FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – CYCLE A - 2020

As the Easter season moves towards the Ascension,  we read from the farewell discourse of Christ in  St. John’s Gospel chapters 14 to 17.

FIRST READING – Acts 6:1-7

Ø  Jesus  said to his apostles that the Holy Spirit  would remind them all his words.  In this reading from the Acts,  these words of Jesus become real.  

Ø  This passage is like an image of what the Church has been doing during her journey through history, whenever she is confronted with new problems or issues she has to discern the new situation in order to be faithful to the Lord.  

Ø  Those who have the mission to guide the Church, the pastors, will have to look at the problems,   difficulties or   new situations, which confront the Christian community, discover and try to understand the voice of the Spirit.

Ø  All the groups in the Church will have to do the same, under the guidance of their pastors.  

Ø  And also all the members of the Church will have to do the same if they want to be faithful to the words of Jesus. 

Ø  We cannot say anymore this has been done always in this way…. Because the Spirit, which is eternal newness, is he who inspires the Church the necessary changes to be faithful to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus, not our self-made gospel which becomes a piece for a museum.   

Ø  Chapter 6 of Acts presents a very concrete situation.  There are differences among them; they did not take care of all the poor in the same way.  

Ø  At the beginning the first community of the followers of Jesus was formed by persons converted from the Jewish faith. They took good care of their widows and orphans. That was not difficult, since they had been doing that long before in response to the law of Israel.   

Ø  But now there are also other widows, other orphans who come from other countries, speak other languages.   

Ø  The community is too large now, and the Apostles cannot take care of all the needs that the community has. They decide to look for help among the men of the community. A new ministry is born in the Christian community: the deacons whose main mission will be to take care of those in need. 

Ø  They choose 7 men deeply spiritual and prudent, faithful to the teachings of the Lord.

Ø  Let us reflect on our community, our apostolic movements and see if we are faced   with problems similar to those of the first community of Jerusalem.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM. Ps 33: 1-2. 4-5. 18-19

R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
 Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
 Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
 See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

     The second stanza ends with these words: the earth is filled of the goodness of our God and Lord.  What a wonderful sentence, very comforting for us who are so many times afraid and fearful of our Good Father God.  

SECOND READING – First letter of Peter

Since the second Sunday of Easter we are reading from this letter.  What do we know about this letter?  

ü  If we read the first verse of the letter  we know that Peter is the author of the letter 

ü  That he writes for the elect, the baptized-consecrated, from a very large region of Asia.  

ü  And let us go now to the last chapter 5,12, Peter says to us that the letter has been written by Silvanus. This means that Sylvanus has been the secretary who has written down what Peter was dictating

ü  The addressees are people from different countries who live all over the region. It is a letter addressed to migrant persons, who work and live far from home and  country. People discriminated against by those who are in a better economic position. People considered objects of production, not as persons. Men and women who work to produce and thus increase the wealth of the owners, who have forgotten that we are all equals.   

ü  This reality might as well explain the central theme of the letter, the sufferings of Christ that give meaning to our own sufferings. 

ü  The verbs  to suffer and the word suffering is repeated over and over throughout this entire letter.  

SECOND READING  – 1Pt 2:4-9

« The message of this fragment of the letter of Peter is very rich. 

« Peter describes the young church, the community of the believers as a temple and each one of us is one of the  stones. This  is a beautiful image, the more beautiful the stone the more beautiful the temple. 

« Peter describes Jesus as the cornerstone. The cornerstone holds the building together. 

« Jesus is this stone. This stone is of value for those who have faith 

« But it is a stumbling  blog for those who oppose it ( Is 28,16). 

« These words remind us the words of Simeon when Jesus was presented in the Temple by Joseph and Mary  (Lk 2,34-35)

« Peter tells us that we are a priestly nation consecrated to proclaim the wonderful works of God. 

« How can I be a priest of the Most High? By our baptism we are all called and we can sing the praises of God  Our Father, Jesus Our Brother and the Spirit our Guide and Teacher, with our family life, our work, recreation time, sufferings, in a word everything good that we do in our life. If God calls me to be a priest like the priest in the parish, or a sister I will answer “here I am Lord, may it be done unto me according to your will.”

GOSPEL  Jn 14:1-12

     Jesus says to his apostles and to us “do not let your hearts be troubled.”  

     He also invites them to believe in God and in Him.  

     Heaven is presented as a home with many rooms which Jesus himself prepares for each one of us.  When we expect someone to visit us to stay for some days, we prepare the room and everything so that person feels at home.  Let this powerful image that John offers to our contemplation help us to dream, to imagine the beauty of heaven, our home; knowing that Jesus prepares an eternal room for us with the Most Holy Trinity.  

     There are two other images in this text  

ü  Jesus is The way to go to this “home”     

He is also the truth and the life.  

