Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Anguish, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and finally, the sword, which means persecution, hostility… All this is mentioned by Saint Paul in the second reading today; It seems that he is describing the time we are now living. But the apostle is positive, in fact (he is) very positive: he is giving us the key to understand that difficult times can be overcome when we have a love relationship with Christ: In all these things -he says- we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. We conquer overwhelmingly: this is the point! This Sunday the entire liturgy of the Word is a great invitation to meditate about Christian hope, and about the love that God has for us. For each one of us. An invitation to be sure that the foundation of our safety, the foundation of our faith, is the love, and presence and company of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is precisely because Jesus walks with us on the path that we can move forward So, what will happen in the fall, when flu season comes? What is going to happen to schools? What is going to happen with the loans, and the finances, and the projects and all that stuff? What is going to happen to me? It is normal for all these questions and many more to come to mind; and with them, also a dose of worries, anxiety and even anguish; it is ok! We are humans; we are not angels; So, NOW is the time to ask myself: Where do I have my heart set? What is the foundation of my faith? Even more: How is my relationship with Jesus? Do I REALLY know the one I usually say is my Lord and my God? My brother, my sister: We have precious time ahead to exercise our faith more deeply, to improve our relationship with Jesus, to make our spiritual life more solid; to grow in good habits, in virtues…. Being a Christian goes beyond attending mass on Sunday and writing a check to help the parish; That is great, but we can do better, much better. the Lord is waiting for us to look for him but with a loving heart. That is a relationship between two people: Love from both sides. Jesus knows our sufferings, our concerns; nothing that happens to us is indifferent; but he needs us to open the door of our hearts, and that we trust more in his grace than in our own capabilities or our own resources. In other words: To be a Christian is to be like Christ, but to be like Christ we have to know him. So, I ask you, and I ask myself: How many biographies of Jesus have you read besides the Book of the gospels? Am I able to mention each and every one of the Lord's miracles, His parables, His speeches? We need to know the Lord deeper and better! And in this the saints have given us a wonderful example that we can follow: Take and read St. Faustina´s Diary. Take and read The Dialogue, of Saint Catherine of Siena; Take and read the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola; The Life of Christ written by Bishop Fulton Sheen; The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas Kempis;  Take and read the biography of Jesus of Nazareth by Benedict XVI; And of course, READ the best biography in the whole history of the world: the book of the gospels. The Gospels are like our road map; an instruction manual to know who Jesus is, and to know how to imitate him. Saint Josemaría Escrivá used to say: “How I wish your bearing and conversation were such that on seeing or hearing you people would say: This man reads the life of Jesus Christ”. At the end of the day this is the goal:  to be like Christ; have the same feelings that he had;  configure our will with the will of God the Father,  and live with the certainty that neither death, nor life, nor present things, nor future things, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord • AE

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Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for August 2, 2020. 

Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time

 

9.00 a.m. English Mass

@ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church

 

11.00 a.m. English Mass

@ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church

5.30 p.m. English Mass

@ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church