VI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – 2015

 

«  Jesus continues his ministry of proclaiming the Kingdom, healing all sorts of sicknesses. 

«  Today Jesus makes clean a leper. 

«  Paul invites us to imitate him, because he is imitating Christ.   

BOOK OF THE LEVITICUS     

Ø  This third book of the Pentateuch, is called in Hebrew   Wayyiqrā’ = “and He called.”

Ø  The name Leviticus comes from the Latin translation of the Greek translation of the Bible in times of the Old Testament   “Leuitikon.”

Ø  The name is well given since it is a book about liturgical laws for the priesthood of the Levites.  

Ø  Besides these laws there are other laws in regards to the holiness of life, in all its different aspects: physical, psychological and moral. 

Ø  THE AUTHOR  – THE BOOK  

o   As it is the case for all the books, it is difficult, imposible to know  who  the author is. The book was being formed over several centuries with the contribution of many hands. 

o   It belongs to the “priestly” tradition.   

o   The legislation points out to  Moses.   

o   Although we find in this book some ancient laws, in its present shape the book belongs to the time of the return from the Babylonian exile.   

o   The book has the following parts:    

I           THE LAW OF SACRIFICE   

II          THE PRIESTLY ORDINATIONS  

III         THE LEGAL PURIFICATIONS  

IV         THE FEAST OF THE ATTONEMENT    

V          THE CODE OF SANCTITY.    

FIRST READING  Lv 13:,1-2; 44-46

      Many skin diseases  were included under the name of “leprosy.”

      Leprosy was an infected skin disease that was permanent, it was not necessarilly the same disease we know now as leprosy.   

      Other skin diseases were temporary and able to be cured. 

      The leprosy, or all the infectious skin diseases, when declared so by the priest make the person impure due to his or her sickness, and unable to be among other people.    

      The consequences derived from leprosy were painful for the person. He or she had to walk with wasted clothes, having a bad look. As they walked from one place to another they had to keep saying “impure” so that nobody would approach them.   

      Let us think of the suffering not only physical, but especially and more psychological and spiritual.   How this sickness could also estrange the person from the relationship with God.  

      Let us remember that by that time they attributed everything to the will of God. What was good as a reward, and what was bad as a punishment.     

      In regards to sickness they always thought there was somehow a punishment for the sins.   Let us remember the book of Job, which we reflected on last Sunday

      In all this legislation we find a combination of hygiene rules and rules which distinguish between  sacred and  profane.  

      The leprosy with the lost of parts of the body, made the person not only contagious but also dangerous and unable to worship Yahweh.     

GOSPEL – MARK  1:40-45

ü  We continue reading from the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark.  

ü  Mark describes Jesus doing during only one day a tireless  apostolic activity 

ü  Probably not all these works were performed in one day, but Mark puts them together here to make his community understand how Jesus was pressed by the need to proclaim the Kingdom of God.  

ü  Today a leper approaches Jesus and asks him to be cured.   

ü  Jesus say a few words and touches him, at once the man is cured from his leprosy.   

ü  Jesus touches an impure man, and that made him legally impure

ü  Jesus does not obey the  human laws that do not respect the dignity of the human person.    

ü  The Father through Jesus continues to touch our wounded, sick and impure human condition and heals us. He says through the words of Jesus “yes I do will, be made  clean”

ü  Jesus asks the man not to tell anything about the cure, but he must fulfill what the law prescribes.   

ü  Only doing what the law prescribes he will be able to return to the community.  

ü  Marks says at the end of this episodo, wich is also the end of the first chapter, that people were coming to him from everywhere.    

SECOND READING  1 Cor 10:31-11:1

• Paul speaks to his community about Christian freedom in respect to food.  
• Today’s reading follows the teaching about eating meat from animals sacrificed to the idols, either because they are used for meals, or because they are sold in the market.
• The Christian person may eat anything because he or she does not believe in idols, but if this behavior gives offense to others they have to avoid it. 
• We should always do what gives glory to God.    
• They should seek the good of all, not their own benefit, thus imitating what Paul does to cooperate in the salvation of his brothers and sisters.  