 The way to discover the truth in order to have abundant life.

ü  Whoever sees Jesus  sees the Father   

Jesus is in the Father and the Father in him.

The words of Jesus are the words the Father says to him. 

The works Jesus does are the works the Fathers does in him. 

The passage began with the words of Jesus “do not let your hearts be troubled,” and ends with these powerful words, which will help us “not to be troubled”:

I SOLEMNLY ASSURE YOU, THE MAN WHO HAS FAITH IN ME WILL DO THE WORKS I DO,

AND GREATER FAR THAN THESE, WHY? BECAUSE I GO TO THE FATHER. 

CLARETIAN CORNER

Claret y María Antonia speak in their Writings about the Renewal, General Renewal, Restoration of the Church…, To Keep the beauty…  They also use the verb to Reform . In some texts from María Antonia,  she speaks of to reviving  or  reestablishing.  These words   tell us how to understand the reform-conversion:  it is not about the faith or the sacramental life, or the structures of grace, thus about the  Church in her trascendent dimension, the Church as mystery which they call Holy as did also Council Vatican II.   Both  documents are about  the Church’s fidelity in her members in any walk of life; that is to say the Church in her human dimension as Pilgrim People of God.  It is about the reformation of the Church in her members and institutions;  a call to go back to her origins, to the original fervor of the first Christian men and women, to the Gospel, to the newness of the preaching and witnessing of the first communities. The Reformation entails living in fidelity, poverty, and in proclaiming the Gospel with words and, above all, with the testimony of life.  (Paris and Claret, Two Pens Guided by the Same Spirit, pg.72)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BARKER, John R. ofm and BELLINGER, Karla J. Living the Word, Year A (Dec.1  2019-Nov.22 2020), 2019.

MUÑOZ, Hortensia y TUTZO, Regina, Claretian Missionary Sisters. Paris y Claret: Two Pens Guided by the Same Spirit.  2010

PAGOLA, José Antonio sj. El camino abierto por Jesús. Vol.4 Juan. 2012

SAGRADA BIBLIA, versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española. 2010

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – CYCLE A - 2020

INTRODUCTION

Ø  During the second part of the Easter season the Gospels are about the person of the Risen Lord.

Ø  The central theme of today’s Gospel is Jesus, the good Shepherd, who is the gate of the sheep  and for the sheep. 

Ø  In the first and second readings Peter reminds us that Jesus has suffered in the hands of sinners.  

Ø  The theme of Jesus’ suffering is present during the whole time of Easter.  

Ø  The Risen Lord has the marks of the nails and of the spear, so that we do not forget his death even during the joyful time of Easter.   

Ø  Today the universal Church prays for vocations of special consecration, let us ask the Lord to send laborers into his field. Let us ask the Lord that young men and women may follow his call to work in his vineyard as priests, deacons, religious men and women.      

FIRST READING  – Acts 2: 14a, 36-41

« Peter is with the eleven, this means that Matthias had already been elected in the place of Judas. 

« It is the Jewish festival of Pentecost. All are surprised by the noise they have heard and for what they see. Those men, scared are now full of energy.       

« Peter announces solemnly that they crucified Jesus whom the Father has made Lord and Christ, 

« On hearing that they were deeply distressed.   

« Are we so distressed when we hear these words? We have also crucified the Lord many times during our life, especially when we have hurt anyone of our brothers and sisters. With our indifference before the suffering of those who die from hunger, the homeless, the children separated from their parents by unjust laws, the immigrants that seek a better future for their family, and some of them  seek to be able to eat  the scraps that fall our abundant tables.

« But we always have hope; Peter invites them to repent, to be sorry for their sin and to be baptized.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps  23

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want

In verdant pastures he gives me repose

Besides restful waters he leads me

He refreshes my soul.

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want

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

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want

You spread the table before me

In the sight of my foes

You anoint my head with oil

My cup overflows

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want

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.

v Psalm 23 is one of the most beautiful psalms. 

v It speaks about unbound and filled with peace trust in the shepherd.  

v The shepherd is always there, with his staff which gives security and trust.   

v The shepherd who leads the sheep to peaceful places of repose, where pasture and water are abundant.   

v The shepherd who accompanies the sheep until the end of its life.  

v There is an author who says that this description of the shepherd cannot make us forget that the shepherd is  someone strong, sometimes even rude but that risks his life for each one of his sheep.  

v Is that our trust in our Shepherd, Jesus? 

SECOND READING  1Pe 2:20b-25

Ø  We continue reading the first letter of Peter.     

Ø  Peter says to his community that to suffer being innocent is a grace, is a gift.  

Ø  Because to this we have been called in order to be like Christ.  

Ø  He suffered and has left us and example so that we may also learn to suffer like him.   

