VITAMINAS DE FE - VITAMINS OF FAITH

REFLEXION del Evangelio dominical

2012-01-29T17:05:00.003+01:00

¿No quedas asombrado ante tanto amor de Dios? (P. Luis J. Tamayo)

Marcos 1,21-28: “En aquel tiempo, Jesús y sus discípulos entraron en Cafarnaún, y cuando el sábado siguiente fue a la sinagoga a enseñar, se quedaron asombrados de su doctrina, porque no enseñaba como los escribas, sino con autoridad…”

El evangelista, cuando escribe, se acordó de este detalle… “Se quedaron asombrados con su doctrina por que enseñaba con autoridad.”

La pregunta que me surge es: ¿Por que se quedaron asombrados?

Yo tengo la experiencia de quedar asombrado muchas veces con personas maravillosas que te llaman la atención por sus palabras, pero sobre todo por sus gestos y su actitud frente a la vida o a una situación concreta.

En otra parroquia conocí a un chaval que en una reunión de los jóvenes compartía que delante de un examen que lo había estudiado todo excepto un tema, le cayó ese tema. Tuvo la oportunidad de copiar pues parece que el profe era cegato, pero en las reuniones de jóvenes de la parroquia se estaba hablando de la honestidad como un valor del cristiano. El nos contaba que en silencio se puso a hablar a Jesús y le decía: Jesús se que copiar sería la salvación de mi nota, pero yo valgo más que una nota, y prefiero defender la honestidad, por Ti Jesús quiero ser una persona honesta. Dice que nunca había llevado un cero con tanta alegría a casa…

Uno se asombra cuando ve un compromiso hasta el final con aquello en lo que crees. Hoy día no estamos acostumbrados a ver a la gente consecuente hasta el final… Es el asombro es cuando uno dice una cosa y es capaz de llevarla a cabo hasta el final. El compromiso, la coherencia entre lo que digo y lo que hago.

Unos compañeros vuestros se comprometieron a dar catequesis en la parroquia a los niños pequeños, luego llega el conflicto… exámenes, etc… Me encantó las palabras de su madre a uno de ellos: si te comprometes, lo llevas hasta el final… y ahí están todos los domingos por la mañana dando catequesis a los peques de la parroquia.

Lo que asombraba a los que escuchaban a Jesús es que hablaba del amor de Dios y notaban que no eran palabras huecas o vacías, sino que luego iban acompañadas con gestos, obras, actos. Era coherente con lo que decía: el amor a todos: y era capaz de comer con los pecadores, abrazar a la prostituta, tocar al leproso… cuando para la sociedad era un escándalo. Jesús era consecuente, era coherente… y eso asombraba.

Cuantas veces hemos escuchado: “del dicho al hecho, hay mucho trecho”… pues nos toca acortar cada vez más el trecho, la distancia. El compromiso llevado hasta el final nos habla de coherencia.

Hay un chiste que le dice el novio a la novia en la tarjeta de San Valentín: “Te amo, te adoro, daría la vida por ti… posdata: ya iré mañana a verte que hoy está lloviendo.”

Mi abuelo de chaval siempre me hablaba de que había que ser un hombre de “Palabra de honor”; es decir, ser una persona de las que te puedes fiar. Ser honesto, la verdad por delante… Recuerdo que iba en el coche con un buen amigo y saliendo del parking le ralló a otro el coche, se paró, bajó… yo le miraba… sacó una tarjeta de su bolsillo, escribió una nota y se la agarró al parabrisas. Lección magistral… aquí van las palabras del Evangelio como anillo al dedo: “Me quedé asombrado con su doctrina por que enseñaba con autoridad.”

¿Qué enseñaba Jesús? La lección magistral de Jesús fue: “como el Padre me ama, así os amo yo”. Sus amigos y seguidores no entendieron la locura del extremo del amor de Dios hasta que Jesús los amó hasta el extremo en la cruz, hasta que dio la vida por ellos… Esto lo estamos escuchando de un padre cuando dice delante de una hija grave: Dios mío reparte su angustia conmigo, no lo dejes todo en ella. Este es el ejemplo de Maximiliano Colve cuando intercambió su vida por el otro preso.

Franciszek G. fue uno de los diez elegidos por el coronel de las SS, Karl Fritsch, para ser ajusticiados en represalia por el escapado. Cuando Franciszek salió de su fila, después de haber sido señalado por el coronel, musitó estas palabras: «Pobre esposa mía; pobres hijos míos».3 El padre Maximiliano estaba cerca y lo oyó. Enseguida, dio un paso adelante y le dijo al coronel: «Soy un sacerdote católico polaco, estoy ya viejo. Querría ocupar el puesto de ese hombre que tiene esposa e hijos».4 El oficial nazi, aunque irritado, finalmente aceptó su ofrecimiento y Maximiliano Kolbe, que tenía entonces 47 años, fue puesto, junto con otros nueve prisioneros, en ayuno obligado para que muriera. Los diez condenados fueron recluidos en una celda subterránea el 31 de julio de 1941.

Nosotros no lo apreciamos… pero hay gente que desde la Iglesia, desde tu Parroquia hace mucho por ti desinteresadamente… horas de trabajo, de escucha, de atención, de preparación, de organizar para que esto salga… Yo tengo un ejemplo en mi director espiritual: a veces con el conflicto de horarios que tenemos me dice: vente esta noche, te espero… ¿a las 22h? le digo… un hombre de 76 años… Si! Me contesta. Y nos podemos quedar hasta las 23:30h… A veces me pregunto: ¿Que necesidad tiene este hombre tan mayor de atenderme? Es el amor de Dios en un hombre… esto me asombra!

Uno podrá decir: “bueno ese es su trabajo… si y no… esto es por mi, por vosotros… pues no me digáis que no es para asombrarse…

El centurión, un pagano sin fe, al pie de la cruz, cuando Jesús murió… también se asombró… dijo: “verdaderamente este era Hijo de Dios”… Se dio cuenta de la locura de amor de Jesús… verdaderamente Jesús murió lleno de amor y no de odio y venganza. Consecuente con el amor extremo de Dios.

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B

2012-01-29T17:01:00.003+01:00

The word of Jesus drives out unclean spirits

Deut 18:15-20 Ps 95:1-2, 6-7b, 7c-9 1 Cor 7:32-35 Mark 1:21-28

In today’s gospel we find Jesus teaching in the synagogue. His teaching “made a deep impression” on the listeners. Why? “Because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority.” Jesus taught with authority and conviction. When Jesus spoke that day in the synagogue he was challenged by an unclean spirit “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” But Jesus said sharply “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Jesus has authority to drive out unclean spirits, to silence them and to heal those afflicted. Jesus continues to teach us today and continues to drive out many unclean spirits. How are we to understand this, the driving out of unclean spirits? It depends on how we see the concept of unclean spirits. Sometimes we jump to images of devils and demons, or remember a scene from a movie like Poltergeist! But what unclean spirits is he wishing to drive out?

Well for sure an unclean spirit is not something desirable. Presumably its presence would lead to deleterious effects for the person infected or affected. Also it seems that it is powerful. The man possessed could not drive it out alone. However Jesus is stronger than the unclean spirit. His word dislodges the bad spirit. His truth is more powerful than lies and his light overcomes the darkness. So what are some examples of unclean spirits for us today? Let us not think that they do not exist today in our modern world. Certainly a fear can be an unclean spirit. It is good when we experience an irrational fear to pray to Jesus and put ourselves in his presence. To listen to his reassuring words that he is with us always. Often this alone brings peace and drives out unclean spirits. Sometimes an unclean spirit can be the holding of a grudge. It is unclean as it poisons our heart as does an indecent or sexual thought which can wreak havoc, attacking our eye and giving us an impure gaze. In a similar way when we don’t forgive someone it can be like an unclean spirit in us. Where outright sin is involved, the unclean spirit will not budge but thanks be to God we can listen to Jesus telling us “Be quiet! Come out of him!” in the sacrament of reconciliation.

Sometimes the unclean spirit is a distorted truth which we hold on to in our intellect, often subconsciously. An example of an unclean spirit which resides in the intellect is the notion that the world population is exploding and the only solution is widespread contraception. It is an unclean spirit that destroys human life in many countries, especially the developing ones. Why? Because its first world proponents instead of devoting their efforts to doing good for humanity, pour thousands of millions of dollars into contraceptive programs which include widespread sterilization and abortion. To make the coercion worse, aid packages are often offered on the condition that the country submits to the population control programs offered.

If we listen to Jesus we can drive out this unclean spirit. He continues to speak through the teaching office of the Church. Reading the document “Ethical and Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends” will help us to listen to the voice of Jesus. Read it and it will make a deep impression on you. As the psalmist tells us, “O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.” On population the Church teaches that “much of the information published about demographic facts is open to question and is erroneous at times” such that all Christians are encouraged to “develop a critical spirit regarding the population crisis ideology.” When Pope Paul VI spoke to the United Nations in 1965 he said “You must strive to multiply bread so that it suffices for the tables of mankind, and not rather favour an artificial control of birth, which would be irrational, in order to diminish the number of guests at the banquet of life."

A disciple is someone open to learn from the Master. To come to Jesus and be taught by him. Many people today will use their travel time to be better informed of church teaching – reading a spiritual book or church document, or even downloading by iPod or MP3 talks and homilies to listen to on their journey. How are you forming your mind? What are you reading on the train or bus? Jesus, continue to teach us! Help us to be open. May the constant desire to search for the truth drive out many false ideas in our minds. May listening to your voice in the Church teaching help drive out many unclean spirits. Jesus, continue to teach us! Make us good students and willing disciples. May your words, spoken in us and through our lives, continue to drive out many unclean spirits in us, in others and in our society of today. Amen.

REFLEXION del Evangelio dominical

2012-01-22T17:54:00.003+01:00

La fe como respuesta a una llamada (P. Luis Jose Tamayo)

Marcos 1, 14-20: “Pasando junto al lago de Galilea, vio a Simón y a su hermano Andrés, que eran pescadores y estaban echando el copo en el lago. Jesús les dijo: -«Venid conmigo y os haré pescadores de hombres.» Inmediatamente dejaron las redes y lo siguieron. Un poco más adelante vio a Santiago, hijo de Zebedeo, y a su hermano Juan, que estaban en la barca repasando las redes. Los llamó, dejaron a su padre Zebedeo en la barca con los jornaleros y se marcharon con él.”

El Evangelio de este domingo toca una realidad de la fe cristiana a la que poco se presta atención y tiene unas consecuencias importantes para nuestra vida de fe. El Evangelio de hoy, 3º del tiempo ordinario, nos presenta el inicio de la vida pública de Jesús, y es justo al inicio de su andadura en el anuncio del Reino que llama a unos cuantos a seguirle y a caminar junto a él. En Marcos 3,13 dirá: “llamó a los que él quiso para estar con él y enviarlos a predicar”. La vida de los discípulos dio un giro cuando escucharon la llamada, y éstos escuchando la llamada, le respondieron, dice el Evangelio que “dejándolo todo le siguieron”.

Al comienzo de todos los evangelios encontramos la realidad de la llamada de Jesús a seguirle.

Es importante descubrir que nuestra vida cristiana se enraíza en esta realidad del llamamiento de Dios a nuestras vidas, y por lo tanto, todo lo demás es una respuesta nuestra a esa llamada. San Agustín lo expresa con la frase de “todo es gracia”, es decir, si uno es capaz de vivir la fe no es más que una respuesta a una llamada previa de Dios. Si uno hace un rato de oración, no es mérito propio, sino que es respuesta a la sed de oración que Dios ha puesto en el corazón previamente. Si uno hace una obra de caridad, no es iniciativa personal que se pueda atribuir, sino que es la respuesta lógica a un deseo de generosidad que Dios ha plantado previamente en el corazón del hombre.

La vida cristiana ha de concebirse siempre como una respuesta a una llamada, sólo así conseguimos salir de una moral de la obligación para enraizar la fe en una dimensión relacional. Hemos sido educados en una moral muy rígida de la obligación, del deber, del ‘tengo que’… Cuantos de nosotros hemos escuchado sobre la misa dominical la expresión “la obligación semanal”, o “mis practicas de fe”, o “mis obligaciones”… como si de un cumplimiento se tratara, y al fallarse se rompe algo. Si que la fe nos pide unas practicas, pero son respuesta a una amistad. Ir a visitar a mis padres no es una obligación, quedar con un amigo no puede ser una obligación, sino que ese estar y compartir es fruto de la amistad, del cariño, de la relación. Si la fe la sacamos del contexto de la relación, nos movemos en el contexto de las normas… y las normas al final se hacen una carga.

Por eso Jesús al llamar no les pone una serie de normas, sino que simplemente les dice: “Ven y sigueme”, ven y aprende una forma nueva de vivir, ven y seamos amigos, ven y descubre como el amor que te tengo te transforma. El cristianismo es una relación de amor, de amistad… ya lo decía Santa Teresa de Ávila: La oración es tratar de amistad, muchas veces y a solas, con Aquel que sabemos nos ama. La fe es tratar de amistad. Por eso no nos quedemos en los mínimos de la “obligación semanal” de la misa… eso son mínimos… la fe se vive 24h/7 días… la fe es de lunes a domingo. Si puedes venir a ver a Jesús a misa algún día más entre semana, muestrale que sales de la obligación y lo haces por que de verdad le buscas a Él; si paras en una capilla a lo largo del día, dile que lo haces por que deseas alimentar la amistad con Él; si haces una obra de caridad, dile que buscas volcar el amor a Él en otra persona.

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B

2012-01-22T17:47:00.002+01:00

I will make you a fisher of people

(Fr. James McTavish)

Mark 1:14-20

Jesus is walking along the shore of Lake Galilee. He saw two brothers casting a net in the lake. The brothers were Simon and Andrew and they were fishermen. Jesus said to them “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” At once, they left their nets and follow him. What did Jesus see in those simple fishermen? The first Pope and another Saint! Simon would be the first Pope and Andrew would be St Andrew. St Andrew is the patron Saint of Scotland and as he was crucified in a diagonal position the Scottish flag has a diagonal white cross in it.

It is interesting as in a fisherman Jesus sees a fisher of men. In some ways it is the fulfilment of what a person is already doing. It is not a career change but more of a huge promotion. Before I became a priest I was a surgeon. I was working in the field of plastics and reconstruction. That is why I am so handsome. Just joking! I was working with children with facial deformities and trying to rebuild them. Sometimes when people hear that I am now a missionary priest they will comment “Oh why did you change?” or “Why did you leave it all behind?” As the years have gone by I feel that answering the call of Jesus has meant that all the aspirations have been fulfilled. Jesus does not take away, he gives! The mission entrusted to the church is a mission to reconstruct, to give back the broken identity of many people, to make them beautiful once again. Many people who answer the call experience this, that to follow Jesus is to fulfil all human aspirations. I have met engineers who instead of building structures dedicate themselves to building bridges between people, accountants who teach people to invest in heavenly things, and mathematics teachers who now teach that 5 +2 = 5000 (remember the multiplication).

Most of the time in following Jesus we imagine all that we have to leave behind! If we only focus on the renouncement then we are missing the point. We are still not following him yet, only thinking about it. As the slogan goes “Just do it!” in the little options of everyday life and you will discover the joy to follow Jesus. He is not a thief who comes to steal but the giver of life who wants us to have life to the full. I remember my younger brother asking me about my decision to follow Jesus. He asked me about the vows of obedience, chastity and then hesitantly asked if I had to take a vow of poverty. I wondered why he was so interested until he asked “Well who is going to get your walkman?” Sometimes we have to examine our lives and see what we are holding on to. Sometimes we are clutching on to things which have no real value. I remember in my novitiate visiting a very rich woman who was dying. She had asked for the anointing of the sick. During the unction she stretched out her hand. She said to the priest, “Father, I have invested all my life in money. Do you know what I have now?” She opened her palm and I was expecting to see a key to a hidden bank vault or perhaps a precious stone. But her palm was empty. “I go to my grave with nothing” she said sadly.

