« The
first reading is taken from the book of Proverbs.
« When
we read this book we are surprised to see how fragmented it is, it is like a
mosaic of different literary form, thoughts, sayings…
« In
most of this book the theological thought of the O.T. seems to be absent.
« It
is part of the Wisdom Books: Job,
Ecclesiastes, Sirach, Song of Songs.
« These
books want to give an answer to very common and vital questions that men and
women of all times have had, about life
and death, suffering, love and hate, etc…
« It
is the most secular of the Wisdom books. We might say that it is like a
handbook about moral behavior, a teaching on how to be part of the human
community.
« Israel
used this kind of literature after the return from the Babylonian exile. It is
not a literary genre that has its origin in Israel, but in the peoples that
surrounded the people of God.
« Due
to the fragmentation of the book we may deduce that it has had several
different authors who lived in different times. It seems though that the book, as we know it
now, was part of what Israel called the Writings, in 200 BC.
« To
give to Solomon the authorship over this book is a device very much used in the
Ancient World. A given author would use the name of a famous person instead of
the proper name so his book would be accepted. So in Israel
o
Solomon, the wise king, was considered to be the
author of the Wisdom books; but he cannot be the author of Proverbs, since the
book was written over the span of centuries.
o
David, the singer and musician, of the poetry and of the psalms
o
Moses, the law giver, of the Law. .
Let us reflect on the
First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6
I give here a very personal reflection on this text, with the
intention to help us in our prayer life. The more systematic explanation about
the book has already been given above.
Ø This
passage presents very beautiful images
Ø Wisdom
is presented as a woman:
o
Who builds her house on seven columns. Number seven has in the Bible a meaning of
fullness. If we look at the New Testament the Holy Spirit is portrayed in the
Book of Revelation as the seven spirits of God, which means the fullness of the
Spirit of God.
o
Who prepares her table with rich food and good
wine, images which make us think about the joy of eating and drinking at a banquet.
The gift of Wisdom which the Holy Spirit gives to us, is not about knowledge
but about tasting, about enjoying, about being delighted in the experience of
God.
o
The text says that she sends her maidens, but in
the next sentence she is the one who invites, who calls. Would that be that she
calls but through her maidens? As God calls all of us through other
people?
o
In this image of the table and the invitation to
the banquet we may understand or discover the overabundance of Wisdom, which
gives herself out to whoever welcomes her.
o
She calls the simple, the poor, those who do not
have much understanding, those who are ready to accept her, because they lack
the understanding that she is willing to give to them; she invites them at her
table to enjoy her food and her drink, to allow them to be filled with her
wisdom.
o
With her wisdom they will be able to reject sin,
reject stupidity, because sin is always nonsense, a stupidity.
o
Thus they will be able to progress on the way of
understanding
o
Those who accept the call of Wisdom will be able
to say with the psalmist:
TASTE AND SEE HOW GOOD THE LORD IS
GOSPEL John 6:51-58
We continue with the speech on the Bread of
Life.
John in his gospel does not have the intention
to inform us about the events in the life of Jesus, rather he uses some of the events in the life
of Jesus to make a theological reflection on the meaning of those events
The event here is that Jesus feeds 5000 men with
5 loaves and 2 fish which a young boy offers to him.
This event offers to John the opportunity to
talk about the true bread from heaven, Jesus.
In
this Reading:
o Jesus
proclaims himself bread from heaven. Who eats it will live forever.
o The
Jews argue among themselves and are angry, because Jesus presents himself as
transcendent (coming from heaven), but they know his family.
o Jesus
repeats the same words: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and do
not drink his blood you will not live. The real translation for the word used
for eating is “chewing.”
o When
we eat his body and drink his blood in the Eucharist, a union similar to that
of Jesus with his Father is established between Jesus and his disciple.
o The
disciple becomes a child of the Father, because he is united to the Son of the Father
who became flesh for the salvation of the world. As a son or a daughter the
disciple enters into an intimate relationship with the Father, similar to the
intimacy that Jesus has with the Father.
o This
union through the bread and wine –body and blood of Jesus- is not meant to be
still but to give the disciple the strength to go and share with others this intimacy with the Lord.
SECOND READING: Ephesians: 5,15-20
In the liturgy of the
Sundays in ordinary time, the second reading usually does not have the same
theme as the first reading and the
Gospel. Usually we start a letter and every Sunday we read some
fragments of it until it is finished.
§ However
this Sunday the Reading from the letter to the Ephesians has the same theme as
Proverbs and the Gospel: wisdom as a light for those who welcome Jesus into
their lives.
§ The
author invites the community to live wisely making the best of the present
time.
§ Seeking
to know the will of God.
§ Being
prudent in eating and drinking. In the book of Proverbs Wisdom offered the
overabundance of her food and drink as a sign of her generosity, this drink and
food represent the gift of wisdom. In
the letter the food and the drink in excess are a sign of a life without
wisdom.
§ In
place of these excesses the author invites the community to pray, to praise, to
give thanks for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
§ What
a wonderful plan for the life of those who want to follow the Lord Jesus, our
Lord and God.
§ Last
Sunday we were invited to make of our life a liturgy to our Lord and God. This
week we are invited again to make of our life a praise of thanksgiving to our
Lord and God.
CLARETIAN CORNER
The missionary must be always kind and be all to all but
without losing his composure and religious circumspection. Beware that due to
his carelessness the veneration and respect ought to be given to the priestly
character that he is invested, be lost. Do not familiarize with anybody but be
kind to everybody. During his travels he must speak little and meditate very
much. His lodging in the cities be in
the hospital. He must be respectful to everybody if he wants to be respected as
it is proper to a minister of the Lord; for this, will be good to him not to
take liberties with anybody. Do not
argue with anybody, his way of talking be simple, saying: “This is so and so”
or “It is not so” and not begin a dispute trying to have his own way, but yield
to everybody. María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian
Missionary Sisters, The Apostolic
Missionary 1-5.
From the very beginning I have been thrilled by the
preaching style of Jesus, his likenesses and parables. And how He was
persecuted! He was a sign of contradiction, persecuted for his teaching, his
works, and his very person. Finally, they took his life amid affronts,
torments, and insults, making Him suffer the most shameful and painful death
imaginable. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 222.
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