His beloved

December 21, 2013 9:49 am

“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45)

God’s word.

Whom do I believe: God? and His promises? what He said to me in the Bible? or … All this Bible is a nice story, but not about me.

If you have thoughts like this it is high time to ask immediately Our Lady for intervention. She is not only the First and Most Powerful Believer, but also Our Mother and our Guide in our pilgrimage of faith.

When She met Archangel Gabriel and accepted Her mission, She – only on the basis of God’s word – went to visit Her relative. “Elisabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said… blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord”. (Lk 1:41-42.45).

Today the reading from the Song of the Songs reminds you, how important you are. You are His beloved, “Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. Let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely” (Song 2:10.14).
These are His words to you. When you are entering the church for the Mass or just for a short prayer, He is telling you this: “Let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely” (Song, 14).

You are in His eyes. Always. He loves you when you are sinner, when you are tired and have no strength to pray, when you are busy with preparing Christmas, and when you are praying. Always. There is no exception. No bad mood, no busy time with God. He is Our Father, The Savior, and the Paraclete.

Only three days left to His coming. And every day, with greater passion we call:
“O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God” (Alleluia)

Our Friends forever

December 20, 2013 7:36 pm

“…The angel Gabriel was sent from God …to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph…and the virgin’s name was Mary” (Lk 1:26).

I love the Angels. The first persons created by God. Beautiful creatures, totally spiritual, and after passing the trial, totally devoted to God and to His service.

Messengers like Gabriel, warriors like Michael, healers like Rafael. To say nothing about our Guardian Angels.

Just before your conception God asked the Angels in a very similar way, like in the vision of Isaiah: “I then heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I, send me’” (Is 6:8)  answered one of the angels and become your Guardian Angel forever. And from this moment on your Guardian Angel is always with you.

Angels are present during the Mass with their prayer “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and mentioned at the end of each Preface and in the first Eucharistic prayer, Angels are also present in Angelus Domini prayer and in the Rosary so happy to serve Our Lady, Angels protect our countries, cities, parishes and individuals. We owe them so much.

Sometimes people restrict prayer to Guardian Angels only to childhood and only to children, but they are our friends forever.

Can we imagine how happy was Gabriel to announce Zachariah the good news about Elisabeth’s pregnancy, and to proclaim Our Lady to be the Mother of God? We call him the Guardian Angel of the Holy Family, but he is always there to spread the good news to every family.

Remember to speak with your Guardian Angel every day, remember to say “thank you” for his daily help, remember to ask him in a special need. He is your friend. Always. And you can count on him. Please, refresh your friendship with him during this Advent. This is the time of the Angels. They brought Good News to Zachariah and Elisabeth, to Mary, St. Josef and to shepherds. Today they also serve to protect God’s life in our hearts.

O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness. (Alleluia)

Civilization of Life

December 19, 2013 4:51 pm

Good News for mankind comes through announcing a new life – “You will be with child and will bear a son”. It was a message to the mother of Samson (Judges 13,7) and the mother of John the Baptist (Lk 1,13). Tomorrow the Virgin Mother will receive the same message.

God is a Father who loves life. He is the Creator of life because He is Love and He lives in a communion of persons. God is never alone. He is the Holy Trinity.

He shared with us the most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator- the transmission of human life (HV 1).

The great joy for parents, the future for this world. Any couple who become parents understand Advent – the time of expectation, the time, when the joy of birth is present before birth. We enjoy this coming time, we would like to have Christmas as soon as possible, even today, so decorations are ready and gifts already bought, but we know that we should wait. The Child will come when time comes. Not earlier, not later, just on time.
To prepare ourselves better for this time, we can pray for expecting mothers, for women suffering from infertility, for civilization of life. We can give today a smile to expecting mothers, maybe a small sign of help.

“O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!” (from Alleluia) 

God-with-us

December 18, 2013 4:52 pm

They shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us” (Mt 1:23)

God has chosen to be called Emmanuel, to ensure us that He is so close to us.
When we pray “Our Father who are in Heaven” it doesn’t mean that we should look somewhere up, into the sky.

This biblical expression does not mean a place (“space”), but a way of being; it does not mean that God is distant, but majestic. Our Father is not “elsewhere”: he transcends everything we can conceive of his holiness. It is precisely because he is thrice holy that he is so close to the humble and contrite heart.