Following Jesus will not leave us empty handed! The disciples became fishers of people. They caught so many fish, and you and I are each one of them! Jesus has a huge horizon for each one of us. How can we participate in the great mission entrusted to the Church? Don’t worry, it is not too late. There is still lots of work to do! John Paul II said that the mission after 2000 years the mission of the church is only just beginning. Sharing in the nets helps us leave many nets behind, many nets that just entangle us. How do we become fishers of people when we can’t even catch a few little sardines? Jesus gives us the secret “Come follow me, and I will make you a fisher of people.” It is about following Jesus. He will do the miracles, the magical makeover of our lives. He is the good Doctor and knows what needs to be reconstructed! A spiritual nip and tuck here and there, not an eyebrow lift but lift up your eyes and see the mission fields ready for harvest. I am nobody, what can I do? Don’t say that! You are the next St. Andrew, you are a fisher of people! With me you will catch some big fish. Do you believe? Let the adventure begin. Time is running out, enough has been wasted. Ok Jesus, let’s go. I want to go fishing with you…

REFLEXION del Evangelio dominical

2012-01-15T10:56:00.006+01:00

El seguimiento de Cristo

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Hoy es segundo domingo del tiempo ordinario. El domingo pasado entramos en el tiempo ordinario con la celebración del Bautismo del Señor, después de todo un primer tiempo de Adviento, es decir, de preparación a lo que sería la Natividad del Señor.

El Evangelio de hoy, es el comienzo de la vida pública de Jesús. Jesús todavía no ha predicado en público, no ha hechos grandes obras. El Evangelio de este domingo nos relata que “estaba Juan con dos de sus discípulos y, fijándose en Jesús que pasaba, dice: «Éste es el Cordero de Dios.» Juan 1, 35-42

Este gesto de Juan de apuntar a Jesús y llamarle como el cordero de Dios, pudiera ser el lema al que apunte nuestras vidas, como cristianos, para este año nuevo 2012 que empieza, es decir, tener bien claro la meta y apuntar hacia el fin de hacia donde vamos: “Este es el Cordero de Dios, Cristo, Jesús es el fin y meta de mi vida”.

San Pablo lo llega a decir claramente: “Para mi la vida es Cristo” (Fil 1,21). Pablo tenía bien clara la meta a la que aspiraba llegar con su vida. Cristo.

Por ejemplo, yo pienso en el mundo empresarial y al comienzo de cada año es importante fijar las metas de hacia donde debe de ir el negocio. En el mundo escolar es lo mismo, al menos en la Universidad, el primer día te presentan el programa y el temario, incluso con fechas y un buen programa de metas con el objetivo de todo el curso.

Por eso la razón de este evangelio a principio del año litúrgico, por que el título que recibe Jesús de boca de Juan es lo que da respuesta a la pregunta de la existencia humana: ¿Qué es lo que aspira lo más profundo de tu vida? Nuestras vidas debiera estar orientadas y polarizadas hacia Cristo, el Cordero de Dios.

Es lógico que un joven se pregunte ¿Hacia donde voy?. Quizás un adulto ya tiene la vida más resuelta. Pero no hablamos de lo externo de una carrera profesional, sino de la meta y fin de tu vida, puesto que si no decides apuntar claro hacia Cristo, otras metas te absorberán en tiempo, la energía y la ilusión. Metas que no colman ni satisfacen el corazón plenamente como Cristo lo hace.

¿Hacia dónde orientar la propia existencia? ¿A quién seguir? ¿Qué enseñanza, qué ejemplo, para encontrar el camino correcto y responder a ese anhelo profundo de plenitud, de felicidad? Muchos modelos se publicitan en este mundo, "ídolos" con promesas que pretenden responder a nuestras aspiraciones, desde las más externas hasta las más profundas y lo son de diverso tipo: actores de cine, cantantes de moda, ciertos políticos, gurús y maestros de nuevas religiones, etc. A veces el modelo que se nos ofrece es simplemente el de la masa amorfa: "haz lo que todos hacen". Pero, ¿conducen todos ellos a responder plenamente a nuestros anhelos más íntimos de permanencia y despliegue? La respuesta sabemos que es negativa. Hay en todo ser humano una como necesidad de encontrar un Maestro y Modelo que responda completa y verdaderamente a su sed de infinito y felicidad.

Juan no sólo le da el título de “El cordero de Dios”, sino que mirando a sus amigos apunta con el dedo a Jesús iniciando una invitación al seguirle. Esto es lo que la Tradición de la Iglesia ha llamado desde siempre: el seguimiento de Cristo, la imitación de Cristo.

Por eso, si la meta queda clara al principio: una vida que apunte a Cristo, sin embargo el contenido se irá dilucidando a lo largo del mismo curso según vamos siguiendo a Jesús en el día a día, pues es en el día a día que tendremos que intentar imitar a Jesús, en el como viviría, que diría, que actitud tendría en las distintas circunstancias que nos toquen vivir. Volviendo al ejemplo de antes, en la universidad al principio del curso daban el programa con los títulos de los capítulos, pero el contenido se iría dilucidando y viendo a lo largo del curso. Lo mismo nos pasa en el seguimiento de Cristo: es en esa circunstancia concreta que te toca vivir hoy, en donde se ha de ver en la práctica si intento seguir a Jesús. Por eso tan importante preguntarle en la oración: Señor, y esto como lo vivirías, y aquí que harías, y en esto que dirías, como actuarías… por que sólo es en ese vivir según Jesús que uno descubre la integridad y la alegría profunda que nos da la dignidad plena de ser hombres a la imagen de Dios.

Preséntale a Jesús tu situación de vida y pregúntale a Jesús hoy en tu oración como mejor reproducir sus gestos o palabras para reflejar su rostro y disfrutar de la plenitud del amor en tu corazón.

Baptism of the Lord , Year B

2012-01-15T10:52:00.004+01:00

We need to immerse ourselves

Isa 42:1-4, 6-7 Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3b+9b-10 Acts 10:34-38 Mark 1:7-11

Today the Universal Church celebrates the baptism of the Lord when Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan. Baptism is a sacrament, a mystery. What does it mean that Jesus was baptized? In being baptized Jesus enters fully into the human condition. Entering the water he shows us his desire to enter into our human situation, to dive in.

In Greek, the word “baptize” means to dip or immerse oneself in water. In antiquity it was common in baptism for the candidate to be fully immersed in the water. Jesus was the first one to enter fully and totally into the murky depths of the Jordan, but in a symbolic and real way to dive into the murky depths of our humanity. He goes ahead of us, sanctifying what he finds and opening a way. Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Often we have an expression “I am only human.” If only we were really fully human! The one who is fully human is the one who lets himself be loved fully by God, who is divinized and sanctified by the Spirit.

Without God’s grace and love we cannot enter fully into the human experience. What we see, the complexities, contradictions and ambiguities frighten us off. The human condition, marked by sin, is not possible for us to embrace without divine assistance. Only the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world can redeem us. St Maximus of Turin commented “Christ is baptized, not that he may be sanctified in the waters, but that he himself may sanctify the waters.” He sanctifies the human condition, loving it, embracing it and redeeming it. John Paul II in his encyclical about the Christ the Redeemer of man wrote that man remains a mystery unto himself unless he encounters love, embraces it and makes it his own (cf. Redemptor Hominis no. 10).

What is the consequence of not fully encountering and embracing love? We sit on the fence. We don’t commit, we don’t dive in. How often we are afraid to commit! Afraid to make a decision, uncertain and insecure. Of course we need to discern well, to “test everything and retain what is good.” But sometimes it is very obvious what is needed! We know God’s will clearly. Committing ourselves means we have to confront our inconsistencies. Don’t be afraid to dive in!!! Sometimes watching rock concerts you see the diehard fans climbing on stage and before the security can capture them they launch themselves into the crowd in what is known as “stage diving.” They do this because they know they will be caught by many safe hands of people in the crowd. And us? We know that when we dive into God’s will, the safe hands of three very dependable persons will catch us – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit will catch us!

In the baptism scene God the Father speaks and reminds all to trust in Jesus “This is my Son, my beloved. Listen to him.” The Father assures us that we are safe in the hands of his Son. Trust is very important. What is Jesus telling you? So if God is for you who can be against you? Time is passing fast. Get on with it. Otherwise we grow old and we are only theoretical persons, people who bore others with all our “plans” but no action because we have no faith. What are you afraid of? The worst that can happen is that we make a mistake! Don’t be afraid! Dive in…

Epiphany of the Lord, Year B

2012-01-15T10:52:00.001+01:00

Be an epiphany of my love to all!

Isa 60:1-6 Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6 Matt 2:1-12

Epiphany comes from the Greek and means “manifestation.” This feast is the manifestation of God’s glory to all peoples. How did God manifest himself? Well there were no fireworks, brass bands, no fanfare of earthly trumpets, no interviews, media or TV crews. There were no reporters from Hello magazine, no autographs, no awards. Just a little baby lying there with Mary and Joseph. In fact it was so simple, so humble and so sublime that even the great biblical scholars of King Herod missed it. They knew the scriptures that prophesied the birth of the infant King but in the reality did not recognize his coming. And the same goes for me. I can know that Jesus is born but do I really witness the manifestation of God’s glory?

We can learn from the Wise men. How did they arrive at the infant King? What guided them? A star. It led the way. The star shone in the darkness and pointed the way. We too have a star to guide us, many stars. The star of our faith. The star of the Word of God which is a light for our path. The star of the teachings of the Church to guide us when the way is not clear. The star of the Community which accompanies us on the journey. The star of many lives who have gone before us, whose lives point clearly to Christ. Which star are we following on our journey?

We are called to follow the guiding star and not just any bright lights. Once, scientists were amazed observing the behaviour of newborn turtles. Instead of going to the safety of the ocean after their birth they went to the newly built highway where they were crushed under the wheels of cars. After investigation the scientists realized that instead of following the light of the moon, reflected on the ocean surface, they were being drawn to the dangerous highway by the light of the car headlights. Sometimes we too are confused. Instead of following the light of faith we go after many bright lights which put our dignity as children of God in danger: the bright lights of success at all costs, the lure of vices such as excess alcohol or drugs. When we do not follow the true light that has come into the world we can be crushed like the little turtles. The Epiphany is an invite to follow the true light that has come into the world. “Rise up in splendour! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See darkness covers the earth, but upon you the Lord shines. Nations shall walk by your light” (See Isaiah 60:1-6).

The infant King is the glory and splendour of God. He is the one of whom the prophet spoke “the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.” The gifts of the three Kings bear witness to the manifestation of God’s glory in a little baby. Gold is for a King, incense is for the High Priest and myrrh for the one who is to die to save us (it was commonly used to embalm the body after death to prepare it for burial). The wise men do not offer these gifts to King Herod but to the infant King, Jesus. Let us not give the gifts of our time, our affections, our energy and our talents to the Kings of this world! What a joy to offer what we have to the true King, Jesus.

Many have not yet discovered the love of God. The feast of today is a reminder that God’s light, life and love are for all people. Typically the 3 Magi are represented with different colours of skin to show the universality of God’s love. God wants his love to reach to all people. Each one of us can share in this great task and mission. We too are called to be light. Jesus needs you to be an epiphany or a manifestation of his love. Go for it! Don’t let anyone stop you. There are many Herods who will try to get in the way. But keep your eyes fixed on Christ and stay away from Herod. Like the Wise Men. They really were wise because they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod so they went home another way. Jesus is telling us in this Feast “Be an epiphany of my love to all!” We can respond “Jesus, I want to manifest your love. Help my little life to be a bright and shining epiphany of your love!!!”

Mary, Mother of God, Year B

2012-01-15T10:50:00.000+01:00

Love comes down again

Num 6:22-27 Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6+8 Gal 4:4-7 Luke 2:16-21

Today we ponder on the feast of Mary the Mother of God and it is once again a time to truly wonder at the incredible truth of the Incarnation. God became man. This truth must never cease to amaze, delight, and fascinate us - that the Creator, the Lord of all heaven and earth, took on human form and became one of us. Of course, we can never separate that Jesus was both divine and human, but today is extra special in that we contemplate the “humanness” of Jesus in being the son of Mary, a woman and a human being who became the Mother of God.

The 2nd reading stresses this mystery: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” Here it talks of God’s overall plan; to come down, to be born of a woman (Mary) to redeem us in every way (under the “law”) and to give us our identity as Jesus’ brothers and sisters. God’s only Son became human, so that we humans can become sons and daughters of God – incredible! What a plan!!!

Let us never lose sight of just how amazing this is in which we are pondering today - God’s crazy plan of the incarnation. One of my favourite songs at the moment is “Love Come Down” by a man called Matt Maher and I find he expresses what I feel every time I think of this mystery. It goes like this: “I’m finding grace beyond all measure, In flesh and blood He hides His majesty, Inside of you and me, Why would a king do such a thing? Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it marvellous? The God of the universe he became one of us, we cry out and then love comes down again, faith/hope/love is found in him, Hallelujah.”

Listen to this! And this is an amazing truth. It sounds like fiction but it is true. It is a source of never-ending wonder and joy for us. Look at the gospel today, the very famous account of Jesus’ birth from the shepherds’ viewpoint: “So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” Can you feel the shepherds’ amazement? And of those all around? Are you also amazed today or has somehow the incredibleness of this truth become desensitized in you as you have listened to it over and over again?

In the Philippines we hear the prayer, “The Angelus” prayed quite often. For me it was quite a shock when I first arrived to be shopping for groceries at a supermarket and then suddenly for everyone to stop and start praying this prayer. It is an amazing prayer as it reminds us that the Word of God became flesh. And when I first heard the Angelus being prayed (it is not so common to say it where I grew up) it amazed me with the truth of the Incarnation every time I heard it. I thought it is so good to be reminded of God’s amazing plan at least once a day. But after I had prayed it many times I sometimes got a little bit desensitized and just mumbled off the words without really pondering on the meaning behind. But how beautiful to refocus once again on the incredibleness of it all!

And we know that we also have become the child of Mary just like Jesus through his life here on earth. This was fulfilled and really made abundantly clear to us by Jesus on the cross which we can see in John 19:26-28 – “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.” After this, we have Mary as our Mother too. This was Jesus’ last wish, for us to really recognize our identity as a child of God through the motherhood of Mary, the Mother of God

Mary will show us how to live as a human, just as she always helped Jesus fulfil his mission and identity. The best example we have is at the wedding at Cana when Mary gently kept nudging Jesus into doing all that he should do in that moment and to start off His ministry to everyone and She will always to the same. She shows us how to live, and how to keep reminding us of how to keep remembering how amazing God’s plan of the incarnation was – look at her in the Gospel – “But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” She never stopped bringing God’s plan to mind and heart and allowing it to change and transform her life.

And because she kept it in mind she lived her whole life in great joy! The words in chapter 2 of Luke’s gospel are very famous – here she gives praise to God for how blessed we all are in her beautiful song of praise – The Magnificat – and really this reflects God’s invitation to all of us in the 1st reading today – “You shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.” We are so blessed!!!

So let us remember with Mary today and every day exactly what it means to have the Mother of God as OUR Mother also. It means we are sons and daughters of God and everything Jesus did for us, we are also to do too. Go to Mother Mary and she will always remind you of this and gently suggest that we follow her example and ponder over and over again the mystery of the Incarnation in our heart - it will continue to fascinate you, give you joy and all of the motivation you need in every moment of your life! Amen.

The Holy Family, Year B

2012-01-15T10:48:00.001+01:00

See Salvation

Gen 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Heb 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Luke 2:22-40

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family. The Scriptural readings present to us a childless couple, Abram and his wife Sarah. God gives him a new name Abraham – the Father of a host of nations. “No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations. I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you.” Abraham believed the promises of God. His wife conceived because she too “believed that he who made the promise would be faithful.” The second reading of today is taken from the letter to the Hebrews. The author of this letter praises the faith of Abraham and Sarah. What we have is a family that is listening to God and believing in his promises. The family starts to walk towards becoming a holier family. Many families today give importance to the Word of God. Listening to it, meditating it and trying to apply it to their lives. One title of the family is the “Domestic church.” In the Church the Word of God is listened to and meditated. So too in the Domestic Church. St John Chrysostom commented that if not all the family are able to go to Church then the one who goes must go home and share the Word he has listened to with all the family and all the people of the house. In this way the faith of the whole family is strengthened.

