Rejoice and be glad in the Lord, all ye people! (Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle C).

The beatitudes is a passage of the gospel that has been widely commented throughout the history of Christianity. From St. Jerome to Karl Rahner many authors have left us their ideas in writing so we can go to them and better understand what Jesus wanted to convey to those who listened to him. Recently Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exultate also made a profound and beautiful comment on these words of Jesus; personally, they seem very illuminating to me, so I want to leave them here so we can meditate on them this week.

Following is the introduction that our Holy Father Pope Francis makes to the passage of the Beatitudes, and below is a link that leads to the site where the full text can be read. The commentary on the Beatitudes begins in chapter 3.

...

«There can be any number of theories about what constitutes holiness, with various explanations and distinctions. Such reflection may be useful, but nothing is more enlightening than turning to Jesus’ words and seeing his way of teaching the truth. Jesus explained with great simplicity what it means to be holy when he gave us the Beatitudes[1]. The Beatitudes are like a Christian’s identity card. So if anyone asks: “What must one do to be a good Christian?”, the answer is clear. We have to do, each in our own way, what Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount[2]. In the Beatitudes, we find a portrait of the Master, which we are called to reflect in our daily lives. The word “happy” or “blessed” thus becomes a synonym for “holy”. It expresses the fact that those faithful to God and his word, by their self-giving, gain true happiness. Although Jesus’ words may strike us as poetic, they clearly run counter to the way things are usually done in our world. Even if we find Jesus’ message attractive, the world pushes us towards another way of living. The Beatitudes are in no way trite or undemanding, quite the opposite. We can only practise them if the Holy Spirit fills us with his power and frees us from our weakness, our selfishness, our complacency and our pride. Let us listen once more to Jesus, with all the love and respect that the Master deserves. Let us allow his words to unsettle us, to challenge us and to demand a real change in the way we live. Otherwise, holiness will remain no more than an empty word»

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION

GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE

OF THE HOLY FATHER

FRANCIS

ON THE CALL TO HOLINESS

IN TODAY’S WORLD

---

[1] Cfr. Mt 5:3-12; Lk 6:20-23

[2] Cfr. Homily at Mass in Casa Santa Marta, 9 June 2014: L’Osservatore Romano, 10 June 2014,

p. 8.

AN ODE TO THE CHURCH

Perhaps with the news that we received the last news, the report released by Archbishop Gustavo, the penitential liturgy that our pastor Fr. Martin did last weekend we have a cloud of sadness and disappointment... Every time we see the dark and human part of the Catholic Church, perhaps our faith suffers. Today, with this gospel narrative, we have a great opportunity to say the same words of Peter, words so full of faith and courage: Master, we have worked hard all night (…) but at your command I will lower the nets… at your command I will lower the nets… There is a reflection written by a little-known Italian author who could perhaps help us this morning to make a moment of prayer, and also to renew our commitment of love not only with the Lord but also with his wife the Church. «How enigmatic you are, oh Church, and yet how much I love you.  How much you have made me suffer, and yet how much I owe you! I would like to see you destroyed, and yet I need your presence.  You have given me so much scandal and yet you have made me understand what holiness is.  I have seen nothing in the world more devoted to obscurity, more compromised, more false, and yet I have touched nothing more pure, more generous, more beautiful.  How often I have wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face, and how often I have prayed to die in the safety of your arms.  No, I cannot free myself from you, because I am you, and besides, where would I go? Would I establish another Church? I would not be able to establish another one but with the same faults and sins, and if I did establish another, it would be my Church, not the Church of Christ.  I am old enough to know that I am no better than anyone else. …  You, Church, you can take me to holiness even when you are made up of sinners, like me, and what kind of sinners! You, Church, have the power to transform the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and that power you leave in the hands of sinful men but at the same time strive to continue walking in holiness. You, Church, you speak of peace and reconciliation, although at some point in your history you sent your armies to end the heretics and the rebels.  You, Church, you sometimes seem more interested in money and power than in service and prayer. When I was young, I did not understand why Jesus chose Peter as his successor (…), even though he abandoned Him. Now I am no longer surprised and I understand that by founding his Church on the tomb of a traitor (…) He is warning each of us to remain humble, by making us aware of our fragility. (…)  What matters is the promise of Christ, what matters is the cement, the glue that unites the bricks, which is the Holy Spirit.  Only the Holy Spirit is capable of building the church with such poorly moulded bricks as are we.  And that is where the mystery lies! This mixture of good and bad, of greatness and misery, of holiness and sin that makes up the church. The deep bond between God and His Church, is an intimate part of each one of us. To each of us God says, as he says to his Church, “I choose you as my spouse forever” [1]. despite your mistakes, your infidelities, the times you have fallen. Yes: God re-establishes our virginity no matter how many times we have corrupted our bodies, spirits and hearts. In this, God is truly God, the only one who can make everything new again.  So, it is not so important that He will renew heaven and earth. What is most important is that He will renew our hearts. This is Christ’s work. This is the divine Spirit of the Church [3] ».  And the text goes on and on, but I think that this is enough…  Today, after hearing in the Gospel the encounter between the poverty of Peter and the magnificence of Christ we can renew, in the silence of our hearts, our love and fidelity to the Lord and his wife the Church, to this Church dirty and sinful but holy and immaculate, to this Church in which we can continue to receive the Eucharist and the forgiveness of sins • AE