“Our Father who art in heaven” is rightly understood to mean that God is in the hearts of the just, as in his holy temple. At the same time, it means that those who pray should desire the one they invoke to dwell in them.

“Heaven” could also be those who bear the image of the heavenly world, and in whom God dwells and tarries. (CCC, 2794).

It wasn’t our decision to bring God from heaven to earth. It was, from the beginning HIS own, independent decision to be Emmanuel, God-with-us

What we can do, especially during this time of Advent, is to open our hearts for Him. Not because we deserve, but because we need Him so desperately. Without Him we are helpless, with Him we are in power, we belong to Him, we are God’s children, and no one can take this dignity away from us.

O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power. (Alleluia verse)

You belong here

December 17, 2013 12:55 pm

Today’s Gospel is a very long story of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

We could feel tired of listening to so many names. We know that this is the Gospel, Good News about our salvation, but … maybe a shorter version would be enough. Where is hidden the Good News for us and our salvation in these names?

When we listen carefully to this genealogy, we can find four names which shouldn’t be mentioned: female names. This is odd. Jewish genealogy doesn’t cover female names. And whats more: three of these names are not Jewish: Tamar, Rahab and Ruth were pagans.

Jesus Christ invited pagan women to His family. He wants to have all people in His family. Salvation is universal.

If you think that you are nobody, nothing special, just a poor, weak sinner, remember that He came to the poor, the weak and the sinners and in times, when women didn’t count He put their names into His genealogy to remind you and to protect your presence in His family forever.

I am the way, the truth and the life

December 16, 2013 9:22 am

“He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way” (Ps 25)

The simple difference between believer and pagan lies in prayer. Not in prayer generally but in the way how they pray. The pagan prays to change God’s will, the believer prays to change his own heart to follow God’s will. The pagan can even “pay” for this change in God’s will by sacrifices, litanies, candles; the believer can put his life on the line to be with God.

We are listening today to His words and pray: “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior” (Ps 25). We know that He is full of compassion and kindness, “good and upright is the Lord” (Ps 25), so we choose to listen to Him and follow His will, because He knows where our Home is. And He said “I am the way, the truth and the life”.
The chief priest and the elders (Mt 21, 23) had their own idea of God, heaven and future. They prayed a lot. But instead of accepting the salvation they were trying to destroy the authority of Jesus. They tried to be smart rather then simple. Their attempt had a very miserable effect.

Our prayer for today is: “Show us, Lord, your love, and grant us your salvation”. (Alleluia)

“He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way” (Ps 25)

PS. I received yesterday so much of wonderfull evidence of your memory of my 28th anniversery of priesthood. Thank U so much.

Rejoice!!!

December 15, 2013 7:12 pm

“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near”. (Phil 4, 4-5)

This is a very special Sunday. Traditionally we call this Sunday – Gaudete – Rejoice!!!

Why? Because the Lord is near.

What does it mean? He is coming to save you.

The Bible’s language is very detailed and precise: “the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be cleared, the lame will leap like a stag, the tongue of the mute will sing”. (Is 35, 5 – 6).

It is as if God wanted to cover all our daily life situations: when we can’t see the way out of a difficult situation, when no one is telling us how beautiful and important we are and that we are loved so much, when we have no place to go, no one is waiting for us impatiently, because they’ve missed us, and finally we will have courage to tell the others how much we love them, even if we run the risk of rejection.

Today’s Sunday reminds me of the picture I once saw. It showed heaven. God the Father was standing on the cloud and looking at the Earth. On His face there was so much feeling. And He repeated – I love them so much…

Behind Him there were two Angels. And one, looking at this situation, made a comment to another one – “He can continue like that all  day long.”

This is Advent. We are waiting until it appears in our life. So the Apostle reminds: “ You must be patient. Make your heart firm … because the coming of the Lord is at hand”. (James 5, 7,9).

During our Advent he is sending His “messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you” (Mt 11, 10).

It was John the Baptist, it was any of the saints, it was Juan Diego and Juan Pablo. And it could be you – your smile, your help, your good word and prayer, your heartfelt compassion can change this Advent into a very special time – when Gods promises are really at hand. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” (from Alleluia)

“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near”. (Phil 4, 4-5)

 

Fathers and sons

December 14, 2013 10:38 pm

“To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons” Sirach 48, 10

Advent is a time of great expectation. We will welcome the Son of God. Who comes to restore our relation with God the Father. A Person, who is really in charge during this time is Our Lady. We look at Her, when She is expecting the birth of Her Son. All in Her life is dedicated to Him. “Per Mariam ad Jesum”. (in latin) “By Mary to Jesus”.