The gospel of today focuses on the presentation of the child Jesus in the temple. In the Mosaic Law it was proscribed that for 40 days after the birth of the child the mother could not enter the temple for reasons of impurity. Quite harsh really as Mother Mary was the Immaculate one. But Mary in her simplicity and obedience to the Law obliges. When she and Joseph are in the temple they present their offering – either a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. What a small offering! Seemingly so insignificant. Probably not many would have noticed them. It would need eyes of faith to see the significance of such a small sacrifice. But God had prepared everything. There was a man called Simeon there, who was led to the temple that day by the Holy Spirit. Simeon took the child in his arms and blessed God saying that now God’s word to him was fulfilled and that his eyes had seen the salvation. When we listen to God’s Word everything changes. What is apparently an ordinary event becomes extraordinary. Simeon sees a family offering their first born to the Lord and recognizes this grace filled moment of salvation history. Mary and Joseph were amazed at what was said about their son Jesus. It makes me wonder too. Is there space in my life to be amazed at God? Can the “simple” things still inspire me? Can I see God’s presence in small details? Or am I only moved by the “big” things?

Lord, in this Octave of Christmas, we have been given a privileged time to contemplate what we have received. Teach us how to contemplate and to have faith. If not, we look at the world of today, we see the challenges to the family and we become prophets of gloom and doom. Yet you are working. The Saviour has already been born. Will we recognize his coming? Will we recognize his powerful yet often hidden presence? Open our eyes teach us how to see the “reality” as you see it. As St Paul reminds us “The reality is Christ.” As the Spanish song goes “I can’t give you a new world, but I can give you new eyes.” Grant us new eyes to see your power and your glory, to see you working in the family. Grant us more faith in your promises. Teach us how to listen to your Word. And we pray for all families that amidst all the challenges they can still strive to be holy. Amen.

Christmas

2011-12-26T13:31:00.004+01:00

The gift of beautiful feet!
Fr. James McTavish

John 1: 1-18

Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate the fact that “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” Today is a day of great joy and rejoicing. Why? Because this is a celebration of the day which the whole of the world had been waiting for since creation began. It can help us to think of a time of fulfilment in our life. One missionary was telling me about going to World Youth Day in Sydney Australia in 2008. The Verbum Dei community had planned a pre-encounter, a gathering for all the youth of our community. They had planned it for over 2 years organizing so that the youth from around the world could come together, with all of the different activities, the visit of the Pope and when it came they were all so excited. “Now is the time!!! Today is the day!!! What we have been waiting for is finally here!” and man they really enjoyed.

How much more with Christmas! This is the day when God’s great plan, which is a series of universe-changing moments, started its biggest moment… The Word of God that was with God right from the beginning, finally entered the world. GOD HAS COME AND LIVED AMONG US!!! This is amazing, this is mind-blowing. Think about it just for a minute. And so we should celebrate. This is what the 1st reading speaks of - the joy of salvation! And really the image of celebration is very beautiful, let’s listen to what it describes: The beauty of the messenger! The sentinels singing! Not singing or crying out an alarm, but singing for joy! Everyone singing and rejoicing. Everyone in the whole world shall see the salvation that is here. Think of the biggest party you have ever been to, or can imagine, then multiply it by a hundred, a million, a billion and then you can get some idea of the rejoicing on Earth and in Heaven going on at the moment. All of the people, all of the angels, all of creation, both seen and unseen, should be singing.

What exactly is the joy for? Because God is doing something unprecedented. He is speaking to us directly, COMING to us directly, and no longer going through other people and events. This is what the 2nd reading tells us so beautifully “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.” God no longer goes to us in a roundabout way, but directly, in the person of Jesus.

But how does He come to us? What does He look like, this long-awaited person who is the Living Word? Does he live up to your expectations? One brother was waiting for the last Harry Potter movie to come out and really was anticipating it so much, waiting so long: “What is it going to be like? Will it tie in all the missing pieces?” and then when it came it was not what he expected… I won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it, but because he had such high expectations of what the ending would be like, when the REAL ending came he almost had a hard time recognizing it as the real thing… because it was so different from what he read in the book!

Think about what happened when Jesus came. He was the long-awaited Saviour and the living presence of God amongst us. I am not sure what the people expected (a warrior, a champion etc) but for sure it was not a little baby, in a manger, born to a very poor family and so on. No wonder He was hard to recognize. This is what the gospel tells us; “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” Do you think you would have recognized Jesus for who He really was, this cause for such celebration? Do you even recognize Him now with the benefit of 2000+ years of hindsight? I hope you can say yes. Because the truth is that still many people today DO NOT recognize Him for who He really is. Think of all of your family, friends, people you know, see, work with - how many of them are missing out on joining this fantastic party of salvation?! How beautiful to think that YOU can actually be the one to pass on the good news!

You can now realize who is that messenger spoken of in the 1st reading: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” YOU are the owner of those beautiful feet! Look at your feet, are they beautiful?? Maybe you need to make them more beautiful by telling more people of the Good News!!! Who can you tell about Jesus today? How can you point out the truth so that others can recognize Him? Because He is in the world!!!

So today let us celebrate, and let us rejoice by passing on the Good News, the truth of Jesus. Because in the words of our beloved Pope Benedict XVI at a World Youth Day I was at: “Anyone who has discovered Christ (we have!!!) must lead others to Him. A great joy cannot be kept to oneself. It has to be passed on.” So let us pass on the joy, and first let us recognize and celebrate with Him in the Eucharist here today. And let us also look to Mother Mary for the best example of how to celebrate Jesus’ entry into the world, as she took a big part in it. And she was the first messenger with “beautiful feet” who made the Good News known to all around her. Let us ask for her intercession, and let us follow her example. Amen.

25 de Diciembre ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!

2011-12-25T22:54:00.000+01:00

Este día de navidad celebramos el Misterio de la Encarnación.

(P. Luis Tamayo)

¿Qué es el Misterio de la Encarnación? Es el deseo de Dios de estar cerca de los hombres, y esto sólo se entiende desde el amor, pues el amor no se entiende sin el amado, el Amor necesita estar cerca del amado. Esto es la encarnación. Un Dios que por puro amor ha querido estar junto al hombre.

Así lo dice la Palabra:

Proverbios 8,31 “Mis delicias es estar con los hombres”; o en Jn 3,16 “Tanto amó Dios a los hombres que envió a su único Hijo”

Dios quiere estar con el hombre, quiere estar junto a nosotros y saborear y disfrutar de nuestra compañía. No lo hace por necesidad, ni por obligación, ni por soledad, sólo por puro AMOR.

A veces nos cuesta entender lo que es ese “estar” sólo por amor y sin ningún interés de por medio, simplemente “estar”, saboreando la compañía del amado. En nuestras relaciones nos cuesta estar y disfrutar del otro pues siempre tenemos que estar haciendo algo, por ejemplo estamos hablando en la sobremesa y de repente alguien se tiene que levantar a recoger los platos… tranquilo! disfruta de la conversación… Estás hablando con alguien y ese está pensando en sus cosas y no presta atención; si estas en silencio con alguien durante un rato uno ya se pone nervioso… o alguien me dijo hace poco, yo puedo estar con mi marido 4 horas juntos y no nos aburrimos… pero claro delante del televisor…

Dios quiere disfrutar de ti, quiere estar permanentemente contigo y conmigo. Uno ya puede ignorarle, puede olvidarse de El, puede no reconocerlo, puede querer negarlo… pero El está. Él es el EMMANUEL, EL DIOS CON LOS HOMBRES.

¿Por qué se hace hombre? Decimos en el credo “Por nosotros y por nuestra salvación”…

A veces entiendo así la salvación, es decir para liberarnos del miedo que tenemos a ser verdaderamente humanos. ¿A quien no le cuesta aceptar sus propias limitaciones? Si pudiéramos quisiéramos ser súper héroes. Pero no, somos limitados, somos frágiles, tenemos defectos, pero esto es parte de nuestro propio ser hombre. Nos asustamos de nuestro propio pecado, ¿a quien no le cuesta reconocerlo? A veces no nos aceptamos como somos, la vejez la llevamos fatal, una enfermedad la rechazamos… cuanta queja! PERO SI TODO ESTO ES SER HUMANO… es como si nosotros quisiéramos ser robots.

Y Cristo viene a decirnos con la encarnación: eso que tu no quieres, tu propia humanidad yo vengo a asumirla para que no tengas miedo de sentir la fragilidad, las inconsistencias y limitaciones. Así profesamos en el credo que Dios es verdadero Dios y verdadero hombre. El quiso asumir libremente lo que nosotros muchas veces quisiéramos quitarnos de encima.

Dios al hacerse hombre se revistió de tu propia carne y tomo consigo tus propias limitaciones.

-Y cuando sufras la falta de reconocimiento… Jesús pasó por lo mismo en Belén,

- cuando sientas la pobreza, él pasó por lo mismo en Belén,

- y cuando experimentes carencias, el mismo las experimento por ti en Belén,

- cuando tengas un sufrimiento grande… el mismo pasó por ello en el calvario…

- para que no digas que Él esta lejos de tu humanidad… el mismo se hizo hombre

El mismo quiso pasar por ahí para decirte que eres lo más grande, que eres fruto del amor, que en tu humanidad no estas sólo, que en tu fragilidad puedes encontrar mucho amor.

Y todo esto ¿por qué? Para llegar a comprender que lo más grande no es la humanidad que tanto nos pesa, la carne que parece que todo lo domina, el pecado que a veces toma tanta importancia, los defectos que están siempre presente… lo más grande es que Dios tomando consigo la humanidad vino a elevarla a la máxima dignidad! Dios se hizo hombre para que el hombre pudiera participar de su divinidad.

Los medios de comunicación en general sólo presenta una imagen de hombre que es falsa… sólo se nos muestra lo que es capaz de llegar a hacer el hombre en negativo, pero no en positivo. Robar, atracar, ser violento, maltratar y matar… Esto no es el hombre. La TV poco habla de personas que dan la vida en la misión por pura gratuidad, de personas que entregan la vida como sacerdotes por amor a cristo y la humanidad, de mamas que cocinan cada día a sus seres queridos, de familias que viven la alegría de estar unidos, de papas que se levantan a las 6am para ir a trabajar para traer el pan a su familia por amor…

El hombre es mucho más de lo que nos cuentan, con la encarnación aprendemos que el hombre disfruta de la gran dignidad de participar del Amor divino de Dios en su propia humanidad.

Feliz Navidad!

2011-12-19T16:45:00.000+01:00

¡¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!! Queremos hacerte 3 regalos from infinitomasuno.org on Vimeo.

Adviento IV

2011-12-19T16:39:00.003+01:00

Adviento IV: María - Escuela de la acción

P. Luis José Tamayo

Lucas 1,26-38: En aquel tiempo, el ángel Gabriel fue enviado por Dios a una ciudad de Galilea llamada Nazaret, a una virgen desposada con un hombre llamado José, de la estirpe de David; se llamaba María. El ángel, entrando en su presencia, dijo: «Alégrate, llena de gracia, el Señor está contigo.» Ella se turbó ante estas palabras y se preguntaba qué saludo era aquél. El ángel le dijo: «No temas, María, porque has encontrado gracia ante Dios. Concebirás en tu vientre y darás a luz un hijo, y le pondrás por nombre Jesús... Y María dijo al ángel: «¿Cómo será eso, pues no conozco a varón?» El ángel le contestó: «El Espíritu Santo vendrá sobre ti, y la fuerza del Altísimo te cubrirá con su sombra… para Dios nada hay imposible.» María contestó: «…hágase en mí según tu palabra.»

Estamos en la cuarta semana de adviento. Adviento, venimos diciendo, no es sólo un tiempo litúrgico sino que es una escuela de vida.

A lo largo de la historia siempre ha habido entre el mogollón personas que han despuntado, que han destacado, pero no por su super inteligencia, o por su dinero, sino por su audacia, bravura y coraje para ser coherentes con algo que entendieron. Personas que sabían que debían dar un paso al frente, hombres y mujeres que sentían desde lo profundo del corazón el empuje a cambiar algo, a ser coherente con lo que creían, a arrimar un hombro, a extender una mano, a defender algo. Personas que hicieron un primer movimiento que desencadenó un cambio más grande, que pudieron despertar la conciencia de tantos otros que pensaban lo mismo y no se atrevían.

María, la Virgen, fue una de estas personas. Le echó coraje, le puso agallas, se lanzó a una aventura que por sus propias fuerzas no hubiera podido… ¿Qué hizo? descubrir que desde lo profundo de su corazón Dios le estaba pidiendo algo muy grande y lanzarse a ello. Por su “si” dio comienzo toda una historia de amor entre Dios y el hombre. Por su fidelidad hasta el final, María abrió el camino para que Dios salvara al hombre.

Los sueños son siempre de gran altura. ¿quién no ha soñado por un mundo más justo? ¿quién no ha soñado con hacer una gran labor social? ¿quién no ha soñado con tomar la iniciativa y ser coherente con lo que uno piensa?

Albert, un filipino, decidió nunca más copiar en un examen, se definió por la honestidad. Ana Frank, una niña judía de 13 años, que durante las primeras persecuciones nazis, se compromete a escribir sus reflexiones en un diario, su diario fue esperanza para muchos perseguidos. Gandi, un indio, que decidió que la paz y el amor eran las mejores armas para luchar por los derechos de los suyos. Madre Teresa, una albanesa, entiende el servir a los más pobres entre los pobres. Martin Luther, un negro americano, se moviliza para defender la igualdad en la dignidad de los de color…

Todos tienen algo en común con María… el motor a ese primer paso a delante nació del corazón, nació de un impulso del amor de Dios a realizar con coraje y valentía una acción que pronto provocaría una reacción en cadena… el poder de una persona es impresionante para cambiar algo, por pequeño que sea. El poder de uno + uno + uno + uno… es aún más poderoso para cambiar una sociedad. Todos tenemos ese poder para cambiar algo…

Y tu? Que sueños tienes? Que crees que puedes hacer? En que vas a utilizar el poder de cambiar que se le ha dado a tu vida?

Merry Christmas

2011-12-19T16:37:00.000+01:00

4th Sunday of Advent

2011-12-19T16:32:00.003+01:00

Through Mary’s yes God becomes man and we become sharers in the Divine nature

Fr. James McTavish

Christmas is nearly here. Today's Gospel is the Annunciation, the first Christmas in the history of salvation, when Mother Mary agreed to the plan of salvation. She conceived in her heart before conceiving in her womb. With her yes the Word would become flesh. This really is a great mystery and needs to be approached with gentleness and respect. When you enter a chapel in Asia you need to take your shoes off. We need the same delicacy approaching the mystery of the Incarnation. St Ignatius of Antioch said that the great mystery of the childbearing of Mary is discovered only in the silence of God, and is hidden from the princes of this world. The mystery is only revealed through love. If we want Christmas to be more than turkey, bloated stomachs and fairy lights then let us follow the advice of the Advent preface, "let us prepare to celebrate his birth so that when he comes he may find us watching in prayer, our hearts filled with wonder and praise.” Two thousand years ago the Scribes of Herod knew that the Christ would be born. They knew the Scripture but they missed his birth. The same can happen to me. I know that Christmas is 25th December but I can miss the birth of the Saviour. It is an invite to live Christmas in an attitude of listening, of silence, of "going placidly amid the noise.” It is the time for the mystery to be lived anew, "the mystery kept secret for long ages" (Romans 16:25).

What is the content of this mystery? As the poem by Robert Southwell describes it, “Behold the father is his daughter’s son, The bird that built the nest is hatched therein…Eternal life to live does now begin, The Word is dumb, the joy of heaven is found crying, Might feeble is, and force does faintly creep.” The moment of the Annunciation is a privileged moment in the history of salvation. It is the moment when with Mary’s yes, God becomes man. God comes to share in our humanity so that we can share in the Godhead, in other words we become participants in the divine nature. As John the evangelist would explain it, “to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12). Our participation in the divinity is also represented in the mass when we mix the water with the wine. Here the priest asks the Lord that we may be able to “share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” It means that our lives are elevated to a supernatural level too.

