SUNDAY OF CORPUS CHRISTI – 2023  

Ø  Once the Easter time is over after the celebration of Pentecost, the liturgy takes us again to the ordinary time. 

Ø  However the first two Sundays of the ordinary time which follow Pentecost, are dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity and to the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Ø  Today I invite you to meditate from the heart, allowing our feelings to blossom and so help us to dream in this wonder made by Christ out of love.   

Ø  Allow our heart to be enkindled, let us fall in love with Jesus to be able to feel what his heart felt when he left us the Eucharist, his presence among us.   

Ø  We will not reflect on all the readings as we do every week, but I invite all of us  to meditate on the sequence.   

Lauda Sion Salvatorem is a sequence prescribed for the Roman Catholic Mass of The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  It was written by St. Thomas Aquinas around 1264, at the request of Pope Urban IV for the new Mass of this Feast, along with Pange lingua, Sacris solemniis, Adoro te devote, and Verbum supernum prodiens, which are used in the Divine Office.

The hymn tells of the institution of the Eucharist and clearly expresses the belief of the Roman Catholic Church in Transubstantiation, that is, that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus during the celebration of the Eucharist.

Lauda Sion is one of only four medieval Sequences which were preserved in the Missale Romanum published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–1563)—the others being Victimae paschali laudes (Easter), Veni Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost), and Dies Irae (Requiem Masses). (A fifth, Stabat Mater, would later be added in 1727.) Before Trent, many feasts had their own sequences.^[2] The Lauda Sion is still sung today, though its use is optional in the post-Vatican II Ordinary form.

I will write the Sequence in bold and the explanations in italic.

Sequence

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:

Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.
These two verses invite to praise our Savior and Lord.  

Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick'ning and the living
Bread today before you set:

 

Jesus in the Gospel of John c. 6 says that He is the true bread that the Father gives us, as it was also the Father who gave the mana, it was not Moses who gave it to them. Who eats this bread, which is Jesus, will live for ever . Jn 6.48   

From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the Twelve at supper met.

When it was evening he came with the Twelve. And as they reclined at table and were eating… Mc 14,17-18

Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your heart let praises burst:

For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that supper was rehearsed.

 At the last supper Jesus gives us the memorial of his passion, institutes the Eucharist and he asks us to remember him whenever we get together for the breaking of the bread and for the  drinking  from the cup. Lc 22,19

Here the new law's new oblation,
By the new king's revelation,
Ends the form of ancient rite:

Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light dispels the gloom of night.

Jesus is the true lamb who takes away the sin, he was prefigured in the paschal lamb that the Israelites sacrificed for the first time the night before the exodus from Egypt. Jesus is he who leads us to true freedom.    Ex 12,43-51

He is the lamb of the book of Revelation, he was slain, he has the marks of the sacrifice but, he is alive and he is the only one who has the key to understand history, he is the only one who can open the book of life, of history, of the seven seals.  Rev. Cap. 5

The new and eternal covenant, words which the celebrant repeats at each Eucharist. Yes Jesus does with his blood, not with the blood of animals, the new covenant, which God had promised us through the mouth  of the prophet Jeremiah.   Jer 31,31 y ss.

What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial ne'er to cease:

And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow, making
Thus our sacrifice of peace.

This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his precious blood the wine:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said: “Take and eat; this is my body.”  Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood…”  Mt 26,26-28

Sight has fail'd, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a pow'r divine.

Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things are all we see:

Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ entire we know to be.

Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is whole to all that taste:

Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him who cannot waste.

Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless death, or endless life

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discernment the body, eats and drinks judgement on himself.   1Cor 11,27-29

When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe 'tis spoken,
That each sever'd outward token
doth the very whole contain.

Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still the same abides,
still unbroken does remain.
 
 Lo! the angel's food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the children's bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.

The bread is food for pilgrims, as we all are.   It is bread for the children, the Eucharist is a call to live as children. Jesus with his death and resurrection wants to share his filiation with us. Jesus said to the women  do not be afraid tell my brothers to go to Galilee… And to Mary Magdalene he says: “Go to my brothers and tell them, I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”    Jn 20,17.

Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the fathers sent.

Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.

I am the good shepherd I know my sheep and they know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I give my life for the sheep.  Jn 10, 14-15 (To know in the Bible it is not an intellectual knowledge but a knowledge from experience and of the whole person, this means that there is a profound  intimacy between the two persons)      

You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav'nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

Father they are your gift to me, I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  Jn 17,24.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLARETIAN CORNER

Our Founder Anthony Mary Claret and our Foundress María Antonia París spend many ours with the Most Blessed Sacrament, and during these times  they were enlightened by Jesus about their lives and the works that the Lord was entrusting to them, and on the need to surrender to Him.   

