SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME JANUARY 18, 2015

ü  The readings from the book of Samuel and the Gospel of John narrate two  vocation stories.     

ü  Sometimes it is difficult to discover the call, we need someone to help us in the process. (Eli in the first reading and John the Baptist in the Gospel )

ü  We have to respond to the invitation “come and see” 

ü  The second reading reminds us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.   

FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL     

Ø  The central theme of this book is the  establishment of the monarchy under the guidance of Samuel judge and prophet.  

Ø  Samuel belongs to the tradition of the judges,  but he also receives a new vocation: to be the mediator of the Word of God, to be a prophet. God who leads us in the journey of the human history helps us to discover his presence acting in our history.   

Ø  The monarchy was for the Israelites an ambivalent experience. The author of the book of Samuel, very honestly, presents   the two aspects of the monarchy: positive and negative.  

Ø  Although there are repetitions and contradictions  in the two books of Samuel, there is a common theology, that of the Deuteronomy, theology which we also find in the books of Joshua and Judges

Ø  All the  books which are inspired by the theology of the Deuteronomy we call Deuteronomist   history

Ø  They are not only historical books but the theological interpretation of history. The real protagonist is God, who acts and asks Samuel to act even when Samuel does not accept what the people wants, as is the case of the election of the first king of Israel. (  1 Sm 8,6; 8,7.22; 1 Sm 9,16-17; 1 Sm 16,1.12)

Ø  On Reading the history of Israel we discover the people’s  infidelity to the covenant with Yahweh;  since the entrance into the promise land the people has ignored the call of God  made through the prophets.  

FIRST READING Samuel 3,3-10.19

«  This Reading is about God calling the young Samuel.   

«  The protagonist  is neither Eli nor Samuel, but the Word of God calling the youth to his service.   

«  Samuel who has been up to this moment  at the service of Eli, will be from now on at the service of the Word.   

«  Samuel  was very much respected in Israel precisely for his mission to be servant of the Word, to be a prophet.  

«  At the beginning  Samuel  does not know who calls him, he thinks that it is Eli.   

«  Eli helps him to be ready to answer  the call saying “speak Lord  for your servant is listening.”   

«  The text says that Samuel did not know the Lord,  thus he will need the help of Eli to understand  the call.    

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM  – Ps  40  2:4,7-8,8-9,10

      This psalm is made of  

o   A hymn of thanksgiving    verses 2-11

o   An individual supplication verses    12 al 18

      This Sunday’s responsorial psalm is taken from the first part    

HERE AM I LORD; I COME TO DO YOUR WILL

I have waited, waited for the Lord

And he stooped toward me and heard my cry

And he put a new song into my mouth

A hymn to our God                  

 Sacrifice or offering your wished not, 

But  ears open to obedience you gave me 

Holocausts or sin-offering you sought not

Then said I, “Behold I come.” 

In the written scroll it is prescribed for me

To do your will, O my God, is my delight,

And your law is within my heart.    

I announce your justice in the vast assembly

I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord know.

GOSPEL OF JOHN 1:35-42

Ø  In the  liturgy of this second Sunday in ordinary time, we use in the three cycles  the Gospel of John 

Ø  In one of the Christmas Masses we read the first chapter of the Gospel of John where he presents Jesus as the Word, the living Word from the Father who has pitched his tent among us.   

Ø  Today the Baptist on seeing Jesus, the Word made flesh says “behold the lamb of God”  

Ø  In some way the Gospel of this second Sunday is the prolongation of the epiphany of the Lord  (the word epiphany means manifestation)  

o   Christmas is also an epiphany, God made visible among us as a new born baby.    

o   The baptism of the Lord is also another manifestation or epiphany, the voice of the Father says to Jesus, already an adult  “you are my beloved son” and he invites us to listen to him.   

Ø  On listening to these words two of John’s disciple follow Jesus  

o   Jesus asks and invites them “come and see”    

o   And these two disciples who went and see, do as John did, they tell about  Jesus to their friends.  

Ø  Andrew who was one of the two disciples invites his brother Peter to meet Jesus 

o   And in this encounter Simon receives a new name, from now on he will be called  Peter which means “rock”  

o   The change of name in the Bible is always a sign of a  call, a mission.   

SECOND READING   1 Cor 6:13c-15; 17,20

§  The Corinthians, on hearing Paul about Christian freedom, understood that there were no limits to that freedom, but Paul invites them to reflect on their behavior. The limit of our freedom is God. “Everything is yours, but you are Christ’s.”  

§  Our body   

o   Is not for immorality 

o   On the contrary our body belongs to God   

o   And God who raised Christ, will also raise us .  

§  Paul asks them, do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?   Let us remember Paul’s theology on the Christian community, the Church. The Church is the body of Christ and each one of us is part of this body.   

