Monday, March 25, 2019


FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT  – CYCLE  C – 2019

INTRODUCTION

v  The center of the readings is the parable of the Prodigal Son, which certainly could be called the parable of the Good Father .

v  This father is the Father in Heaven, the Father that Jesus wants to share with us, as he said the day of his resurrection “my Father and your Father…” 

v  Let us see the message that the readings give to us. 

FIRST READING   Jos 5:9-12

·         The book of Joshua is the first book of the Bible after the Pentateuch.  The people of Israel that has arrived to the Promise Land will have to adapt his life to the new situation. 

·         They had been nomads that journeyed through the desert to the land promised to their Fathers.  They were shepherds.

·         Now they will have to adapt new forms of life,  they will have to learn how to cultivate the soil, besides being shepherds they will have to be farmers.   

·         They will have also to adapt the way they worship.   

·         What do the readings say to us?  

o   God reminds them that He is the one who has liberated them, that has taken away the shame they suffered being slaves in Egypt  

o   Now they are in the land and they will celebrate for the first time the Passover in the land.  

o   This same day the manna disappeared, from now on they will have to provide for themselves cultivating the land which will provide what they need. 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps  34

R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
 and from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.



v  The Psalmist  

o   Blesses [says good] the Lord at all times  

o   He is proud of the Lord  

o   He invites the people to rejoice on hearing the Lord.   

v  The Psalmist invites the people  

o   To proclaim and praise the Lord  

o   Because when he sought the Lord for help, the Lord listened to him.   

o   I think this an experience we all have had, the joy to realize that the Lords was listening to us, no matter how long ago.

o   The fears move away, there is a feeling of security, of being protected, within hands that protect us.  

v  The Psalmist speaks to each one of us  

o   He invites us to trust, to jump with joy.   

o   We will not be defrauded because the Lord listens to the cry of the poor.   

o   Maybe the key of all of these, is to be poor, that is, to trust fully in God, our Father.

o   As a background music the responsorial psalm repeats: Taste and see…   



SECOND READING  2 Cor 5,17-21

Ø  Paul speaks to his community of Corinth about the newness of those who are in Christ.  

Ø  We began to be in Christ when we were baptized, when we became new creatures. 

Ø  He also reminds them that whatever is old has passed away, it does not exist anymore.   

Ø  He says that all of this was possible through the loving initiative of God in Christ that reconciled us with the Father. 

Ø  This reconciliation that Christ made on the cross, he has given it to us, to the Church, so that we might become ministers of reconciliation in the world.  

Ø  As ministers of reconciliation, we need to say to our brothers “be reconciled to God.”  

Ø  For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.  

GOSPEL Lk  15:1-3.11-32

*      Verses 1 to 3 provide  the  setting  for this wonderful story, parable. 

o   Jesus is surrounded by “sinners” = tax collectors and others.  

o   The Pharisees are there also, but they are not there with the same intention as the sinners. They are there to judge what Jesus is doing, Jesus who welcomes those whom they considered “lost.”  

o   Jesus in response to those feelings, which they have in their hearts, tells them and us this wonderful parable. In all of us we find the “sinner” and the “Pharisee that judges.”  

o   The parable of the Prodigal Son, which should be called the Parable of the Good Father.  

o   This parable has different scenes, which we are going to contemplate one by one. 

o   The first one: the younger son asks for his inheritance and goes away from home:   

§  Give me my inheritance!  This is an insolent petition. The inheritance is received after the death of the person who leaves it.   

§  The father does not argue, he divides his possessions between the two sons he has. 

§  The younger son goes away from home to a far distant country.  Distant country means a place far from home, from all that is familiar, from the love of his father. The reality is that he has always been far from home, even living in it. His heart has always been far from the love of his father.    

§  Here the first scene ends.   

o   The second scene: the younger son in a foreign country and the father  waits for him to return.   

§  What does the son do in the far away country? What does the father do at home?  

§  The son expends all his possessions in a dissolute life, while he has money he has many friends. 

§  The father at home goes to the road every day to see if the son returns. He wants to see his son even knowing that the son does not love him.   

§  The son is out of money and loses all his friends. He feels lonely, hungry and humiliated. He feels so low and so hungry that he goes to work feeding pigs. A profession that a Jew will never have, pigs are impure animals.  In this situation he comes back to his senses and decides to do something: “I will go back….”  

§  The father keeps going to the road ….    

o   The third scene is the return home of the younger son   

§  The father, who goes every day to the road to see him returning, recognizes him from afar and runs to meet him. 

§  The son says to his father the words he has prepared “I have sinned… I am nor worthy… accept me as one of your workers…”  

§  The father does not allow him to finish. Quickly bring the tunic, the sandals, the ring… let us celebrate.   

