22 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME   - A – 2023

ü  The prophet Jeremiah confesses that he cannot stop proclaiming what God reveals to him, it is like a fire in his bones that impulses him to continue speaking.     

ü  Jesus says that whoever wants to follow him must deny him or herself.   

ü  Paul invites us to offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice pleasing to God.

ü   The following of Jesus, our response to his call entails both joys and sufferings at the same time, but his love and his call are so strong that we can do nothing else than  follow him and in this we find the source of our joy, in spite of the difficulties and oppositions.  

ü  Pope Francis has a reflection on this Gospel; he says that the Christian that does not follow Jesus is like the salt which has lost its taste…  

ü  And Pope Benedict XVI commented on this passage of the Gospel and said, “On accepting voluntarily his death, Jesus carries the cross of every human being and thus he becomes the source of salvation for the entire human race.”  

FIRST READING   Jer 20:7-9

v  This Reading is taken from the last section called “confessions of Jeremiah” which begins on chapter 10. 

v  Through these chapters we find what has been called “confessions” which are texts that reveal the unique intimacy of Jeremiah with God. All these texts are especially beautiful and show to us the portrait of a man in love with God.   

v  You have seduced me… these are strong words which reveal the inner struggle of a man completely in love with God and, at the same time, tired to suffer for the cause of the Word which becomes fire inside of him.   

v  You were stronger than me, so you overcame me, this is a very strong image which describes very well what happens when a man seduces a woman. Jeremiah says that this is what has happened to him in relation to God.    

v  The complain of Jeremiah is that since that seduction he must speak in the name of God who reveals to him the sufferings which his people will experience due to their unfaithfulness.   

v  Jeremiah says that he has taken the decision neither to speak anymore in the name of God nor to listen to Him anymore.  

v  But what happens?

v  The Word becomes fire inside of him and he must communicate it, pronounce it, utter it because he cannot resist the suffering caused by his keeping the Word for himself, he has to share it.      

v  What a wonderful image of the love of the Word, of the power of seduction that the Word has.   

v  Have we allowed ourselves to be seduced as Jeremiah was? Is the Word of God a fire which consumes our most inner being?  

v  If this is not so yet, let us ask God, let us ask Jesus that his Word may become fire that consume us so that we may be able to put in fire of his love the whole world.  

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps  63: 2,  3-4,  5-6, 8-9. 

ü  Psalm of trust structured in three songs:

o   Song of thirst (2-4)

o   Song of hunger (5-9)

o   Song of  divine judgement (10-12)

ü  The thirst for God  will be quenched and the hunger for God  will be satisfied.

ü  Jesus from the cross, as Saint John tells us, says "I thirst" during his life in his preaching he had told us where we can quench our thirst for God.

ü  Our thirst and our hunger will be satisfied only by the love of our God.

ü  These words of Jesus "I thirst" are he words that changed the life of M. Teresa of Calcutta, that  gave her the strength she needed to give herself to the last of the last among the human beings.  

MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD

O God you are my God whom I seek

For you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts

Like the earth, parched lifeless and without water

MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD

So have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary

To see your power and your glory

For your kindness is a greater good than life

My lips shall glorify you.

MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD

Thus will I bless you while I live

Lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name

As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied

And with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.

MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD

You are my help,

And in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy

My soul clings fast to you

Your right hand upholds me.

MY SOUL IS THIRSTING FOR YOU, O LORD MY GOD 

GOSPEL Mt 16:21-27

v  After Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ, the Messiah” which we read last Sunday, Jesus begins to teach the apostles what does it mean that he is the Christ. 

v  To be the Christ, the faithfulness to his mission will entail sufferings for Jesus, persecution, humiliation, and death.      

v  But death will not be the end, because he will rise again on the third day.   

v  What does it mean that he will rise again? What does he want to tell us? We do not understand…   

v  Peter, the man who is the closest friend of Jesus, whom he loves with his entire being, Peter always impulsive speaks again, but now he does not repeat the words which the Father has told him, but his own words.   

