- Once more the liturgy invites us to meditate on prayer, or maybe it would be better to say to meditate on our inner disposition when we pray.
- With whom do we talk in our prayer, with God or with ourselves?
- Or we may ask another question, in our prayer do we talk to God or do we talk to an idol, which is our own self?
- Let us listen with a humble heart the lesson that Jesus wants to teach to us today.
THE BOOK OF SIRACH
v This book has also been called Ecclesiasticus, and has been very much used in the liturgy of the Church
v It is the only book of the Hebrew Scriptures of which we know the author, the translator, the time, the language, because all of this is found in the book.
v It was written around 132 B.C. a time in which Israel was under the dominion of the Hellenistic culture, which had caused a considerable loss of the Hebrew Tradition and of faith among the new generations.
v The author wants to help his Hebrew brothers and sisters, as well as the new generations, to regain the sense of faith.
v The book belongs to the group of Wisdom literature. It is recognized as a canonical revealed book by the Catholic Church, but not by the Jewish religion or the other Christian traditions. It is thus called "deuterocanonical" this word means belonging to the second list. Those accepted by all are called canonical books which means books in the first list.
FIRST READING : Sir 35:12-14. 16-18
ü God is not partial, he always listens, but he has a especial inclination toward the weak and the oppressed.
ü God is not deaf to the cry of the orphan and of the widow, which symbolize or are the image of the poor.
ü God listens to the prayer of those who serve him, the prayer of the poor reaches and pierces the heavens, and does not rest until it reaches its goal.
ü Is it this our experience of prayer? if it is not, would it be possible that we do not speak to and with God our Father, but to ourselves and thus our prayer does not reach to Him?
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 34:2-3. 17-18.19.23
THE LORD HEARS THE CRY OF THE POOR
I will bless the Lord at all times
his praise shall be ever in my mouth
Let my soul glory in the Lord
the lowly will hear me and be glad
The Lord confronts the evildoers
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth
when the just cry out, the Lord hears them
and from all their distress he rescues them
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves
the Lord redeems the lives of his servants
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
Ø In a poetic way this psalm conveys the same message as the first reading did.
Ø The Lord listens to the humble and poor and he rejects those who do evil.
GOSPEL Lk 18:9-14
Last Sunday we read the first verses of chapter 18 that were about persevering in prayer Today, again, Luke speaks to us about prayer. Like all the parables of Jesus, today's parable is short and to the point. It gives to us a message that upsets our way to look at reality, to look at the persons around us. Two men were to the temple to pray, let us see what happens in their prayer. Jesus, like a true artist, with two brushstrokes paints for us a picture worth more than a thousand words or theological explanations . One of these men, was a Pharisee, that is, he belonged to the holiest group, the group of those who were faithful to the Law, a model of behavior for all who saw them. He tells God, how good he himself is, how he is very different from all the other men who are thieves, liars, evildoers, like that other man who is at the back of the temple praying to God. He gives to God a list of his good works, maybe God does not know them, or has forgotten about them. The other side of the picture shows to us the other man, the tax collector, the worst group that could exist in Israel, because that man had become rich with the money he stole from his own people, he was at the service of the oppressor of his people, the Roman Empire. This man does not have anything to offer, but his extreme poverty, his sins which he acknowledges before God. He asks for forgiveness, for purification, for acceptance even not having anything to offer. With a great surprise for us and for the people that were listening to Jesus, he says to us that of these two men the one who went home justified was the tax collector. Why? Probably because he really talked to God, he presented himself before God as he was, he was truthful, he accepted that he had nothing to offer except his sins. And we know that God has a very especial inclination toward the poor and needy. His love cannot resist the cry of the poor On the contrary the Pharisee did not speak to God, he spoke to himself, he made of himself and idol, thus he did not pray and thus he did not get anything from God, because he did not ask for anything, because he was not poor but rich and sinless. This parable, so beautiful and simple, has to question us, how is our prayer, to whom do we talk to God or to an idol, the idol of our own person. Let us ask ourselves, how do I see myself before God and before myself? Our happiness is found in the truth, in the acceptance of who we are, blessed may we be if we acknowledge that we are poor and needy, our Father will bend over us and lift us up to himself like a father does with his child who has fallen.
SECOND READING 2Tm 4:6-8,16-18
v How beautiful is this section of the letter to Timothy.
v How happy will we be, if when we reach the end of our pilgrimage on earth, we can say that we have finished the race, we have kept the faith, we have accomplish the dream that God had over us when he created us.
v We sense in these words of the author of the letter a profound peace in front of his near death, a desire to encounter God his creator.
v And the words "the crown of righteousness awaits me... but not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance" are very comforting.
v Are we anxious to encounter our God and Father, our God and Redeemer, our God and Sanctifier?
Something happened one of these last days to show how God was refining these two hearts with the gall of bitterness: hers because of the affliction she had to feel at my leaving due to the love and trust she showed to me, even without any merit on my part – as it is clear in the case I will say - , and I myself suffered most terribly for being the cause of her pain.
And the case was that one of these days, this good mother lavishly weeping, called me and told me that a novice – she mentioned the name wanted to leave the convent because of a strong temptation without paying attention to the advises of the confessors nor to her own reasoning. She told me to take charge of her since that novice used to pay great attention to me. “Maybe, with the grace of God, she could be convinced by reflection of yours as it happened in other occasions. Thus you will soften my disgust caused by seeing that, after so many years expecting the desired profession, I cannot be sure of so inconstant characters. So, my daughter, recommend her to God so that she may not embitter the celebration because of the caprice.” My Lord and my God, what a hard test you gave to my heart in this occasion! I loved that good mother like the apple of my eyes since she had given me so many proofs of love throughout almost ten years I lived under her motherly care and in her loving company. This was the strongest blow I was expecting, if they decide on my leaving. But what I felt on this occasion cannot be explained. I felt an immense pain hearing the expression of trust and suffering by which this my mother consoled herself with the one blow imaginable if she would loose her most beloved daughter. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 104-105
General Manzano himself told me later, when we were both in Cuba (I as Archbishop and he as Governor General of the city of Santiago), that he had been commissioned to arrest me, not because the government had any charge against me--since I never meddled in politics--but because they were worried at the crowds that gathered from all over whenever I preached. Furthermore they were afraid that, because of the immense prestige in which I was held, my least insinuation might cause a general uprising. Hence they sought to take me but could never catch me, either because of my strategy of moving so far away or because our Lord didn't want them to--and this was the main reason. The Lord wanted me to preach the Word of God to these people, while the devil was hard at work trying to corrupt them with dances, theatres, military maneuvers, platoons, books, evil magazines, etc. Saint Antonio María Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 458.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Antonio María Claret, Autobiografía.
PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Meditations on the Gospels for Year C.
PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiografía
RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras, Año C.
The Catholic Study Bible -New American Bible.
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