FOURTH
SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – CYCLE B - 2018
-
Jesus fulfills
what Moses says in the book of Deuteronomy, “a prophet like me will the Lord
raise for you…”
-
Mark’s Gospel
continues to present Jesus in his first days of ministry after his
baptism.
-
Paul in his
letter to the Corinthians wishes that the community be without worries
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY
o
This book has a central place in the religious history
of Israel. His central nucleus is the Law, a law that is preached.
§
The book is a
reflection on the deep meaning and value of the law.
§
It is an
exhortation to follow the law, being faithful to the will of God, as an
expression of our love for God.
o
GENERAL STRUCTURE
§
In its present
organization the book is presented as the words that Moses. Close to his death he addresses his people
before the entrance into the promise land.
(Dt 1,1;9,1)
§ The book is formed by three speeches of Moses and an
appendix
FIRST SPEECH Deut
1:1-4,43:
A look toward the past – The exodus from Egypt and
the journey
through the desert
SECOND SPEECH
Deut 4:44-28,68
Central part = The Code of the Covenant
The entrance in the promised land, some images from
the exile
THIRD SPEECH Deut 28:69-30,20 – looking to the future
Ø
The book of
Deuteronomy is like the introduction to the historical books: Joshua, Judges, 1
and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings.
Ø
It is also
related to some prophetic books: Hosea, Jeremiah
Ø THEOLOGICAL KEY POINTS
We find in the book of Deuteronomy 5 great themes:
God, the people, the land, the law, the sanctuary.
v
Only one God,
main dogma of Israel’s faith,
which gives meaning to all the other themes
v One nation – Israel = People that belongs to God in an especial way. God gives to this people:
o
The land, and
with the land all the other gifts.
o
One sanctuary, where
Israel goes up to worship God.
o The Law to live in society and to be happy.
Ø
DEUTERONOMIST LANGUAGE History , exhortation and Law
o
The Law is the central part. The law is based on
history and is taught by means of exhortations.
o
History intertwined with exhortations.
o
And the exhortations are mixed with
history.
o We find in this book a variety of little units which makes us think about diverse authors.
Ø AUTHOR AND DATE
o
It seems that it
was written by several authors, although it is attributed to Moses because it
is the Book of the Law, like the wisdom books are attributed to Solomon and the
psalms to David.
o The date is between 622 B.C. in the time of King Josiah, as they were repairing the temple they found the Book of the Law which seems to be the book of Deuteronomy, not in the present form but only the central nucleus and 586 BC date of the destruction of Jerusalem and deportation to Babylon.
FIRST READING Dt 18:15-20.
«
God will give to
Israel in future times another prophet like Moses who will speak to them
«
This will happen
in response to the petition of Israel on Mount Horeb.
«
They said that
they did not want to hear the voice of God; they did not want to see the great
fire which accompanied the theophany of God.
« This prophet will tell them the Words of God with complete faithfulness.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Sal 95,1-2;6-7;
7-9
This psalm especially the verses we will use this
coming Sunday is an exhortation to
o
Worship God
o
Listen to his voice.
IF
TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS
Come let us sing joyfully to the Lord
Let us acclaim the rock of our salvation
Let us come into his presence with
thanksgiving
Let us
joyfully sing psalms to him.
IF TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS
Come
let us bow down in worship,
Let us kneel before the Lord who made us
For he is our God
And we are the people he shepherds, the flock
he guides.
IF TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS
Oh, that today you would hear his voice
“harden not your hearts as at Meribah
As in the day of Massah in the desert
Where your fathers tempted me
They tested me though they had seen my
works.”
IF
TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS
GOSPEL MARK 1:21-28
§
On the Sabbath
Jesus goes to the Synagogue and preaches. People are astonished on listening to
the wisdom of the words of the young Rabbi, Jesus the carpenter, son of the
carpenter of Nazareth and his mother Mary. This is what people believe of his
origins.
