SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - CYCLE A - 2023

Ø  We have heard where to find happiness and we have heard also that we have been called to be light and salt.  

Ø  Today's readings speak to us about the Law and about the freedom to choose that has been given to the human person.    

Book of Sirach  

Ø  The book of Sirach is also called Ecclesiasticus. 

Ø  This book belongs to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. 

Ø  The Wisdom books are: 

a.      Job

b.      Proverbs

c.       Ecclesiastes or Qohelet

d.      Ecclesiasticus  or   Sirach

e.      Wisdom 

Ø  The book of the Ecclesiasticus or Sirach is considered by the Jewish People and the Protestant Churches to be deutero-canonical, that is, belonging to the second (deutero) canon (list).  The Catholic Church has included it in the Old Testament, and has used it abundantly in the liturgy.   

Ø  In the last paragraph of the foreword of the book written by the grandson of a man called Jesus we read how the book was composed by Jesus Ben Sirach.   On chapter 50 at the end of the book the in verses 27-28 he explains again how all this wisdom literature was put together by Jesus son of Sirach. 

Ø  It was written around 180 B.C. in Hebrew by Jesus, and translated later on into Greek by his grandson. 

FIRST READING   Sir 15:15-20

Ø  We can choose to keep the commandments, this is salvation for us or, we may reject them, and this is condemnation. 

Ø  The Lord has given us the freedom to choose between fire and water, good and bad, life and death. 

Ø  The sacred writer tells us that whatever we choose will be given to us. God is respectful toward his creation; he respects the freedom he has given us.    

Ø  God is wise and all powerful. His eyes are on those who love and fear him, and he understands men's every deeds.  

Ø  God never commands anyone to do evil or to sin. 

Ø  How an interesting theme, the Law and human freedom. 

Ø  The law is for our good, but we have the freedom to reject it. However, the Lord will continue to call us, to seek us and to wait for our coming back to him.  

RESPONSORIAL Ps 119: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord! 

Ø  This psalm is the longest psalm and, it sings the beauty of the Law of the Lord. 

Ø  It says how happy are those who follow the ways of the Lord. In this way the Lord has given us his commandments to guide and protect us.

Ø  The commandments were given to be observed, and the psalmist manifests his desire to be faithful.   

Ø  He asks God to open his eyes to contemplate the wonders of his Law.  

Ø  The last verse we will read this coming Sunday is an invocation asking the Lord to show to us  the way of his precepts.  

Ø  He also asks the Lord to instruct him so that he may be able to keep the Law with his whole heart. 

Ø  For an Israelite the Law is not made of a group of external rules, but something we carry inside and gives life to us.  

GOSPEL  Mt 5:20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a, 37   

v  In the verses before today's reading Jesus says that he has come, not to abolish the law but, to fulfill it.   

v  Yes, the Lord has come to help us to make his law real in our life.  He has come to help us to love the law and to conduct our life according to it. 

v  Then Jesus unfolds before our eyes the real meaning of the law, he gives it its fulfillment 

v  Let us see what he says to us and let us pay attention to his teaching so that, we may be able to live according to what Jesus teaches about the Law.        

v  He adds that your(our) justice, our truth is not superior to that of the Pharisees and the scribes, we will not be able to be part of the Kingdom, of his project. 

v  The Pharisees were known to be faithful in keeping the words of the law, but not always were they worried about the real meaning of the law.  

v  Jesus is going to reveal to us the real meaning of some of the laws, those that worry him the most.  

ü  You have heard that it was said to your ancestors "You shall not kill"  

            But I say to you whoever gets angry with his brother will be subject to             judgment.   

            There are many ways to kill. With our words, looks, gestures we may hurt in such a way the self-esteem of someone that he or she will live without enthusiasm, without any dreams for the future, considering him or herself worthless. That is, that person is dead even if he or she continues to live.             

ü  You have heard that it was said "You shall not commit adultery" 

But I say to you whoever looks at a woman with evil desire has already committed adultery with her in his heart.   Adultery is committed in the heart, even if there are no external actions, because adultery is an infidelity toward the person with whom I have committed myself. It is a lie I say with my behavior.   

ü  You have heard it was said " Do not take a false oath" 

But I say to you, do not swear at all, may your speech be yes or not.  

We have been given the ability to speak so that we may communicate with each other, proclaim and say the truth, and this not only with words  but with our life.  Our life cannot contradict what our lips say.    

We see how Jesus takes the law to its deepest meaning, to our inner being, from the exterior to the interior where God dwells.  That is to say from the appearances that sometimes are false to a sincere and open life without lies. 

SECOND READING: 1Co 2:6-10

      In the verses we read last week Paul said that he had decided to know nothing except Christ and Christ crucified, wisdom of God and nonsense for those who do not love him. 

      Today Paul says that he speaks with a wisdom which does not belong to this world, and that none of the rulers of the world can understand.  

      If the rulers of this world had known this wisdom, a wisdom that God gives to all of us, they would certainly not crucified the Lord Jesus.  