§  Why? Because this son was lost and has been found, was dead and has come back to life.   

§  The celebration begins; the father is filled with joy.    

o   Last Scene  – The Elder Brother  

§  He comes back from the fields, where he has been working all day long.  He hears the voices of joy, the music, the laughter… What is this? Because   there has been only sadness in the house since his brother had left.

§  Your brother has come back, and your father is so happy to have recovered him in good health that he has killed the fatted calf and has called for a celebration.   

§  The elder son is angry, he does not want to join the celebration.  The father comes out and begs him to enter, to rejoice because his brother was dead and he is alive, was lost and he has been found.  “Everything that I have is yours my son. You are always with me.”  

§  We do not know if he joined the celebration, Jesus leaves us in suspense. Maybe because we are the ones who have to finish the story,   we are at the same time the younger son who sins  enjoying the pleasures money gives him,  and the elder who sins judging and being sad. We are at the same time like the “tax collector” and the “Pharisee.” 

§  I read once a book by Henri Nouwen and he said that a friend told him to forget about being the elder or the younger son, and trying to be like the Father full of love, mercy and joy.

 CLARETIAN CORNER

He put again before me all the religious orders and made me see the deplorable state of the universal church and told me with heartfelt words that the evils of this holy church had no other remedy that the observance of his most holy law.



At this moment I saw our Lord Jesus Christ, I had him present in very special way. He had so much pain for the evil of the church, that it seemed as if his Divine eyes were bursting into tears, and told me sorrowfully: “look, my daughter, if with tears I would be able to renew the spirit of my church, I would shed tears of blood. Because I did not spare myself to shed all my blood for her creation, but I left myself as pledge and memory of my infinite love for her, for her conversion until the end of time. (Our Lord granted me again this vision for the following night during prayer). Venerable Maria Antonia Paris, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 8-9.

I simply can't understand how other priests who believe the same truths that I do, and as we all should, do not preach and exhort people to save themselves from falling into hell.

I wonder too how the laity, men and women who have the faith, can help crying out. What if a fire broke out in a house in the middle of the night and the people in the house and in the neighborhood were asleep and unaware of the danger? Wouldn't the first person who noticed the fire run through the streets shouting "fire, fire in such and such a house!" Well, why not shout "hellfire!" to awaken those who are asleep in their sins, lest they awake to find themselves burning in everlasting fire? Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 13-14.

Sunday, March 17, 2019


THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT  - CYCLE C - 2019

INTRODUCT
To help me in finding the meaning of these readings, I have looked at the Gospels from cycles A and B: A, is about encounter of the Samaritan woman with Jesus, B, is the purification of the Temple by Jesus; both readings are taken from the Gospel of John.   
 The theme that we can discover in these 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, and 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.  


§  In addition, 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 very OTHER. He says to Moses his name which seems enigmatic, or even a way not to say his true name


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




Ø  After explaining to Moses why he has come, he tells him to go to deliver his brothers and sisters. 

Ø  You will tell them I AM (YHWH) sends me to you to deliver you from Egypt and to lead you into a fertile land.  

Ø  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            

  

ü  Psalm 103 is a hymn to the mercy of God   

ü  It begins and ends with a blessing.  
ü  It has two sections: a) a song to love and pardon (3-10)  b) a song to love and frailty (11-19)
God loves us with an infinite love and an unparalleled tenderness   
ü  God is Father full of kindness.   
ü  Jesus, the image of the invisible God, reveals this kindness and love from the cross “Father forgive them…”  


R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R.
The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills,
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R.
The Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R.
The Lord is kind and merciful
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
R.
The Lord is kind and merciful.

SECOND READING  1 Cor 10:1-6. 10-12

*      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.  
*      However, their fate was different due to the different way each one accepted the gratuitous gifts that God gave them. 
*      Paul continues to say that this happened to teach us. To teach what? Fidelity to the call we have received in baptism.  
*      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

ü  Some people came to Jesus and,  told him about the Galileans, that Pilate had  killed. We do not know with what intention they communicated that to Jesus. 
ü  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 all of us 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 will kill us, but because with our sins we will bring death upon us.   
ü  And the Lord continues to tell them a parable to illustrate what he had told them:  
o   A man had a fig tree planted in his orchard. 

o   When he came to pick up fruit there was none. 

o   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?  
o   The gardener said to him, leave it for one more year, I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize.  
o   If it continues not to give fruit you can  cut it down. 
ü  This parable seems like the history of salvation accomplished by Jesus.  
o   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. 
o   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.  

 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 Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 7.

