PENTEC0ST – CYCLE C - 2013

      With the Solemnity of Pentecost we  have reached the end of the Easter season.   
      We will see how Pentecost has had different names and meanings over the centuries.  
      During the Jewish celebration of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to the Church.

 PENTECOST

v  Every Israelite had to present himself before YHWH, three times a year:  the second of these feasts became Pentecost.  

In Ex 23:16 it is called the Feast of the Grain Harvest.

v In the book of Number 28:26  it  is called the Feast of the First Fruits.

v  In the book of Deuteronomy 16:10  it is called the Feast of weeks  because this feast was celebrated seven weeks after the feast of the Unleavened Bread (Passover.)

v  It was also called the Feast of the 50th day(Pentecost)  because it was celebrated 50 days after the first grain offering   Lev 23,9-14

v  This feast became a historical feast in which the people remembered the Covenant on Mount Sinai, and the New Covenant promised by  God thorugh the prophets Jeremiah 31,31-34 and Ezekiel 36  :22-28, and fulfilled by Jesus in his Paschal Mystery.

v  On the day of   Pentecost, the Father sent on the Church the Spirit Jesus had promised.  

FIRST READING: Acts 2:1-11 

Ø  The strong driving wind that filled the house, takes us to the beginning of creation when the Spirit of God as a mighty wind covered the abyss.

 

Ø  The noise, the fire, all these strong forces of nature remind us of the theophany on Mount Sinai, when God talked to Moses and made a Covenant with his people, giving them the Law. 

 

Ø  The tongues of fire: fire, enthusiasm, to proclaim the marvels accomplished by Christ Jesus.  

Ø  The "miracle" of the tongues that made possible for all to understand what the Apostles were announcing to them. This takes us to Babel, where people of one tongue could not understand each other due to greed, pride, sin. Pentecost is the opposite of Babel, the Holy Spirit makes those who are different, opposite, enemies to become brothers and sisters, to love one another.    

Ø  I will copy below two quotations from the Jewish tradition about the event on Mount Sinai: 

·         God did not have mouth or tongue, but by means of a wonderful act he decided that a thunder should be heard in the air and a blast should be articulated into words putting  the in motion.  This became fire that had the shape of flames... a voice resounded in the midst of the fire and descended from heaven and this voice spoke the  dialect of each one of those who heard it.   (Jewish Philosopher called Filon exp[lained in this fashion the divine theophany on Sinai.) 

·         When the voice of God was pronounced on Sinai it divided itself into seventy voices so that all the nations could understand. The Hebrew people believed that there were 70 nationalities in the world.     

(My translation of both quotations which have been taken from the book   Gianfranco Ravasi  Según las Escrituras- Ciclo C").

Ø  All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.   

Ø  Through the 2000 years of history since the First Pentecost, the Church has made present the wonderful event of Pentecost among all the nations, sometimes silently, some other times loudly, through the life and mission of men and women from all nations: of parents, missionaries, catechists, priests, sons and daughtets, .... the complete list would be too long.    The enemies become friends, the foreignerand stranger  are welcomed into the local community.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps 47, 2-3,6-7,8-9

Lord, send outyour Spirit and renew the face of the earth. Alleluia.   

Bless the Lord, O my soul! 

O Lord, my God you are great indeed!

How manifold are your works

the earth is full of your creatures.  

If you take away their breath, they perish

and return to their dust.

When you send forth your spirit, they are created

and you renew the face of the earth.  

May the glory of the Lord endure 

may the Lord be glad in his works!

Pleasing to him be my theme

I will be glad in the Lord.  

SECOND READING  1 CoR 12:3b-7,12-13

      Paul says that no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.  But it is not enough to pronounce words or sounds, but this sentence must come from our faith, our trust, our love for Jesus. 

      Paul makes his community realize that there are different gifts, that every one has his or her own gifts, which God gives to us to accomplish a mission in the community.   

      And to help his community to understand better, he makes the wonderful comparison of the human body, which has many members but it  is one  body.

      Through baptism we are united to Christ  

      And we were all given to drink of one Spirit.  

      In the first reading Luke uses the symbol of fire, wind and tongues. In the second reading water is the symbol used to describe who the Spirit is.

GOSPEL Lk 20:19-23

v  In the first reading we have seen how Luke explains the coming upon the Holy the Church using images taken from the Old Testament, from the traditions of Israel and even of the peoples around it.  

v  In the Gospel the Church invites us to reflect on the mystery of the coming of the Holy  Spirit in the way  John explains it.   

v  According to the Gospel of John, the Lord came and stood in their midst, on the evening of the same day of his Resurrection. 

v  And in this meeting with them he gave the Holy Spirit  

·         But before giving them his Spirit  

·         Jesus gives them Peace  thus they will be able to offer it to others. 

