The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Paranavaí, Brazil, was held 10 October 2012. The following were elected:
- Prioress: Sr. Derly de Paula Moreira, O.Carm.
- 1st Councilor: Sr. Maria do Carmo da Conceição, O.Carm.
- 2nd Councilor: Sr. Edna Maria Lopes de Sousa, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. Maria Alice Pereira Lopes, O.Carm.
- Sacristan: Sr. Maria do Carmo da Conceição, O.Carm.
Preparations are already well under way for a Carmelite youth gathering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in July 2013 during the World Youth Day (WYD). Fr. Raul Maravi, O.Carm., Councillor General for the Americas has been working with a committee of the Rio Province and they will soon publish details of the Carmelite event. The icon of “Our Lady of Hope”, which was in Madrid during the Carmelite Day in 2011, is now travelling from community to community in Brazil and will finally arrive in Rio for the WYD itself. In North America a committee has been working towards a “Pilgrimage of Hope” for the Carmelite youth in Canada and the United States.
The Carmelite Youth Committee of Europe, established by the General Council and led by Fr. John Keating, O.Carm., Councillor General for Europe, continues its meetings towards a pan European Carmelite Youth Programme in this continent. A plan, approved by the General Council this year, has been sent to all the Provincials, Commissaries and Delegates General in Europe. From the 27th September to 1st October 2012, this committee met in Taizé, France, to work on the final details of the plan, which is being offered to Carmelite youth leaders and young participants. During their time in Taizé, the committee was helped by Brother Emile, who was former assistant to the founder of Taizé, Brother Roger Schutz.
Pope Benedict XVI
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today I would like to talk to you about St Thérèse of Lisieux, Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, who lived in this world for only 24 years, at the end of the 19th century, leading a very simple and hidden life but who, after her death and the publication of her writings, became one of the best-known and best-loved saints. “Little Thérèse” has never stopped helping the simplest souls, the little, the poor and the suffering who pray to her. However, she has also illumined the whole Church with her profound spiritual doctrine to the point that Venerable Pope John Paul II chose, in 1997, to give her the title “Doctor of the Church”, in addition to that of Patroness of Missions, which Pius XI had already attributed to her in 1939. My beloved Predecessor described her as an “expert in the scientia amoris” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 42). Thérèse expressed this science, in which she saw the whole truth of the faith shine out in love, mainly in the story of her life, published a year after her death with the title The Story of a Soul. The book immediately met with enormous success, it was translated into many languages and disseminated throughout the world.
I would like to invite you to rediscover this small-great treasure, this luminous comment on the Gospel lived to the full! The Story of a Soul, in fact, is a marvellous story of Love, told with such authenticity, simplicity and freshness that the reader cannot but be fascinated by it! But what was this Love that filled Thérèse’s whole life, from childhood to death? Dear friends, this Love has a Face, it has a Name, it is Jesus! The Saint speaks continuously of Jesus. Let us therefore review the important stages of her life, to enter into the heart of her teaching.
Thérèse was born on 2 January 1873 in Alençon, a city in Normandy, in France. She was the last daughter of Louis and Zélie Martin, a married couple and exemplary parents, who were beatified together on 19 October 2008. They had nine children, four of whom died at a tender age. Five daughters were left, who all became religious. Thérèse, at the age of four, was deeply upset by the death of her mother (Ms A 13r). Her father then moved with his daughters to the town of Lisieux, where the Saint was to spend her whole life. Later Thérèse, affected by a serious nervous disorder, was healed by a divine grace which she herself described as the “smile of Our Lady” (ibid., 29v-30v). She then received her First Communion, which was an intense experience (ibid., 35r), and made Jesus in the Eucharist the centre of her life.
The “Grace of Christmas” of 1886 marked the important turning-point, which she called her “complete conversion” (ibid., 44v-45r). In fact she recovered totally, from her childhood hyper-sensitivity and began a “to run as a giant”. At the age of 14, Thérèse became ever closer, with great faith, to the Crucified Jesus. She took to heart the apparently desperate case of a criminal sentenced to death who was impenitent. “I wanted at all costs to prevent him from going to hell”, the Saint wrote, convinced that her prayers would put him in touch with the redeeming Blood of Jesus. It was her first and fundamental experience of spiritual motherhood: “I had such great trust in the Infinite Mercy of Jesus”, she wrote. Together with Mary Most Holy, young Thérèse loved, believed and hoped with “a mother’s heart” (cf. Pr 6/ior).
In November 1887, Thérèse went on pilgrimage to Rome with her father and her sister Céline (ibid., 55v-67r). The culminating moment for her was the Audience with Pope Leo XIII, whom she asked for permission to enter the Carmel of Lisieux when she was only just 15. A year later her wish was granted. She became a Carmelite, “to save souls and to pray for priests” (ibid., 69v).
At the same time, her father began to suffer from a painful and humiliating mental illness. It caused Thérèse great suffering which led her to contemplation of the Face of Jesus in his Passion (ibid., 71rc). Thus, her name as a religious — Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face — expresses the programme of her whole life in communion with the central Mysteries of the Incarnation and the Redemption. Her religious profession, on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, 8 September 1890, was a true spiritual espousal in evangelical “littleness”, characterized by the symbol of the flower: “It was the Nativity of Mary. What a beautiful feast on which to become the Spouse of Jesus! It was the little new-born Holy Virgin who presented her little Flower to the little Jesus” (ibid., 77r).
For Thérèse, being a religious meant being a bride of Jesus and a mother of souls (cf. Ms B, 2v). On the same day, the Saint wrote a prayer which expressed the entire orientation of her life: she asked Jesus for the gift of his infinite Love, to be the smallest, and above all she asked for the salvation of all human being: “That no soul may be damned today” (Pr 2).
Of great importance is her Offering to Merciful Love, made on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity in 1895 (Ms A, 83v-84r; Pr 6). It was an offering that Thérèse immediately shared with her sisters, since she was already acting novice mistress.
Ten years after the “Grace of Christmas” in 1896, came the “Grace of Easter”, which opened the last period of Thérèse’s life with the beginning of her passion in profound union with the Passion of Jesus. It was the passion of her body, with the illness that led to her death through great suffering, but it was especially the passion of the soul, with a very painful trial of faith (Ms C, 4v-7v). With Mary beside the Cross of Jesus, Thérèse then lived the most heroic faith, as a light in the darkness that invaded her soul. The Carmelite was aware that she was living this great trial for the salvation of all the atheists of the modern world, whom she called “brothers”.
She then lived fraternal love even more intensely (8r-33v): for the sisters of her community, for her two spiritual missionary brothers, for the priests and for all people, especially the most distant. She truly became a “universal sister”! Her lovable, smiling charity was the expression of the profound joy whose secret she reveals: “Jesus, my joy is loving you” (P 45/7). In this context of suffering, living the greatest love in the smallest things of daily life, the Saint brought to fulfilment her vocation to be Love in the heart of the Church (cf. Ms B, 3v).