BIBLIOGRAPHY

FALEY, ROLAND J., T.O.R. “Leviticus” in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey  1988.

FLOR SERRANO, GONZALO. “Salmos” en Comentario al Antiguo Testamento II, Casa de la Biblia, 1997.

LOZANO, Juan Manuel, Escritos María Antonia París, Estudio crítico, “El Misionero Apostólico”.   Barcelona 1985.   

VIÑAS, José María cmf y BERMEJO, Jesús, cmf.  “Autobiografía” de San Antonio María Claret en  San Antonio María Claret Autobiografia y Escritos Complementarios, edición bicentenario    Buenos Aires-Argentina 2008.

 CLARETIAN CORNER

The missionary must be always kind and be all to all but without losing his composure and religious circumspection. Beware that due to his carelessness the veneration and respect ought to be given to the priestly character that he is invested, be lost. Do not familiarize with anybody but be kind to everybody. During his travels he must speak little and meditate very much.  His lodging in the cities be in the hospital. Do not play jokes to his brothers or companions of travel much less to (strangers). Do not argue with anybody, (…) but yield to everybody. (María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, The Apostolic Missionary, 2.1-2.5)

During my stay in Viladrau all the sick of the town, as well as those who were brought there from other places, were cured. As word of this spread, in whatever town I went to, people would bring me a large number of sick persons suffering from all kinds of illness. There were so many sick and so many different illnesses, and I was so busy hearing confessions, that I didn't have time for prescribing physical remedies. I told the people, instead, that I would commend them to God, and in the meantime I would make the sign of the Cross over them, saying, "Super aegros manus imponent et bene habebunt.  After I did this, they said that they were cured. (Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 180.)

 

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – 2015    

      The first Reading which  is taken from the Old Testament, and the Gospel both speak of the reality of suffering. Job looks at suffering from a negative perspective without hope, the Gospel shows Jesus healing and giving back hope to those who suffer.   

      The second reading is the continuation of the previous weeks’ readings. Paul offers the Gospel freely.

THE BOOK OF  JOB

Ø  It seems that in ancient times there exists a man with this name, but the book as such is like a parable that speaks to us about the mystery of human suffering, maybe the theme is wider, it is about retribution and the justice of God.   

Ø  The process of the composition of the book:  

o   At first it was a legend, written in prose, about a man called Job who suffered much. (Introduction and conclusion)  

o   Later on the main body of the book was added to these two parts: the dialogues with the Friends, written in poetry. This section raises a question  on retribution which is  revolutionary  for the faith of Israel. (3-31; 39-41)  

o   Another author, looking at this work which caused scandal for many,  added the monologue of Elihu (32-37)  

Ø  Theological Approach   

o   The author of the second or central part  of the book of Job, dares to question the untouchable belief of Israel on retribution. He who acts well is blessed by God and prospers; while the one who is not faithful, the sinner, is punished by God.   

o   Job seems to be a good and irreproachable man, but his sickness says something else, it says that he has sinned and does neither want to acknowledge it nor to confess it.   

o   The author through dialogues presents in a masterly way another alternative, it is not as easy as they believe.   

o   This same question is presented also in other books of the Old Testament, things do not always go well for the just, and the evil man is not always punished. Sometimes it even seems to be the opposite (Jer 31,29 y ss. Ez 18.)

o   In truth what the human being, represented by Job, questions is the justice of God. The justice of God not in itself but in the way it has been interpreted. 

Ø  What prompted the people of Israel to write this book?  

o   It seems that the people of Israel raised many questions about the love and justice of God, during their exile in Babylon, where they suffered much. 

o   On their return the prophets tried to support the faith of the people, that had more and more doubts about their situation and about their relationship with God.   

o   The book seems to reflect this crisis of faith, not only of the people in  general but also of the author him or herself. The book would be the result of years of struggle, questioning and prayer, until God makes himself to be known in the new way.  

o   Thus the date of the composition might be between the VI and V centuries before Christ.  

o   To read this book is to enter into a passionate experience.   

