Ø Jesus begins his ministry of proclaiming the good news.
Ø He keeps calling collaborators to help him in his mission.
THE BOOK OF JONAH
Ø The
book of Jonah is found among the prophetic books, although he is not a real
prophet.
Ø
This book was written to counteract the
nationalism of Ezra and Nehemiah, who promoted hate toward the foreigner, to
everyone not belonging to the “holy and chosen” people.
Ø
In the past this book was considered by some
a historical one, while others thought it was an allegory. The idea of that
book being historical has been discarded because it has some details difficult
to reconcile to real life.
Ø
Nowadays most of the commentators consider
this book like a parable, a book belonging to the wisdom literature
Ø
The time of this story is after the return
from the Babylonian exile, during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, between the V and
II centuries BC. During the time in which the book of the Ecclesiasticus had
been written.
Ø
The message of this book is a reaction
against the belief found and promoted in Israel that salvation was only for the
chosen people. Also against the idea that God was a judging and vengeful God. This is an offense against God who is love
and compassion.
Ø
The choosing of Nineveh is not without
purpose, Nineveh was a sinful and cruel city, incarnation or representation of
all that is bad, the city ruled by cruel kings.
Ø
The book of Jonah wants to offer us the
following possibilities:
o
The oppressor is able to change his
life.
o
The acceptance on the part of Israel to
accept that God is merciful toward all, even toward their oppressors.
o
The message is more difficult when we realize
that Jonah is sent to Nineveh, not to have the city convert to the
religion of Israel, but it is a call to
conversion within their own religion.
Ø
The book has two parts, the two calls that God makes to Jonah:
o
First call cc,1-2 (Jonah does not want to do what God
asks him, he flees )
o
Second call cc. 3-4 (Jonah does what the Lord asks him to
do)
Ø
This book is a work of art of the Hebrew
literature.
FIRST READING – Jonah
3: 1-5.10
v The
Lord comes to Jonah a second time, Jonah has already learned that when the Lord
calls we need to respond to him.
v He
receives a mission, something to do for a city, the city of Nineveh.
v It
is a sinful and corrupt city, and also quite large.
v Jonah
makes the decision to do what the Lord is asking.
v And
he proclaims the message as he has understood it, probably he has translated
the word in his own way to understand God “if you sin you will be destroyed.”
v Jonah
is completely sure that the people of Nineveh will not listen to the message,
and will follow their own mistaken ways.
v But
the reality will surprise Jonah, all the inhabitants of Nineveh, rich and poor,
powerful and humble old and young repent and do penance.
v How
often we are like Jonah when we think that persons and communities cannot
change, and the Lord always surprises us allowing us to experience something
different.
v And
the city is not destroyed as Jonah had announced.
v The
way the author of this book portrays God is very interesting: God sees, God
repents, changes, and acts differently.
v We
are all witnesses in our own life of this behavior of God
v Maybe
we do not have a theological explanation for this, but in many places of the
Scriptures the authors describe God negotiating, changing, let us remember the conversation of Abraham over the sinful cities, “and if
only 10?... only 5?...”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM : Sal 25:4-5. 6-7. 8-9
Psalm 25 is a psalm of supplication and
trust.
It has 3 parts:
o
Invocation and petition vv. 1-7
o
Wisdom
reflection vv. 8-15
o
Final petition
vv. 16-22
This psalm has a concentric structure: the
first part and the third one have the same themes and vocabulary.
In this Sunday’s liturgy the responsorial
psalm is taken from the first and second parts.
o
Petition to the Lord that he may have
compassion and do not remember our sins.
o
The last stanza tells us who God is and how
God acts.
TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, O LORD
Your ways o Lord make known to me
Teach me your
paths
Guide me in your truth and teach me
For you are God my savior.
Remember that you compassion O Lord
And your love are from of old
In your kindness remember me
Because of your goodness O Lord
Good and upright is the Lord
Thus he shows sinners the way
He guides the humble to justice
And teaches the humble his way.
GOSPEL
Mk 1:14-20
ü
Mark continues to describe the Jesus’
activity.
