30^th  SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  – C – 2022

v  We continue our meditation on prayer as we have done the last two Sundays. 

v  Today we will reflect on the need to ask for forgiveness, to recognize that we are sinners.  

v  Asking for forgiveness is a condition to begin our celebration of the Eucharist and also our personal prayer. 

v  We will meet today two very different men, opposite to one another: a pharisee and a publican o tax collector.

THE BOOK OF SIRACH

v  This book is called also Ecclesiasticus, and it has been   used over the centuries in the liturgical celebrations of the Church. 

v  It is the only book of the Old Testament of which we know the author, place,  date of its composition and of its translation from Hebrew into Greek, because all this information is found in the book itself.

v  This book

o   Was written around 180 before Christ in Jerusalem.  A time when Israel was dominated by the Hellenistic culture (Greek) which had harmed considerably the faith and traditions of Israel especially in the younger generations. 

o   His author was Jesus (Prologue 3) Ben Sira, that is Jesus son of Sira, and it was written in Hebrew.  

o   The translator from Hebrew to Greek was the grandson of Jesus Ben Sira (Prologue 5) in the year 132 before Christ  

v  The author wants to help his Jewish brothers and sisters, old and young,  to recover the meaning of their faith 

v  This book belongs to the Wisdom Books; it is accepted as revealed by the Catholic Church, but not so either by the People of Israel and the Protestant Churches. For this reason, it is called a deutero-canonical book, this means a book belonging to the second lists of the books in the Bible. The books belonging to the first list are called canonical books and are accepted by the three groups.

FIRST READING Sir 35,12-14. 16-18

Ø  The Lord, our God does not have preferences, he treats all of us equally. 

Ø  If he has any preferences is toward the little, the despised, the discriminated against.  

Ø  And thus, God is not deaf 

o   To the cry of the orphan  

o   Or when the widow pours out her complains before Him.   

Ø  And the author adds something else  

o   God hears those who serve Him   

o   Their prayers reach to heaven     

Ø  The author says “The Lord will not delay”  

Ø  And, what happens when we experience that God does not answer right away?  

Ø  He is the only one who can give us the answer to this question in our life.   

Ø Let us talk intimately with Him while we pray silently and wait lovingly for his answer.    

Responsorial Psalm Ps 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23

R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

·         After listening to the first reading the whole assembly will repeat singing “The Lord hears the cry of the poor”

·         Certainly the Lord is not far, He is so near that he hears the cry of the poor, of the afflicted, of anyone who suffers from any  of the many poverties in  our world.  

·         On reading this psalm it comes to my mind the words of the Lord to Moses in the Book of Exodus: I have seen … I have heard…. their suffering…. I come to liberate them.   

·         God is always the same, if He has acted like this with that people of slaves, He will do the same today. This is the hope we have, no matter what our situation of oppression, suffering, humiliation is He will come and liberate us at the opportune moment, without delay.  

GOSPEL LUKE  18: 9-14

      Last Sunday we read the first verses of chapter 18 that were about persevering in  prayer

      Today, again, Luke speaks to us about prayer by means of a parable. 

      Like all the parables of Jesus, today's parable is short and to the point. It gives to us a message that upsets our way to look at reality, to look at the persons around us. 

      Two men went to the temple to pray, let us see what happens in their prayer. 

      Jesus, like a true artist, with two brushstrokes paints for us a picture worth more than a thousand words or theological explanations. 

      One of these men, was a Pharisee, that is, he belonged to the holiest group, the group of those who were faithful to the Law, a model of behavior for all who saw them.

      He tells God, how good he himself is, how he is very different from all the other men who are thieves, liars, evildoers, like that other man who is at the back of the temple praying to God.  

      He gives to God a list of his good works, maybe God does not know them, or has forgotten about them. 

      The other side of the picture shows to us the other man, the tax collector, the worst group that could exist in Israel, because that man had become rich with the money he stole from his own people, he was at the service of the oppressor of his people, the Roman Empire. 

      This man does not have anything to offer, but his extreme poverty, his sins which he acknowledges before God. He asks for forgiveness, for purification, for acceptance even not having anything to offer. 

