Lent, REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

     ¨Peace be with you!¨ 

(Fr. James McTavish FMVD)

In today´s gospel (Luke 24, 36-48) Jesus once again appears to his disciples in a so-called Post resurrection appearance. He stands in their midst and announces ¨Peace be with you!¨ The disciples are startled and terrified. They think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus tells them that it is he himself. After this the disciples are filled with joy and amazement. We see the disciples going through the gamut of emotions – in one minute fearful and afraid, then doubting and not believing, then amazed and joyful. In many ways a parody of our own human experiences. Some days we are up, sometimes we are down and sometimes we do not know where we are! We are changeable! But Jesus is constant and his choice and love for each one of us is constant and unchangeable. He could have said to the disciples ¨Right, I have had it up to here with you all. Enough is enough. I am going to find some others who might believe in me more¨. But no, the election of his beloved is permanent, stable and everlasting. He is faithful even when we are unfaithful. He appears to the disciples and announces to them ¨Peace be with you!¨. He comes to strengthen them, to strengthen their faith and give them courage. 

Perhaps we could wish for the same experience – to witness the risen Lord standing in our midst and telling us ¨Peace be with you¨. But is this not what happens in every Eucharist? The Risen Lord himself appears to us in the communion of believers, in the Word of God, and in the breaking of the bread. And do we not hear Jesus telling us in every mass ¨Peace be with you¨? How different our lives would be if we really believed these words of Jesus. In these days I caught an infection in my foot which made me feel a bit sick and a bit worried. I started to take antibiotics but I needed something to calm my soul. Man cannot live on antibiotics alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. I was praying and understood very clearly from the Risen Lord ¨Peace be with you¨. I felt calm. Later in the day, while resting my foot, I became anxious thinking of the many things I could otherwise be doing. I told Jesus and I listened to the same words ¨Peace be with you¨. Then later on I realized I could have explained something better to a person and again I heard those words ¨Peace be with you¨. How different our lives are when we listen to the words of the Risen Lord and not merely to our worries, concerns and anxieties! 

What happens when we don´t listen to Jesus and instead listen to ourselves? In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 3, 13-15/17-19), Peter addresses the crowd and referring to the crucifixion of Jesus says to them ¨the author of life you put to death¨. This is very dramatic. How is it possible to put the author of life to death? But every time we listen more to ourselves, our whims, our changing feelings and ignore the voice of Jesus, when we don´t listen to his words then we live more in death than in life. We live in anxiety and fear more than in peace and harmony trusting in the words and constant love of the Risen Lord. What is stronger in my life – what I see, what I feel or what God sees and feels? St Peter pleads with the crowd and asks them to repent and be converted. We need a humble daily conversion. 

When we don´t listen to God, when we say no to him this is sin. In the second reading of today (1st John 2, 1-5) St John reminds us that if we sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. An Advocate who loves us and gave his life for us on the cross. He is our defender and shield. Even in the middle of faults and failings our God tells us in Christ ¨Peace be with you¨. Christ comes not to condemn but to save. He gives us a medicine to strengthen us too. What is the medicine? His Word. St John reminds us ¨the love of God is truly perfected in the one who keeps his word¨. To keep his word we must first receive it in prayer. To make space to listen to it, and then treasure that Word in our hearts, like Mother Mary did. What words of Jesus do you treasure in your heart? 

Once the famous 4th century preacher St John Chrysostom wrote ¨Why should I fear when the waves threaten to drown me? I have the rock of Christ´s love to protect me. Why should I doubt in the middle of turmoil when he has given me his written word?¨ We too have the love of Christ which is firmer than a rock. ¨The mountains may crumble and the rocks may fall but my live for you will never fail¨(Isaiah 54,10). We have received the written promise of God – the Sacred Scripture. And we have a Risen Lord who appears to us this day and tells each one of us ¨Peace be with you¨. 

Lord, you are the author of Life. Increase our faith. Help us to believe more in your love for us than in our shortcomings. Help us to believe more in your Word than in our changing feelings. Lord open our eyes to see your risen presence, protect us from the anxiety of the tempter, and help us to live in the peace of your risen presence. Amen.

III Pascua, REFLEXION Evangelio Semanal

Comprender las Escrituras

(P. Luis Tamayo)

El domingo pasado decíamos que el tiempo de Pascua son esos 50 días en los que Jesús no sólo se aparece a los Discípulos, sino que descubrimos en Jesús una doble intención con ellos: La de confirmarles: No tengáis miedo, la cruz no fue una derrota, seguid creyendo en mi, estoy vivo; y la de acostumbrarles a reconocerle de una forma nueva, desde la fe. Lo vemos de nuevo en el evangelio de hoy (Lc 24, 35-48):

Estaban hablando de estas cosas, cuando se presenta Jesús en medio de ellos y les dice: - «Paz a vosotros.» Llenos de miedo por la sorpresa, creían ver un fantasma. El les dijo: - «¿Por qué os alarmáis?, ¿por qué surgen dudas en vuestro interior? Mirad mis manos y mis pies: soy yo en persona. Palpadme y daos cuenta de que un fantasma no tiene carne y huesos, como veis que yo tengo.» Dicho esto, les mostró las manos y los pies. 

Pero, ¿qué pasaría después de los 50 días, cuando ascendiera al cielo para estar junto al Padre? ¿cómo crees que le reconocerían? La Pascua fueron 50 días para confirmar que Dios había cumplido su promesa: la muerte no tiene la última palabra; pero Jesús no se contentaba con eso, quiso acostumbrarles a reconocerle desde la fe porque ya entonces estaba pensando en nosotros. El interés de Jesús fue el de enseñarles a reconocerle por la fe para así transmitirlo a lo largo de toda la historia y a través de todas las generaciones.

¿Cómo podemos reconocerle hoy? Si el domingo pasado hablamos de que podemos reconocer su presencia trayendo a Jesús a la memoria; hablábamos de la palabra “recordar”, como ese volver a pasar por el corazón la experiencia de Jesús. Hoy hablamos de la Escritura o la Palabra de Dios como ese lugar privilegiado para encontrarnos desde la fe con el Jesús resucitado. Cuantas veces me acuerdo de las cartas que me escribía mi madre cuando he vivido en el extranjero! Pero si esas palabras servían de encuentro, la Sagrada Escritura tiene algo más.