We cannot remain only in the visible, the natural because we are also sharers in the divine nature! Our lives have a supernatural and eternal vocation. Our life and our living are to be a sharing and participation in the love of the Trinity. Jesus’ incarnation is our ticket of entry into the Trinity. We are sharers in the Trinitarian communion. Our actions need to express this. Let us be concrete for fear that one may not see the relevance of this great truth. Recently the Vatican published a new document on Bioethics called “Dignitas Personae” (“The dignity of the person”). In the numbers 6-10 of this Instruction it speaks about marriage and the generation of life. It recalls the mystery of the Incarnation through which the “the Son of God confirmed the dignity of the body and soul which constitute the human being. Christ did not disdain human bodiliness, but instead fully disclosed its meaning and value” (D.P. no. 7). Thus we can only understand human in reference to the Word made flesh - “In reality, it is only in the mystery of the incarnate Word that the mystery of man truly becomes clear.” The love between husband and wife is a mystery. As my mum joked when I asked her why she married my dad, “I don’t know it is a mystery.” Why one person is attracted to a particular person and not another is mysterious. Human love is called to participate in and be a reflection of the mystery of divine love. It is a sharing in the mystery of the Trinity. Thus in the married couple, their love for each other needs to be considered not only and exclusively from a natural point of view but also from a supernatural one. Married love is called to be a participation in and reflection of the Trinitarian love! Often in the media love and sex are only considered from a carnal or merely natural point of view! This is an incomplete vision. The married couple is an icon of the Trinity. Their love is called to be a true expression of inter-personal communion, to be open to the transmission of life. The couple is called to participate in the divine life! Their union is not to be understood just from an earthly perspective because it has an eternal dimension which is often not fully appreciated.

It is through Mary’s yes that we have been given the opportunity to participate in the divine nature. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The eternal God steps into time as a little baby. He becomes man so that we may participate in the Godhead. This is the gift of Christmas. This is the drama of Mary’s yes. St Bernard describes it thus “The angel is waiting for your answer. We too are waiting. If you consent, straightaway we shall be freed. On your lips is hanging the consolation of the wretched, the redemption of the captive, in a word the salvation of all Adam’s children. Answer, O Virgin, answer the angel speedily. Let your humility put on boldness. Open, O Blessed Virgin, your heart to faith. And Mary said ‘Behold I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your Word.’”

Adviento III

2011-12-11T16:22:00.003+01:00

Adviento: Escuela de la LUZ; aprender a ser testigo de la LUZ

P. Luis J. Tamayo

La luz es el símbolo de la Navidad. El viernes noche salí a dar un paseo por la ciudad, quería ver las luces navideñas, respirar un poco de ese ambiente navideño que invade las ciudades en estos días. El gran símbolo de estos días son las luces que adornan toda la ciudad. La luz es el símbolo de la Navidad. ¿Por qué? El día de Navidad lleva consigo el solsticio (el solsticio de invierno, celebraba el regreso del Sol, en especial en las culturas romana y celta: a partir de esta fecha, los días empezaban a alargarse, y esto se asociaba a un triunfo del Sol sobre las tinieblas, que se celebraba encendiendo fuegos. Posteriormente, la Iglesia Católica decidió situar en una fecha cercana, el 25 de diciembre, la Natividad de Jesucristo, dándole el mismo carácter simbólico de renacer de la esperanza y la luz en el mundo).

El Evangelio de hoy nos habla de esta invitación a aprender a ser testigos de la LUZ para este mundo como modo, no ya de prepararnos nosotros, sino de preparar a este mundo a la venida de Navidad. El evangelio habla de Juan el Bautista como el precursor del Señor, el que preparó el camino del Señor… gritaba: allanad los caminos, preparad el camino al Señor. Juan 1, 6-8. 19-28: Surgió un hombre enviado por Dios, que se llamaba Juan, éste venía como testigo, para dar testimonio de la luz, para que por él todos vinieran a la fe. No era él la luz, sino testigo de la luz.

Testigos de la luz… que expresión tan bonita. Ya no son luces electricas las que iluminan a las gentes de una ciudad, sino cada uno de nosotros que con nuestras vidas y nuestra obras somos testigos de la luz. Jesús ya nos lo dijo: Estamos llamados a “ser luz del mundo, ser sal de la tierra” (Mt 5, 13-14). Esta tercera semana de Adviento, la invitación ya no es la de prepararnos, sino la de preparar al mundo para la llegada del Señor. Tanta gente que también tiene derecho a conocer al Señor... Ser testigos del que ha de venir.

¿Cómo ser testigo de la Luz? Tanto en la Primera como en la Segunda lectura tenemos unas cuantas ideas… léelo, medítalo y saca tus propias conclusiones para tu vida.

La carta a los Tesalonicenses 5,16-24 Pablo dice tres cosas importantísimas: Estad siempre alegres. Sed constantes en orar. Dad gracias en toda ocasión. Son tres claves fundamentales para el cristiano… la alegría, la gratitud y la oración… vivir esto es ser testigo de la Luz.

“Estad siempre alegres”. Dicen que “un cristiano triste es un triste cristiano”. ¿Sabes del poder de una sonrisa? Es capaz de conquistar el corazón de cualquier persona… sino que se lo digan a una abuela cuando un nieto le hace una carantoña con una sonrisa… la abuela se deshace.

A mi me encanta sonreir. El otro día fui a hacer una gestión a hacienda, la mujer que me atendía en el mostrador tenía una cara terrible… no era cara de haber tenido un mal día, pues era primera hora de la mañana, eso ya venía de años… Me dio unas explicaciones de mala gana. Yo me alteré un poco, pero no quise dejarme llevar por la hostilidad, sino que la sonreí y la volví a pedir con buenos modales y una gran sonrisa en la cara: Por favor, ¿sería usted tan amable de volverme a repetir a donde tengo que ir y que papel necesito? La mujer, bajó los humos… y me lo dijo de buenas maneras… al final la dije: ha sido usted muy amable, se la agradezco mucho. La despedí con una gran sonrisa, y con ganas de darla un beso… no la guiñé el ojo para no llevar a malos entendidos. El poder de una sonrisa, de una alegría…

Tesalonicenses 5,16-24: Estad siempre alegres. Sed constantes en orar. Dad gracias en toda ocasión: ésta es la voluntad de Dios en Cristo Jesús respecto de vosotros. No apaguéis el espíritu, no despreciéis el don de profecía; sino examinadlo todo, quedándoos con lo bueno. Guardaos de toda forma de maldad.

Isaías 61,1-2a.10-11: Me ha enviado para dar la buena noticia a los que sufren, para vendar los corazones desgarrados, para proclamar la amnistía a los cautivos, y a los prisioneros la libertad, para proclamar el año de gracia del Señor. Desbordo de gozo con el Señor, y me alegro con mi Dios.

3rd Sunday of Advent

2011-12-11T09:58:00.002+01:00

Prepare Well (Fr. James McTavish)

Isa 61:1-2a, 10-11 Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54 1 Thess 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, 19-28

Christmas is fast approaching and it is a time to prepare well for the coming of the Lord. How are our preparations coming on? In today’s Gospel again we find John the Baptist. He “is a man named John” – very ordinary - but what makes him special is that “he was sent by God.” When we live for God the ordinary of our everyday life becomes extraordinary. John was sent to testify to the light. He was not the light but was sent to testify to the light. In testifying he prepares a way for the coming of the Lord. John was never afraid to announce Christ because he knew that “one more powerful than him was coming.” When we speak about Jesus we too can be full of peace that after our words will come one who is more powerful! So when we share our faith and love in Christ we don’t need to lose the peace and become anxious if we don’t see any immediate effects. As Avril Lavigne would sing, “Chill out, what you ya’ yellin’ for?” Trust, breathe easy, the Holy Spirit is coming!!! He will work the magic so just be faithful to what you understand.

Many came to interrogate John about his identity. The priests and Levites gave him a hard time. “Who are you?” He should respond “I am John the Baptist.” But instead he announces “I am not the Messiah.” Why does he respond like that? If you were asked who you are for sure you would say “I am Peter” or “I am Mary.” Only rarely we affirm in the negative but John does it three times before announcing who he is: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’” What can we gather from all of this? Firstly that John is very clear of his identity. We need to know who we are and what we are. We also need to know what we are not. In this world of today the emphasis is on having multiple talents and capacities, to be able to do everything, to bring up a family, work in the office, always have the kids looking perfect, to be able to do everything. But it is also very healthy to know our limits. We need to be able to say no. Are you able to say no? Are you aware of your limits? We need to be able to put limits and boundaries.

To put limits and boundaries is not to be boring or curb our style. On the contrary the exhortation from St Paul today is “Do not stifle the Spirit.” The Spirit will be the one to guide us, direct us, urge us to go for it but also to stop. Chill out. Staying close to Jesus means we are in tune with the Holy Spirit. A person guided by the Spirit is a force to be reckoned with. To keep being powered by the Spirit he advises, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Test everything, retain what is good.” Thanks St Paul for that great advice! The Holy Spirit will teach us our true identity. He is the only one who knows it, so don’t ask anyone else. If you ask the society you will be confused.

Let us ask John the Baptist for his same humility. Why humility when we are talking about identity? Because humility is to walk in the truth. It is to be yourself, the person that God wants, not the person that others want. It is like the girl I met who said that everyone in her family wants her to be a nurse but deep down she does not feel called to this. Let us help each other to prepare the Way of the Lord. As St Augustine tells us, “To prepare the way of the Lord is to be humble. People call John the Christ but he says he is not what they think. He does not use the mistake of others to feed his own pride. He knew where his salvation lay. He understood that he was a lamp, and was afraid of being quenched by the wind of pride.” We need a Saviour! Maranatha Lord Jesus!

Adviento II

2011-12-03T13:49:00.002+01:00

Adviento: Escuela de esperanza.

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Estamos en la segunda semana de Adviento. Si el Domingo pasado la invitación del Evangelio iba encaminado a dedicar este tiempo de Adviento a la ‘preparación’, a ‘estar en vela’, ‘despiertos’, es decir, ir creando una disposición en nosotros que nos ayude a preparar la venida del Señor en la Navidad; este segundo domingo la invitación es a vivir este tiempo de Adviento desde la ‘esperanza’.

Debiéramos descubrir que el Aviento, más allá de un tiempo en el calendario litúrgico, es una actitud, es una forma de vida, es el modo del ser cristiano. El Adviento es esperanza.

El Dios de los cristianos es el Dios de la esperanza… esperamos aquello que nos ha prometido. San Pablo (Carta a los Romanos 8, 24-25) dice: ‘Ahora bien, cuando se ve lo que se espera, ya no es esperanza, ¿a caso se puede esperar lo que ya se ve? En cambio, si esperamos lo que no vemos, lo esperamos con constancia’. Y Pablo concluye: ‘solamente en la esperanza estamos salvados’.

La pregunta que surge es ¿de donde brota la esperanza cristiana? La respuesta es: De las promesas de Dios. El Dios de Jesús es el Dios de las promesas. Y ¿dónde encontramos esas promesas? En las Sagradas Escrituras. Una de los grandes regalos donde todos podemos anclar la vida es en la Escritura. La Palabra de Dios es palabra segura, palabra que no falla. Es la garantía de un Dios que se compromete por escrito lo que ha de cumplir. La Escritura es donde quedan las promesas escritas.

Dice el Evangelio de hoy: “Como está escrito en el libro del profeta Isaías: Yo envío a mi mensajero delante de ti para prepararte el camino” (Marcos 1, 1-8). Y efectivamente luego se cumplió la profecía… Juan el Bautista fue el precursor de Jesús, el que preparó el camino al Señor. Y así tantas otras promesas… El nacimiento del Mesías, que nacería de una mujer, que sería Salvador por los caminos de la humildad… todo eso ya estaba escrito antes de que aconteciera. Es a posteriori que los discípulos se fueron dando cuenta de que todo estaba dicho, que en las ‘Promesas’ de Dios.

Benedicto XVI nos lo dice en este Adviento, el dinero se esfuma, no es algo sólido donde apoyarse… sólo las promesas de Dios son eternas, perduran en el tiempo. Y éstas las encontramos en la Palabra de Dios, y son las que nos salvan, las que nos confirman en la fe.

En tiempos de soledad: ‘Yo soy tu Dios y tu eres mi hijo amado’; ‘Yo estaré con vosotros hasta el fin de los tiempos’.

En tiempos de enfermedad: ‘Yo soy el Dios del consuelo’; ‘Yo enjugaré tus lágrimas’.

En tiempos de cansancio: ‘Venid a mi todos los que estáis cansados y agobiados pues mi yugo es suave y ligero.’

En tiempos de servicio a los demás: “Hay más felicidad en dar que en recibir”

La esperaza se alimenta a base de apoyarse en la Palabra de Dios, a base de poner la confianza en estas Palabras… Cielo y tierra pasarán, más mi Palabra no pasará (Mt24, 35). La palabra del hombre falla, la de Dios se cumple… cuantas veces hemos puesto nuestra confianza en alguna promesa hecha por hombres y al final no la han llevado a cabo… sin embargo Dios no es así. Su promesa es fiel, su Palabra se cumple, por eso podemos poner nuestra esperanza en él. La esperanza no es que se haga lo que yo quiero (esto es manipulación), sino que aunque me pegue con Dios por conseguir lo que estimo oportuno y poner para ello todos los medios, pero ceder en que se haga su voluntad y creer que ésta es lo mejor. Jesús en su oración de Getsemaní tuvo su “rifi-rafe” con el Padre… aparta de mi este caliz… pero no mi voluntad sino la tuya.

Conocí a la fundadora de una congregación de laicos y me decía que su oración se parecía más a una lucha libre que a algo pacífico y sereno. Pero al final la paz llegaba al ponerse en la confianza de que Dios guía los senderos de la vida… y para bien. Para el hombre no es fácil… como me decía un amigo recientemente y muy clarito: “es jodido”… Por eso el Adviento ha de ser escuela, ha de ser tiempo de aprendizaje, es aprender a poner la confianza en Dios.

Para nosotros mirar a María también es escuela de esperanza: ella esperaba como todo el pueblo de Israel en un Mesías, en un salvador, lo esperaba con anhelo, pues veía la opresión que vivía su pueblo… abierta a Dios, en oración, dijo: “hágase según tu Palabra”… pero escudriñando el diálogo podemos ver que le salieron algunos “peros”… ¿cómo yo una humilde mujer de pueblo?... ¿Cómo yo? Pero si no estoy casada…

Las preguntas que nos podíamos hacer son: ¿Alimento mi esperanza en la Palabra de Dios? ¿dónde pongo mi esperanza? ¿en donde me apoyo día a día?

2nd Sunday of Advent, Year B

2011-12-03T13:46:00.001+01:00

One more powerful than me is coming (Fr. James McTavish, FMVD)

Continuing our preparation for the coming of the Lord in today’s gospel we encounter John the Baptist. He is in the desert announcing the way of the Lord, preparing a path. He is the voice in the desert crying out. St Augustine said that the Baptist was the voice preparing the way for the Word. The voice disappears but the Word remains.

The words and life of John the Baptist point clearly towards Christ. When Christ walks by, John points his disciples towards Jesus. When questioned about his identity John the Baptist is clear: “I am not the Messiah!” John recognizes that it is Jesus who is the Saviour and that Jesus is more powerful than he is. He announces thus “One more powerful than me is coming after me.”

What peace John must have had! To know that he does not need to control everything, does not need to have all the answers. He knows that he is not the Saviour. How many times we become anxious because we think that we need to be the Saviour. Of course perhaps we don’t realize it but many times our anxiety is from a lack of faith. It could be a lack of faith in God’s power. Or a lack of faith in God’s grace. Or even a lack of faith that the Messiah is coming. We do our part and leave the rest to God. Our task is to point towards Jesus. How many people try to solve the situation themselves? We can learn from John the Baptist. We are also called to help prepare a way for the Lord. Our words and life should point to Him. And we need to have the same trust as John the Baptist. That after we have done our part one more powerful than us will come and complete what is lacking.

John the Baptist reminds us to be faithful to our announcing of the Gospel. In fact his preaching was rather strong. The announcing of Jesus was more merciful. But still John’s preaching helped prepare a Way. God worked with his limitations. With us sometimes we do not always get it quite right. Sometimes we are a bit strong and at other time not strong enough. But God respects our good intentions. The building of the Kingdom goes on despite our frailties. God looks at our hearts and our good desires, not at the appearances or merely external results.

Isaiah gives us an image of the kingdom in the first reading. In this vision the cow and the bear live happily together, along with the wolf and the sheep. It is a symbol of all peoples, often opposites, living in harmony together. The secret? Not merely economic initiatives or political treaties but that a little child shall dwell among them. He is the wonder counsellor, the mighty God, the Eternal Father and the Prince of Peace. He is the shoot that sprouts from the stump of Jesse upon whom rests the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord. This is the One whom John acknowledges is to come, the one who is more powerful than him. Do we place all our faith in this child, the one who is to be born? This One who is born poor and naked, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger?

