23rd Sunday in Ordinary TimeWisdom 9:13-18 Philemon 9-10, 12-17 Luke 14:25-33 The Gospel this weekend will be this: Luke 14:25-33 Great crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and addressed them, 26 "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? 29 Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at Him 30 and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.' 31 Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? 32 But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. 33 In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. The first reading will be this: Wisdom 9:13-18 For what man knows God's counsel, or who can conceive what our LORD intends? 14 For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. 15 For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. 16 And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? 17 Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given Wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? 18 And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight, and men learned what was your pleasure, and were saved by Wisdom. The second reading will be this: Philemon 9-10, 12-17 I rather urge you out of love, being as I am, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus. 10 I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment… 12 I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. 13 I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve * me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. 15 Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord. 17 So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me. MEDITATION:
The readings this Sunday warn us that following Christ brings challenges and needs preparation and effort, and it's calling us to do so as brothers and sisters of the family of God. The Gospel proposes 'hatred of mundane family' etc, but let's be careful of our interpretation of that.Hatred of self could even be misunderstood as a call to suicide! I think it’s not a call to hate but simply to be free of our family and of our own selfishness if they try to take precedence over God. In the second reading Paul tells of how he had to suffer prison and yet from within that problem came some success in his mission (with Onesimus). It’s calling Churchmen to be free of whether or not they see success at first. We should all be fee of mundane success. If it comes then be thankfull but if it doesn't then don't get depressed! Jesus certainly loved Joseph and Mary but he did sometimes make things challenging for them! God wants us to put effort into loving our human families, but we shouldn't give them more importance than God himself! Only thereby can we really love our human family well. It's a call to be free of mundane ties that impede a healthy love of God and of all our other brothers and sisters. Following Jesus leads to a joy without end, but the road to get there brings challenges and we've got to put in a lot of effort. Eternal life isn't a simple gift given 'on a plate'. It's a challenge. The first reading says that if we seek good counsel in life, then we should trust God more than mundane oppinions. The second reading has Paul introducing Onesimus as a faithful missionary that can be trusted. We trust the call to follow Christ because He's not trying to brain-wash or seduce like the superficial propaganda in our world. The image of the king preparing troops for battle may seem opposed to Christ's law of love, but I think that it's just a way of telling us that in order to love well there is plenty of opposition to overcome. What we need to overcome is the selfishness and sin within our own selves! We call it 'the old man', as opposed to the 'new man' that Christ can engender in all of us. It's true that one's own familly sometimes aren’t keen on one's answer to the call. That's understandable, in a way, because they're the ones who've known our past, and it's probably not easy for them to be optimistic about our future! Following Jesus may involve major changes in our plans in life but Jesus said it clearly to Nicodemas: 'No-one can see the Kingdom unless he is born from above' (John 3:3). My family in Ireland supports my vocation now a lot, but at first they didn't! They didn't know this 'Verbum Dei' community which was foreign and new. The youth of Jesus was perfect, but look at this: 'Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place.' (Jn 4:44). Our family deserve to be 'repaid' for all that they've given to us over the years, but I think that the best way to repay them is by being faithful to God's call (the vocation). Eventually, that will be their joy - and that joy lasts forever! Family and friends may well be against our vocations at first because they think we're abandoning them, but that's not new - and the Gospel makes a point of it: 'The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. 32 A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." 33 But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and (my) brothers?" 