Fachadas y monedas y ruidos (XXXII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario. Ciclo B)



Las apariencias, como las fachadas de los hoteles de París ¡Ay cuánto engañan! El valor de las cosas no depende de su tamaño, ni de su brillo, ni del ruido que producen. Hay pequeñas cosas, detalles menudos, que de pronto son capaces de convertirse en protagonistas de todo un paisaje. Jesús, como haría un buen director de cine, sabe acercar unas veces su cámara a un detalle que parecía insignificante, y hacer que crezca; otras, en cambio, pasea su mirada con indiferencia, sin detenerse siquiera, sobre sucesos y personas que acaparan la atención y el aplauso de la gente. Y es que Jesús tiene otra manera de ver las cosas, otra escala de valores, una logística diferente a la nuestra. Para Él lo importante no es dar, sino darse. Por eso no lo engaña el ruido que hace el dinero al caer, es un ruido engañoso, porque viene de alguien que da de lo que le sobra. Pero los oídos atentos de su corazón captan un sonido casi imperceptible: el que producen, al caer dos moneditas de escaso valor: las está echando, casi a escondidas, una pobre viuda que da todo lo que tiene. Jesús percibe que ahí está latiendo un corazón; ahí hay alguien que se está dando a sí mismo. En el evangelio de este domingo nos asomamos un pozo profundo: al de la entrega absoluta, al de la confianza plena, al pozo del gran amor. Para Dios, no importa cuánto damos; ¿acaso Él necesita algo de nosotros? Lo que a Él le interesa no es lo que tenemos, sino nuestro corazón. En la medida en que nos entreguemos a los demás en el servicio, en el perdón, en la amabilidad, en la generosidad, en esa misma medida el humo de nuestro incienso subirá hasta el trono de Dios. El dinero no tiene, para Dios, ningún valor en sí mismo[1] pero cuando es expresión de un corazón que ama, cuando es vida que se comparte, entonces toma peso y valor para el Reino. Porque ya no estamos dando de lo propio, menos aún, de lo que sobra sino que es uno mismo el que se está dando. En otras palabras: las riquezas adquieren sentido y valor cuando están unidas al silencio -"el bien no hace ruido y el ruido no hace bien"- a oración, al cariño, al tiempo que dedicamos a los demás, al esfuerzo personal por hacer de este mundo un lugar mejor • AE


[1] J. Guillén García, Al hilo de la Palabra. Comentario a las lecturas de domingos y fiestas, ciclo B, Granada 1993, p. 175 ss.


The best that we have in the Church (Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle B)



In today's gospel the contrast between the two scenes cannot be any greater. In the first scene, Jesus puts the people on guard against the religious leaders: “Beware of the scribes.” Their behavior can do much harm. In the second scene, he calls his disciples to take note of the poor widow’s deed: the simple folks can teach them how to live the Gospel. The tough and accurate language that Jesus uses to unmask the false religiosity of the scribes is surprising. He cannot bear their vanity and strong desire to show off. They want to dress up in a special manner and to be greeted with reverence so they may stand out above the rest, impose themselves on them and dominate them. Religion is good for stoking their fatuousness.  They recite “lengthy prayers” to impress.  They do not create community, for they put themselves above everybody. Basically, they only think of themselves. They live taking advantage of the weak whom they should be serving. In the gospel we see Jesus siting down opposite the offering box. Many rich people put in large amounts: they are the ones who support the Temple. Suddenly a woman approaches. Jesus notices that she puts in two small copper coins. She is a poor widow, mistreated by life, alone and without means. She probably lives begging close to the Temple. Moved, Jesus quickly summons his disciples. They are not to forget this woman’s deed, for “she has contributed all she had, all her livelihood,” even though she is needy herself.  While the scribes live taking advantage of religion, this woman gives up everything for others, trusting God completely. Her deed uncovers for us the heart of true religion:  great confidence in God,surprising gratuity, generosity and loving solidarity, simplicity and truth.  We only know that Jesus saw in her a model for future leaders of his Church. Today too, so many women and men of simple faith and generous heart are the best that we have in the Church. They do not write books or preach sermons, they also do not trace the great pastoral plans, but with their faith and their works they keep alive the flame of faith and beauty of the wife of Christ: the Church, they are the ones that keep alive among us the Gospel of Jesus. We priests and bishops have a lot to learn from them • AE