Let us ask for the intercession of John the Baptist, for his faith so we can pray “Come Lord Jesus. Make room in the manger of my heart for your coming.” We ask to believe that after our poor words and deeds you will come. And especially when we feel weak not to be shaken because we know that the One coming after us is more powerful than we are. Maranatha Lord Jesus! Amen.

Adviento I

2011-12-03T13:39:00.004+01:00

Adviento: escuela de preparación

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Marcos 13, 33-37: En aquel tiempo, dijo Jesús a sus discípulos: «Mirad, vigilad: pues no sabéis cuándo es el momento. Es igual que un hombre que se fue de viaje y dejó su casa, y dio a cada uno de sus criados su tarea, encargando al portero que velara. Velad entonces, pues no sabéis cuándo vendrá el dueño de la casa, si al atardecer, o a medianoche, o al canto del gallo, o al amanecer; no sea que venga inesperadamente y os encuentre dormidos. Lo que os digo a vosotros lo digo a todos: ¡Velad!».

Damos comienzo al Adviento.El hombre necesita de pequeñas metas para darse cuenta de que avanza en el tiempo. Cuando abrimos y cerramos capítulos uno experimenta la progresión, que camina, que avanza, y eso alimenta la esperanza. No hay nada mas tedioso que el verse dando círculos sin termino, "mareando la perdiz", "callejón sin salida", etc. Todo túnel necesita de un final, de un destello de luz al final del camino.

La psicología del mercado lo ve muy bien. Las estaciones o temporadas las marcan con mucha publicidad para animarnos a comprar como los grandes establecimientos. Yo que he vivido en Filipinas, al ser un país tropical el clima prácticamente es invariable en todo el año, y no da la sensación de que te mueves, pues llegan las Navidades y sigues en manga corta.

La Iglesia tiene momentos fuertes, lo que llama "TIEMPOS": tiempo ordinario, tiempo de adviento, tiempo de Navidad, tiempo de Cuaresma, semana Santa y tiempo de Pascua. Nos movemos, cada año es lo mismo, pero no es lo mismo... Los tiempos litúrgicos no debieran ser lineales, sino espirales que profundizan hacia una experiencia mayor.

Damos comienzo al Adviento. Tiempo de preparación a la llegada del Señor. 4 semanas que nos ayudan a prepararnos para el gran acontecimiento de la historia de la humanidad: el Dios creador del universo, el misterio de Dios escondido tras su gloria... Se revela al hombre en la encarnación, se hace uno de nosotros con su venida al mundo...Es Dios quien viene! Y esto necesita de una preparación... El Adviento es escuela de preparación, de aprender a estar en vela, atentos...

Que no se te pase el prepararte... Cuando viene un niño uno prepara... Pinta la habitación, compra la cuna, elige el vestidito... Cuando viene una visita importante a casa uno hace limpieza, decora con gusto, pone flores visibles... Prepararse para eventos es lo mas normal... Pero estamos acostumbrados a preparar mucho lo externo... Yo me doy cuenta en las comuniones... Los papas se vuelcan a preparar la casa para acoger a los familiares, llaman al restaurante para tener un buen menú... Pero la preparación por dentro es escasa...Te has dado cuenta que se acerca el evento mas trascendental de la historia humana?

Fijate si fue trascendental que marcó la historia en un antes y un después... AC~DC...Nazaret...Que los medios externos nos ayuden a vivir con un mayor significado profundo lo que acontece... Poner las cuatro velas de adviento en casa y haced una oración en familia cada domingo... Poned el Belen juntos en casa, y haced una bendición y oración... que se escuche la petición constante: Señor ayúdanos a estar preparados para no dejar que estas navidades se las lleve el consumismo...

1st Sunday of Advent

2011-11-25T15:56:00.002+01:00

Be watchful gatekeeper!

Fr. James McTavish, FMVD

Isa 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 1 Cor 1:3-9 Mark 13:33-37

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a time of waiting. Waiting for what? It is not easy to wait in our fast moving world of today. The publicity announces “Take the strain out of waiting.” Even the mince pies, a traditional Christmas food in England, have a best before date of November 22! Or as the children sing “Why are waiting, we are suffocating.” In Advent we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Perhaps the wait is not for our downfall but for our salvation. It gives us time to put our house in order. God’s patience is our salvation. The Master is returning to his house. Blessed the servant who he finds doing what he should when he returns.

In the first reading from Isaiah we see the humility of the people. They realize they are nothing without God and they ask for him to return. They ask, “Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?” before pleading for God to visit them: “Return for the sake of your servants.” The people recognize that they need God. The Psalmist has the same cry “Let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” In our lives do we see the same need for God? Sometimes when we look at our society on the one hand it boldly pronounces that it does not need God. In London there is a campaign to have atheistic slogans put on all the buses: “God probably doesn’t exist so get on and enjoy your life.” It is as if the God of Life is opposed to us enjoying life. What a mindless contradiction. It is also a sign of a society that is falling asleep. If a society does not react to God and tries to ignore him, it does not mean that all is well. A lack of interest in God and not listening to him does not mean that he does not exist. Where God is excluded so is life. If God is not in our lives then quickly we become confused. We need his Word to make sense of our lives. It is like receiving a gift at Christmas. My dad’s favourite advice was “Always read the instructions!” When my mum got a new electrical gadget and did not know how to work it he would ask “Have you read the instructions?” It is obvious that the best way to know how something works is to consult the one who made it. How many times we can apply this good advice to the most exquisite, delicate and complicated “machine” of all – the human being. If we want to know how to function, how to love, how to live difficulties we can consult the instruction manual of the Sacred Scriptures! If in doubt, we can ask God who is our Father and Maker. As Isaiah announces “we are the clay you are the potter.”

To fall asleep is a strong image in the gospel of today. Three times Jesus exhorts the disciples “Stay awake!” ^“Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man travelling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'" Are we able to see where we are falling asleep? It is not easy to see where we are falling asleep. We need to help each other to be watchful. In the gospel the Lord comes “in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning” so during the 4 watches of the night. It is important not to be arrogant and presume that we will notice his coming.

Two thousand years ago the scribes of Herod knew that Jesus was coming from reading the Scriptures but they did not see his birth. Just knowing the Scriptures is not enough. The Word needs to be put into practice. The shepherds listened to the Word announced by the angels and they put it into practice. If we want to encounter Christ this Christmas we are led to him by the star of the Word of God. It lights up the way to his encounter. Christ is a word that is spoken often only in the darkness, in silence. Jesus once said “What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light” (Matthew 10:27). Certainly we can understand the call to stay awake as a call to prayer. The Master will certainly come in the time of prayer in his Word. He is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:8) and asks us to be faithful to what is entrusted to us. Each servant is called to be faithful to his work so that many in the society must get on with their work. But the gatekeeper is especially called to vigilance. The gatekeeper is to be on watch. The gatekeeper is the symbol of all who are called to pray, of all who are called to have a prophetic voice in the society. It is the symbol of every Christian. Prayer is the antidote to falling asleep. Often a person can be made to fall asleep breathing in an anaesthetic. Sometimes the air of the society can anaesthetize us. Let Christ be the air we breathe. Let his Word keep us vigilant. Help us Lord to be awake for our coming. Do not let us fall asleep. Help our hearts be vigilant for our coming, especially to recognize you coming in your Word.

Help us to be good gatekeepers waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Fiesta de Cristo Rey

2011-11-20T18:02:00.002+01:00

“Yo soy Rey, pero mi reinado no es de este mundo”

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Mateo 25, 31-46: En aquel tiempo, dijo Jesús a sus discípulos: «Cuando venga en su gloria el Hijo del hombre, y todos los ángeles con él, se sentará en el trono de su gloria, y serán reunidas ante él todas las naciones. Él separará a unos de otros, como un pastor separa las ovejas, de las cabras. Y pondrá las ovejas a su derecha y las cabras a su izquierda. Entonces dirá el rey a los de su derecha: "Venid vosotros, benditos de mi Padre; heredad el reino preparado para vosotros desde la creación del mundo. Porque tuve hambre y me disteis de comer, tuve sed y me disteis de beber, fui forastero y me hospedasteis, estuve desnudo y me vestisteis, enfermo y me visitasteis, en la cárcel y vinisteis a verme." Entonces los justos le contestarán: "Señor, ¿cuándo te vimos con hambre y te alimentamos, o con sed y te dimos de beber?; ¿cuándo te vimos forastero y te hospedamos, o desnudo y te vestimos?; ¿cuándo te vimos enfermo o en la cárcel y fuimos a verte?" Y el rey les dirá: "Os aseguro que cada vez que lo hicisteis con uno de éstos, mis humildes hermanos, conmigo lo hicisteis."

Y entonces dirá a los de su izquierda: "Apartaos de mi, malditos, id al fuego eterno preparado para el diablo y sus ángeles. Porque tuve hambre y no me disteis de comer, tuve sed y no me disteis de beber, fui forastero y no me hospedasteis, estuve desnudo y no me vestisteis, enfermo y en la cárcel y no me visitasteis. Entonces también éstos contestarán: "Señor, ¿cuándo te vimos con hambre o con sed, o forastero o desnudo, o enfermo o en la cárcel, y no te asistirnos?" Y él replicará: "Os aseguro que cada vez que no lo hicisteis con uno de éstos, los humildes, tampoco lo hicisteis conmigo." Y éstos irán al castigo eterno, y los justos a la vida eterna.»

¿Cuál es la imagen de Jesús con la que se cierra el año litúrgico? Jesús como Rey. ¿Por qué esta imagen de Cristo Rey? Con esta fiesta de la solemnidad de Cristo Rey, el año litúrgico llega a su fin. Desde que da comienzo el año litúrgico, hemos ido recorriendo los diversos misterios que componen el único misterio de Cristo: desde el anuncio de su venida (Adviento), vida, pasión, muerte y resurrección. Se ha ido construyendo un arco, al que hoy ponemos la piedra angular. Este es el sentido profundo de la solemnidad de Cristo, Rey del Universo, es decir, de Cristo Glorioso centro de la creación, de la historia y del mundo.

Pío XI, al establecer esta fiesta, quiso centrar la atención de todos en la imagen de Cristo, Rey divino, tal como la representaba la primitiva Iglesia, (Pantocrator: «todopoderoso», del griego pantokrátor, compuesto de pâs pantós: «todo» y de un derivado de krátos: «fuerza, poder») sentado a la derecha del Padre en el ábside de las basílicas cristianas, aparece rodeado de gloria y majestad. La verdad es que hoy día esta imagen no ayuda mucho si no se entiende bien.

La imagen de Rey para mucha gente de la Iglesia puede llegar a tener una connotación de autoridad, de juez soberano y de acusador con connotación negativa. ¿Qué imagen proyectamos en Jesús cuando hablamos de Él como Rey? Es una buena pregunta, pues le dice Jesús a Pilatos: “Yo soy Rey, pero mi reinado no es de este mundo”.

Un Rey que abre los brazos y nos dice: Venid vosotros, Venid a mi, en mis brazos tenéis un lugar… no estéis solos.

Un Rey que con mucho cariño llama a su gente: Benditos, hombres de bien.

Un Rey que pone en nuestras manos todo lo suyo: Heredad el reino preparado para vosotros desde la creación del mundo… Nos hace coparticipes de su reinado.

Un Rey que se identifica con el hambriento, con el sediento, con el sin techo, con el desnudo, el enfermo, y el prisionero… ¿Qué clase de Rey es este? Obviamente no de este mundo, no es el Rey de nuestros criterios, de los reportajes de la revista HOLA, o de las regatas de veleros.

Un Rey que se hace uno con el último, con el que sufre, con el que no cuenta… Un Rey que no se desentiende de los problemas de los demás…

Y por otro lado, un Rey que recompensa con su amor y cariño a quien hace algo por él en los más desfavorecidos… Lo que hiciste a cada uno de estos a mi me lo hiciste. El Rey de un reino que rige el amor, el compromiso, la solidaridad y el arrimar el hombro.

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La fiesta de Cristo Rey fue instituida en 1925 por el papa Pío XI, que la fijó en el domingo anterior a la solemnidad de todos los santos. Pío XI estableció esa fiesta, como él mismo dijo explícitamente en la encíclica Quas primas, con una finalidad de pedagogía espiritual. Ante los avances del ateísmo y de la secularización de la sociedad quería afirmar la soberana autoridad de Cristo sobre los hombres y las instituciones. En 1970 se quiso destacar más el carácter cósmico y escatológico del reinado de Cristo. La fiesta se convirtió en la de Cristo "Rey del Universo" y se fijó en el último domingo per annum. Con ella apunta ya el tiempo de adviento en la perspectiva de la venida gloriosa del Señor.

La transformación de la segunda parte de la oración colecta revela claramente el cambio introducido en el tema de la fiesta. La oración de 1925 pedía a Dios "que todos los pueblos disgregados por la herida del pecado, se sometan al suavísimo imperio" del reino de Cristo. El texto modificado pide a Dios "que toda la creación, liberada de la esclavitud del pecado, sirva a tu majestad y te glorifique sin fin".

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel - Christ the King

2011-11-20T17:58:00.002+01:00

Lord Jesus come as King. Reign in my heart

Fr. James McTavish, FMVD

Today’s feast was instituted in 1925 by Pius XI. Often feasts are introduced to strengthen the Church in a particular devotion such as Corpus Christi when reverence to the Blessed Sacrament had grown cold. To understand a feast it helps to be aware of the historical, political and cultural context at the time of its introduction. This period was a time of Kings and empires, of countries seeking to dominate others, to rule over one another. It was also the period between the great World Wars when the world was in need of the King of Peace. Belief in authority was at a low. Christianity was under attack from totalitarian mentalities. Pope Pius XI wrote the encyclical, “Quas Primus,” to underline the Kingship of Christ and that in him “men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.” The Pope also noted that if earthly Kings, princes and those in power recognize Christ as King then they will govern better and more wisely. It was also the intention to strengthen the faithful in their devotion to Christ the King, helping Christ to reign in their minds, hearts and wills and encouraging them to fight bravely under the banner of Christ their King countering “a certain slowness and timidity in good people, who are reluctant to engage in conflict or oppose but a weak resistance; thus the enemies of the Church become bolder in their attacks.”

Normally when we think of Kings we think of pomp and ceremony, splendour and grandness. But Christ comes as King not in a golden robe but wrapped in swaddling clothes. He has no great earthly castle. Even the inn has no room for him so he is born in a manger. In his public ministry, the people wanted to crown him but he stole away. His kingdom is not of this world. But King he is and his is the Kingdom, the power and the glory. He is the “King of kings and Lord of lords” as Handel’s Messiah beautifully reminds us. What type of kingship does he exert? Christ is a King who conquers with love. He wants to reign in our hearts. But he come humbly, on a donkey 2000 years ago and today disguised in a piece of bread. Will we let this humble King reign in our hearts? One sign that he reigns is that we have dominion of ourselves. We dominate our passions, they do not dominate us. When Christ reigns in us we will want to propagate the peace and harmony his presence brings. In fact, from our very baptism we are called to participate in his Kingly mission. The Kingly mission of all the lay faithful is to participate fully in the building of the Kingdom (cf. Lumen Gentium 36). It is different to go to work on Monday morning because “I have to” and “because we need the money.” These are valid and good reasons but how different to go to work because Christ the King is asking me to help in the establishment of the Kingdom of heaven on earth. At the train station today I gave the ticket man £5 too much and he returned it to me. Not only is this honesty in action but it is helping to build a kingdom of justice in this world. How many officials in public office in so many countries are dominated by greed and corruption? They are not even kings of their own desires because they are reigned by money. What king is reigning in our hearts? When we see we are reigned by greed, by laziness, by many false rulers we need to pray to Jesus, “Lord, come as King. Reign in our hearts.”