§  Paul says that we become like that to which we unite ourselves.  

o   If we unite ourselves to the Lord we become like Him, spiritual, this means that even living in the flesh we live the life of the Spirit; on the contrary if we united ourselves to a prostitute we become like her, we prostitute ourselves we become an object of pleasure

o   Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us.  Since the day of our Baptism the Spirit has been given to us  so that in dwelling in us he will lead us to the fullness of the knowledge and of the life of God.   

o   The consequence is that we do not belong anymore to ourselves, because we have been purchased  to a high Price. Our service and worship to God has to be true and sincere with all our being, and this includes also our body.      

§  The reading ends with and invitation: GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY   

CLARETIAN CORNER

 

The Procurator sent this father as extraordinary confessor in the first exercises we had in Lent of 1852. In this occasion I discovered that this father had a strict spirit in matters of virtue and even if he seemed to me to have a scowling character, naturally repugnant to me. Nevertheless I desired to profit of my soul so much that I preferred the rigor I imagined in him to the gentleness of our ordinary confessor , who considering that my life was, in some way, necessary , was leading me very softly.

Thus, since the exercises, I continued going to him for confession every now and then, without declaring to him the secrets and graces that God our Lord, just by his goodness, had entrusted to me, until His Divine Majesty commanded it to do it, and it was at the same time  of buying the house for the monastery. (Venerable María Antonia Paris, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 193-194.)

 

My first pastoral letter, written and signed on September 20, 1852, was addressed to the clergy. This letter was reprinted and expanded to include declarations on the following: (1) clerical dress, (2) duties of vicars forane, (3) duties of pastors and other priests, (4) arrangements for pastors and assistants, (5) style of life, (6) chaplains, (7) marriage regulations, (8) marriage dispensations.

To these points I added seven appendices on: (l) church furnishings and parochial books, (2) cemeteries, (3) stipends, (4) the distribution of allowances for repairs, (5) conferences, (6) the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, (7) the method of removing scandals . (Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 547-548.)  

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Antonio María,  Autobiografia  

PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Convivium Press 2011.

PARIS, María Antonia Autobiografia 

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras: doble comentario a las lecturas del domingo, San Pablo 2005.

SCHOKEL, Luis Alonso,  La Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo,

SUNDAY OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD – CYCLE B

Ø  This coming Sunday has a double meaning, it participates of the Epiphany, in reality the baptism is an epiphany of the Lord;  and it participates also of the meaning of ordinary time being the first Sunday in ordinary time.  

Ø  Today the Father reveals to us who Jesus is, he is his beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased.    

FIRST READING   Is 42: 1-4, 6-7

Ø  This Reading is taken from the first poem of the Servant. This servant may be Israel, a prophet, Cyrus or some other character of the Old Testament

Ø  Some ask  themselves whether this servant  is an individual or a group of people. 

Ø  These poems open in the Old Testament new horizons, suffering has a redeeming value and opens for us the way to God. 

Ø  The  New Testament acknowledges Jesus to be that servant. 

Ø  A voice, the Father’s says of the servant   

o   Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I am well pleased and upon whom I have put my spirit.  

o   He will bring justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.   

o   A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench  

o   The islands, the faraway countries, will wait for his teaching.   

Ø  This voice of the Father continues speaking, but now to the servant   

o   He has called him for victory and justice 

o   He has grasped him from the hand, he has molded him and has put him as covenant for the people and light for the nations. He shall be a covenant for the people of Israel and a light for all the gentiles, those who do not belong to the people of Israel.    

§  To open the eyes … to give freedom to prisoners and to bring to the light those who live in darkness

Ø  Jesus is that servant, that covenant, that light for the nations.   

Ø  Jesus is light for all and each one of us.   

Ø  Jesus is our liberation, he is the one who makes us free.   

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM  - Psalm  . 29 1-4. 9-10 

THE LORD WILL BLESS HIS PEOPLE WITH PEACE

Give to the Lord you sons of God

Give to the Lord glory and praise

Give to the Lord the glory due his name

Adore the Lord in his holy attire.  

The voice of the Lord is over the waters

The Lord, over vast waters

The voice of the Lord is mighty

The voice of the Lord is majestic.   

The God of glory thunders

And in his temple all say “glory!”

The Lord is enthroned above the flood

The Lord is enthroned as king forever 

·        This psalm offers powerful images of God. 

·        This God is he who has called the servant  

·        God is powerful and the whole creation sings his glory. This is so, even  if  man is the only creature that can give this glory knowingly. 

