SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT – CYCLE C - 2016

INTRODUCTION

1. Every year on the second Sunday of Lent the liturgy invites us to reflect on the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus.   
2. Last Sunday we reflected on the mystery of Jesus being tempted as any one of us is, and we learned  from him to fight against the temptations with the Word of God.  
3. Today, let us allow us to be filled  with the light of the Transfigured Lord, and let us listen to Him as the Father invites us.  
4. Our reflection on the readings will be from the point of view of the Covenant.   

 

FIRST READING  Gn 15:5-12; 17-18    

 

This reading speaks of one of the covenants that God made with Abram. God had not yet changed his name.   

• The Hebrew word for covenant is   berit (used to describe the relationship between a lord and his servant, it is a unilateral promise, wholly gratuitous and free on the part of the lord). The Greek word for covenant is    diatheke.  With these two words the Bible describes different kinds of covenants. Let us see some of them:
  • The first and the most gratuitous is the covenant of creation. Creation comes from  the gracious and loving initiative of God, who could not even consult us since we did not exist yes. But creation is continuous thus the covenant made by God with his creation is permanent and continuous.   
     
  • We find different types of covenants in Scripture:  
    • God gives without asking anything in exchange = promise  Gn:8-11; 12-17 
    • God enters into a covenant  through a rite:  Gn   15:7-10.17
    • God enters into a bilateral covenant with his people:   Jos 24:1-28   

• The covenant we find in the first reading belongs to the second type of covenant: the covenant between God and Abram is made through a rite.  
  Let us  analyze the biblical story 
• Before the verses we will read this coming Sunday, God says to Abram “do not be afraid, because your reward will be abundant.” To these words of God Abram replies “what use do these gifts do to me since I do not have children, and my servant is the one who is going to inherit my possessions.”  
• Let us reflect on the reading for this Sunday
  • The descendants of Abram will be as numerous as the stars in the firmament. Abram believes that YHWH can do what he says and thus he is justified, made just, saved.  
  • The promise is this: I will give to you the land you walk on    
  • God reminds Abram of all that he has done for him up to that moment. The faith of Israel and the Christian faith as well is grounded in tradition, in the memory of God’s mighty deeds for us.  Last week we read how Israel repeats his tradition in prayer “My father was a wandering Aramean” 
  • Abram asks God how will  he know that the land will be his.   
  • And now God enters into a covenant with Abram. God relates to us in the way we understand according to our own culture, so that we may understand his message given to us.  
  • In the ancient religions the divinities were the witnesses to the covenants made by men, here in this text of the Bible YHWH himself is the witness and at the same time the one who makes the covenant. 
  • Abram prepares everything for the ceremony of the covenant God is going to make with him.    
  • He prepares the wood for the fire and on it in two separate  piles of wood they put the cow that had previously being cut in two. Each part was put on a different pile of wood facing each other.   
  • The persons who entered into the covenant   had to walk between the two parts of the animal and say: let it be done to me as it has been done to this animal, if I am not faithful to the covenant I am about to enter.   
  • Abram feels asleep, and at the same time terror invades him.  
  • The presence of God is very much attractive to the human being, but at the same time it is terrifying, because God is the OTHER, completely different from us.   
  • Then Abram sees in the midst of the darkness of night something like a burning torch passing between the two parts of the cow. 
  • In the burning torch he discovers the symbol of the presence of YHWH who is passing by   between the two parts of the animal.  God commits himself to be faithful to the  covenant.  
  • As we can see this type of covenant is unilateral, only God commits himself, Abram is only an observer.
  • And after that YHWH pronounces the words of the covenant which he makes with Abram on that day “To your descendants I will give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River Euphrates.”
     
    SECOND READING : Phil 3:17- 4:1

• Paul invites o exhorts the community of Philippi to be faithful and to look towards those who live according to the teachings he (Paul) has given them. 
• He repeats with words full of tenderness and love “continue to be faithful to the Lord”   
• We are in the season of Lent, in which we reflect more deeply in the meaning of the Paschal Mystery of Christ, the New Covenant sealed in his blood on the Cross. On the cross he forgave our sins, he paid for us the price of the covenant to which we have not been faithful.
• In the same way as the ancient prophets Paul reminds them the need to be faithful to the New Covenant. 
  • Covenant in which the land that is given to us is heaven, eternal life forever.  
  • Here the faithful is to the gloried Christ who has in the New Testament the place that   YHWH, had in the Old Testament, because he is God.
     