Thérèse died on the evening of 30 September 1897, saying the simple words, “My God, I love you!”, looking at the Crucifix she held tightly in her hands. These last words of the Saint are the key to her whole doctrine, to her interpretation of the Gospel the act of love, expressed in her last breath was as it were the continuous breathing of her soul, the beating of her heart. The simple words “Jesus I love you”, are at the heart of all her writings. The act of love for Jesus immersed her in the Most Holy Trinity. She wrote: “Ah, you know, Divine Jesus I love you / The spirit of Love enflames me with his fire, / It is in loving you that I attract the Father” (P 17/2).
Dear friends, we too, with St Thérèse of the Child Jesus must be able to repeat to the Lord every day that we want to live of love for him and for others, to learn at the school of the saints to love authentically and totally. Thérèse is one of the “little” ones of the Gospel who let themselves be led by God to the depths of his Mystery. A guide for all, especially those who, in the People of God, carry out their ministry as theologians. With humility and charity, faith and hope, Thérèse continually entered the heart of Sacred Scripture which contains the Mystery of Christ. And this interpretation of the Bible, nourished by the science of love, is not in opposition to academic knowledge. The science of the saints, in fact, of which she herself speaks on the last page of her The Story of a Soul, is the loftiest science.
“All the saints have understood and in a special way perhaps those who fill the universe with the radiance of the evangelical doctrine. Was it not from prayer that St Paul, St Augustine, St John of the Cross, St Thomas Aquinas, Francis, Dominic, and so many other friends of God drew that wonderful science which has enthralled the loftiest minds?” (cf. Ms C 36r). Inseparable from the Gospel, for Thérèse the Eucharist was the sacrament of Divine Love that stoops to the extreme to raise us to him. In her last Letter, on an image that represents Jesus the Child in the consecrated Host, the Saint wrote these simple words: “I cannot fear a God who made himself so small for me! […] I love him! In fact, he is nothing but Love and Mercy!” (LT 266).
In the Gospel Thérèse discovered above all the Mercy of Jesus, to the point that she said: “To me, He has given his Infinite Mercy, and it is in this ineffable mirror that I contemplate his other divine attributes. Therein all appear to me radiant with Love. His Justice, even more perhaps than the rest, seems to me to be clothed with Love” (Ms A, 84r).
In these words she expresses herself in the last lines of The Story of a Soul: “I have only to open the Holy Gospels and at once I breathe the perfume of Jesus’ life, and then I know which way to run; and it is not to the first place, but to the last, that I hasten…. I feel that even had I on my conscience every crime one could commit… my heart broken with sorrow, I would throw myself into the arms of my Saviour Jesus, because I know that he loves the Prodigal Son” who returns to him. (Ms C, 36v-37r).
“Trust and Love” are therefore the final point of the account of her life, two words, like beacons, that illumined the whole of her journey to holiness, to be able to guide others on the same “little way of trust and love”, of spiritual childhood (cf. Ms C, 2v-3r; LT 226).
Trust, like that of the child who abandons himself in God’s hands, inseparable from the strong, radical commitment of true love, which is the total gift of self for ever, as the Saint says, contemplating Mary: “Loving is giving all, and giving oneself” (Why I love thee, Mary, P 54/22). Thus Thérèse points out to us all that Christian life consists in living to the full the grace of Baptism in the total gift of self to the Love of the Father, in order to live like Christ, in the fire of the Holy Spirit, his same love for all the others.
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Fr. Goyo Señor Benedí, O.Carm.
The First International Congress of Carmelite schools was held from April 8-13, 2010 at “Terenure College” in Dublin, Ireland. All of it, from the beginning to the end, was a great moment and wonderful opportunity to share our educational and personal experiences with all those present.
There were religious and lay people from five continents gathered to discuss education, specifically catholic education with a Carmelite stamp. This congress made us see how in spite of the geographical diversity, the core values of our Order are present in all our educational centers. These values we try and live out in each concrete reality within the culture and time that each one of us is living in our place of origin.
Also, we could live the internationality of the Order, which I think was a great discovery for the laity that accompanied us and for the many religious who participated, especially the young people.
The four lectures that were presented helped us to rethink the reality of our schools and can be a good reference in Carmelite formation for our houses if we are able to share it and work with it.
The round table discussions were moments to share our education and pastoral experience and helped us to see how the geographic, cultural and economic situations of the different participants do not make our local educational projects very different. In fact, the opposite is true.
We observed values, so important to us, including: prayer, commitment to the poor in all places, devotion and fondness and worship of Our Lady of Mount Carmel are present in the daily life of all our schools.
An important and well-liked part of the Congress was working in small groups where we could get down to discussing the specific reality of each school, where we could share concrete and daily experiences of our educational work, of our social commitment and solidarity as Carmelite schools and how we collaborate with the local church in each place. In these small groups we also found concrete ways of applying the human and religious values (especially those arising from the charism of the Order) to both the students and faculty of our schools and with the families that entrust the education of their children to us.
The setting was very nice and unbeatable: we could participate in the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Terenure College. Without a doubt, the best part in regards to logistics was the support that was given at all times by the local religious community and the teachers and students of the school who were always conscious of the needs, suggestions or requests of the participants.
Another special moment was the celebration of the Eucharist that was held in the school gym with the school community and presided by our Father General. It was a celebration that impressed many of us, not only because the student body and teachers were participating in different parts of the liturgy, but also by the silent atmosphere that was present in the gym. The surprise was greater for those of us who live in places where the celebratory and sacramental practices are cooler than in our school in Dublin.
Another important aspect of this first congress, especially for the religious men and women who participated in it, was the ability to check the support and involvement of the lay people who work in our schools. Their support and commitment to education assists the Order in the different educational projects that we have in many parts of the world. The vitality and existence of our schools would be endangered without this support and commitment to the continuation of our schools in those countries where there is a decline in the number of religious.
Both in the breaks and in the times of sharing the participants commented on the great opportunity that the congress provided to know each other personally, to know the different educational projects of the Order that are happening and the opportunity that is before us with respect to enrichment that can bring to our students and teachers the reality of the exchanges or visit that can be realized between schools and families of the Carmelite Family.
Personally, I hope and wish that this great educational opportunity will not remain wishful thinking of a moment of euphoria, but that we are truly able to open up personally and make available our facilities for this possibility that many are realizing in centers that have been discovered and are not Carmelite Schools.
Perhaps this experience between us was more enriched, more easily and, in one way, better able to create the reality of our Carmelite family.
Thanks to our Father General for his effort and participation in this Congress as a participant and for his translation work which is especially important for those who do not handle English well.
What stands out finally is the necessity to continue this Congress, perhaps on a regional or national level so that it is not just a passing event. Its continuance would provide an opportunity for a greater number of members of our school communities to participate and this would produce a greater enrichment of our schools.
May Our Lady of Mount Carmel help us reap the fruits of what has undoubtedly been the result of much hard work and dedication of our Father General and the International Commission for the organization and development of the First International Conference of Carmelite Schools.