But this is not the end of the story. She also helps us to go back to God, the Father.
God gave us life, all talents, potential but we chose sin. My perspective, my goals, my expectations, my… my… my… People are not interested in following God’s will. They prefer theirs.

Christmas is not only a great occasion to celebrate the birth of the Son of God, but also an occasion to choose again God, the Father almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, the Creator of Life. Because when we choose Him, we will put everything in order. When God is in the first place, everything is in place. And all of us need to put everything in place. Probably everyone found in his/hers life, how difficult it is to find anything if there is mess.

We are preparing ourselves to celebrate Christmas. We are concerned about meals, presents, visiting parents and friends. It is important. But it is also so important to check where God the Father is in my life. Am I following God’s will?, am I in good conscience?, when was my last confession? do I pray regularly? When God is in the first place, everything is in place.

The perfect sign is relation father – son. Relation full of trust, pride, support, respect, acceptance and love. Without God this relation could be anger, expectations, limits, orders, and even rejection.

We should pray for such situations not to happen – when a father rejects his son. And we know that the cure comes only from God. He, and only He can cure rejected sons and fathers and bring them back to a good relation. And He has always a word of hope. He never rejected us, even when we were very bad sinners. He always loves us. And He always can turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons.

Advent is the time for all of us to go back to Our Heavenly Father to learn from Him how to trust, take care, respect, support and love. Put Him in the first place, trust Him and He will help you the way you would never expect.

“To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons” Sirach 48, 10

Her works

December 13, 2013 10:24 am

“Wisdom is vindicated by her works” Mt 11:19

It is so difficult after yesterday Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe just to come back to normal, Advent time. Especially for me. I am from the country that loves Our Lady so much. Like You, Mexicans. Celebrating Her Feast with You, in our Parish of Immaculate  Conception and in Tepeyac, was so important and emotional.

Fortunately in today’s readings I’ve found  a reason not to leave the atmosphere of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but to stay in it a little bit longer.

“Wisdom in vindicated by her works”. Our liturgical tradition very often uses readings from Ecclesiastes (Eclesiastico) to present the role of Our Lady in THE history of Redemption. She is God’s Wisdom. So, what kind of works did She show us yesterday? An outstanding devotion to the Holy Mass. We celebrated yesterday so many Masses to glorify the Holy Trinity. All Her honor and glory is to bring us closer to Her beloved Son, to meet Him and receive all His mercy, forgiveness and  love from Him.

Wisdom is not knowledge, education level or scientific titles. Wisdom is to offer all our love, trust and adoration to Him, “your Redeemer, the Holy One” (Is 48, 17). He will “teach you what is your good, and lead you on the way you should go”(Is, 48, 17). And – the most important – Our “name is never cut off or blotted out from” (Is 48, 19) His presence.

This is a special gift of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She always brings us closer to Him.

Wisdom in vindicated by her works.

Fr Jay

From slave to God’s child

December 12, 2013 12:04 pm

When Our Lady accepted the invitation to be a Mother of God, she became a first tabernacle. Invisible God was with us. At that time only Elisabeth received a great grace to recognize His presence in Mary – “blessed is the fruit of your womb. How does happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

That was the beginning of a new history of mankind. God again came to us. … God, who wonderfully created human nature and still more wonderfully redeemed it. God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”  So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Gal 4:6-7).

Our Lady, whenever she comes, she brings the same Good News all the time. We are Children of God. That was Her first message to Juan Diego:

“I want very much to have a little house built here for me, in which I will show Him, I will exalt Him and make Him manifest. I will give Him to the people in all my personal love, in my compassion, in my help, in my protection: because I am truly your merciful Mother, yours and all the people who live united in this land and of all the other people of different ancestries, my lovers, who love me, those who seek me, those who trust in me. Here I will hear their weeping, their complaints and heal all their sorrows, hardships and sufferings.”

And later: “ Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.”

You remember Her words perfectly. The only reason to remind it is… our nature. Like in a family every child loves to listen again and again how special it is and how much it is loved, so also we love to hear Her message not only every year, when we celebrate Her Feast, but every day.

Listen to Her today how she is calling you by your name, in a very special way, like Juan Diego: Juanito, dearest Juan Diego, my dearest and youngest son, daughter. We are Her children. Her “soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” (Lu 1:47). From slaves to children.