Wednesday, November 26, 2014

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – CYCLE B – YEAR OF MARK - November 30, 2014


We begin a new liturgical year, the year of Mark.  Every year the Church invites us  to contemplate Jesus through the eyes and the perspective of a different evangelist, Gospel writer.   Let us allow Mark to lead us during this year to discover and know Jesus as Mark did, we will really enjoy it.   

Let us not do a synthesis of the 4 Gospels, because the Gospels are not incomplete biographies of Jesus which we can mix together and get a complete biography.  The Gospels narrate real events of the life of Jesus, but the Gospel writers are not interested so much in the event as in the meaning of the event. Thus each one uses some parables that maybe the others do not, or if they use the same they narrate them in a slightly different way. They do the same with the mirables,  the sayings of Jesus and the passion, death and resurrection  The Gospels are theological reflections of each one of the Gospel writers. Let us enter fully into the Gospel of Mark and let us allow him to lead us during this liturgical year.    
 
THIRD ISAIAH
*      The first Reading is taken from the third part of the book of Isaiah, called the Third Isaiah.

*      This prophet has the difficult  mission to maintain the hope of his people that has turned back from exile, and does not see the promises fullfilled in the way they had understood.   

*      As we read this section of the book of Isaiah we perceive a tension between the present worries, and the future hope; between denouncing the crimes, and the messages of courage; the present desilusion and the messianic expectation; the openess to the foreigner and the condemnation of the foreigner. At the end of the book the theme of the exodus which is found in this section, is replaced by the theme of the future Jerusalem, the transfigured city by the fulfillment of the promises.   

*      READING FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT,   Is 63:16-17.19.64:2-7

o   In the liturgy of the church as well as in the liturgy of Israel we commemorate, we remember in such a way that  we make the events of the past present.  

o   In the beautiful reading of this Sunday, the author says to God that he wants to remember who God is for him, how has his experience been in the past. We say the same thing also. 

§  You are our Father and our Redeemer, this is O God your name for ever (63, 16)

§  Eye has not seen, ear has not heard any god who does the wonders that you do for those who hope in you .(64,3) We find this same exclamation in the letter of Paul to the Romans.  

§  At the end of this passage the prophet says again to God, You, O Lord, are our father; we are the clay and you are the potter; we are the work of your hands.    

§  How much trust do these word reveal, trust in these hands which are fashioning  us,  cherishing and protecting use even when we are not aware of it, in spite of our sins and our imperfections. His love  is   unconditional.   

o   The prophet also remembers the wonders of the past which God has done for his people, 

§  In a way it is to remember and to wish also that God make himself present again.  

§  That he protect us so that we do not go back to our wrong doing.   

§  The prophet says what are these wrong doings and ends up saying to God that in spite of all of this he continues to be our Redeemer and our Creator.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM : Psi  80:2-3.15-16.18-19

LORD, MAKE US TURN TO YOU, LET US SEE YOUR FACE AND WE SHALL BE SAVED
O shepherd of Israel hearken
From your throne upon the cherubin, shine forth.
Rouse your power And come to save us. 

Once again O Lord of Hosts
Look down from heaven and see,
Take care of this vine
And protect what your right hand has planted
The son of man whom you yourself made strong.  

May your help be with the man of your right hand
With the son of man whom you yourself made strong
Then we will no more withdraw from you
Give us new life, and we will call upon your name.

 This psalm is both a lamentation and a supplication.  
We can see in this psalm three parts:   
§  An initial invocation  vv. 2-4

§  A lamentation  (vv. 5-8)

§  A supplication  (vv. 6.9-20)

The responsorial psalm is taken from the initial invocation and from the supplication.  

§  We invoke God as our shepherd, as Lord of hosts and, as creator. 

§  We tell him that if he helps us and is with us, we will never abandon him, the last supplication is “give us new life and we will invoke you.”

§  The new life has been given to us in baptism, we can invoke him with complete trust, but also with responsibility.   

SECOND READING : 1 Cor  1:3-9
«  We read the beginning of this letter of Paul to the community of Corinth.  

«  In the two first verses, which we will not included in this second reading, Paul introduces himself as an apostole and he introduces also his collaborator Sostenes. 

o   Sostenes was very well known in Corinth. He had been the head of the local synagogue.  His conversion awoke much interest, and maybe he was also a good preacher.  All these circumstances were probably the reason for Paul to associate this man to his ministry. To mention  him in his letter could help Paul with the community of Corinth, which so often shows so little appreciation for the apostole.   