Br. Daryl Moresco, O.Carm
Ordinarily, a 10th Anniversary may not seem like a very significant event to celebrate, however, it has been ten years since the second edition of the Ratio Institutionis Vitae Carmelitanae (RIVC) was published. The RIVC has been described as the fundamental document for formation in the Order, and as the best document the Order has produced since Vatican II because it heralds a break-through in the understanding and presentation of our Charism. The International Formators’ Course, held in our monastery at Camocin de São Félix, Brazil from August 1st -15th, 2010, marked the occasion. It was time again to revisit and engage in a common reflection on the RIVC and to deepen our commitment to the profound work of formation.
The two week course focused on four main areas of Carmelite Formation: Carmelite Identity and The Role of Formator and Formandi; The Interior Spiritual Journey and The Role of Community; Human Development and The Vows; Internationality, Liturgy Inculturation and Fraternity. The presentations, given by experts in the Order, focused on the existing RIVC text together with new material drafted for inclusion in a new edition. The new material includes improved sections on The Liturgical Life of Community, Work on our Journey, Silence as the Meeting Place with Others, and an Inter-cultural Project.
The course was excellent, enriching and very intense. It was so well planned by the International Formation Commission that each day together was seamless. It was a meeting full of hope for the future as many of the 60+ formators were younger than forty - a sign of new life and vitality in many places. The diversity of cultures, the younger participants and the realization that many of our formators are no longer from Europe highlighted the new and emerging reality among us that the Order has a very different presence in the world than it did ten years ago when the RIVC was first published. This in itself was something to celebrate!
While vocations are plentiful in Africa, Asia, South America and parts of Oceania, sadly, there are very few vocations in Europe and Australia. The course not only highlighted the cross-cultural context in which formation is happening in various parts of the Order, it also drew our attention to the importance and urgency of the international dimension of the Order for our future as we continue to explore the new and exciting challenges that face both formators and formandi.
Each day began with Morning Prayer and Eucharist. The magnificent icon of Christ the Teacher in the newly refurbished chapel at Camoçim, reminded us that He is the way, the truth and the life. We paused for Midday Prayer and then celebrated Evening Prayer at the conclusion of the day’s work. Each meal and social gathering was filled with lively conversation as participants became more and more eloquent in languages other than their own. Building fraternal relationships, sharing our experience of formation ministry, hearing more about the challenges that we face, and being in solidarity with one another, strengthened the bonds and deepened our dialogue each day.
Our “free day” became a day of pilgrimage, visiting several places of major historical significance to Carmel in Brazil. Every place and every community we visited, every meal and every encounter with our Carmelite brothers and sisters and the people they serve was a festive gathering. The hospitality extended to us by our brothers of the Pernambuco Province was extraordinarily generous. We marveled at what awaited us at each place we visited.
Each presentation and discussion provided new insights, fresh challenges and thought-provoking material for formators to consider as we deepened our knowledge and experience of implementing the RIVC. I would like to share some brief extracts from the major talks that continue to resonate with me in the hope that they might encourage you to revisit the RIVC document for further reflection.
1. Internationality and our Cultural Roots: We are not exclusively linked to our cultures, however our culture is essential to each one of us for we are concretely incarnated into it. The challenge is that we cannot be too localized in it or too scattered by this reality. How do we achieve this balance? Prior General
2. Self-Knowledge and Carmelite Identity: A Carmelite is called to a spiritual experience of deep attraction to and love for Jesus Christ, an attraction that commits us to Christ in a journey of transformation. This requires an interior freedom reached only by self-knowledge: to accept and love myself as I am because God loves me and accepts me as I am in the secret that leads the candidate to personal interior freedom which enables him to embrace the God and the value of the Kingdom. Charlò Camilleri (Mel)
3. Formator as Sculptor: The sculptor is one who works with the beauty that is hidden in the stone. The formator liberates the beauty that is hidden in the person. This is a contemplative task in which the formator sees with the eyes of Christ. It recognizes that we begin the work of formation but it is ultimately God’s work for He is at the center. This is a mystagogical process that pervades formation. Desiderio Garcia Martinez (Arag)
4. The Challenge of Silence: Our Rule gives special emphasis to silence in our life as Carmelites. We need to be anchored in it in order to be sustained by God “to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ. It is not a silence that is merely the absence of noise or sound but a silence that is nourished by relationships, a silence that is at the service of one another and God. It is a silence that enables us to find a balance, a way of putting things in order in our living and being with one another and God. Michael Plattig (GerS)
5. Sexuality as Gift from God: That our sexuality is a great source of energy for every person, an energy that moves us into relationship with another because of our desire to connect as human beings. We recognize that both the physiological and psychological grounding needed for our capacity to love is what God desires for each one of us, which enables us to live authentic humanness, not in isolation but deeply connected with others. Quinn Conners (PCM)
6. Internationality, Inculturation and Fraternity: These three elements come together in our Rule. Albert found a way to bring the various countries and places that the early hermits came from into one language, a way of life, a formula vitae. How do we do this today? Inculturation occurs in limited time and space but it is concrete. In the concrete situations and realities that we live, how do we help people discover God’s presence in their lives? Like Elijah on Mount Horeb, we need to rediscover our mission. Fraternity is an attitude of life that permeates everything we do. Carlos Mesters (Flum)
The Carmelite formation process is also called “A Journey of Transformation”. The RIVC invites us all of us, whether we are beginning or well on the way, to continue the journey by pondering this document. No doubt, every participant felt his/her own journey in Carmel being rekindled as we were immersed in it over these days.
Let us take heart and be encouraged by the Prior General’s final words to the participants: We need to know our tradition well. We must make every attempt to bring our tradition into dialogue with the world. When we do this, our tradition will bear much fruit. Putting our tradition of contemplation, prayer and intimacy with the Lord at the service of the Church is crucial to who we profess ourselves to be as Carmelites.
Between the 17th and the 21st of September, at Sassone (Ciampino, Rome) the 5th International Congress for Lay Carmelites, organised by the General Commission and the permanent secretariat for Carmelite Laity, took place. Some 200 people attended, from all parts of the world, with a huge majority of lay people and a sprinkling of friars.
The theme of the Congress was “The Formation of Lay Carmelites for the Apostolate”. The participants were helped in their reflections by a number of friars and lay people who are involved in the formation of lay people. In addition to the formal talks, the participants also heard a number of accounts of personal experiences of apostolic work by lay people in the different countries, and in their group work they had an opportunity to reflect upon and to discuss the themes they had heard.
The intention of the Congress was to offer a missionary thrust, to raise awareness of formation for the apostolate and to instil in the hearts of the participants a new enthusiasm, in the hope that the individual, provincial, regional and local communities might act upon the recommendations that the Congress was able to propose.
Lay Carmelites can have a very effective role in the work of new evangelisation and be, not only a quantitative force in the Order, but also a qualitative one, in helping other members to grow through the charism, wherever God has chosen for them to be.
Lectio Divina October 2012
Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for October
General Intention: New Evangelization. That the New Evangelization may progress in the oldest Christian countries.
