SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – A - 2023

We will hear again words of Jesus on the Law

THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS

ü  The first reading is taken from the book of Leviticus, called so, not because it mentions the Levites, but because it is about the worship due to God, and those who are responsible for the official worship in the Temple are the priests. All of them came from the tribe of Levi.  

ü  Let us say some words on this book:    :

o   In this book we find the laws related to the worship of God and to the behavior of the Israelites in relation to God, to their neighbors and to themselves. It seems interesting that the laws about our behavior toward the other human beings is put together with the worship of God. It must be what Jesus taught us that there is a first commandment “to love God” and another equal to this “to love our neighbor…”  

o   Jesus takes from this book something that God tells the Israelites “Be holy, because I your God am holy.”  As always, Jesus explains the true meaning of these words.

o   The book of the Leviticus begins where Exodus ends, and it continues to narrate the events at Mount Sinai

o   All the sacrifices prescribed in it are in “honor of the Lord” who is the only one who has rights over the blood of all living beings, because the blood is life, and the lord of life is God.   

o   The sacrifices represent and move  us towards feelings of  

§  Loving respect toward God  

§  Recognition  of his lordship

§  The Joy of his presence  

§  Sense of praise

§  Communion with God and with our brothers and sisters, especially those in need.  

§  Feelings of thanksgiving and the desire to get back the friendship with God if we have lost it 

FIRST READING   Lv 19: 1-2, 17-18

Ø  This Reading from the Leviticus is about the Law of Holiness “Be holy, because the Lord your God is holy.”   

Ø  What does it mean that God is holy? What is the meaning of the word “holy?”  

Ø  The sacred author does not give a definition of holiness, but he explains the behavior which is a consequence of this holiness

o   You shall not bear hatred in your heart against your brother.    

o   Though you may have to correct him, do not do it in such a way that you incur in sin because of him.   

o   Take no revenge;   cherish no grudge against any of your people.

o    You shall love your neighbor as yourself.   

o   God puts his signature at the end of these commandments “I am the Lord.”     

o   That means that I can order all of this because I am your Lord, I have created and I have made you to love, and I know that when you do not love you are not happy and you are not fully human as I have dreamed you, you distort my image, and I have created you to be my image among the  rest of creation.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps  103: 1-21, 3-4, 8-10, 12-13

R.  The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful 

Ø  The psalm begins with an invitation to bless, to say good things.  

Ø  He forgives all your sins, heals your illnesses, and crowns you with love and tenderness.   

Ø  And now the psalm says how is God, not only what he does for me, but what he does for all of us:   

o   He is kind, compassionate, slow to anger and merciful 

o   The Lord is a loving God.

Ø  It is surprising to see how the sacred author, inspired by God, says so many words that speak to us about the tenderness of God: kind, compassionate, merciful, loving .   

Ø  A question comes to my mind: having such a loving and caring God, where did we get the image of a punishing God? 

GOSPEL  Mt 5:38-48   

v  Today Gospel is the continuation of last Sunday Gospel. The theme is the law.   

v  Let us listen to what Jesus has to say about the law, about what was said and what he says.   

v  It was said

o   An eye for an eye …..    But I say to you “offer no resistance to one who is evil” maybe we could say “do not respond to violence with violence.”   

§  May your only violence be violence against yourselves, against your evil inclinations, against your lack of solidarity and of love toward the other human beings, against your selfishness.    

§  Only in this way you will conquer evil, as your master did, he destroyed evil offering his own life with love toward those who were mistreating him

o   You shall  love your neighbor and hate your enemy.   But I say to you    

§  Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. 

§  In this way, you will be true children of your heavenly Father, who makes the sun rise and the rain, come down on good and bad alike.   

o   Because if you love those who love you and greet only your brothers and sisters, what is new about that? Do not pagans do the same?  

o   These words of Jesus make us think that if we do not forgive those who hurt us, or if we do not pray for them, we are still like pagans, we behave as such, even if we are called followers of Jesus.      

v  Jesus ends with an invitation to be perfect as the Father is perfect  

o   Again, I ask myself where did we got the idea that perfection means that everything is “good” according to our human standards.   

o   Without defects according to our standards, that continues to be pagan since they have been taken from the Greek and other philosophies. 

o   God’s perfection is his unconditional love, his tenderness towards all that does not change even if I decide to continue to sin and to go away from Him, He will continue to love me and this love will lead me home again one day.   

 CLARETIAN CORNER

On the 16th Bishop Caixal) with Rev.Ramón Balaguer, Rev. José Mañanet and the Canon Palau arrived. The many things needed were prepared for the solemn ceremony, and on the 18th Bishop Caixal made the consecration of the church. I assure you, Your Excellency, that it was a function worthy of being seen; after this consecration, the Most Holy Sacrament was brought accompanied by all the authorities and all the clergy; the priests carried lighted candles and the knights axes during the course of the procession. The Bishop carried His Divine Majesty under pallium. Everything was done with great solemnity, and although Mass was not sung, the performance lasted from seven in the morning until one in the afternoon. Let us thank God for seeing the first church erected and consecrated in honor of the Immaculate Conception. You see, dear Father, how quickly Our Lord goes in the formation of this work; there are many [young women]who ask [to enter the novitiate], but I go very slowly in admitting them because I am afraid of crowds.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CONFERENCIA DE LOS OBISPOS DE ESPAÑA. Sagrada Biblia - versión oficial, 2010    

PAGOLA, José A.   El camino abierto por Jesús. PPC 2012.  

PARIS, María Antonia, Epistolario.   

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. Adaptación de textos y comentarios a la BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO.    

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