[1] Cfr. Hosea 2,19. [2] Ezekiel 24,12. [3] Carlo Carretto (1910-1988) was an Italian religious and member of the congregation of the Little Brothers of the Gospel.

Errores y horrores todos (V Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario. Ciclo C)

No es cierto que a veces resulta muy difícil fiarse de Dios? ¿No es cierto que a veces surge del fondo un sentimiento de rebeldía y alguna pregunta inquietante ante situaciones que parecen absurdas y sin razón de ser? Cada uno de nosotros lo habrá experimentado en su propia carne. Fiarse del Señor entonces es necesario para seguir adelante. Fiarse de él y aventar la redes una y otra vez, además ¿Quién es capaz, de verdad, de confesar que es pecador? Sí. Pecador. Así de llanamente. Nosotros, tan buenos, tan religiosos, tan generosos... ¿pecadores? ¡Claro que pecadores! Es éste un sentimiento de lo más sano. Saber que somos capaces de todos los errores y horrores como dicen que decía San Josemaría Escrivá, ayuda a no escandalizarse jamás por lo que vemos (a veces, con lentes de aumento) en los demás. Ayuda a no juzgar, ayuda a comprender y ayuda –también muy interesante- a comprenderse y a soportarse uno mismo. Ayuda a no escandalizarse cuando uno se ve pequeño y mezquino, sin paliativos y sin disimulos. Y ¿cuántos de los cristianos somos capaces de salir de nosotros mismos y vivir de verdad para los otros? Pues muy pocos, ciertamente. Muy pocos tenemos el norte de nuestra vida orientado hacia el prójimo. Los más vivimos para nuestros "yo", al que cuidamos, mimamos y acariciamos, y apenas nos queda tiempo, tan ocupados estamos en esta tarea, de descubrir cerca de nuestra vida a "los otros" y de bogar hacia ellos para ver qué piden y cuál puede ser nuestra respuesta. Tres cualidades del discípulo que son, desde luego, de antología. ¿Cuál será nuestra tarea en el mundo en que vivimos? La de decir a los demás que a pesar de las dificultades y los problemas, a pesar de las inseguridades y las desgracias, y de la misma muerte, a pesar de todo, la vida tiene sentido. Para que todos vean que es posible hace un mundo nuevo y diferente; aquella tierra que, a pesar de comenzar con la suavidad de la playa, llega a formar las cumbres más elevadas. Se trata de decir a todo el mundo que nos fiamos enteramente de Jesucristo; porque el amor es el elemento más sólido que podemos encontrar y porque el Amor es Dios mismo • AE

Sed buenos entre los malos y seréis buenos sin compañía de malos (comentario de San Agustín al evangelio del día)

