XXXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  –CYCLE A – 2017

ü  Two Sundays ago the Lord said that we have to give to Cesar what is his, the coin with his face and inscription, but we have to give back to God his image, which is each one of us. We belong to Him.  

ü  Last week Jesus said that the love of neighbor is a commandment of equal importance than the first commandment “to love God…”  

ü  Today the Lord invites us, he urges us that our works agree with our words, he wants us to be sincere and honest about our responsibilities.   

Prophet Malachi

·         The book is the echo of the situation of Judah and Jerusalem in the Persian era, around 450 B.C.  

·         The situation looks seemingly normal in relation to society in general.   

·         The main interest of this book is the “worship” 

·         Malachi recriminates the priests who are negligent and cynical in the service of the Lord. 

·         He does not forget either about the fundamental requirement of Israel’s faith: justice. 

FIRST READING      Mal 1:14–2, 2. 8-10

Ø  The Lord introduces himself as the sovereign king whose name is fearsome among the nations, among those who do not belong to the people of God.   

Ø  And He gives some warnings to the priests:  

o   They have strayed from the road of righteousness

o    They have been the cause for others to stumble, because they wanted to imitate them.  

o    The consequences of this is that the priests were not respected by the people.   

Ø  And the prophet asks a question that  we still continue to ask    

o    Is it not God our Father and Creator of all?  

o    Do we imagine that God has preferences as we do?   

o    Or does God has a double standard, one for those he loves and another for those he does not love, but we say that God loves all of us equally. 

o    Why do we desecrate the covenant betraying one another among brethren?

Ø  This Gospel   deeply challenges our behavior: if all of us are brothers and sisters:  

o    How come we destroy one another? Not only with weapons, but with our words and our discriminations.  

o    How can we remain day after day insensitive to the cry of so many  human beings mistreated by hunger, by need,   things which are the consequence of  the selfishness of other human beings, our brothers and sisters ?      

Ø  Lord transform our heart, help us so that our works correspond to what we preach, teach and   believe. 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM   -  Ps.  131: 1.2.3

R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother's lap,
so is my soul within me.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
O Israel, hope in the LORD,
both now and forever.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.

Ø  This psalm is the prayer of

o   A humble heart, that does not want to be more that what he is  

o   Someone who feels secure in the arms of God like the baby in his/her mother’s arms.  

o   And the last verse invites Israel, and all of us to always trust in the Lord.    

GOSPEL – Mt 23:1-12

v  In this gospel Jesus denounces the dishonesty, the lack of transparency and sincerity in the works of the representatives of his Father before the people. 

v  He asks the people to obey what they teach because they teach the truth.  

v  But he says   not to do what they do  

o   They preach but do not practice what they preach.   

o   They put many demands on the life of others with the excuse that this is what God wants but they themselves do not do it. 

o   They do everything to be seen, and Jesus someplace else says that they already have their reward.   

o   They seek and love the places and the treatment of honor, but it will not be so among you says Jesus do not allow anyone to call you with titles which will distinguish you from the rest.     

o   And why, because all of you are brothers and sisters, thus do not allow anyone to call you teacher and do not call anyone father on earth, because there is only one Father in heaven.   

v  The one who humbles himself will be exalted, and the one who exalts himself will be humbled.   

v  I do not think that God has any problem when we call teacher or father an human being, as long as we know, believe and act recognizing that we are all brothers and sisters, that the knowledge or the responsibility that we might have inside or outside the church does not make us superior, but it makes of us servants of all.   

v  This truth about our equality is a source of peace and joy because we do not have to do anything to exceed others because, no matter what we do, the truth is always the same: all of us have been created and redeemed   and all occupy a place of preference in the heart of our Father.   .

v   I think that we need to ask the Lord every day the grace to really believe that we are all equal, so that the Lord does not have to say to us what he said to the Pharisees on this Gospel.                                                                                                                                                                 

SECOND READING   1 Thes 2: 7b-9, 13

v  Paul gives a description of his ministry which is a lesson about evangelization, ministry done with compassion and tenderness like a mother. 

v  Paul did not want only to  share the Gospel but also his own life, thus he has worked tirelessly in order not to be a burden to anyone.  

v  And he gives thanks because the community of Thessalonica received the message as coming from God and not as a message from Paul.  

   CLARETIAN CORNER

Ever since this vision I have loved very much evangelical poverty ( I loved her already very much before) because our Lord told me that Holy Poverty should be the foundation of this new Apostles, and for lack of this holy virtue all religious order has collapsed. Venerable Maria Antonia Paris, foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 11  

This idea of a lost eternity that began to move me so vividly at the tender age of five  and that has stayed with me ever since and that, God willing, I will never forget is the mainspring and goad of my zeal for the salvation of souls. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 15.

XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  – CYCLE  A – 2017

The theme for this Sunday is: which commandment of the law is the greatest?  And the answer of Jesus it is the love of God and love of neighbor.   

BOOK OF EXODUS

Exodus means “exit”  “departure”  

Ø  This is the title the authors of the Greek Bible gave to the second book of the Pentateuch. The Jews call it   “Semot”= names, from the first words of the book. The book begins with a list of the children of Jacob/Israel, to establish the transition from the family of Jacob to the people of Israel.   