34 And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."' (Mk 3:31-35). Are you aware of Christ calling you? Don't wait around for some strange supernatural apparition! My parents were initially pretty upset with 'those missionaries' who helped me awake to my 'vocation'. It says this in Jeremiah 11: "With human ties, I called you". Of course, a very significant part of those human ties were my parents themselves over many years. If however, there's opposition to overcome, even from our own beloved families, that will be following the example of many fine saints. Thomas Aquinas became a Dominican friar in 1244 against the strong opposition of his family. Think also of Francis of Assisi. Pedro Bernadone disowned him as a son! Pedro was more concerned about his fabric business than about that strange conversion of Francis! Of course, the call to be a 'missionary' isn't necessarily a call to be consecrated (fully ‘chaste’). To be so is very good, but many married Christians are very good missionaries. Our physical birth was a tremendous gift of God given through our parents, but read this: 'You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God' (1 Peter 1:23). I love you Mum (in Dublin) and Dad (probably in Heaven), and I'm very grateful for the fact that you taught me to love the Trinity and Mary. They’re always teaching us! ............Dara. En ESPAÑOL: Domingo 23º: Sabiduría 9:13-19. Filemón 9-10, 12-17. Lucas 14:25-33 Este domingo trata sobre el hecho de que seguirle a Cristo trae desafíos y nos llama a hacerlo como hermanos y hermanas de la familia de Dios. El Evangelio hoy propone 'rechazar' nuestra familia, pero tengamos cuidado de nuestra interpretación de eso. No es una llamada a odiar sino a estar libres de ellos y de nuestro propio egoísmo si ellos intentan tomar precedencia por encima de Dios. La segunda lectura nos muestra como Pablo tuvo que aguantar la prisión y era justamente desde esta problema que vino algo de éxito en su misión (con Onesimo). Está llamando a personas de la Iglesia a estar libres de si al principio ven éxito o no. Conviene estar libres del éxito mundano. Si viene, demos gracias, pero si no viene, ¡no nos deprimamos! Jesús ciertamente amó a José y María sin embargo ¡a veces les puso ante desafíos! ¡Dios quiere que pongamos el esfuerzo en amar a nuestras familias humanas, pero no deberíamos darles más importancia que a Dios mismo! Sólo así podemos amar realmente bien a nuestras familias humanas. Es una llamada a estar libre de cualquier lazo mundano que nos impide amar bien a Dios y a todos nuestros otros hermanos y hermanas. Jesús nos lleva a una alegría sin fin, pero el camino para llegar allí trae desafíos y tenemos que poner mucho esfuerzo. La vida eterna no es un regalo simple dado 'en un plato'. Trae desafíos. La primera lectura dice que si buscamos una vida buena, entonces conviene confiar en Dios más que en opiniones humanas. La segunda lectura tiene a Pablo que introduce Onecimo como un misionero fiable en que se puede confiar. Nos confiamos en la llamada a seguirle a Cristo porque Él no está intentando lavar cocos o seducir como la propaganda superficial del mundo. La imagen del rey que prepara las tropas para la batalla puede parecer opuesta a la ley de amor de Cristo, pero creo que es simplemente una manera de decirnos que para amar bien, hay bastante oposición que superar. ¡Lo qué necesitamos superar es el egoísmo y el pecado dentro de nuestros propios egos! Lo llamamos 'el hombre viejo', como opuesto al 'hombre nuevo' que Cristo puede engendrar en todos. Es verdad que la propia familia a veces impide la respuesta de uno a la llamada. Eso es entendible porque ellos son los que saben nuestro pasado, y ¡probablemente no es fácil para ellos ser optimistas sobre nuestro futuro! Seguirle a Cristo muchas veces nos pide grandes cambios en nuestros planes en la vida pero Jesús lo dijo claramente a Nicodemo: 'conviene nacer de nuevo' (Jn 3:3). Mi familia de Irlanda apoya mi vocación ahora mucho, ¡pero al principio no! Ellos no supieron nada de esta comunidad 'Verbum Dei' que era extranjera y nueva. La juventud de Jesús era perfecta, pero mira esto: 'Jesús dijo que un profeta no tiene ningún honor en su lugar nativo.' (Jn 4:44). Nuestra familia merece ser 'recompensada' por lo que nos han dado durante los años, pero pienso que la manera mejor de reembolsarlos está ser fiel a la llamada de Dios (la vocación). En el futuro, éso será su alegría - y ¡esa alegría dura para siempre! La familia y amigos pueden estar al principio contra nuestras vocaciones porque piensan que estamos abandonándoles, pero eso no es nuevo - y Jesús dice “quien hace la voluntad de Dios es mi hermano y hermana y madre.". (Mc 3:31-35). Mis padres estaban inicialmente bastante disgustados con esos misioneros que hicieron despertar la vocación en mi. Dice esto en Jeremías 11: "Con lazos humanos te llamé.". Claro, una parte muy significante de esos lazos humanos han sido nuestros mismos padres durante muchos años. Pero si hay oposición para superar, incluso de nuestras propias familias queridas, estarán siguiendo el ejemplo de muchas familias de santos en la historia. Santo Tomas de Aquino empezó como fraile Dominicano en 1244 apesar de la oposición fuerte de su familia. También pienso en San Francisco de Asís. ¡Su padre Pedro Bernadone le repudió como hijo! ¡Pedro se preocupaba más por su negocio de tejidos que por esa conversión extraña de Francisco! Claro, la llamada ‘a la vida misionera’ no es necesariamente una llamada a vivirla como una vocación consagrada (totalmente ‘casta’). Vivir así es bueno, pero muchos matrimonios Cristianos son misioneros muy buenos también. Nuestro nacimiento físico es un tremendo regalo de Dios dado a través de nuestros padres, pero lee esto: ¡'Has nacido nuevamente, no de lo perecedero sino de semilla imperecedera, a través de la palabra permanente de Dios' (1º Pedro 1:23). ¡Os amo Mamá (en Irlanda) y Papá (a lo mejor, en el Cielo), y os agradezco por haberme enseñado a amar a la Trinidad y a María! Ellos están siempre enseñándonos.
José Guasp Vidal
10/6/2013 10:43:05 am
qué bonito me ha gustado mucho ánimo hermanos adelante Comments are closed.
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