Anotemos las diferencias entre las dos pescas, una antes y otra después de la resurrección. En la primera las redes se echan indistintamente a un lado y a otro: no se nombra la derecha, para que no se piense que son todos buenos; ni la izquierda, para que no se entienda que hay sólo malos. En consecuencia, hay mezcla de buenos y malos. A causa de la gran cantidad, las redes se rompen. Las redes rotas simbolizan los cismas. Lo estamos viendo; así es y así acontece. Son dos las barcas que se llenan, porque son dos los pueblos, el de la circuncisión y el del prepucio; y están tan llenas que tienen exceso de peso y casi se hunden. El significado de esto merece llanto. La muchedumbre turbó a la Iglesia. ¡Qué grande es el número de los que viven mal, de los que oprimen y gimen! Con todo, las barcas no se hundieron en atención a los peces buenos. Hablemos sobre la última pesca, posterior a la resurrección. Allí no habrá ninguno malo; la seguridad será máxima, pero sólo si eres bueno. Sed buenos en compañía de los malos y seréis buenos sin compañía de malos. En esta pesca, la primera, hay algo que puede turbaros: el estar en medio de los malos. ¡Oh vosotros los que me escucháis fielmente! ¡Oh vosotros que no echáis en saco roto lo que os digo! ¡Oh vosotros para quienes las palabras no pasan de un oído a otro, sino que descienden al corazón! ¡Oh vosotros que teméis más vivir mal que morir mal, puesto que si vivís bien, no podéis morir mal! Vosotros, pues, que me escucháis no sólo para creer, sino además para vivir bien, vivid bien: vivid bien incluso entre los malos: no rompáis las redes. Quienes se complacieron demasiado en sí mismos y no quisieron soportar a los demás como si fueran malos, rompieron las redes y perecieron en el mar. Vivid bien en medio de los malos; no os arrastren los malos cristianos a vivir mal. No piense tu corazón: «Solo yo soy bueno». Si comienzas a ser bueno, cree que hay también otros, si tú has podido serlo. No adulteréis, no forniquéis, no os dediquéis al fraude, no robéis, no profiráis falso testimonio, no juréis en falso, no os embriaguéis, no neguéis un préstamo, no os quedéis con lo hallado en la posesión de otro. Cumplid todo esto y otras cosas semejantes, viviendo seguros en medio de peces malos. Nadáis en el interior de la misma red; pero llegaréis a la orilla y, después de la resurrección, os hallaréis a su derecha. Allí nadie será malo. Si no la cumplís, ¿de qué os sirve conocer la ley, conocer los mandamientos de Dios, saber qué cosa es buena y cuál mala? ¿No reprueba la conciencia esa ciencia? Aprended, más para obrar • Agustín de Hipona, Sermón 249, 2.

Fr. Agustin´s Schedule February 9-10, 2019 (Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Saturday February 9, 2019. 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Sacrament of Confession.

4.30 p.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles 
Catholic Church

  

Vigil Mass

5.30 p.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles 
Catholic Church.

Sunday February 10, 2019. 

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

9.00 a.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles 
Catholic Church.

11.00 a.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles 
Catholic Church.

5.00 p.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles 
Catholic Church.

Toiling and catching nothing (Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle C)

Peter Paul Rubens, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1618), 

The National Gallery (London)

...

The miraculous catch of fish was of course a historical event in the life of Jesus, but also a symbol of the deep conversion experiences which God grants us from time to time and which set us on a new course in our lives. These  experiences usually occur at times when we feel we are stagnating – as spouses, parents, friends, church leaders, ministers, or managers in the workplace. We are toiling all night and catching nothing. Then one day the Lord tells us to “put out into deep water” – to move in a new, and frightening, direction. The message might come from a person or a sermon, a moment of prayer and silence in the presence of the Most Holy Sacrament, a book, a television program, a news item in the papers. Sometimes Jesus speaks to us from a negative experience – failure, rejection, falling into a sin we thought we would never commit, recognition that we are addicted to drugs or drink or power. We each have our deep water we must put out into: be reconciled with someone we have refused to speak to for years; give up devotions we love and move to a more contemplative prayer; start working among the poor; get involved in community; go back to school; join AA; do a Marriage Encounter weekend  or doing a well prepared, contrite Confession! We put out objections like St Peter’s: “we have toiled all night,” “what will happen if…,” “we tried this before and it didn’t work,” and so on. But we do it anyway and it works – relationships take on new life, classes or work-places  become places of inspiration, our prayer life takes off – so much so that our problem now becomes how to cope with all we have to do: our nets begin to tear. We feel overwhelmed: “Leave me Lord, I am a sinner.” We who were totally bored now have a feeling of awe at the privilege of being spouse, parent, teacher in classroom or parish, or just to be a baptized Christian. We know then that our lives can never be the same again: “from now on it is men you will catch.” This must be interpreted correctly. God does not want us to go round trying to “catch” people. The text means first getting involved with people not things, and secondly that our mission in life is to lead one another into God’s net, so that we can all be gathered into his kingdom. The Lord wants us from now on to care for people, help them to grow in self-esteem, move away from addictions, from problematic patterns, etc. – all the different ways in which we need to be brought closer to God and feel safe in his net. This new consciousness means giving up things that we thought important. We do it cheerfully; we are “not afraid” as we bring our boats back to land and without giving them a second thought, leave them there to follow the new way God has called us to. There, next to the Lord, there is peace and serene joy • AE

Corazón a corazón

Corazón a corazón:

dame el tuyo, y yo te doy

esta nada que yo soy,

divina en tu amor pasión.