El rayo de luz que atraviesa el vitral (XXXI Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario. Ciclo B)


Amar no es firmar un documento, por importante que sea, y olvidarlo después en el fondo de un cajón. Amar no es apuntarse a una idea; ni inscribirse a un club para ir algunas de cuando en vez. Ni siquiera es amor esa compasión pasajera que, a lo mejor, es capaz de arrancarnos unas lágrimas. El amor nace más hondo y llega mucho más lejos. Hace que toda la vida tenga una luz diferente. Nos afecta a los ojos, y a la mente, y desde luego al bolsillo. Al que ama, se le nota siempre: respira amor, contagia amor. “Las palabras que hoy te digo quedarán en tu memoria, se las repetirás a tus hijos y hablarás de ellas estando en cama y yendo de camino, acostado y levantado'. Está hablando del que ama a Dios 'con todo el corazón, con toda el alma, con todas sus fuerzas”. Todo auténtico amor tiene en Dios su fuente. Dios es amor, y la creación entera no es más que un poco de ese amor, que a Dios se le derrama. Por eso el amor es tan bonito: es que se parece a su padre Dios. No extraña, pues, que el Señor haya colocado al amor como centro de todo. Para los que somos creyentes, amar a Dios es el único valor absoluto en la vida. Todo lo demás, absolutamente todo, tendrá la luz que reciba de esa luz total: lucirá más, si nos lleva a amarle a Él; estará apagado, si nos aleja de Él. Es el rayo de luz que atraviesa el vitral. Dios, para el que cree, es el centro indiscutible de la vida. Para los que creemos, las demás personas son imagen de Dios; un reflejo tan claro de Él, que sera imposible dejar de amarlas sin, por ello, estar dejando de amar a Dios. Ésta es la razón de que el amor a Dios y al prójimo estén tan estrechamente unidos en todas las páginas de la Biblia: forman un único mandamiento. El culto a Dios viene detrás, mucho después. Es el amor a Dios, y al hermano, el que le da valor; de tal manera, que, sin ese amor, el culto se tornaría vacío, hipócrita. ¿Cómo va a tener valor el humo del incienso, si parte de un corazón que no ama? De ahí que el escriba del Evangelio se gane un piropo del Señor: “No estás lejos del Reino de Dios”. Había dado en la diana, al decir que amar a Dios y al prójimo “vale más que todos los holocaustos y sacrificios”. Sin olvidar que, donde dice 'sacrificios', hoy tendríamos que traducirlo por 'misa', o 'romería', o 'casarse por la Iglesia': todo eso debe estar avalado por el amor; carecería absolutamente de sentido, estaría apagado y muerto, si viniera de un corazón que no amase a Dios y a los hermanos[1]. Y desde luego no puede haber amor de quita y pon. Al amor hay que darle las llaves de la casa, de toda la casa: para que se instale plenamente en ella, y, desde ella, lo vaya transformando todo, lo vaya iluminando todo • AE


[1] J. Guillén García, Al Hilo de la Palabra. Comentario a las lecturas de domingos y fiestas, ciclo B, Granada 1993, p. 172 ss.

Generously and trustingly (Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle B)



A scribe approaches Jesus. He does not come to entrap him.  Or to argue with him.  His life is founded on laws and norms that spell out how he must behave at every moment.  A question, however, has awakened in his heart:  “Which is the first of all the commandments?”  What is the most important thing to have success in life? Jesus understands well how the man feels. When, in religion, keep accumulating norms and precepts, customs and rites, it is easy to live diffusedly, not knowing exactly what is the fundamental thing that will guide life in a healthy manner. Jesus does not quote the commandments of Moses. He simply reminds him of the prayer that the two of them, following the Jewish custom, have recited that very morning at sunrise:  “Hear, O Israel!  The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!  Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart.” The scribe is thinking of a God who has the power to command.  Jesus places him before a God whose voice we have to listen to. What is important is not to know precepts and fulfill them. What is decisive is to stop and listen to this God who speaks to us without uttering human words. When we listen to the true God, an attraction toward love is awakened in us. It is not properly an order. It is what springs up in us upon opening ourselves to the ultimate Mystery: “You shall love.” In this experience, there are no religious intermediaries, no theologians nor moralists. We do not need anyone to tell it to us from the outside. We know that to love is what matters.This love for God is neither a sentiment nor an emotion.  To love him who is the source and origin of life is to live loving life, creation, things and, above all, persons.  Jesus speaks of loving “with all your heart, with all your soul, with your whole being.”  Without either mediocrity or self-serving calculations.  Generously and trustingly. Jesus adds something still that the scribe has not asked. This love of God is inseparable from love of neighbor. One can love God only by loving his neighbor.  Otherwise, love of God is a lie. How can we love the Father and not love his sons and daughters? We Christians do not always take care of this synthesis of Jesus. Frequently, we tend to mistake love of God for religious practices and fervor, ignoring the practical and sympathetic love of those excluded by society and forgotten by religion. But what truth is there in our love if we live with our backs turned on those who suffer? • AE

