XXIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - CYCLE A – 2017

THE BOOK OF THE SECOND ISAIAH

Ø  The second part of the Book of Isaiah cc 40-55 reveals a historical reality different from that of the first part or Book of Isaiah from Jerusalem   

Ø  The people from the Kingdom of Judah had been deported to Babylon  

Ø  In the year 539 BC Cyrus, the Persian, enters triumphant in Babylon and proclaims the liberty of all the deported, who are allowed to return to their country.   

Ø  The Second Isaiah, so called because we do not know his name, could be one of the deported that were coming back to their country.    

Ø  His ministry has two different moments although it is always about consolation:

o   cc. 40-48 the texts speak about the exiled who have to begin the way back home. The prophet consoles and encourages them explaining the meaning of the time of the exile. 

o   cc.  49-55 The texts are about those who have come back from exile and do not feel welcome by those who remained in the country. The prophet’s mission is to console them. In this part of the book we find the poems of the Servant of Yahweh, and also the   openness of the pagan nations to the God of Israel.   

FIRST READING  Is 45:1. 4-6

Ø  The Lord, the God of Israel speaks to Cyrus, the king of Persia, a pagan king, and calls him  his anointed.  

Ø  And tells him how he has taken him by hand to be his instrument for the liberation of the peoples.   

Ø  God has called Cyrus and God will accomplish the work of liberation for love of his servant Jacob, and for his chosen one Israel.    

Ø  He says to Cyrus that he has called him by name     

Ø  How true it is that we are all children of our God, not only those who believe in Him, but all.   

Ø  He says to Cyrus that his title of honor has been given by Him, although Cyrus does not know it.  

Ø  What a wonderful reading, which opens up the heart and uncovers unexpected and infinite horizons to our faith. God takes care of all of us and he asks all of us to be his collaborators, believers and pagans, just and sinners, from different colors, races and religions…. and even unbeleivers.  The one who opens his heart to his presence, in spite of not knowing him, does good works, changes the direction  of his life.   

Ø  Every generation remembers Cyrus, the pagan king, who did not know the true God of Israel but who was his collaborator. 

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM:  Ps  96: 1 y 3. 4-5. 7-8. 9-10a y c

Ø  R. (7b) Give the Lord glory and honor.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bring gifts, and enter his courts.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Worship the LORD, in holy attire;
tremble before him, all the earth;
say among the nations: The LORD is king,
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.

Ø  This psalm sings the wonders done by God and invites us to announce nation after  nation the wonders God  does. 

Ø  He is the only  one who is God 

Ø  God governs the nations with justice and he calls all human beings and invites us to do the same, he calls us to be his collaborators.    

GOSPEL  Mt 22:15-21

Ø  The Pharisees were not too happy, they were angry, because Jesus in the Temple had destroyed their business, and also they did not like the parables of the two sons, the tenants of the vineyard and the wedding feasts of the son because they clearly questioned and accused them for their behavior. 

Ø  Since they are intelligent and well educated they believe that they know much more than this young and poor rabbi who has always been a carpenter. And they agree to put Jesus to the test.  

Ø  They ask him about the taxes, this has always been and continues to be a problem, something we do not like, to pay taxed to the country and for them it was worst because it was for a foreign and oppressive country they hated.  

Ø  Jesus asks for the coin used to pay the taxed.   

Ø  And he asks whose face is it?   

Ø  Cesar’s they answered, than it is very obvious that they will have to return to Cesar the coins because they have his picture on it.   

Ø  But Jesus adds something, which we use and repeat a lot, but I think we miss the point many times.   

Ø  Give to Cesar what belongs to him, what has his image, but give to God what belongs to him.   

Ø  And I read something that I found so interesting and helpful to understand the words of Jesus.   

Ø  Give to God what belongs to him, what is it? My time, my talent, my treasure…? What I read said: if you give back to Cesar what belongs to him, the coin to pay the taxes because it has its image, than we have to give back to God his image which is our own being, nothing less  “let us make man in our image….”   

SECOND READING  1 Thes 1,1-5b

Ø  We will begin the first letter of Paul to the community of Thessalonica.  

Ø  If we read this text alone, we could personalize it saying the name or our parish.    

Ø  And listen to the words Paul says to the community in Thessalonica as words said to each one of us “we give thanks for you, for you John, for you Sylvia, for you Rosendo, for you Mary….   We remember   

o   The activity of your faith   

o   The effort of your love

o   The firmness of you hope     

o   That is how the three theological virtues received in your baptism are acting in your daily life.   

o   And all of this In Jesus Christ, you and the whole community are in Jesus Christ, and you allow Him to guide you.     

