Salmo - DOMINGO XI DO TEMPO COMUM do Ano A do P. Manuel Luís

Psalm - ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, Year A, by Fr. Manuel Luís Liturgical and musical analysis. The first reading is taken from the Book of Exodus: Context of the first reading: "The text proposed to us is part of the 'traditions about the Sinai covenant' – a set of traditions of diverse origin, whose common denominator is the reflection on a commitment ("berit" – "covenant") that Israel would have assumed with Yahweh. ....... ....... It is in the light of this legal framework that Israel will represent its commitment to Yahweh." cf. dehonianos.org Liturgical Reflection: "Note, first of all, that the initiative of the “covenant” is God's: it is Yahweh who summons Moses – the intermediary between God and the People – to the mountain and proposes, through him, a “covenant” to the “house of Jacob”. The initiative to establish bonds of communion and familiarity with his People is always God's. ....... .......Here we discover the fundamental meaning of the Exodus: the liberation from Egypt is not simply about taking a people out of slavery to freedom: the journey that Yahweh began with this People in Egypt points to a commitment to God and to humankind; it points to the construction of a People who not only conquer their freedom but become witnesses of God, signs of God, priests of God in the midst of the world." cf. dehonianos.org The second reading is taken from the Epistle of the Apostle Saint Paul to the Romans: Context of the second reading: "The Letter to the Romans – as we have already said – is a serene and mature text, written by Paul around the year 57/58, in which the apostle presents a synthesis of his message and his preaching. The pretext for the letter is a planned passage through Rome, on the way to Spain (cf. Rom 16:23-24): Paul feels that he has finished his mission in the East and wants to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus in the West. ....... ....... The text proposed to us is the final part of a pericope that begins in Rom 5:1. In this pericope, Paul explains what springs from this “justification” that God has offered us: firstly, peace, which is the fullness of good things (cf. Rom 5:1); secondly, hope, which allows us to walk through this world with our heads held high, with our eyes fixed on The glorious future of life in its fullness (cf. Rom 5:2-4)." cf. dehonianos.org Liturgical reflection: "Thirdly (and so we finally arrive at the text proposed to us today as the second reading), being "justified" (that is, receiving, in a completely gratuitous way, an undeserved salvation) implies discovering how much God loves us. God's love for humankind is, for Paul, something that will never cease to "astonish" him; and it is this "astonishment" that he seeks to convey to Christians in the following lines… ....... ....... Paul further adds: and if God loved us in this way when we were sinners, with much more reason will He love us now that we are reconciled with Him. This love that nothing and no one will be able to extinguish is for us a guarantee of life in its fullness." cf. dehonianos.org The psalm says the following: We are the people of God, we are the sheep of his flock. We are the people of God. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. For the Lord is good; his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.   / 497384921146112