Ø  In the Exodus we find the beginning of the people of Israel   

o   Its physical birth = liberation from Egypt  

o   Its spiritual birth = the covenant on Mount Sinai   

o   Between the departure from Egypt and the arrival to Mount Sinai there is the desert.   

Ø  Exodus is one the books of the Old Testament with the largest theological content: liberation, covenant, theophany, law, sanctuary…  

Ø  God has a name that has to do with the verb “to be”

o   His name is Lord  

o   He is the God who saves   

o   God considers Israel his first born  

o   The song of Moses sings the victory of the Lord over Pharaoh.   

o   As the sovereign of Israel God takes care, guides and protects it.   

FIRST READING   Ex 22: 20-26

v  God gives three rules to his people  

o   Do not oppress the alien; you have been foreigners in the land of Egypt.    

o   Do not exploit the widow and the orphan.  They were the image of the marginalized and the destitute of society.  

o   Do not act as an extortioner toward the poor  when you lend money to him   

o   And if you take the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, return it to him before sunset because it is the only thing he has to protect himself from the cold at night.   

v  When all these poor call to me, I will listen to them and I shall make justice.   

v  Because I am merciful    

v  In a course on  Social Justice the teacher explained to us that there is like a connecting thread that runs through all the books of the Old Testament, like the thread that  hold together the beads of a necklace, and this thread  is : God is merciful and takes care of the poor and destitute.    

v  This Sunday the reflection is on the main commandment,   

o   And the reading that the church has chosen for the liturgy of the Word is this reading from the book of Exodus where God teaches us how our life has to be in relation with one another.     

o   We are not told anything either about the respect due to God, or the love He is expecting from us, because to respect our neighbor we need to be full of the love of God.  

o   If I love my neighbor it is because I already love God.    

RESPONSORIAL SALMO: Ps  18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Ø  The five books of the Pentateuch have its replica in the five books in which the psalms have been organized.   

o   First book: psalms  1-41

o   Second book  – psalms 42-72

o   Third book  – psalms  73-89

o   Fourth book   – psalms 90-106

o   Fifth book – psalms 107-150

Ø  After each stanza that the lector will read or the cantor sing, the assembly will repeat   “I love you, Lord, my strength. “     

Ø  Maybe we could during the week think in what situations has God been our strength during the journey of our life.

GOSPEL – Mt 22: 34-40

      The Sadducees had asked Jesus on divorcing one’s wife, with the ill intention to embarrass him in relation with the resurrection of the dead in which they did not believe.   The answer of Jesus silenced them.

      Now it is the turn for the Pharisees, they want to catch him asking a question about the Law. Which is the first and most important commandment?  because there were more than 600 rules in the Law.  

      And Jesus answer with the words of the “shema” Dt 6,4-9  prayer that each good Israelite would recite morning and evening. In his answer Jesus uses Dt 6,4-5 part of the shema and adds one verse from the Leviticus, which is about the love of neighbor Lv 19,18.   

      Jesus unites them as the first and second most important commandment…..    

      And Jesus adds “These two commandments are the foundation of the law and the prophets. That is to say the Old Testament which the Israelites called the Law(Pentateuch) and the Prophets.    

      This explanation of Jesus continues to question us about the suffering in the world caused by our selfishness, suffering of those who die from hunger while those who have enough as ourselves waste it. God says that he will make justice….. because He is merciful.   

SECOND READING  : 1 Tes 1: 5-10

§  Paul reminds the community of Thessalonica his behavior among them and how they have imitated him.   

§  This has happened in the midst of suffering and also of great joy due to the presence of the Holy Spirit.    

§  They helped Paul and this is known by all the communities    

§  This is one of the main characteristics of the church of all times, to be a community, a family in which we rejoice and we suffer together in spite of our shortcomings and sins, but always with the renewed desire to encounter the Lord here and in the everlasting life.  

CLARETIAN CORNER

This vision was impressed me in my hearts and all the words that Christ our Lord told me so very present, that even now that I am writing, and have already passed 14 years, it seems to me that I see and hear our Lord Jesus Christ in the same very way.

Ever since this vision I have loved very much evangelical poverty ( I loved her already very much before) because our Lord told me that Holy Poverty should be the foundation of this new Apostles, and for lack of this holy virtue all religious order has collapsed. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 10-11.   

I often say to myself: It is of faith that there is a heaven for the good and a hell for the wicked. It is of faith, too, that the pains of hell are eternal. It is also of faith that a single mortal sin is enough to damn a soul because of the infinite malice of mortal sin, which is an offense against an infinite God. Since these principles are all so certain, the thought of the ease with which people sin--as if it were like taking a glass of water, as if it were something funny or amusing--the thought of the crowds that stay continuously in mortal sin and are thus on the road to death and hell--this thought robs me of rest, and I feel like running and crying out. And I tell myself:

If I saw someone about to fall into a pit or a fire, I would surely run and cry out a warning to save him from falling. Why shouldn't I do the same to save someone from falling into the pit and fire of hell? Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters,  11-12

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, SAN ANTONIO  MARÍA. Autobiography.

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

PAGOLA, JOSÉ ANTONIO. La Buena Noticia de Jesús. Cycle A. 2016

PARIS, VENERABLE MARÍA ANTONIA. Autobiography.

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

STOCK, Klemens . La Liturgia de la Palabra. Comentario a los Evangelios dominicales y festivos. Ciclo A 2001

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.