Civilization of death. Still the same. Only rights, no responsibilities. And me and myself. “When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under” (Mt 2:16). 2 years old and under. True enemies. A real danger. Indeed.

In civilization of death a child still is a danger, “something” which could change MY plans, MY career, MY life and MY world.

This civilization is all around. Like the devil. TRYING. Sometimes with a quiet suggestion – you have the right to…

Civilization of life starts with responsibilities: What can I do for YOU? In this civilization we do not HAVE children. We ARE parents. And our responsibility is to protect them, love them, educate them, pray with them, encourage them and… Parents know how creative is their vocation to be parents.

With my prayers for you, who serve the civilization of life in so many places and in a so many ways.

God bless

Fr. Jay

“Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed” (J 20:8).

The youngest, the most beloved, and so humble and respectful. He “had arrived at the tomb first”, but it was Peter who went into the tomb first. Love for Christ is love for the Church. Even if John was the most beloved, Peter was chosen to be the First Pope. Where true love is, there is also order.

It reminds me of an old, but not good, saying about the roles in the family: the husband is the head and the wife is the … neck, which turns the head in whichever direction she wants. This is not the theology of marriage and family. The true answer is: the husband is the head, but his wife is the heart. It is not an opposition – both are complementary. The head without a heart is not a good idea, but also the other way round. And this is my Church. All roles, all charismas, everybody needed. In the service to one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.

PS. Personally I like this fragment also for another reason. This is a very important proof that running is a part of being an apostle. “They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived… first” (J 20:4).

So, keep running. We need fast apostles. And remember, first doesn’t mean more important. Running is not only about the place you win at the end; more important is always love.

P.S. 2. Keep me in your prayer: 8th of February. My fifth marathon. 🙂

“You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Mt 10:19-20)

Yesterday we celebrated a great joy, today we celebrate the First Martyr – St. Stephen. Lack of logic in the Liturgy, or… we need to open our eyes wider.

When Our Lord came to us, there is nothing like “illogical death” anymore. He is the light which helps us understand even as illogical things as a sudden death of his believer. He enables us to see things from the right perspective: “I see the heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God“ (Acts 7:56). Death is not the end, it is a natural way to eternal life.

And, what’s so important, we are not alone anymore: “You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Mt 10:19-20)

With Jesus – there is always the Father and the Holy Spirit. When we invited Child Jesus to our hearts again , He did not came alone. He is always united with the Father and the Spirit. 

The Church again and again reminds us about new Evangelization. So often we are so afraid what we should do or say. And this is the answer: if you ask Him for help, He will come and will help you: “you will be given at that moment what you are to say”.

The Church celebrates tonight and today the Holy Mass of Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ three times: the Mass during the night, the Mass at dawn and the Mass during the day. Three times with different readings and different prayers we celebrate the same Mystery. Sharing the same joy – we are not alone, there is no more darkness, we have God who has become a man, “today true peace has come down to us from heaven” (from Entrance Antiphony). 

We celebrate the first Mass with the Angels: “And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angels, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rest” (Lk 2:13-14).

It is my private idea – if you are in darkness, in the night, spiritual or just natural – remember about the Angels. Ask them for help. They were there during this the most important night. (And also they appeared to announce the Miracle of Resurrection – they know where they should be).

The Mass at dawn is with shepherds. “When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” (Lk 2:15)

Let us go. Simple reaction. Be ready to go. When Good News arrives, you can’t stay in the same place. You should go. “When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child” (Lk 2:17). Spread the message. I know – it is so hard. But it could be your different face, or A word of forgiveness or A phone call after years of silence – because you got the message, you went to confession, you prepared your heart and He visited you. Spread the message, and if you don’t know how – ask the shepherds – they will tell you.

The Mass of light. “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). His word is a true light. “In the begging was the Word, nad the Word was God… What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (J 1:1, 3b-5).

God’s Word in our life. He came as a Child and stayed with us as a Word. And He – the Word is a light and life.

No more darkness. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”.

“Grant us, Lord, as we honor with joyful devotion the Nativity of your Son, that we may come to know with fullness of faith the hidden depths of this mystery and to love them ever more and more” (Prayer after Communion, Mass at Dawn). 

“Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent” (2 Samuel 7:2)

It was about the ark of God, it was about the Son of God. Not a luxury, but simplicity. To be close to people.

God chose to be, as He announced, Emmanuel: God-with-us. And among us.

That is why we try to have churches in every part of the city, in every village and in every home of consecrated people. God came to us to be with us, not to live in a “house of cedar”, where it would be so difficult to visit Him.

Today is the last day of Advent. In a few hours He  will come. To our homes, to our families, where He is so expected by our children.

He doesn’t need any special place, our heart will be perfect. Open, warm, protective, tender and totally for Him.

with a lot of prayer and close to you

Father J. 

“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)

“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.

“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

“Then He took the seven loaves… gave thanks… gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds… They picked up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over… ” [Mt 15:36 – 37]

Between seven loaves and seven baskets there was one simple action: giving thanks. When He gave the bread to the crowds He used what He received from his disciples. The only difference between what he received and what he gave was – thanks.

This action could change everything. This is a solution for all hunger in our world: hunger for food, for love, for health…

When a husband is thankful to his wife, her heart is moved. And it fosters her ability to love him more and more. Because her gift was respected. And she was respected.

In the Holy Communion we will receive the Bread of Life. How fruitful this Bread will be in my life depends on thanksgiving. How fruitful will be my marriage – depends also on giving thanks. 

With grateful prayer,

Padre J.