Jesús les dijo: - «Todo lo escrito en la ley de Moisés y en los profetas y salmos acerca de mí tenía que cumplirse.» Entonces les abrió el entendimiento para comprender las Escrituras.

La Escritura, la Palabra de Dios, la Biblia, es el lugar privilegiado de encuentro con la promesa de Dios. Todo lo escrito en ella es cumplimiento del amor de Dios. El catecismo de la Iglesia dice: si quieres profundizar en el conocimiento de Jesús ha de pasar necesariamente por la lectura atenta y cuidadosa de la Escritura. 

Un día fui a visitar a una persona a su casa y me fijé que en la mesa del salón tenía la Biblia a mano, y varios libros. Me llevé la sorpresa de ver un diccionario, un manual de ayuda y un cuaderno donde tomaba sus notas y reflexiones. Aquí a veces entre vosotros he visto personas que se leen las lecturas antes de venir a misa, para saborearlo más y mejor.

Un documento de la Iglesia (Dei Verbum) que habla de cómo leer hoy día la Sagrada Escritura dice: En los libros sagrados, Dios que está en el cielo sale amorosamente al encuentro de sus hijos para conversar con ellos. Es Dios que sale al encuentro nuestro para conversar. San Jerónimo decía: quien lee la Escritura ya escucha a Dios en su Palabra.

También es verdad que uno puede decir: yo, por más que leo, me cuesta entender lo que dice. Es verdad, pero yo añadiría, no es sólo entender lo que dice, sino es entender lo que a mi me dice. Dios me quiere hablar a mí personalmente, y para ello lo que dice hoy el Evangelio de los Discípulos: Entonces les abrió el entendimiento para comprender las Escrituras.

Comprender internamente la vida de Jesús, conocer con profundidad a la persona de Jesús a través de la Palabra uno necesita la humildad de reconocer que cuando me acerco y tomo la Sagrada Escritura es a Dios a quien he de pedir que me abra el entendimiento.

Lent, A real historical event

The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was a real historical event 

Thus it is fundamental to our Christian faith and witness to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as a real historical event testified to by many authoritative witnesses. We strongly affirm this because, even in our times, there is no lack of those who deny its historicity, reducing the Gospel account to a myth, to a "vision" of the Apostles, taking up again and presenting old worn-out theories as new and scientific. Certainly for Jesus the resurrection was not a mere return to the former life. In this case, in fact, it would be a thing of the past: 2,000 years ago someone rose from the dead, returned to his old life, just as Lazarus did, for example. The resurrection is oriented in another direction; it is the passage to a dimension of life that is profoundly new, that also implicates us, that involves the whole of the human family, of history and of the universe.

This event that introduced a new dimension of life, an openness of our world to eternal life, changed the existence of the eyewitnesses as the evangelical accounts and the other New Testament writings demonstrate; it is an announcement that entire generations of men and women through the centuries welcomed with faith and often bore witness to at the price of their blood, knowing that precisely in this way they entered into this new dimension of life. This year too, at Easter there resounds unchanged and always new, in every corner of the earth, this good news: Jesus, who has died on the cross and been resurrected, lives in glory because he has defeated the power of death, he has brought human beings into a new communion of life with and in God. This is the victory of Easter, our salvation! And so we can sing with St. Augustine: "Christ's resurrection is our hope," because he leads us into a new future.

It is true: Jesus' resurrection founds our certain hope and illuminates the whole of our earthly pilgrimage, including the human enigma of pain and death. The faith in Christ crucified and risen is the heart of the whole evangelical message, the central nucleus of our "credo." Of such an essential "credo" we can find an authoritative expression in a famous passage in St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (15:3-8), where the Apostle, responding to some of the members of the community at Corinth who paradoxically proclaimed Jesus' resurrection but denied that of the dead -- our hope -- faithfully transmits that which he -- Paul -- had received from the first apostolic community about the death and resurrection of the Lord.

He begins with an almost parenthetical remark: "Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain!" (15:1-2). He immediately adds that he has passed on to them what he himself had received. Then the pericope follows that we listened to at the beginning of our meeting. St. Paul first of all presents the death of Jesus and then, in a very simple text, makes two additions to the news that "Christ died." The first addition is: he died "for our sins"; the second is: "according to the Scriptures" (15:3). This expression, "according to the Scriptures," puts the event of the Lord's death in relation to the history of the Old Testament covenant of God with his people, and he makes us understand that the death of the Son of God belongs to the fabric of the history of salvation, and indeed makes us understand that this history receives its logic and meaning from this death.

The Apostle pauses over the Lord's resurrection. He says that Christ "rose on the third day according to the Scriptures." Again: "according to the Scriptures!" Not a few exegetes see in the expression "[he] rose on the third day according to the Scriptures" a significant reference to Psalm 16, where the Psalmist proclaims: "You will not abandon me in the netherworld, nor let his faithful one undergo corruption" (16:10). This is one of the texts of the Old Testament that was cited by early Christians to prove Jesus' messianic character. Since, according to the understanding of Judaism, corruption began after the third day, the word of Scripture is fulfilled in Jesus who rises on the third day, that is, before corruption set in. 

Dear brothers and sisters, let us allow ourselves to be enlightened by the splendor of the risen Lord. Let us welcome him with faith and adhere generously to his Gospel, as did the first privileged witnesses of the resurrection; as St. Paul did, some years later, encountering the divine Master in an extraordinary way on the road to Damascus. We cannot just hold onto the proclamation of this truth -- which changes the life of everyone -- only for ourselves. 

And with humble confidence let us pray: "Rejoice, my soul. It is always Easter, because the risen Christ is our resurrection!" 

Once again, a happy Easter to all of you!

¿Porque los católicos veneramos imágenes?

Me preguntan por qué los católicos "adoramos imágenes". 

Es absolutamente falso que los católicos adoremos imágenes. Los católicos adoramos solo a Dios, pero es correcto decir que los católicos veneramos imágenes.

Entonces, ¿porque tenemos imágenes?