«  Today’s reading begins with a greeting in which he wishes the grace and peace of The Most Holy Trinity for the community.  

«  After that Paul gives thanks to God for the community.

«  The Lord will keep  them firm until the day of the Lord, which the first communities called “parousia.”

o   This word, of Greek origin, was used when the coming of some one was announced. Over time it was used specially for the coming of the emperor o a prince.  

o   But in this passage Paul does not use the word “parousia”, but the word “apocalypse” which means revelation.   

o   The use of apocalypse=revelation for the day of the Lord, instead of parousia=coming, helps us to understand the meaning of the Second Coming of the Lord as his manifestation at the end of the human history.     

«  The community can trust in the Lord because He is the one who called them, and the Lord is faithful to his promises.  

GOSPEL: MARK 13:33-37
During the liturgical cycle B we will read from the Gospel of Mark   

Ø  It is the shortest of the 4 Gospels. It has 16 chapters.   

Ø  The research at the end of the XIX century and beginnings of the XX century has helped the Church to understand that this Gospel was the first to be written, probably around the years 65 or 70 of our era.    

Ø  The Gospels of Matthew and Luke use the Gospel of Mark as the base for their Gospels.   

Ø  This Gospel has been called also the Gospel of the Disciple.  

Ø  This means that Mark wanted his community to learn how to behave as a disciple of the Lord.  

Ø  In our liturgy this Sunday we do not read from the beginning of the Gospel, because the Church wants us to reflect on the end of our human history and this is not found at the beginning but towards the end of the Gospel.   

Ø  The theme of this first Sunday of Advent is the continuation of the theme we were reflecting on in the last Sundays of  Year A “Be alert, be vigilant”  

Ø  We say to the Lord   LET US SEE YOUR KINDNESS AND GIVE US YOUR SALVATION.   

Ø  Be alert but without fear, without worries, with great expectation and confidence because when the Lord comes he will show us his salvation the fruit of his tender love for us.   

Ø  The person who loves is always waiting for the loved one, Jesus must trully become   the Loved One for each one of us,  and for the community as such

Ø  We expect the Lord with great anticipation, with the desire to be united with  him in an eternal embrace.

Ø  The one we are waiting for is Jesus. We expect the fulfillment of the promises about the new heavens and the new earth where there will be no more fear, doubts, tears or  suffering  of any kind. There will be only peace and harmony  

LET US CRY OUT WITH THE FIRST COMMUNITIES 
COME LORD JESUS!  MARANATHA!    

 AND LET US HEAR THE LORD SAYING TO US   
YES, I COME SOON!

 
CLARETIAN CORNER
 
The procurator desired very much to please people and, ourselves no less, and, in view that the house we had was not able to admit girls, he looked for one according to his taste and fit for the purpose, and rented it for  80 pesos per month. He did all this, looking for our convenience to please people, but he knew very well that, at that time, neither do I desire more comfort nor was it convenient to please people. What I desired at that time was to be very quiet until the coming of the Royal license for the foundation. I had many motives to think so, and all the rest seemed to me nonsense.

In this occasion I felt very weight down because when he told me to visit the house to arrange the distribution of the rooms, he was already committed up to the point of having already the keys of the house and the contract signed, as I said before. I had great pity of embarrassing him and, at the same time, I desired to please him, but seeing that it was of no profit for our purpose and that the months fly and it is very hard to earn 80 pesos, I did not know what to do. But God our Lord who, in everything has given me a hand and takes care even of the most tiny and domestic things, as a father of families, provided a very easy way in part to please the procurator but not with much noise as with the transfer to another house. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography  184-185.



As I said, we had the earthquakes and cholera epidemic during the first two years; and yet, between me and my companions, we managed to give missions in every parish in the archdiocese. I made my pastoral visit to each of them and administered the sacrament of Confirmation, remaining as long as it took to confirm everyone. Everywhere we went, we distributed books, holy cards, medals, and rosaries, with the result that everyone was as pleased with us as we were with them.
During that first round of visits and missions we took the trouble to keep a count of all the articles we distributed Journey to Baracoa, First visitation and found that we had given away 98,217 books, either gratis or in exchange for the bad books that people brought in and we destroyed--and there were very many of these bad books. We also gave away 89,500 holy cards, 20,663 rosaries, and 8,931 religious medals. After the first visit we no longer kept track of these things because we ordered such large quantities from Spain, France, and elsewhere that we distributed them throughout the diocese and beyond. May it all redound to God's greater glory and the good of the souls redeemed by Jesus Christ. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 544-545.    

BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Antonio María, Autobiografía.
PAGOLA, José A. El camino abierto por Jesús. PPC 2011.
PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiografía.
SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro pueblo, adaptación del texto y comentarios, 2010.
CONFERENCIA EPISCOPAL ESPAÑOLA, Sagrada Biblia, versión oficial, 2012.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST KING OF THE UNIVERSE


Ø  We are at the end of the liturgical year, and of the ordinary time. 

Ø  In the first Sunday in ordinary time we contemplated the young carpenter from Nazareth, Jesus, go to the Jordan River, like the other men, to be baptized by John.  

Ø  At his baptism Jesus heard the voice of the Father telling him “you are my son, my beloved son.” And after describing the baptism of Jesus, Mark narrates the missionary activity of the young Jesus proclaiming the kingdom of love of his Father. 

Ø  In the Sundays in ordinary time that followed up to now we have seen Jesus developing  a ministry of compassion and tenderness never experienced before, thus many said what is this? Who is he? We have  never seen such a thing. 

Ø  As Jesus makes his option to be with the abandoned and marginalized of society, the poor and the sinners, he invites his disciples, he invites us to do the same. 

Ø  Today we celebrate this same Jesus as King of the Universe, but not a King of worldly  power and glory, but a King of endless compassion, tenderness and  kindness.    

Ø  His judgment over the life of our society, our relationships is very surprising and we also exclaim, what is this? Is that the judgment that Jesus will pass on our life?   

Ø  Let us see what the readings for this Sunday tell us.    

FIRST READING  – Ez 34:11-12,15-17
Ø  The Lord our God by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel tells us that he himself will take care of his flock. 

Ø  The flock that has been dispersed during the storm and  the darkness. Yes the people of Israel, the flock of Yahweh, has been dispersed by the political ambitions of the powerful countries, but most of all because the heart of the people of Israel was far from its God, and each one went its own way. 

Ø  The Lord says      

§  I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered

§  I myself will pasture my sheep

§  The lost I will seek out

§  The injured I will bind up

§  The sick I will heal  

Ø  Is it not this what Jesus, the beloved Son of the Father, has been doing during his mission and his ministry among us?  

Ø  This passage from Ezekiel is of a great literary beauty, it describes the tender love of our Shepherd.  

Ø  The reading for today ends with a verse which makes us think, and which put us in relation with the Gospel: I will judge between one sheep and another…    

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  – Ps  23:1-2.2-3.5-6

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD THERE IS NOTHING I SHALL WANT
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
In verdant pastures he gives me repose. 

Beside restful waters he leads me
He refreshes my soul
He guides me in right paths
For his name’s  sake.  

You spread the table before me
In the sight of my foes
You anoint my head with oil
My cup overflows. 

Only goodness and kindness follow me
All the days of my life
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
For years to come.  

*      We never get tired of reading  and meditating  this psalm, which describes in such a graphic way and, with words so suggestive what God does for us, his tender care for each one of us

*      As the shepherd he knows each one of us by name.    

GOSPEL   Mt 25:31-46
v  The Gospel for this coming Sunday is a continuation of the one we read last Sunday.  

v  Jesus tells us another parable, and with this parable he wants us to learn on what will the last judgment be.   

v  As a good teacher he wants us to know now what will the test be, so that we may prepare for it during our entire life.   

v  He calls himself the Son of Man. This mysterious character is found in the book of Daniel. The Son of Man is a humble person, he is the son of a man, but he receives royal power and dominion, power to judge all the peoples of the earth, nations and languages, his kingdom will have no end,  it is eternal. 

v  And Jesus in his parable describes how is his dominion. 

v  What is the matter of this judgment, on what will we be examined?   

v  We will not be examined on our religion, our faith, our knowledge of Scriptures or theology, or many other sciences, not even how many Sundays have we attended Mass, or if we attended religious education classes to learn about God, or if we prayed many rosaries or if we have served our church in many ministries, none of these things will be the matter of judgment.    All these things are good, but they will not be the object of the judgment that our Shepherd will pass on us.    

