XXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – AUGUST 28, 2016

The theme of our celebration is humility, which is the same as truth and wisdom. We will listen to the words of  Ben Sirach in the first reading, and of Jesus, our teacher, in  the Gospel.  

THE BOOK OF  SIRACH OR ECCLESIASTICUS

·        It is a wisdom book which is part of the deuterocanonical books, the books of the second list.  These are the books that the people of Israel do not recognize as revealed by God, they were written in foreign lands in Greek, not in Hebrew. Our brothers and sisters from other Christian traditions do not acknowledge them either as part of the canonical books.  

·        For us in the Christian of Catholic tradition this book (Ecclesiasticus) is counted among the revealed books.  

·        It is part of the wisdom literature, so common in the Middle East.   

·        Contrary to what was believed the original book, was written npt written in Greek but in Hebrew by a man known as Simon son of Jesus, who was the grand- father of the man who translated the book into the Greek language. (see foreword of the Catholic Study Bible)

·        In chapter 51, the author Simon son of Jesus says that he has looked for wisdom with passion, and this is the wisdom he shares with the reader.   

FIRST READING Sir 3:17-18, 20-, 28-29

The author addresses someone as "my son" It can be his real son or it may also be the way an elder person speaks to a younger one. 

v  He gives the following counsels: 

ü  Humility, the reward of conducting oneself with humility will be the love of those who know him or her, they will love him more than they love those who make gifts.  

ü  If you are greater, humble yourself the more.  

ü  Avoid what is over your possibilities  

ü  a listening ear  gives joy to the wise.   

      this listening is not of anything, not of gossips, not of novelties... 

      in Scripture a listening ear means to be attentive to what God is saying to us through  the events of life, through other persons and through creation, it has the same meaning as obedience.       

      The joy comes to us when we listen to God and obey him, even when we experience suffering because of that obedience, there is an inner peace.   

ü  The reading ends with the sentence " water quenches the fire, alms atone for  sin."  

RESPONSORIAL PSAL - Ps  68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11

GOD IN YOUR GOODNESS, YOU HAVE MADE A HOME FOR THE POOR.   

The just rejoice and exult before God;

they are glad and rejoice

Sing to God, chant praise to his name;

whose name is the Lord.  

GOD IN YOUR GOODNESS, YOU HAVE MADE A HOME FOR THE POOR.   

The father of orphans and the defender of widows

is God in his holy dwelling.

God gives a home to the forsaken;

he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.

GOD IN YOUR GOODNESS, YOU HAVE MADE A HOME FOR THE POOR.   

A bountiful rain you showered down, O God,

upon your inheritance

you restored the land when it languished;

your flock settled in it;

in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy.

GOD IN YOUR GOODNESS, YOU HAVE MADE A HOME FOR THE POOR.   

GOSPEL - LUKE 14:1,7-14

Ø  Like the past Sundays, we hear Jesus teaching what is the Kingdom and how are we supposed to behave in the kingdom, which has already begun on earth. 

Ø  Luke tells us that Jesus recommended humility, as a way to behave in relationship with others.  

Ø  The first reading invited us to live a simple life without ambitions or looking for what goes beyond our capacities.   

Ø  Humility according to St. Therese of Avila, is the same as truth. 

Ø  The root of this word

o   is the Latin word humus which means dust of the earth.

o   We have been made from the same matter as the rest of creation.

o   It is the transforming love of God who has transformed our mud into light,

o   into divine life which he has given to us, and which he is willing to continue giving to all and everyone.  

Ø  Let us listen to the teaching of Jesus, what he tells us as he sees the guest at the wedding looking for the first seats, those who are closer to the married couple.  

Ø  Jesus says to us:  

·        If you go to a wedding banquet do not sit at the place of honor  

·        Why? Very simple, if these sits have been assigned to other people by the owner of the house, he will ask you to move back and give your sit to the person for whom it has been reserved. 

·        You will feel shame and will have to stand up and go to a lower place.  

·        But if you sit at the last place, then you will have the chance to move to a higher place.   

·        If we think higher of us than what we really are, we will suffer a lot of humiliations, but if we recognize who we are, simple and  lowly persons created and loved by God,  then the Lord will honor us.

·        After that parable Jesus says some words that always make us wonder, because we do not fully understand  what do  they mean.   

·        Do not invite those who can repay you... relatives, friends, important persons... What is wrong about inviting them to a dinner in our home? Does not friendship grow through those celebrations?   

·        Yes, but Jesus does not say that, he is simply saying that we should not take advantage of other people, inviting them to get something from them.

·        The list of guests he mentions is the image of those who cannot pay us back: lame, poor, blind... 

·        Blessed are you because they cannot repay you, it is the heavenly Father who will repay you on the last day, the day of the retribution because you have served your brothers and sisters in need.  

SECOND READING : Heb 12:18-19,22-24a

      This passage of the letter to the Hebrews, offers to us the contrast between the theophanies of the Old Covenant, and those of the New Covenant.  

      In the Old Covenant the theophanies to the patriarchs, during the exodus, to the prophets are always described by means of terrifying natural phenomena. It is a way to explain to us that God is THE OTHER, transcendent, whom we cannot approach or touch.   

      The description of the presence of God among us in the New Covenant are through the person of a simple man, Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, known as the son of Joseph and of Mary, who lived a  life like the life of any Israelite of his time with simplicity and fidelity.  

      This man so simple is the Second Person of the Trinity who comes to us under kind and attractive signs.  

      This man is the mediator of the New Covenant which is so different from the Old one in its manifestations. 

POST-SYNODAL  APOSTOLIC  EXHORTATION

THE JOY OF LOVE “AMORIS  LÆTITIA”

OF  THE  HOLY  FATHER FRANCIS

 The majestic early chapters of Genesis present the human couple in its deepest reality.  Those first pages of the Bible make a number of very clear statements.  The first, which Jesus para- phrases, says that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (1:27). It is striking that the “image of God” here refers to the couple, “male and female”.  Does this mean that sex is a property of God himself, or that God has a divine female companion, as some ancient religions held? Naturally, the answer is no.  We know how clearly the Bible rejects as idolatrous such beliefs, found among the Canaanites of the Holy Land.  God’s transcendence is preserved, yet inasmuch as he is also the Creator, the fruitfulness of the human couple is a living and effective “image”, a visible sign of his creative act. (10)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras, Año C.

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso, Commentary to the Biblia de nuestro Pueblo

PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Meditations on the Gospels for Year C.

POPE FRANCIS, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation: The Joy of Love. 2015