Renewing the Consecration of the United States to the Care of Our Blessed Mother (5.1.2020)

As the world continues to face the ongoing effects of the global pandemic of the coronavirus, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and president of the USCCB has announced that the U.S. bishops will join the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on May 1 in renewing the consecrations of the two nations to the care of our Blessed Mother. This is a reminder to the faithful of the Blessed Mother’s witness to the Gospel and to ask for her effective intercession before her Son on behalf of those in need. This prayer reaffirms and renews previous Marian entrustments, and it unites us in solidarity with our Holy Father, who recently established the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, as a source of protection and strength.

PRAYER OF RENEWAL OF OUR

CONSECRATION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Let us now entrust our country and ourselves once again to the

Virgin Mary’s care:

Most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church,

you are the fairest fruit of God’s redeeming love;

you sing of the Father’s mercy

and accompany us with a mother’s love.

In this time of pandemic we come to you,

our sign of sure hope and comfort.

Today we renew the act of consecration 

and entrustment carried out by those who

have gone before us.

With the love of a Mother and Handmaid,

embrace our nation which we entrust 

and consecrate once again to you,

together with ourselves and our families.

With the love of a Mother and Handmaid,

embrace this diocese which we entrust 

and consecrate once again to you,

together with ourselves and our families.

With the love of a Mother and Handmaid,

embrace this parish which we entrust 

and consecrate once again to you,

together with ourselves and our families.

With the love of a Mother and Handmaid,

embrace us as we renew our consecration to you,

together with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In a special way we commend to you

those particularly in need of your maternal care.

Mary, Health of the Sick,

sign of health, of healing, 

and of divine hope for the sick,

we entrust to you all who are infected 

with the coronavirus.

Mary, Mother of Consolation,

who console with a mother’s love all 

who turn to you,

we entrust to you all those who have lost 

loved ones in the pandemic.

Mary, Help of Christians,

who come to our rescue in every trial,

we entrust to your loving 

protection all caregivers.

Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy,

who embrace all those who call 

upon your help in their distress,

we entrust to you all who are suffering 

in any way from the pandemic.

Mary, Seat of Wisdom,

who were so wonderfully filled 

with the light of truth,

we entrust to you all who are working 

to find a cure to this pandemic.

Mary, Mother of Good Counsel,

who gave yourself wholeheartedly to God’s plan 

for the renewing of all

things in Christ,

we entrust to you all leaders and policymakers.

Accept with the benevolence of a Mother

the act of consecration that we make 

today with confidence,

and help us to be your Son’s instruments

for the healing and salvation 

of our country and the world.

Mary, Mother of the Church,

you are enthroned as queen at your Son’s right hand:

we ask your intercession for the needs of our country,

that every desire for good may be blessed and strengthened,

that faith may be revived and nourished,

hope sustained and enlightened,

charity awakened and animated;

guide us, we pray, along the path of holiness.

Mary our Mother,

bring everyone under your protection

and entrust everyone to your beloved Son, 

Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray.

Bestow the grace of your kindness

upon your supplicant people, O Lord,

that, formed by you, their creator,

and restored by you, their sustainer,

through your constant action they may be saved.

Amen.

REGINA CAELI

Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia.

Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.

Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia.

Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.

The Son whom you merited to bear, alleluia,

has risen as he said, alleluia.

Pray for us to God, alleluia.

...

Friday of the Third Week of Easter (5.1.2020)

READINGS OF THE DAY

According to Luke’s version of Jesus’ birth, he came into the world in the gritty, humble, unexpected place of a stable. Surrounded by the warm, stinky bodies of animals, his parents Mary and Joseph laid him in a manger- a trough out of which animals would feed.  What a poetic foreshadowing of what we now hear from Jesus himself in today’s Gospel from John! “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life…” “For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink…” “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him…” In seven short verses, Jesus says something about eating six times. It is no wonder, if you ask me, that the “Jews quarreled among themselves” upon hearing all of this. These statements are bold, confusing and, like the place where Jesus was born: gritty! For sure the Lord is inviting us today for a deeply intimate and profoundly personal encounter. He wants us to both consume and to be consumed by Him, but that requires trust and vulnerability. We like to be the ones in control and he is asking that we humbly surrender our very essence into his substance! By the basic, bodily act of eating, Jesus seems to desire a consubstantial relationship with the human family.  It is on us, then, to accept this invitation through faith and action. Where in our daily routines do we find Jesus and how do we absorb and digest what he has to offer us? Let us think about it! • AE

