XII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023
Ø
We are already in Ordinary time, time
ordinary, of every day, like our life, our work, our family life, our school.
Ø
In this “ordinary life” the Lord
encounters us, like the first disciples
who were called during their daily work, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Ø
In this ordinary life we hear the call of
the Lord, but to be able to hear his voice we need to make silence in our
heart.
FIRST READING - Jer 20: 10-13
Ø The first reading is taken
from chapter 20 of the book of Jeremiah, chapter called “the confessions of
Jeremiah.”
Ø The prophet is suffering
from the betrayal of his friends, but also because his best friend “God”, who
has called him from his mother’s womb to be a prophet, in some way he has also
deceived him (seduced) or disappointed.
Ø Or at least he has never
told him the consequences that his
faithfulness to God’s call will entail.
Ø The whole chapter shows
feelings of sorrow, and at the same time, of trust in the God whom Jeremiah
loves with all his being.
Ø Maybe in the feelings
expressed by Jeremiah we might be able to see our own sufferings.
Ø May we be able to have also this same love,
and may we be able to say with St. Paul “I know whom I have trusted.”
Let us see what the first
reading for this Sunday tells us
v v. 10 we have the cause of
the suffering of Jeremiah, the betrayal of his friends who want to report him
to see what he will do, to see if he continues to be faithful.
v v. 11 with
this inner suffering, Jeremiah feels at the same time a great trust in the love
of God who has called him, the trust in his protecting presence in his life.
v v. 12 Jeremiah now
addresses God, who “sees our deepest being and our heart. “
v As if he would say: “God you
know that my works are according to what you have asked me to do.” And he asks
God to avenge him.
v v. 13 It is a song of deep joy, why? Because
the Lord has freed the poor man from the power of evil, and also because in the
midst of the darkness and dryness of our
soul we feel at the same time peace and some kind of joy because God loves us
tenderly.
RESPONSORIAL
PSALM – Ps 68: 8-10. 14 y 17. 33-35
R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake
I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my children,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R. Lord, in your
great love, answer me.
I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness;
in your great mercy turn toward me.
R. Lord, in your
great love, answer me.
"See,
you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!''
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
The three parts of this psalm follows
the same movement of the first reading
The first
o He
says what is happening to him, he has become a stranger for those of his town, of
his race, of his family.
o The
reason is because “zeal for the house of God consumes me” and
o And
thus the insults
of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
The second
o He
calls and invokes God to come to deliver him
o But
in the psalm there is a peace and tenderness which is not found in the
confessions of Jeremiah, who is still struggling with his sufferings.
o For
the psalmist God is good and kind.
The third
o The
responsorial psalm ends calling heaven, earth and sea
o Because
God is never deaf to the cry of the poor whom he never abandons.
And as a background music the assembly repeats the
theme of this Sunday: God is good and
listens to us, even when our experience
is that God keeps silence, and it seems as though he does not hear the cry of
our suffering.
GOSPEL
Mt 10: 26-33
v vv. 26-27 Jesus says to
his disciples
o
that they do not have to fear men, because there is nothing hidden
that will not be known.
o
And he invites them to speak and say what he has told them even
those things which were whispered to their ears.
v v. 28 The one you must
fear is he who can not only kill you but throw you into hell.
v vv. 29-31 Jesus tells them
the reason why they do not have to fear
o
He invites them to look around, to creation and fix their eyes on
the birds which nobody pays attention to, like “the sparrows.”
o
And however none is forgotten by the Father who takes care of
them.
o And he leads them to look
at themselves, “all the hairs of your head are counted…” Do we
realice what he is saying?
o
Then if even our hairs are important for our Father, and if the
sparrows are important too, why do we fear?
o
Because we are worth much more than many sparrows.
v vv.32-33 I have never been
able to understand the two verses that follow, I do not understand what the
Lords really wants to say
o
If I acknowledge him, he will acknowledge me, but if not….
o
These words are written by the evangelist because he had heard
them from Jesus.
o
But my difficulty to understand is because from the Gospel we know
that the heart of the Lord forgives always. We have examples like Peter, “I do
not know this man…” “Peter do you love me…” Feed my sheep, my lambs…
o
I am sure that one day I will understand these two verses., I will
know what the Lord wants to say to us, to me.
o
I did not want to omit this verse because I did not understand it.
If the Church has put them in the Sunday liturgy it is for our good.
SECOND READING - Rom 5: 12-15
§ Paul reflects on the
reality of sin
§ That, he says, entered the
world through the sin of a man
§ This helps me to think
about the consequences of our sins, my sins, even those that nobody knows or sees. Any sin
affects the entire human family as well as any good deed also affects it but in
a positive way.
§ And Paul says something
very logical, sin has always existed even before the law of Moses, but if there
is no law there is no punishment either.
§ And at the beginning this
punishment helps us to avoid sin. This is not what is perfect but it can help
§ Paul sees Adam as a figure
of Jesus.
§ And as sin entered the
world through Adam, in Jesus sin has been forgiven and grace has been poured out
abundantly
CLARETIAN CORNER
§ out abundantly.
… But we faced everything and we left
behind everything for the love of Jesus
Christ, anxious for a greater perfection and to dedicate ourselves to his holy
service where there is a greater spiritual need, and where the religious
education may be less attended and our
efforts more accepted in the eyes of God, because we did not make any plans, except those who would lead to the
greater glory of God and fulfillment of the holy law we embraced…
Not
without serious difficulties during the long and dangerous navigation that we
did, we arrived to these coasts and, the pious people of Cuba welcomed us with
open arms, having received every day clear evidence of their charity, and many
parents from families in good standing, due to their social position and their
strong religiosity , have manifested
their eagerness that we request as soon as possible the authorization for the
canonical and legal establishment of the holy institute for education that we want to profess.
Taken
from the letter of María Antonia to the
Bishop Claret September 25, 1852).
My dear Sister in Jesus Christ: I
have received your two valued letters, one written in the Canary Islands and
the other in Cuba. Thanks to God you have arrived. Now rest, pray for me to God
so that he may inspire us the way he wants to be served by you. As you have
told me, although I am not present, what
I have arranged before leaving is being
fulfilled.
My kind regards to all the sisters and all of you may count on my service.
(Letter of Bishop Claret to María Antonia, from Manzanillo – Cuba June 3,
1852.)
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