      With a great surprise for us and for the people that were listening to Jesus, he says to us that of these two men the one who went home justified was the tax collector. Why? 

      Probably because he really talked to God, he presented himself before God as he was, he was truthful, he accepted that he had nothing to offer except his sins. And we know that God has a very especial inclination toward the poor and needy. His love cannot resist the cry of the poor.

      On the contrary, the Pharisee did not speak to God, he spoke to himself, he made of himself and idol, thus he did not pray and thus he did not get anything from God, because he did not ask for anything, because he was not poor but rich and sinless. 

      This parable, so beautiful and simple, has to question us, how is our prayer, to whom do we talk to God or to an idol, the idol of our own person.  

      Let us ask ourselves, how do I see myself before God and before myself? 

      Our happiness is found in the truth, in the acceptance of who we are, blessed may we be if we acknowledge that we are poor and needy, our Father will bend over us and lift us up to himself like a father does with his child who has fallen.

 

SECOND READING  2 Tm 4:6-8.16-18

§  This fragment of the letter to Timothy has two parts. In the first part Paul looks back at his life, and feels as he had reached or is about to reach his goal.   

§  In the second part he speaks with sadness about how all abandoned him at his trial 

o   He asks the Lord to forgive those who abandoned him, like Jesus on the cross “Father forgive them… or Stephen when he was stoned to death “Lord do not count this sin…”   

o   Then, as if he were talking to himself, he realizes that the Lord has been with him all the time and, that He has given him the strength to proclaim Him to the gentiles.   

o   The Lord protects him and will take him to his kingdom.   

§ 

CLARETIAN  CORNER

He finishes this part of his letter saying “To Him glory for all ages. Amen.” 

 

 

 

We continue to copy excerpts from the study booklet "La Vision inicial (The Initial Vision)." this helps us understand how this initial experience of Maria Antonia touched her deeply and changed her life, and it has also touched the life of every Claretian Missionary and of all who feel attracted to this spirituality. The charism is given by the Lord to the Church for a specific mission and can therefore be lived by both religious and lay people as priests. 

 

4.2  The External Sign

 

It is the pledge, the guarantee of God’s help in fulfilling her mission. It is a question of ensuring  the person that who sent is God, that she is not mistaken, that it was not a presumption or a false interpretation (cf. Ex. 3:12).

The outward sign that God gave to the Servant of God was the presence of Saint Anthony Mary Claret in the Church of her time: 

Our Lord said to me pointing his finger at Mosen Claret...: This is my daughter, that apostolic man who, with so many tears, for so many years in a row you have asked me (Aut. 19) 

Now, in spite of this double perspective of the sign: from the inside, that is, from its configuration with the Holy Law of God and Evangelical Councils; and from the outside, that is, from the presence of Fr. Claret in the Church, the definitive sign is the effective and permanent assistance of the Lord in the fulfilment of the mission entrusted to her, that is, the best sign is the fulfilment of the mission itself. Every difficulty overcome is a sign that God gives his help; and that he will continue to give it. God had said to the Mother Foundress, I have everything for you. And she was always sure it would be like this: I became so sure of it that I have never trusted anyone else. (Aut. 59). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALVAREZ, GOMEZ, cmf. La visión inicial. 

PAGOLA, José Antonio. El camino abierto por Jesús. Lucas.  

SAGRADA BIBLIA. Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española.

 

 

29 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  - C - 2022

·         The theme of the liturgy is prayer, never get tired be persevering. 

·         However, all the parables have more than one interpretation, more than one message.  

·         In the Gospel, we read also that the widow asks for justice, her prayer is very concrete, she asks the judge to render a just decision for her. 

·         Our world is full of brothers and sisters who day and night cry out for justice, to be treated as human beings, to enjoy the same benefits as the rest of the population. Let us think about situations close to us, all those who do not have legal status in the countries where they live, and ask to be accepted officially in the country.