·         Jesus sends them.   As the Father has sent me, so I send you.  We know that through baptism we have been submerged in Christ to participate of his life and cooperate in his mission "the salvation of all men and women."    

·         Jesus gives to them the power to forgive sins.  He will cooperate with them, he will accept and support the decisions they will make.  

We have seen the two accounts of the coming of the Holy Spirit, one from the Gospel of John, Jesus gives his Spirit the same day of his resurrection. In fact in the Gospel of John Jesus gives his Spirit,  on the cross.  

On Pentecost the Church is born,

·         it has been conceived and nurtured in the heart of God the Father from all eternity.

·         Jesus began to form it with his disciples

·         and now it is made visible to the world by the Spirit of God on the day of Pentecost.  

SEQUENCE OF PENTECOST  

Come, O Holy Spirit, come! From Your bright and blissful Home Rays of healing light impart. Come, Father of the poor, Source of gifts that will endure Light of ev'ry human heart. You of all consolers best, Of the soul most kindly Guest, Quick'ning courage do bestow. In hard labor You are rest, In the heat You refresh best, And solace give in our woe. O most blessed Light divine, Let Your radiance in us shine, And our inmost being fill. Nothing good by man is thought, Nothing right by him is wrought, When he spurns Your gracious Will. Cleanse our souls from sinful stain, Lave our dryness with Your rain, Heal our wounds and mend our way. Bend the stubborn heart and will, Melt the frozen, warm the chill, Guide the steps that go astray. On the faithful who in You, Trust with childlike piety, Deign Your sevenfold gift to send. Give them virtue's rich increase, Saving grace to die in peace, Give them joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia.

CLARETIAN CORNER

 

 

Since I began to serve my God and Lord, He has always been my counselor and master in everything. And he never neglects me even in the most insignificant and domestic things. And He tells me how I have to deal with certain persons, what I must tell them as well as the time and moment to speak.   Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters , Autobiography 85. 

The same Holy Spirit, by appearing in the form of tongues of fire above the Apostles on Pentecost, showed us this truth quite clearly: an apostolic missionary must have both heart and tongue ablaze with charity. One day the Venerable Avila was asked by a young priest what he should do to become a good preacher. His ready answer was, "Love much.''  And both experience and the history of the Church teach us that the greatest preachers have always been the most fervent lovers. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiogrpahy 440.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

CLARET, Antonio María , Autobiography

HAAG, H; VAN DER BORN, A; DE AUSEJO, S. Diccionario de la Biblia (Bible Dictionnary), Editorial Herder 1981.

PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiography

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según Las Escrituras (According to the Scriptures), Year C, 2006.

 

 

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER - CYCLE C – 2013

      The readings of the sixth Sunday of Easter prepare us for the return of Jesus to his Father. The Church will have to  discover the presence of the Lord among us in a different way, through the Sacraments. From the document Lumen Gentium of the  II Vatican Council we learn that Jesus is the sacrament of God, and that we are the sacrament of Jesus.  

      From the day of the ascension we, the followers of Jesus, will make him visible among our brothers and sisters who journey with us through the roads of history.   

FIRST READING ACTS  15:1-2,22-29

Ø  The Church, the first communities of believers, is faced with its first problem. From its solution depends the future of the Church, her fidelity to the Project of Jesus. 

Ø  Some brethren had come from the community of Jerusalem, and were saying to the community of Antioch that, to belong to the people of God in order to be saved, they had to be circumcised, baptism was not enough. 

Ø  They had not yet understood the newness of the teaching of Jesus who had come to reveal to us the    

full meaning of the covenant made with Abraham and his descendants.      

Ø  The faithful of Antioch went to the Apostles for an answer.  The Apostles were the leaders of the community, they were the witnesses of the resurrection and, thus the foundation of the Church.   

Ø  The Apostles had a meeting to discuss the matter. They invoked the Holy Spirit, they fasted and they reached the conclusion that to be part of the community of Jesus it is enough with baptism and they did not have to be circumcised.   

Ø  They put only some conditions (not to eat meat sacrificed to the idols, abstain from blood and meat of strangled animals, and unlawful marital unions.)    Paul explained in one his letters about the meals, he said that the follower of Jesus may eat anything, because we do not believe in idols, but if my eating the meat sacrificed to an idol  may cause my brother or sister to sin, then I will abstain from it.  What continues to be forbidden are the illicit marital unions, since this is the will of God expressed in the 6^th commandment.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps 67

«  Psalm 67 has three stanza separated by a refrain which is found in verses 4 and 6. This refrain is used as the response of the responsorial psalm.   