SECOND READING  – Acts 10: 34-38

v  Peter is in Cornelius home, Cornelius is a pagan who has called Peter to learn about Jesus.  

v  Peter acknowledges that God does not show any partiality, he does not discriminate between races, colors, social and economic status.  We are all the work of his hands, his children. We are the ones who discriminate,separate, and we are also the ones who go away from him.  

v  Peter says that everyone who acts uprightly is acceptable to God.  I believe that God is happy when he sees the good we do because this is a sign that we have allowed him to guide us. We have allowed us to be guided by the light and the goodness he has given us and continues to give as he continues to create us.   I believe as well that when we do not act uprightly God is sad like a good father and thus we feel uncomfortable because we act against our nature.   

v  Peter tells them that something wonderful has happened in Israel, from Galilee to Judea.   

v  What is it? Jesus of Nazareth filled with the Spirit went about doing good.  

v  What a beautiful description of a person, he or she went about doing good.   

v  May those who know us say these same words about us.   

GOSPEL   Mk 1:7-11

      John baptizes invites the people to conversion through a rite, they are submerged into the waters of the river Jordan.  

      John proclaims that he is not the one they are waiting for, that there is someone greater than he    

o   He is not worthy even to loosen the thongs of his sandals. This was something that servants and slaves did for their masters.   

o   That one comes after him, he will baptize them in the Holy Spirit   

      Jesus comes to John like all the other men to be baptized.   

      Mark does not say that John refused and that a dialogue begins between Jesus and John like the other Gospels say.    

      When Jesus comes from the waters of the Jordan,  the heavens are torn open, as if God was opening the door of his abode:   

o   The Spirit like a dove-freedom, peace- descends upon Jesus.   

o   The voice of the Father, a voice from heaven, from God’s abode speaks to Jesus and tells him “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.”

o   We have here an epiphany of the Most Holy Trinity, the voice of the Father, the Spirit and Jesus the Son.  

      This is a fascinating scene:  

o   I ask myself, did Jesus wonder about his mission, about the will of God his Abba over him?   

o   Did Jesus experience the call to go and proclaim to everyone his experience of God, to give them the real image of God?   

o   Was he asking himself if this experience was genuine or only an imagination? 

o   Maybe this is to read more into the Gospel that what it says, but it seems as if the voice is giving to Jesus an answer to his questions. This voice seems to  reassure him that he is not mistaken. The Spirit will lead him to the desert to prepare himself for his mission of calling to conversion and announcing the Kingdom.   

      Have we experienced in the depth of our heart this voice of the Father saying to us you are my daughter, you are my son, I love you so much and I am so pleased with you?   

      Have I felt the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel, to share the friendship I have with Jesus?      

CLARETIAN CORNER

I had much to fight with the Procurator in the purchase of this house. Let the reader of these simple notes not be scandalized by the different opinions of the Procurator and mine. There is nothing to wonder; rather it is very natural because he is of very noble spirit and everything seems to him to be little for God. And, as I am of low condition, I have a very stingy spirit with God and therefore, a little seems to me to be too much, especially considering the poverty. And I, an ignorant woman, understood only what have read in the Holy Gospel, but they, who are very learned, understand better the scriptures according to the times. But Holy Obedience has solved everything; I never stepped away from it, not even a point, by the grace of God.

 About what happened in the purchase of this house I spoke already in the no. 185; no need now to extend more in this point. I will only say that in this time I began to open my spirit, by commandment of the Lord to Rev. Fr. Paladio Currius, my present spiritual director. . (Venerable María Antonia París, foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 191-192)

During that first round of visits and missions we took the trouble to keep a count of all the articles we distributed Journey to Baracoa, First visitation and found that we had given away 98,217 books, either gratis or in exchange for the bad books that people brought in and we destroyed--and there were very many of these bad books. We also gave away 89,500 holy cards, 20,663 rosaries, and 8,931 religious medals. After the first visit we no longer kept track of these things because we ordered such large quantities from Spain, France, and elsewhere that we distributed them throughout the diocese and beyond. May it all redound to God's greater glory and the good of the souls redeemed by Jesus Christ.

My first pastoral letter, written and signed on September 20, 1852, was addressed to the clergy. This letter was reprinted and expanded to include declarations on the following: (1) clerical dress, (2) duties of vicars forane, (3) duties of pastors and other priests, (4) arrangements for pastors and assistants, (5) style of life, (6) chaplains, (7) marriage regulations, (8) marriage dispensations.  (Saint Anthony Mary Claret, founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 545,546,547)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Antonio María,  Autobiografia  

PAGOLA, José A. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Convivium Press 2011.

PARIS, María Antonia Autobiografia  

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según las Escrituras: doble comentario a las lecturas del domingo, San Pablo 2005.

SCHOKEL, Luis Alonso,  La Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo,  

 

 

Dear sisters and friends I will send again the biblical commentaries the second week of January. Have a blessed Christmas season. Love. Regina