v  God forbid, Lord! How can this be true? It is impossible, you are the Christ, do you not remember? And the Christ can neither suffer, nor be defeated.    

v  Peter, you think as a man, Jesus is inviting them, inviting all of us, to see the events of our life and  of history in general with the eyes of the Father who knows what is good for us.     

v  The answer of Jesus is harsh “go behind me Satan” what did Peter feel when he heard these words of Jesus calling him the tempter, the seducer.    

v  Did Peter with his words have the power to be a temptation for Jesus? This is a mystery which goes beyond our understanding.

v  Maybe Jesus was experiencing something like what Jeremiah experienced?  I will not speak any more about you, but I could not, your word is fire inside of me. Maybe the words of Peter were echo of the temptation in the desert: you can be a Messiah in an easier way and at the same time more effective, you will see how everyone follows you… transform the stones into bread… throw yourself down from the Temple… kneel before me

v  Why does Jesus say to Peter “get behind me” which has the same meaning as go after me? Because who goes first is the teacher, the disciple follows the teacher.     

v  And Jesus teaches them a lesson, the great revelation.  

o   Whoever wants to come after me, must go behind me.   

§  Must deny himself or herself

§  Take his or her cross, his or her own life

o   And come after me, why?

§  For whoever wishes to save  his or her life will lose it

§  But whoever loses his or her life for my sake will find it.

§  What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his or her life

§  O what can one give in exchange for his life?

v  This Gospel puts in front of us the fundamental question of our life, the following of Jesus we have been called to, even before we had been conceived, and which has become visible and public at our baptism. 

v  In our baptism we were submerged into the death and resurrection of Jesus to be other Christs, and thus continue in the world his mission to seek the brothers and sisters who has gone astray.   

v  The Gospel ends with these words of Jesus: the Son of Man will come at the end of time, he will not come in poverty and humility as in the first coming, but he will come in the glory of the Father, which is also his glory, and he will give to each one what is due.   

v  Come Lord Jesus! and you, who are the way, walk with us so that when you come at the end of times, you will say to us the so long expected words “come you blessed from my Father, because you loved me in each one of your brothers and sisters in need who you met on the journey of your life.”    

SECOND READING  Rom 12:1-2

      Paul exhorts us to offer ourselves, our bodies, our own being to God as an acceptable and holy offering. 

      In the day of our baptism we were anointed “priest, prophet and king.” Our priestly being enables us to offer sacrifices to God, and our sacrifice is our own life “your bodies”

      What a consolation and what an enthusiasm these words awaken in us, knowing that our life, simple, sometimes broken, hidden from the eyes of the great public, this my life can be an offering pleasing to God, if I offer it with simplicity and humility.     

      My life becomes then a worship of adoration to God. 

      Yes, my life as a husband or as a wife, as son or daughter, as an older person or as a young person… My life has the possibility to be an offering, a sacrifice of adoration to my God.    

      Paul continues and invites us not to conform our mind to the mind of the word of sin, the world that lives far from God and from the good of others.  

      Let us allow the Lord to transform us, by the renewal of our mind, our way to look at life, allow the Spirit of Jesus to enkindle in us the fire of the Spirit, so that we may know what is good and pleasing to God our Father, to Jesus our brother and to the Spirit, our teacher.   

 The foundation of the humanizing pastoral ministry is in the gospel, in the integral salvation that Jesus came to bring and, wants it to reach all those people that God himself, through the Church, has entrusted to him (Claret). There are no differences among the persons he serves, except the differences from culture, race, homeland, color, wealth, sex, all have the same dignity as children of God. His friendly and simple treatment with everyone is striking. He personally heard in confession people of all classes, race, social and economic level, and political position. His social action is born from his zeal for the salvation of the person and from his love for justice.

As president of the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country, he promotes the human development of his people. In their meetings they discussed the most urgent economic, educational, social and health plans forf the population. ...  