In the gospel of today, we see Christ as King. He shows his kingly power placing the sheep at his right and the goats at his left. The judgment is final and eternal. We have the gift of time now. Which crowd are you in? On the right or the left? Now, not only can we change but we can help others. This King of ours is so humble that he associates with the most lowly - “The king will say to them, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’” In this last Sunday of ordinary time before Advent, let us ask Jesus to reign in us. “Jesus, come as King. Be the King of my heart. Cast out all the other rulers. Help us to extend your Kingdom on earth. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.” Amen

REFLEXION del Evangelio dominical

2011-11-13T10:15:00.003+01:00

Dios no llama al éxito sino a la fidelidad

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Mateo 25, 14-30: "Dijo Jesús esta parábola: «Un hombre, al irse de viaje, llamó a sus empleados y los dejó encargados de sus bienes: a uno le dejó cinco talentos de plata, a otro dos, a otro uno, a cada cual según su capacidad; luego se marchó. El que recibió cinco talentos fue en seguida a negociar con ellos y ganó otros cinco. El que recibió dos hizo lo mismo y ganó otros dos. En cambio, el que recibió uno hizo un hoyo en la tierra y escondió el dinero de su señor. Volvió el señor y se puso a ajustar las cuentas con ellos. El que habla recibido cinco talentos y le presentó otros cinco, diciendo: "Señor, cinco talentos me dejaste; mira, he ganado otros cinco." Su señor le dijo: "Muy bien. Eres un empleado fiel y cumplidor; como has sido fiel en lo poco, te daré un cargo importante; pasa al banquete de tu señor." Se acercó luego el que habla recibido dos talentos y dijo: "Señor, dos talentos me dejaste; mira, he ganado otros dos." Su señor le dijo: "Muy bien. Eres un empleado fiel y cumplidor; como has sido fiel en lo poco, te daré un cargo importante; pasa al banquete de tu señor." Finalmente, se acercó el que había recibido un talento y dijo: "Señor, sabia que eres exigente, que siegas donde no siembras y recoges donde no esparces, tuve miedo y fui a esconder mi talento bajo tierra. Aquí tienes lo tuyo." El señor le respondió: "Eres un empleado negligente y holgazán.”

Hay alguna otra traducción que en ved de decir: “Pasa al banquete de tu señor”, dice: “Entra en el gozo de tu señor”. Para la reflexión de hoy, prefiero esta traducción, pues la invitación que Jesús nos hace hoy es entender que hay un gozo interior, que nace de Él, de su mirada, que es distinto a cualquier otra alegría que las cosas te pueden dar.

Piensa en un momento en experiencias de satisfacción a la hora de realizar alguna tarea, trabajo, responsabilidad y ver que sale la cosa con éxito. Es una alegría grande la que uno puede sentir, pero aún depende demasiado de lo de fuera… pues, ¿y si la cosa sale mal? Cuantas veces nos enfadamos o nos irritamos. Al final, si te das cuenta, la alegría depende demasiado del resultado. Hay que entrar en las profundidades de la vida de fe. El Señor, hoy nos habla de otro tipo de alegría, algo que nace desde dentro. Es verdad que al empleado que lo hizo bien, le dijo: “entra en el gozo de tu señor”… Aquí es necesario un salto de fe: es entrar en el gozo de un Dios que se pone contento cuando nos ve invertidos, trabajadores, responsables, creativos… es un Dios que te mira y te lanza un guiño de ojo y dice: eres genial y tu vales mucho!! Pero, este Dios es misericordioso, es compasivo, es Amor… por eso, cuando las cosas salen mal, todavía uno puede seguir disfrutando del gozo de su señor… pues dice también la escritura: “Hay más alegría por un pecador que se convierte que por 99 que no tienen necesidad”. Es decir, que aún no saliendo bien las cosas en las que uno está invertido, La alegría y el gozo vienen de ver a un Dios que está contento porque sabe que lo estoy intentando… Convertirse, es aceptar con humildad que las cosas no están como uno quería, pero que le puede presentar a Dios el esfuerzo realizado, los intentos hechos, y los errores que han salido… pero en medio de todo esto, Dios que es amor te mira y dice: Entra en el gozo de tu Dios, porque eres una persona que te pones en marcha, que arriesgas, que lo estas intentando…

¿Cual es el problema? Según nos enseña Jesús en la parábola, el problema no está en el que se le dan 5 o 2 talentos, el problema está en aquel que se le da 1 sólo talento y por miedo no lo invierte. Los errores nunca son un problema, pues los errores hablan de que uno lo está intentando. El problema está en aquellos que por miedo al que dirán, al fracaso, por la pereza, la vagancia, o simplemente, el no querer implicarse por comodidad… al final no invierte nada, no intenta nada, no hace cosa alguna. Aquí no hay gozo, sino vacío y tristeza.

Dios nos ha dado a todos, talentos y capacidades, ¿qué haces con ellos? ¿Los vas a invertir? Es en la medida que lo pongo al servicio de la comunidad, de los de mi alrededor o de la Iglesia, que el Señor nos permite adentrarnos en la experiencia de un gozo que no depende de los resultados, sino de la fidelidad a mi compromiso. Madre Teresa decía: Dios no me ha llamado a tener éxito, sino a serle fiel. (God doesn’t call me to be successful, but faithful)

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-11-13T10:10:00.002+01:00

Let us invest all our talents while we have time!

Fr. James McTavish FMVD

In the gospel today we have the parable of the talents where the master going on a journey gives out talents to his servants. To one he gave five talents, to another, two; to a third, one. The first two men go away and immediately trade with their talents and manage to double them. They take the risk and the responsibility for what they have received. How beautiful must have been their relationship with the master. They trusted in him enough to risk investing the money received. They wanted to serve him and please him. When the master returns he is delighted with these two servants. He tells them both, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.” The servants here are responsible for all the gifts they have received. In a similar way each Christian is called to be responsible for the gifts and talents received. At the end of our lives each of us will be accountable for how we have invested our talents.

The third servant who has received one talent is not responsible. He will not take the risk, out of love, to invest. He is afraid and buries the talent. When he returns the talent later the master becomes very angry – “You wicked and lazy servant!” The servant tries to explain why he did not invest what he had received, saying that he was afraid of the master. The master will not accept this excuse. The drama of the gospel of today is that we can be sensible investors in this short earthly life or we can refuse the challenge to invest the talents we have received. Are you investing your talents or are you burying them? We can have the attitude of the first servants who invest their lives out of love. When we invest our lives in loving others we know that there will be a return even if we don’t always see it immediately. There is a real joy in investing in the lives of others and here we can share in the master’s joy. There is an interesting dynamism present here. The master says, “Take the talent from him who has not invested and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” We are either in the dynamism or not. We are either growing in love or diminishing. To those who do not invest in the Kingdom the little joy they have is soon lost.

Why did the third servant not respond? Why did he not assume the responsibility of investing for the Kingdom? Why do many not respond to God’s call to invest in the Kingdom? The real drama is that there are many investors who know that they are not investing sensibly. They know what they have to do, they realize their happiness is at stake, even their very salvation and that of many others. They know many things but feel paralyzed when it comes to change. That is why St Paul exhorts all to be awake, to be sober, to not become complacent in front of the appeal of the Good News, to not fall asleep. In the medical world a person who does not react is said to be in a coma or to be unconscious. We can remain unconscious, so that the light of the Word does not make us react. St. Paul reminds us that the day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night which is a way of saying time is short. It is important in front of the Word of God to not let our hearts and minds be hardened but to strive always to be open to the Good News. Doing this we can help many people. We will not go far wrong investing our talents in the lives of others. A sure return awaits those wise investors who invest their time, energy and talents for the Kingdom.

Let us ask for the grace to be wise investors, to help each other discover all our talents, especially the buried ones, to take the risk out of live to invest our lives in doing good, while there is still time.

REFLEXION del Evangelio dominical

2011-11-06T01:52:00.003+01:00

"No dejar para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy".

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Mateo 25, 1-13: "Dijo Jesús a sus discípulos esta parábola: «Se parecerá el reino de los cielos a diez doncellas que tomaron sus lámparas y salieron a esperar al esposo. Cinco de ellas eran necias y cinco eran sensatas. Las necias, al tomar las lámparas, se dejaron el aceite; en cambio, las sensatas se llevaron alcuzas de aceite con las lámparas. El esposo tardaba, les entró sueño a todas y se durmieron. A medianoche se oyó una voz: "¡Que llega el esposo, salid a recibirlo!" Entonces se despertaron todas aquellas doncellas y se pusieron a preparar sus lámparas. Y las necias dijeron a las sensatas: "Dadnos un poco de vuestro aceite, que se nos apagan las lámparas. Pero las sensatas contestaron: "Por si acaso no hay bastante para vosotras y nosotras, mejor es que vayáis a la tienda y os lo compréis." Mientras iban a comprarlo, llegó el esposo, y las que estaban preparadas entraron con él al banquete de bodas, y se cerró la puerta. Más tarde llegaron también las otras doncellas, diciendo: "Señor, señor, ábrenos." Pero él respondió: "Os lo aseguro: no os conozco." Por tanto, velad, porque no sabéis el día ni la hora.»"

A lo largo de los Evangelios encontramos muchas parábolas de Jesús explicando lo que será el Reino de los cielos. Ello advierte de la importancia del tema. Todas esas parábolas aluden, no sólo a la importancia de vivir la fe, sino a subrayar aspectos esenciales que nos llevan a hacer la experiencia del Reino.

Cuando lees esta parábola hay algo que sorprende… A ver si tenéis la misma percepción… La reacción de las doncellas sensatas no corresponde a lo que cristianamente o moralmente entenderíamos como lo más lógico. Mirad el detalle: A medianoche se oyó una voz: "¡Que llega el esposo, salid a recibirlo!" Entonces se despertaron todas aquellas doncellas y se pusieron a preparar sus lámparas. Y las necias dijeron a las sensatas: "Dadnos un poco de vuestro aceite, que se nos apagan las lámparas. Pero las sensatas contestaron: "Por si acaso no hay bastante para vosotras y nosotras, mejor es que vayáis a la tienda y os lo compréis."

En mi lógica, desde lo que hemos aprendido como lo más cristiano, es que las sensatas contestaran a la petición de aceite de las necias: Es verdad, no tenéis bastante, no os preocupéis, el reino de los Cielos es compartir generosamente con vosotras lo que tenemos, así que aquí tenéis parte de nuestro aceite y así recibiremos todas juntas al Señor. Esto es lo que yo hubiera esperado, esto es lo que nos han enseñado. ¿Entonces? ¿Es que a Jesús se le ha ido la cabeza? ¿Es que ahora se contradice? ¿Es que sus enseñanzas no tienen consistencia?

A través de esta parábola Jesús hace una llamada de atención a la responsabilidad personal a la hora de vivir la fe. El Reino de los cielos, la vivencia de la fe, la madurez del cristianismo será lo que tu te tomes en serio. La responsabilidad está en ti, en cada uno de nosotros de cómo alimentar la lámpara con el aceite necesario para tenerla siempre preparada, no vaya a ser que llegue un momento imprevisto y no estemos fortalecidos en la fe.

La vivencia de la fe no es algo material que dando al otro algo de lo mío le resuelve la papeleta, sino que es una opción personal que si uno mismo no nutre, alimenta, y madura, nadie podrá hacerlo por ti. Muchas veces me dicen: “Padre, ore por mí, que usted está más cerca de Dios”. Y está bién, yo oro por quien me lo pide, pero si uno no hace oración personal y pone los medios para madurar en la fe… de poco sirve hacer recaer la responsabilidad de la vida de uno en manos de otro.

Las doncellas sensatas, no es que no fueran generosas o desprendidas, sino que fueron responsables, sensatas, juiciosas y maduras. Dice la parábola: Las necias, al tomar las lámparas, se dejaron el aceite; en cambio, las sensatas se llevaron alcuzas de aceite con las lámparas. Unas fueron dejadas, perezosas, descuidadas en la alimentar la vida de fe… Quizás tenían el hábito de “dejarlo todo para mañana”… por eso se las llama necias. Sin embargo, las otras eran previsoras, precavidas, prevenidas, responsables… quizás tenían el hábito de “no dejar para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy”… por eso se las llama sensatas.

La pregunta de esta semana sería: ¿me hago responsable de alimentar mi fe día a día? ¿qué medios asumo para alimentar la fe cada día? ¿Qué hago para llenar mi lámpara de aceite y tenerla preparada?

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-11-05T11:52:00.002+01:00

Behold the Bridegroom! Come out to meet him! Matt 25:1-13

Fr. James McTavish FMVD

Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins today, five of whom were wise and five were foolish. What happened? The five smart ones brought extra oil for their lamps so when the bridegroom was delayed in returning their lamps had enough fuel still. Not so the foolish ones. Interestingly enough all ten virgins fell asleep waiting the return of the bridegroom but only the wise ones had enough oil to keep the lamp burning. The foolish ones ask to borrow some oil but were denied. It reminds us that there is a personal work for each one of us and no one is exempted from this vital task. Someone else cannot do it for you and you cannot “borrow” sanctity from others. One question that comes to mind is what does the oil represent? One understanding is that it represents our life of prayer. This is something that no one can “do” for you. Others can encourage us and help us but at the end it is a personal call. Prayer is a way to store up oil. When the challenges come we can be ready.

St Alphonsus described the effect of prayer in the following vivid way: “The soul in mental prayer is like iron in the fire: when the iron is cold it is difficult to work; but when it is put into the fire it becomes soft, and allows itself to be easily worked: so it is with the soul. A master of the spiritual life calls it a furnace, because as the fire softens the iron and renders it easy to work, so mental prayer makes it easy for the soul to overcome its passions. For example, someone receives an affront, an injury that wounds his self-love: before mental prayer, it is very difficult to him to overcome the passion that incites him to grow angry, to defend himself, and even to furnish him at times with pretexts to make him believe that this is necessary. The iron is yet cold, it must be put into the fire. Let this troubled soul enter mental prayer, and at once the sweet flame of the Holy Ghost touches it, and an interior voice tells him: Is it not better to bear that without resenting it? Leave rather your defence to God, as your divine Master did when he was calumniated, he who was more innocent than you! At once the iron loses its hardness; the soul is softened, is appeased: without mental prayer, it would have been otherwise.” Wow! It makes you want to pray and build up the stores of oil!

The one who prays truly becomes wise. The first reading today is from the book of Wisdom and perhaps describes the wisdom of the wise virgins of the gospel today: “Resplendent and unfading is Wisdom, and she is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of men's desire; he who watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for he shall find her sitting by his gate. For taking thought of her is the perfection of prudence, and he who for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care; Because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her, and graciously appears to them in the ways, and meets them with all solicitude” (Wisdom 6,12-16).

Once a missionary was sharing about the gospel and he asked a very interesting question. He asked us how many different characters are there in the gospel. We said the five wise virgins, the five foolish ones and the bridegroom as well as the merchants to buy oil from and Jesus with his disciples. But there was one other character we did not spot. Who was it? The voice crying out at midnight! What does the voice cry out? “Behold the Bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” Every Christian in some way or another is called to be this voice. To call out at midnight, a time when others are drowsy or sleeping, a time of darkness when things are not clear. This is the prophetic task of the Church too, to be a watchman or watchwoman.

Let us pray and stay awake. May we fill our lamps with the oil of prayer like the wise virgins. And may we always shoulder our prophetic task ready to announce the call to action to our brothers and sisters.

All Saints day

2011-10-28T09:29:00.002+02:00

Fully alive!

Fr. James McTavish, FMVD

I was ordained on November 1, 2008 in London. When people ask me why that date I always tell them usually a priest chooses a date with a special significance – perhaps a feast day of a Saint they particularly love, would like to emulate or have praying for them in a special way. Some priests need one saint but I need them all! I remember lying face down on the ground, prostrate on the floor listening to the litany of the Saints being sung. All my favourite saints were there! St John Chrysostom, pray for us. St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, pray for us. And so many other men and women who we have as guides and models, powerful intercessors supporting us along the way. They are present, alive, interceding for us, raising us up from the ground when we fall and offering a helping hand.

I enjoy knowing more and more about the lives of the Saints. Not only do they show us how to be holy but how to be really human. What does it mean to be holy if not to be fully human! The Saints in their lifetime were fully alive, fully human. God our Father wants for all of us to be fully alive. He wants all his children to be fully alive. We are children of a God who is life and alive. St John tells us, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are… Beloved, we are God’s children” (1 Jn 1:1-3). What does it mean to be fully alive? To be fully alive is to be holy, to be wholly alive. All of us are called to be holy, to be fully alive, like the Saints. Sometimes we have a lot of admiration for the Saints but we feel distant from them because well, they are so perfect and we are so imperfect. It is interesting reading the lives of the saints. St Paul wrote to Timothy that he was the greatest sinner of all. How can you have sins and be a Saint?

Well to become a Saint is a process and if we are here today it means we still have time. This gives us hope. Our sanctification is a process, a slow one, well, we make it a bit slower than it should be. St Thérèse of Lisieux said at 15 years old she wanted to be a Saint and at 24 she was! That it is a process is confirmed in the second reading – “What we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Each of us, as children of God, are called to this perfection in love.

Normally, thinking of the Saints, we enjoy being spectators. Seeing our own imperfections we can feel a bit distant from them. Today’s celebration is not for us to remain as mere spectators!!! We are called to be imitators. Of course we have limitations but the saints are interceding for us, praying for us. In the first reading we have an apocalyptic vision of a huge crowd: “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” A great multitude is present in this crowd. This should give us hope. To be a Saint is not for a select few! In fact it is for all Christians to strive for, to be holy, to be fully alive. What is the model presented to us by Jesus of a fully human life? The model plan of life is known as the Beatitudes – blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God. I love this beatitude because the pure of heart will see God and they will see him also in their neighbour who is made in the image and likeness of God.

If there is one characteristic that marks the Saints it is that of commitment to a cause. The French philosopher Gabriel Marcel wrote, “The fact is that when I commit myself, I grant in principle that the commitment will not again be put into question...It at once bars a certain number of possibilities; it bids me invent a certain modus vivendi which I would otherwise be precluded from envisaging. Here there appears in a rudimentary form what I call creative fidelity. My behaviour will be completely coloured by this act embodying the decision that the commitment will not again be questioned. The possibility which has been barred or denied will thus be demoted to the rank of a temptation.”

Let us ask the grace this day to be committed in our Christian lives, committed to living a fully human life, committed to Christ. Amen.

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-10-28T09:26:00.002+02:00

Examine your conscience!

Fr. James McTavish, FMVD

Before entering religious life and being ordained as a missionary priest I worked as a medical doctor, specializing in surgery. During my medical school days I remember well my stint in the emergency room, that exciting locale of human drama, where one did not know what or who would come through the doors next. On my first day there I remember two patients being wheeled in on trolleys at break-neck speed. One caught my attention because she was screaming out, “Help! I’m going to die! My leg, will someone please look at my leg!” My attempt to review her immediately was curtailed by my boss grabbing the lapel of my white coat and restraining me firmly. “What are you doing?” he asked me. “It’s obvious,” I appealed, “I’m going to save this woman.” “And what about the other woman?” he asked. “She is fine because she is not saying anything.” I ventured. I learned that day that the patient who was not saying anything was silent not because all was well but because she had stopped breathing. For the conscience, not always a conscience that is undisturbed is the sign of a healthy conscience. A “good” Catholic may not be disturbed that they go to rest in a big mansion despite that the fact that many other brothers and sisters in Christ around them live in abject poverty. A silent conscience here may mean that the conscience is dying or nearly dead.

In the gospel today Jesus tears in to the Pharisees. He really challenges them to examine their conscience and their hearts because of the way they were living and treating others - “Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation “Rabbi”’” (see Matthew 23:1-12).

A long list of woes. If we are honest we can all spot our pharisaic tendencies! Once I was asking some younger missionaries to finish a project. It was quite late at night and they were under pressure. Another brother arrived and immediately started to help them finish the work. Later when it came up in a conversation he told me that it is always good not to just to ask of others but also be willing to lift a finger to help. I was converted! Even the way we present the moral truth to others can be burdensome if we are not careful. I always remember the teachings of St Alphonsus Liguori who emphasized that if the truth is not redemptive then it is not the truth. He meant that the truth should always be salvific and help to redeem the person because Jesus is the Redeemer (for this reason St Alphonsus named his order “the Redemptorists”).

It makes us realize that as Christians we should examine our lives regularly. Are we living a truly Christian life? How can we grow more?

In the first reading we hear the condemnation by the prophet Malachi of the Old Testament priests: “And now, O priests, this commandment is for you: If you do not listen, and if you do not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send a curse upon you and of your blessing I will make a curse…But you have turned aside from the way, and have caused many to falter by your instruction; You have made void the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. I, therefore, have made you contemptible and base before all the people, since you do not keep my ways, but show partiality in your decisions” (see Malachi 2,1-2, 8-10). Strong words! Are we exempt from falling in the same way? If only it was so easy. Maybe at times I feel fine and my conscience does not disturb me. But in his encyclical Spe salvi, on Christian hope, Pope Benedict XVI noted “Failure to recognize my guilt, the illusion of my innocence, does not justify me and does not save me, because I am culpable for the numbness of my conscience and my incapacity to recognize the evil in me for what it is.”

Listening to the Word of God is a way of knowing ourselves more. In the second reading today (1 Thess 2, 7-9. 13) St Paul reminds us that the Word of God is powerful – “And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.” Many Saints like St Bernard of Clairvaux and St Alphonsus talk about prayer as a mirror: “Mental prayer is like a mirror: this comparison pleases me much. If one has a stain on ones face and one looks in the mirror, one sees it and takes it away; without this mirror, the stain remains, and will always remain; as one does not see it, one does not take it away. So it is with mental prayer: if we have a defect, if we find ourselves in a dangerous occasion, when we go to mental prayer, as if going before the mirror, we see in our conscience this defect that we have, we see this danger of losing God; we see it and we take it away.”

Let us take the good advice of St Augustine: “Return to your conscience, question it...Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness.” Amen!

REFLEXION del Evangelio dominical

2011-10-23T13:51:00.001+02:00

Llegar al fin último

P. Luis Jose Tamayo

Mateo 22,34-40: Uno, que era experto en la Ley, le preguntó: «Maestro, ¿cuál es el mandamiento principal de la Ley?» Él le dijo: «"Amarás al Señor, tu Dios, con todo tu corazón, con toda tu alma, con todo tu ser." Este mandamiento es el principal y primero. El segundo es semejante a él: "Amarás a tu prójimo como a ti mismo." Estos dos mandamientos sostienen la Ley entera y los profetas.»

En el Evangelio de hoy, Jesús, nos ayuda a ir a lo esencial y al fin último del cristianismo. A lo largo de la historia el hombre ha ido decorando lo esencial del evangelio con mil cosas… esto es como lo que le pasa al árbol de navidad, a lo largo de los años le vamos comprando florituras para decorarlo, y después de 15 años tenemos al árbol sobrecargado y a penas se ve que debajo hay un árbol. En la Iglesia nos ha pasado algo parecido, a lo largo de la historia hemos ido poniendo acentos en muchas cosas que no eran lo esencial: por ejemplo: en los primeros siglos con el nacimiento del monacato todo giraba a la vida ascética, en la edad media se predicaba el miedo al infierno, en la inquisición todo eran herejías, luego hemos vivido mucho una moral rígida y el miedo a la culpa al pecado hasta que llegó Freud y nos dijo que para liberarnos de ella mejor vivir sin religión, etc.

Es verdad que todo eso es parte de la vida del cristiano (el dominio de si, la realidad del pecado, el buscar la verdad, unas normas de comportamiento, etc), pero todo esto no es el fin del cristianismo. Hoy Jesús nos deja claro lo que es el fin último para subrayar que todo lo demás, aún importante, son medios. Lo esencial del mensaje de Jesús es el amor a Dios y al prójimo; es crecer en amistad con Dios y compromiso con el otro; es alimentar la relación con Dios y cuidar la relación con los hermanos. Esta es la gran pregunta a hacernos: ¿Cómo vives tu vocación cristiana? ¿Procuras crecer en la amistad con Dios y cuidar una buena relación con los que tienes a tu lado? Este es el fin último… y todo lo demás son medios para conseguirlo. Pero a veces nos quedamos solo en los medios y ponemos extremadamente el acento en éstos, como si fueran el fin.

Recuerdo que en el examen del carnet de moto, me pusieron sobre una linea blanca gruesa y tenía que conducir la moto sobre la linea por unos cuantos metros. El truco estaba en no mirar la rueda de adelante a ver si pisaba o se salía de la linea; sino en mirar al fin último, poner los ojos fijos en el último punto, así no me salí. La práctica de los medios en la vida cristiana necesitan de orientarlos al fin último.

A veces cuando la gente viene a confesarse viene con una gran culpa acompañada de una gran lista de cosas que no hace: no he hecho oración, no he ido a misa, no he ayudado en casa, no he dado limosna, no he examinado la conciencia, no, no, no… Pero en medio de todo esto hay que ayudarnos a entender que todo esto son medios para llegar al fin último: crecer en el amor a Dios y al hermano… pero muchas veces hacemos de todos los medios el fin… y si no hago toda una lista de rituales estoy fuera del amor de Dios.

Es importante saber que tu no has de ganar la amistad con Dios, Dios ya te hizo hijo suyo mucho antes, Dios ya te ha alcanzado mucho antes de que tu quieras llegar a Él. San Pablo lo dice: corro para alcanzarlo, pero sabed que ya habéis sido alcanzados por Dios.

Todos los medios que podamos utilizar para vivir la vocación cristiana son para conducirnos al último fin. La oración?, la misa diaria o dominical?, la ayuda en casa?, la limosna?, el examen de conciencia? Todo son medio encaminados al fin último: Amar a Dios y al hermano… si esto, que es lo esencial, me falla, es cuando quizás tendré que poner más oración, más confesión, más examen, más dominio de mi mismo…

Oración al Señor

2011-10-23T13:47:00.002+02:00

Querido Señor, por favor, concédeme el sentido de reconocer una oportunidad cuando la encuentro, porque sé que estoy ciego el 99% del tiempo. Abre mis ojos.

Por favor, déjame oír mi propia mente, cuando me ofrece una buena idea en bandeja de plata, porque normalmente no estoy escuchando. Déjame escuchar.

Déjame escucharme a mí mismo y a los demás, incluso al más pequeño de tus hijos, porque todo el mundo tiene buenas ideas.

Por el amor de Dios, déjame siempre tener a mano un bolígrafo y un cuaderno conmigo para que pueda escribir ideas, porque a menudo se me olvidan las mejores ideas que me vienen. Que no me olvide.

Déjame ser generoso, ya que es dando como puedo crear abundancia.

Y Señor, por favor, concédeme el alimento del espíritu, un poco de buen humor.

Permíteme mantener las cosas en perspectiva.

Déjame tener pasión por las cosas que estoy intentando que sucedan, porque si lo hago, las cosas buenas tienen que suceder.

Déjame crear desde mi corazón - con amor por los demás nada puede salir mal.

Y, finalmente, querido Señor, por favor hazme innovar - porque honra al creador crear, y el pago de la hipoteca no va a esperar!

A prayer

2011-10-21T19:01:00.003+02:00

Dear Lord, please grant me the sense to know an opportunity when I see one, because I know I am blind 99% of the time. Open my eyes.

Please let me hear my own mind when it gives me a good idea on a silver platter, because I’m usually not listening. Let me listen.

Let me listen to myself and others, even the least of thy children, because everybody has good ideas.

For God’s sake, please let me always have a pen and a notebook with me so I can write ideas down, because I often forget the best ideas that come to me. Let me remember.

Let me be generous, for it is in giving that I create abundance.

And Lord, please keep me supplied with the food of the spirit, a bit of good humor.

Let me keep things in perspective.

Let me have passion for the things I’m trying to make happen, because if I do, good things are bound to happen.

Let me create from my heart — with love for others I can’t go wrong.

And finally dear Lord, please let me innovate – because it honors the creator to create, and the mortgage payment won’t wait!

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-10-21T18:55:00.003+02:00

“Law or love? Lawyer or lover?”

Rev James McTavish

In the gospel of today, Jesus is asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” A challenging question, as the Jewish Law contained 613 precepts. Jesus goes to the essential; “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” With so many rules and regulations around, Jesus reminds us what it is all about - love. On this everything will be judged. St John of the Cross said, “At the eve of our life we will be judged on only one thing.” Yes you guessed it: whether we have loved. We are called to love God with all our being. We can ask ourselves straight away – is my prayer, my dialogue with God that of a lover? Do I really love him? If we really loved him we wouldn’t have such long faces in Church. The Risen Christ asked, “Do you love me?” When we talk to God we need to talk to him with so much love. St Alphonsus Liguori said that if we talk to our friends and the ones we love with affection, how much more tender and affectionate we need to be with God, who is pure love.

In the first reading, there are some precepts of the Law – love the widow, take care of the orphan, do not charge interest on loans. All of these are natural consequences of a loving heart. There are many precepts in being Christian – to pray, to go to mass, to go to the sacrament of reconciliation. When I fulfil these, is it to fulfil the law or because I am filled full of love? The former will always seek the minimum, to do the least possible. For the lover on the other hand no task is big enough. The legal point of view causes us to seek reasons to go to mass once a week. For the lover, it is difficult to stop them. The Sunday mass is a moment to encounter face to face the one we say we love and to listen to him. Imagine someone saying he was in love but then having difficulty to meet his beloved just once a week for a meal that the beloved pays for in full! Or regarding the obligation to confess once a year, imagine we met someone who promises that they are loving perfectly, never making a mistake, and it was always the fault of the other. Would we not be a little suspicious as to whether this person was really loving if she was not able to recognise her mistakes, and to ask forgiveness for her faults and failings? In our loving of God and our neighbour no wonder many sensitive souls go once a month to the Sacrament of Reconciliation or even more. To recognise our faults is actually a way of loving ourselves, loving ourselves in our weaknesses and limits. It is a way of really loving others because being forgiven I can learn how to forgive others too. If you never experience God’s mercy and forgiveness, how can you expect to forgive others? Sometimes we need to examine our hearts more carefully and see if they really contain love. As the psalmist reminds us: “He so flatters himself that he sees not his own guilt.” Is my heart full of love?

An example may help us to see how our Christian faith becomes alive when we see our behaviour through the optic of love. At the moment, there are campaigns to help avoid drinking excessive alcohol, especially binge drinking. This can be conceived by some as an external rule imposed against “freedom.” Let us examine this not as a law but in the light of love. Getting drunk is to disrespect our own body, to not love it. Our body is sacred, a gift from God, a temple of the Holy Spirit. We can believe that it is OK as no one else suffers. A visit to any Hospital Emergency room on a Friday or Saturday night would stop one saying that so easily. Many innocent people suffer the consequences of other people’s drunkenness. How many car accidents and incidents of violence have their root at least in a part to alcohol abuse? Even if the alcohol is consumed at home with no apparent ills, what can one say about the cost involved? Couldn’t at least some of that money be better spent on other things? However we don’t want to become killjoys and prudence is required – even St Paul encouraged Timothy to drink some wine and surely even Jesus and his disciples enjoyed a glass or two at Cana. What is to be avoided then is consumption in excess such that one loses control of reason and instead of dominating it, the alcohol comes to dominate the person. It is understandable why many noble people abstain from alcohol, offering up this sacrifice for many whose lives are dominated and destroyed through alcohol abuse.

How different when we look through the optic, not of the law, but of love. When we see the world with eyes of love, it is easy to understand so many things. Obviously, through the all-knowing eye of love, it is crystal clear why one cannot accept destruction of human embryos or euthanasia because they both involve destruction of human life. As the Black Eyed Peas would ask in these situations, “Where is the love?” Well there ain’t none. As there is none then they are both unethical. Love of our neighbour gives a sound and true criteria to many law makers. Where the law does not respect the right to life it need not be obeyed as all laws are governed by the love of God and neighbour.

Let us ask the grace to be in love with Jesus and not only followers of the law. Not just to do the minimum but to love with all our heart, mind and strength. Our discipleship is not about following rules and regulations but about following Christ. He wants our hearts, he wants our love. He wants lovers not more lawyers.

REFLEXION del Evangelio dominical

2011-10-16T15:21:00.002+02:00

Darle a Dios lo que es de Dios. (P. Luis J. Tamayo)

En aquel tiempo, le dijeron a Jesús: «Maestro, sabemos que eres sincero y que enseñas el camino de Dios conforme a la verdad; sin que te importe nadie, porque no miras lo que la gente sea. Dinos, pues, qué opinas: ¿es licito pagar impuesto al César o no?». Comprendiendo su mala voluntad, les dijo Jesús: «Hipócritas, ¿por qué me tentáis? Enseñadme la moneda del impuesto. » Le presentaron un denario. Él les preguntó: «¿De quién son esta cara y esta inscripción?» Le respondieron: «Del César.» Entonces les replicó: «Pues dadle al César lo que es del César y a Dios lo que es de Dios.» Mateo 22, 15-21

En toda familia, el tema del dinero siempre es delicado e incluso conflictivo. Pero hablar de esto en la Iglesia, es necesario, aunque sea incómodo para algunos.