ü
We find two interesting things in this
passage:
o
John is arrested and Jesus goes back to
Galilee.
o
Why? Because
he is in danger, and his hour has not come yet?
o
Or, maybe he is doing what he said, if they
persecute you in one place, go to another, and continue to proclaim the good
news?
o
Whatever it might be Jesus is now in
Galilee.
o
In the way Mark describes Jesus’ activity we
perceive the urgency of the proclamation.
ü What does he proclaim?
o
This is the time of fulfillment
o
The kingdom of God is at hand
o
Repent and believe in the Gospel
ü
What time is this? Will it be the time in which
Israel, and the whole human race, even without knowing it, have been waiting
for the redeemer, someone sent by God to heal us?
ü
What is this kingdom? Looking at how Jesus
acts, we see that it is a kingdom in which God is compassionate, merciful,
patient, who waits for, and wants the conversion of the lost.
ü
Repent, convert? Change your ways, instead of turning you back to God, walk
toward him, look at your Father’s face, He is always waiting for you.
ü
At the same time that he announces, he keeps
calling, inviting other young men to follow him… I will make of you fishers of human
beings.
ü
These men, rough and used to difficult work,
know how difficult the trade of fishing is, and Jesus is telling them that they
will be fishers of human beings.
ü
How would
Jesus' look be on those men? How would his words be in order that they followed him with such readiness?
ü
The Gospel gives us only a synthesis of the
whole process of leaving everything behind and following Jesus. I am inclined
to think that they had a conversation with their closest relatives, those that
lived in the same house with them, and told them know their decision.
ü
They leave behind all that has been their
life up to now, to begin the adventure of following that rabbi who has seduced
them with his words, and with his look but most of all with his love. From him they will learn how to love.
ü
Have we experienced in our life his look over
us, his Word calling us in the depth of our being to cooperate and receive a mission from him?
SECOND READING 1Cor 7:29-31
« This
is a difficult text for us to understand properly.
« Is
Paul saying that the realities of our present life do not have any value? … as
not weeping, as not …
« If
the New Testament is the proclamation of salvation, of fulfillment, of joy,
Paul cannot say to us that the other human beings are not important.
« If
I believe that the good things that I have come from God, how is it possible
not to fully enjoy them?
« What
is Paul telling us? Maybe he is telling us that there is something which is
absolute, rather someone who is absolute, and everything else is valuable in
relation to him.
« From
his words we understand that he gives for granted that we weep, rejoice, buy,
use the realities of this passing world, of the present time, but his advice
is, always look at the Kingdom that will come after this temporal reality.
« I
believe that we will be able to enjoy what the Lord has prepared for us in
heaven, in the measure we have been able to enjoy what he has given us in this
present life.
« Why?
It is the same God who gives to us the present things and promises the future, those of the
Kingdom.
CLARETIAN CORNER
|
In this occasion many important things came to me that I, by myself did
not dare to determine and I had no one
to consult with, because with my director, MGR. Caixal, it was impossible for
he was so far, and here the only one I had, the Archbishop ignored everything
leaving it all in the hands of the procurator as I said in the beginning.
This
detachment of my prelate has been for me a martyrdom, tormenting me day and
night. My only recourse was to cry, asking the Lord to take care of His Holy
Will. O, who will be able to count the tears my eyes have shed! Only God who knows even the number of the
hairs of the head is witness of my suffering. (Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of
the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 195-96).
Despite the fact that I had visited and given missions in all the parishes
of the diocese during those first two years, I kept on doing so even
afterwards. The Council of Trent demands that the pastoral visitation be made
every one or two years; during my six years and two months in office, I visited
every parish in the diocese four times.
During my time the salaries of the cathedral and parochial clergy were
adjusted and raised; my own salary was cut. Previously the Archbishop of Cuba
had received a salary of 30,000 duros, plus parochial stole fees of 6,000
duros; in my time I had it reduced to 18,000 duros, minus all stole fees.(Saint Anthony Mary Claret,
Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 550-51)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Antonio María,
Autobiografia
PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Convivium
Press 2011.
PAGOLA, José A. El camino abierto por
Jesús. Desclée de Brouwer, 2011
PARIS, María Antonia Autobiografia
RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las
Escrituras: doble comentario a las lecturas del domingo, San Pablo 2005.
SCHOKEL, Luis Alonso, La Biblia de
Nuestro Pueblo,
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