Claret traced new paths to solidarity and prepared the way to the Gospel, as he explained to Caixal besides giving them spiritual pasture, they are also given what is needed for the body through alms, savings banks and agricultural notebooks. (Galeron pp 29-30)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GALERÓN, María Soledad RMI. Llamada que la Memoria de Significativos Acontecimientos Históricos Congregacionales nos hacen Hoy.  Santiago de Cuba 2023.

Santa Biblia. Texto oficial de la Conferencia de Obispos de España. 2012

LA BIBLIA, traducción tomada de la página web del Vaticano.

Pagina Web del Vaticano, Papa Benedicto XVI ángelus 8/28/2011; Papa Francisco ángelus 8/31/2014.

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

STOCK, Klemens. La Liturgia de la Palabra. Ciclo A (Mateo) 2007.  

    

21^st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  -  A – 2023

ü  In the first reading God, by the voice of the prophet Isaiah, speaks to a steward from the king’s palace. This man, according from what Isaiah says to him, was unfaithful to his call. God tells him that he will be removed from his position.    

ü  In the Gospel Jesus promises to give to Peter the keys of the Kingdom, in some way He is saying that He will take them from the people of the election and give them to the new people.   

ü  Paul speaks of the wisdom of God, and says that everything is oriented toward Him 

FIRST READING   Is 22:19-23 

Ø  Who was  Shebna?

A high functionary of the palace of Hezekiah; a steward or treasurer (Is 22:15).    Isaiah reproaches him  because he has built into the rock a tomb for himself, and tells him that he will die in a foreign land    (ls. 22:15-19). He reproaches him because he has done that when his people was in danger.

Ø  And what do we know about Hezekiah?  
He was King when the Syrian army invaded Judah. This event has been recorded not only in the Bible, but also in a clay prism on which Sennacherib reported the same event. This prism is kept in the Oriental Museum of Chicago.  

The inscription on the prism says: The fear to my majesty terrorized Hezekiah who sent to me as a tribute: 800 pieces of silver, ivory and all sorts of gifts including some women from his palace. This confirms the biblical account found in 2 Reyes 18:13-15:

Ø  Isaiah gives to this steward a message from God. This man had forgotten that he was only a steward of goods that did not belong to him.   

Ø  In a kingdom the goods belong not only to the King but to the whole people as well.

Ø  This man had forgotten this and had used part of these goods to build for himself a tomb so that his name would be remembered. 

Ø  It is true that his name is remembered in history, but not to praise him, but to learn from him the need to be honest, simple and humble.

Ø  None of us in entitle to use our position for our own convenience.  Jesus never did it.

Ø  This positions or ministries are to give us the opportunity to do good and to serve.   

 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM : Ps 138:  1-2a  2bc-3 6. 8bc 

LORD YOUR LOVE IS ETERNAL; DO NOT FORSAKE THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS  

I will give thanks to you O Lord, with all my heart

For you have heard the words of my mouth

In the presence of the angels I will sing your praise

I will worship at your holy  temple.

LORD YOUR LOVE IS ETERNAL; DO NOT FORSAKE THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS  

I will give thanks to your name

Because of your kindness and your truth

When I called you answered me

You built up strength within me.

LORD YOUR LOVE IS ETERNAL; DO NOT FORSAKE THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS 

The Lord is exalted yet the lowly he sees

And the proud he knows from afar

Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever;

Forsake not the work of your hands.

LORD YOUR LOVE IS ETERNAL; DO NOT FORSAKE THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS   

ü  This psalm is a song of praise to God who never abandons the work of his hands.   

ü  But brings it to perfection,

ü  God has to be praised by all and for all.   

ü  What a wonderful thought to acknowledge that creation which does not have a voice, praises God by simply being!  

ü  We need to learn to listen to these voices that sing always and everywhere the praises of the Creator for his wonderful Works.  

