THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT  - CYCLE C - 2016

INTRODUCTION

1. The theme that we can discover in the readings is  conversion, a conversion which is fidelity to our call or vocation.  

 

   FIRST READING  Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15    

Ø  Today’s reading speaks of the call YHWH makes to Moses.  

Ø  Moses comes with the flock of his father in law to the Horeb, Sinai, the mountain of God.  

Ø  God reveals himself to Moses     

o   as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that is, the God of the fathers.   

o   God is the God of history who takes care of the oppressed, the needy, the one who suffers. This means that he is a God close to human beings who can say “I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their complaints against their oppressors and I have come to deliver them.”  

o   God besides being so close (immanent) is also a transcendent God:  

§  The burning bush which is not consumed  

§  The order given to Moses to take off his shoes because he is on holy ground. God is present there.  

§  His mysterious name  

o   The name    

§  For the peoples of the Bible the name is the same as the person, it has to be respected like the person is respected.  

§  Also to know the name of a person is in certain measure to have dominion over him or her, to be able to manipulate him or her.  

§  God cannot be manipulated, because he is the totally OTHER. He says to Moses his name which seems enigmatic, or even a way not to say his true name

§  But in reality this is his true name, his true identity I AM WHO AM, it means I am the one who does not depend on others to exist, I exist by myself. 

 

• And after explaining to Moses why he has come, he tells him to go to deliver his brothers and sisters. 

• You will tell them I AM (YHWH) sends me to you to deliver you from Egypt and to lead you into a fertile land.  
• What a beautiful text which narrates the conversation between God who calls and the one called  that looks for excuses because he is afraid but finally he finds his strength in God to be faithful “I am with you.” 
   
  RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps 103            
  THE LORD IS KIND AND MERCIFUL

• This psalm is a hymn to the mercy of God. 
   
  Bless the Lord, my soul   
  May my whole being bless his holy Name   
  Bless the Lord, my soul,  
  And never forget his benefits.   
   
  He pardons all your faults  
  And heals all your illnesses  
  He rescues your life from the grave  
  He crowns you with love and tenderness  
   
  The Lord does works of justice 
  And gives the right to the oppressed  
  He showed his ways to Moses  
  And his mighty deeds to the people of Israel  
   
  The Lord is compassionate and merciful  
  As much as the sky is high above the earth  
  So is his infinite love toward those who fear him.  
   
  SECOND READING  1 Cor 10:1-6. 10-12

1. Paul reminds the community of Corinth how those who left Egypt and journeyed through the desert had the same experiences: the sea, the cloud, the manna, the Law.  
2. But their fate was different due to the different way each one accepted the gratuitous gifts that God gave them. 
3. And Paul continues to say that this happened to teach us. Teach what? Fidelity to the call we received at baptism.  
4. And it is also a call not only to be faithful but humble and trusting  in the Lord. “Therefore whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.   
    
   GOSPEL  Lk 13:1-9

• Some people came to Jesus and told him about the Galileans that Pilate had them killed. We do not know with what intention they communicated that to Jesus. 
• But Jesus takes the opportunity to remind all his listeners that this happened to them not because they were worst sinners than the rest of us, but that we all need to “convert to the Lord” and do good works, be faithful to our call, on the contrary we will perish.  We will not perish because Pilate or somebody else kills us, but because with our sins we will kill ourselves. 
• And the Lord continues to tell them a parable to illustrate what he had told them:  
  • A man had a fig tree planted in his orchard. 
  • When he came to pick up fruit there was none. 
  • He called the gardener and told him to cut it down because for three years he had come to search for fruit and had found none.  Why should it exhaust the soil for nothing?  
  • The gardener said to him, leave it for one more year, I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize.  
  • If it continues not to give fruit you can  cut it down. 
• This parable seems like the history of salvation accomplished by Jesus.  
  • He is the one who takes care of the fig tree, wait a little Father, let me go and live among them, and let me tell them how much you love them and how you wish them to live, and you will see how they change. 
  • I will hand myself over in their hands, loving them unconditionally as you love them, so they can see your love in me, learn and even if they kill me I will continue to love them.  
     
