XXIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - CYCLE B – SEPTEMBER 13, 2015
The past two weeks the liturgy presented readings that invited us to listen to the Law,
but also to put it into practice. That is why the Lord orders the ears and the tongue of the deaf and
mute man “Be opened”
This week Jesus says
that whoever wants to follow him has to take his cross, walk and follow him.
This is the only way to be faithful like Him.
FIRST READING: Is 50:5-9a
This text is taken from the second part of the
book of Isaiah, called Deutero-Isaiah or Second Isaiah. The author is either an
Israelite who has come back from exile, or someone who has never left the
country.
It is the poet who sings the wonders of the
return from exile with exodus images, where God repeats again the marvels he
had done, who goes before his people in this joyful return so much waited for.
In the Second Isaiah we find four poems that
have been called the Servant poems or songs.
This servant is considered to be either
Israel-Jacob who represents the people, or another person faithful to God.
These texts referred to an anonymous servant
open a completely new perspective in the Old Testament and in the religious
world in general:
o
Suffering is a road to God
o
It is not only a reality from which we ask God
to be freed, as we find in the psalms.
o
This suffering may be of value not only for the
person who experiences it, but also for
other persons
o
That is why the Church has seen in these Servant
Songs, the description of the mission of Jesus, the faithful and suffering servant who gives his life for
his people and for the glory of God.
Let us see this
Sunday’s text:
The Lord has opened my ears that I may hear and
I have not turned back.
These words at the beginning of the liturgical
text make us understand that the word pronounced by God over his Servant will
cause pain to the Servant, but he will not oppose resistance.
As we continue reading we realize that the Word
pronounced on the Servant, that he will communicate will cause to him insults,
ill treatments and tortures.
However the Servant says that the Lord is his
help and thus he will not be destroyed.
Meanwhile the Servant accepts the Word as well
as the ill treatments, because he knows that he will not be ashamed of having
been faithful to his God.
His trust is such, that he challenges those who want to fight
with him, because God is with him.
And if God is with him, who can harm him?
This word is said also for us, if God is with
us, who can be against us?
Maybe it will be good this coming week to
dedicate some time to silent prayer in the presence of our God and Lord, and
ask ourselves if we really believe that “if God is with us, who can be against
us?” And also that anything painful that
might happen in our life may have a redemptive value, if we are united to Him.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 116
It is song of trust
and thanksgiving
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the
living.
I love the LORD because he has heard
my voice in supplication,
Because he has inclined his ear to me
the day I called.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
I fell into distress and sorrow,
And I called upon the name of the LORD,
“O LORD, save my life!”
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living. .
Gracious is the LORD and just;
yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
I was brought low, and he saved me.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living. .
For he has freed my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
I love the LORD because he has heard
my voice in supplication,
Because he has inclined his ear to me
the day I called.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
I fell into distress and sorrow,
And I called upon the name of the LORD,
“O LORD, save my life!”
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living. .
Gracious is the LORD and just;
yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
I was brought low, and he saved me.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living. .
For he has freed my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
This psalm is used very often in funeral masses,
the land of the living is understood as the life of all those who are already
in the eternal embrace with God.
The psalmist says that he loves the Lord because
he has listened to him.
He says that the darkness of physical, psychological
and spiritual pain surrounded him, but he cried out to the Lord asking for help
and God heard him.
God cares for the little ones.
Because he has been heard by his God the
psalmist says that he will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the
living.
We are
all invited to do the same TO WALK IN THE
PRESENCE OF THE LORD ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIFE.
GOSPEL OF MARK 8,27-35
Jesus
was last week in the Decapolis, this week he is with his disciples in the
territory of Caesarea of Philippi
ü As
we can see in the map this city is located to the North, outside of Galilee in
the land of Batanea. This region was
govern by Philippe the son of Herod the Great.
ü Jesus
is outside his land. He walks with his disciples, he knows that people talk
about him, but Jesus is interested in
asking his disciples and thus help them
to realize who do they really follow? Because they are the ones who are going
to continue his mission.
ü
Jesus
invites his own to answer the question: who do you say that I am? And also ask themselves: who do I follow?
ü Peter
answers the question for all of them YOU
ARE THE CHRIST, which means YOU ARE
THE MESSIAH.
