zarephath was a Phoenician city situated between Sidon and Tyre on the Mediterranean shores near Lebanon.   

«  Elijah talks with a widow. He asks her for food and drink, the woman has only a small amount of food for her and her son; afterwards she will wait for death to come.   

«  Elijah asks her to give him food and assures her that the little provisions she has will last until the drought comes to an end.   

«  The woman believes in the word of the man of God, and the promise becomes a reality.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM   

R.   Praise the Lord, my soul!
 The LORD 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 he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R.   Praise the Lord, my soul!
 
 

ü   This psalm is a hymn to God, the creator of the universe and defender of the poor.  God  

o   makes justice to the poor

o   gives food to the hungry

o   gives freedom to the captive

o   gives sight to the blind

o   raises those who are bowed down

o   loves the just and protects the foreigner    

o   upholds the widow and the orphan   

o   destroys the plans of the wicked.     

ü  We may say that God reigns by protecting and caring and serving his creature with love and tenderness.   

GOSPEL  Mk 12:38-44

«  Jesus begins saying that we need to be careful and do not trust those who seek honors and distinctions, making us believe that they are superior and different from us.  

«  These who ask us to honor them, instead of all of us honoring God, devour the little that the poor have, for their own benefit.   

«  Jesus, who is observing the people who give their donation for the Temple, sees a poor widow who comes also and deposits two coins, because she has nothing else  to give. Nobody pays attention to her donation, because it is so insignificant.

«  Jesus sees more, he sees the heart, our truth, or our lie. He sees the truth of the poor woman, her full trust in her God.   

«  Jesus considers this situation so important that he calls his disciples around him, in the same way he did when he wanted to teach them about service. Now the lesson will be about complete trust in God, which is the true poverty mentioned in the first beatitude.  

o   Look, he said, this widow has given more than anyone else has. We can imagine the surprise in the face of the disciples, really our Teacher says sometimes estrange things.   

o   She has given more than anyone else has, because she has given the little she had for her sustenance, while the others have given the leftovers.   

«  How happy we would be if we could open ourselves to Jesus. He invites us to be free from the little or the much we have, and to have the freedom to share it with others.  

«  Happy are we if we learn the lesson on poverty, how free we will be! 

SECOND READING : Heb 9:24-28

ü  We read again from this beautiful letter on the priesthood of Christ.  

ü  Christ has entered not into a copy of the true sanctuary, like the sacred temple of Jerusalem, but he has entered God’s abode in heaven.    

ü  To be in the presence of God and to intercede for us, He is our mediator, our redeemer.    

ü  He does not have to offer sacrifices repeatedly. He has come at the end of time, and he offers the sacrifice once and for all for all of us, for the people from the past, present and future.   

ü  The reading ends with these words: in the same way that we die once and afterwards comes the judgement 

ü  In the same way Christ offered his life only once to take away the sins of many=all  

ü  And he will appear a second time to bring salvation to those who anxiously await for him 

ü  In the Eucharistic Celebration, we proclaim his death and we await his second coming. 

CLARETIAN CORNER 

 I tell you those things in order that you may have an idea of what a foundation entails.   

What matters is that you and all those young women, who will join the group, may be good religious women, and the approval will come when God disposes. I know by experience that some Institutes  when they sought the approval, they were fervent but, after getting the approval some unpleasant things  happened, in which I had to intervene.    

What matters, Mother, is to have patience and pray intently God and the Most Blessed Virgen Mary; to follow the Rules you already have and sanctify yourselves; the rest will come and it will come in due time, and with peace and quietness let us keep practicing the opportune diligences. That rush, that impatience you have for the final approval do not look as spiritual as I would like from you, because everything will come on due time, trust in God, put yourself in his hands.  (from the letter from Claret to Paris January 1, 1870- Letter 289)

 Anthony Mary, Archbishop of Trajanópolis 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

RR. Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters. Cartas de los Orígenes, Madrid 2009.  

Schökel, Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

Sagrada Biblia. Versión oficial de la Conferencia episcopal española.

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