Last Tuesday June 13 we celebrated St. Anthony of Padua, which was the   feast day of Claret and Paris, as well as the priestly ordination of Claret in 1835.    

May both the Founder and the Foundress get for us in this celebration of Corpus Christy an increase of love for the Eucharist and for each one of the human beings who live on this earth with us now.   

 

SUNDAY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY  -  A - 2023

ü  Before we submerge ourselves in the daily living of our faith, the liturgy invites us to meditate on the adorable mystery of our God and, next week on the mystery of the Eucharist. 

ü  Our God is a community of persons, and he has created us in his image, and thus able to enter into relationships, and with the need to communicate with other human beings.  

FIRST READING:   Exodus 34: 4b-6,8-9

Ø  God has called Moses and, very early in the morning, he goes up to Mount Sinai with two stone tablets. 

Ø  God comes down in the cloud, which is one of the symbols that Scripture uses to represent the presence of God.  In the story of the Ascension a cloud conceals the vision of Jesus, and the disciples do not see him anymore. This wants to let us know that Jesus has entered a new form of life, a new relationship with us.   

Ø  And the book of exodus continues saying that God proclaims his name. 

Ø  His name is LORD, and he continues to explain who he is. 

o   He is merciful and generous.    

o   Slow to anger and rich in love and faithfulness.   

§  God is rich in kindness, tender al welcoming love.  

§  God is faithful to himself, to his word, to his love for his creation.

Ø  On hearing the words of God, Moses prostates himself in adoration, this is the posture of man before God, in his presence there cannot be any arrogance, we all feel our nothingness and thus we incline ourselves to the dust. 

Ø  But Moses feels that God loves him, that God is good, and that God listens to he who speaks and asks something from him. 

o   If I have your favor, I ask you to journey with us.   

o   Even if sometimes we are a stubborn people.    

o   Forgive our sins and accept us as your own. 

Ø  Jesus is the God- with- us who has come to dwell and journey with us.   He has said that he will be with us until the end of time, and he has also said that he who sees Him sees the Father, that is to say, that Jesus is the image of the Father, the sacrament of the Father.  

 RESPONSORIAL PSALM– Daniel 3:52-55

R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!.

v  The Lord is the God of our fathers.   

v  The temple of the Lord is his creation and especially the human being.  

v  His gaze fills everything with his love and tenderness.  

SECOND READING  2Cor 13:11-13

      Paul invites us to   

o   Encourage one another.  

o   Live in peace    

      And he continues saying that God who is the God of peace and love will be with us.  

      He invites us to greet each other with the holy kiss.  

      And he says that the saints, greet us. Who are this saints? All those baptized.

      I want to share with you something about the saints that I have heard in a homily on Pentecost.

      The priest asked the assembly, who are the saints? And he gave this beautiful answer, a saint is someone in love, in love with God.   And he invited all the assembly to let God  make them fall in love with Him. For this we need to get closer to Him through prayer, adoration, the Eucharist, the good deeds.

      Yes let us allow God to make us fall in love with Him!

GOSPEL, Jn 3:16-18

v  God has loved the world so much that he has given us his only son.  We may say: God loves the world so much that he gives us his only Son. (in the present tense) 

v  Why? Because God is always present,  he is neither “I was”  nor “I will be”. 

v  And he has given us his son so that believing in him we may be saved, that is to say, we may be able to welcome his salvation which is given us plentifully without having previously done anything to receive it. 

v  And God sends his son not to condemn the world but to save it.  

v  We condemn ourselves to be far from God when we do not believe, when we do not welcome the gift that is offered to us graciously.  

v  I pondered, as I do frequently, and I asked myself, where do we get the idea that if we do such and such we will be condemned. But on the contrary God through the Gospel of John says to us, that neither the Father nor Jesus the incarnate son of God condemns anyone, on the contrary Jesus is sent and comes to us   to share with us his being the Son and to save us.

C CLARETIAN CORNER 

My God, One and Triune, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  In your infinite wisdom,   give me, O Lord,   your light  to know you and to know me. To know also all that you want me to do, to serve and love you with all my being as much as it is possible in this life with your divine grace.  O my God, teach me what is good for the family you have entrusted to me and for each one of my beloved sisters. Please enlighten them so that they may know all that you want each one to do, in order to be docile and do not oppose  your divine inspirations and most holy will. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Fragment of Maria Antonia’s Morning Prayer.

 

The first ideas I can remember date back to when I was five years old. When I went to bed, instead of sleeping—I never have been much of a sleeper--I used to think about eternity. I would think "forever, forever, forever." I would try to imagine enormous distances and pile still more distances on these and realize that they would never come to an end. Then I would shudder and ask myself if those who were so unhappy as to go to an eternity of pain would ever see an end to their suffering. Would they have to go on suffering? Yes, forever and forever they will have to bear their pain !