Ø  And Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy remind the community that they have been chosen; in the first reading it was God who reminded that to Cyrus      

Ø  And in the last verse we read Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy remind the community that their preaching was not only with words but, also with the strength of the Holy Spirit. 

CLARETIAN CORNER

He put again before me all the religious orders and made me see the deplorable state of the universal church and told me with heartfelt words that the evils of this holy church had no other remedy that the observance of his most holy law.

At this moment I saw our Lord Jesus Christ, I had him present in very special way. He had so much pain for the evil of the church, that it seemed as if his Divine eyes were bursting into tears, and told me sorrowfully: “look, my daughter, if with tears I would be able to renew the spirit of my church, I would shed tears of blood. Because I did not spare myself to shed all my blood for her creation, but I left myself as pledge and memory of my infinite love for her, for her conversion until the end of time. (Our Lord granted me again this vision for the following night during prayer)

Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress ofthe Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography  8-9.

The reason is that, as I have said, I am so soft-hearted and compassionate that I can't bear seeing misfortune or misery without doing something to help. I would take the bread out of my own mouth to give it to the poor. In fact, I would abstain from putting it into my mouth in order to have something to give to those who are asking for it. I am even scrupulous about spending anything at all on myself when I think of the needs I can remedy. Well, then, if these momentary physical misfortunes affect me so much, it is understandable what I feel in my heart at the thought of the everlasting pains of hell--not for me, but for all those who willingly live in mortal sin. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 10. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, SAINT ANTHONY  MARY. Autobiography.

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. El camino abierto por Jesús. 2011

PARIS, VENERABLE MARÍA ANTONIA. Autobiography.

SAGRADA BIBLIA – Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2010.

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME- CYCLE A   -  OCTOBER 15, 2017

ü   The first reading and the Gospel speak of the Kingdom of God by means of analogies.  

ü  For Paul his strength is in God.   

FIRST READING   Is 25:6-10ª

Ø  This Reading is taken from the first part of the book we call Book of Isaiah, whose author is the First Isaiah or  Isaiah from Jerusalem. 

Ø  His prophetic activity can be situated between the years 740 to 687 B.C. 

Ø  It covers three periods:   

o   First period that is short, it goes from the death of King Uzziah to the death of his son Jotham in 735.  It is a time of peace, the country enjoys a good prosperity.   

o   Second period  734-733 time of political unrest. 

o   The third period longer than the previous ones, the leaders of the country seek the contact with Egypt to free themselves from the Assyrian protection.  

WHAT DOES THE READING FOR THIS SUNDAY TELL US?  

-          The change they experience is provoked by God, and the author uses four symbols to describe it:   

o   The mountain, place of the banquet  

o   The banquet   

o   The presence of a multitude of peoples  

o   The change from suffering to wellbeing.   

-          Isaiah speaks of what will happen on this holy mountain, Jerusalem    

o   The holy mountain is at the beginning Jerusalem, but it becomes the happy eternity where death will be destroyed. 

o   Not only death or the end of our earthly life, but the many interior and exterior deaths we suffer,  provoked by others or by us.

o   Whenever we speak of wellbeing we speak of abundant and tasty fruits, good wines. 

o   All veils will be destroyed on this holy mountain, the veil that covers the peoples, the veil of ignorance, of lack of freedom, of everything that darkens in us the capacity to discover the presence of God in us, in all and in everything.   

o   Death will be destroyed forever on this mountain which symbolizes the heavenly Jerusalem, as well as every  place an situation of encounter with God.  When He is present even if we die we will live.    

o   On this mountain God will wipe out the tears from the eyes, what a beautiful and consoling promise! How many tears are shed in our world, how much human suffering.     

o   All of this which the prophet describes is the work of God to whom we turn our eyes to be saved.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Sal 23: 1-3a. 3b – 4.5.6

R. (6cd) I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

      Psalm of a great beauty that describes the peace and security of the person who feels the presence and company of God in his or her life.  

      Company and security which the psalmist describes with very evocative images: the prairies, the water of the springs, the table and the oil which anoints and perfumes.  

      The psalmist ends the psalm saying that  goodness and kindness will always be his companions throughout his life,  

      All of this and much more surround us when we feel and experience the presence of the Lord in our life.    

GOSPEL Mt 22: 1-14

Ø   Jesus is speaking again with the leaders and priests of his people, he is trying by all means to convince and conquer those men who pull away more and more from their vocation as representatives of Jesus’ Father, the God of Israel, who has called them to be his representatives on earth. 

