SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – C – 2021

ü  John announces that a new and better future is possible if we take refuge under the shadow of the Word of God

ü  The birth of Jesus takes place in a concrete political environment as well as in concrete religious environment.

ü  Thus, nothing will fall outside his redemption.

FIRST READING – Bar 5:1-9

o   The prophet Baruc invites Jerusalem to remove her robe of sadness and with her we are also invited to rejoice

o   Jerusalem put on queen’ clothes as a queen preparing for a celebration

o   Also put a diadem on your head, why?

o   Because God  makes  your splendor shine, because God will give you a new name: Peace-justice , the glory of God’s worship.

o   Stand up and see your children return from all parts of the earth where they had to migrate seeking asylum.

o   Because God has decided to lower the pride of those who believe to be important (the mountains and the hills will be made low) and exalt those who  are lowly and poor (the valleys will be filled to level ground)

o   God makes all these wonders, as a new Exodus.

o   The reading ends saying that God will lead Israel, will lead us, in joy, under the light of his glory, with mercy and justice.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM 126 

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
   we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
   and our tongue with rejoicing. 
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
  “The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
   we are glad indeed. 
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
   like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those who sow in tears
   shall reap rejoicing. 
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
   carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
   carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Ø  The author describes the joy of those who after their exile return to their country to their home. 

Ø  The pagans from the countries where they return are also surprised to see them so full of joy.

Ø  In this psalm there is a very beautiful image to describe the joy and the pain of this people: the time of sowing in which the sower does not know if the seed will germinate and reach its maturity. But when the time of the harvest comes and it is abundant he rejoices to see the fruit of his work.

Ø  In the same way they went to the exile weeping, now they come back laughing and singing. 

SECOND READING:  Phil. 1: 4-6. 8-11

v Paul remembers with joy and thankfulness the community of Philippi

v They were his partners in the proclamation of the gospel

v  Paul prays that what God has begun in them, their sanctification, he will continue to complete it. 

v May your love grow more and more and be transformed in a better knowledge and spiritual sensibility.  

GOSPEL – Lk 3:1-6

      John the Baptist begins his proclamation in the desert, his call to conversión to prepare the way for the coming of the One who has to come.

       Luke places this beginning of preaching in a concrete historical time: in politics he mentions the names of the Roman emperor and the Governor of Judea. In religión he says the name of the high priest. 

      He also tells that John was the son of Zachariah whom we met in the first chapter of his Gospel when Luke narrated the visitation of Mary to her kinswoman Elizabeth, the mother of John. 

      Al lof this helps us to realice that Jesus is not an imagination, not only a spiritual being, but a human being, and this human being is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity made flesh like ours; with all our limitations except sin.  

      John invites us to lower our pride, to raise our hope, to acknowledge our sins, to smooth the edges of our temperament. Why?

      to see the salvation that God is at work in the world. We only nee deyes to acknowledge his presence in the good that is done in different places of our earth by different persons from all races, creeds, colors, languages. 

COME LORD JESUS!   ¡MARANATHA!

CLARETIAN CORNER

Not without serious setbacks in the long and painful navigation we undertook, we finally boarded these coasts and the pious inhabitants of Cuba welcomed us with open arms, receiving every day unequivocal proof of their charity, and expressing many parents of the most well-regarded in the population by their social position and strong religiosity alive desires that as soon as possible we request the due authorization for the canonical and legal establishment of the holy institute of teaching that we wish to profess.

One of us, Your  Excellency has already undoubtedly received the crown she was coming to seek, God thus arranged it by his inscrutable judgments which we abide by; this and the other trials with which the Lord has visited us, and proved our vocation. All of this has encouraged us, because in contradictions we know very well that God works are better manifested. 

In the Peninsula there are not a few young women who wish to associate themselves with our  company, and who only wait to be called to come to our aid and share with us our work and our glories.

Let Your Excellency benevolently welcome our plea, hoping that your religiosity will authorize our foundation in due form by the means established by the sacred canons and laws of the kingdom that govern these overseas possessions.

Your humblest subjects.

Sr. Maria Antonia Paris                                                                       Sr. Maria Josefa Caixal

Sr. María Rosa Gual                                                                            Sr. Maria Encarnación Gual

Holy Visit of Cuba, September 25, 1852 (Second part of Letter 2)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DURAND, Marie-Laure. Croisée d’ogives in Prions en Eglise, 1-31 December, 2021.  

PARIS, Ma. Antonia. Letters