·         In a commentary, the author asks this question: when we approach the Lord to pray, do we discover in the heart of our Father the suffering of so many brothers and sisters?  do we hear the cry that comes from all the parts of the world asking for justice, equality, brotherhood and solidarity? 

·         Or on the contrary our prayer is only about us or being worried of what we call "spiritual", forgetting that the Son of God became flesh to live among us.   

FIRST READING  Exodus  17:8-13

ü  This is an interesting reading from the book of Exodus

ü  The effectiveness of Moses prayer is based on   having his hands raised.   

ü  Therefore, when he gets tired, he has to be helped by two men.   

ü  This is what we read.  Let us try to discover the meaning of this.

ü  The support Moses receives may mean also the communal prayer as Jesus said "when two or three... I am there with them. 

ü  The effectiveness of our prayer does not depend on us, or on those who support us, but in the presence of Jesus, the only Son of the Father who prays with us and is always heard by the Father.

ü  The fact that Joshua won the battle destroying Amelek, is not the message the Lord wants us to get from this reading. The message is the perseverance in prayer, not the destruction of the enemy because Jesus himself taught to love our enemies. 

ü  Jesus does not destroy us for the evil we do, but he allows evil to destroy him and in so doing he destroys evil forever, saving us all and, earning life eternal for us. 

ü  It depends on us to accept this salvation which he has already accomplished for all of us.  

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM:  Ps 121: 1-2,3-4, 5-6, 7-8

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH

I lift up my eyes toward the mountain

whence shall help come to me?

My help is from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

May he not suffer your foot to slip

may he slumber not who guards you

indeed, he neither slumbers nor sleeps

the guardian of Israel

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH

 The Lord is your guardian, the Lord is your shade

he is beside you at your right hand

the sun shall not harm you by day

nor the moon by night.

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH

The Lord will guard you from all evil

he will guard your life

the Lord will guard your coming and your going

both now and forever.

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH 

§  The psalmist sings that his help comes from the Lord. 

§  In the verses that come after this sentence, he describes the protection from   God with beautiful images: your foot will not slip... he does not sleep... his shade protects you...

§  What a beautiful way to describe trust in the unconditional and tender love of our God and Father.   

GOSPEL  Luke 18:1-8

      Luke tells us one of the parables of Jesus which is found only in his Gospel

      As it is the case with all the parables, we need to find the real meaning, not the meaning of the material words. 

      There are two characters: the corrupt judge who has all power, and the woman who is powerless and suffers injustice from her oppressors. 

      As the parable unfolds this role are changed, the judge loses his power in front of the insistence of the woman, who ends up having power over the judge. 

      A judge should always dictate just sentences this is his mission. 

      Thus, there is nothing worse than a corrupt judge. Amos in his book speaks about that. 

      Power always corrupts those who have it, no matter what kind of power we might have: in society, in politics, in finances, at work, in the church, at home, in the school.... Power intoxicates us, like wine when we drink it in excess.  

      The woman, who like any poor does not have anything else to lose, comes over and over bothering the judge until the day when he imparts justice to her, so that she will not come   anymore. 

      Jesus tells us that if this unjust judge can make justice to the woman, God will do much more for us. 

      However, he does not want to compare the behavior of the judge with God's behavior. 

      What Jesus wants to teach us with this parable is the perseverance in prayer without getting tired. 

      The insistence in prayer is not because God does not listen to us at the first time, it is because we are not ready, our heart is still hard and we do not allow the Lord to transform us, we take our time to accept his action in us.    

      It is not God who takes time, it is us. 

SECOND READING  2 Tm 3:14-4,2.

v  We continue listening to what the author of the letter tells his disciple Timothy: 

§  remain faithful to what you have learned 

§  remember what you have known of the Scriptures since your childhood 

§  Scripture can give you wisdom for salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ. 

§  All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching 

§  I charge you to proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient, using all the means at your hand.      

                                             CLARETIAN CORNER 

While my confessor was still doubtful in making the decision because of the importance of the matter, he decided to go have his exercises with his Excellency, Mgr. Claret (who was going to start his last exercises and bid farewell to his dear brothers), and to consult the matter, while in my convent everything was being prepared for the profession. At last, my confessor came back from the interview, in the same way as he went there, without any decision from Bishop Claret. Because he could not get anything from him except that the fruit was already ripe but not yet in season, and that in the meantime while he would see how was that new world and if there was good disposition there. Venerable Maria Antonia Paris, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 96.