Missionary Intention: World Mission Day. That the celebration of World Mission Day may result in a renewed commitment to evangelization.
Lectio Divina October - Octubre - Ottobre 2012
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012
A Meeting of the Provincial Delegates for Lay Carmelites and Lay Provincial Moderators
Written byFrom the 14th to the 15th of September, 2012, on the eve of the 5th International Congress for Lay Carmelites, a meeting of provincial delegates and lay provincial moderators took place at Sassone (Ciampino, Rome). The theme of the meeting was, “Roles and Responsibilities in guiding and motivating lay Carmelites”. The meeting, organised by the General Delegate for Lay Carmelites Fr. Josef Jančář, O.Carm., was seen to be a continuation of the meeting that took place in 2011. More than fifty Carmelites took part, with friars and lay people from all around the world.
Its purpose was to clarify and interpret the respective roles and responsibilities of religious and lay people in accompanying and directing the lay Carmelite movement. From the theological and ecclesiological points of view, Prof. Cettina Militello assisted the reflection by her talk on the autonomy and co-responsibility of lay people. Fr. Sergio La Pegna, D.C. spoke on the theme of the relationship between lay people and consecrated people (altius moderamen, ecc.), particularly from the point of view of common law and the Magisterium after the II Vatican Council. Fr. Giovanni Grosso, O.Carm., dealt with the theme from a practical point of view and with reference to the new Rule of the Third Order.
In addition, the participants enjoyed the opportunity to share their own experiences in group work. The meeting was marked by a fraternal and open atmosphere of dialogue.
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
God of power and mercy,
only with your help
can we offer you fitting service and praise.
May we live the faith we profess
and trust your promise of eternal life.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel reading - Luke 14,15-24
One of those gathered round the table said to Jesus, 'Blessed is anyone who will share the meal in the kingdom of God!' But he said to him, 'There was a man who gave a great banquet, and he invited a large number of people. When the time for the banquet came, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, "Come along: everything is ready now." But all alike started to make excuses.
The first said, "I have bought a piece of land and must go and see it. Please accept my apologies."
Another said, "I have bought five yoke of oxen and am on my way to try them out. Please accept my apologies."
Yet another said, "I have just got married and so am unable to come."
'The servant returned and reported this to his master. Then the householder, in a rage, said to his servant, "Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame."
"Sir," said the servant, "your orders have been carried out and there is still room."
Then the master said to his servant, "Go to the open roads and the hedgerows and press people to come in, to make sure my house is full; because, I tell you, not one of those who were invited shall have a taste of my banquet." '
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today continues the reflection around themes linked to the table and the invitation. Jesus tells the parable of the banquet. Many people had been invited, but the majority did not go. The master of the feast was indignant because of the absence of those who had been invited and then sent his servants to call the poor, the crippled the blind and the lame. And even after that, there was still place. Then he ordered his servant to invite everybody, until his house was full. This parable was a light for the communities of the time of Luke.
• In the communities at the time of Luke there were Christians, who had come from Judaism and Christians who came from the Gentiles, called pagans. Not withstanding the difference in race, class and gender, they lived profoundly the ideal of sharing and of communion (Ac 2, 42; 4, 32; 5, 12). But there were many difficulties because some norms of legal purity prevented the Jews to eat with the pagans. And even after they had entered into the Christian community, some of them kept this old custom of not sitting at table with a pagan. This is the reason why Peter had a conflict with the community of Jerusalem because he entered into the house of Cornelius, a pagan and for having eaten with him (Ac 11, 3). Before these problems of the communities, Luke kept a series of words of Jesus regarding the banquet. (Lk 14, 1-24). The parable on which we are meditating is an image of what was happening in the communities.
• Luke 14, 15: Blessed are those who will eat the bread of the Kingdom of God. Jesus had finished telling two parables: one on the choice of places (Lk 14, 7-11), and the other on the choice of the guests who were invited (Lk 14, 12-14). While listening to this parable someone who was at table with Jesus must have picked up the importance of the teaching of Jesus and must have said: “Blessed are those who eat the bread of the Kingdom of God!” The Jews compared the future time of the Messiah to a banquet, characterized by gratitude and communion (Is 25, 6; 55, 1-2; Sal 22, 27). Hunger, poverty and the lack of so many things made the people hope that in the future they would obtain what they were lacking and did not have at present. The hope of the Messianic goods, usually experienced in banquets, was a perspective of the end of time.
• Luke 14, 16-20: The great banquet is ready. Jesus responds with a parable. There was a man who gave a great banquet and he invited a great number of people”. But the duty of each one prevents the guests from accepting the invitation. The first one says: I have bought a piece of land and must go and see it!” The second I have bought five yoke of oxen and am on my way to try them out!” The third one: “I have just got married and so am unable to come!” In the limits of the law those persons had the right not to accept the invitation (cf. Dt 20, 5-7).
• Luke 14, 21-22: The invitation remains, it is not cancelled. The master of the banquet was indignant in seeing that his invitation had not been accepted. In last instance, the one who is indignant is precisely Jesus because the norms of the strict observance of the law, reduced the space for people to be able to live the gratuity of an invitation to the house of friends, an invitation characterized by the fraternal spirit and by sharing. Thus the master of the feast orders the servants to invite the poor, the blind, the crippled, the lame. Those who were normally excluded because they were considered unclean, are now invited to sit around the table of the banquet.
• Luke 14, 23-24: There is still place. The room is not full. There is still place. Then, the master of the house ordered the servants to invite those passing on the street. Those are the pagans. They are also invited to sit around the table. Thus, in the banquet of the parable of Jesus, everybody sits around the same table, Jews and pagans. At the time of Luke, there were many problems which prevented the realization of this ideal of the common banquet. By means of the parable; Luke shows that the practice of the banquet came precisely from Jesus.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, in the year 70, the Pharisees took over the government in the Synagogues, demanding the rigid fulfilment of the norms which identified them as the Jewish people. The Jews who converted to Christianity were considered a threat, because they destroyed the walls which separated Israel from other people. The Pharisees tried to oblige them to abandon the faith in Jesus. And because they did not succeed, they drove them away from the Synagogues. All this brought about a slow and progressive separation between the Jews and the Christians which was a source of great suffering, especially for the converted Jews (Rm 9,1-5). In the parable, Luke indicates very clearly that these converted Jews were not unfaithful to their people. All the contrary! They are the ones who are invited and accept the invitation. They are the true continuators of Israel. Those who were unfaithful were those who did not accept the invitation and did not want to recognize Jesus the Messiah (Lk 22, 66; Ac 13, 27).
4) Personal questions
• In general, which are the persons who are invited and which are the persons who in general are not invited to our feasts?
• Which are the reasons which today limit the participation of persons in society and in the Church? And which are the reasons that some give to exclude themselves from the community? Are they just reasons?
5) Concluding prayer
Full of splendour and majesty his work,
his saving justice stands firm for ever.
