18 SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME 2022
Today’s readings invite us to reflect
and think in the vanity of some things and actions of our life. Let us see what
do Qoohelet , the wise man from the Old
Testament; Luke the Eangelist and Paul the great missionary of the gentiles,
have to tell us.
THE BOOK OF
QOOHELET
§ This book was called, and it is still called
Ecclesiastes
§ For its writing style we infer that the author
wrote during the Hellenistic period, the time when Israel was under the
domination of kings who favored de Greek culture.
§ We are surprised by the free-thinking spirit
of the author. Surprising, in this small
work, is the free-thinking spirit of its author regarding the theological
tradition of his people and, his departure from all conventionalisms, which
makes him original in the Israelite wisdom tradition.
§ Almost
all the ideas cultivated by his co-religionists, engaged in wisdom, are
subjected to his scathing and pragmatic criticism.
§ Despite deserving the qualification of sage,
Qoohelet emphasizes throughout his work the inability of wisdom to provide man
with knowledge that assures him existence: prosperity, long life, happiness.
§ According to the traditional way of thinking
in the people of Israel, except for Job, they had a rigid conception of divine
retribution. According to this conception man is remunerated according to his
deeds, good or bad, the just (or wise) is called to success in life, the wicked
(or foolish) lives doomed to existential failure.
§ For his part, Qoohelet openly distrusts this
paradigm, and bases his negative view on existence itself. (taken from the Sagrada
Biblia, official edition of the Conference of Bishops of Spain, pp. 1037-38)
FIRST READING Ecclesiastes
(Qoohelet) 1:2;2:21-23
ü The author of the book asks what is the use of
all the concerns human beings have during their life.
ü We work and then we must leave the fruit of
our work to others who have not worked, but receive the fruit of our cares
ü He wonders what does man get out of all his
labors and pursuits under the sun?
ü Only pain, sufferings, and fatigues.
ü What this author says would be true if we did
not know, by faith, that all these cares are not vain for those who believe in
Jesus, the only Son of the Father, ultimately for those who believe and trust
unconditionally in God.
ü Here we need to ask ourselves what is the God
I believe in?
ü Is it the same God that Jesus came to announce
to us as the great good news?
ü The God who loves us individually and as a
people, who knows us and who seeks us because He wants us to live forever with
Him in eternity where He is happy.
ü Let us devote ourselves with peace, but with
effort, to change the sin that is in our world so that, our world becomes the kingdom of God.
Responsorial Psalm - Ps 89: 3-4. 5-6. 12-13. 14 y 17
R. (1) If today you hear
his voice, harden not your hearts.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the
changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.
Fill us at daybreak with your
kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all
our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be
ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
Ø The author of this psalm invites us to reflect on the
shortness of our life, even if we live 80, 90 or 100 years.
Ø He prays that God may help us to see the truth of our
life, only then we will be truly prudent or wise.
Ø He prays that God fills us with his love in the morning
and then our life will be happy, because if God fill us with his love, what
else can we ask for.
Ø Then all our works will be to make every human being know, by our life, that God is my Father, our Father and, that He loves each one of us unconditionally.
GOSPEL Lk 12: 13-21
v Today’s gospel has three different scenes, all
related among themselves
v The first scene: the man who asks Jesus to intervene in
the distribution of an inheritance with his brother.
v
It was customary
at that time to ask the rabbis this interventions, but Jesus replies that it is
not for him to do such a thing.
v
The
second scene: “Avoid all kinds of greed, for man's life does not depend on
the abundance of the goods he possesses.”
v
Jesus warns us about
greed in our life, am I greedy? Why do I work continuously? Let us answer ourselves sincerely, without
exaggerations of any sort, either positive or negative.
v
Jesus says that
our life, and we could add our happiness, does not depend on what we have.
v
The
third scene: it is a very
graphic parable that we may apply to our life, to our plans. Why do I strive to earn more and more and possess
more and more? Am I deceiving myself when I say that all this is necessary?
SECOND READING Col 3: 1-5.
9-11
Paul invites us
to look at the goods from above and, this is
because we have been raised with Jesus.
If we all truly rose again with Christ on the
day of our baptism, when we were immersed in his death and resurrection through
the baptismal waters.
The reality of
the resurrection will become visible in us in eternity
Then Paul invites
us to get rid of what is evil and mentions idolatry.
Let us look at
what our idols are. Maybe we say that we do not have idols, but the great idol
might be myself.
In this new order, the risen life in Christ, there is no
difference between Jew and non Jew, Israelite and Pagans, slaves and free, but
Christ is all in all .
Words from Paul that remind us the urgent call of our Pope
Francis to acknowledge that we are all brothers and sisters, sons and daughters
of the same an only Father and God. (cf. Encíclica Fratelli
Tutti)
CLARETIAN CORNER
I have copied below a passage from
chapter 4 of the book París
and Claret: Two Pens Guided by the Same Spirit. Called to Renew the Church.
-
As a Church we want to be a community of Jesus’ followers:
-
Founded in love,
interpersonal relationships, dialogue and listening.
-
Who loves life because it is a gift from God; showing
this love in her joy in spite of sufferings.
-
In a constant process of
conversion and of a search for God
-
Who discovers the inner secret which dwells in her,
shows it in the way she lives, and transmits it to others.
-
That joins action and
contemplation
-
That lives in the world,
loving it and thus denouncing with her life and words its evils, and at the
same time offering the Gospel
values.
-
That responds to the mandate of Jesus, to go into the
whole world and preach the Good News that God is Father, that He loves,
welcomes and accompanies us.
-
That knows that she is being sent in mission; in a
constant effort to give concrete answers to the problems, that the world will
present to her.
-
Centered in the human person,
promoting freedom and development, recognizing the human dignity.
-
A Church of all because she is universal.
-
A Church, a community which has eyes to see the
injustices and, like the prophets of Israel, reminds and helps to remember that the earth belongs to all,
being herself a clear witness of poverty.
-
Samaritan woman that understands her world, that pours
oil and wine over the wounds of so many
persons who are abandoned on the margins of the roads of life.
-
In a word, a Church who shows the face of Christ, a
Church clothed only with the Gospel.
BIBLIOGRAFIA
CONFERENCIA EPISCOPAL ESPANOLA. Sagrada
Biblia, versión oficial. Madrid 2012
MUNOZ, Hortensia y TUTZO, Regina.
París y Claret, Two Pens Guided by the Same Spirit,
Called to renew the Church. 2012
Ø