JOB IS THE MAN OR WOMAN , ANY MAN/WOMAN, WITH HIS OR HER TRAGEDY, SUFFERING, DESPAIR, DOUBTS AND UNSATISFIED DESIRE TO HAVE AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD.   

 FIRST READING  Job 7:1-4;6-7.

«  This  reading is like a meditation of Job, on the meaning of his life. It is taken from the response of Job to his friend Eliphaz.    

«  Job responds  passionately, and says how he sees the human life.   

o   Human life is like a hard work   

o   Man is an anxious slave who seeks a shade to protect himself, or he is a worker who waits for his salary. 

o   It has been given to him a salary of sickness; months of suffering that do not allow him to rest night or day.  

o   His days go by without hope.    

o   He sees his life like the wind that passes by and does not come back. His happiness has been taken from him and will not be given back to him.   

o   We will have to wait until Jesus comes for us  men and women to discover another answer to this question of the human suffering. 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM   Ps  147:1-2. 3-4. 5-6

PRAISE THE LORD, WHO HEALS THE BROKENHEARTED

 Praise the Lord, for he is good

Sing praise to our God, for he is gracious

It is fitting to praise him

The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem

The dispersed of Israel he gathers. 

He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds

He tells the number of the stars

He calls each by name 

Great is our Lord and mighty in power

To his wisdom there is no limit

The Lord sustains the lowly

The wicked he casts to the ground. 

ü  These verses are like a consoling answer to the suffering lament of Job, and of all of us when we are suffering. 

ü  God himself heals us and binds our wounds, like a mother takes care of her son or daughter and relieves his or her suffering.    

GOSPEL OF MARK 1: 29-39

ü  We continue our reading of the first chapter of Mark. This Gospel is very short but with a strong message conveyed in a simple and direct way. 

ü  This first chapter of Mark presents Jesus acting, talking very little but with a lot of deeds.  If we look more closely we will contemplate an extraordinary activity of Jesus, which Mark explains as happening in only one day. It seems that he wants to tell us that Jesus was tireless in the proclamation of the kingdom, today it is a proclamation through action

ü  This passage happens in Capharnaum, first in Simon’s house, than at the door of the same house and later on in a deserted place out of town.   

o   IN SIMON’S HOUSE  

§  Jesus leaves the synagogue, where we met him last Sunday, and goes to Simon’s home. 

§  He meets Simon’s mother-in-law who is sick. The four men whom we met last week and who are following Jesus now speak to him about her.   

§  Jesus does not say a word, he takes the woman by her hand and “raises her up.”  

§  The word “raises up” in Greek, the original language in which this Gospel was written, is the same word that Mark uses for the resurrection of Jesus.    

§  It seems that Mark wants to tell us that the healings that Jesus performs are signs of his resurrection, of new life. The mother-in-law is cured and she begins to wait on them.  

o   AT THE HOUSE DOOR

§  At evening they bring to him the sick and the possessed by evil spirits to be cured by him.   

§  And he heals them touching them. And Mark adds that Jesus forbid the evil spirits to speak of him, because they knew who he is.   

§  Mark will constantly repeat these same words “do not say it”. Some scholars explain this as “do not say it because now it will not be understood in the right way, we have to wait for the resurrection.” This technique of Mark is called the “Messianic Secret.”  

o   IN THE DESERTED PLACE AND IN ALL THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF GALILEE.  

§  At dawn Jesus went to a deserted place to pray. Some translations say “he was absorbed in prayer.”    

§  Those are Jesus’ precious moments of prayer,  that filled with enthusiasm his followers. Jesus submerges himself in a conversation and intimate relationship with his ABBA. Moments in which he experiences the tenderness, the warm and the safety of the Father’s  arms. 

§  Come, all are looking for you. Why and for what do we seek the Lord?   

§  Jesus says that they have to go to all the villages to proclaim the Good News. The Good  News have to be proclaimed by words and by healing actions  

o   THE MYSTERY OF HUMAN SUFFERING    

§  Job sees his life like a slavery whose salary is pain and eventually death.   There is no light speaking to him of hope in something better, in another life, in a new and risen life. 