He gives us a memorial of his great deeds;
Yahweh is mercy and tenderness. (Ps 111,3-4)
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Electoral Chapter of the Monastery of Carpineto Romano, Italy
Written byThe Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Carpineto Romano, Italy, was held 21 September 2012. The following were elected:
- Prioress: Sr. M. Paola Ricci, O.Carm.
- 1st Councilor: Sr. M. Noemi Malagesi, O.Carm.
- 2nd Councilor: Sr. M. Emanuela Migliore, O.Carm.
- 3rd Councilor: Sr. M. Agnese Talano, O.Carm.
- 4th Couniclor: Sr. M. Rosa Fois, O.Carm.
- Director of Novices: Sr. M. Emanuela Migliore, O.Carm.
- Treasurer: Sr. Anna Luisa Voltazza, O.Carm.
- Sacristan: Sr. M. Carla Zinno, O.Carm.
Jesus is the Messiah King
He takes us with him into his kingdom of the world to come
We listen to the truth, standing by his throne,
which is the cross
John 18: 33-37
1. Opening prayer
Father, your Word knocked at my door in the night. He was captured, bound, and yet he was still speaking, still calling, and as always he was saying to me: “Arise, hurry up and follow me!” At dawn, I saw him a prisoner of Pilate and, in spite of all the suffering of the passion, of the forsakenness he felt, he knew me and waited for me. Father, let me go with him into the Praetorium where he is accused, condemned to die. This is my life today, my interior world. Yes, every time your Word invites me, it is a little like going into the Praetorium of my heart, a contaminated and contaminating place, awaiting the purifying presence of Jesus. You know that I am afraid, but Jesus is with me, I must not fear any more. I stay, Father, and listen attentively to the truth of your Son speaking to me. I watch and contemplate his actions, his steps. I follow him, such as I am, throughout the life you have given me. Enfold and fill me with your Holy Spirit.
2. Reading
a) Placing this passage in its context:
These few verses help us to further understand the story of the Passion and lead us almost into an intimate relationship with Jesus, in a closed place, set apart, where he is alone, facing Pilate: the Praetorium. He is questioned, he answers, in turn asks, continues to reveal his mystery of salvation and to invite people to come to Him. It is here that Jesus shows that he is king and shepherd; he is bound and crowned while under sentence of death. Here he leads us to the green pastures of his words of truth. This passage is part of a larger section, vv. 28–40, which tells us about the trial of Jesus before the governor. After a whole night of interrogation, beatings, jeers and betrayals, Jesus is handed over to the Roman authority and is condemned to death, but it is in this very death that he reveals himself as Lord, the One who came to give his life, the just One for us unjust, the innocent One for us sinners.
b) An aid to the reading of the passage:
vv.33-34: Pilate goes back into the Praetorium and begins to question Jesus. His first question is “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus does not reply directly but draws Pilate into making it absolutely clear what he means by such kingship, he leads Pilate to think further. King of the Jews means the Messiah and it is as Messiah that Jesus is judged and sentenced.
v.35: In his reply, Pilate seems to despise the Jews, who are clearly the ones accusing Jesus, the high priests and the people, each bearing responsibility, as we read in the prologue: “He came to his own domain, and his own people did not accept him” (Jn 1: 11). Then comes Pilate’s second question to Jesus: “What have you done?”, but he does not get a reply to this question.
v.36: In Jesus’ reply to Pilate’s first question, three times he uses the expression “my kingdom”. Here we have a wonderful explanation as to what really is the kingdom and the kingship of Jesus: it is not of this world, but of the world to come, he does not have guards or servants to fight for him, only the loving committing of his life into his Father’s hands.
v.37: The questioning comes back to the first question and Jesus still answers in the affirmative: “Yes, I am a king”, but goes on to explain his origin and his mission. Jesus was born for us, he was sent for us, to reveal the truth of the Father from whom we have salvation and allow us to listen to his voice and to follow him by being faithful to him all our life.
c) The text:
33 Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?" 35 Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?" 36 Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world." 37 Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice." 38 Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so as to enter into the Praetorium and to listen carefully to each word that comes from the mouth of Jesus.
4. A few questions
To help me draw closer to the king and to hand over to him my whole existence.
a) I look at the movements of Pilate, his wish to make contact with Jesus, even though is not aware of doing so. In my own life, why is it difficult for me to enter into, ask, call and hold a dialogue with the Lord?
b) The Lord wishes to have a personal relationship with me. Am I capable of getting involved or of allowing myself to be drawn into a real, intense, vital relationship with the Lord? And if I am afraid of doing so, why? What is it that separates me from him, that keeps me at a distance from him?
c) “Handed over”. I stop at these words and try to reflect on them, to hold them in my heart and to confront them with my life, my behaviour of every day.
d) Three times Jesus repeats that his kingdom “is not of this world”, and, thus, invites me forcefully to go on to another reality. Once again he upsets me, putting before me another world, another kingdom, another power. What kind of kingdom am I expecting?
e) The final crack of the passage is amazing: “Listen to my voice”. I, who am so absorbed in a thousand tasks, commitments, meetings, where shall I turn my ear to? Whom shall I listen to? Of whom shall I think? Every morning I receive new life, but really to whom do I think I owe this regeneration?
5. A Key to the reading
Jesus, the bound king handed over
In these lines a strong verb stands out, repeated again and again from the beginning of the story of the Passion: it is the verb to hand over, said, here, first by Pilate and then by Jesus. The “handing over of the Christ” is a theological reality, yet at the same time vital, of supreme importance, because it leads us on a journey of wisdom and excellent training. It might be useful to seek out this verb in the pages of Scripture. It first appears that the Father himself handed over Jesus his Son as a gift for all and for all time. In Romans 8: 32 we read: “Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give.” However, I also see that Jesus himself, in the most intimate of fusions with the will of the Father, hands himself over to, offers his life for us, in an act of supreme freely given love. St. Paul says: “Follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place…” (Eph 5, 2. 25), and I also recall the words of Jesus: “I lay down my life for my sheep… No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will” (Jn 10: 15, 18). Thus, above and beyond all handings over lies this voluntary handing over, which is purely a gift of love. In the Gospels we see the evil handing over of Judas, properly called the traitor, that is, the one who “hands over”, the one who said to the high priests: “What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?” (Mt 26, 15); see also Jn 12: 4; 18: 2. 5. Then it is the Jews who hand over Jesus to Pilate: “If he were not a criminal, we should not be handing him over to you” (Jn 18: 30, 35) and it is Pilate who represents the gentiles, as Jesus had said before: “The Son of Man… will be handed over to the pagans” (Mk 10: 33). Finally Pilate hands him over to the Jews to be crucified (Jn 19: 16). I contemplate these passages, I see my king bound, chained, as John the Evangelist tells me in 18: 12 and 18: 24. I go down on my knees, I bow before him and ask the Lord for the courage to follow these dramatic yet wonderful passages that are like a hymn of the love of Jesus for us, his “yes” repeated to infinity for our salvation. The Gospel takes me gently into this unique night, when Jesus is handed over for me, as Bread, as Life made flesh, as entirely love. “On the same night he was betrayed [handed over], the Lord Jesus took some bread… and he said: This is my body, which is for you” (1 Cor 11: 23). Then I begin to understand that happiness for me is hidden even in these chains, these knots, with Jesus, with the great king, and that it is hidden in these passages, which speak of one handing over after another, to the will of God and to the love of my Father.