Estas son solo representaciones artísticas de Jesús, de María o de los santos. Nunca se adora la imagen. Como una esposa guarda la foto de su esposo, el cristiano utiliza el arte para representar a los que están en el cielo. La foto del esposo no es una necesidad para la esposa poder recordarlo. Es tan solo un signo que facilita el recuerdo. El cristiano tampoco necesita imágenes para orar. Tan solo son una ayuda para elevar los sentidos. El hombre siempre ha usado pintura, figuras, dibujos, esculturas, etc., para darse a entender o explicar algo. Estos medios sirven para ayudarnos a visualizar lo invisible; para explicar lo que no se puede explicar con palabras. 

Santo Tomás de Aquino explica en su Summa Teológica:

El culto de la religión no se dirige a las imágenes en sí mismas como realidades, sino que las mira bajo su aspecto propio de imágenes que nos conducen a Dios encarnado. Ahora bien, el movimiento que se dirige a la imágen en cuanto tal, no se detiene en ella, sino que tiende a la realidad de la que es imágen. (Summa theologiae, II-II, 81, 3, ad 3.)

Un poco de humor...

PAPAL MESSAGE FOR EASTER

"The Resurrection Is Not a Theory, 

but a Historical Reality"

(Benedict XVI's Easter message)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world,

From the depths of my heart, I wish all of you a blessed Easter. To quote Saint Augustine, "Resurrectio Domini, spes nostra – the resurrection of the Lord is our hope" (Sermon 261:1). With these words, the great Bishop explained to the faithful that Jesus rose again so that we, though destined to die, should not despair, worrying that with death life is completely finished; Christ is risen to give us hope (cf. ibid.).

Indeed, one of the questions that most preoccupies men and women is this: what is there after death? To this mystery today’s solemnity allows us to respond that death does not have the last word, because Life will be victorious at the end. This certainty of ours is based not on simple human reasoning, but on a historical fact of faith: Jesus Christ, crucified and buried, is risen with his glorified body. Jesus is risen so that we too, believing in him, may have eternal life. This proclamation is at the heart of the Gospel message. As Saint Paul vigorously declares: "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." He goes on to say: "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied" (1 Cor 15:14,19). Ever since the dawn of Easter a new Spring of hope has filled the world; from that day forward our resurrection has begun, because Easter does not simply signal a moment in history, but the beginning of a new condition: Jesus is risen not because his memory remains alive in the hearts of his disciples, but because he himself lives in us, and in him we can already savour the joy of eternal life.

The resurrection, then, is not a theory, but a historical reality revealed by the man Jesus Christ by means of his "Passover", his "passage", that has opened a "new way" between heaven and earth (cf. Heb 10:20). It is neither a myth nor a dream, it is not a vision or a utopia, it is not a fairy tale, but it is a singular and unrepeatable event: Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, who at dusk on Friday was taken down from the Cross and buried, has victoriously left the tomb. In fact, at dawn on the first day after the Sabbath, Peter and John found the tomb empty. Mary Magdalene and the other women encountered the risen Jesus. On the way to Emmaus the two disciples recognized him at the breaking of the bread. The Risen One appeared to the Apostles that evening in the Upper Room and then to many other disciples in Galilee.

The proclamation of the Lord’s Resurrection lightens up the dark regions of the world in which we live. I am referring particularly to materialism and nihilism, to a vision of the world that is unable to move beyond what is scientifically verifiable, and retreats cheerlessly into a sense of emptiness which is thought to be the definitive destiny of human life. It is a fact that if Christ had not risen, the "emptiness" would be set to prevail. If we take away Christ and his resurrection, there is no escape for man, and every one of his hopes remains an illusion. Yet today is the day when the proclamation of the Lord’s resurrection vigorously bursts forth, and it is the answer to the recurring question of the sceptics, that we also find in the book of Ecclesiastes: "Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’?" (Ec 1:10). We answer, yes: on Easter morning, everything was renewed. "Mors et vita, duello conflixere mirando: dux vitae mortuus, regnat vivus – Death and life have come face to face in a tremendous duel: the Lord of life was dead, but now he lives triumphant." This is what is new! A newness that changes the lives of those who accept it, as in the case of the saints. This, for example, is what happened to Saint Paul.

Many times, in the context of the Pauline year, we have had occasion to meditate on the experience of the great Apostle. Saul of Tarsus, the relentless persecutor of Christians, encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and was "conquered" by him. The rest we know. In Paul there occurred what he would later write about to the Christians of Corinth: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (2 Cor 5:17). Let us look at this great evangelizer, who with bold enthusiasm and apostolic zeal brought the Gospel to many different peoples in the world of that time. Let his teaching and example inspire us to go in search of the Lord Jesus. Let them encourage us to trust him, because that sense of emptiness, which tends to intoxicate humanity, has been overcome by the light and the hope that emanate from the resurrection. The words of the Psalm have truly been fulfilled: "Darkness is not darkness for you, and the night is as clear as the day" (Ps 139 [138]:12). It is no longer emptiness that envelops all things, but the loving presence of God. The very reign of death has been set free, because the Word of life has even reached the "underworld", carried by the breath of the Spirit (v. 8).

If it is true that death no longer has power over man and over the world, there still remain very many, in fact too many signs of its former dominion. Even if through Easter, Christ has destroyed the root of evil, he still wants the assistance of men and women in every time and place who help him to affirm his victory using his own weapons: the weapons of justice and truth, mercy, forgiveness and love. This is the message which, during my recent Apostolic Visit to Cameroon and Angola, I wanted to convey to the entire African continent, where I was welcomed with such great enthusiasm and readiness to listen. Africa suffers disproportionately from the cruel and unending conflicts, often forgotten, that are causing so much bloodshed and destruction in several of her nations, and from the growing number of her sons and daughters who fall prey to hunger, poverty and disease. I shall repeat the same message emphatically in the Holy Land, to which I shall have the joy of travelling in a few weeks from now. Reconciliation – difficult, but indispensable – is a precondition for a future of overall security and peaceful coexistence, and it can only be achieved through renewed, persevering and sincere efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My thoughts move outwards from the Holy Land to neighbouring countries, to the Middle East, to the whole world. At a time of world food shortage, of financial turmoil, of old and new forms of poverty, of disturbing climate change, of violence and deprivation which force many to leave their homelands in search of a less precarious form of existence, of the ever-present threat of terrorism, of growing fears over the future, it is urgent to rediscover grounds for hope. Let no one draw back from this peaceful battle that has been launched by Christ’s Resurrection. For as I said earlier, Christ is looking for men and women who will help him to affirm his victory using his own weapons: the weapons of justice and truth, mercy, forgiveness and love.

