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SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - C - 2022
·
Amos keeps inviting us to live in justice and
compassion towards our sisters and brothers less fortunate.
·
We will listen to
the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. This parable like the words of Amos urge
us to take seriously the matter of justice in our relationships.
·
The author of the
letter to Timothy tells him how to behave as a follower of Jesus
FIRTS READING Amos 6:1a. 4-7
ü
This reading is
taken from the "woes' section" called also "lamentations" in chapter 5 and 6.
ü
The reading gives
us the third woe.
ü
If we did not know that we are reading
something related to many centuries ago, we would think that the prophet is
speaking of our own time and society.
ü
Amos tells the
powerful, the rich men that they live in the opulence and that they are not
sensitive to the suffering of those who lack almost everything.
ü
He gives a very
vivid description: they participate in banquets, they sing, they dance... in a
word they do nothing useful, only enjoying themselves.
ü
They take
advantage of those who lack almost everything, and they, the rich, take from
them the little they have, or they do not give to them their salary.
ü
The consequences
of this empty and selfish life will be great. When the Assyrians come, they
will be the first to be deported. This was the policy of the Assyrians, to take
the powerful from their own nation, so that they could not organize a revolt. However,
they were leaving the poor of the land to care for it.
ü
It is not
difficult to see something similar in our society today. We are
continually invited to spend the little we have in futile things for the profit
of the business owners. We are offered continually "sales"
or "two for the price of one," or they make us believe that "we
can buy without paying now and without interest..."
ü
In a word, they
play with our sinful inclination to possess more and more without effort, to
spent money without thinking....
ü
However, I do not
think that we have to look only to the world of opulence, of the businesses
etc... the readings invites all of us to look at our own life and see if there
is something in it similar to what the
prophet describes.
ü The great sin of all those Amos is describing in his oracle, and also of the rich man of the parable of Luke is the "indifference" in front of the suffering and the need of whole countries, whole continents… that are deprived almost of everything for their lives.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM . Ps
146 7,8-9,9-10
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
Blessed he who 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 sings the good works the Lord God does for
us
§
The Lord gives
sight to the blind
§
Raises those who
are bowed down
§
He gives food to
the hungry
§
He sets captives
free.
ü The Lord liberates us from all that harm and destroy us.
GOSPEL Lk 16: 19-31
Before we begin
to analyze this parable, let us look at what comes before it in chapter 16 of
the Gospel of Luke.
The reason to do
so is that the Gospels have an inner order through which the author wants to
help us to understand the message.
Chapter 16 of Luke
begins with the parable of the "dishonest steward” then comes the words
addressed to the Pharisees, who loved money and power.
In a word, we may
say that this is a chapter on the need to use money justly.
Let us see now
the parable
§
It is a story we
know very well, the story of two human beings
§
One is rich but
does not have a name, his life is empty, and Luke says that not giving him a
name.
§
The other man has
a name in spite of being a "nobody" for the rich man who does not even
see him. He only realizes that Lazarus exists when he needs him, when he wants
to use him for his convenience.
§
This man is
called Lazarus = Eliezer which means, "God helps", what a beautiful
name the name of this beggar, and certainly God helps.
§
The sin of the rich
man is not that he abuses the poor man or takes advantage of him, not even a
sin of "social injustice", but a sin of "indifference" He does not see the poor man, he does not
feel his needs, he is totally indifferent.
§
The human beings
do not help the poor man full of sores, but the dogs, those dogs that are as
homeless as he is, take care of his wounds.
§
These two men die
as everybody does. None of us takes anything when we die neither the riches,
nor the sores... nothing. In that moment, we are all equals, simple human
beings poor and naked before our Creator and Father.
§
I have heard
yesterday something very interesting in this respect in relation to the funeral
and burial of Queen Elisabeth of England recently deceased. There was an
ancient tradition, which they do not do anymore: when the coffin of the monarch
arrived at the door of the cathedral that were locked, one of the bearers would
knock and from the inside someone will ask “who are you?” He will answer Elisabeth queen for so many
years, serving so many countries. The answer was “I do not know you.”
A second time the same question “who are you” and the
answer was Elisabet daughter of king so and so, wife of … queen of England and
of…. “ I do not know you.”
A third time the question was “who are you?” the
answer was I am Elisabet daughter of God. “Come in I know you”.
This is a tradition that illustrates what we have said,
when we die, we are all equal, naked, poor, defenseless, loved and welcomed by
our Father God. I think that this welcome of God who covers our nakedness can
be symbolized by the white clothe with which the priest covers the coffin.
§
The fate these
two men changes immediately: the rich man is buried, why do they tell us something
that is so normal to be buried? Because he is buried in the abyss of the dead,
he is forgotten forever, nobody remembers him.
§
The poor man is
taken to the bosom of Abraham, which is the image of peace and consolation
reserved for those who die in the Lord, who will enjoy happiness for all
eternity.
§
The reaction of
the rich man, as Luke describes it, is very interesting. On one side, he is as
selfish as always "tell Lazarus to come to alleviate my suffering..."
on the other side, he is able to act moved by love for his brothers.
§
The words of Abraham
make us think. "Between you and us there is a great chasm that nobody can
cross."
§
Maybe this is the
best description of what happens between selfishness and unconditional
love.
§
This parable does
not need more explanation, let us enter into our heart and let us see in it how
much of the rich man we have and how much of the poor. From there let us make
our own reflection.
SECOND READING 1 Tm 6:11-16
v
The author of the
letter continues to tell Timothy how to behave as a man of God called to the pastoral
ministry.
v
He invites
Timothy to live according to the commandments and, to exhort him to do it he
reminds him that Jesus gave witness in front of Pilate.
v
We know that
because of this witnessing, he died, but his death was redeeming us.
v
It is an
invitation to Timothy to live a good life.
v
Until Christ, the
Lord of Lords comes again.
v
His, is the honor
and glory.
CLARETIAN CORNER
The Mother Foundress has a personal knowledge of the needs of a particular Church, the Spanish One; but God Our Lord raises her to the knowledge of the needs of the universal Church:
Here he put all the Religious Orders before me again and made me see the deplorable state of the whole universal Church... (Aut. 88).
Now, God has not called Mother Marie Antonia Paris to entrust her with a message destined only to others ("go and tell them"), but a message that is first directed to herself; and then to other people who must continue their own task or mission.
She begins by adopting a new attitude before God who manifests himself to her: it is an attitude of unconditional readiness to accept and fulfill the task that God entrusts to her. It is not the attitude of the prophet to whom he says, "Go and tell them"; and consequently, despite the difficulties, he will convey the oracle of the Lord; but the attitude of the one who says, "What do you want me to do" "Here I am". She is "available" to fulfill the mission entrusted to her, at any price, even at the cost of her own life
I offered my life to him in
sacrifice as I had done before (Aut. 2)
3.2.2 The objections
Before
the mission that God entrusts him, the chosen one experiences himself as
absolutely incapable of carrying it out: he sees a contradiction between what
he is and the specificity of the mission: "I am a stutterer"; "I
am the smallest of my family "; "I am of impure lips"But in
reality it is not a real objection or rejection of the mission received from
God, but rather information, that the one who is called feels his unability to
fulfill the mission. It is not a real objection or rejection.
In the case of the Maria Antonia, the objection is, in effect, information about her personal limitations. She declares herself absolutely available, but sees herself incapable of carrying out the mission that God has entrusted to her::
...well
persuaded that my life was of no value to satisfy so many evils ; but as I had
no virtues in me to offer him, I begged him to deign to teach me what to do to
give him pleasure and glory fulfilling his most holy will (Aut.3).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ALVAREZ GOMEZ, Jesús, cmf. LA VISION INICIAL.
CHAMBERLAND, Yves. “Lazare ne
viendra pas”en la Revista Prions en
Église, Septiembre 2019.
JENSEN, Joseph. Ethical Dimension of the Prophets.
Collegeville, Minnesota 2006.
PAGOLA,
José A. Following in the Footsteps of
Jesus. Meditations on the Gospels for Year C.
RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según
las Escrituras, Año C.
SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso, Comentario a La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo
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