LECTURAS DEL DÍA

Es el primer día de Mayo, el mes de María, en muchos sitios se celebra a san José obrero y la liturgia nos presenta unas lecturas preciosas. Por una parte, la conversión de Saulo y, por otra, la parte final del hermosísimo Discurso del Pan de Vida. Hoy, ¿con quién nos identificamos, con Saulo o con Ananías? Saulo, hombre de firmes convicciones religiosas, empeñado en combatir lo que él considera una secta. Un hombre que de pronto es cegado por un resplandor e interpelado por una voz pero que deberá morir a ego y a su ceguera interior para poder acceder a una nueva comprensión de la realidad. ¿Cuántas veces estamos tan obcecados con nuestra visión de las cosas (o prejuicios) que nos creemos en posesión de la verdad y no oímos ni a Dios? Ananías, también era religioso, aunque distinto: discípulo de Jesús, que no se niega explícitamente a cumplir la voluntad de Dios, pero que no se resiste a poner en antecedentes a Dios... ¡como si Dios no supiera quién era Saulo! ¿Cuántas veces ponemos “peros” a la voluntad de Dios o nos hacemos los remolones porque lo que Él nos pide parece no tener sentido o porque nos cuesta llevarlo a cabo? Al final lo que importa es que ambos personajes confían, y por eso pueden abandonar sus actitudes previas. ¡Qué buen ejemplo para nosotros! La invitación de hoy es a vivir en plenitud, para lo cual hemos de comer la carne y beber la sangre del Señor. Y esto no significa sólo celebrar la eucaristía con relativa frecuencia y comulgar, sino entender que ésta es un don que comunica su amor y su vida (el Espíritu), lo cual nos debe llevar a renovar nuestro compromiso, nuestra vocación, de en todo momento entregar nuestra vida a los demás desde el amor. Sólo dando vida-amor, como Él hizo, viviremos en plenitud. Por eso, dejemos atrás nuestras cegueras y nuestros miedos, y ¡seamos auténticos generadores de vida! • AE

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter (4.30.2020)

READINGS OF THE DAY

Today’s readings begin with the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. We never learn his name, but what an interesting fellow he must have been! Instead of worshipping the gods of his own country and people, he journeyed to Jerusalem to worship God.  On the way back home he is reading Isaiah on a scroll. He was not only pious and learned, he was also curious! He was reading the book of Isaiah (chapter 53) which contains the suffering servant narrative. This story beautifully illustrates the saying that “opportunity favors a prepared mind”. Philip’s presence nearby and the Holy Spirit’s prompting came at a time when this man was open to Philip’s words.  After baptism, he went on his way rejoicing – and I guess that Philip did too! We have sensed that God is patiently drawing us toward a future and hope that is rooted in His Son Jesus Christ, who is the bread of life we read about in today’s gospel. Are we prepared to recognize the divine stuff happening all around us?  God is calling us to journey with him. Preparation and curiosity are needed, as well as patience and endurance. Let us journey on and be taught by God as we go on our way rejoicing • AE

…

LECTURASDEL DÍA

Georges Rouault, Miserere, tinta sobre papel.

Editor: Société d’Édition l’Étoile Filante, Paris, 1948. 

Este relato del encuentro entre Felipe y el ministro de la reina de Etiopía es un prodigio catequético y literario muy parecido al relato de los discípulos de Emaús que escuchamos en la liturgia de la Palabra el pasado domingo (III de Pascua). Esta es la primera vez que se anuncia el evangelio a un extranjero. Los frutos de la “dispersión” causada por la muerte de Esteban comienzan ya a hacerse visibles. Lo más fascinante es que el relato tiene una estructura sacramental: hay liturgia de la Palabra y liturgia sacramental (en este caso, rito del bautismo), en otras palabras: es un precioso reflejo del proceso de iniciación cristiana que pronto se empezó a vivir en las primeras comunidades cristianas. Lo que comienza siendo un encuentro en el desierto termina como un momento junto al agua. Este encuentro impulsa al nuevo cristiano (¡no sabemos su nombre!) a seguir su viaje lleno de alegría. Lo que aquel hombre no entiende del libro de Isaías es lo mismo que no comprendían los discípulos de Emaús: el escándalo de un Mesías sufriente, el dolor del Siervo de Yahvé. Nosotros, como aquel hombre, también deberíamos ponernos en camino, abiertos a compartir con la Palabra de Dios, pero para ésto necesitamos ¡ay! simplificar las cosas, volver a lo esencial, dejar a un lado interminables itinerarios que desgastan y hacen perder la paciencia y la alegría y dejarnos alcanzar por Jesus y su gracia • AE 