GOSPEL  Mt 16:13-20

v  Jesus comes to the region of   Caesarea of Philippi.  

o   When they got there Jesus asked his disciples a question. It seems that he wants to know what people think of him.    

o   Knowing Jesus, we realize that this is not what he wants, that this question has another goal.     

o   Jesus is too free about himself to be preoccupied by the opinion of others.   

o   As we continue reading this story, we realize that the question leads the apostles to listen to the voice of the Father, who has the real answer about Jesus.   

v   Peter answers the question, Peter, the vehement Peter, has been able to listen in the depth of his heart the silent and at the same time loud voice of the Father.   

v  You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.   

v  Very good answer Peter, but certainly it is not yours it is the Father’s.   

v  And Jesus promises to Peter to make him the rock upon which his church will be built. The church that is the community of the faithful summoned by the love of the Triune God.  

v  He will also give to Peter the “keys” the stewardship of this Kingdom.  

v  Whatever you bind will be bound, and whatever you unbind will be unbound, in a word I give you my possessions my treasure to be administered by you on behalf of your brothers and sisters, who are also my brothers and sisters.   

v  The gospel message ends with one of those enigmatic prohibitions of Jesus.  

v  Some explain this as telling them, do not say this now but wait until after my resurrection because people are not ready now.

v  This gospel passage is used many times to ask us about who Jesus is?  

v  But this Sunday the emphasis is not on the person of Jesus, but of Peter upon which the Lord Jesus will build his church day by day with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit and ours as well. 

SECOND READING   Rom 11:33-36

      This Reading is a song of praise full of wonder to the wisdom of God.  

      Paul acknowledges, probably because he has experienced it in his own life, that the mind of God is unsearchable and his judgments are inscrutable, they are beyond our understanding.    

      And Paul asks himself    

o   Who knows the mind of God?   

o   Who gives him counsel?   

o   Who has given the Lord anything, that he may be repaid?

o   All has been made by Him and for Him.    

o   To Him the glory forever. Yes, the glory only to Him. 

CLARETIAN CORNER 

When he arrived to the archdiocese, he took possession, accommodated his "relatives"  (this is how he called his collaborators) and met with the Chapter, greeted the civil authorities and began his overwhelming pastoral action. But first he puts his ministry as pastor in the hands of Mary. " Fifteen days after our arrival we went to visit the image of Our Lady of Charity in the city of Cobre... which is held in great devotion by the inhabitants of the Island... “After returning to the city of Santiago, capital of the Diocese, I began the mission that lasted until March 25.”  His pastoral visits were long, intense and well planned... the clergy had to prepare their people, before he arrived and there was a more immediate preparation with the sending of missionaries who would go preaching, visiting, gathering the population. All this he did in shared mission with his collaborators... Another important action carried out during the visits and missions was the distribution of religious materials... The care of the human and religious life of his sheep is also sought by attending to and improving the situation of the clergy and diocesan seminary. He knows that it is urgent, for the pastors in order to get out of their misery and to be able to carry out their mission worthily, to have a just retribution for their pastoral work, the appropriate formation and to erect more parishes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GALERÓN, María Soledad RMI. Llamada que la Memoria de Significativos Acontecimientos Históricos Congregacionales nos hacen Hoy.  Santiago de Cuba 2023.

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

STOCK, Klemens. La Liturgia de la Palabra. Ciclo A (Mateo)  2007

LA BIBLIA, traducción tomada de la página web del Vaticano. 

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 XX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME   - A - 2023

ü  The first reading and the Gospel today speak of the universality of salvation, of the love of the Father God toward all his creatures, no matter what nationality, language, culture, religion o lack of religion.    

ü  And Paul in the second reading, taken from the letter to the Romans, speaks about the fidelity of God to his promises.   

FIRST READING   Is 56: 1.6-7

Ø  Chapter 55 at the end of the book of the Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah, also called the Book of Consolation, speaks to us of listening to the Word of God.          

Ø  The book of the Third Isaiah is a call to put in practice the word we have heard.  

Ø  It is a call to practice justice and equity.

