Tuesday, February 22, 2022

EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME   – C – 2022

Ø  This Sunday’s readings help us to reflect on our words and to take care of them, since they are the reflection of our inner life. 

Ø  Jesus invites us not to judge.  

BOOK OF BEN SIRACH  

v  It is the only book of the Old Testament that has the signature of its author   (50,27)

v  It was written originally in Hebrew, by the master of wisdom Jesus Ben Sirach. 

v  Around the year 180 a.C. in Jerusalem.  

v  Ben Sirach studied what we now call the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures: The Law, the Prophets and the other Writings of his ancestors.    

v  He wrote for the young people of the rich families of Jerusalem   

v  He wanted to transmit the religious heritage of Israel to the new generations.  

v  He knew how to instill in the young people the values of their traditions and above all, his unconditional faith in God.  

v  His grand-child translated the book into Greek, language that was more familiar to the new generations ( 132-117 B.C)

v  This book was excluded from the canon of the books accepted as revealed by the Jewish community, because they believed it had been written originally in Greek. 

v  Thus, also excluded from the canon of the books accepted by the communities of the Reformation, because they adopted the Hebrew Scriptures. 

FIRST READING   Sir 27: 5-8

ü  According to the author of this book, our defects become visible in our discussions.  

ü  To explain this, he makes an interesting comparison, the action of sifting.

ü  When we shift grain of any kind, we separate what is not useful from what is good.  

ü  Thus, the author says that our defects are made visible in our discussions, in the same way as the action of sifting makes visible what is garbage.   

ü  He makes another comparison, the potter’s oven that tests the quality of the vessel as our words reveal our mind, our thoughts, and our reasoning.    

ü  The fruit of a tree reveals the way it has been taken care of.  

ü  In the same way as our words reveal our mind. 

ü  Thus, a wise advice is not to praise anyone before he or she has spoken.  

ü  Because the test of man and woman is in our words, which reveal our inner being.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  - Psam  91 (92)

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,
To proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
Declaring how just is the LORD,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you. 

·         This is an individual thanksgiving psalm, whose structure is:

o   Introduction (2-4)

o   The body of the psalm where the works of the just alternate with those of the wicked.  (5-12)

o   Conclusion (13-16) the actions of God are a stumbling block for the foolish.

·         Following the theme that we began in the first reading, the psalm, by means of suggestive images, praises God for the just 

·         These will grow like palm trees, like cedars, in the house of the Lord 

·         In their old age they will still be fruitful 

·         With their lives, they will proclaim that in our God there is neither malice nor injustice.  

GOSPEL  Lk 6:39-45

In the Gospel we will read on Sunday there are 3 sayings or teachings of Jesus to his disciples, related to a life of wisdom, not only human but also divine.   

*      Something very easy to understand is that a blind person  cannot be a guide, because he or she does not see 

o   Jesus continues to say that the disciple is not superior to his master, but 

o   When the disciple will finish his or her training  he /she will be like the Master  

o   When will the training be finished?  When we will attain holiness, or in eternal life.  

*      The next example participates of the exaggerations that sometimes Jesus uses 

o   A straw can be in the eye but not a wooden beam  

o   Maybe Jesus wants to help us to reflect on that,

o   if we do not see, it means that we are like the blind of that saying who cannot guide because he does not see 

o   How easy it is for us to judge, to criticize the actions of the others, without realizing that we have the same defects, and maybe still more! 

*      Each tree gives the fruits according to its nature and its health  

o   Jesus says that we will know the tree by its fruits 

o   The same is true about us, because our mouth speaks of what we have in the heart  

o   This is the same thing that the wise man Ben Sirach wanted to tell us in the first reading   

*      Am I so blind that I do not see how my fruits really are?

SECOND READING   1 Cor 15: 54-58

v  Paul says that death will be destroyed by the victory, the victory of Christ  

v  And the apostle invites us to be fully devoted to the work of Christ   

v  The work of Christ is our salvation, the salvation of all 

v  With our works we collaborate with the work of Christ   

v  Paul adds that our labor, the labors for to announce the salvation, will not be in vain 

v  Do we work with enthusiasm; do we cooperate with fervor and joy in the work of the Lord, the salvation of our brothers and sisters?   

CLARETIAN CORNER

MOTHER FOUNDRESS

One night while praying and in bitter tears, pleading to our Lord that by the merits of His Passion and death to have mercy on the necessities of His church which at that time were many, our Lord told me and pointing at Mgr. Claret as if I saw him between our Lord and me.” This, my daughter, is the apostolic person whom you have asked me for so many years and with so many tears”.

His Divine Majesty showed me the grace He poured on that holy soul for the preaching of the gospel, and our Lord told me that there was no other remedy for the peace of the church. I did not know that person. Only a few days before I heard that a   certain chaplain by the name of Monsen Claret began preaching with much zeal about the honor due to God and the salvation of souls. It seems to me that have been at least eleven or twelve years ago.[1]

FATHER FOUNDER

When I was still a small boy in elementary school, a distinguished visitor to the school asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I answered that I wanted to be a priest  Accordingly, when I had successfully completed my elementary school, I was enrolled in the Latin class taught by a very holy and learned priest, Dr. John Riera. From him I learned and memorized nouns, verbs, genders, and a bit more, but as the class was discontinued I could no longer study and had to give it up .

Since my father manufactured thread and cloth, he set me to work in his factory . I obeyed without a word, a long face, or any sign of displeasure. I set to work as hard as I could and never spent an idle, half-hearted day. I did everything to the best of my ability so as not to displease my dear parents in the slightest, because I loved them very much and they loved me.[2]

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Saint Anthony Mary. Autobiography.

PARIS, Venerable María Antonia. Autobiography

CONFERENCIA EPISCOPAL ESPAÑOLA. Sagrada Biblia, versión oficial.



[1] PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography,19.

[2] CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiography, 30-31 Regina Tutzo – Claretian Missionary Sisters – West Palm Beach FL 

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