§  The answer to this way of thinking of Job, the answer to the question that all of us have when we are faced with suffering, we will have it in Jesus.  

§  In Jesus, the Son of the Father, God looks into the darkness of our lives.   

·         The darkness of our sins, of our lack of mutual love. These are the evil spirits from which those who approach Jesus are liberated.. 

·         Darkness of our physical, psychological and spiritual pain. The Lord touches us, heals us and makes us partakers of his new risen life.  

·         The meaning of the question about human suffering will be given to us by Jesus in his passion. His suffering is redeeming , ours can become such.   

·         The Father is not indifferent to our suffering. In Jesus his beloved Son, the Father wants to enter into our reality and transform it from the inside.    

·         The suffering, when we are united with Jesus, even when it seems incomprehensible and we do not want it, is often a source of peace and joy. 

·         Human suffering is in some way the consequence of the human sin, which destroys us.    

SECOND READING – 1 Cor 9:16-19; 22-23

«  We continue reading from the first letter to the Corinthians.  

«  Paul speaks of his ministry, his mission to preach the Gospel.  

o   He has not chosen this mission, it has been entrusted to him, he has been asked to evangelize.  

o   Paul cries  out  “woe to me if I do not preach it”.   

o   Thus the proclamation of the gospel is not a cause for boasting.   

o   His recompense is found in the preaching itself, offered without cost.

«  Paul continues saying that he is not subject to anyone 

o   But in spite of this, he has made himself the slave of all, as to win over for Christ as many as possible.   

o   And thus he has made himself weak with the weak

o   He does everything for the sake of the Gospel with the hope to share in its blessings.   

«  How beautiful is this reflection of Paul, the great Paul whom we admire, feels himself little and needy in front of the beauty and greatness of the Gospel.  He does not own the Good News, it is not his good news, it is the good news that make present Christ Jesus in the heart of every man and woman,  in our society, our church, our families  

«  We may also exclaim “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the good news that I have received and that have changed my life!”   

 

CLARETIAN CORNER

 

 Turning to take the thread of the way of God has been forming this house of his, I said that on December 30, of the same year, 1853, we transferred to this house and on January 15 1854, nine postulants arrived from Spain to receive our holy habit that I handed on to them on the feast of the purification of the same year. These young ladies made me suffer much because almost all of them were inclined to comfort, little work, eat well and laughing, it seemed that they came to take a walk  and have a good time. One can imagine how much did it cost me to cultivate a little these very independent spirits, especially the majority of them and with the little help of an indulgent confessor. (María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian MIssionary Sisters, Autobiography, 199)  .

I established clergy conferences to meet three times a week in all towns of the diocese; one of them was on rubrics, the other two on moral theology. I always presided over those in the capital. The first conference each month was a day of retreat, consisting of reading, prayer, and a talk.

I undertook the restoration of the diocesan seminary. More then 30 years had passed without seeing the ordination of a single resident seminarian. At the beginning of their studies they all said they had a vocation and were educated at the seminary's expense; but toward the end of their studies they would say that they didn't want to be priests, after which they were graduated and became lawyers. And so it came about that Santiago had a swarm of lawyers, all fed and educated at the seminary's expense, while the few priests there were outsiders.  (Antonio María Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters  554-555). 

 BIBLIOGRAFÍA

LOBATO FERNÁNDEZ, Juan Francisco, “Job”, en Comentario al Antiguo Testamento II, Casa de la Biblia Salamanca-España 1997.

LOZANO, Juan Manuel, Escritos María Antonia París, Estudio crítico,   Barcelona 1985.

PÉREZ HERRERO, Francisco, “Evangelio según San Marcos”  en Comentario del Nuevo Testamento, Casa de la Biblia.  Salamanca-España1995.

RAVASI, Gianfranco,  Según las Escrituras-Año B,  San Pablo 2005.

VIÑAS, José María cmf y BERMEJO, Jesús, cmf.  “Autobiografía” de San Antonio María Claret en  San Antonio María Claret Autobiografia y Escritos Complementarios, edición bicentenario    Buenos Aires-Argentina 2008.