Ø  God will treat in the same way those who belong to the people of Israel, the people of the election, as well as those belonging to the gentiles, if both practice justice, that is to say if both allow God to be part of their lives.   

Ø  The Lord will lead them to his holy mountain, Jerusalem.    

Ø  Here, in his Temple the Lord will fill them with joy.    

Ø  He will accept their sacrifices and offerings.     

Ø  Because the House of the Lord is a house of prayer, a house for the loving conversation of the human being with his/her Father, God.    

Ø  Thus, it will be called and known by all peoples.   

Ø  Later, Jesus will remind the people in the temple that “the house of my Father is a house of prayer…”  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps  67:  2-3. 5. 6. 8

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU!

May God have pity on us and bless us;

May he let his face shine upon us

So may your way be known upon earth

Among all nations, your salvation.

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU!

May the nations be glad and exult

Because you rule the peoples in equity

The nations on the earth you guide.

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU!

May the peoples praise you, O God

May all the peoples praise you!

May God bless us

And may all the ends of the earth fear him!

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU!

Ø  This psalm is a hymn of thanksgiving made of three stanzas separated by a refrain. 

Ø  It is an invitation to all peoples to praise and give thanks to God, to sing his wonderful works for all of us.    

GOSPEL  Mt 15:21-28

v  Jesus has withdrawn to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  

o   These two cities were famous in the Ancient Middle East. 

o   Their names are also mentioned in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. 

o   They are about 12 or 13 miles apart from each other.  

o   They belong to Lebanon and are situated close to the Israel’s border.  

o   Sidon is called now Saida,  Arabic  word which means “fishing”. 

o   Tyre is called in Arabic language “rock” because it is built on a rocky isle in the Mediterranean Sea.     

v  Maybe the Lord has gone to this region seeking some peace and rest.   

v  But here his Father is going to speak to him through the mouth of a pagan woman.  

v  In this episode, which Matthew has transmitted, we see Jesus as always attentive to what his Father wants to tell him in his interaction with every human being, he encounters in his life journey.    

v  Jesus says to his disciples, and to the woman, although in a very strange way, that he has been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, this is the will of his Father.   

v  The gentiles are not included in his mission.  

v  The woman is a desperate mother, she does not know what to do, where to go or who to ask for help, her daughter is very ill.   

o   We do not know anything about this woman, only that she is a Canaanite, this is the only thing we need, to understand this episode. 

o   Besides being a Canaanite, we are told that she has a daughter who is sick and tormented by an evil spirit; therefore, we understand that she is a mother in great need of help.  

o   We do not know if this demon is some of the consequences of her illness, by that time sickness was very often considered as diabolic possession.  

v  This woman must have heard about Jesus, about his powers to cure, his goodness and compassion, his unconditional help.  

v  And she walks behind Jesus and the disciples shouting and asking for help “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me!”   

v  What a beautiful prayer full of trust and humility! Trust in the goodness of Jesus, humility because she asks for help, she acknowledges her poverty and helplessness.   

v  Every time I read this Gospel, two things call my attention in a especial way:  

o   First the reaction of the disciples which is very much like the reaction they had before the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Do something to get rid of this problem! 

o   Second the words of Jesus, he has been sent… the bread of the children is not given to the dogs.  

o   Certainly, dogs may mean pagan or gentile as it was customary to call them.  

v  But looking more deeply into the meaning of the text and trying to find the message we are surprised of what has happened here:  

o   Jesus is honestly convinced of what he says and wants to be faithful to the will of his Father.  

o   The woman does not get angry at Jesus’ answer.  

o   She acknowledges that it is true what Jesus says about the children of the house and the doggies, but she also knows that the doggies, the puppies eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table.  

o   You may translate these words as follows: it is true my Lord that we, pagans, are the dogs, but the puppies receive the scraps, what is leftover by the children, which are you the people of Israel. 

o   Briefly, you can also help us, even having been sent to seek those who are lost of the house of Israel, the children of the household.  

