SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT  –  B – 2020-2021

Last Sunday, First Sunday of Advent, the liturgy invited us to be awake, to be watchful.”  In the Second Sunday of Advent we are invited to prepare the way.” Only those who are watchful will be able to prepare the way.     

FIRST READING :   ISAIAH 40:1-5. 9-11

Ø  This Reading is taken from the beginning of the book of the Second or Deutero-Isaiah. This prophet speaks to the people exiled in Babylon, and announces that they will soon return to their beloved country.   

Ø  The fragment we are going to read offers several images of a unique beauty, images of peace and consolation.   

o   First Image verses  1 &2.

§  He has served his sentence, these words bring to our imagination the feelings of the prisoner who has completed his sentence, and he is told that he will soon be free.     

§  Another translation of the same sentence says: his service is completed. These words bring to our mind the soldier who is allowed to return to his country after having served his country during the designated time. 

o   Second Image  versos 3 & 5

§  A voice cries out, what does it cry out? PREPARE THE WAY! How?   Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!  This image brings to our mind the preparations that were made in ancient times for the arrival of important persons: kings, emperors, war victors, conquerors…     

§  The crooked way has to be made straight for the road to be safe for the journey.  

§  Thus the Lord will reveal himself and all human beings will see his glory.   

§  This text reminds us also of the crossing of the sea, when the slaves from Egypt walked through a safe path in the midst of the waters. 

§  Or the journey of these same slaves, being now a nation, in their way through the desert to the promised land.  With them goes Yahweh, the Lord of Hosts, as the Old Testaments call him so many times.    

o   Third Image  versos  9 &10

§  The Messenger who brings good tidings; in ancient times the messages were sent personally by means of messengers. 

§  This messenger is asked to go up to a high mountain and cry out at the top of his voice.  

§  What does he has to announce? That God is here.   

§  God comes with power and he brings the salary with him, but his recompense comes before him.  What does that mean? Is he talking about the salary that Christ has gained on the cross and which he transforms in recompense freely given to us?     

Fourth Image  verse 11

§  The shepherd who feeds the sheep with kindness, is an idyllic image. 

§  The shepherd feeds the flock; he carries in his arms the little lambs and takes care of the ewes.   

This reading is filled with themes for our meditation and for our personal reflection on our own life. Let us prepare, in the desert of our heart, a way for the Lord, a way smooth so that our brothers and sisters will not find any difficulty in the relationship with us. And thus we may be able to announce to all that the Lord is near, that he comes, but more than that, that he is already in our midst and takes care of us as the shepherd takes care of each one of the sheep according to its needs.   

SALMO RESPONSORIAL – SALMO 85, 9-10. 11-12. 13-14. 

R. (8) Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD—for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and prepare the way of his steps.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation 

     This psalm is a supplication of the community in three parts: 

o   God’s actions   verses 2-4

o   A supplication   verses 5-8

o   A divine Oracle that is fulfilled   verses 9-14

     The responsorial psalm of the Mass is taken from the third part.   

     Let us reflect on the word peace =  SHALOM  in Hebrew.

o   Shalom has a wider and deeper meaning than our word “peace.”  

o   Among us the word “peace” frequently means absence of conflict, of differences, of confrontations, of war.   

o   But the meaning of shalom goes beyond this, maybe we could translate it as harmony.   

o   According to the dictionary the word harmony when it refers to music means the combination of simultaneous and different sounds, but consistent. This means that peace understood as harmony is the combination of what is different to make a whole accord and beautiful.   

o   Shalom speaks of peace and harmony in the relationships between creation and its Creator. This entails:   

§  The relationship of the human being with his/her creator.  Relations of peace and harmony in which we are filled with the joy of experiencing  and of knowing  that we are cared for, loved and fondled by our God, who is  our Father.    

§  The relationships among the human beings, this harmony in the relationship are translated into justice. Relationships through which we acknowledge each other as brothers and sisters, all created by the same God who is Father and Mother of all.    

§  The relationship between the human beings and the rest of creation, and this also entails justice. As the psalm says justice and peace shall   kiss. Relationships in which we acknowledge ourselves as part of the same creation together with the rest of the created beings.  

GOSPEL  – MARK 1:1-8

     At the beginning of his Gospel, Mark says that he will tell us the Good News of Jesus, the Son of God.     

     Good News because Jesus is always newness and goodness; and also because it is a new period in salvation history.   

     The person of Jesus will be revealed more and more clearly, as we go further into the Gospel of Mark until we reach the climax of Jesus death, when a Roman soldier, a pagan, on seeing how he dies will recognize him as the Son of God.     