    GOSPEL  Lk 9:28-36

• Before the event of the transfiguration Jesus makes the first announcement of his passion and explains the conditions to be his disciple. 
• Luke says that 8 days later, probably it refers to the announcement Jesus makes of his passion.   
• Jesus goes up to a high mountain to pray and takes with him the three closest disciples, the same that went with him to Jairus’  home and were witnesses of how Jesus gave back the life to the girl. They will be also invites by Jesus to be witnesses of his greatest weakness and vulnerability in Gethsemane. These disciples are: Peter, James and John.  
• While he is praying Jesus changes in his aspect and at the same time Moses and  Elijah appear talking to him
  • Moses en Elijah the whole Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets.   
  • They speak with him about his exodus which will be consummated in Jerusalem. 
     
• Jesus as well as the two men are radiant and their clothes are white, all this are signs of the divinity.   
• Luke says that the disciples felt asleep, would that be the same thing that happened to Abram in the presence of YHWH? Or what happened to the disciples at Gethsemane? 
• When they awake they see the glory of Jesus.  
• But they do not understand the true meaning of what is happening on the mountain. Peter speaks for the three of them, he wants to remain in that situation which is so marvelous, he has forgotten the invitation of the Lord to follow the Master in his passion.   
• The cloud covers them, the cloud is a symbol of the presence of God throughout the Old Testament and also in the New Testament in the narrative of the Annunciation. 
• Like Abram who felt fear the disciples are afraid when the cloud covers them and they hear the voice of the Father. 
• What does the voice say? THIS IS MY CHOSEN SON, LISTEN TO HIM.    
• This voice of the Father relates the two narratives of the transfiguration and of the baptism. 
• But here the Father adds “Listen to him” 
• The three of them have been invited to follow the Master as disciples, and one thing that a disciple has to do is to listen and to obey. 
• They do not say anything to anyone, probably because before the resurrection this event could not be understood correctly.   
    BIBLIOGRAFÍA

            CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.

            PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía

RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras – Ciclo C. San Pablo 2006. 

SCHÖKEL , Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

SAGRADA BIBLIA, Versión Oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española  

 

 

 

 

August 27 1856. During the thanksgiving to God after the Holy Communion, when I made my profession, our Lord told me to take rest from my fears, that I had written well what he had commanded me. And that my prelate was holy but he had to sanctify himself more by the means His majesty commanded me to write, that this was His will.  Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters,  68.

I have been told that before I arrived in Madrid there were some excesses at table. Indeed, it is no wonder because such a variety of rich courses, exquisite dishes, and excellent wines were served, all an invitation to over-indulgence. But since I have been forced by duty to attend, I have not noticed the slightest display of intemperance. On the contrary, it seems to me that the other guests take less than they need when they see that I am not eating. Often while we are still at table the guests seated on either side talk to me about spiritual matters and want to know what church I hear confessions in so that they can go to confession there.  Saint Anthony Mary  Claret, Founder  of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 409.  

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – CYCLE C – 2016 

INTRODUCTION

1. Luke has presented several different ways to look at Jesus in order to discover who he is. 
2. Today Jesus calls his first disciples, collaborators in the mission he has come to accomplish among us.    
3. The call will help Peter to acknowledge his indignity, his sin, and at the same time to learn that our sins do not make the Lord depart from us, on the contrary he comes closer to us to save us, to give his life so that we may have life. The Lord  does not want our sin, but he loves us.  
4. Thus today the Church liturgy invites us to reflect on our own vocation, looking at the vocation of the first followers.   

 

   FIRST READING  Is 6:1-2a, 3-8

• Isaiah tells us about the vision he had of the Majesty of God.  
• He tells us that the vision happened in the year of the death of King Uzziah around the year 740 or 739 BC.   
• In the second book of Kings and in the 2 book of Chronicles this King is also called Azariah   (2 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 26)
  • Isaiah sees God seating on a high throne. Isaiah was an official at the court of the King, it seems very normal that when God wants to reveal himself to him he uses images which Isaiah will understand. God is seen as a Monarch, a King. 
  • The description of the celestial liturgy performed by the Seraphims makes us think of the liturgies or worship in the Temple of Jerusalem, the smoke of the incense.
  • Over the throne Isaiah sees some winged celestial creatures  he calls them seraphim, which reminds of the word “serap” which means “to burn.” 
  • They cry out to each other “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts! His glory fills the earth!   
  • The voices are so loud that the place is shaken. 
  • This is an awesome vision in which God is seen as a King of an extraordinary majesty, surrounded by those creatures which are on fire. 
  • In the presence of God the human being experiences his or her indignity, his or her sin and becomes conscious of his or her sinfulness. 
  • Thus Isaiah acknowledges that his lips are impure, and also those of his people. 
  • Fear invades Isaiah, since it was a common belief, that whoever sees God dies. 
  • But God does not abandon his sinful people, on the contrary through the incarnation, God comes to live among us.
  • To purify the lips of Isaiah God sends a Seraphim with a burning coal to touch his lips.   
  • And God who always calls us to entrust a mission to us, seems to speak to himself saying: whom shall I sent? Who will go in our name?   
  • Isaiah who is burning in divine love responds with enthusiasm “Here I am, send me!” 
• This is how Isaiah tells us his vocation, his call to be a prophet.   
• His mission will be difficult, since he will speak but they will not listen to him, they will not understand because they are afraid that if they understand they will have to change their lives, they will have to allow God to convert them. 
• This vision of the Majesty of God will help Isaiah all his life long to see the injustices committed against the poor, the least of society as an idolatry, a worship of an alien god, the god of selfishness, of money, of power. Injustice will become an offense against God, before being an offense against another human being.   