      He continues saying that God has prepared for those who love him, what eye has not seen and what ear has not heard. 

      At the end of this fragment, he says something very interesting, this has been revealed to us by the Spirit, because the Spirit knows God depth. I think that this sentence is an invitation to pray and seek its meaning to discover its richness.    

CLARETIAN CORNER 

 From a letter of the Venerable María Antonia París (Foundress) to Saint Anthony Mary Claret  (Founder). It is about the second foundation of the Claretian Missionary Sisters in Tremp province of Lerida in Spain. 

As for the place or house do not worry dear father, let us have more trust in God, who will not fail, in whose hands are the hearts of all men to move them according to His Most Holy Will, without which man wearies himself in vain. I feel so much sorrow in my soul for you, and I would like to relieve you; I have an idea  that seems easy to me to understand; you will see if it feasible, if most rev.  Caixal  accept the foundation in his Diocese,  he may buy a place in a town  which he deems most purposefully for a house of Teaching (which in many points are well necessary); he already will have the place where we should address,  the document.  

To the Nuncio and to the Minister little will make it this or that point, and to us any point of the Peninsula will be good[...] and when the Order is increasing then, the Novitiate is fixed at the point where it is considered more adequate. With 1,000 pesos and something else that we have from the dowry of one of the sisters, you can buy the land, and build the most necessary to shelter  us, [...] But if we cannot buy we may rent a simple house to fix there the closure, and later on when we increase  we will enlarge the convent , which I believe is done at the beginning of all foundations 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PAGOLA, José A.   El camino abierto por Jesús. PPC 2012

PARIS, María Antonia, Letters

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. Adaptación de textos y comentarios a la BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO.   

 

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME -  A - 2023

·         Today Jesus invites us to be salt to flavor life and to be light for every human being. 

·         Jesus speaks in plural; he invites us to be salt and light together, as the members of a same team.  

 THE BOOK OF THE THIRD ISAIAH

ü  This book does not have either a clear structure or a particular message.  

ü  The texts can be grouped in three blocks. 

o   Chapters  56-59, and 63-66  that is the first and third blocks are grey, they speak about division, infidelity of the people.     

o   Verses 60-62, the second block is very similar to the Second Isaiah,  it speaks of hopes and promises.   

§  The glory of the Lord comes back to live among his people.     

§  A  bright future is foreseen for Jerusalem. 

FIRST READING   Is 58: 7-10

Ø  God, through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, tells us that our life will be light and will shine in the darkness:  

§  If we share our bread, our clothing, our home with those who do not have them.    

§  If this is our life, our behavior, our way to relate with our brothers and sisters: our light will dispel darkness, our wound (sin) will be cured and the glory of God that is God himself will protect us.

Ø  The prophets continues saying that if we live in this way, whenever we call on the Lord or invoke his name, or cry out to him, He will answer "Here I am".  

Ø  Yes, he will answer us because our way of living will have prepared us to acknowledge that we need him.     

Ø  The verses that follow are like a repetition of what has already been said.  

Ø  This is a literary technique of the Semitic peoples.    

Ø  Let us see how the prophet repeats the same idea in another way. He repeats but adds something new, it is like an spiral we go around but at the end we move to a higher level:  

§  The prophet adds to what he has said about sharing our material means with our brothers and sisters in need.  

§  We also must remove from our midst oppression, false accusation, and malicious speech. 

Ø  When our life will respond to this kind of behavior, then our light will shine in the darkness and its gloom will become like midday.  

Ø  What a wonderful sentence what a poetic way to invite us to live a blessed life, a real human life, full of the wisdom that comes from sharing our goods with    

o   The hungry – Who are the hungry in the world today? 

o   The homeless and oppressed, who are they today?    

o   If you have eyes to see and do not turn your back to those who need you  

§  You will be light  

§  Your wounds will heal, what are these wounds? 

§  God will always walk with you. 

§  You will call him and he will answer “Here I am”  if

·         You remove from your life   

·         Oppression, whom do you oppress? Do you hurt others with your words? 

o   Then your light will be like noontime during the night.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps  112: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (4a) The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.
 Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
R. The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.
 He shall never be moved;
the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.
An evil report he shall not fear;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
R. The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.
 His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear.
Lavishly he gives to the poor;
His justice shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory.
R. The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.

 GOSPEL  Mt 5:13-16

ü  Jesus speaks to his disciples saying to them and also to us that we are the salt and the light of the world  

v  He speaks of something very common in our daily life, salt gives taste to the food, and helps also to preserve them in those places where the technology has not reached. 

v  He asks them, if the salt loses its taste, what is his use? certainly it is of no use anymore, so it is thrown out and trampled underfoot.  

ü  He continues saying, you are the light of the world      

v  Here he gives other comparisons, taken also from the experience of our life  

v  If a city is built on the top of a mountain, it will be very visible, it cannot be hidden

v  The cities were built on the top of the mountains to defend themselves from their enemies, but at the same time they had the danger to be too visible.  

v  He gives another example, when we light a lamp in the house we do not cover it because we have lighted it to give light to all in the house.   