     The biblical quotation which follows after the prologue is a combination of different texts taken from   Exodus 23:20; Isaiah 40:3 y Malachi 3:1,   

     Mark introduces John the Baptist as the Herald of good news who can point out the Messiah as present.   

     After explaining the mission of John in verses 2 and 3; his preaching in verse 4, his success in verse 5 and his life style in verse 6; in verses 7 and 8 the Baptist introduces Jesus to us.  

     John tells us that he does not feel himself worthy to loosen the thongs of Jesus sandals. That he, John baptizes in water, but Jesus will baptize them in the Holy Spirit.  

CLARETIAN CORNER      

 Thank you so much for the holy card of the divine Law that you kindly sent me. I appreciate it very much, because this Holy Law is the only magnet of my love; from the moment God, Our Lord, wanted to teach me its beauty, the harmony of its beauty is my continuous meditation, and I would like to have it written on my forehead to teach  it to very creature.    (Venerable Ma. Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Letter #78 to St. Anthony Marie Claret , Santiago de Cuba October 31 1857, in Cartas de los Orígenes). Madrid 2009.

About the Nuns you cannot imagine how much I have had to do, read the letter I write to the   Prioress.  The Minister of Grace and Justice has given me some hope, we will see. If instead of being Nuns they were Sisters they could have come yet to establish a new house;   but since they have to live in the cloister, they cannot exit from there until they do not have a place of destination here. Alas Currius! How many sacrifices I have to do for those Nuns! You already know how much it revolts me to deal with those material things. I like to preach, to hear confessions… but to deal with the building of convents, that I do not like, I cannot, and in spite of this I am doing it.     Saint Anthony Marie Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisterts,  Letter #72 of St. Anthony Marie Claret to Rev.Paladio Currius August 4, 1857, in Cartas de los Orígenes, Madrid 2009

 

      

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – CYCLE B – 2020   

ADVIENTO. 

Ø  We begin the liturgical season of Advent, which means, “coming” of the Lord.

Ø  The first word that we hear is “Be prepared, be alert” 

Ø  Because the Lord is near.   

Ø  Is this a cause of anxiety, of fear?  

Ø  On the contrary the One who comes has already come to live among us,  and he continues to come to be  among us.  

Ø  He comes in the doctors and health personnel who since the beginning of the pandemic  caused by COVID19 have been near those who suffered, those who needed them to heal from their sickness.  

Ø  He is in all those who have put their life in danger to save the life of other human beings, unknown till then, but neighbors for being human. 

Ø  He is in the sick from COVID19 and from other illnesses asking for help like the man wounded on the road whom the Samaritan men helped.  

Ø  He is in every sick person, in every family of the sick to console them, to strengthen them as he did when he faced the reality of his passion, when he received the help of an angel who strengthened him.   

Ø  He is always near us calling and appealing to the goodness of our heart he creates able to love.    

Ø  Let us be vigilant and let us have the heart and the eyes open to see around us.  (cfr.Reflections by Lise Hudon-Bonin) 

FIRST READING   Is 63,16b-17. 19b;64,2b-7

Ø  This text from the Third Isaiah has four paragraphs with a movement like the waves of the sea, moving from one stanza to another. Call  and answer alternate in this beautiful text.

o   First parragraph    

§  The author invokes and calls  the Lord “Come, if you would come… “  

§  Why do you abandon us and leave us to go wandering far from your ways? 

§  Why do you allow our hearts to harden and we do not fear anything  anymore…? Turn your face towards  us Lord!!!  

o   Second Paragraph

§  God answers, the prophet tells Him how the mountains have crumbled with His presence.    

§  You come to seek the one  who practices justice with joy and follows your ways.  

§  It is interesting to see that the author speaks about practicing justice, what is good, with joy. 

§  That is not for forced obligation but willingly, with joy because through these just actions  we help other human beings and we please the One we love, our God and Lord.   

o   Third Parragraph

§  He pictures again the situation of sinfulness of the human being

§  Impure, dry like the fallen leaves, our acts were like soiled clothing.  

§  No one invokes the name of the Lord God, or remembers him…  

§  Because you have hidden your face from us and you have abandon us or handed us over to the power of evil.   

o   Fourth Paragraph

§  The author invokes again God as Father.    

§  You molded us like the clay   

§  We are the work of your hands.   

Ø  Do we see ourselves reflected in these few verses?     

Ø  Does this description resemble our human reality, the reality of our society, of our church?   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  –  PS 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 

R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you;

let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
R. Lord, make us turn to you;

let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you;

let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you;let us see your face and we shall be saved. 