This troubled me deeply, for I am by nature very compassionate. The idea of an eternity of torment made such a deep impression on me, either because of the tenderness it evoked in me or because of the many times I thought about it, that it is surely the thing that to this day I remember best. The power of this idea has made me work in the past, still makes me work, and will make me work as long as I live, in converting sinners, in preaching, in hearing confessions, in writing books, in distributing holy cards and pamphlets, and in having familiar conversations...  Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 8 and 9.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD  –  2023

«  Forty days ago we celebrated the triumph of Jesus over death, his RESURRECTION.   

«  During this time Jesus has made himself visible in different ways to his apostles who will be the witnesses of his resurrection.   

«  Today we celebrate in the liturgy the passage of Jesus from this way of life similar to ours, visible, to the Father.   

«  He will not be visible anymore, he will be present in his church through the sacrament, the word and the witnesses.  

 FIRST READING  – Act  1:1-11

-          Jesus asks them to remain in Jerusalem until they receive the promise from the Father.   

-          Luke says in this book that the Lord has tried in different ways to convince them that he is alive.  

-          John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.  

-          Let us reflect on the meaning of the word “baptism.” To baptize means to submerge into water. Thus, when Jesus says they will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, it means that they will be submerged in the Spirit of God that we call the Holy Spirit.

-          And this will happen also to those who will follow him through the centuries.    

-          Thus, the Spirit does not come to us in a visible and external way, but we are submerged into the Spirit.  

-          They want to know if the kingdom of Israel will be restored, but Jesus says that this is known only by the Father.  

-          But they will receive the Holy Spirit who will come upon them and make them witnesses of Jesus throughout all the world.   

-          It is important to enter into the symbolic meaning of the vocabulary used to describe this mystery of faith, the passage or returning of Jesus to the Father.  

o   Lifted = we always looked at the blue sky when we speak about heaven, the abode of God. Thus, to be lifted means that Jesus goes to the Father.  

o   They continue to look intently; we feel so good when we experience the presence of God.   

o   Why are you standing there looking at the sky? He will return.  

o   But now “you have to be his witnesses”, now it is the time of the church, our time when we must do the same Works that Jesus did. In our baptism we have been entrusted the mission to transform this world of sin into the Kingdom of God, but we are not alone, Jesus is present with his Spirit.    

-          It is not a sad farewell, it is not a day of mourning, it is the day of Jesus’ triumph, that is why the church puts on our lips the responsorial psalm:  

o   We are invited to clap our hands, to shout with cries of joy, to sing the praises of our King, to sing hymns  

o   Because the Lord has established his throne upon the heights, he reigns over the nations, and he sits as King on his sacred throne. 

-          It is neither a sad farewell, nor a day of mourning because Jesus has triumphed over evil and death. 

-          This triumph is already ours in hope, now for a little while we must work with the Lord to invite all to the heavenly banquet for all eternity.   

SECOND READING   Ephesians  1:17-23

-          The author of this letter asks that the Lord of Jesus     

o   May give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in  knowledge of  him  

o   May the eyes of our heart be enlightened in order to know what is the hope that belongs to his call   

o   What are the riches of his glory, the inheritance among the holy ones, destined to be distributed to the members of the Church.    

o   So, we may experience his power in our life  

o   Which is the same power that the Father has revealed in the resurrection of Jesus from among the dead and, in giving to Jesus a glory which is above all that has been created.   

o   He has put all things beneath the feet of Jesus, this means that he has made of Jesus Lord and Head of the church which is his body.   

o   Alonso Schökel asks a question in his commentary, a question which we may keep and meditate in our hearts over and over again: Does Paul mean that the Church is more than an earthly reality, being already united to Christ in his triumph and in his glory, being already inhabited by the fullness of the divinity?  

o   We realize that the true nature of the church has two different sides or aspects: the church has already the fullness of Christ but at the same time she is in the process of being formed, being shaped in the image of Christ her head and Lord, through the process of life.  She is at the same time the perfect reality and the process through the unfinished journey of the community and of each one of its members.   

-          A good preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ triumph will be to reflect and try to answer this question:  

o   Do I really know Jesus, do I know him in such a way that this knowledge fills me with hope, joy, strength and trust without limits? Let us have a heart to heart conversation with the Lord.  

GOSPEL  Matthew 28:16-20

Ø  Matthew writes at the end of his gospel the missionary commission of the apostles by Jesus. 

Ø  The eleven, the new born Church, has gone to Galilee 

Ø  In the morning of the resurrection Jesus had commissioned the women to go and tell his disciples to go to Galilee, there they would see him.  

Ø  Why Galilee and not Judea where they were?  