ü  You are salt and light

v  Created, called to live to be salt, to give taste to the realities of this world. Salt that will make life more tasty for our brothers and sisters, our companions in the journey of life.    

v  Called to be light, light that will make life happy and enjoyable.  

 

ü  Jesus makes this invitation to a group, we could call it a team, the team of the Apostles.  

ü  In the Church we need to act as a team, like a body, leaving aside our own little or great interests, a get together for the good of the world, the good of our planet, the good of our brothers and sisters to give glory to God.  

ü  Then we will truly be light and salt. 

SECOND READING : 1Co 2:1-5

      This page of Paul is a work of art of spiritual life, Christian life, the life of a follower of Jesus

      He speaks to the community of Corinth, so much loved by him, but that caused so much suffering to him. 

      The members of the community of Corinth were inclined to what is external, what is admired by the world. They liked the famous preachers, who sometimes speak well but say nothing that can help us to change our life.  

      Paul says to them how he decided to come among them   

·         His mission, his decision was to preach the Kingdom of God  

·         Not with sublime or wise words  

·         Because he had decided 

·         to know but one thing, and this is Jesus and, Jesus crucified.   

·         He had come to the community with fear, being conscious of his weakness  

·         He did not use wise words to convince them when he announced the Kingdom  

·         but he wanted to preach in such a way that the strength of the Spirit be visible in Paul's weakness.  

·         And thus, their faith would not lean on human wisdom  

·         but on the power of God   

      How much courage and love for God and the neighbor does that decision show 

      The first reading tells us to be light, the Gospel invites us to be what the Lord intended when he created us: salt and light; Paul decides to be salt and light preaching in humility and fear so that the light of the Spirit of God will shine through his life.  

      These three readings give us abundant matter to reflect on our life with joy, enthusiasm and fear; no matter how intense is our darkness, the light will shine if we decide to welcome the Lord in our life.  

 CLARETIAN CORNER  

I have decided not to continue today with the letters of Mother Paris and Father Claret because on February 2^nd the universal church will celebrate the consecrated life. That  is the life of our brothers and sisters who have decided to leave everything behind to follow the Lord in the preaching of the Gospel.

In the history of spirituality we encounter men and women in whom the experience has left a lasting impression and has changed the journey of their lives.  

Sometimes the events are from ordinary life,  but they impact the person due to the psychological or spiritual situation in which the person finds him or herself, or due to the circumstances that accompanied such events. Some other times there are authentic revelations of the Spirit in persons who already have allowed  the Spirit to guide their lives.  These events have forced the person to examine his or her life and to change it according to new parameters.  These kinds of events were present in the lives of   Antonio Mª Claret and of Mª Antonia París. Both had an experience which we may call Initial, because it will give rise to a new way of looking at reality and both will discover in these experiences the call of the Lord. 

We will see that in both Fr. Claret and M. Paris these events shaped their ecclesial vocation.  Claret narrates his Initial Experience in his Autobiography. In different occasions in his life, he will look back again to this event. This makes us realize the importance that it had for him.

 

In the account of this event given by Claret in his Autobiography, he uses the verbs to see and to hear.  In Sacred Scripture to see and to hear are the characteristic words used in the stories of prophetic and apostolic vocations.   Whenever we see these verbs, we may say that the author is talking about an Experience of the Spirit. In every  experience there is a context, a vision, and a hearing^[1]. They do not always necessarily follow this order.  In this case the context, which is a temptation,  surrounds the vision-hearing  of the Virgin Mary. (Two Pens Guided by a Same Spirit 1-2)

M. María Antonia París stayed in the Order of the Company of Mary 10 years unable to make her religious profession. During this time, she has a religious experience, which will be the starting point of her Church vocation.  

It is an Initial Experience, which she narrates as follows:        As this was the first time that our Lord spoke to me, I did not understand these things and I did not know how to comply with his commands. I was crying abundantly…  

The event is complex: visions, auditions, words, feelings… It seems that it took place at different degrees of depth. The deepest one was the experience of a divine message in two directions; one about the Gospel as the law of life; the other about the  lamentable condition of the Church and, within it, the Religious Life. Putting these two realities together, M. Paris understands that God wants the foundation of a new order, not new in doctrine but new in practice.   (Two Pens Guided by the same Spirit 8) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BARKER, John R.ofm. & BELLINGER, Karla J. Living the Word. 2019

MUÑOZ, Hortensia,rmi & TUTZO, Regina,rmi. Two Pens Guided by the Same Spirit. 2010

PAGOLA, José A.   El camino abierto por Jesús. PPC 2012 

 CONFERENCIA DE LOS OBISPOS DE ESPAÑA. Sagrada Biblia - versión oficial, 2010  

 

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[1] Cf. Is 6, 1-9; Jer 1,4-10 ; Mk 1,9-11 ; Lk 1,26-38.