Muchos leprosos había

en los tiempos de Eliseo,

pero fue favorecido

Naamán, un extranjero.

Y muchas viudas había

en Israel sin consuelo,

pero el profeta enviado

fue lejos del patrio suelo.

Tú te viste rechazado

por los vecinos del pueblo,

que un Mesías anunciado

tiene que ser de muy lejos.

Rechazado hasta el barranco,

Jesús ¡qué triste creerlo!,

rechazado hasta la cruz,

por ser un Dios compañero.

Mala suerte de profeta,

de Buenas Nuevas vocero;

mala suerte, taumaturgo,

milagro de los enfermos.

¿Por qué el Amor no es amado,

al hacerse todo nuestro?

¿Por qué persona “non grata”

el hijo del carpintero?

¡Mi Señor, de enamorados

amor y amor sin recelo:

aquí prendiste una hoguera,

que levanta grandes fuegos!

Dame amor apasionado

para ir por tu sendero:

de Nazaret al Calvario,

y del Calvario hasta el Huerto.

Corazón a corazón:

dame el tuyo, y yo te doy

esta nada que yo soy,

divina en tu amor pasión.

• P. Rufino Mª Grández, ofmcap.

Puebla, 26 enero 2010 (Santos Timoteo y Tito).

Desde siempre y para siempre (IV Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario. Ciclo C).

En la primera de las lecturas de éste domingo, el cuarto del tiempo ordinario, escuchamos el relato de la vocación del profeta. La vocación es en la vida de todo hombre lo que da sentido a toda su actividad. Confundir la vocación puede suponer el fracaso total de una personalidad. Jeremías a los veinte años tiene clara conciencia de cuál sea su vocación. Ha sido llamado para ser profeta de las naciones. Los grandes pioneros del espíritu han dejado constancia de su vocación, de su encuentro con Dios, en el que han comprendido la misión de su vida. Cada uno a su estilo, de forma diferente pero con certeza, seguridad y eficacia. Es una profunda experiencia interior de lo divino y humano en estrecha intimidad inadecuadamente expresada después mediante los medios físicos de que disponemos. La descripción externa es irreal. La experiencia interna tan real como el pan y el agua que comemos y bebemos. Jeremías se sabe conocedor de Dios al mismo tiempo que ha sido conocido por El. Conocimiento que es amor. En el lenguaje hebreo se conoce con el corazón. Este conocimiento amoroso ha hecho de él un consagrado, algo dedicado exclusivamente a Dios y separado de todo lo demás. Aunque fue a los veinte años cuando tomó conciencia de todo esto, fue también entonces cuando descubrió en su intimidad con Dios -Dios se lo reveló, decimos nosotros- que este sentido de su vida estaba ya prefijado desde eterno en los planes de Dios, desde antes de que fuera formado en el seno de su madre. Esto le hace temblar. Se ve sencillamente un hombre. Quisiera ser como uno de tantos; como un niño pequeño que no sabe hablar. Tímido por naturaleza, está muy lejos de ofrecerse voluntario como Isaías. Pero el imperativo divino está por encima de sus sentimientos naturales. "Yo estaré contigo para salvarte". ¡Qué hermosa experiencia de intimidad y presencia de lo divino en lo humano! Yahveh sale responsable de cuanto diga. El pondrá en su boca lo que ha de decir y la fuerza para decirlo. Para ello debe primero purificarla con el simbolismo de tocarla con su mano. Desde ahora su misión está bien clara. Con la antítesis de construir y destruir sabe que deberá enderezar todo camino torcido y profundizar en la revelación, incluso con nuevas revelaciones. Sabe que tiene que hablar porque su conciencia no puede soportar lo que contemplan sus ojos: idolatría, enoteísmo, perversión de costumbres.... Tiene que hablar y tiembla. ¿Y qué hombre no? Es la violencia de esa lucha interior entre las exigencias de la fe y la debilidad humana. Hasta Cristo sudó sangre. Así son los auténticos llamados, los genuinos profetas • AE

Fr. Agustin´s Schedule February 2-3, 2019 (Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Saturday February 2, 2019.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Sacrament of Confession.

4.30 p.m. @ Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church

Vigil Mass

6.00 p.m. @ Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church

Sunday February 3, 2019.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

10.30 a.m. @ Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church.

12.00 p.m. @ Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church.