     
    
     
    The missionary must be always kind and be all to all but without losing his composure and religious circumspection.
    Beware that due to his carelessness the veneration and respect ought to be given to the priestly character that he is invested, be lost.
    Do not familiarize with anybody but be kind to everybody. During his travels he must speak little and meditate very much.  His lodging in the cities be in the hospital.
    Do not play jokes to his brothers or companions of travel much less to (strangers).
    He must be respectful to everybody if he wants to be respected as it is proper to a minister of the Lord; for this, will be good to him not to take liberties with anybody. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, The Apostolic Missionary, 2.1-2.5
          To give still greater edification, I have refrained from smoking or taking snuff. Furthermore, I have never said or even hinted that I prefer any one thing to another. This, of course, is an old habit with me. The Lord had already given me this heavenly blessing while my dear mother (R.I.P.) was still alive. She died without ever knowing what I liked best. Because she loved me so much and wanted to please me, she would sometimes ask me whether I liked this or that. I would answer that whatever she chose for me was what I liked best. Then she would say, "I know, but there is always something we like better than something else." I would still tell her that what she gave me was what I liked best. Naturally I, like everyone else, prefer some things to others; but the spiritual joy I feel in doing the will of others is far greater than that of any particular physical preference, so that I was telling my mother the truth  Saint Anthony Mary  Claret, Founder  of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 410.
    BIBLIOGRAPHY 

            CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.

            PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus – Gospels Year C

            PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía

RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras – Ciclo C. San Pablo 2006. 

SCHÖKEL , Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

SAGRADA BIBLIA, Versión Oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española  

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT – CYCLE C - 2016

INTRODUCTION

1. Every year on the second Sunday of Lent the liturgy invites us to reflect on the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus.   
2. Last Sunday we reflected on the mystery of Jesus being tempted as any one of us is, and we learned  from him to fight against the temptations with the Word of God.  
3. Today, let us allow us to be filled  with the light of the Transfigured Lord, and let us listen to Him as the Father invites us.  
4. Our reflection on the readings will be from the point of view of the Covenant.   

 

FIRST READING  Gn 15:5-12; 17-18    

 

This reading speaks of one of the covenants that God made with Abram. God had not yet changed his name.   

• The Hebrew word for covenant is   berit (used to describe the relationship between a lord and his servant, it is a unilateral promise, wholly gratuitous and free on the part of the lord). The Greek word for covenant is    diatheke.  With these two words the Bible describes different kinds of covenants. Let us see some of them:
  • The first and the most gratuitous is the covenant of creation. Creation comes from  the gracious and loving initiative of God, who could not even consult us since we did not exist yes. But creation is continuous thus the covenant made by God with his creation is permanent and continuous.   
     
  • We find different types of covenants in Scripture:  
    • God gives without asking anything in exchange = promise  Gn:8-11; 12-17 
    • God enters into a covenant  through a rite:  Gn   15:7-10.17
    • God enters into a bilateral covenant with his people:   Jos 24:1-28   

• The covenant we find in the first reading belongs to the second type of covenant: the covenant between God and Abram is made through a rite.  
  Let us  analyze the biblical story 
• Before the verses we will read this coming Sunday, God says to Abram “do not be afraid, because your reward will be abundant.” To these words of God Abram replies “what use do these gifts do to me since I do not have children, and my servant is the one who is going to inherit my possessions.”  
• Let us reflect on the reading for this Sunday
  • The descendants of Abram will be as numerous as the stars in the firmament. Abram believes that YHWH can do what he says and thus he is justified, made just, saved.  
  • The promise is this: I will give to you the land you walk on    
  • God reminds Abram of all that he has done for him up to that moment. The faith of Israel and the Christian faith as well is grounded in tradition, in the memory of God’s mighty deeds for us.  Last week we read how Israel repeats his tradition in prayer “My father was a wandering Aramean” 
  • Abram asks God how will  he know that the land will be his.   
  • And now God enters into a covenant with Abram. God relates to us in the way we understand according to our own culture, so that we may understand his message given to us.  
  • In the ancient religions the divinities were the witnesses to the covenants made by men, here in this text of the Bible YHWH himself is the witness and at the same time the one who makes the covenant. 
  • Abram prepares everything for the ceremony of the covenant God is going to make with him.    
  • He prepares the wood for the fire and on it in two separate  piles of wood they put the cow that had previously being cut in two. Each part was put on a different pile of wood facing each other.   
  • The persons who entered into the covenant   had to walk between the two parts of the animal and say: let it be done to me as it has been done to this animal, if I am not faithful to the covenant I am about to enter.   
  • Abram feels asleep, and at the same time terror invades him.  
  • The presence of God is very much attractive to the human being, but at the same time it is terrifying, because God is the OTHER, completely different from us.   
  • Then Abram sees in the midst of the darkness of night something like a burning torch passing between the two parts of the cow. 
  • In the burning torch he discovers the symbol of the presence of YHWH who is passing by   between the two parts of the animal.  God commits himself to be faithful to the  covenant.  
  • As we can see this type of covenant is unilateral, only God commits himself, Abram is only an observer.
  • And after that YHWH pronounces the words of the covenant which he makes with Abram on that day “To your descendants I will give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River Euphrates.”
     