Jesus, the Messiah king
The dialogue between Jesus and Pilate: in this strange and mysterious questioning, what stands out is that, at first, Pilate calls Jesus “king of the Jews” and later only “king”, as though there was a process, whereby he comes to a fuller and truer understanding of the Lord Jesus. “King of the Jews” is a formula used with a very rich meaning by the Jewish people of that time, and it contains the basis, the nucleus of the faith in the expectation of Israel: it clearly signifies the Messiah. Jesus is questioned and judged on whether he is or is not the Messiah. Jesus is the Messiah of the Lord, his Anointed, his Consecrated, he is the servant sent into the world for this, to fulfil in his person and in his life all that the prophets, the law and the psalms had said concerning him. Words that speak of persecution, of suffering, of weeping, wounds and blood, words of death for Jesus, for the Anointed of the Lord, for the one who is our breath and in whose shadow we shall live among the nations, as the prophet Jeremiah says in Lam 4: 20; words that speak of pitfalls, of insurrections, conspiracies (Ps 2: 2) and snares. We see him disfigured, as a man of suffering, unrecognisable except by that love, which, like him, knows suffering only too well. “For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ!” (Acts 2: 36). Yes, my king is a bound king, a king handed over, cast aside, despised; he is a king anointed for battle, but anointed to lose, to sacrifice himself, to be crucified, to be immolated like a lamb. This is the Messiah: the king whose throne is the cross, whose purple is his blood poured out, whose palace is the hearts of men and women, poor like him, but made rich and consoled by a continuous resurrection. These are our times, the times of consolation by the Lord, when he sends the Lord Jesus all the time, the Jesus whom he destined to be our Messiah.
Jesus, the martyr king
“I came to witness to the truth”, says Jesus, using a very strong term, which, in Greek, contains the meaning of martyrdom. A witness is a martyr, one who affirms by his life, his blood, everything that he is and has, the truth that he believes. Jesus witnesses to the truth, which is the Word of the Father (Jn 17: 17) and he gives his life for this Word. Life for life, word for word, love for love. Jesus is the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation (Rev 3: 14); in him there is only “yes”, for ever and from the beginning, and in this “yes” he offers us the whole truth of the Father, of himself, of the Spirit, and in this truth, in this light, he makes of us his kingdom. “They who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love” (Wis 3: 8-9). I do not seek further words, I only stay near the Lord, on his breast, like John on that night. Thus he becomes my breath, my sight, my “yes” pronounced to the Father, to my brothers and sisters, in witness of my love. He is the faithful one, the one present, the Truth that I listen to and by whom I let myself be transformed.
6. Psalm 21 (20)
A hymn of thanksgiving for the victory,
which comes from God
Ref. Great is your love for us, Lord!
In thy strength the king rejoices, O Lord;
and in thy help how greatly he exults!
Thou hast given him his heart's desire,
and hast not withheld the request of his lips.
For thou dost meet him with goodly blessings;
thou dost set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
He asked life of thee; thou gavest it to him,
length of days for ever and ever.
His glory is great through thy help;
splendour and majesty thou dost bestow upon him.
Yea, thou dost make him most blessed for ever;
thou dost make him glad with the joy of thy presence.
For the king trusts in the Lord;
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.
Be exalted, O Lord, in thy strength!
We will sing and praise thy power.
7. Closing prayer
Father, I praise you, I bless you, I thank you that you have led me together with your Son, Jesus, into Pilate’s Praetorium, into this foreign and hostile land, and yet a land of revelation and of light. Only you, in your infinite love, can transform every distance and every darkness into a place of encounter and life.
Thank you for bringing about the time of consolation, when you sent your Lamb, seated on the throne, a sacrificed yet living king. His blood is life-giving dewdrops, anointing of salvation. Thank you because He always speaks and sings to me your truth, which is all love and mercy. I would like to be an instrument in the hands of my king, Jesus, to pass on to all the consoling notes of your Word.
Father, today I have listened to you in this Gospel. Please grant that my ears may never tire of listening to you, to you Son, to your Spirit. Grant that I may be born again from truth so that I may give witness to truth.
Last Discourse
Mark 13:24-32
1. Opening prayer
Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of Your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavor of the holy memory.
2. Lectio
a) The text:
Jesus said to his disciples: "In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken." 
And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. "Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
b) A moment of silence:
Let the sound of the Word echo in us.
3. Meditatio
a) A few questions:
- After that tribulation. Life bears the signs of labor, the seal of a death pregnant with new life. Can we count ourselves among the elect gathered from the four winds?
- The Son of man coming in the clouds: Will we be capable of raising our eyes from our miserable things so as to see Him coming on the horizon of our story?
- From the fig tree learn: We have so much to learn and we need not look far. Nature is the first book of God. Are we willing to go through its pages or do we tear its pages, thinking that we own it?
- All things pass away; only the Word of God remains forever. How many are the vain words, the dreams and pleasures inexorably swallowed by time that carries away everything that has an end! Is the rock on which we have built our lives the rock of the Word of the living God?
- Of that day or that hour no one knows: it is not for us to know. The Father knows. Are we open to putting our trust in Him?
b) A key to the reading:
The great change of the cosmos described by Mark lies between metaphor and reality and proclaims the imminence of the end of time as an introduction to an immensely new world. The coming of the Son in the clouds opens up for humanity a heavenly dimension. He is not an intransigent judge, but a powerful Savior who appears in the splendor of divine glory to reunite the elect, to make them share in eternal life in the blessed reign of heaven. Mark does not mention a judgment, threat or sentence…so as to bring hope and increase the expectation, he proclaims the final victory.
v. 24-25. After that tribulation the sun will be darkened… a new reality is contrasted with the great tribulation. The Evangelist thinks that the parousia is near at hand, even though the hour of its coming is uncertain. The confusion of the cosmos is described in terms typical of apocalyptic language, in a stylized and accurate form: the four elements are ranged two by two in a parallel manner. The reference to Isa 13:10 is clear when he speaks of the sun and the moon being darkened and to Isa 34:4 when he speaks of the shaking of the powers in heaven.
v. 26. Then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. This is the peak of Mark’s eschatological discourse. The time of expectation is over; this is the time for restoring everything in Christ. The end of the world is no more than the promise of the glorious parousia of the Son foreseen by Dan 7:13. The clouds point to the presence of God who in all His self-revelations uses clouds to come down to earth. The attributes of divine sovereignty, power and glory, mentioned by Jesus before the Sanhedrin (Mk 14:62) are not a threat to humankind, but the solemn proclamation of the messianic dignity that transcends the humanity of Christ.