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church (4.29.2020)

READINGS OF THE DAY

Do we really think that God is indifferent to our sufferings? And yet, so often, we “refuse to believe” in the tender love that God has for each one of us. In hiding himself in the Eucharist, God manifests the incredible lengths He will go to in order to satiate our thirst and our hunger. But what thirst and hunger are these? Ultimately it is the hunger and thirst for “eternal life”. Physical hunger and thirst is only a pale reflection of a deep desire each man has for a divine life that only Christ can give us. «This is the will of the Father, that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall live with eternal life». And what must we do to obtain this eternal life we so desire? Some heroic, superhuman feat? No, it is something much simpler for Jesus says: «Whoever comes to me, I shall not turn away». We simply have to turn up – to come to Him! These words of Christ spur us to come to him daily in Mass. This is the easiest thing in the world: simply to turn up at Mass, pray and then receive his Body. Once we do this, we not only possess this new life, but we radiate it to others. Our Holy Father Pope Francis, the then Cardinal Bergoglio, said in a Corpus Christi homily: «How beautiful it is, after receiving Holy Communion, to think of our lives as a prolonged Mass in which we bring the fruit of the presence of the Lord to the world of families, to the housing estates, to our study and work; thus we will also come to think of our life as a daily preparation for the Eucharist, in which the Lord takes everything that is ours and offers it once again to the Father» • AE

…

LECTURAS DEL DIA

Giovanni di Paolo, Los desposorios místicos de Santa Catalina de Siena;

tempera y oro sobre madera, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) 

El Señor se presenta hoy en el evangelio como el pan de vida y nos muestra el sentido de su misión: salvar al hombre y darle vida. Por esta razón y para perpetuar su acción salvadora y su presencia entre nosotros él mismo se ha hecho para nosotros alimento de vida. El Padre hace posible que creamos en el Hijo y nos acerquemos a Él. Acerquémonos, pues, con fe a Aquel que ha querido ser nuestro alimento, nuestra luz y nuestra vida, ya que «la fe es el principio de la verdadera vida», como decía san Ignacio de Antioquía. Hoy el Señor renueva su invitación a seguirlo, a alimentarnos de Él, dado que esto es lo que significa verlo y creer en Él, y también a hacer la voluntad del Padre, tal como Él la lleva a cabo. Al enseñar a los discípulos la oración de los hijos de Dios, el Padrenuestro, colocó seguidas estas dos peticiones: «Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo. Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día». Este pan no sólo se refiere al alimento material, sino a sí mismo, alimento de vida eterna, con quien debemos permanecer unidos día tras día con la cohesión profunda que nos da el Espíritu Santo. ¡Mucho para pensar esta mañana en la que, también, recordamos a la gran Catalina de Siena! • AE

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter (4.28.2020)

READINGS OF THE DAY

In this morning’s gospel reading, the people ask Jesus what sign he will give to show them that they should believe in him, in spite of the fact that he had just fed them with bread and fish in the wilderness. Jesus does not answer their question. He does not meet their demand. We cannot make demands on Jesus which have to be met before we believe in him. Our relationship with him does not work in that way. The crowd were trying to bargain with Jesus: "Do one more sign and we will believe in you". We cannot bargain with the Lord in that way. Instead of granting the crowd’s request, Jesus declares himself to be the bread of life and promises that those who come to him will never be hungry. They are being challenged to take Jesus at his word. This is the essence of believing in Jesus! We are to take Jesus at his word and to respond to him accordingly. This morning we are being asked to recognize Jesus as the bread of life, the one who can satisfy our deepest hungers, and, on the basis of that recognition, to come to him and to keep on coming to him all the days of our life • AE