§
Jesus begins in a
way that provokes the enthusiasm of the people
o
Among those
present in the assembly there is a man possessed by an evil spirit
o
The evil spirit
confronts Jesus, and says that he know him. Jesus orders it to be silent.
§
In the Gospel of
Mark the disciples never understand what Jesus says.
§
But the evil
spirits know who Jesus is
o
Those present in
the Synagogue ask, what does that mean? A doctrine completely new and taught
with such authority?
o
Yes, Jesus has
brought something new, his teaching is complete newness. Have we discovered the newness of Jesus? Or
instead we try to combine what we know which makes us comfortable with a little
bit of Jesus’ newness? But that does not help us.
o
The words, the
deeds of Jesus, his own person are a challenge for us.
o
Jesus is
interested in the complete wellness of the persons, thus he cures sicknesses,
expels demons, he approaches those marginalized in their society, he welcomes
them as his brothers and sisters. He preaches healing.
o
This is what
Jesus expects from the Church, from all and each one of us who formed the
church. He wants us to do our ministry in such a way that we care for the
wellbeing of our brothers and sisters, so those who weep be consoled, those who
suffer infirmities may be relieved with our kindness, that those despised feel
valued and accepted…
o
Bernhard Haring,
one of the most prestigious moralists of the XX century said: The Church has to
recover her healing mission is she wants to teach the way to salvation.
o The verse of the alleluia before the Gospel says:
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light;
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by
death,
light has arisen.
SECOND READING : 1 Cor 7:32-35
ü This Reading is a continuation of last week’s theme. Do
not be troubled, why? Because everything passes
away, but God’s Word remains forever.
ü
Paul considers
that those who are not married are free from the worries that those married
have.
ü
He does not want
to put any restriction to our personal decisions, he only wants to alert us
that above our decisions in relation to marriage, the love of God is an
absolute priority.
ü
We see also in our daily life that many married
couples live their love and their union
putting God as a priority in the life of both.
J.M.J.
To Mother Antonia
de S. Pedro
Madrid, December 30
1861
My dear sister in J.C., I have received your letter of
the 18th of this month and with it the Rules that Fr. Ciurrius has
sent me. I have read them and I think they are very well; I only missed two
books among those you mentioned, one is the Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola
that I explained and published, the other is the Life of Mary Most Holy, that
is the Mystical City of God written by Mother Agreda; I believe you know both
books and maybe you have them, but in case you do not have them, you may order
them from the Religious Library, I will pay them.
Today
I will send to Mr. Pedro Naudó the Rules so that they may be printed. I hope
you will pray for me to God and you will tell the other nuns to do the same,
because I really need those prayers. From quite some time I have been persecuted
and slandered; thanks to God, for the moment I think I endure well this trial with
the help of the Lord. To encourage myself I read frequently the Meditation
XXIII of the Exercises of St. Ignatius explained and published by me. Read it
and you will see what powerful reasons there are to have patience.
In
your letter you do not tell me if you have read the 2nd volume of
the Colegial (the Student) and the Book of Songs; I am sure that there are somethings you will like. May the
Lord grant to all a good beginning and ending of the year. My kind regards to
you and to all the nuns.
Anthony Mary
Archbishop of Trajanópolis
(Letter 208 – The Founder to the Foundress in Carta de los Orígenes (Letter of the
Origins).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GARCÍA LÓPEZ, Félix, “Deuteronomio”, en Comentario al Antiguo Testamento
I, Casa de la Biblia
Salamanca-España 1997.
MISIONERAS
CLARETIANAS. Cartas de los Orígenes (Letters of the Origins) Madrid 2009
PAGOLA, José
Antonio. El camino abierto por Jesús (The way opened by Jesus) 2-Mark.
PÉREZ HERRERO, Francisco, “Evangelio según San Marcos” en Comentario
del Nuevo Testamento, Casa de la Biblia.
Salamanca-España1995.
RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras (Accoding to the Scriptures) Saint
Paul 2005.
No comments:
Post a Comment