Resurrectio Domini, spes nostra! The resurrection of Christ is our hope! This the Church proclaims today with joy. She announces the hope that is now firm and invincible because God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead. She communicates the hope that she carries in her heart and wishes to share with all people in every place, especially where Christians suffer persecution because of their faith and their commitment to justice and peace. She invokes the hope that can call forth the courage to do good, even when it costs, especially when it costs. Today the Church sings "the day that the Lord has made", and she summons people to joy. Today the Church calls in prayer upon Mary, Star of Hope, asking her to guide humanity towards the safe haven of salvation which is the heart of Christ, the paschal Victim, the Lamb who has "redeemed the world", the Innocent one who has "reconciled us sinners with the Father". To him, our victorious King, to him who is crucified and risen, we sing out with joy our Alleluia!

II Pascua, REFLEXION Evangelio Semanal

Re-cordar: volver a traerle al corazón

(P. Luis Tamayo)

¿Qué es este tiempo pascual? Es el tiempo por el que Jesús se aparece a sus amigos y discípulos durante 50 días para confirmarles que es Él y que ha vencido a la muerte y para acostumbrarles a reconocerle de una forma nueva, desde la fe.

En los evangelios de estos días vemos como Jesús se aparece a las mujeres y a los discípulos con su cuerpo transformado, hecho espiritual y partícipe de la gloria del alma: pero sin ninguna característica triunfalista. (No ha querido enfrentarse a sus adversarios, asumiendo a actitud de vencedor, ni se ha preocupado por mostrarles su 'superioridad', y todavía menos ha querido fulminarlos). Jesús se manifiesta con una gran sencillez. Habla de amigo a amigo, con los que se encuentra en las circunstancias ordinarias de la vida terrena. Ésta es la fe en el resucitado que hemos de poner en práctica cada día.

Érase una vez un sacerdote y un fabricante de jabón que estaban dando un paseo. El fabricante de jabón le dijo: "Padre, ¿para qué sirve la religión? Mire la miseria y las guerras y el sufrimiento que hay en el mundo. Después de tantas oraciones, sermones y enseñanzas todo sigue igual. Si la religión es buena y verdadera, ¿por qué todo sigue igual?" Siguieron caminando y se encontraron con un niño todo sucio.

El sacerdote le dijo al fabricante de jabón: "Mire ese niño. Usted dice que el jabón limpia pero ese niño sigue estando sucio. ¿Para qué sirve el jabón?". El fabricante de jabón le contestó: "Padre, el jabón no puede evitar la suciedad a no ser que sea usado todos los días." Exacto replicó el sacerdote, exacto.

La fe en el resucitado da fruto en nuestras vidas si es usada todos los días. Cristo ha resucitado, esta es la verdad de nuestra fe, y esta fe hay que aplicarla todos los días de nuestra vida.

Pero no podemos dudar de que hay dificultad, los mismos discípulos la tuvieron. Ante todo hay una dificultad inicial en reconocer a Cristo por parte de aquellos a los que El sale al encuentro, como se puede apreciar en el caso de la misma Magdalena (Jn 20, 14-16) y de los discípulos de Emaús (Lc 24, 16). No falta un cierto sentimiento de temor ante El. Se le ama, se le busca, pero, en el momento en que se le encuentra, se experimenta alguna vacilación...

Nuestra fe en Jesús también encuentra su dificultad. Muchas veces no es una fe viva y de encuentro personal tu a tu, sino que es un traer a la memoria una idea de Jesús, y no a la persona viva de Jesús. Pero así como Jesús lleva a sus discípulos gradualmente al reconocimiento y a la fe así nos quiere llevar a nosotros. Tomás, María Magdalena (Jn 20,16), como a los discípulos de Emaús (Lc 24, 26 ss). Esta es la pedagogía paciente de Cristo al revelarse al hombre y al atraerlo. Si nos fijamos en todos estos hechos Jesús va al corazón.

¿Cómo superamos esta dificultad? Tócame y Recuerda Tomás! Así como me tocaste un día así de vivo quiero estar en tu corazón el resto de tus días.

¿Qué significa recordar, recordar al Señor todos los días? no es sólo traerlo a la mente como una idea, sino es hacer experiencia de una fe viva, de un encuentro personal por el que Jesús está vivo y actuante hoy entre nosotros.

Recordar etimológicamente significa pasar por el corazón. Corazón en latín se dice: cor, cordis… re-iniciar… es el prefijo que significa “volver a iniciar”. Re-cordar: volver a pasar por el corazón. Re-conocer: volver a conocer a Jesús así como Él vivió presente…

El Tiempo pascual es ese tiempo por el que Jesús quiere que ahora sus amigos y discípulos se acostumbren a su presencia de una forma nueva. Me interesa que os acostumbréis a reconocerme de una forma nueva. Puesto que quiero estar con vosotros hasta el fin del mundo y abriros las puertas hacia el Padre, teneís que acostumbraros a reconocerme desde la fe y reconocerme en tu corazón vivo.

Por eso tanta insistencia le hace a Tomas cuando le dice: dichosos los que creen sin haber visto.

Holy Saturday

Resurrection: A life full of meaning.

Through his death, Christ has not only denounced and conquered sin, he has also given new meaning to suffering, even to that which does not depend on anyone's sin, like that of the terrible earthquake that recently hit the neighboring Abruzzo region. He has made it an instrument of salvation, a path to resurrection and life. His sacrifice exercises its effects not through death, but rather thanks to the conquering of death, that is the resurrection. "He died for our sins, he rose for our justification." (Romans 4:25): the two events are inseparable in the mind of Paul and the Church.

It is a universal human experience: In this life pleasure and pain follow each other with the same regularity with which, when a wave arises in the ocean, a trough follows a crest and pulls down the shipwrecked sailor.Drug use, the abuse of sex, and homicidal violence, all provide intoxicating pleasure in the moment, but lead to the moral dissolution, and often even the physical ruin, of the person.