v  We will be examined on our human relationships.   

v  Human relationships which have to be like those of our Shepherd who seeks, heals, cherishes, in a word he cares for others and not for himself.   

v  This is a very simple judgment, maybe we do not like it because it is too simple and,  it does not help our pride and vanity.   

v  What a simple think to  give something to drink, to eat… The powerful and leaders of this world  have other people to help others in their name.    They do not have time for this,   they are too busy with other things more “important”   

v  What a powerful message for all of us the followers of Jesus, who believe to be of the ones at his right hand.   

v  Will that be so? Is that the way we relate with our brothers and sisters, all the human beings? Because these are the ones that will be at his right hand. 

v  This judgement scares us, but at the same time it is very consoling,  because all of us can give food, drink, visit… those who are learned and those who have never gone to school or very Little. We all have been given a human heart able to love, to be compassionate and to be tender. 

v  As we read  the parable we realize that many of those at the right hand of the shepherd did not even know the shepherd, the Lord, they acted following the human instincts that God has given them, they lived as true human beings, images of God our Father.   

The Lord who has showed to us what it means to love, that is to be compassionate, tender, merciful, in the service of our brothers and sisters, tells us that this will be the judgment he will pass on  the human history.

v  How much work do we have as followers of Jesus, he has called us in order that doing the same things he did, we work on the transformation of our world helping in the transformation and conversion of all the human hearts to the love of our Father God.   

v  This is our task, may our Shepherd help us to discover anew in us the ability to love and let us be filled with missionary enthusiasm to live and proclaim with our whole being that our God is compassionate and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion toward all his creatures.    

SEGUNDA READING  1 Cor 15:20-26,28
ü  Paul tells us that Christ was risen from the dead as the first fruits of the resurrection of all those who sleep.    

ü  Afterwards the end will come and then Christ will hand over the kingdom to his Father.    

ü  Then all power and sovereignty will end since the only power will be Christ’s

ü  The Son himself will be subjected to the Father

ü  So that God will be God

ü  So that God can be all in all.   

ü  Paul in his letter puts before our eyes a fascinating and promising life program, but we must work united to Christ to make real the kingdom of our God, kingdom where we all will be brothers and sisters, kingdom where the human relationships will not be difficult as they are now, kingdom in which all will live in peace, we will be happy, we will have become as individuals and as a society the true image of God “let us made man in our image.”   

ü  How awesome is this project of God who wants to make of all of us as the human race his image, thus the judgment at the end will be on  how well we have accomplished our mission, our call.     
 
CLARETIAN CORNER
 
It has been fulfilled literally because oftentimes, when I was weighed down not knowing how to do so many things overloading me, I invoked her favor for me and for my sisters and she always -  helped me, especially in the beginning when our whole community consisted of only  these four little ants.The continuous petitions of people for the religious education of girls, helped me much to obtain complete enclosure. Even though we had always observed it never going out of the house, our visitors were permitted to enter, a thing that I did not like at all, and even though we had scheduled days and hours for visits, I was always desiring more seclusion. Venerable Maria Antonia Paris, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 182-83.  

 From Mayari I traveled to Santiago, the capital, a distance of 40 leagues. We set out on the Monday of Holy Week. Since the route we were to travel was very isolated, we had to take along some provisions, which consisted of an earthenware pot containing a stew made of codfish, garbanzos, and potatoes. After we had been walking for a long stretch of road, my companions said that we needed to eat; so we stopped, took out the pot, lit a fire, and huddled behind the trunk of a large mahogany tree to shield ourselves from the wind. We all took turns gathering wood and the fire got so hot that the pot broke. We got a piece of palm-bark (it peels off the palm tree like a large piece of cowhide) and poured what we could salvage of the stew into it. We didn't have any spoons or forks; so we hunted up a gourd and ate our mess of pottage with it. We were thirsty and got another piece of palm-bark, tied both ends of it together like a bucket, filled it with water, and enjoyed a refreshing drink. We were all so happy and content that it was a wonder to behold. The following day we arrived in Santiago to celebrate Holy Week services, as I did every year. .Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 543.   

BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Antonio María Claret, Autobiografía.
PAGOLA, José A.   El camino abierto por Jesús. PPC 2012
PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiografía
SCHOKEL, Luis Alonso - Adaptación del texto y comentarios a La Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo. 2010.
SAGRADA BIBLIA. Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española. 2012

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