 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM   – Ps 138

 

IN THE SIGHT OF THE ANGELS I WILL SING YOUR PRAISES, LORD   

 

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart  

For you have heard the words of my mouth

In the presence of the angels I will sing your praise  

I will worship at your holy temple

And give thanks to your name

 

Because of your kindness and your truth   

For you have made great above all things

Your name and your promise

When I called, you answered me

You built up strength within me

 

All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you O Lord

When they hear the words of your mouth

And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord

“Great is the glory of the Lord.”

 

Your right hand saves me.

The Lord will complete what he has done for me

Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever

Forsake not the work of your hands.

 

It is a psalm of thanksgiving recited by  the people and by the kings as well, all are called  to praise God.   

 

GOSPEL  LK 5:1-11

• Jesus is preaching, people are around him pressing him because they want to listen to the fascinating words of the young teacher, Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth.  
• And he gets into one of the boats, the boat of Peter to be able to speak from the boat. Peter and his companions are mending their nets. 
• From the boat he speaks and speaks, and all are pleased listening to him.  
• When he finishes teaching the people he asks Peter to throw their nets to catch fish. 
• The fishermen know that you do not fish at noon when there is so much light, and especially if they could not catch any fish during the right time at night.  
• Peter who has been a fisherman for many years knows that, but on the word of Jesus he throws the nets, and they catch a large number of fish. 
• And Peter, like Isaiah acknowledges his sinfulness, his unworthiness in the presence of the God three times holy. He starts discovering that Jesus is more than what her sees in him.   
• Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man. 
• Isaiah was purified by a burning coal that a seraphim took from the incense. Peter will hear the words of Jesus telling him, “Fear not! you will be fisher of men.”    
• As a consequence of the vision Isaiah is sent to prophesize to his people. From the encounter of Peter with Jesus, Peter becomes fisher of men. Both Isaiah and Peter are called to proclaim among their brothers and sisters the wonderful works of our amazing God, to discover his presence among us.  
• Isaiah says “Here I am” Peter and his companions leave their nets and everything else and follow Jesus. 
  In this encounter of Jesus with the fishermen from Galilee there is not fire, no seraphim, no smoke, nothing extraordinary, everything happens very quietly, peacefully. This is because God has decided to become incarnate and to live among us. That is the difference between the Old and the New Testaments.   
   
  SECOND READING  1Cor 15:1-11

1. Paul reminds his community of Corinth the gospel he has preached to them. A gospel which Paul in turn received from the community of the believers, thus Paul is handing over the tradition of the young church. 
2. What he has handed over to them is   
   • That Christ died for our sins   
   • That he was buried  and     
   • That he was raised on the third day. All of this happened in accordance with  the Scriptures.   
   • That he appeared to Cephas (Peter), to the twelve and to more than five hundred brothers and sisters.    

1. Finally the risen and glorified Lord appeared to Paul,    
2. He considers himself the least of the apostles, because he persecuted the church. 
3. But he says that he has worked harder than any of them 
4. Although he rectifies and says that it is the grace of God that has done the work in him. 
5. Paul says that faith has to follow the preaching, the listening to the word of God. 
    
    
   BIBLIOGRAFÍA

            CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.

            SWEENEY, Marvin A. The Prophetic Literature

PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía

RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras – Ciclo C. San Pablo 2006. 

SCHÖKEL , Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.

SAGRADA BIBLIA, Versión Oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española

 

 

 

 

      A tactic I used to keep silence while I lived in the teaching convent in Tarragona. This house was for me a studio, or better, a most perfect school where God our Lord taught me the core of religious virtue and the means to acquire it, namely: total self-denial by a continuous contradiction of religious but apposing spirits.       Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 237

I had three reasons for not eating. First, because I was able not to--I had no appetite, especially when I had to do a lot of preaching or had to hear large numbers of confessions. Second, on certain occasions when I did have some appetite, I wouldn't eat, especially when I was about to start on a trip, so as not to be heavy on my feet. Finally, I abstained from eating in order to edify people because I noticed that they were always watching me. Thus I ate very little even though I was hungry. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 404