v. 27. And then He will send out the angels, and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of heaven. By this first act of the Son of man, the meaning of the true parousia is made clear: the eschatological salvation of the people of God spread throughout the world. All the elect will be reunited. No one will be forgotten. There is no mention of punishment of enemies nor of punitive catastrophes, but only of unification. It will be the only place because from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven the angels will gather people around Christ. This, indeed, is a glorious meeting.
v. 28. From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. The parable of the fig tree points to the certainty and nearness of the proclaimed events, especially the coming of the Son of Man, prefigured in the imminent passion, death and resurrection. The imperative addressed to the listeners, Learn!, reveals the implied meaning of the similitude: it is an invitation to penetrate deeply into the meaning of Jesus’ words in order to understand God’s plan for the world. When the fig tree loses its leaves in late autumn, later than other plants, even past springtime, it announces the coming of summer.
v. 29. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that He is near, at the very gates. Human beings may know God’s plan from the events that take place. What are the things that have to take place? Mark spoke of the abomination of desolation in v. 14. That is the sign, the sign of the end that is the parousia, the coming of the Son of man. Those things that are the beginning of woes will bring humankind to a new birth, because He is near, at the very gates.
v. 30. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before these things take place. Many hypotheses have been put forward concerning the meaning of this generation. It is more a Christological expression than a chronological affirmation. The early Church kept affirming the uncertainty of the precise moment, even though it held on to the hope that the Lord would come soon. Every believer, in any age, who reads this passage, can think of him/herself as being part of this generation.
v. 31. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. The certainty that the words of the Lord will never pass away adds confidence to whoever reflects on the decline of the world and the things of the world. To build on the Word of God means that the abomination of desolation will not last and that the sun, moon and stars will not lose their splendor. The present time of God becomes for human beings the only way to their own being because, if in their speech the present never becomes the past, then they need not fear death.
v. 32. But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. The end is certain, but the knowledge as to when it will come is reserved to the Father. Jesus never made any precise statement on this matter. Thus, anyone who pretends to have some presumed teaching of his own is lying. The end is one of the many unfathomable secrets that belong to the Father. The mission of the Son is to establish the kingdom, not the revelation of the fulfillment of human history. Thus Jesus shares deeply in our human condition. Through His voluntary kenosis, He even complies with the possibility of not knowing the day or the hour of the end of the world.
c) Reflections:
Tribulation is like daily bread in human life and it is the sign of the coming of the Son of God. A life pregnant with a new face cannot not know the pain of childbirth. The children of the Most High, dispersed to the ends of the earth, far from one another, will be gathered from the four winds by the divine breath that breathes over the earth. The Son of Man comes in the clouds, whereas our eyes are fixed on the ground, on our puny works, lost between the tears of delusion and those of failure. If we could raise our eyes from our miserable things to see Him coming on the horizon of our history, then our life will be filled with light and we shall learn to read His writing in the sand of our thoughts and will, of our falls and dreams, of our attitudes and learning. If we have the courage to leaf through the pages of daily life and there gather the seeds fallen into the furrows of our being, then our hearts will find peace. Then vain words, pleasures swallowed by time, will only be a lost memory because the rock on which we would have built will be the rock of the Word of the living God. If no one knows the day or the hour, then it is not for us to go guessing. The Father knows and we trust in Him.
4. Oratio
Wisdom 9:1-6, 9-11
O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy,
who hast made all things by Thy Word,
and by Thy wisdom hast formed man,
to have dominion over the creatures Thou hast made,
and rule the world in holiness and righteousness,
and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul,
give me the wisdom that sits by Thy throne,
and do not reject me from among Thy servants.
For I am Thy slave and the son of Thy maidservant,
a man who is weak and short-lived,
with little understanding of judgment and laws;
for even if one is perfect among the sons of men,
yet without the wisdom that comes from Thee
he will be regarded as nothing.
With Thee is wisdom,
who knows Thy works and was present when Thou didst make the world,
and who understand what is pleasing in Thy sight
and what is right according to Thy commandments.
Send her forth from the holy heavens,
and from the throne of Thy glory send her,
that she may be with me and toil,
and that I may learn what is pleasing to Thee.
For she knows and understands all things,
and she will guide me wisely in my actions
and guard me with her glory.
5. Contemplatio
Lord, I gaze upon the tender branch of the fig tree that is my life and I wait. As the shadows of evening lengthen along my path, I think back on Your words. What peace floods my heart when my thoughts dwell on You! In Your own good time, my waiting for You will be fulfilled. In my time Your expectations of me will be fulfilled. What a mystery is time, past, future and the eternal present! Today’s waves break on the burning experience of Your presence and remind me of games in the sand that are always washed away by the sea. And yet, I am happy - happy that I am nothing, happy with the sand that will not last, because once more Your Word goes on writing. We seek to pause in time, writing and talking, achieving excellent works that stand the ravages of centuries. You, however, pause to write on sand to achieve works of love that have the perfume of a caressed gazelle standing still, that have the sound of formless voices that are the basis of daily life, the taste of a doused vendetta of a returned embrace… works that do not last except in the heart of God and in the memory of the living who are sensitive to the flight of a dove in the heaven of their existence. Tender love of my soul, may I, each day, look up to the clouds and be consumed by the nostalgia of Your return. Amen.
Jesus, the Scribes and the widow
The different way of accounting in the Kingdom of God
Mark 12:38-44
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in creation and in the scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
The Gospel text of this Sunday presents us with two opposing but connected facts: on the one hand, we have Jesus criticizing the scribes who used religion to exploit poor widows; and on the other hand, we have the example of the poor widow who gave to the temple even what she had to live on. These facts are relevant even today!
b) A division of the text to help with the reading:
Mark 12:38-40: Jesus criticizes the exploitation of the scribes
Mark 12:41-42: Jesus watches people who place their alms in the treasury of the temple
Mark 12:43-44: Jesus reveals the value of the poor widow’s action
c) Text:
In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. 
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation." He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood." or Mk 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What pleased or struck you most in this text? Why?
b) What does Jesus criticize and what does He praise in the doctors of the law?
c) What social and religious imbalances of that period do we find in the text?
d) How is it that the widow’s two coins are of more value than the great amount put in by the rich? Look carefully at the text and see what follows. Why does Jesus praise the poor widow?
e) What message does this text convey to us today?
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme
a) Yesterday’s and today’s context:
● The context in Jesus’ time.
Mark’s text 12:38-44 recounts the last part of Jesus’ activities in Jerusalem (Mk 11:1 to 12:44). Those were very intense days, full of conflicts: the driving out of the sellers in the temple (Mk 11:12-26), many discussions with the authorities: (Mk 11:27 to 12:12), with the Pharisees, with the Herodians and the Sadducees (Mk 12:13-27) and with the doctors of the law (Mk 12:28-37). This Sunday’s text (Mk 12:38-44) reports a final word of criticism by Jesus concerning the bad behavior of the doctors of the law (Mk 12:38-40) and a word of praise for the good behavior of the widow. Almost at the end of His activities in Jerusalem, Jesus sits in front of the treasury where people were putting their alms for the temple. Jesus draws the disciples’ attention to the action of a poor widow and teaches them the value of sharing (Mk 12:41-44).