Because I wanted to improve my knowledge of manufacturing techniques, I asked my father to send me to Barcelona. He agreed and took me there. But, like St. Paul, I had to earn what I needed for food, clothing, books, teachers, etc., with my own two hands. My first move was to submit a petition to the Board of Trade for admission to classes in design. My request was granted and I used it to some advantage.  Who would have guessed that God would one day use in the interests of religion the studies in design that I undertook for early life business reasons? And, in fact, these skills have been most useful to me in designing prints for catechisms and works on mysticism. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 56.

BIBLIOGAPHY

CLARET, St. Anthony Mary Claret. Autobiography

PAGOLA, José Antonio. El camino abierto por Jesús. Lucas.

PARÍS, Venerable María Antonia. Autobiography.

LA BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO. Texto: Luis A. Schökel

 

  28 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – CYCLE C- 2022

The theme of this Sunday’s celebration is “thanksgiving for the good we have received” 

Ø  Naaman is healed  from the leprosy and he comes back to thank the prophet for his cure.    

Ø  The Samaritan leper comes back to give thanks to Jesus for his cure from leprosy. 

Ø  Jesus asks, where are the other 9?     

THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS

Ø  The two books of Kings are the continuation of the two books of Samuel. 

Ø  In the Hebrew Bible these books form a single literary work called Kings (Melakim).  

Ø  In the translation of the LXX (seventy- Greek) and in the  Vulgate (Latin) they are called “third and fourth  Kings” 

Ø  Because the two books of Samuel are called “first  and second Kings”  

Ø  1 and 2 Kings are part of the Deuteronomist History  

Ø  Which goes from the entrance in the promise land (Joshua) to the Babylonian exile (587) 

Ø  Solomon and his kingship play a major role.

Ø  The author is pleased to show the magnificence of Solomon, and, at the same time, to show his sins. 

Ø  Whose consequences are the division of his Kingdom into the Northern Kingdom – Israel and, the Southern Kingdom – Judah. 

Ø  The theological principle used to judge history is:   sin                  punishment                 return 

Ø   Two prophets have a great importance:  in 1 Kings, the prophet Elijah, in 2Kings, the prophet Elisha, the first reading today speaks about him.     

Ø  Theological points:

o   Monotheism        

o   Messianic hope

o   Institutions:

§  the monarchy, the King is God’s representative

§  the temple is the place of God’s presence    

§  the exile,   the end ?  or  a new beginning?

 

FIRST READING  2Kgs 5:14-17

ü  The whole chapter is dedicated to the story of  Naaman

ü  Who was a general of the King of Syria, he was a leper.  

ü  They tell us the story of how this man comes to the kingdom of Israel  

ü  Today in the liturgy, we read the passage related to the cure of this man, not because of his faith, but because of the faith and trust of a young Israelite girl, his wife’s slave.  

ü  Naaman, as the prophet had told him, submerges seven times into the Jordan River and is cleansed from the leprosy. 

ü  Very simple act, apparently useless, aren’t there better rivers in Syria, Naaman had asked before going into the river.  

ü  However, it is not the material water, which cures the sickness of this man; it is the acceptance of the prophet’s word. It is the humility to believe that something so unimportant can cure.   

ü  Naaman goes back to the prophet, the man of God, to give thanks, and offer him abundant gifts

ü  The prophet does not accept them. The prophets of the Old Testament in Israel and Judah, were not   wage-earners, but men called by God to be his voice, his presence. 

ü  Naaman asks for some soil to take to his country to offer sacrifices to the true God. 

ü  For the people of those cultures, God was tied in a very especial way to his people, and each people had its own God. 

ü  However here Naaman, through his cure, discovers that there is only one God, the God who has cured him.   