Ø  Galilee was the place of their first encounter with Jesus, we could call it “their first love” when they got excited about the young man who proclaimed a kingdom of love, peace and fraternity,  they were excited about him and about his project.   

Ø  Now after all that had happened with the crucifixion of Jesus, their cowardice, their leaving him alone, Jesus invites them to go back, we could say to go back home.  

Ø  They go to Galilee, when he comes in their midst, they adore him, although some still doubt   

o   In the Gospels and in the Acts we see how the community of the followers, after the resurrection, gives to Jesus the honor due to God, they adore him.   

o   It is interesting what Matthew says, “they doubted” why? They doubted because the joy was so overwhelming that they could not believe it to be true? They doubted because they did not believe it was he? 

o   We do not know, but certainly this sentence from Matthew is uplifting for us, the followers of the XXI century, we doubt also during the journey of our life, we doubt about our relationship with Him. 

Ø  The fact that they doubt is not an obstacle to be sent by Jesus. We are sent despite our doubts, our infidelities, our laziness, and our many temptations against our mission as missionaries.  

Ø  The one who sends us is Jesus and his will is not conditioned by our feelings or our actions.  

Ø  As a consequence of our baptism, we have been sent. 

o   Go and make disciples, inspire others to follow me.  

o   Not to a select group, but to all the nations, no one is excluded from this proclamation, from this happiness; we cannot put obstacles with our life to what Jesus wants: all the nations. 

o   Once they had become disciples, once they had gotten excited and are ready to follow me, baptize them in the name of the Trinity, in the name of God.   

o   That is submerging them into the waters of life, which is to be deeply submerged in the life of our God. 

o   Teach them all that I have taught you. What we must teach is what Jesus has taught us and the Spirit with his light explains to us, as John says in his Gospel “the Spirit will remind you all that I have taught you.” 

o   If this responsibility frightens us, if we think that we cannot do it, let us continue to listen to Jesus who says to us. 

o   I AM WITH YOU UNTIL THE END OF HISTORY, THE END OF TIME.  

Ø  No fears, no laziness, no excuses the Risen Jesus who sends us is also always with us. 

Ø  THANK YOU Lord to be the Emmanuel, God with us, as the angel had said to Joseph who doubted when he knew that Mary was pregnant, do not fear he will be called Emmanuel.   

I transcribe below a text taken from a commentary I have read:  

We need, above all, an absolute faith in the protecting care of God. God continues to work in the heart and in the consciences of all his children, although we think they are “lost sheep.”    

He continues working in and outside the Church. God does not abandon anyone, even if they have never heard the Gospel of Jesus. 

But this does not releavse us of our responsibility. How does God want to offer the good news of Jesus to the men and women of our time?  

CLARETIAN CORNER 

From the first day that the sea sickness of my companions got milder (as for me, it lasted for the whole travel and so terrible that they thought that I would die) I allotted all the time for spiritual exercises: prayer, reading, examination and devotion, etc. We recited the holy Rosary at the lower deck and the crew answered from the upper deck with great devotion and often with tears of tenderness, , especially at the singing of the “Holy God”, that I did with such a fervor as in a rapture..  Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of Claretian Missionary Sisteres,  Autobiography 141.     

That afternoon I went to my home town, Sallent, where everyone came out to meet me. In the evening I preached to them from a balcony overlooking the town square because the church wasn't large enough to hold the crowd. Next day we celebrated a Solemn High Mass, and in the afternoon I left for Sanmarti. The following morning I traveled to the shrine of Our Lady of Fussimanya, the scene of my great childhood devotion. I said Mass in the shrine and preached on devotion to Mary. From there I went on to Artés, where I also preached, as I did at Calders, as well. I ate at Moyá and preached there that night. The following morning I was off to Collsuspina, where I preached; then I went on to Vich where I had dinner and preached that night. Next I went to Barcelona, where I preached every day in various churches and convents^[1] until December 28, when we sailed on the frigate La Nueva Teresa Cubana, under the command of Captain Manuel Bolivar.Su capitán, don Manuel Bolívar.  Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. Autobiography 501.   

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Antonio María. Autobiografía.  

PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiografía en Escritos, con Comentarios por   Juan Manuel Lozano.

PÉREZ HERRERO, Francisco. “Evangelio Según San Marcos” en Comentario al Nuevo Testamento. Casa de la Biblia 1995. 

RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según las Escrituras – Año B. San Pablo-Bogotá, Colombia 2005.

SCHÖKEL, Luis Alonso. LA BIBLIA DE NUESTRO PUEBLO (comentarios). Misioneros Claretianos. China 2010.   

 

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[1]  He was in Barcelona from November 16 to December 28, preaching seven to ten sermons daily and seeing several books through the press. When someone asked him how he was able to do so much work, he answered, "Fall in love with Jesus Christ and souls and you'll understand it all and do much more than I do."