Ø  He did not insult, or threaten, but he handed himself over to those who judged him unjustly, and for whom he also offered his sufferings.  

Ø  Is this our behavior when we are treated or judged unjustly?  

Ø  He carried our sins in his body nailed to the cross, so that on being liberated from our sin we could serve God faithfully.   

Ø   Is the thought of his love and presence in our life, consolation and comfort for us?

GOSPEL – Jn 10:1-10

ü  Jesus says that whoever does not enter through the gate of the sheepfold is a thief and a robber.  

ü  The shepherd enters through the gate     

ü  Jesus says more, he not only enters through the gate, but he is the gate.

ü  The image of the door is very eloquent and very beautiful:  

o   The sheepfold did not have a gate 

o   It was a circular place with an opening to enter and to leave.   

o   The shepherd allowed the sheep to enter at night and he slept at the entrance thus being the gate himself. 

o   If a robber or a wild animal wanted to enter into the sheepfold, it would have to be through the shepherd.   

o   This is the image, which Jesus presents to us when he says that he is the gate.   

o   We may be at peace and secure because our shepherd takes care of us, and he has come so that we may have abundant life.      

o   Are we at peace when we are with him? 

  

ü  The whole passage has an exceptional beauty, and it transmit a peace which only the Lord can give.   

ü  Why do we still fear? Has he not given us enough proofs that he loves us? 

ü  Some time ago the Pope in one of his short daily messages said:   “Do not be afraid, open  the doors to Christ.”  

CLARETIAN CORNER

On reading both writings, we see differences and at the same time similarities: 

The Plan for the Renewal of the Church  of María Antonia  is a series of  simple points addressed to her Spiritual Director, to Claret… to concrete persons with  whom she shares her ideals of the Renewal of the Church and in which she mentions some means to accomplish it.  

The Notes of a Plan is a more theological document, addressed to the Bishops.  In it Claret shares his own experience as Bishop.  Although Claret entitles  his document  Notes, on reading them for the first time, it looks more as Points. However it is an authentic Plan to accomplish the Renewal of the Church, with a profound ecclesial foundation. 

The similarities between both Documents are  their practical nature, the theme of the Renewal of the Church in her members and the means to renew the Church. 

It is difficult to decide which one  influenced the other. If it is true that Claret had the Plan of María Antonia with him when he wrote his Notes while he was on the ship, it is also true that when María Antonia wrote her Plan for the Renewal, she had seen, incarnate in the life of Claret as Archbishop of Cuba, all that she puts down on writing,  p.71

BIBLIOGRAPHY  

BARKER, John R. ofm. BELLINGER, Karla J. Living the Word, Tear A (12/01/19- 11/22/2020)

MUÑOZ, Hortensia & TUTZO, Regina, Claretian Missionary Sisters. Two Pens Guided by the Same Spirit. 2010. 

POPE FRANCIS, Vatican web page.

STOCK, Klemens. La Liturgia de la Palabra – Ciclo A

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER – CYCLE A - 2020

 INTRODUCTION

Ø  On the third Sunday of Easter the liturgy, through the readings, invites us to see how a follower of Jesus lives the resurrection. We will have two readings from Luke, one from Acts, and the other from the Gospel. 

Ø  Raymond Brown in his book A Risen Christ in Easter Time, explains that Luke puts the two volumes of his work within a geographical framework.

o   The narrative begins in the Temple of Jerusalem (Lk 1:5-8.  When Zechariah, John Baptist’s father offered the incense) and the narrative ends in Rome (Acts 28:28) with an evangelization oriented towards the gentiles.   

o   The connection between both, the story of Jesus of Nazareth and the story of the Holy Spirit who guides the Church is “all the things that have happened in Jerusalem” which are the passion, death, resurrection and sending of the Holy Spirit.    

§  The passion and death  Lk 22-23  are narrated in the first volume  of Luke’s work: the Gospel 

§  The sending of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) is found in the second volume of the work: The Acts of the Apostles. 

§  But the resurrection, being so central for our faith, is narrated twice. We find the  apparitions of the Risen Lord at the end of the Gospel and at the beginning of the Acts. (Lk 24;  Acts 1:3-9)   

o   The Gospel begins in the Temple of Jerusalem  (1: 5-8) and ends also in the Temple of Jerusalem (24:53)

o    Acts begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome (28:28); from there the Gospel will be preached to the whole world.

    

In the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah describes how the nations invite one another to go up to Jerusalem to receive instruction from the Lord, because from Zion will come the Law and from Jerusalem the Word of the Lord.  (Is 2:1-3). According to the Work of Luke, the Good News of Jesus begin in Jerusalem and from Jerusalem they   are preached  to whole world.     

FIRST READING  – Acts 2: 14. 22-28

« In the book of Acts we find this text after the coming of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost. 

