XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME- CYCLE A   -  OCTOBER 15, 2017

ü   The first reading and the Gospel speak of the Kingdom of God by means of analogies.  

ü  For Paul his strength is in God.   

FIRST READING   Is 25:6-10ª

Ø  This Reading is taken from the first part of the book we call Book of Isaiah, whose author is the First Isaiah or  Isaiah from Jerusalem. 

Ø  His prophetic activity can be situated between the years 740 to 687 B.C. 

Ø  It covers three periods:   

o   First period that is short, it goes from the death of King Uzziah to the death of his son Jotham in 735.  It is a time of peace, the country enjoys a good prosperity.   

o   Second period  734-733 time of political unrest. 

o   The third period longer than the previous ones, the leaders of the country seek the contact with Egypt to free themselves from the Assyrian protection.  

WHAT DOES THE READING FOR THIS SUNDAY TELL US?  

-          The change they experience is provoked by God, and the author uses four symbols to describe it:   

o   The mountain, place of the banquet  

o   The banquet   

o   The presence of a multitude of peoples  

o   The change from suffering to wellbeing.   

-          Isaiah speaks of what will happen on this holy mountain, Jerusalem    

o   The holy mountain is at the beginning Jerusalem, but it becomes the happy eternity where death will be destroyed. 

o   Not only death or the end of our earthly life, but the many interior and exterior deaths we suffer,  provoked by others or by us.

o   Whenever we speak of wellbeing we speak of abundant and tasty fruits, good wines. 

o   All veils will be destroyed on this holy mountain, the veil that covers the peoples, the veil of ignorance, of lack of freedom, of everything that darkens in us the capacity to discover the presence of God in us, in all and in everything.   

o   Death will be destroyed forever on this mountain which symbolizes the heavenly Jerusalem, as well as every  place an situation of encounter with God.  When He is present even if we die we will live.    

o   On this mountain God will wipe out the tears from the eyes, what a beautiful and consoling promise! How many tears are shed in our world, how much human suffering.     

o   All of this which the prophet describes is the work of God to whom we turn our eyes to be saved.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Sal 23: 1-3a. 3b – 4.5.6

R. (6cd) I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
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.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
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.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

      Psalm of a great beauty that describes the peace and security of the person who feels the presence and company of God in his or her life.  

      Company and security which the psalmist describes with very evocative images: the prairies, the water of the springs, the table and the oil which anoints and perfumes.  

      The psalmist ends the psalm saying that  goodness and kindness will always be his companions throughout his life,  

      All of this and much more surround us when we feel and experience the presence of the Lord in our life.    

GOSPEL Mt 22: 1-14

Ø   Jesus is speaking again with the leaders and priests of his people, he is trying by all means to convince and conquer those men who pull away more and more from their vocation as representatives of Jesus’ Father, the God of Israel, who has called them to be his representatives on earth. 

Ø  It is a wedding banquet, the wedding is the most joyful and lovely celebration in all the cultures, and for every couple that are in love with each other. 

Ø  The kingdom of God is like a feast, a wedding celebration. 

Ø  As in the parable of the vineyard, here the king sends his servants and messengers to remind those invited to the feast of his son’s wedding that everything is prepared.   

Ø  But we are told that those invited ignored this reminder.    

Ø  A second time he sends other servants and they are told that those invited cannot go to the feast  because they have other more important things to do.  

Ø  The King becomes angry and sends his servants to invite anyone they find on the roads, any place. God does not abandon his project in spite of our little or no cooperation, he looks for other solutions.   

Ø  And all sorts of people come to the celebration some are good others are bad….  

Ø  There is even one who does not wear the wedding garment.  

Ø  Is that man, like us when through the journey of our life, so many times, we refuse to wear the wedding garment that was given to us in our baptism when the priest gave  us the white garment and, he told us to keep it until the time when the Lord will call us?    

Ø  Jesus describes the consequences of not using  the wedding garment as: “bind his hands and feet, darkness, bad relationships with others…

Ø  May the Lord grant us to cultivate the joy in our life, joy which will help us to recognize the Lord always walking with us during the journey of our earthly life, and this conviction will in turn increase our joy.   

SECOND READING    Phil 4:12-14. 19-20

Ø  Paul thanks the community of Philippi for their help. He had a very especial and loving relationship with this community that always show its love for him.   

Ø  But he tells them something that is very good for a missionary and evangelizer, maybe for all of us also: I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.

Ø  God will provide according to their needs, probably this is his experience.   

Ø  Yes, even if we are in need, God continues to provide for us in one way or another, sometimes we do not even understand it.  

Ø  God creates us, provides for us, we only have to open the eyes of faith and love to discover his work in us.  

CLARETIAN CORNER  

My Lord and my God, if you do not tell me in what religious order you want me to enter so as to comply with your      command, I do not know how this will be don.” Because by all means I wanted to be a religious. “My God, perhaps do you want something new?” (I did not know what I was asking)  I asked this question by Divine inspiration because it please hid Divine Majesty to be asked with simplicity, and if this seemed an  indiscreet question, because in God there is nothing impossible, our Lord did not take it wrong, because it was not asked our of curiosity, much less of mistrust in the infinite power of God,  (Our Lord has give this readiness, that as soon as I know the will of God, there is nothing difficult to me, blessed be God for his goodness. Thus, our Lord told me with much pleasure: “Yes, my daughter, I want a new order, but not new in doctrine but new in practice.” And here (at this moment) our Lord gave me the traits of the whole order and told me that I should be called: “APOSTLES of JESUS CHRIST IN IMITATION of THE BLESSED VIRGiN MARY”. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography7.

This troubled me deeply, for I am by nature very compassionate. The idea of an eternity of torment made such a deep impression on me, either because of the tenderness it evoked in me or because of the many times I thought about it, that it is surely the thing that to this day I remember best. The power of this idea has made me work in the past, still makes me work, and will make me work as long as I live, in converting sinners, in preaching, in hearing confessions, in writing books, in distributing holy cards and pamphlets, and in having familiar conversations. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters,  Autobiography 9 

 BIBLIOGRAFÍA

CLARET, SAN ANTONIO  MARÍA. Autobiography.

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. El camino abierto por Jesús.(The Way Open by Jesus) 2011

PAPA FRANCISCO, Angelus October 12, 2014       

PARIS, VENERABLE MARÍA ANTONIA. Autobiography.

SAGRADA BIBLIA –Commentaries.  Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2010.