«   Every good thing, every gift comes from the goodness of God, and this is the cause of our joyful thanksgiving.   

«  The blessing that God grants to us and which the psalm repeats several times, takes us to Ef 1:3.   

O GOD, LET ALL THE NATIONS PRAISE YOU! 

May God have pity on us and bless us;

May he let his face shine upon us

So may your ways be known upon earth;

Among all nations, your salvation.

May the nations be glad and exult

Because you rule the peoples in equity

The nations on the earth you guide.

May the peoples praise you, O God

May all the peoples praise you!

May God bless us

And may all the ends of the earth fear him!

 SECOND READING  Rev  21:10-14, 22-23

ü  Today instead of reflecting on the meaning of the Second Reading, we will talk about some clues to help us to understand this wonderful book which is full of words and images  of hope.   

ü  We know that to be able to understand a message we need to know what led the author write the book and what message did he want to convey to the reader.   

ü  There are two authors of this book: the human author who writes in a given time and place, in a concrete moment of history, with a given psychology and spirituality, in a language different from ours. We need someone to explain the meaning of all of this to us, if we want to enjoy the message.  

ü  But there is another author whom we may call the main author, the Holy Spirit, and the only way we will be able to understand the message, besides being aware of what we have already said, is in prayer. Through prayer we listen to the words the Spirits says to the Church, and which one of the words of Jesus he wants to remind to the Church. (Jn 14,26)

ü  I list below four different ways to look at the contents of this book:

1.      History. This book is about “the theology of history”. In reality the whole Bible is understood as a reading of history through the eyes of God. The apocalyptic literature opens a door to hope: history has a meaning, evil does not have the last word, the victory belongs to Christ, the lamb that has been slain.

2.      Symbolism.  The apocalyptic literature uses symbols: colors, numbers, animals, plants, natural phenomena to describe an experience which goes beyond the limits of our senses, beyond  what is controllable.   

It is not enough to understand the meaning of the symbols, we need to submerge ourselves into its meaning and allow the symbol to impress us.  

3.      Crisis.   The book of Revelation  has been written in times of crisis for the first community. The community was been persecuted by Romans and by Jews. The book is not about the end of the world, but about moments in history like those of the first community, when we think that everything is lost. It is the book of the just who entrust their cause to God.  

4.     Christology. The Word apocalypse means revelation. The book is the revelation of the Risen a Glorious Lord Jesus Christ.  He died but now he is alive.  He is before the throne of God and  on opening the book of the seven seals he reveals to us the   will of God, and the meaning of history. He, the Lord Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of history.  

GOSPEL Jn 14:23-29

Jesus speaks with his disciples after the last supper, before his death. Last week he talked to us about the new commandment: to love as he has loved us. This week we will hear again what he wants to tell us about this commandment.    

«  He who loves me will keep my Word. This is something easy to understand, since we also keep and remember the words of those we love.   

«  The Father will love those who keep the word of Jesus.   

«  And what follows is unexpected: We will come to him and make our dwelling in him. Who are they, from the text we understand it is the Father and Jesus, but as we continue the reading we realize it is also the Holy Spirit. So the Three divine Persons will come to dwell in us.  

«  The word of Jesus is the Father’s who has sent him to say to us this word. There is only One Word, the Creating Word incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, sent by the Father to tell this Word which is himself.   

«  Jesus has already said this Word to us, now the Holy Spirit will remind us all the words of Jesus, and he will teach us how to live this word in our human history.   

«  Jesus leaves us his peace, invites us not to be afraid, and even to be joyful that he leaves us, because this is what is convenient for us, and because the Father is greater than him.     

                CLARETIAN CORNER

I was at this time with some anxieties pressuring my soul, not knowing how to get free from them, because the Archbishop wanted to make the foundation requesting dowries, and the Lord had already told me not to accept this unless he commanded it in virtue of holy obedience, to tell my prelate that the cost of the house, plus the dowry I had of about 15.000 pesos, that all this would be spent in the constriction of the convent , and that under that condition and no other,  I could accept the condition  and make the profession. That this was the divine will, and that this was more than sufficient to fulfill the sacred letters. The Archbishop accepted this but the procurator said that in no way could it be done, and the bishop desisted as soon as he heard the procurator. All was to search in books and to make plans, sending them to me to know if I liked them. But I was pleased with nothing except with what  God had told me and I always answered the same: not to consult  with me anything, what did I understand  of those business ? (And, truly, all their ideas were confusion for me). That they may act according to their opinion, that I would agree in all that the prelate would command but I was very sure of what God our Lord had said and his Majesty would not permit anything against his will. And so it was done with the grace of God and the zeal and activity of this servant of God untiring in talking with some and persuading others.   Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 77.