Christ, with his passion and death, has inverted the relationship between pleasure and pain. He, "in exchange for the joy which was placed before him, submitted himself to the cross" (Hebrews 12:2). No longer is it a pleasure that ends in suffering, but rather suffering that leads to life and joy. It is not just a different order of events; it is joy, in this way, that has the last word, not suffering, and a joy that will last for eternity. "Christ risen from the dead will die no more; death no longer has power over him" (Romans 6:9). And it will not have power over us either.

This new relationship between suffering and pleasure is reflected in the way in which time marches on in the Bible. According to human calculations, day starts in the morning and ends at night; in the Bible, day starts at night and ends with daytime: "It was night and it was day: the first day" says the story of creation (Genesis 1:5). It is not meaningless that Christ died in the evening and rose in the morning. Without God, life is a day that ends at night; with God it is a night that ends with day, and a day without a sunset.

So Christ did not come to increase human suffering or preach resignation to suffering; he came to give meaning to suffering and to announce its end and defeat. That slogan on the bus in London and in other cities is also read by parents who have sick children, by lonely people, the unemployed, refugees from war zones, people who have suffered grave injustices in life. I try to imagine their reaction to reading the words: "There's probably no God. Now enjoy your life!" How?

Suffering is certainly a mystery for everyone, especially the suffering of innocent people, but without faith in God it becomes immensely more absurd. Even the last hope of rescue is taken away. Atheism is a luxury that only those with privileged lives can afford; those who have had everything, including the possibility to dedicate themselves to study and research.

Sábado Santo

Una vida llena de sentido es una vida resucitada.

Con su muerte, Cristo no sólo ha denunciado y ha vencido el pecado; ha dado también un sentido nuevo al sufrimiento, incluso aquél que no depende del pecado de nadie, como es el caso del que se ha desencadenado, esta semana, en la cercana región del Abruzo a causa del devastador terremoto.

Ha hecho [del sufrimiento] un instrumento de salvación, un camino a la resurrección y a la vida. Su sacrificio ejerce sus efectos no a través de la muerte, sino gracias a la superación de la muerte, esto es, a la resurrección. "Murió por nuestros pecados y resucitó para nuestra justificación" (Rm 4,25): los dos acontecimientos son inseparables en el pensamiento de Pablo y de la Iglesia.

Es una experiencia humana universal: en esta vida placer y dolor se suceden con la misma regularidad con la que, al elevarse una ola del mar, le sigue un hundimiento y un vacío que absorbe al náufrago hacia atrás. El consumo de drogas, el abuso del sexo, la violencia homicida, suscitan en el momento la ebriedad del placer, pero conducen a la disolución moral y frecuentemente también física de la persona. 

Cristo, con su pasión y muerte, ha dado un vuelco a la relación entre placer y dolor. Él "en lugar del gozo que se le proponía, soportó la cruz" (Hb 12,2). No se trata ya de un placer que termina en sufrimiento, sino de un sufrimiento que lleva a la vida y al gozo. No se trata sólo de una sucesión distinta de las dos cosas; es la alegría, en este modo, la que tiene la última palabra, no el sufrimiento; y una alegría que durará eternamente. "Cristo, una vez resucitado de entre los muertos, ya no muere más, y la muerte ya no tiene dominio sobre él" (Rm 6,9). Ni lo tendrá sobre nosotros.

Esta nueva relación entre sufrimiento y placer se refleja en el modo de marcar el tiempo en la Biblia. En el cálculo humano el día empieza con la mañana y concluye con la noche; para la Biblia, comienza con la noche y termina con el día: "Y atardeció y amaneció: día primero", dice el relato de la creación (Gn 1,5). No carece de significado que Jesús muriera por la tarde y resucitara por la mañana. Sin Dios, la vida es un día que termina en la noche; con Dios, es una noche que termina en el día, y un día sin ocaso.

Así que Cristo no ha venido para aumentar el sufrimiento humano o para predicar la resignación a éste; ha venido para darle un sentido y anunciar su final y su superación. Leen ese eslogan en los autobuses de Londres y de otras ciudades también los padres con un hijo enfermo, las personas solas o que se han quedado sin trabajo, los exiliados que huyen de los horrores de la guerra, quienes han sufrido graves injusticias en la vida... Intento imaginar su reacción al leer las palabras: "Probablemente Dios no existe: ¡disfruta de la vida!". ¿Con qué?... ¿con que disfruto de la vida? esta es la pregunta que surge.

El sufrimiento ciertamente sigue siendo un misterio para todos, especialmente el sufrimiento de los inocentes; pero sin fe en Dios, se convierte en algo inmensamente más absurdo. Se le priva hasta de la última esperanza de rescate. El ateísmo es un lujo que se pueden permitir sólo los privilegiados de la vida, los que han tenido todo, incluida la posibilidad de dedicarse a los estudios y a la investigación.

Viernes Santo

¡Disfruta de la vida!

El objetivo del año paulino no es tanto el de conocer mejor el pensamiento del Apóstol (esto lo hacen los estudiosos desde siempre); es más bien el de aprender de Pablo cómo responder a los desafíos actuales de la fe.

Uno de estos desafíos, tal vez el más abierto que se haya conocido hasta la fecha, se ha traducido en un eslogan publicitario en los medios de transporte público de Londres y de otras ciudades europeas: "Probablemente Dios no existe. Deja de preocuparte y disfruta de la vida": There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.

El mayor efecto de este eslogan no está en la premisa "Dios no existe", sino en la conclusión: "¡Disfruta de la vida!". Se sobreentiende el mensaje de que la fe en Dios impide disfrutar de la vida; es enemiga de la alegría. ¡Sin ella habría más felicidad en el mundo! Pablo nos ayuda a dar una respuesta a este desafío, explicando el origen y el sentido de todo sufrimiento, a partir del de Cristo.

¿Por qué "era necesario que el Cristo padeciera y entrara así en su gloria"? (Lc 24,26). A esta pregunta se da a veces una respuesta "débil" y, en cierto sentido, tranquilizadora. Cristo, revelando la verdad de Dios, provoca necesariamente la oposición de las fuerzas del mal y de las tinieblas y éstas, como había ocurrido en los profetas, llevarán a su rechazo y a su eliminación. "Era necesario que el Cristo padeciera" se entiende, por lo tanto, en el sentido de que "era inevitable que el Cristo padeciera".