« However, the liturgy of the Church offers this text on the third Sunday of Easter because, in his proclamation, Peter announces the Paschal Mystery of Christ, which we celebrate during Easter Season. 

« The first verse introduces the proclamation 

« Verses 22-24 are the kerygma or first proclamation of the Gospel of Christ. 

« Peter is presented here as a prophet in the style of the Old Testament prophets. He denounces, “you crucified him” and announces,  “but God raised him up.” 

« Peter tells the people:

o   That Jesus is the gift that God had made to them and that they did not know how to appreciate it

o   That Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made by God to his people Israel.

« On reading the texts it is consoling to realize that God always fulfills his promises and, that none of us is able to prevent them for being fulfilled, God is always faithful.

« Jesus is the great gift from God, not only to his people but also to the whole human race, but we continue to crucify him in the millions of our brothers and sisters who suffer because of our lack of love, our ambition, our avarice and our indifference. As St Peter puts it “you have crucified him” and we could rephrase this sentence saying: you continue to crucify your brothers and sisters today.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Ps 16

R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.or:
 Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, "My Lord are you."
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.or:   
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.  
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.  
You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
 

Ø  What a beautiful psalm, we perceive in it the trust that its author had and his complete abandonment in the hands of God.

Ø  The liturgy puts these words in the mouth of Jesus

Ø  O, if we had these absolute trust in our God and Father!

Ø  Jesus has taught this during his life

Ø  May we be able to say to God the Father as Jesus did “my heart rests in you.” 

SECOND READING  1Pt 1:17-21

We continue to read the First Letter of Peter, which we began on the Second Sunday of Easter. 

Ø  The Father judges us according to our own behavior.

Ø  Peter invites us to live during our earthly life, as a sojourn in a strange land, remembering that we have been liberated from our old ways of life, not by money, but by the blood of the lamb. 

Ø  During the first Passover celebrated in Egypt before leaving the country; the blood of the lamb  that had been sacrificed, and was going to be eaten during the Passover meal, smeared on the doors, would be a sign for the angel to spare the household members. Peter uses this image to remind us that the true lamb whose blood saves and redeems us is the blood of Christ the true lamb, sacrificed on the cross, and raised from the dead by the Father.

GOSPEL Lk  24,13-35.

     This passage is the image or representation of the journey of faith of a disciple of Jesus.

     And also of the Eucharistic celebration (Word and Body of the Lord) 

     It describes the journey of faith based on Scriptures, which the Lord clarifies for us on the way   (vv.17; 25-23)

     Journey of faith  that has its ups and downs    (vv. 21-24)

     Their heart was enkindled as the Lord was speaking  to them, but they were not aware of it,  until   the breaking of the bread    (v.33)

     Faithful to the precept of hospitality that God had given in the law, they invited the foreigner to stay for the night since it was already dark. (v.29)

     The action of Jesus together with the fire that had been enkindled in them on the way, through the words of the traveler, prepared their hearts to recognize him in the “breaking of the bread.”  (v.30)

     When the man on the road joined them, they were tired and sad; now after discovering that the man on the road was Jesus, the same Jesus whom the women had seen they got the strength to go back to Jerusalem.

      When they arrived, all the others told them that the Lord was risen indeed, because Peter had seen him. 

     Let us reflect and meditate: 

o   When we come to the Eucharistic Celebration, do we allow the Lord to enkindle our heart with his love?   

o   Do we listen to his Word with the same attention that we had the first time we listen to it?    

o   Do we receive the Bread of the Eucharist, his body and blood, with the same enthusiasm and joy of the first time?

o   Do we ask the Lord to explain to us the meaning of what is going on in our life, in our family, in our community, in our society, in our world?  Do we listen to what he says?

Rev. Dionisio González, in a letter to S. Anthony M. Claret written from Cuba on July 31st 1858 says,

                        I write to your Excellency about the sisters’ business, on which occasion I have read again very carefully the Plan for the Renewal. I like it very much, and it is clear that they address the main problem. On reading it again, and on thinking about those written by your Excellency for the Bishops,  I realize that Maria Antonia’s Plan prepares the ground to accomplish the Renewal proposed in yours  in such a way that on comparing them,  I think that a same spirit is guiding both pens.

Rev. Dionisio considers that María Antonia’s Plan prepares the way to realize the Renewal proposed by Claret. He expresses this with a very beautiful comparison: a same spirit has guided both pens. 

In the correspondence between Claret, Currius, D. Dionisio González and María Antonia, whenever we find the phrases our Project, the main goal or our main purpose,    they are speaking about the Renewal of the Church, with which they identify and to which they commit  themselves.    

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BROWN, Raymond, A Risen Christ in Easter Time.

MUÑOZ, Hortensia & TUTZO, Regina Claretian Missionary Sisters. Two Pens Guided by the Same Spirit. 2010