Ø  It is a wedding banquet, the wedding is the most joyful and lovely celebration in all the cultures, and for every couple that are in love with each other. 

Ø  The kingdom of God is like a feast, a wedding celebration. 

Ø  As in the parable of the vineyard, here the king sends his servants and messengers to remind those invited to the feast of his son’s wedding that everything is prepared.   

Ø  But we are told that those invited ignored this reminder.    

Ø  A second time he sends other servants and they are told that those invited cannot go to the feast  because they have other more important things to do.  

Ø  The King becomes angry and sends his servants to invite anyone they find on the roads, any place. God does not abandon his project in spite of our little or no cooperation, he looks for other solutions.   

Ø  And all sorts of people come to the celebration some are good others are bad….  

Ø  There is even one who does not wear the wedding garment.  

Ø  Is that man, like us when through the journey of our life, so many times, we refuse to wear the wedding garment that was given to us in our baptism when the priest gave  us the white garment and, he told us to keep it until the time when the Lord will call us?    

Ø  Jesus describes the consequences of not using  the wedding garment as: “bind his hands and feet, darkness, bad relationships with others…

Ø  May the Lord grant us to cultivate the joy in our life, joy which will help us to recognize the Lord always walking with us during the journey of our earthly life, and this conviction will in turn increase our joy.   

SECOND READING    Phil 4:12-14. 19-20

Ø  Paul thanks the community of Philippi for their help. He had a very especial and loving relationship with this community that always show its love for him.   

Ø  But he tells them something that is very good for a missionary and evangelizer, maybe for all of us also: I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.

Ø  God will provide according to their needs, probably this is his experience.   

Ø  Yes, even if we are in need, God continues to provide for us in one way or another, sometimes we do not even understand it.  

Ø  God creates us, provides for us, we only have to open the eyes of faith and love to discover his work in us.  

CLARETIAN CORNER  

My Lord and my God, if you do not tell me in what religious order you want me to enter so as to comply with your      command, I do not know how this will be don.” Because by all means I wanted to be a religious. “My God, perhaps do you want something new?” (I did not know what I was asking)  I asked this question by Divine inspiration because it please hid Divine Majesty to be asked with simplicity, and if this seemed an  indiscreet question, because in God there is nothing impossible, our Lord did not take it wrong, because it was not asked our of curiosity, much less of mistrust in the infinite power of God,  (Our Lord has give this readiness, that as soon as I know the will of God, there is nothing difficult to me, blessed be God for his goodness. Thus, our Lord told me with much pleasure: “Yes, my daughter, I want a new order, but not new in doctrine but new in practice.” And here (at this moment) our Lord gave me the traits of the whole order and told me that I should be called: “APOSTLES of JESUS CHRIST IN IMITATION of THE BLESSED VIRGiN MARY”. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography7.

This troubled me deeply, for I am by nature very compassionate. The idea of an eternity of torment made such a deep impression on me, either because of the tenderness it evoked in me or because of the many times I thought about it, that it is surely the thing that to this day I remember best. The power of this idea has made me work in the past, still makes me work, and will make me work as long as I live, in converting sinners, in preaching, in hearing confessions, in writing books, in distributing holy cards and pamphlets, and in having familiar conversations. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters,  Autobiography 9 

 BIBLIOGRAFÍA

CLARET, SAN ANTONIO  MARÍA. Autobiography.

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. El camino abierto por Jesús.(The Way Open by Jesus) 2011

PAPA FRANCISCO, Angelus October 12, 2014       

PARIS, VENERABLE MARÍA ANTONIA. Autobiography.

SAGRADA BIBLIA –Commentaries.  Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, 2010.

XXVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  – CYCLE A – OCTOBER 8 2017

We continue with the Gospels about the vineyard, the theme today is God’s fidelity and our fidelity.   

 FIRST READING : Is 5: 1-7  

Ø  Isaiah says that the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel 

Ø  The Church is also the vineyard of the Lord  

Ø  And each one of us may say the same.  

Ø  The vineyard was cared for and cherished, and the owner expected good fruits. Like the vineyard of the parable, many times we have given bitter fruits instead of the good fruits God expected from us.  

Ø  We have not always acted well, we have allow us to be seduced, distracted by our idols, by the evil one

Ø  We have wanted to live away from God, our Creator and Redeemer. We have wanted to be on our own.  

Ø  And the consequences are the ones the prophet mentions, if we are alone we will not be protected, nobody will shelter us.