o   Jesus becomes surprised by the faith of this pagan woman, and says to her “O woman, great is your faith!” “Be it done for you as you wish.” Here again Jesus is surprised by the faith of someone pagan, as it happened to him when the Roman centurion approached him.    

o   The Gospel ends with these words “and the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.  

v  What has happened to Jesus?  

o   Many scholars see in that episode that Jesus, although being faithful to what he understands to be the will of his Father over his mission, he is open to whatever the Father wants to reveal to him.  

o   I think that what has happened here is very much like what had happened at the Wedding at Cana. The words of Mary helped Jesus to discover the will of his Father in that situation. At the beginning he did not plan to do anything because his hour had not come yet.   

o   But in both cases, he is open and attentive to his Father. Jesus is humble, as I have read in one of the commentaries to this reading.  

o   I believe that this episode is a strong call to all of us and to the whole Church as a faith community, the Lord speaks to us through the events, many times contrary, and through any human being, believer or not, walking on the right track or not, on our side or against us. 

o   Because Jesus has not come to do his will but the will of the one who has sent him. We should also repeat over and over again, we have been sent to do the will of the Lord Jesus who has sent us, and we have not been sent to do our own will. 

SECOND READING   Rom 11:13-15.29-32

      In last Sunday’s Reading Paul said to us that he was suffering for his own people, that if he could, he was even willing  to be separated from Christ for the sake of his people. 

      Today he speaks to the gentiles and tells them how proud he is to be their apostle.   

      And he adds that he glories in his ministry to make jealous his own people. 

      Because if their rejection of the message has brought about the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be?  

      And he continues as if reflecting aloud, the gifts of God are irrevocable, because our negative responses do not make God change his will over us.    

      This is cause for a great confidence for all of us, the Lord who calls us, continues to call us to life, to his friendship, to mission, to faith, and he waits for us until we decide to come back after moving away from him.

CLARETIAN CORNER 

 The Cuban reality they encounter was completely “new” for them. A new geography, weather, races, food, traditions, history, social and political groups, infrastructure, housing; economic and cultural situation… that was very “complex and conflictive”  

Geographically Cuba is a narrow and long island, with a large flat surface and some mountains not too high. The East is the most mountainous region where we find the Sierra Maestra with the highest peak of the island… We find also in this region the mountain ranch of El Cobre with its copper mines… Claret travelled through these regions walking or on the back of a mule.    

The weather is described as very hot, the sun scorching, as Claret explains in one of his letters. The original population was indigenous to South America. By the mid 1500 three groups were known: guanahatabeyes, siboneyes and taínos... Throughout the centuries Cuba suffered various types of indigenous and European immigration. As other colonies of the Americas gained their independence, many Spaniards went to Cuba; the French who arrived from Santo Domingo and Haiti were the ones who began to bring in black slaves to maintain and develop, especially the cane plantations. Also between 1847 and 1853, 140,000 Chinese arrived [... ]

The Cuban church, like the church from Spain, was shaken by the liberalism, suffered extortions, persecutions, confiscation and exclaustration. The whole West lived through a period of progress in science and technology, which led to a progressive rejection of God and the Church and to an accelerated de-Christianization that also had its impact in Latin America.

[... Claret defines himself as "Father, Shepperd and Physician", and exercises the presence of interest, "care" and healing. His gestures and actions make his love and tenderness tangible. His presence is humanizing. Never, even during the deepest moments of crisis, did he fall into indifference. He left his own needs and interests. His eyes not only saw, but observed, contemplated, internalized, his hands touched, healed, cared, and became "muddy". To care is to caress, protect, preserve, sustain, persevere; it is at the same time to go in front and accompany;  before pointing the way, in the mists holding the walker, or behind "pushing". (Llamadas… pp. 14-15.23) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Antonio María Claret, Letters

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

PARIS, María Antonia, Letters

STOCK, Klemens. La Liturgia de la Palabra. Ciclo A (Mateo)  2007