…

LECTURAS DEL DIA

«¿Qué señal haces para que viéndola creamos en ti? ¿Qué obra realizas?» así de exigentes, incrédulos e impertinentes aquellos que estaban con Jesús. ¿Les ha parecido poco el signo de la multiplicación de los panes y los peces obrada el día anterior? ¿Por qué ayer querían proclamar rey a Jesús y hoy ya no le creen? ¡Qué inconstante es a menudo el corazón humano! Decía san Bernardo de Claraval: «Los impíos andan alrededor, porque naturalmente, quieren dar satisfacción al apetito, y neciamente despreciar el modo de conseguir el fin». Así sucedía en tiempos del Señor: sumergidos en una visión materialista, pretendían que alguien les alimentara y solucionara sus problemas, pero no querían creer; eso era todo lo que les interesaba de Jesús. ¿No nos sucede lo mismo hoy a nosotros? ¿No es a veces nuestra fe utilitarista y hasta un tanto convenenciera?... “¡Señor, danos siempre de este pan!”: que estas palabras del evangelio de esta mañana las podamos decir llenas de sinceridad, de gratitud; con amor, con el deseo vivir unidos a Él para siempre • AE

Monday of the Third Week of Easter (4.27.2020)

READINGSOF THE DAY

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks of two kinds of food, food that cannot last and food that endures to eternal life. He challenges the crowd to reflect on their priorities. Are they working for food that cannot last or for food that endures to eternal life? Jesus takes seriously food that cannot last. Jesus fed the hungry multitude in the wilderness with five loaves and two fish. The basis physical needs of people were very important for him. He fed the hungry, healed the sick; he called on the rich to share with the poor. These basic human physical needs had to be met first. However, having fed the physical hunger of the crowd, some of that crowd now want Jesus to give them more of the same. In response to this preoccupation with Jesus as the provider of physical bread, Jesus speaks of the food that endures to eternal life which he is offering. He is calling on those who have gone looking for him to attend to the deeper hunger in their lives, their spiritual hunger. Jesus presents himself as the one who can satisfy this spiritual hunger. That is why he equates working for the food that endures to eternal life with believing in him. Believing in him is the one work that is required if that deeper hunger in our lives is to be satisfied, the hunger for a love that is unconditional, for forgiveness, for truth, for justice, for peace, ultimately, our hunger for God. We cannot ignore our physical hunger; when we are hungry, we eat. We can ignore those deeper hungers which Jesus alone can satisfy. This is why he draws attention so strongly in today’s gospel to the importance of working for the food that endures to eternal life • AE

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LECTURAS DEL DÍA

Hoy, después de la multiplicación de los panes, la multitud se pone en busca de Jesús, y en su búsqueda llegan hasta Cafarnaúm. Ayer como hoy, los seres humanos seguimos buscando lo divino, aquello que realmente sacia nuestra hambre y sed de eternidad. Pero algunas personas quisieran someter lo divino a sus propias necesidades humanas. De hecho, la historia nos revela que algunas veces se ha intentado usar lo divino para fines políticos u otros. Jesús no se engaña. Sabe que no han sido capaces de leer las señales del pan multiplicado. Les anuncia que lo que sacia al hombre es un alimento espiritual que nos permite vivir eternamente. Dios es el que da ese alimento, lo da a través de su Hijo. Todo lo que hace crecer la fe en Él es un alimento al que tenemos que dedicar todas nuestras energías. Hoy podemos entender mejor por qué el Santo Padre insiste tanto en la necesidad de re-evangelizar nuestro mundo que frecuentemente no acude a Dios por los buenos motivos. En la constitución Gaudium et Spes (La Iglesia en el mundo actual) los Padres del Concilio Vaticano II nos recuerdan: «Bien sabe la Iglesia que sólo Dios, al que ella sirve, responde a las aspiraciones más profundas del corazón humano, el cual nunca se sacia plenamente con solo los alimentos terrenos». Y nosotros, ¿por qué continuamos siguiendo a Jesús? ¿Qué es lo que nos proporciona la Iglesia? ¡Recordemos lo que dice el Concilio Vaticano II! ¿Estamos convencidos del bienestar que proporciona este alimento que podemos dar al mundo? • AE

Third Sunday of Easter (Cycle A, 4-26-2020)

READINGS OF THE DAY

Alonso Cano, Los discípulos de Emaús (1640), óleo obre tela, 

Walters Museum or Art (Baltimore).

