“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)

“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

“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

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.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest”. (Mt 11, 28)

It is strange for so many to think that prayer is the best idea for “all who labor and are burdened.” It is so easy to think that watching television is the best for rest.

I found it so many times in my life that even a short visit before the blessed Sacrament is much better than any other idea of something which will give us rest.

It is such a simple recipe: “Come to me… and I will give you rest”.

“It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost” (Mt 18:14)

The God’s will.

Sometimes when people think about God’s will, they think about doing something special, difficult, and quite often connected with some penance and self-denial. But God’s will is so simple. He is a God who is Pure Love, so His will is – love each other. He came to give us example. Like a good shepherd: “In his arms he gathered the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:11).

We are in His arms. Specially, during the Holy Mass. We can invite Him to our hearts and take Him to our homes, streets, neighborhood. We can put our loved ones, our difficulties, problems and worries into His arms. 

We are His little ones. Stay close to Him.

Fr. Jay

When St. John of the Cross was a little boy, he was drwoining in a swamp. At that moment He saw a beautiful Lady who held out her hand to save him. He refused, because his hand was dirty.

It was Our Lady. She is the Immaculate Concepcion. And we have no idea how beautiful She is. And Her beauty and immaculacy let Her recognize how much sin is against God and our dignity. We are God’s children, and even when we fall, we are still His children. And She is our Mother. She is among us every day and if she sees our sin, She holds out Her hand to help us.

When we sin, we want to hide from God in our guilt and shame, but the moment we turn to go away, we fall straight into God’s arms. Because when we sin, we need His grace most, and this is where He meets us with His love to lift us up. The same with Mary: She’s there to restore beauty in us when we’re hurt by sin.

Little John didn’t want to make Her dirty, because of Her beauty.  So she sent him someone who helped him. And She also, as a Mother of Church is here to help us through the Church. Of course I am thinking about Liturgy and sacraments, with the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the first place, but also about you. What you can do to imitate Our Lady and Her great concern about other people’s relation with Christ and His Church. 

St. Paul reminds us today: “think in harmony with one another…Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.” You won’t save anybody by becoming judgemental and taking place of God to judge the others. Espaecially because God doesn’t judge, but welcomes His beloved children with mercy and lifts them up from sin.

Our Lady is so happy when she sees us praying for one another, helping each other and welcoming each other. We can help so many people when we pray for them, when we fast and  share what we have with the others.

Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion, pray for us sinners and help us be example for others how to be close to You and Your Son. Amen.

Fr. Jay

“Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest”.

Why? “His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like a sheep without a shepherd”.

The couples who suffer from infertility or lost a child during pregnancy know how difficult life is – they are troubled and abandoned. And the worst – there is no one who can tell them why.

God, who is the Creator of life, who gave couples “the extremely important mission of transmitting human life” (HV, 1) has never abandoned them. Neither those suffering from infertility, nor those unable to conceive another child. His heart didn’t change when He went to Heaven.

Today He reminds us to ask the master to send out laborers. You are among them. He touched your hearts and invited you to join His harvest. Through your work He wants to show that He takes care of the troubled couples and that He is near their problems.

Today you have finished the first step and you will soon start helping other couples. This is not only your mission. First of all, this is His. He is the Master, He is the Creator of Life, He is the Redeemer and He is the authority (and has the power) to cure every disease and every illness. Connect your knowledge with prayer and proclaim the Good News – “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand”.

He touched their eyes. (Mt 9, 29)

A touch full of faith. “Do you believe I can do this?” “Lord, we do.”

When people have blind eyes they can only see what they have in mind. My vision, my understanding, my conception. So they can see everything only from their own perspective. Like this famous face of a young and old woman at the same moment in optical illusion. What I see is what really is. I know better.

So we can’t the see other people’s perspective because we are so sure that ours is the only one. The way how we see things is so important. Probably every wife has her own vision of her husband. Probably every husband has his own vision of his wife. And in every other area – we know what priests, bosses, children (especially not ours) should be like.
Faith changes our style of how to see things.

When we ask Jesus to touch our eyes, we can start discovering the world from a different perspective. Faith allows me to see every person as created by God with all His love. So when I see another person, he or she is like an invitation from God to recognize in her/him the beauty of God’s creation. It is like an everyday adventure to see the beauty of creation like those two blind.

Could you imagine seeing the world every day after Jesus has touched your eyes?

“Everyone, who listens to these words of mine and acts on them” Mt 7:24 

When Jesus asked people to listen to His words, He didn’t promised them that they would have wonderful life without any harm. No: “The rain fell, the floods came and the wind blew”. In both situations. The only difference was that one collapsed and was completely ruined and the other did not. “It had been sat solidly on rock”.

Not many people are used to listening to His words daily. (The most simple test – finger test –  how important is Bible in your daily life is to put your finger on the top of your Bible and move it from one side to another. If your finger is clean, tha means … it’s not bad with you.)

Maybe it’s because the Bible looks like any other book. It has a cover, many pages, the same paper, print. The only difference is the content. The Bible contains His words. And we remember that HE IS THE WORD: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” J 1:1.

So when you are taking the Bible in your hands, it is like touching Him. You are in His presence. You don’t only look at Him, He also looks at you.

And if you have a really hard time, and you will feel totally alone, abandoned, misunderstood and everything will be difficult for you, just take the Bible in your arms, hug it tight and let Him talk directly to your heart.

He is the rock in your life.

Fr Jay