Pablo brinda una respuesta "fuerte" a ese interrogante. La necesidad no es de orden natural, sino sobrenatural. En los países de antigua fe cristiana, se asocia casi siempre la idea de sufrimiento y de cruz a la de sacrificio y de expiación: el sufrimiento -se piensa- es necesario para expiar el pecado y aplacar la justicia de Dios. Es esto lo que ha provocado, en la época moderna, el rechazo de toda idea de sacrificio ofrecido por Dios y, finalmente, la idea misma de Dios.

No se puede negar que a veces los cristianos nos hemos expuesto a esta acusación. Pero se trata de un equívoco que un conocimiento mejor del pensamiento de san Pablo ya ha aclarado definitivamente. Él escribe que Dios prefijó a Cristo "para que sirviera como instrumento de expiación" (Rm 3,25); pero tal expiación no actúa sobre Dios para aplacarle, sino sobre el pecado para eliminarlo. "Se puede decir que es Dios mismo, no el hombre, quien expía el pecado... La imagen es más la de la remoción de una mancha corrosiva o la neutralización de un virus letal que la de una ira aplacada por el castigo".

Cristo ha dado un contenido radicalmente nuevo a la idea de sacrificio. En él "ya no es el hombre el que ejerce una influencia sobre Dios para que se aplaque. Más bien es Dios quien actúa para que el hombre desista de la propia enemistad contra él y hacia el prójimo. La salvación no empieza con la petición de reconciliación por parte del hombre, sino con la petición de Dios: ‘Dejaos reconciliar con Él'(1 Co 2,6 ss)".

El hecho es que Pablo se toma en serio el pecado, no lo banaliza. El pecado es, para él, la causa principal de la infelicidad de los hombres, o sea, el rechazo de Dios, ¡no Dios! [El pecado] encierra a la criatura humana en la "mentira" y en la "injusticia" (Rm 1,18ss.; 3,23), condena al mismo cosmos material a la "vanidad" y a la "corrupción" (Rm 8,19ss.) y también es la causa última de los males sociales que afligen a la humanidad.

Se analiza sin parar la crisis económica que atraviesa el mundo y sus causas, pero ¿quién se atreve a meter el hacha en la raíz y a hablar de pecado? El Apóstol define la avaricia insaciable como una "idolatría" (Col 3,5) e indica en la desenfrenada codicia de dinero "la raíz de todos los males" (1 Tm 6,10). ¿Podemos decir que se equivoca? ¿Por qué tantas familias reducidas a la miseria, masas de obreros sin trabajo, más que por la sed insaciable de provecho por parte de algunos? La élite financiera y económica mundial se había convertido en la locomotora enloquecida que avanzaba desenfrenadamente, sin preocuparse del resto del tren, que se había detenido distante en las vías. Íbamos todos "a contramano".

Good Friday

Good Friday

Fr. James McTavish FMVD

The Cross is the Triumph of God’s mercy

The cross is the triumph of God’s mercy. It is the triumph of love over hatred, of life over death. It is the victory of forgiveness over hatred and peace over violence. It is the victory of justice. Pope Benedict said that the cross is the school of God’s justice. God’s justice triumphs over man’s injustice. God’s mercy conquers all the hatred, violence and death. As a sign of victory, the great emperor Constantine the Great put the emblem of the cross on all the shields of his soldiers. He did this because before a decisive battle he saw a glowing cross in the sky with the message “In this sign conquer”. He had it placed on the shield of his soldiers and they went on to win the battle.

In what way is the cross really a victory though? In what way does God’s mercy triumph? We have been talking about our sins and the death of Jesus today. We see this afternoon how our sins have contributed to the death of Jesus. Once in a celebration of Good Friday a person shared a testimony. He said that this day we have experienced the death of Jesus. The disciple was a Doctor and he said if we had to be honest and say why Jesus died, what could we say? He gave the example of a death certificate. What is the cause of the death of Jesus? Our selfishness. But at the same time we are also witnesses to the great love of Jesus. He is the lamb of God, the suffering servant described so poetically and beautifully in the first reading - “It was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured… he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed… through his suffering, my servant shall justify many” (See Isaiah 52:13-53:12). There is a song called “When I survey the wondrous cross” and in it there is a question “Did ever such love and sorrow meet?” It is precisely in seeing our sinfulness and unworthiness that we see God’s great mercy!

Knowing that we are sinners and we are not worthy, Jesus goes to the cross with so much determination, with so much love. He knows that his death will atone for our sins. He nails our sins to the wood of the tree. On the cross he puts our death to death. God takes death into his own life and overcomes it. He destroys death in his own body. St Maximus the Confessor gave the image of death as a fierce dragon eating up all mankind. One man came and lived a life of pure love. He offered his flesh to the dragon. The flesh of Christ was so pure that the dragon was poisoned. “Christ’s flesh was set before that voracious, gaping dragon as bait to provoke him: flesh that would be deadly for the dragon, for it would utterly destroy him by the power of the Godhead hidden within it.” And Gregory of Nyssa described it thus ”Therefore, having swallowed the bait of the flesh, he was pierced by the hook of the Deity and thus the dragon was transfixed by the hook”. The love of God is the antidote for the poison of sin and death. In his great mercy we are saved. God’s love is stronger than death. This is why the cross is also known as the throne of mercy because the King of love is seated upon it. 

Mercy flows from the pierced side of Jesus. How can he be so merciful with us? Jesus is merciful because he is familiar with human weakness. He was God but also fully human in all things except sin. When it comes to weakness and suffering Jesus is in solidarity with us. In the second reading today from Hebrews we read “In the days when Christ was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered”. I remember an experience of suffering whereby I became very merciful to others. After having worn sandals for many years in Asia returning to Europe I had great difficulty wearing shoes. My ankles were very painful and caused me much suffering. After they became strengthened I went on a pilgrimage and I saw an old lady with a bandage on her ankle. How sensitive I was! I wanted to go and give her a big hug of support and solidarity. I knew exactly what it felt like. Jesus empathizes with us as he knows what it is to suffer. He did not sin but carried all the weight of our sins on the cross. The author of Hebrews states “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” This is why we are encouraged to “confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy” (See Hebrews Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9). 