● The context in Mark’s time.
During the first forty years of the Church’s history, from the 30’s to the 70’s, the Christian communities, for the most part, were made up of poor people (1Cor 1:26). Later some rich people or those who had various problems joined them. The social tensions that existed in the Roman Empire began to be felt in the life of the communities. For instance, divisions came to the fore when the communities came together to celebrate the Lord’s supper (1Cor 11:20-22), or when they met together (Jas 2:1-4). Thus, the teaching concerning the action of the widow was very real for them. It was like looking into a mirror, because Jesus compares the behavior of the rich to that of the poor.
● Today’s context.
Jesus praises the poor widow because she could share more than the rich people did. Many poor today do the same. People say, “The poor never allow another poor person to die of hunger.” But sometimes even this is not true. Donna Cícera, a poor lady who went from the country to the periphery of a great city used to say, “In the country, I was very poor, but I always had something to share with another poor person who knocked on my door. Now that I am in the city, when I see a poor person who knocks on my door, I hide for shame because I have nothing to share!” Thus we see on the one hand rich people who have everything, and on the other poor people who have almost nothing to share, and yet share the little they have.
b) A commentary on the text:
Mark 12:38-40: Jesus criticizes the doctors of the law.
Jesus draws His disciples’ attention to the hypocritical and exploiting behavior of some doctors of the law. “doctors” or scribes were those who taught people the law of God. But they taught it only by word, because their lives witnessed to the opposite. They liked going about the squares wearing long tunics, accepting the greetings of people, taking first places in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. In other words, they were people who wished to appear important. They used their knowledge and their profession as a means of climbing the social ladder and of enriching themselves, and not for serving. They liked to visit widows and recite long prayers in exchange for money! Jesus ends by saying, “The more severe will be the sentence they receive!”
Mark 12:41-42: The almsgiving of the widow.
Jesus and the disciples were seated in front of the treasury of the temple and watched people placing their alms in the treasury. The poor gave a few cents, the rich put in bills of great value. The treasury became full. All gave something for the upkeep of the cult, to support the priests and for the maintenance of the temple. Some of the money was used to help the poor, since in those days there was no social security. The poor depended on public charity. The neediest among the poor were the orphans and widows. They had nothing. They completely depended on the charity of others. But, even though they had nothing, they made an effort to share with others the little they had. Thus, a very poor widow places her alms in the treasury, just a few cents!
Mark 12:43-44: Jesus shows us where to find God’s will.
What is of greater value: the few cents of the widow or the thousand coins of the rich? For the disciples, the thousand coins of the rich were far more useful to perform acts of charity than the widow’s few cents. They thought that peoples’ problems could be solved by means of a lot of money. On the occasion of the multiplication of the loaves, they said to Jesus, “Are we to go and spend two hundred denarii on bread for them to eat?” (Mk 6:37) Indeed, for those who think this way, the two cents of the widow are of no use. But Jesus says, “This poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury”. Jesus has different criteria. In calling the attention of the disciples to the action of the widow, He teaches them and us where we must look for the manifestation of God’s will, that is, in sharing. If today we shared the goods that God has placed in the universe for the whole of humanity, there would be neither poverty nor hunger. There would be enough for all and there would be some left over for others.
c) Further information: Almsgiving, sharing, wealth
The practice of almsgiving was very important for the Jews. It was considered a “good work” (Mt 6:1-4), because the law of the Old Testament said: “There will never cease to be poor people in the country, and that is why I am giving you this command: Always be open handed with your brother, and with anyone in your country who is in need and poor” (Deut 15:11). Alms placed in the treasury, whether for the cult or for the maintenance of the temple or for those in need, orphans and widows, were considered an act pleasing to God. Almsgiving was a way of sharing with others, a way of recognizing that all goods and gifts belong to God and that we are but administrators of these gifts, so that there may be abundance in this life for all.
It was from the book of Exodus that the people of Israel learned the importance of almsgiving, of sharing. The forty years’ journey in the desert was necessary to overcome the desire for accumulation that came from the Pharaoh of Egypt and that was well implanted in the minds of the people. It was easy to leave Pharaoh’s country. It was difficult to free oneself of Pharaoh’s mentality. The ideology of the great is false and deceiving. It was necessary to experience hunger in the desert so to learn that what is necessary for life is for all. This is what the manna teaches: “No one who had collected more had too much, no one who had collected less had too little” (Ex 16:18).
But the tendency to accumulate was there all the time and was very strong. And it constantly reappears in the human heart. It is precisely because of this tendency to accumulate that the great empires in the history of humanity were formed. The desire to possess and to accumulate is at the very heart of the ideology of these human empires or kingdoms. Jesus points to the conversion required to enter the Kingdom of God. He says to the rich young man, “Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor” (Mk 10:21). This same requirement is echoed in the other Gospels: “Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it” (Lk 12:33-34; Mt 6:9-20). Then Jesus adds the reason for this demand: “For wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too”.
The practice of sharing, of almsgiving and of solidarity is one of the marks of the Spirit of Jesus, given to us on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13), and that He wishes to make present in the communities. The result of the outpouring of the Spirit is precisely this: “None of the members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from the sale of them, to present it to the apostles” (Acts 4:34-35ª; 2:44-45). These alms received by the apostles were not accumulated but were rather “then distributed to any who might be in need” (Acts 4:35b; 2:45).
On the one hand, the arrival of rich people into the communities made it possible to expand Christianity, because these offered better conditions to the missionary movement. However, on the other hand, the accumulation of goods blocked the movement of solidarity and sharing inspired by the force of the Spirit of Pentecost. James wishes to help such people to understand that they had gone the wrong way: “Well now you rich! Lament, weep for the miseries that are coming to you. Your wealth is rotting, your clothes are all moth-eaten.” (Jas 5:1-3). We all need to become students of that poor widow who shared what she had to live on, so as to learn the way to the Kingdom (Mk 12:41-44).
6. Praying a Psalm 62 (61)
God is strength and love
In God alone there is rest for my soul,
from Him comes my safety;
He alone is my rock, my safety,
my stronghold so that I stand unshaken.
How much longer will you set on a victim,
all together, intent on murder,
like a rampart already leaning over,
a wall already damaged?
Trickery is their only plan,
deception their only pleasure,
with lies on their lips they pronounce a blessing,
with a curse in their hearts.
Rest in God alone, my soul!
He is the source of my hope.
He alone is my rock,
my safety, my stronghold,
so that I stand unwavering.
In God is my safety and my glory,
the rock of my strength.
In God is my refuge;
trust in Him, you people, at all times.
Pour out your hearts to Him,
God is a refuge for us.
Ordinary people are a mere puff of wind,
important people a delusion;
set both on the scales together,
and they are lighter than a puff of wind.
Put no trust in extortion,
no empty hopes in robbery;
however much wealth may multiply,
do not set your heart on it.
Once God has spoken,
twice have I heard this:
Strength belongs to God,
to You, Lord, faithful love;
and You repay everyone as their deeds deserve.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
