Ø
In a commentary
on next Sunday’s Gospel there are four sentences which may help us in our
meditation: Do not burry the life, awaken responsibility,
fear to face danger and, what does Jesus
say about conservatism.
FIRST READING – Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
Ø
This book belongs
to the “wisdom literature.”
Ø
They collect the
wisdom that people get from life, and
they offer rules and reflections to live a better life, with less
problems.
Ø
In the book of
Proverbs the reader is surprised not to find the common themes present in the
books of the Old Testament. The first impression that we get from this book is
that it is the most secular of all the wisdom books.
Ø
It is an ensemble
of writings from different authors from different times.
Ø Many of these books were attributed
to King Solomon, considered the wisest king of all.
Ø Although there are many different
themes in the book, we may summarize all in two rules of behavior or two ways:
the road that leads to self-fulfilment and the road to self-destruction.
Ø Wisdom and moral go hand in hand,
since the one who chooses the behavior which leads to self-fulfilment is wise,
on the contrary the one who chooses a behavior that leads to self-destruction
is a fool.
Ø There is a correspondence between wisdom/justice and
happiness on one hand and
Foolishness/wickedness and misfortune on the other hand.
Let us reflect on the message for
this Sunday
v The author commends the good life
through the example of a woman, a wife.
v He who finds a worthy wife, finds a
treasure
v What are the virtues of this wise
woman, this exemplary wife
o
She
brings good and not evil to those who surround her, especially her
husband.
o
She
works tirelessly, for what? For the good of her own and of those who need
her.
o
Her
hands, her arms are help and protection to the needy.
o
In
a word she is a strong woman who lives for the good of others and does not
think about herself.
v The author says that charm is
deceptive and beauty fleeting, however the inner beauty which comes from the
fear of God is worthy of praise.
v Her works are her recompense and her
praise.
v What a wonderful description of a
woman! As we listen to the words of the author of the book of Proverbs the
image of so many humble and wise mothers and wives comes to our mind. Women
that are looked for counsel and support. Even women whose life might not be
seen right to our eyes are so many times
wise and unselfish. How wonderful is the
work of our God in the heart of these women.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps 128: 1-2,3,4-5
BLESSED
ARE THOSE WHO FEAR THE LORD
Blessed are you who fear the Lord
Who walk in his way
For you shall eat the fruit of your handwork
Blessed shall you be and favored.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the recesses of your home
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
Who fears the Lord
The Lord bless you form Zion
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
the days of
your life.
The
blessing of the man who fears the Lord, the just man, the wise man is:
o
His
work which provides food for him
o
His
wife who gives him children, and with whom he shares his life “around the
table.”
o
The
table around which we not only share the food, but also love, tenderness
in a word life.
The
blessing which we want for this person is that God continues to bless his life,
and that he may be able to contemplate the peace of Jerusalem, the one below
and the one above which is the abode of God.
GOSPEL Mt 25:14-30
v As we approach the end of the
liturgical year, the Church puts for our consideration the eternal life, the
life beyond, the consequences of our actions.
v Today’s parable calls us to look at
the gifts we have received, what do we do with them, how do we live our life:
do we try to develop what we have received and make it grow? Or on the contrary
do we remain idle doing nothing.
v A man goes on a trip and entrusts to
his employees part of his material goods, giving to each one according to his
capacity. He hopes they will use the goods they have received from him.
v After a long time the owner comes
back and his employees give him an account of their administration;
o
One
had five and now he has five more, another had two and now he has two more,
they put to work what they had received.
o
But
the third one who had one had decided not to do anything.
v What is the reaction of the boss who
gave them the talents, the money? He is satisfied with the first two but angry
with the third one.
v What is the meaning of all of this
for us
v God when he creates us gives us
gifts, very often we live our life without even trying to discover what these
gifts are. Many times it is true we do not know how, but very often we are like
this lazy employee, we do nothing.
v The gifts that God gives to us are to
put them at the service of others, and in so doing they are also doing good to
us, they help us to develop as persons.
v An infinite horizon opens up before
us, full of richness and inner freedom, but also at the same time full of work
and of self-giving. Eventually we discover that this is the reason that the
gifts were given to us, to make of us co-creators with our God and Father.
v This thought is fascinating, God
starts the process of creation, not in the past but in the present, God is
always present. This process is continuous and God invites us every day, at
every moment of our life to be his cooperators, these are the gifts we receive
today.
v Together with the gifts we receive
the call to put them to work, and make them fruitful, we receive what we call
our vocation= our call.