Let us gaze at the cross and see rivers of mercy flowing from it. Let us see in those wounds of Jesus his great love for us. By his wounds we are healed. How can we see the love in those wounds? Perhaps an example can help. Once there was a young girl and her mother used to pick her up from school each day. The mother had a badly scarred face. When the daughter was younger she did not mind but as she got older she even got embarrassed that her mother came to pick her up. One day the daughter confronted her mum. “Mum, please don’t come to school anymore. My friends laugh at you. Why is your face is so scarred.” The mother told her “when you were younger you used to play with matches. I kept telling you that they were dangerous but you would not listen. One day you set fire to your room. I was in the garden and the whole house was on fire so fast. Some people tried to stop me going into the house because there was smoke everywhere. But they couldn’t hold me back. I entered into that nightmare of flames and smoke. I heard you crying out. I found you and clasped you in my arms and started to run for safety. As I was getting out a burning beam fell from the ceiling. I turned my body away to protect you but it hit me in the face. I kept going and got you outside safely then I collapsed.” The daughter looked at her mother with tears in her eyes, aware that that her mother was wounded because of her great love for the daughter. Looking at Jesus on the cross we see the great love in his wounds. He received them rescuing us from our wrongdoings. In his face we see the great mercy of God towards our lives.

The cross is a visible sign of God’s mercy towards us. God who has given us all things in his Son. Sometimes we can have fear in front of the cross. Will God accept me? Will he still embrace me? I have ignored him for so long. May times I am indifferent. Even when I know what I should do I am very slow to respond. Can God still love us after all we have done and all that we have failed to do? There is a famous song called “Tie a Yellow ribbon round the old oak tree”. It is about a young man who got involved in a bar room brawl. He hurt the other man and was put in prison. After three years he was due for release. He felt he had brought shame to his good family name. He did not want to make his family suffer more. He wrote to his sweetheart and told him that her was due for release. He would get a bus that passed through the town. If she accepted him, then he should tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree in their garden. If the boy didn’t see any ribbons he would know that she could not love him anymore, and could not forgive him. If so, the boy would jus carry on his journey on the bus and not stop so as never to trouble his family again. Imagine the shock when the boy arrived in the town and found not only the oak tree covered in yellow ribbons but half the whole town as well! The yellow ribbons were a sign of love. The cross is for us a huge yellow ribbon of God. He is the one tied to the wooden tree of the cross and tells us “I don’t condemn you. I came to save you.” All we need to do is to come back to him to receive his overflowing mercy. 

Sometimes we become tired of being far from home, of being far away from the Father’s house and his loving embrace. Conversion is a time to come to our senses and to head back to the Father. Even though we are a long way off he runs to our encounter to embrace us, kiss us, give us back our dignity as sons and daughters. How beautiful the welcome embrace of God. Once someone asked me “Can God really accept me after all my sins”. If only we had the confidence of St Theresa of Lisieux (Theresa of the Child Jesus). She had so much confidence in the love of God she said that even if she had committed the biggest sin she would not hesitate to run back to God her Father to ask forgiveness and receive his mercy. It reminded me of a little girl I saw in a mass in Santo Nino parish in Cebu, Philippines. She was only 3 years old but very naughty! Her daddy was trying to listen to the mass but she was causing havoc. Pulling funny faces, trying to take his keys and then trying to swing from his shirt. The father was so patient. Finally the little girl looked at her daddy and said “Kapoy!” (which means I am tired in Cebuano). Her daddy opened wide his arms and she fell into them. Jesus does the same for us too. He opens wide his arms on the cross. Don’t worry! If you fall I will catch you. His arms are wide open to embrace us, to embrace our faults and failings, to catch us when we fall and to support us. 

Jesus tells us from his cross “Look at me here. Didn’t I tell you that I would suffer? But it is out of love. My love conquers all. Even death. Can it win our heart?”. How great to experience God’s mercy. To soak and bathe in it, to be renewed. To receive a new mind and a new heart. The very heart of God. Let us enjoy his mercy and be filled with gratitude. To want to pay back this debt of love. Like the song “the debt of love that is owed by this thankful heart” so that through our lives others too can experience God’s mercy. To share this merciful love to others. Like in the film “Les Miserables”. The escaped convict receives kindness and hospitality from an old Bishop. The convict then steals his possessions and strikes him to the ground when he is discovered. When the police catch the convict, the Bishop, sporting a bruised face, forgives the convict and shows him mercy. The convict is overwhelmed with the mercy shown to him and spends the rest of his days being merciful to others, helping the poor, adopting an orphan and sharing God’s mercy with all. We too are all convicted of sin but Jesus shows us great mercy. Let us be merciful to others and rejoice this day over the victory of God’s mercy. The world is in need of God’s mercy, his love, his forgiveness. Let us continue this celebration today and ask for the grace to be vessels of his mercy. Amen.

Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday 

(Fr. James McTavish FMVD)

“If you understand this, how happy you will be if you put it into practice”

On Holy Thursday we celebrate the Last Supper, the Institution of the Eucharist and the culmination of the love of Jesus. In the gospel of today we hear “He loved them to the very end”. How does he reveal this great love in the Last Supper? He washes the feet of the disciples and then asks “Do you understand what I have done for you?”. How are we to understand the washing of feet? What does it have to do with the language of love? We have many married couples here. Imagine going out for a dinner date and your partner starts to wash your feet in the middle of the restaurant! What is the intention of Jesus? Let us try to enter little by little.

One thing we know for sure is that Jesus came to give us life, life in all its fullness (See Jn 10,10). He goes to his passion with so much determination and conviction. He told his disciples “No one takes my life way from me, I give it up freely”. He knew that his death would draw all men to himself – “When I’m lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me”. Jesus knows that in his Passion he will reveal the greatest love. There is no greater love than to give your life for others. He also knows that our hearts are made for this love. Our hearts need to be filled with a great quality of love. Not just any type of love will do. Jesus comes to offer us the best. The best love, the love of God. There is no other love greater than this. Our hearts were made for this love and are very sensitive to this quality of love. We can detect when the love we have is not authentic or original. It is like the modern printers which have a sensor. The sensor can even detect of the ink is not authentic or original. Our hearts are sensitive too. Only a love which is authentic original can fill them up fully and satisfy us. Jesus comes to offer us this love. 