5.00 p.m. @ Trinity University

(Margarite B. Parker Chapel)

A gospel that heals and guides (Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycly C)

When Jesus began His public ministry, preaching in the synagogues of Nazareth and Capernaum, the people spoke highly of Him and were amazed at His gracious words. But things changed quickly when he began to challenge their ideas or convictions. They knew they were the chosen people and to be given the stories of the prophets Elijah and Elisha going outside to pagan peoples to work the wonders of God was not pleasant to their hearing. Jesus had gone beyond what they wanted to hear. Jesus was speaking a universal message from God, salvation for all. By the time Luke was writing his gospel, Christianity was beginning to spread beyond the narrow confines of the Jewish world. St. Cyril of Alexandria said that those who heard Jesus speak treated his words as worthless[1]. I think the same happens today. Sometimes we seek to hear words and messages sweet as honey and hot as a soup in winter. When we hear words pleasing to us, we accept them, but when they disturb our consciences we might well dismiss them as worthless. There are people who choose a church where they get good feelings from warm and fuzzy words. Certainly it is true that the gospel is a great word of consolation and refreshment, but it can also be harsh and demanding, as Jesus himself could be harsh and demanding. Our precious lord can also be at the same time an angry God. The people in the synagogue were so upset they wanted to drive Jesus over the edge of a cliff, but His time had not yet come. When we listen to the gospel, it is good to do so with an open heart and mind. The Church will guide us and teach us. The Holy Spirit will instruct us in all things and help us discern how to respond to the gospel in our lives[2]. The one thing we do not want to do is to push Jesus to the edge of the cliff or regard his teaching as worthless. Jesus’ teaching consoles us for it is a gospel of love and mercy, peace and reconciliation. But it is also a gospel which says “come, follow me,” a gospel which calls for a conversion of heart and change in the way we live • AE

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[1] Cyril of Alexandria (376 – 444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the late-4th and 5th centuries. He was a central figure in the Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Patriarch of Constantinople.

[2] Cfr. Matthew 10:19;  Luke 12:12.

With all the attention of our heart (Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle B)

Jesus reading from chap. 61 of “the book of the prophet Isaiah” (1300-1307). 

Miniature. The Gladzor Gospels,  

Young Research Library MS Armenian 1, p. 327. © 

Department of Special Collections, 

Charles E. Young Research Library, 

University of California Los Angeles.

...

The challenge for all of us is to hear the Gospel as though it were new every day. We get so used to hearing the stories about Jesus and the Gospel narratives that we can block them out from having any new meaning in our lives. It is almost as if we could hear Nehemiah telling us: lose your sacred scriptures for a while and you will appreciate them so much more when they are found once again. Many people joke about the convert to Christianity being much stronger than the person born into Christianity. The challenge is for us who have been practicing Christians for many years to keep alive the deepest meaning of our faith. That is only possible if we are not just “practicing Catholics” or “practicing Christians,” but women and men who strive to know the Lord personally and give the best of our energies to this personal encounter with God. It is much easier simply to do what religion asks of us! But in the end, that is the end of our faith! When we are invited to have a personal relationship with God, we must spend time pursuing that relationship. In the Gospel we have this incredible scene of Jesus taking the Scriptures and telling the people: I will interpret them for you with authority! And He does! So much of our faith rests on being willing to accept the witness of those who walked and talked with Jesus and those who gave witness to what they had heard or seen. So often the stories that we receive from the Gospel writers are incredibly strong. Surely had there been a gross distortion of how Jesus lived, there would have been an outcry among the early followers of Jesus. There are other versions, of course, of the Scriptures, but even the early Church recognized that they did not reflect what had been seen and experienced by the early followers of Jesus. The letter to the Corinthians expresses very clearly our normal human experience: I do not have all of the gifts of faith but when I relate with others, together we form a certain kind of wholeness. This is so important to remember today, when there are pressures on every side either to abandon faith entirely and to water it down or to be almost reactionary and insist on a complete rigidity of the tradition. Instead today we are invited to listen attentively to God’s Word, to receive as if it is the first time that we have heard it and believed it. Together with others who also believe, we can form deeply Christian communities that will be a leaven in our world, not only for Christians but for all who seek truth. Let us listen attentively to God’s Word! • AE

Fr. Agustin´s Schedule January 26-27, 2019 (Third Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Saturday January 26, 2019.
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

Sacrament of Confession. 

4.30 p.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles. 

Vigil Mass 

5.30 p.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles. 

...

Sunday January 27, 2019.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

9.00 a.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles. 

11.00 a.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles.

5.30 p.m. @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles.