28 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – CYCLE C- 2022
The theme of this Sunday’s celebration is “thanksgiving
for the good we have received”
Ø
Naaman is healed from the
leprosy and he comes back to thank the prophet for his cure.
Ø
The Samaritan leper comes back to give thanks to Jesus for his cure
from leprosy.
Ø Jesus asks, where are the other 9?
THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS
Ø
The two books of Kings are the continuation of the two books of
Samuel.
Ø
In the Hebrew Bible these books form a single literary work called
Kings (Melakim).
Ø
In the translation of the LXX (seventy- Greek) and in the Vulgate (Latin) they are called “third and
fourth Kings”
Ø
Because the two books of Samuel are called “first and second Kings”
Ø
1 and 2 Kings are part of the Deuteronomist History
Ø
Which goes from the entrance in the promise land (Joshua) to the
Babylonian exile (587)
Ø
Solomon and his kingship play a major role.
Ø
The author is pleased to show the magnificence of Solomon, and, at the
same time, to show his sins.
Ø
Whose consequences are the division of his Kingdom into the Northern
Kingdom – Israel and, the Southern Kingdom – Judah.
Ø
The theological principle used to judge history
is: sin punishment return
Ø
Two prophets have a great
importance: in 1 Kings, the prophet
Elijah, in 2Kings, the prophet Elisha, the first reading today speaks about
him.
Ø Theological points:
o Monotheism
o Messianic hope
o Institutions:
§
the monarchy, the King is God’s representative
§
the temple is the place of God’s presence
§
the exile, the end ?
or a new beginning?
FIRST READING 2Kgs 5:14-17
ü
The whole chapter is dedicated to the story of Naaman
ü
Who was a general of the King of Syria, he was a leper.
ü
They tell us the story of how this man comes to the kingdom of
Israel
ü
Today in the liturgy, we read the passage related to the cure of this
man, not because of his faith, but because of the faith and trust of a young
Israelite girl, his wife’s slave.
ü
Naaman, as the prophet had told him, submerges seven times into the
Jordan River and is cleansed from the leprosy.
ü
Very simple act, apparently useless, aren’t there better rivers in
Syria, Naaman had asked before going into the river.
ü
However, it is not the material water, which cures the sickness of
this man; it is the acceptance of the prophet’s word. It is the humility to
believe that something so unimportant can cure.
ü
Naaman goes back to the prophet, the man of God, to give thanks, and
offer him abundant gifts
ü
The prophet does not accept them. The prophets of the Old Testament in
Israel and Judah, were not wage-earners, but men called by God to be his
voice, his presence.
ü
Naaman asks for some soil to take to his country to offer sacrifices
to the true God.
ü
For the people of those cultures, God was tied in a very especial way
to his people, and each people had its own God.
ü
However here Naaman, through his cure, discovers that there is only
one God, the God who has cured him.
ü They say that when
someone is cured by God in an extraordinary way, which we usually call miracle,
there is not only a physical wellbeing, but a whole wellbeing, like a new birth
which relates the person in a very especial way to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his
saving power.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
The LORD has
made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord
has revealed to the nations his saving power.
All the ends of
the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands:
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power..
v
We will repeat singing
o
“The Lord has revealed his love…” His love that does not make
differences, that has cured a foreigner, a pagan, because all of us are the
work of his love, we are his children.
o The Lord has shown his faithfulness, the Lord is always faithful.
GOSPEL Lk 17:11-19
Ø
Luke tells us what happened to 10 lepers who met Jesus.
Ø
They ask him to have pity on them
Ø
Luke tells us that when Jesus approaches them and sees he does not
speak about healing them, or of their faith, but he tells them to go to the
priest.
Ø
When someone was cured from his or her leprosy, the Law established
that they had to go to the priest who would declare that they were cured, thus
allowing them to go back to their normal life in family and in society.
Ø
The lepers go on their way; did they understand that what Jesus was
telling them is that they were cured? We
do not know; Luke tells us that on their way they realized that they were
cured.
Ø
One of them, a Samaritan, full of joy, admiration and gratitude comes
back to tell Jesus how happy he is and give thanks to him.
Ø
Jesus says: where are the other 9?
Ø
Luke does not give any answer, but we can reflect on our own
attitudes.
Ø
They say that to be thankful, we need to allow us to be surprised, to
be able to discover the newness and more than anything else to be able to see
more the good than the evil. To have
light or to let the light of Christ fill us.
Ø
Are we able to give thanks? Do we rejoice for the good we see, even if we
also see the evil? Do we let God to surprise us?
SECOND READING 2Tm 2:8-13
ü
The Apostle invites us to remember Jesus Christ
o
Risen from the dead
o
And a descendant of
David
o
Jesus is risen, he is our God who lives forever,
ü
Paul speaks of his imprisonment, as a criminal without freedom, but he
says that the Word of God is not in chains, nobody can silence it.
ü
If we have died with Him, we also will be raised with Him
ü
But if we deny Him, He will deny us. What does the Apostle mean with
these words?
ü But Jesus will always be faithful because this is his nature.
In regards to the mystical experience of the "Initial
Vision", Mother Foundress María Antonia says:
...without seeing any books or letters, I saw it written, and understood it so
well that it seemed it was imprinted on
my soul. . (Aut. 5)
Which means that for her and for the whole Institute, the charism does not
limit itself to reflecting a concrete way of carrying out a mission, it is not
even limited to a way of belonging to the Institute, but first and foremost
reflects one’s self-identification; and it is also a content that, in turn,
specifies one’s own self and one’s own vocation, for María Antonia and for each Claretian Missionary; the charism
identifies with the deep self; it is the impression of a footprint that
configures definitively; there is an identification with that footprint.
Now, if this configuration with the Holy Law of God and the Evangelical
Councils is the self-identity of the Mother Foundress and the Claretian
Missionaries, self-realization must go in the same direction. For this very
reason, being fully woman and being fully Christian necessarily pass through
fidelity to one’s charism; that is, fidelity to one’s own deep identity.
This idea was expressed by the María Antonia, in her own way, but with great
theological depth. Her identification as a woman passed through her
identification with the Holy Law of God:
I would like to have it (The Holy Law of God), written on my forehead to teach
every creature (Letter Fr. Claret, 31-X-1859)
She wants everyone to be aware of her deep identity when they see her as the
woman she is, because her distinctive feature is what everyone will be able to
read on her forehead, in her very exteriority as a woman, the Holy Law of God.
This is the personal, charismatic
version of what Saint Paul said for all Christians in general:
But all of us who, with our faces uncovered, reflect the
glory of the Lord as if in a mirror, are transformed into that same image, ever
more glorious, according to action.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
ALVAREZ GÓMEZ, Jesús. Cmf Visión inicial.
PAGOLA, José Antonio. El camino abierto por Jesús. Lucas.
POPE
FRANCIS, Homilíy 9 de Octubre 2016. Web page of the Vaticano “Homilies”.
SAGRADA BIBLIA. Versión oficial de la Conferencia
Episcopal Española.
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