We can tranquilize our hearts, fill them with false loves but our hearts cries out for a genuine love. “Give me a genuine love. Stop filling me with rubbish!”. As St Augustine said “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God”. Jesus knows this. He is so confident that he endures is Passion, the mockery, the taunts – he is telling us “I have the love you are searching for. Your heart is made for this love. Nothing else will satisfy you. His love is the best and he is convinced of this. Like a friend of mine who was running for President of the medical school. After a long and boring afternoon listening to campaign speeches he was the last candidate to be interviewed. When he was asked why he should be voted as President he took the microphone and started to sing a line from a Tina Turner song - “Simply the best! Better than all the rest”. The whole medical school voted for him and he won. Jesus too wants to win our hearts. His love is simply the best, better than all the rest. Our hearts are made for this love.

Why do we settle sometimes for second best? Many times we fill our hearts with other loves, with offers of the world that leave us frustrated or longing for more. Often we are looking for love in the wrong places. Trying to fill our hearts with things that it was not made for. It reminds me of my younger brother who had a game whereby you had to put different shapes into their correct place. There were squares, circles, a heart and star shapes. One day I saw him very frustrated. He had a hammer and was trying to bang the square into the heart shape! Now this is understandable at 2 years old but imagine still playing the same game at 42. Trying to force into our hearts the shape of a dollar bill! Waaahh!!! But you are 42 not 2. Why are you trying to fill your heart with things that it was not made for? Sometimes we are very slow to learn! Many people try to fill their hearts with money. They work and work, filling up all their time with their studies and career. But for what? Sometimes just to please others, to keep parents happy, to impress others but many times not happy. But money can’t buy us happiness or love. “I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love”. They start with the smile and sparkling eyes of Kate Winslet or Leonardo di Caprio, work so hard night and day and end up having titanic eye bags!

Other times we can spend a lot of time and energy trying to please others. Trying to show we are important. I will mix with important people, I want to be a VIP, I will mix only with doctors, engineers, with foreigners, with the beautiful ones, with the rich people. But don’t you that for Jesus you are already a VIP. A very important Pilipino! Jesus asks us “Why are you so upset when you are not considered or noticed? Don’t you want to be like me? I was not considered by men, I was scorned and ignored and yet you want to be the centre of attention.”

Other times we doubt that this love of Jesus can really fill us. The other day I was in immigration waiting to stamp my visa. I had to wait so long that I was losing patience. A lady who was an agent kept jumping in front of me, smiling at the immigration official. I was losing my patience! Jesus is it true that your love really fulfills me in every moment? What about now? I looked at Jesus on the cross and he shouted to me “I am loving you to the MAXIMUM right now!” That awareness woke me and I regained patience and courage. I smiled at the lady, “After you Mam, please”.

Jesus offers us this love from the cross. A love that is tried, tested and proven. He offers it as a gift to us. We do not deserve it. “If you only knew the gift of God, if you only knew the quality of love I am offering you” (Jn 4). Come to me I will give you the love you are looking for. Come to me and I will give you rest. I is in Christ that we find the love we are looking for.

When I first encountered the love of Christ, I understood one thing very clearly – this is the love my hearts was looking for! I used to work in Sydney Australia as a plastic surgeon. I had many things, a house, a car, many friends, a few gorgeous ones, a great career. On my 30th birthday I held a party for my friends. I was there enjoying in an apartment in downtown Sydney, a glass of Australian chardonnay wine in my hand, singing along with U2 to a tune called “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”. A friend asked “Is it true?”. “What” I asked. “That you still haven’t found what you are looking for?” After I realized it was true. With a career, friends, money, everything the world tells you but still my heart was empty. Like in the Song of songs, “On my bed night after night I sought him whom my heart loves- I sought him but I did not find him.” (Songs 3,1)

I started to search for the love my heart was longing for. I got a surprise because I found this love not in all the things of the world, but in the silence of my heart, praying with the Word of God. It was there that I encountered Jesus, the love of my life. “I took hold of him and would not let him go”(Sgs 3,4) St Augustine describes it thus “Too late did I love You, O Fairness, so ancient, and yet so new! Too late did I love You! For behold, You were within, and I without, and there did I seek You; I, unlovely, rushed heedlessly among the things of beauty You made. You were with me, but I was not with You.” How great to discover a God, to discover a love that is not far from us, a love that has been poured into our hearts, that is not distant from us. A love that is in our lips and in our heart. “It is something very near to you, already in your hearts”(Dt 30,14).

How great to discover in Jesus the life and the love that we are searching for. To be FILLED UP! What a great witness in the world of today – the love of God fulfills my heart. This is the challenge this Easter – to be filled with the love of God. Challenge, challenge!

This love really fills me up. I get asked that sometimes here in Philippines. Are you a tourist? No. Are you an amerikano? No. Do you have a wife? No. Do you want one? No. I am a missionary priest. Do you like Philippines? Yes! I love it. Why? It is not easy here, it is very hot. Why do you love it? Because I live with the one who loved me and gave his life for me. His love fills me. It also challenges me, confronts me, draws me out of mediocrity. And I really experience it when I try to reciprocate it. This is where the great joy lies. When I try to love others, to wash their feet, to serve them like my master. Recently two Filipinos boys came to deliver a bunk bed to our house. They were young, 18 and 19, simple delivery boys. They were very tired and hot after a journey in their van. The first thing was I went out to help them lift the bed. No no they said. They were shocked that a puti or “amerikano” was coming to help them. Maybe they thought I was very rich. Maybe they are not used to that, as many rich people leave the menial tasks to their servants. When they brought the bed in they started to assemble it. It was hot so I got them a fan to cool them down. After I called them “Merienda! Snack time!” They were a bit shy at first so I started to practice my Tagalog. I prepared them some juice and we had some chocolates from Italy. Eat! How happy I was to serve them. I enjoyed because I saw them so surprised! Maybe they were not expecting this. Who is this amerikano? This amerikano is someone who has discovered the love of his life, holds onto him and does not want to let him go! How great to spend our life trying to serve others. As Jesus said “You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. (John 13:13-15). Here I experience the love of Jesus fresh and alive, in serving his love to others. Here is the joy he promises us! As Jesus invites us “If you understand this, how happy you will be if you put it into practice!” (John 13,17)