ü  They say that when someone is cured by God in an extraordinary way, which we usually call miracle, there is not only a physical wellbeing, but a whole wellbeing, like a new birth which relates the person in a very especial way to God.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4

R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands:
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power..

v  We will repeat singing 

o   “The Lord has revealed his love…” His love that does not make differences, that has cured a foreigner, a pagan, because all of us are the work of his love, we are his children. 

o   The Lord has shown his faithfulness, the Lord is always faithful. 

GOSPEL   Lk 17:11-19

Ø  Luke tells us what happened to 10 lepers who met Jesus.     

Ø  They ask him to have pity on them    

Ø  Luke tells us that when Jesus approaches them and sees he does not speak about healing them, or of their faith, but he tells them to go to the priest.  

Ø  When someone was cured from his or her leprosy, the Law established that they had to go to the priest who would declare that they were cured, thus allowing them to go back to their normal life in family and in society.      

Ø  The lepers go on their way; did they understand that what Jesus was telling them is that they were cured?  We do not know; Luke tells us that on their way they realized that they were cured.  

Ø  One of them, a Samaritan, full of joy, admiration and gratitude comes back to tell Jesus how happy he is and give thanks to him.  

Ø  Jesus says: where are the other 9?   

Ø  Luke does not give any answer, but we can reflect on our own attitudes.  

Ø  They say that to be thankful, we need to allow us to be surprised, to be able to discover the newness and more than anything else to be able to see more the good than the evil.  To have light or to let the light of Christ fill us.   

Ø  Are we able to give thanks?   Do we rejoice for the good we see, even if we also see the evil?   Do we let God to surprise us? 

SECOND READING  2Tm 2:8-13

ü  The Apostle invites us to remember Jesus Christ 

o   Risen from the dead   

o   And a descendant of David    

o   Jesus is risen, he is our God who lives forever,  

ü  Paul speaks of his imprisonment, as a criminal without freedom, but he says that the Word of God is not in chains, nobody can silence it. 

ü  If we have died with Him, we also will be raised with Him   

ü  But if we deny Him, He will deny us. What does the Apostle mean with these words?     

ü  But Jesus will always be faithful because this is his nature.   

 CLARETIAN CORNER

In regards to  the mystical experience of the "Initial Vision", Mother Foundress María Antonia  says:
...without seeing any books or letters, I saw it written, and understood it so well that it seemed it was  imprinted on my soul. . (Aut. 5)
Which means that for her and for the whole Institute, the charism does not limit itself to reflecting a concrete way of carrying out a mission, it is not even limited to a way of belonging to the Institute, but first and foremost reflects one’s self-identification; and it is also a content that, in turn, specifies one’s own self and one’s own vocation, for  María Antonia  and for each Claretian Missionary; the charism identifies with the deep self; it is the impression of a footprint that configures definitively; there is an identification with that footprint.
Now, if this configuration with the Holy Law of God and the Evangelical Councils is the self-identity of the Mother Foundress and the Claretian Missionaries, self-realization must go in the same direction. For this very reason, being fully woman and being fully Christian necessarily pass through fidelity to one’s charism; that is, fidelity to one’s own deep identity.
This idea was expressed by the María Antonia, in her own way, but with great theological depth. Her identification as a woman passed through her identification with the Holy Law of God:
I would like to have it (The Holy Law of God), written on my forehead to teach every creature (Letter Fr. Claret, 31-X-1859)
She wants everyone to be aware of her deep identity when they see her as the woman she is, because her distinctive feature is what everyone will be able to read on her forehead, in her very exteriority as a woman, the Holy Law of God.
This is the personal, charismatic version of what Saint Paul said for all Christians in general:
But all of us who, with our faces uncovered, reflect the glory of the Lord as if in a mirror, are transformed into that same image, ever more glorious, according to action. 

 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

ALVAREZ GÓMEZ, Jesús. Cmf  Visión inicial.  

PAGOLA, José Antonio. El camino abierto por Jesús. Lucas.

POPE FRANCIS, Homilíy 9 de Octubre 2016. Web page of the Vaticano “Homilies”.  

SAGRADA BIBLIA. Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española.