Conmemoración de Todos los Fieles Difuntos (2018)



En el prólogo de uno de sus libros Pearl S Buck, habla de una carta que le escribió una mujer que había perdido a su marido: «Cuando mis pequeños no pudieron comprender el silencio de  su padre, recientemente fallecido traté  de explicárselo describiendo el ciclo vital del caballito de mar. Comienza como un gusano en el mar; pero, en el momento justo, emerge, y cuando se da cuenta de que tiene alas, vuela. Supongo –les dije- que los que se quedan en el agua se preguntan dónde se ha ido y por qué no vuelve. No puede volver porque tiene alas, ni los que se quedaron pueden volar junto a él porque todavía no las tienen». Y la escritora concluye: «Es cierto; aún no tenemos alas, pero llegará un día». La historia es bonita, tirando a cursi, ¿pero es  real? ¿Es verdad que «aún no tenemos alas», pero que llegará  un día en que todos nos volvamos a reunir de nuevo? Poniendo los pies en la tierra y el corazón mirando hacia la Escritura, quizá esta mañana de Noviembre podríamos detenernos un momento en el texto del Apocalipsis en el que se presenta, también simbólicamente, la vida que nos espera detrás de la muerte: ha pasado este primer cielo y esta primera tierra con sus angustias y sus tristezas –también con sus amores, con sus alegrías y sus ilusiones-, y pasamos a ese cielo nuevo y esa nueva tierra, donde ya no hay llanto ni luto ni lágrimas ni dolor, porque el primer mundo ha pasado; donde Dios le dirá a quien ha muerto: "Yo soy tu Dios y tú eres mi hijo", y donde, sobre todo, la sed, la sed de felicidad y de perpetuidad que está grabada, como a fuego, en la entraña del ser humano, encontrará finalmente descanso. Eso es lo que nos espera detrás del umbral de la muerte. Ahí está el fundamento de nuestra esperanza, de que esta vida no se acaba sino que se transforma y de que al llegar ese momento Dios está ahí, esperándonos, con esa mirada y esas manos llenas de misericordia • AE

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) (2018)



Job was in darkness. He was right at death’s door. And in that moment of anguish, pain and suffering, Job proclaimed hope: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth... my eyes shall behold [him], and not another” [1]. The commemoration of the dead has this twofold meaning. A sense of sorrow: a cemetery is sad, it reminds us of our loved ones who have passed on. It also reminds us of the future, of death. But in this sadness, we bring flowers, as a sign of hope, and also, I might say, of celebration, but later on, not now. And sorrow is mingled with hope. Today, in this celebration, this is what we all feel: the memory of our loved ones, before their remains, and hope. But we also feel that this hope helps us, because we too must make this journey. All of us must make this journey. Sooner or later, with more pain or less, but everyone must. However with the flower of hope, with that powerful thread that is anchored in the hereafter. Thus, the hope of resurrection still does not disappoint. Jesus was the first to make this journey. We are following the journey that he made. And it was Jesus himself who opened the door: with his Cross he opened the door of hope, he opened the door for us to enter where we will contemplate God. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth... I shall behold him, and not another, I shall. My eyes shall behold him, and not another”. Let us return home today with this twofold remembrance: remembrance of the past, of our loved ones who have passed on; and remembrance of the future, of the journey that we will make. With certainty, security; that certainty came from Jesus’ lips: “I will raise him up at the last day”[2] •


[1] Job 19:25, 27
[2] Jn 6:40. HOLY MASS FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED. HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS. Prima Porta Cemetery, Wednesday, 2 November 2016.