Ø  But we can always go back, change our way of thinking and acting as we heard in the readings last week, those two sons that were invited by their father to go to the vineyard … both offended their father, but one of them reconsidered… 

Responsorial Psalm:   Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20

R. (Is 5:7a) The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

A vine from Egypt you transplanted;

you drove away the nations and planted it.

It put forth its foliage to the Sea,

its shoots as far as the River.

R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

Why have you broken down its walls,

so that every passer-by plucks its fruit,

The boar from the forest lays it waste,

and the beasts of the field feed upon it?

R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

Once again, O LORD of hosts,

look down from heaven, and see;

take care of this vine,

and protect what your right hand has planted

the son of man whom you yourself made strong.

R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

Then we will no more withdraw from you;

give us new life, and we will call upon your name.

O LORD, God of hosts, restore us;

if your face shine upon us, then we shall be saved.

R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.

Ø  The psalmist speaks with the Lord and  

o   Reminds Him how He took his people, his vineyard from Egypt and planted it in another land.   

o   For the Israelites these memories included a great number of wonders made by God for them.   

o   Why, then, Lord have you abandoned your vineyard?    

o   But, would it not be the other way around? Is it not the vineyard that has abandoned her Lord?    

o   And the psalmist says with humility, sorrow and trust “turn your eyes toward us”… “we will no more withdraw from you.”  

Ø  Is this our humble and trusting supplication to the Lord? What are our memories of what the Lord has done in us and for us? 

GOSPEL Mt 21: 33-43

v  Jesus tells to the religious leaders of his people a parable about the vineyard 

v  Certainly those men were on their guard on hearing the story of the vineyard, since the Old Testament speaks about a vineyard, loved and cared for…  

v  The owner leases it to tenants to take care of it. 

v  They would have to take care of the vineyard and give the produce to the landowner, who will give them the just part according to what was just in that society. 

v  But when the owner sends his servants to collect the produce, the tenants do not give it to the servants whom they mistreat and even kill.  

v  Finally the owner sends his son, hoping that they would respect him, but instead they also kill him.  

v  And Jesus, as he does very often, asks the opinion of his listeners, who had very well understood the message of the parable.  

v  And Jesus says to them, the kingdom will be taken from you and given to a people that would produce fruits.  

v  I think it is good for us to learn this lesson, because the new people is the Church, we need to ask ourselves whether we are what we are supposed to be, and whether we do what the Lord wants us to do. Do we give him the fruits he expects?  

v  Or on the contrary we are distracted with our idols, the idol of power, oppression, lack of love, selfishness, pride….     

v  Each one of us may look at his or her life and see with what are we distracted, what are our idols. 

v  And with humility let us return to our God and Father so that he can transform us and make us in the way he has dreamed for us when he created us. Let him take from our hearts our idols that alienate us from Him, our only God.  

SECOND READING  Phil 4: 6-9

ü  Paul invites the community of Philippi not to worry 

ü  On the contrary he says to them to offer their petitions to God in their prayer  

ü  With a thankful heart   

ü  And this will produce the peace of God which exceeds all we may hope for. 

ü  Because peace is not only the absence of conflict, it is much more; it is a whole wellbeing the one God dreamed for us,  for the whole human race.  

ü  How far we are from this? Our conflicts are very numerous, it seems as if we were not all partakers of the same human race, called to continue creating  the world which God began.   

ü  Where have we left the words that Jesus told us: “Love one another as I have loved you….” 

ü  It is true, however, that there is more good than bad in our world.  

ü  And there are many persons some important in the eyes of the world and some humble and all of them do good to others, good which is not published in the mass media.  

ü  But anyway let us ask ourselves about the measure of our love.

	CLARETIAN CORNER

Beside what I saw in these sacred letters (without seeing anything with my bodily eyes as I have said above) an interior voice in the depths of my soul, was explaining me their meaning and the way to practice (…)  To my understanding I saw everything in Christ Crucified who, as he was teaching me the divine letters, was explaining me their meaning. As this was the first time that our Lord spoke to me, I did not understand of these things and I did not know how to comply with his commands. I was crying abundantly and I told his Divine majesty, whom I had very present, that seemed to me that I was speaking face to face with the Majesty of God …  Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculata Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 6.

The first ideas I can remember date back to when I was five years old. When I went to bed, instead of sleeping—I never have been much of a sleeper--I used to think about eternity. I would think "forever, forever, forever." I would try to imagine enormous distances and pile still more distances on these and realize that they would never come to an end. Then I would shudder and ask myself if those who were so unhappy as to go to an eternity of pain would ever see an end to their suffering. Would they have to go on suffering? Yes, forever and forever they will have to bear their pain ! Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculata Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 8.