Ø  The psalmist and the Church invite us to repeat with humility and perseverance:

Lord, make us turn to you;

let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Ø  Lord save us! Look at us with mercy and compassion!     

Ø  Let us repeat to Him time and time again, from the depth of our heart, “may your goodness and kindness  surround and keep us close to You.”.   

SECOND READING – 1Cor 1,3-9

Ø  The reading begins with the last part of Paul’ greeting to the community of Corinth.  

Ø  Like in the first reading God is called Father.   

Ø  Paul gives thanks to God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ for the gifts he pours out upon the community.   

Ø  Those gifts are visible to the point that Paul says that the Corinthians do not lack any gift of grace.   

Ø  Jesus Christ will help them to remain steadfast until the end.   

Ø  God, Father of Jesus Christ, is He who calls them to live in communion with his Son Jesus Christ Our Lord.   

Ø  He has called us too, to live in communion with Jesus Christ and with one another.

Ø  We will not be able to be united with Him unless we are united in communion  among us.

GOSPEL OF MARK

Ø  We begin a new liturgical year, the year of Mark. The Church invites us every year to contemplate Jesus through the eyes and the experience of a different evangelist.  Let Mark guide us during this new year to experience Jesus in the way he experienced him.   

Ø  The Gospels tell us real events of the life of Jesus, but the evangelists are less interested in the events themselves than in the meaning of the events under in the light of faith. Thus each one uses the parables, the events, and the miracles that better help them to convey their message about the person of Jesus.  The Gospels are in reality theological reflections on the life, actions and, words of our Lord Jesus. 

Ø  Mark presents Jesus more human but, at the same time, he says from the very beginning of  his Gospel that Jesus is the Son of God.  He will repeat this again in chapter 8 when he narrates the confession of Peter and at the end of the Gospel the Roman centurion will exclaim “truly this man was the son of God.”   

Ø  The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, the first gospel to have been  composed and it has been the base for the composition of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  

Ø  This Gospel is also called the gospel of the disciple, because it is like a handbook for the disciple to learn to be like the Master.  

Ø  Let us enter with our whole being into the Gospel of Mark and let us allow Mark to guide us.   

MARK 13,33-37 

Ø  I write here a reflection made by Luis Alonso Schöekel on this text of the Gospel of Mark(the translation is mine) : 

o   Jesus uses images familiar to them […] here it is about the owner of the house who travels to another place, but his servants do not know when he will come back.   

o   With this parable, Jesus affirms that what is important is not to nurture our passivity, conformism and fear, waiting for the destruction of the world or for the last judgement, but to learn how to discern the signs of the times, to read the will of God in all the moments of our life and to be vigilant to assume responsibly and creatively the construction of the kingdom of God.  

o   We have to live to the full the present time and wait for the parusia with joy.   

o    Let us seek and listen in the midst of this pandemic   what He wants us to do, so that in the midst of this chaos, we may be able to collaborate with Him to establish the Kingdom of God.    

o   There are many signs of his presence within this pandemic. Let us open our eyes and our heart to be able to discover Him and to love Him each day more and more.   

CLARETIAN CORNER 

The grace of the Holy Spirit be always with Your Excellency. Amen.  

My very dear Father: the care that all of us have for your wellbeing does not allow me  to wait for a longer time to write to you,  trusting that the grace of God is with  you.   

I am waiting with expectation your decision about establishing the House of Formation, and our going there. This House is very needed indeed as you know. I see very clearly the need not to lose a  moment of our time.   (Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Letter #59 to St. Anthony M.  Claret Cuba June 2  1857) 

… the nuns have remained there and they are well, thanks to God. Will some of them be able tocome to establish the Novitiate or for any other foundation? Let me know because I have to write to them as soon as possible and the next ship leaves on July 8 . Fr. Currius wants to know  this too  because he has to come and he will take them with him to the place where you indicate to us.  

Since they are professed Nuns they have to go to a cloistered place. Where will they go? I cannot give a place to them because I do not have any here.  Besides,   as you well know for the foundation we need two requirements, one canonical and civil the other as I have read in the canons and laws, and I have also experienced it.  What are we going to do? […] Let me know please and write also to Cuba what you decide, for me I will accept whatever your decision.  (St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Letter #62 to Jose Caixal, Bishop of Urgel. June 15  1857)   

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hudon-Bonin, Lise. “Veiller avec celui que nous attendons. 155,  en Prions en Eglise, Nov.2020

Cartas de los Orígenes de las RR. Ma. Inmaculada Misioneras Claretianas. Madrid 2009.

La Biblia de nuestro pueblo. Texto de  Luis Alonso Schöekel y Adaptación del texto y comentarios: Equipo Internacional.