SECOND READING 1
Tes 5:1-6
ü Paul writes to the community of
Thessalonica and tells them that they do not need to know either the day or the hour of the Lord’s second coming.
ü Why? Because they already live a life
waiting for the Lord, they are preparing
themselves day by day for it.
ü Because they already know that the
coming of the Lord will be like the coming of the thief in the night.
ü Yes the Lord comes into our life, many times
without even realizing it, and the Lord will come to take us with him in his
home for all eternity, and he will come without being aware on our part, it
will be a surprise.
ü But Paull says to his community that
they do not have to be worried about this reality, because they are sons and daughters of light and not
of darkness.
ü He exhorts them, exhorts us, not to
be sleepy but alert.
ü Sometimes all this conversation about
our final encounter with the Lord fills us with fear and sadness, but it should
not be so, because the Lord is already present, he comes to us continuously and
he always brings with him love and kindness.
ü All that he does for us is always
blessing and tenderness.
CLARETIAN CORNER
Just after drinking this first
gulp (the bitterest for me), the withdrawal of the Archbishop, after very few
days in the same moth, our Lord deigned to visit me again with another trial
not less sensible and painful. It was to suffer the most painful blow of the
sad separation of my beloved companion, Sr. Florentina who got fatally ill on
the 14th of September without the doctor discovering her serious
condition, was snatched away by death on September 20.
Only the one, who knows the
mutual sympathy of two hearts united by God for himself in the same spirit, can
understand the pain that filled my soul in this most sad occasion. My suffering
was equal to the love I had for her, because it was no less than a love
fashioned by God, and I loved her as a part of my soul. So, I felt such pain
with this separation as if my soul would be separated from my body. How many
things afflicted my soul at the same time. Her irremediable loss! In an unknown
country! My loneliness was complete!!! Because, even though I still had the
three young sisters, they were still so tender in the practice of virtues they
were in need of all my valor and efforts not to be discouraged in their good
purpose. Oh, impenetrable design of God. He promised me, this creature to help
me: He called her to follow me, she obeyed faithfully his divine call…and when
we set foot at the place of our call, He took her to Himself, undoubtedly to
reward her burning zeal, and leaves me again alone as on the day He called me. Venerable María
Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters 179-180.
I remember that in my second year on the island I wanted
to go overland to Baracoa because the sea wasn't fit, and I took off with my
companions.
We took along a cook, both because the places we were going to
were few and far between and because the inhabitants of the few outlying houses
had abandoned them in their flight from the cholera epidemic. Our good cook
fell behind because his pack-mule couldn't walk; so the rest of us went on
ahead, arriving very late that night at a house where we could find nothing to
eat but a small and really tough piece of hardtack, which we broke into four
pieces, one for each priest. Next morning we had to start out, fasting, on the
worst road I've ever traveled in my whole life.
We had to cross the river Jojo 35 times because it
zigzags between two high mountain ridges, and the traveler has no course open
to him other than to cross it. After we made it past the river, we had to climb
a stretch of mountains called the Knives of Baracoa. The name fits them
perfectly because they really are like a row of knives. A road runs along the
crest of the mountains, and there are stretches of it as tortuous as a
chambered nautilus. These are divided, so that anyone descending can avoid
ascending traffic. Otherwise, if two horses confronted each other, one would
have to back up because the road is too narrow to turn around in. The mountains
run along the spine of the island for about four leagues, and they are so high
that you can see the ocean on both sides. We had to climb and cross these
mountains fasting, and the road is so steep that on the way down I slipped and
fell twice, although I wasn't badly hurt, thank God. Saint
Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters,
Autobiography, 540-41.
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