“Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (MT 20: 26-28) 

The difference between the finite and the infinite oriented organizations lies exactly in this approach: “to be first” and to be served or “to serve and to give our lives for many”. Every marriage and every family is finite oriented—our goal is to love and to go to heaven together with our beloved one. 

“I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life.” (Gospel Acclamation) 

“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (MT 23: 11-12) 

This is the reality of family, daily life—serving each other. Serving, because love is in serving, in taking care of others, and in looking for what is good for them. When we want to be served, when we want to use somebody as a means to my end, this is not love. 

“Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” (Gospel Acclamation) 

“For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” (LK 6: 38) 

The free, creative, and joyful gift of self is always a challenge, but there is no other way if we really want to enjoy our relationship. Whatever we invest, based on our extreme ownership, we will receive back: “for the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” My gift of self is not a reward for a nice behavior, but is an unconditional gift, and because it is unconditional, it has such an amazing reward. 

“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.” (Gospel Acclamation) 

“While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’” (MT 17: 5) 

I found recently, inspired by some author, that we can create another word with the same letters we need to write “listen”: “silent.” To listen carefully, to understand the message, we need to be silent. When we are in a silent mood, we can understand the message; we can focus on the other person. When we continue our internal dialog with mistaken patterns of interpretations, there is no chance to listen to somebody. Even to God. 

“From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard: This is my beloved Son, hear him.” (Gospel Acclamation) 

“But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (MT 5: 43-45)

It is much easier to love those who deserve it. How limited we are! We can be in crisis with our spouses because of something really simple and not important. We can be wounded because of an idealistic vision of our spouses; we have high expectations and demands. It is good to remember what God teaches us because, fortunately, our spouse is not our real enemy. 

“Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (Gospel Acclamation) 

“Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (MT 5: 23-24) 

“Reconciled with your brother”— and this brother could be our spouse, our friend, our parents… Brother is universal—it is somebody who is ignored when I am pretending to love my God with all my heart. Love is when I am loving. Loving is when I am taking care of my beloved. 

“Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” (Gospel Acclamation) 

“If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.” (MT 7: 11) 

Why did God decide to be a Father? Why does God want us to be in a relationship? Why is family life and consecrated life so important? God doesn’t want us to be alone; He doesn’t want us to be alone in our relationship with Him. Rather, He wants us to be united and related. He wants us to be children first and parents later, loving each other. To be like God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He created us in His image and likeness, and this is our identity. 

“A clean heart create for me, O God; give me back the  joy of your salvation.” (Gospel Acclamation) 

“This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” (LK 11: 29-30) 

God took care of us from the beginning of our history. He sent prophets, judges, and holy men to lead us to Him. With Jesus, we received more than we could ever have imagined—the Son of God, Our Lord, became a man and is with us all the time. He is in the Church, in the Blessed Sacrament, in every Mass, and in the Bible; He is with us when we pray and are strong, and He is with us when we are sinners and sick and unable to pray—He is with us to love us and to guide us and to lead us to Heaven. And He teaches us how to love our spouses, our children, our neighbors, and friends. 

“Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart for I am gracious and merciful.” (Gospel Acclamation)