    SECOND READING : Phil 3:17- 4:1

• Paul invites o exhorts the community of Philippi to be faithful and to look towards those who live according to the teachings he (Paul) has given them. 
• He repeats with words full of tenderness and love “continue to be faithful to the Lord”   
• We are in the season of Lent, in which we reflect more deeply in the meaning of the Paschal Mystery of Christ, the New Covenant sealed in his blood on the Cross. On the cross he forgave our sins, he paid for us the price of the covenant to which we have not been faithful.
• In the same way as the ancient prophets Paul reminds them the need to be faithful to the New Covenant. 
  • Covenant in which the land that is given to us is heaven, eternal life forever.  
  • Here the faithful is to the gloried Christ who has in the New Testament the place that   YHWH, had in the Old Testament, because he is God.
     
    GOSPEL  Lk 9:28-36

• Before the event of the transfiguration Jesus makes the first announcement of his passion and explains the conditions to be his disciple. 
• Luke says that 8 days later, probably it refers to the announcement Jesus makes of his passion.   
• Jesus goes up to a high mountain to pray and takes with him the three closest disciples, the same that went with him to Jairus’  home and were witnesses of how Jesus gave back the life to the girl. They will be also invites by Jesus to be witnesses of his greatest weakness and vulnerability in Gethsemane. These disciples are: Peter, James and John.  
• While he is praying Jesus changes in his aspect and at the same time Moses and  Elijah appear talking to him
  • Moses en Elijah the whole Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets.   
  • They speak with him about his exodus which will be consummated in Jerusalem. 
     
• Jesus as well as the two men are radiant and their clothes are white, all this are signs of the divinity.   
• Luke says that the disciples felt asleep, would that be the same thing that happened to Abram in the presence of YHWH? Or what happened to the disciples at Gethsemane? 
• When they awake they see the glory of Jesus.  
• But they do not understand the true meaning of what is happening on the mountain. Peter speaks for the three of them, he wants to remain in that situation which is so marvelous, he has forgotten the invitation of the Lord to follow the Master in his passion.   
• The cloud covers them, the cloud is a symbol of the presence of God throughout the Old Testament and also in the New Testament in the narrative of the Annunciation. 
• Like Abram who felt fear the disciples are afraid when the cloud covers them and they hear the voice of the Father. 
• What does the voice say? THIS IS MY CHOSEN SON, LISTEN TO HIM.    
• This voice of the Father relates the two narratives of the transfiguration and of the baptism. 
• But here the Father adds “Listen to him” 
• The three of them have been invited to follow the Master as disciples, and one thing that a disciple has to do is to listen and to obey. 
• They do not say anything to anyone, probably because before the resurrection this event could not be understood correctly.   
    BIBLIOGRAFÍA

            CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.

            PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía

RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras – Ciclo C. San Pablo 2006. 

SCHÖKEL , Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

SAGRADA BIBLIA, Versión Oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española  

 

 

 

 

August 27 1856. During the thanksgiving to God after the Holy Communion, when I made my profession, our Lord told me to take rest from my fears, that I had written well what he had commanded me. And that my prelate was holy but he had to sanctify himself more by the means His majesty commanded me to write, that this was His will.  Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters,  68.

I have been told that before I arrived in Madrid there were some excesses at table. Indeed, it is no wonder because such a variety of rich courses, exquisite dishes, and excellent wines were served, all an invitation to over-indulgence. But since I have been forced by duty to attend, I have not noticed the slightest display of intemperance. On the contrary, it seems to me that the other guests take less than they need when they see that I am not eating. Often while we are still at table the guests seated on either side talk to me about spiritual matters and want to know what church I hear confessions in so that they can go to confession there.  Saint Anthony Mary  Claret, Founder  of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 409.