Cara a cara con Él (Solemnidad de Todos los Santos, 2018)



La liturgia de la Iglesia celebra este primer día de Noviembre a la gran multitud de aquellos que durante su vida decidieron siguieron a Cristo y que ahora, más allá de la muerte, entonan sin cesar un cántico de su felicidad. Todos los santos son originales. No nacieron impecables, desde luego, pero creyeron en la originalidad de Dios, que promete su Reino a los desvalidos y a los humildes. Los santos son originales, porque fueron hombres y mujeres que caminaron al revés, y es que las Bienaventuranzas –las escucharemos hoy en el evangelio- no tienen otra finalidad que volver del revés el mundo. Hoy recordamos a los santos conocidos, “los taquilleros”, que diría mi señor cura Donato, pero también están todos los demás, los que nunca serán canonizados por la Iglesia ¡Y qué importa! El caso es que su santidad está precisamente en haber creído en el Amor y muchas veces en silencio y sin brillo. A contracorriente ellos reinventaron el amor aquí en la tierra y dieron testimonio de un mundo nuevo. Con ésta alegre solemnidad celebramos la bienaventuranza de la santidad. Bienaventuranza del que perdona sin alimentar rencores, del que absuelve sin escuchar el alegato, del que sonríe a la vida, incluso cuando el día pinta difícil y complicado. Hoy celebramos la bienaventuranza de los corazones puros, cuyos cristales no están empañados por la contaminación del mundo. Hoy podríamos pedirle al Señor una mirada limpia y un corazón sincero para percibir el amor con el que Él nos ama, y que lo dejemos hacer. La santidad se conoce en el rostro transparente, desbordante de la paz que brota del corazón del hombre y la mujer enamorado de su Creador. "Cuando veamos al Señor, seremos semejantes a él" escucharemos en la plegaria eucarística. La santidad es justo eso: mirar a Dios y dejarnos mirar por Él  • AE

Do we really want to be good people? (Solemnity of All Saints, 2018)



Jesus has just given us his challenging advice on how to be good people. He has told us, in fact, how to be the best people we can be, and about the qualities he wants to see in us, his followers. A quick focus on those qualities shows us that they are the very opposite of common and accepted standards and values: – The world around us says, ‘Blessed are the rich, because they can have anything they want.’ But Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit.’ By ‘poor in spirit’ he means those who put their trust in God rather than money; and those who admit that it is not their income, possessions or bank account that makes them rich in the eyes of God, but what kind of people they are. The world says, ‘Blessed are those who live it up, and never stop having fun.’ But Jesus says, ‘Blessed are those who mourn.’ He means those who let themselves feel the misfortune, pain and sorrow of others, and who respond to them with understanding, sympathy, kindness, compassion, and practical assistance. The world says, ‘Blessed are the assertive and aggressive that talk tough and act tough.’ But Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the gentle.’ Gentleness is not weakness, but a form of strength. St Francis de Sales used to say that you can catch more flies with a spoon full of sugar than a barrel full of vinegar. In Jesus’ book there’s just no place for bullies and bullying. The world says, ‘Blessed are those who hunger for power, status, and fame.’ But Jesus says, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what is right.’ The only power and status we really need is to keep living in God’s way and to keep doing the right thing. More satisfaction and contentment will be found in living with a good conscience than in hanging out with the movers and shakers and wannabes of this world. The world says, ‘Blessed are those who show no mercy and who take no prisoners.’ But Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the merciful.’ Happy are those who make allowances for the faults and sins of others, and whose greatness lies in their ability to forgive. They will receive mercy and forgiveness from God for their own sins. The world says, ‘Happy are those with clean fingernails, sparkling eyes, gleaming teeth, and unblemished skin.’ But Jesus says, ‘blessed are those with clean hearts.’ It’s from the heart that all our thoughts, words, and actions flow. If the heart is clean, then everything that flows from it will be clean, as clean as water flowing from an unpolluted spring. The world says, ‘Blessed are those who get even and exact revenge.’ But Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ Happy are those who spread understanding among people, those who welcome strangers, and those who work for a more just and equal society. They are truly the children of God. The world says, ‘Blessed are those who lie and cheat and get away with it.’ But Jesus says, ‘Blessed are those who make a stand for what is right and true.’ They may suffer for their stand, but the wounds they bear will be marks of honour and integrity. Jesus practised what he preached. In his own person he was the beatitudes. Living them day after day made him the thoroughly good person he was. It’s the same for us too. Our Feast today is reminding us of our deep-down longings to become better people than we currently are! Surely too it is reminding us that Jesus Christ can and will empower us to practise what he preached and to live what we believe! Surely, then, we won’t ever want to stop receiving him as our Bread of Life in Holy Communion! • AE


I will be out of town from Wednesday, October 31 to Wednesday, November 7; resuming the usual schedule on Thursday, November 8. 