I often say to myself: It is of faith that there is a heaven for the good and a hell for the wicked. It is of faith, too, that the pains of hell are eternal. It is also of faith that a single mortal sin is enough to damn a soul because of the infinite malice of mortal sin, which is an offense against an infinite God. Since these principles are all so certain, the thought of the ease with which people sin--as if it were like taking a glass of water, as if it were something funny or amusing--the thought of the crowds that stay continuously in mortal sin and are thus on the road to death and hell--this thought robs me of rest, and I feel like running and crying out. And I tell myself:  If I saw someone about to fall into a pit or a fire, I would surely run and cry out a warning to save him from falling. Why shouldn't I do the same to save someone from falling into the pit and fire of hell? Saint Anthony Mary  Claret, Founder  of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 11-12.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

            CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiography.

            PAGOLA, José A. El camino abierto por Jesús – Lucas,  2012.

            PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography.

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

SCHÖKEL , Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

SAGRADA BIBLIA, Official Version of the Spanish Conference of Bishops. 2012.  

Sunday, March 10, 2019



SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT – CYCLE C – 2019

INTRODUCTION
*      Every year on the second Sunday of Lent the liturgy invites us to reflect on the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus.   
*      Last Sunday we reflected on the mystery of Jesus being tempted as any one of us. We learned from him to fight against the temptations with the Word of God.  
*      Today, let us be filled with the light of the Transfigured Lord, and let us listen to Him as the Father invites us.  
*      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:
o   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. Creation is continuous act of God,  thus the covenant made by God with his creation is permanent and continuous.   

o   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
o   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.  
o   The promise is this: I will give to you the land you walk on    
o   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” 

o   Abram asks God how will he know that the land will be his.   

o   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.  

o   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. 
o   Abram prepares everything for the ceremony of the covenant God is going to make with him.    
o   He prepares the wood for the fire and on it in two separate  piles of wood he puts the cow that had previously being cut in two. Each part is put on a different pile of wood facing each other.   
o   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.   
o   Abram feels asleep, and at the same time, terror invades him.  
o   The presence of God is very attractive to the human being, but at the same time it is terrifying, because God is the OTHER, completely different from us. 
o   Then Abram sees in the midst of the darkness of night something like a burning torch passing between the two parts of the cow. 
o   In the burning torch, he discovers the symbol of the presence of YHWH who is passing   between the two parts of the animal. God commits himself to be faithful to the covenant. 
o   As we can see this type of covenant is unilateral, only God commits himself, Abram is only an observer.

o   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
ü  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. 
ü  He repeats with words full of tenderness and love “continue to be faithful to the Lord”   
ü  We are in the season of Lent, in which we reflect more deeply on 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.
ü  In the same way as the ancient prophets, Paul reminds them the need to be faithful to the New Covenant. 
o   Covenant in which the land that is given to us is heaven, eternal life forever.
o   However during our earthly God gives us “the land” a dwelling place, a restful place which is Jesus himself.
GOSPEL  Lk 9:28-36

§  Before the event of the transfiguration, Jesus makes the first announcement of his passion and explains the conditions of discipleship. 

§  Luke says that 8 days later,  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 invited 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  his aspect and at the same time Moses and  Elijah appear talking to him
o   Moses en Elijah the whole Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets.   
o   They speak with him about his exodus, which will be consummated in Jerusalem. 

§  Jesus, as well as the two men, is radiant and his clothes are white, all of this is a sign  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.  
§  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 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 shall not  say anything to anyone, probably because before the resurrection this event could not be understood correctly.    


 CLARETIAN CORNER

Beside what I saw in these sacred letters (without seeing anything with my bodily eyes as I have said above) an interior voice in the depths of my soul, was explaining me their meaning and the way to practice (…)  To my understanding I saw everything in Christ Crucified who, as he was teaching me the divine letters, was explaining me their meaning. As this was the first time that our Lord spoke to me, I did not understand of these things and I did not know how to comply with his commands. I was crying abundantly and I told his Divine majesty, whom I had very present, that seemed to me that I was speaking face to face with the Majesty of God and said…  Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters,  6.
The reason is that, as I have said, I am so soft-hearted and compassionate that I can't bear seeing misfortune or misery without doing something to help. I would take the bread out of my own mouth to give it to the poor. In fact, I would abstain from putting it into my mouth in order to have something to give to those who are asking for it. I am even scrupulous about spending anything at all on myself when I think of the needs I can remedy. Well, then, if these momentary physical misfortunes affect me so much, it is understandable what I feel in my heart at the thought of the everlasting pains of hell--not for me, but for all those who willingly live in mortal sin. Saint Anthony Mary  Claret, Founder  of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 10.  

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Anthony  Mary. Autobiography.

PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography

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