ü Does
Peter know the meaning to call Jesus the Christ? Is this a living truth in his life? Or it is
a word which does not have any real meaning or power to transform his
life?
ü In
the Gospel of Mark this event is in the middle of the Gospel, not only in
relation to the number of chapters, but also in relation to its content.
o
Up to this moment Jesus has called them and has
tried to teach them what he wants to teach to all of us.
o
Now he is going to teach them the meaning of him
being the Christ.
o
It means that he is the mysterious Servant of
Isaiah, the servant who gives his life so that others will live.
ü Peter
understands the messiah in the human way, he
believes that the Messiah is so powerful that he can do whatever he wants, he
can destroy his enemies and take the
leadership.
ü But
Peter will learn through suffering
o
he will
have to hear Jesus calling him Satan,
tempter
o
Jesus orders him to go behind him not before
him, because who walks first is the Teacher and not the disciple.
ü And
Jesus tells the crowd, and also all of
us that we have to take our cross and follow the way he is going to walk
because
ü Whoever
wants to save his life will lose it and whoever loses it will save it.
ü We,
like Peter, will learn to be disciples through suffering.
o
Because we need to learn to follow the
Teacher and not to go before him with
our own plans,
o
Because this means to take up the daily cross
with joy in spite of suffering, because the cross is not bare, this cross has
the Teacher on it, embracing it we embrace the Teacher, the love of our
life.
SECOND READING Jas 2:14-18
«
James faces here a problem which is as old as the church and even as old
as the human race.
«
What does it mean to believe?
o
If it is only an
empty word, a high concept that
does not lead anywhere, certainly faith has no worth as James
says. .
o
Because if someone needs my help, my love, my
time, my clothing, my food etc… and I say to him or her, go in peace and I do
not help him or her, this faith is dead, it does not even exist, it is an empty
word.
«
This has always been the difficulty between
Christians: Protestants and Catholics.
«
But the truth is that faith cannot exist, which
is the same as to say love for Jesus cannot exist, if this loving relationship
does not lead us to forget ourselves, to take our cross and try to help our
brothers and sisters in need.
«
It is not enough to say I will pray for you, if
at the same time we do not do something to alleviate the suffering.
«
The Pope has proclaimed a Year of Mercy, and
invites us during this year to question ourselves about our faith transformed
in love, tenderness, mercy. During this year which will begin in a few months,
let us ask the Lord the ability to recognize him, to dialogue with him like the
Samaritan woman did. This friendly relationship and the intimacy with him will help
us to have eyes, like the Samaritan man, to see the suffering along the road of
life, hands to alleviate this suffering and enthusiasm to move others to do the
same.
“They
shall join action with contemplation, the most necessary point for our
Institute.”
“During
this time they should exercise themselves in the practice of prayer, in
accepting day by day the vicissitudes of this life, as coming form the hand of
God. Thus they will not depend on times and happenings, but they will fix their
souls in God, who never changes.” María Antonia París, Foundress of the
Claretian Missionary Sisters, Relación a Caixal 20, Constitutions 97.
I knew that the virtue an apostolic missionary needs most, after humility
and poverty, is meekness]
Jesus told his beloved disciples, "Learn of me, for I am meek and humble
of heart, and you will find rest for your souls."Humility is like the root of the tree, and meekness is its fruit. St. Bernard
tells us that we please God by humility and our neighbor by meekness. In the Sermon
on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess
the land--and
not just the promised land of those living in heaven but also the earthly
hearts of men. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary
Sisters, Autobiography 372.
CLARET, Antonio María . AutobiographyPAGOLA, José A. Following in the
Footsteps of Jesus. Convivium Press 2011.
PARIS, María Antonia. Relación a
Caixal.
SAGRADA BIBLIA. Official translation of the Conference of Catholic
Bishops from Spain.
SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. LA BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO. Misioneros Claretianos.
China 2008.
.
[] Christ
announced the reign of God in meekness and humility, not power and violence.
(Cf. pars. 372-375.) The missionary is a man of zeal--vehement love--and needs
to be held in check by prudence and kindness (par. 381). Meekness is so
necessary that it is a sign of a call to the ministry (par. 374). Claret made a
particular examen of meekness from 1862 to 1864.