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were having a very difficult day. They were so filled with their own pain, disappointment and confusion that they didn’t recognize Jesus as he caught up with them on the road. In their disillusionment and despair, they did not even look at him closely. So many times in our lives, we get caught up in our own sorrows and we don’t recognize Jesus standing there with us.  “We were hoping” … that our lives would not be so messy. Instead, our loved ones are ill; our marriages are not what we had hoped for; or perhaps our children disappoint us. We, or someone we love, struggle with an addiction. They tell him their stories and something in Jesus draws them to him: his warmth, his understanding. He tells them about the suffering servant of Israel. He says suffering is part of the story.  He touches their hearts as they begin to see the scriptures in a new way, though they don’t fully make the connection. When it comes time to separate on the road, they urge him to say with them. So he stays with them. As they gather around the table for dinner, there is warmth and prayer and then Jesus takes the customary bread, blesses it and breaks it. It hits them both at once.  Jesus!  Suddenly, everything makes sense and Jesus is here! Then he vanishes. Astonished the two friends stare across the table at each other.  “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way?” They had felt it, but they had not recognized him. Now, the scriptures and this breaking of bread come together in their hearts. Our lives are busy, complicated and messy. We often ignore Jesus’ presence in our lives, even though he is always with us, loving each one of us in deeply personal way.  How did we miss seeing him? How did we not recognize him?  When we get caught up in our own pain, guilt and anger, we miss seeing him walking next to us. We know deep in our hearts how flawed and sinful we are. We might feel that we are simply unworthy of the kind of endless love Jesus offers.  Yet, that love is there for us, in the midst of the suffering of our lives. Pope Francis has said that the two became “witnesses of the hope that is Christ because they met him. This Jesus,” the Pope said, “is the Risen Traveler that journeys with us, and Jesus is here today. He is here among us. He is here in his word, is here on the altar, journeying with us.” Jesus vanished from the table in Emmaus but he remained with the disciples in their burning hearts. They are more prepared to be broken and given for others. And, he remains present with us, whether we recognize him or not. If we open our hearts and feel them burn, we become disciples, running in joy to spread the good news of his love and mercy • AE

...

Stefan Lochner, Le repas d'Emmaüs (La cena de Emaús), 

s. XV, óleo sobre tela, Museo de Louvre (París)

LECTURAS DEL DIA

Andando por el camino, te tropezamos, Señor,

te hiciste el encontradizo, nos diste conversación,

tenían tus palabras fuerza de vida y amor,

ponían esperanza y fuego en el corazón.

Te conocimos, Señor, al partir el Pan

Tú nos conoces, Señor, al partir el Pan.

Llegando a la encrucijada, Tú proseguías, Señor;

te dimos nuestra posada, techo comida y calor;

sentados como amigos a compartir el cenar,

allí te conocimos, al repartirnos el pan.

Andando por los caminos te tropezamos, Señor,

en todos los peregrinos que necesitan amor;

esclavos y oprimidos que buscan la libertad,

hambrientos, desvalidos, a quienes damos el pan •

 ...

El mismo Jesús había anunciado lo que ya estaba escrito: «Heriré al pastor y se dispersarán las ovejas». Y así fue. El pastor fue herido malamente por una manada de lobos; fue en la noche, con el poder de las tinieblas. Ahora vemos a los discípulos dispersarse con una sensación de miedo y fracaso. Van por el camino de Emaús, que es el camino del desencanto y de los recuerdos tristes. El camino de Emaús es el camino de los que esperaban. «Nosotros esperábamos que él fuera..., que él librara a Israel...». ¡Esperábamos! Todas aquellas esperanzas se han convertido en frustraciones y amargas desilusiones. Ahora lo mejor es olvidar, descansar, alejarse del mundo. Emaús es hoy la playa, la excursión, es el vídeo, el fútbol. Emaús es hoy la abstención, el desencanto, el pesimismo. Emaús es hoy el sofá, el narcisismo, el refugio. Emaús es hoy el espiritualismo evasivo, el tradicionalismo a ultranza, la búsqueda de seguridades… Esperábamos que se lograría un mundo más justo, que la verdadera democracia fuera posible, que el desarrollo económico nos haría felices, que el desarrollo cultural nos haría más humanos. Esperábamos, pero todo sigue igual o quizá peor… Esperábamos que el Concilio renovaría a la Iglesia, que el movimiento ecuménico lograría, al fin, sus objetivos, que el laicado llegaría a la mayoría de edad, que la Iglesia toda fuera profecía de futuro. Pero aquello ¿fueron esperanzas de los años 60? Y más concretamente, esperábamos que el cambio político renovaría la sociedad, que la mejora económica del país acabaría con el desempleo y la pobreza, que la tolerancia política haría imposible el terrorismo, que nos acercábamos, en fin, a un mundo mejor, a una sociedad más humana y fraterna. Esperábamos. ¿Han muerto las esperanzas? No. No han muerto. Importa disfrutar de la rosa que hoy existe. Importa tomar conciencia de que Cristo vive y camina a nuestro lado y comparte con nosotros la mesa. Todo lo demás se vuelve importante -o no- a partir de aquí • AE

Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist (4.25.2020)

READINGS OF THE DAY

Virtue of Humility, on the bronze south doors (by Andrea Pisano) of the Florence Baptistery, Italy.

