Readings
Reading I: Isaiah 66:10-14 |
Preaching TipThe idea we have about our role as a preacher affects our preaching more than we know. Therefore, it's good to keep enriching and refreshing that idea. Here is a thought from Fr Joseph E Manton, CSSR. "But more important than what the listener in the bench thinks of the role of the preacher, is what the preacher himself thinks of his office. If he reads St Paul, he will both swell with honest pride and groan at this mountainous responsibility. That tireless little Apostle (bald of head and fiery of heart) demands that we preach the Word in season and out of season. It is not, in his eyes, a question of whether I like to preach, or even whether I have a particular talent for preaching. It is not a question of personality or disposition or inclination or built-in eloquence. It comes down solely to duty. If I am a priest, I have an obligation to preach the Gospel... Preaching is the chief, if not the only, way that the message of Christ can come to men. I am His agent. I am not a salesman selling Cadillacs or cat food, but I am a soulsman, offering a product that is the Word of God, the Good News of Salvation, the Law of the Lord. But I can learn from salesmen. Our common mission is to persuade." Ten Responsible Minutes, pp16-17 |
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
LOS FRUTOS DE LAS MISIONES
Si durante la Semana Santa ha llamado a la puerta de tu casa una familia misionera para invitarte a renovar tu fe en Cristo resucitado, podrás entender mejor el contenido de este Evangelio, en el que Cristo envía a sus discípulos de dos en dos con la misión de anunciar al mundo entero que el Reino de Dios está cerca.
1. No son pocos los cristianos que aceptan el mensaje de Jesús, sin embargo no todos sienten la necesidad de llevarlo a los demás. Se han acostumbrado a pensar que ésta es una tarea que corresponde a los sacerdotes o a las religiosas como especialistas de la evangelización. El concilio Vaticano segundo nos ha recordado que "a los laicos les corresponde una tarea misionera en este mundo secularizado, en los lugares de trabajo, en medio de las calles, en las grandes ciudades".
2. Entre los primeros cristianos era muy viva la conciencia misionera, y San Pedro recuerda que es numeroso el grupo de generosos colaboradores que hay en Roma y son hombres, mujeres, familias enteras. Gracias a ellos el cristianismo se difundió, de persona a persona, velozmente, por los caminos del imperio romano. Sentían como urgente e imperiosa la exigencia de compartir con otros su propia fe.
3. El misionero que lleva el mensaje de Jesús transmite la paz. La paz cristiana es la felicidad que brota del encuentro con Dios. Es ésta la primera actitud que debe adoptar el seguidor de Jesús en cualquier lugar donde se encuentre: dar la paz. En nuestro lenguaje de todos los días "paz" se traduce como ausencia de conflictos, pero en el Evangelio significa la plenitud de los bienes que el Mesías trajo a la humanidad.
El Papa Juan XXIII decía que "un mundo pacífico es aquel en el que no sólo hay orden y unidad, sino sobre todo donde hay justicia y caridad". En la práctica la paz es el arte de estar de acuerdo. Sólo es posible conquistarla con la capacidad de perdonar, la disponibilidad al sacrificio, la entrega generosa, la comprensión de los demás, la apertura a todas las sensibilidades. ¿Está en paz nuestra alma?
Decía Gandhi que "la violencia es el arma de los débiles y la no violencia el arma de los fuertes". En realidad el arma de los fuertes es el amor. Es el poder que cohesiona porque primero elimina todas las injusticias. A todos nos impresiona cuando vemos a una persona que es capaz de mantener la paz y la serenidad en situaciones en las que de costumbre se piensa encontrar sólo angustia y temor. ¿Cómo calmar el ansia, la inquietud, el nerviosismo, la turbación, el miedo? Jesús nos dice: "¡que no tiemble vuestro corazón!" El remedio es la confianza en Dios.
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
THE FRUITS OF THE MISSIONS
If a missionary family knocked on your door during Holy Week to invite you to renew your faith in the risen Christ, you would be able to better understand the message of this Gospel passage in which Christ sends his disciples two by two with the mission of announcing to the whole world that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
1. The number of Christians that accept Jesus' message are not few, yet not all of them feel the need to bring it to others. They have grown used to thinking that this task belongs to priests or nuns as evangelization specialists. The Second Vatican Council reminded us that "laypeople have a missionary responsibility in this secularized world, in the workplace, on the streets, in the big cities."
2. This missionary awareness was very much alive among the first Christians and St Peter recalls that the group of generous coworkers in Rome is large and that they are made up of men, women, entire families. Thanks to them Christianity spread, person to person, quickly, along the roads of the Roman empire. They felt the urgent and important drive to share their faith with others.
3. The missionary who brings Jesus' message instills peace. Christian peace is the happiness that springs from an encounter with God. This is the main attitude that a follower of Jesus should have wherever he is: giving peace. In our day-to-day vocabulary, "peace" means the absence of conflicts, but in the Gospel it means the fullness of goods that the Messiah brought to mankind.
Pope John XXIII used to say that "a peaceful world is one in which there is not only order and unity, but especially justice and charity." Practically speaking, peace is the art of being in agreement. One can only have peace by the ability to forgive, the willingness to sacrifice, by generous self-giving, by understanding others, by being open to all sensibilities. Is there peace in our soul?
Gandhi used to say that "violence is the weapon of the weak and non-violence is the weapon of the strong." In reality the weapon of the strong is love. It's the power that bonds together because first it removes all injustice. We are all impressed when we see a person who is able to stay peaceful and serene in situations in which one would normally only be anguished and afraid. How can one calm anguish, worry, nervousness, confusion, fear? Jesus tells us: "Let your heart not be troubled!" The remedy is confidence in God.