For Mass schedule and Confession time during those days, you can visit the websites of our parish communities:





Vivir, amar y creer (XXX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario. Ciclo B)



Al final de una crisis en la vida de fe hay una encrucijada de donde salen dos  caminos. El primero lleva a un embarcadero donde hay un velero en el que se puede viajar y, mas adentro, arrojar por la borda como algo inútil, un fantasma de Dios que se habían formado desde niños. El segundo es uno más largo. Es un camino en el que vamos buscando, a veces con dolor, el verdadero rostro de Dios. Es un camino en el que a los caminantes se les han roto en mil pedazos las imágenes falsas de la divinidad pero han seguido a Dios. Al final de ese camino hay una especie de jardín sereno y no demasiado Rococó ni Barroco en el que, a pesar de todas sus limitaciones y las vacilaciones que hubo en el camino, viven  la experiencia nueva de creer en un Dios cercano que los despierta cada mañana a la vida  y llena de alegría y de paz su lucha diaria. Quizás, el verdadero secreto para creer en Dios sea saber decir desde el fondo del  corazón, de verdad y con sencillez total, aquella plegaria del ciego de Jericó: “Maestro, que  vea". Sólo entonces estamos caminando hacia Dios[1]. En realidad el pecado mas grande con el que vivimos los cristianos es no abrir los ojos. Dice un proverbio judío que «lo último que  ve el pez es el agua». Así somos nosotros. Como peces que no ven el agua en que nadan.  Como pájaros que no ven el aire en que vuelan. Nos movemos y vivimos en Dios, pero no lo  vemos[2]. Dios es simple y lo hemos hecho complicado. Es cercano a cada uno de nosotros, y lo imaginamos en un mundo extraño y lejano. Queremos comprobar su existencia con  argumentos y no saboreamos su gracia. Nos alegra saber que Einstein y otros científicos han defendido que existe, pero no sabemos disfrutar de su presencia silenciosa en nuestras vidas. No se trata de hacer gala de una fe grande y profunda. Lo importante es abrirse con sencillez a la vida y acercarse con confianza al misterio que nos envuelve. Escuchar toda llamada que nos invita a vivir, amar y crear. No vivir tan esclavos de las cosas #Detachment Detenernos por fin un día, bajar en silencio a lo más íntimo de nosotros mismos y atrevernos a decir con  sinceridad: "Señor, que vea". El hombre o la mujer que, después de haber abandonado tantas prácticas y creencias, se atreve a hacer esta oración en su corazón es ya un  verdadero creyente. Y es que querer creer es ya empezar a creer • AE


[1] J. A. Pagola, Buenas Noticias, Navarra 1985, p. 239 ss.
[2] Cfr. Hech 17, 28.

Fr. Agustin´s Schedule for October 27-28, 2018 (Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time)



Saturday October 27, 2018.

5.00 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation

@ Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.


6.00 p.m. Holy Mass in English

@ Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.

  
Sunday October 28, 2018.
   
12.00 p.m. Holy Mass in English

@ Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church.


5.30 p.m. Holy Mass in English

@ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church.

...

Totally dependent on the mercy of God! (Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle B).



Master of the Gathering of the Manna, Healing of the blind man of Jericho, 
oil on canvas, St. Catherine's Convent Museum,  Utrecht (the Netherlands)
...