Jesus, my Life, I know and fully realize that suffering, sorrow, and work are the badge of the apostolate. With the help of your grace, my Lord and Father, I will embrace them and declare that I am ready to drink the cup of inner torment and the baptism of outer pain. And so I say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross on which you were nailed for me and on which I, too, would be nailed for you.''[1] So be it.  Saint  Anthony Mary  Claret,  Founder of the Claretian Misionary Sisters, Autobiography 427. 

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[1]  1 Claret accommodates the text of St. Paul (Gal. 6:14) to express his own love for and conformity with Christ. Here mortification is more than just a virtue that makes one a good apostle; it is the culmination of the apostolate through incorporation into the Lord's own sacrifice.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER- CYCLE C – 2013

       The new heavens and the new earth will become a reality through  the Apostles (Church)  preaching.  

      And they will be the mature fruit of the commandment given by Jesus, as the fullness of the Law given at Mount Sinai.    

FIRST READING ACTS OF THE APOSTLES  14:21-27

Ø  At the beginning of the Easter season I said that I would give more information about the book of the Acts.     

Ø  The last weeks we have been reflecting on the meaning of the book of Revelation, which we use for the second reading.    

Ø  Today we will go back to the book of the Acts.    

Ø  With chapter 13, in which we read that the community of Antioch sends Paul and Barnabas in a mission, we start the third and last part of this book.  

Ø  The Acts describe for us different communities or local churches with different organization and different names for the leadership or servants. That means that we learn about different models of the Church.   

o   The church of Antioch is presided over by 5 leaders of whom Luke gives the names in chapter 13,1.   

o   This list begins with the name of Barnabas and ends with the name of Paul.  Luke calls them prophets and teachers.   

o   Luis Alonso Schökel in his commentary on the Biblia de nuestro Pueblo says:

§  Luke helps us to see how the movement of the Spirit fashions the different churches,   

§  Calling their members to be leaders, facilitators, responsible of the community with different functions and different titles according to the needs of each community   

§  With a great participation  in decision making.     

o   The Apostles are the leaders in the community of Jerusalem, besides them we hear that some men are called deacons and others elders or presbyters. 

o   Luke does not tell us how the five leaders of Antioch planned the first mission of Paul and Barnabas, but   

o   What they say is that  

§  The initiative comes from the Holy Spirit  

§  The preparation was done through fasting and prayer.

READING      

Ø  Paul and Barnabas continue their mission which they began from Antioch, as we read on the Fourth Sunday of Easter.   

Ø  We learned that they had difficulties with the Jews and they decided to go to the Gentiles to announce them the Good News of Jesus. We learned also that the Gentiles were happy about that decision.  

Ø  Today we find them visiting several towns, establishing in them new communities (churches) and appointing elders to lead the community. To select them again they fast and pray, afterwards they command them to the grace of God, and leave to another town.       

Ø  They continue their way back to Antioch from where they left sent by the community. 

Ø  On their arrival they reported to the community how the Lord had opened the doors of faith to the Gentiles.   

Ø  To us, the descendants of those first Gentiles, the doors of faith were opened to us through the sacrament of Baptism

Ø  This year the universal Church celebrates this gift of faith, received when the doors of faith were opened to us.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM 145

I WILL PRAISE YOUR NAME FOREVER, MY KING AND MY GOD.   

The Lord is gracious and merciful

Slow to anger and of great kindness

The Lord is good to all

And compassionate toward all his works.   

Let all your Works give you thanks, O Lord,

And let your faithful ones bless you

Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom

And speak of your might.    

Let them make known your might to the children of Adam,

And the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages

And your dominion endures through all generations.   .

«   Many of the psalms are hymns to God who makes himsef known through creation and through history.  

«  They are psalms of praise used usually for worship  

«  They may be organized as follows  

o   Hymns to God the Creator and the Lord of the Covenant, the God of history.   

o   Hymns to God as King.    

o   Royal psalms   (about the King )

o   Canticles to Zion.    

«  Psalm 145 which we will pray on Sunday belongs to the group of  Hymns to the Creator and Lord.  

SECOND READING   Rev 21:1-5a   

ü  Last Sunday we left John contemplating a huge multitude of men and women….  