The invitation of Saint Peter on his letter this morning for us is to cover ourselves with humility. I thought that listening to the litany of humility that someone wrote many years ago could be useful for our spiritual life and to honor St. Mark the evangelist.

Lord Jesus. Meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being honoured, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it • 

[Litany of Humility' composed by the Servant of God, Cardinal Rafael Merry dal Val, a former Secretary of State under St Pius X] 

LECTURAS DEL DÍA

Es tan bella la humildad, que María, la doncella de Nazaret, fue escogida por el Padre Dios para ser Madre de su Hijo, por su humildad: “Él se fijó en mí por mi humildad' -diria la Virgen en casa de Isabel, agregando para Ella una alabanza verdadera: “Todas las generaciones me llamarán bienaventurada”. El humilde no rechaza los honores cuando son ciertos; pero no los busca ni se queda en ellos. No rechazó Jesús las alabanzas de todo el pueblo cuando entró triunfante a Jerusalén pero sí que llamó la atención a los soberbios fariseos. Es que la humidad no oculta ni niega la verdad. El Papa Pio X hizo en vida muchos milagros. Cuentan que un día uno de los cardenales de la curia, le espetó: "Dicen por ahi que usted está haciendo aquí muchos milagros por aqui". El Papa le respondió, sin darle mayor importancia al asunto: "Bueno, es que aqui le toca a uno hasta hacer milagros". El humilde no niega los dones ni talentos recibidos, pero nunca se  vanagloria de ellos, como Pedro, como Marcos, como tantos, ¡Ay si el Señor nos concediera caminar por ese camino! • AE

Friday of the Second Week of Easter (4.24.2020)

READINGS OF THE DAY

When we are faced with a challenge or a problem the way we speak about it can be very important. We can speak about it in a way that deflates us and drains us of energy or we can speak about it in a way that makes us hopeful and inspires us. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus sees crowds coming towards him. Seeing that they were in need of food, he asked Philip where food could be bought to give them something to eat. Philip’s response to Jesus showed that he felt overwhelmed by the problem. The words he used were very defeatist, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” However, the way Jesus spoke in response to the problem was much more inspirational! He gave instructions to the disciples, he prayed aloud to God, and somehow the crowd got fed with the young boy’s small fare. The miracle just happened! We can all be a little bit like the disciples before the challenges that life throws up. We can become limp before it all. The gospel reading this morning encourages us to remain hopeful even in the face of situations that seem very unpromising. The reading suggests that the Lord can work in surprising ways in situations that seem daunting. Saint Paul seems to have a very strong sense of how the Lord can work powerfully in weakness. That is why he could say in his letter to the Philippians, a little written from prison, from a very unpromising situation, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me”

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LECTURAS DEL DÍA

Abrimos esta mañana el evangelio en el hermosísimo capítulo sexto del evangelio de san Juan que contiene el discurso del pan de vida, precedido de este relato de la multiplicación de los panes y los peces. Es el único milagro del ministerio de Jesús narrado por los cuatro evangelistas, y con notables coincidencias. Más todavía, son seis las narraciones que tenemos de este suceso que Marcos y Mateo presentan por duplicado. Todo ello nos indica la importancia que la primera Iglesia atribuyó a tal milagro, por el alcance de signo que tiene. Basta con detenerse un momento en la iconografía cristiana primitiva y ver la importancia que siempre tuvieron el pan y los peces en catacumbas y basílicas. En dos cosas podríamos detenernos hoy un momento al hacer nuestra oración. La aclaración inicial de que "estaba cerca la pascua" y la descripción de los gestos de Jesús: "tomó los panes, dijo la acción de gracias, y los repartió" ¡el mismo esquema que continúa en nuestra celebración eucarística! Repartir el pan eucarístico es y seguirá siendo obra confiada por Jesús a su Iglesia, así como la solidaridad con los que padecen hambre de pan en toda su amplitud: física y afectiva. El pan compartido con los hermanos será el signo por el que demostremos que hacemos vida de nuestra vida el pan comulgado en la eucaristía, ¿a quién le vamos a echar hoy una mano? • AE