In the Gospel today, we hear about Jesus healing this blind man named Bartimaeus.  Bartimaeus is a really interesting and powerful character in the Gospel, and he is struggling with blindness. But Bartimaeus is also a beggar, and this is probably a fairly overlooked point.. Spiritually speaking, we’re all beggars –we can’t fix any of our spiritual problems and we all depend on God.  So in this story, we’re meant to identify with Bartimaeus, who like us, is a beggar. When Bartimaeus is calling out to Jesus for help, he says, “Son of David, have pity on me!”  In Greek, that’s “eleison me, eleison me!” Actually, at the beginning of Mass, we say the same thing: “Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.”  Essentially, it could be translated, “Lord, have pity on me.  Christ, have pity on me.  Lord, have pity on me,” – just like the blind man! At the beginning of every Mass, we’re putting our lives into context.  We’re putting ourselves ritually in the position of Bartimaeus in that we realize that we are beggars and we need help.  Actually, that’s the virtue of Bartimaeus in the Gospel – he knows that he’s a beggar, and that he can’t fix his own problems, and so he calls out to Christ to save him. I’m sure that there are a lot of people here who have found themselves in the same situation. There are people who find themselves overwhelmed with the family situation, or health issues, or financial stuff, or the overall situation of the world today.  There are people who are overwhelmed with some attachment to sin that they can’t seem to be rid of.  And what does that feel like?  That’s right, complete powerlessness.  No matter how hard you try, you can’t fix this. You can’t do it on your own power. You are a beggar like Bartimaeus, and the only thing you can do in these troubling and desperate situations is call out to God. When Bartimaeus is called he throws off his cape. But… wait a second…he’s blind. If this whole Jesus thing doesn’t work out, how’s he going to find it again?  That’s pretty much all his security and protection against rain, cold, or whatever. It’s pretty much everything he has. He abandons himself to God in order to run to him. That is what faith is: abandonment to God. Faith is leaving behind all the things that we want to keep ourselves self-sufficient, leaving behind all the things we want to control but can’t. So as we come near to the Lord in the Eucharist today, we recognize that we are beggars totally dependent on the mercy of God to make us whole.  May we rise then, leaving our powerlessness behind, and give ourselves to his loving care • AE

A Love that pays a ransom in abundance! (Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle B)


G. Tiépolo, La Crucifixión, óleo sobre tela,
Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid).
...
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Ransom is a figure of speech, of course, not a literal statement. Jesus didn’t pay anything to anyone. But he did “pay the price”, as it were, on his sacrifice on the Cross, his decision to love the many - that undefined, unlimited multitude, that we are. He paid the price of his commitment to love us unconditionally by being killed for it. I was thinking the other day about those of who have been married for years.  In their own way they also have “paid the price” of loving – of loving each other and loving their family. From the moment that the glow of the honeymoon started to fade for sure they realized that they were committed to each other and that both were far from perfection. Over the years they have been dying to self for your love to survive, to grow and to thrive. They have willingly “paid the price” of loving for the sake of the beloved one. What a great example! Those of us who never got married, or who became widowed (or separated or divorced) have also known the inevitable pain of the choice to love and to live authentically the loneliness, the unfulfilled desires, the tiredness –especially when we have chosen to dedicate our energies to the service of the community, or to work for justice and compassion. Our second reading today talks about Jesus being tempted in every way that we are, though without sin. As catholics we must tend to live a life of faithful commitment but being aware that our life will be a one of constant temptation – the temptation to step back, to think of ourselves, to refuse to be stretched any further. We can all know the pain of dreams unfulfilled, of hopes not answered, of friendships betrayed, of service unappreciated. We have known the temptations to futility, despair and bitterness. Jesus knew them, too. In one shape or other, a “price to be paid” seems to lurk in the background of all those who allow themselves to feel and to follow the enthusiasm associated with love. Yet the choice to remain committed -and to be stretched- is the way to peace, fulfilment, joy, serenity, and wisdom. It’s all something of a mystery -a wonderful mystery before which we can only stand quietly grateful, and somewhat overjoyed. It’s the sort of experience we would love to hand on to others. It is the energy, indeed, behind the Church’s commitment to mission, the place from which all the martyrs of Christ took the strength to shed their blood for Him and for the sake of gospel. The Church desires so much to share her insights into love, and her access to the love of God made visible in our Lord, Savior and Messiah Jesus Christ. Can we drink the cup that the Lord drank, and be baptized with the baptism with which Jesus was baptized? • AE


Fr. Agustin´s Schedule for October 20-21, 2018 (Twenty-nineth Sunday in Ordinary Time)




Saturday October 20, 2018.

5.30 p.m. Holy Mass of the 80th Anniversary 

Sunday October 21, 2018.
  
8.30 a.m. Holy Mass in Spanish

10.00 a.m. Holy Mass in English
@ Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.

11.30 a.m. Holy Mass in English
@ Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.
...