ü  Today almost at the end of the Book of Revelation John sees again something he describes to us. He says that he sees the new heavens and the new earth, and that the sea is no more.   

o   New heavens and new earth, new creation made through the redemption of Christ, where sin is eliminated, and death as well.    

o   This is the fruit of Christ’s death on the cross. This fruit will reach its fullness when all of us, men and women, open up ourselves to the gift  of redemption which Christ wants to give to us. When all of us will be ready to walk together through the way that leads to the Father, led by the hand of Christ the Lord.      

o   The former earth, where sin abides, does not exist anymore, not because God will destroy his wonderful creation, but because he will destroy our sin, to allow the new earth, the new society to develop, where love, peace, justice, brotherhood … will reign.   

o   The sea does not exist anymore, because in the Scriptures the sea is the symbol of sin, and it will not have a place in the new earth, it has already been destroyed by Christ.    

o   John sees also the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, the city becomes the bride adorned for her husband. She is the new creation, the new earth and the new heavens  

o   From the throne a voice is heard, remember that the Father and also the Lamb are on the throne, the voice invites us to look at, what?  

§  The dwelling of God among men and women  

§  He will dwell with them and  

§  They will be his people     

§  The New Covenant prophesized by Jeremiah becomes a reality (Jer 31,33.)    

§  He will wipe every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain.  

o   The One who seats on the throne says: BEHOLD I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW.    

GOSPEL Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35

      The liturgy takes us back to the conversation of Jesus with his Apostles, after the meal at his Last Supper,  before going to the cross. During the meal he gives to us the Sacrament of his Body and blood. He  also gives to his own the most beautiful and sacred teaching from among all his teachings.  

      I GIVE YOU A NEW COMMANDMENT:   

o   LOVE ONE ANOTHER. 

o   AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, SO YOU ALSO SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER.   

o   THIS IS HOW ALL WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES, 

o   IF YOU HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.    

      We call this commandment the “new commandment”, as a matter of fact Jesus calls it so 

o   But it is really the fullness of the Law proclaimed by God and given  to Moses on Mount Sinai  

o   And before that He had carved this law in the heart of every man and every woman who comes to this world.

o    If those of us, followers of Jesus, who have been baptized into  his death and resurrection   

§  Live this commandment, that is we make it a reality in our daily life  

§  And we proclaim it with our words as Paul and Barnabas did  

§  The new earth and the new heaven will be a reality, which we do not have to wait after our death to enjoy it, because it is already among us from the moment that Jesus nailed all our sins on his cross.    

§  Now we have to play our part, we need to open up to his gift, and get ready to work so that others may be able to enjoy what we already enjoy.   

§  LET US PUT OUR HANDS TO THE TASK, LET US BEGIN WITH ENTHUSIASM AND FIRE IN OUR HEART.  JESUS WALKS WITH US, AND  LOVES IN AND THROUGH US EVERYONE. LET US MAKE HIS PRESENCE AND LOVE VISIBLE IN OUR LIVES.

                  

CLARETIAN CORNER

 I wrote it to him but he would not come because what I said since he is very obedient to the prelate and this one wrote to him to continue with the construction. But our Lord knew how to provide that the prelate himself wrote him to come – I do not remember for what convenient matter, far different from what God our Lord wanted to entrust to him. So, he arrived days after the Bull arrived from Rome. Here I saw clearly that it was true what His Majesty had told me:  that it was necessary for him to come from Puerto Principe. Oh how I admire the providence of God for his creatures, and how great is the one he has had for this sinner!  Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 76.

The greater the sacrifice involved, the more meritorious, splendid, winsome, and overwhelming is any act of virtue.

A man who is base, vile, stingy, and cowardly never sacrifices--nor can he because he never resists the slightest whim or urging of his concupiscence. All that his concupiscence asks for--if it is within his power to grant or refuse it—he grants, refusing nothing to his passion. Because he is a cringing coward, he lets himself be overcome and gives in to it. In a fight between a brave man and a coward, the brave man wins. In a fight between vice and a man of vice, vice wins and pins the man down. This is why continence and chastity are praised so highly: because they enable a man to abstain from the pleasures and delights that nature and passion offer him.  Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 416-417.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

CLARET, Antonio María , Autobiography.

FLOR SERRANO, Gonzalo, “Introduction and Commentary to the Psalms” en Comentario al Antiguo Testamento II –      La Casa de la Biblia, 1997, 3ª. Edición.  

PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiography.  

RAVASI, Gianfranco, Según Las Escrituras, Año C, 2006

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso, commentary to the  Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo, 2010