Los fariseos le preguntan si es necesario pagar el impuesto civil al Cesar, pero Jesús responde sabia e indirectamente: «Pues dadle al César lo que es del César y a Dios lo que es de Dios». Es decir, Jesús deja claro que al final a Dios también le debemos ‘algo’ de todo lo que de Él recibimos.

Hoy día hemos perdido conciencia de que todo lo que tenemos es don de Dios. Es conciencia de fe. Uno, puede discutir: Mira, no se por que tienes que meter a Dios en esto, todo lo que tengo me lo he conseguido yo a base de mi propio esfuerzo. Que he sido yo quien se levanta por las mañanas y va a trabajar. A mi Dios no me ha dado nada.” Pero la pregunta que yo le hago es: ¿quién te ha dado la fuerza para ir a trabajar? ¿Quién la inteligencia para estudiar la carrera, o la vista para leer ese libro, o la lucidez para tomar una decisión en tu negocio? ¿Quién te ha dado la energía para levantarte? Una mirada de fe te sitúa en que todo es don de Dios, y lo que has conseguido con el esfuerzo de tu trabajo tiene su origen en Dios, quien, en última instancia, te ha dado la vida.

La generosidad de un corazón nace de quien es sencillo en descubrir que ha recibido mucho en la vida. El salmo 15 canta a Dios: “¿Cómo te pagaré todo el bien que me has hecho, Señor?” Un cántico que brota de un corazón agradecido que se da cuenta que todo es bien que ha recibido de Dios. Un ejemplo clásico lo tenemos en la historia de la limosna de la viuda pobre (Lc 21,1 y ss). Ella dio mucho de lo poco que tenía, por que estaba muy agradecida a Dios. El egoísmo humano nos engaña, y cuanto más tenemos más agarrados somos. Yo tengo experiencias preciosas que he vivido en Filipinas con gente muy pobre que te lo da todo… esas experiencias me han enseñado mucho sobre generosidad. Ir a visitar a una familia muy pobre que te invitan a cenar, y más tarde descubrir que yo era el único cenando por que me habían servido la cena de la familia. Estaban tan agradecidos a que pudiera acercarme a su casa y pasar una tarde que me dieron todo lo que tenían.

La mentira del orgullo es creer que yo lo he conseguido todo, y por lo tanto soy dueño de lo mío. La verdad de la humildad es creer que todo lo que tengo es don de Dios, y que puedo compartir con quien necesita.

En las Escrituras del Antiguo Testamento tenemos la figura de las “Primicias”. Lo primero que se cosechaba, el primer cabrito, el primer hijo, que se suponía que era lo mejor, se ofrecía a Dios en el Templo. Luego hay otra figura que es el “Diezmo”, una 10% de lo que uno tenía se daba para el sostenimiento del Templo. La Iglesia cristiana protestante tiene más conciencia de que es la comunidad de fieles quien sostiene la Iglesia con su participación. A nosotros, los católicos, nos cuesta más entender esto.

Un ejemplo: esta semana salió el informe de las cuentas de CARITAS (http://file01.lavanguardia.com/2011/07/06/54181758703-url.pdf):

Me sorprendió descubrir en el informe que sólo en España:

1- Se constata un aumento de más del 100% en las peticiones de ayuda, al comparar las cifras del 2007 (antes de la crisis) con las del 2010 .

2- Las aportaciones privadas de ayuda económica ha aumentado 6 veces más en los años de crisis económica, entre el año 2007 y el 2010. La gente es super generosa.

3- Las prestaciones económicas en los servicios sociales del gobierno son insuficientes

Cuando a veces damos refunfuñando, lo que nos cura es leer estos informes y darnos cuenta de las necesidades tan grandes que hay. Y sobre todo es que yo ayudo a la Iglesia, por lo tanto me ayudo a mi mismo. Esta es la ironía de la fe: que cuanto más ayudo al hermano más me ayudo a mi mismo. Así lo expresa el Profeta Isaías: Is 58,1-9: “Cuando partas tu pan con el hambriento, hospedes a los pobres sin techo, vistas al desnudo y no te cierres a tu propia carne... entonces brillará tu luz en las tinieblas, tu oscuridad se convertirá en mediodía”

La realidad última es que todos somos el Cuerpo de Cristo, todos somos Iglesia. Cuidar de un miembro más débil es cuidar de tu propio cuerpo, del cual Jesús es la cabeza.

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-10-16T15:17:00.002+02:00

Mission – a way to give to God what belongs to him (Fr. James McTavish)

In the gospel today Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees. They ask him if it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? If he says yes, then he could incur the wrath of the Jews who hated having to pay the tax to the occupying Romans. If Jesus said no then he would be going against the Romans. Jesus takes a coin and gives his knockout answer “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God!” Wow, great answer Jesus, well done! I would like to interpret this line with reference to the mission entrusted to the whole Church and to every individual Christian from baptism.

What is mission for you? Something they do in a far off country I hear you say. If you go to the far off countries and ask them the same question they too respond, “Something they do in a far off country!” So what is mission? The first thing to say is that mission is not simply something the Church does. Mission is not merely an activity but is part of her identity – “The Church is missionary by her very nature” (Ad Gentes no.2). The Church is missionary because her founder is missionary. God so loved the world that he sent his only Son. Mission is about love and it is about sending. Jesus sent his disciples 2000 years ago and through the Holy Spirit sends each and every Christian today. The mission is not finished. Pope John Paul II said that the mission is not over yet. After 2 millennia, the mission of the Church is only just beginning! There is work to be done! Are you ready?

The mission is about love and sending. Love because Jesus asked “Do you love me? Feed my sheep.” And love is about being sent because love desires to be shared. Where there is love there is mission. Where there is love there is sharing. Where there is love there is mission.

Every Christian has a mission. I came to Church for years and I didn’t know this. When I was 29 I experienced the love of Jesus so strongly that I had to share it. Since then Jesus has kept me busy sharing his love in many lands such as England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Philippines, Japan, Australia. He said “Go to all nations!” The mission is for everyone not just for missionaries. The truth is we are all missionaries. The difference is we have different missions. What is your mission?

The first mission territory is our home. A man asked Mother Teresa what was his mission. He wanted to build a better world, to go and work for peace. She said to him, “If you want to work for world peace go home and love your family.” A father has a mission to love his wife and bring up a family. Hearing my father say sorry to my mum when he made a mistake taught my brothers and I the importance of recognizing our mistakes and to say sorry. What peace and harmony forgiveness bring to a family! And some of the best sermons I ever heard were preached by my mum without words. When she came with a plate of biscuits to the playground and gave one not just to my friends but to all the children she was giving a homily with her life, without words, on generosity. St Charles Borromeo wrote, “Make sure that your life and conduct are sermons in themselves.”

We as Christians, are called to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and God what belongs to God. We are called to be honest in our work, to give money and wealth their due place but not to idolize them. And the same with our time, which in our world of today is so precious: to give to Caesar what is necessary but to give to God some of our time too. How much time do we give to God?

Let us ask the grace to embrace the mission entrusted to us and to enjoy it. And today a special prayer for all the parents who work hard to bring up a family. Don’t be afraid to be holy! The world needs Saints especially married ones! If this seems a distant dream perhaps an example can strengthen our faith and encourage us. On October 19^th 2008, in Lisieux, France a married couple were beatified, the first step towards becoming Saints – Louis and Marie Zelie, the parents of St Thérèse of Lisieux. So come on mums and dads, don’t be afraid to be holy! And to each one of us: we can ask Jesus to experience his love more strongly and that this love may send us, moving us out of our comfort zone at times to share to others, with our life and with our words.

Happy Mission!

REFLEXION Evangelio Semanal

2011-10-08T11:39:00.005+02:00

Ven! Participa! Interésate! Disfrútalo! Gózalo! Regocíjate!

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Mateo 22, 1-14: En aquel tiempo, de nuevo tomó Jesús la palabra y habló en parábolas: «El reino de los cielos se parece a un rey que celebraba la boda de su hijo. Mandó criados para que avisaran a los convidados a la boda, pero no quisieron ir. Volvió a mandar criados, encargándoles que les dijeran: "Tengo preparado el banquete, he matado terneros y reses cebadas, y todo está a punto. Venid a la boda." Los convidados no hicieron caso; uno se marchó a sus tierras, otro a sus negocios; (...) Luego dijo a sus criados: "La boda está preparada, pero los convidados no se la merecían. Id ahora a los cruces de los caminos, y a todos los que encontréis, convidadlos a la boda." Los criados salieron a los caminos y reunieron a todos los que encontraron, malos y buenos. La sala del banquete se llenó de comensales.

Todos estos domingos pasados del mes de septiembre, el Señor, a través de los evangelios, nos está hablando del como vivir el Reino aquí entre nosotros, de cómo vivir en la comunidad eclesial: Hace 3 domingos: Fue el evangelio en el que el propietario sale a la calle a contratar jornaleros: al amanecer, a media mañana, a mediodía, a media tarde e incluso al caer la tarde. Y lo curioso es que siempre que sale no duda en contratar; Jesús nos hablaba de cuánta necesidad en la viña para necesitar de tanto jornalero. Una invitación a participar de la misión de la Iglesia. Hace 2 domingos: El Evangelio nos contaba la parábola del Padre que le pide al hijo: "Hijo, ve hoy a trabajar en la viña." Él le contestó: "No quiero." Pero al final si fue. Entonces, Jesús remarca que al final hizo lo que quería el padre. Por lo que se deduce, que el interés primordial en Jesús era resaltar lo importante del “hacer” y no tanto la “intención”. Lo que cuenta es el ‘hacer’, el ‘poner por obra’, el ‘practicar’ o ‘vivir’ según el deseo de Dios y no tanto tener una buena intención y al final nada. El domingo pasado: Nos habló del amor de reciprocidad: La parábola del dueño de la viña que la cuida con tanto amor. Es Dios que nos cuida mediante tanto derroche de amor, buscando despertar en nosotros un gran amor de correspondencia hacia El.

Si nos damos cuenta, todo son insistencias a la participación activa del creyente en la vida eclesial, construir el Reino entorno a la parroquia o comunidad.

Las palabras de hoy de Jesús vienen a decirte algo como: Mira, todo lo que hay entorno a la fe, a la amistad con Dios, a la vivencia de tu vida cristiana es una celebración, como un banquete de bodas (es la imagen que utiliza en la parábola)… Ven! Participa! Interésate! Disfrútalo! Gózalo! Regocíjate! Aunque aún no lo veas, aunque te cueste descubrir la alegría de vivir la fe… involúcrate! No te lo pierdas… Mi Padre del cielo tiene preparado abundante amor y alegría para poner en tu corazón. Hay mucho detrás de todo esto que aún no eres capaz de ver… y por eso no lo valoras.

Es muy sencillo: un hijo no valora todo el esfuerzo entregado por sus padres hasta que no le toca ser padre, entonces es cuando se da cuenta de lo que hicieron por uno. Aún recuerdo que me costó convencer a mucha gente de lo que iba a suponer la JMJ en sus vidas. Yo sabía por que llevaba todo el año preparando… Conocía el esfuerzo, las reuniones, las horas invertidas, esto no se ve… Es como cuando una madre cocina un buen menú. Nosotros lo comemos en 45 minutos, pero ella se ha pasado toda la mañana en la cocina, y a veces no reconocemos todo el esfuerzo realizado.

Muchas veces nosotros vamos a la Iglesia como de paso… entramos y salimos… pero no nos damos cuenta del esfuerzo que hay detrás de tantos detalles… y muchas veces ni vamos, ni nos duele haber faltado, ni damos gracias. No nos damos cuenta que todo detalle está preparado para ti.

Una madre me contaba una frustración que tuvo grande. Se pasó el fin de semana preparando una comida sorpresa para su familia, se levantó temprano para ir al mercado, compró flores, horas preparando, detalles para el postre… y al marido se le olvidó pasar a comer por casa y se fue con los amigos a ver un entrenamiento de futbol. Todo el trabajo que hay detrás de un evento… muchas veces no lo sabemos valorar… Sólo el que lo prepara sabe que es lo que le espera al que ha de participar.

El evangelio lo dice: El Rey mandó criados para que avisaran a los convidados a la boda, pero no quisieron ir. Volvió a mandar criados, encargándoles que les dijeran: "Tengo preparado el banquete, he matado terneros y reses cebadas, y todo está a punto. Venid a la boda." Los convidados no hicieron caso; uno se marchó a sus tierras, otro a sus negocios.

Yo os digo una cosa con el corazón: Si vienes a la celebración dominical y no la haces tuya… si fallas, te da igual; si no viene tu vecino, ni te importa. Si vienes a la Parroquia y la haces tuya, y participas, y ayudas a organizar, y colaboras, y te implicas… si un día fallas, lo sientes; si no viene tu vecino, te duele.

Si esto es lo que siente el corazón de un sencillo sacerdote, imaginar a vuestro Padre del cielo, que ha preparado el banquete de la Eucaristía con la entrega llena de amor de su Hijo. No es pan lo que te da, no es vino barato lo que recibes. Es la misa carne y sangre entregada por ti, como la mayor expresión de amor de Dios para con tu vida: ¿Te das cuenta? Fijaos que pena la del Rey cuando dice a sus criados: "La boda está preparada, pero los convidados no se la merecían.” No tenían capacidad de valorar… Salid e invitad a otros…

Ojala hoy nos demos cuenta de la grandeza que se esconde en nuestra fe, en el tesoro abundante que Dios nos quiere regalar… pero uno sólo lo descubre cuando se implica generosamente. Dice Santa Teresa de Ávila: Dios se entrega del todo a quien se da del todo.

Interesante texto de un comentario sacado de un bloggero:

Cuando abro una página de un blog, la observo; la miro; estoy atento a todos los detalles; desde el título del post, hasta la última publicación... Conozco el esfuerzo y dedicación que hay detrás de ella, acompañada de las mismas preguntas que yo me formulo: ” Qué puedo ofrecer a los otros? ¿Qué podrá ayudarles? ¿Qué les gustará? ¿No es amar de lo que se trata? ¿Y no está el amor, en los pequeños detalles?"…

¡Menudo trabajo! Pensar lo que se quiere ofrecer; plasmarlo; corregirlo, buscar imágenes que también interpelen, y refuercen lo expresado. Elegir un diseño atractivo, que lleve el sello de nuestra personalidad. Creo que la mayoría somos conscientes, de todo ese montaje y del esfuerzo generoso que conlleva pero... no siempre se agradece.

Y es que no siempre advertimos el detalle ofrecido; no siempre estamos atentos, ni reconocemos nuestra ingratitud cuando días después lo descubrimos. El amor, pide hilar muy fino, y en ocasiones no existe la disposición a hacerlo. El tiempo, nuestra vida cotidiana, con sus luces y sombras, no se alían con nuestra disponibilidad. Es cierto, que no siempre estamos en las mejores condiciones para detenernos y corresponder como se merece, a quien ha preparado una página para los demás. Mi ruego quiere ser una invitación a prestar más atención a lo que leemos al abrir el ordenador... Si se nos ofrece un enlace, pues enlacemos si coincide con nuestra línea; si se nos propone un video, veámoslo; si se nos pregunta, contestemos. Y si hace tiempo que no saludamos, hagamos el esfuerzo de dejar al menos un gesto cordial. Una palabra de aliento, valorar el trabajo, reconocer que el blog vale la pena y es necesario en la red… ¡por algo lo hemos puesto entre nuestros preferidos!

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-10-08T11:36:00.002+02:00

“Don’t forget your wedding garments!”

Fr. James McTavish

The Kingdom of heaven is often presented as a sumptuous feast. Imagine a table full of the choicest fair, pleasant music in the background and all the guests thoroughly enjoying themselves. The image of the banquet is prominent in today’s liturgy. But wait a minute, here comes the King and he doesn’t look too happy. He goes up to one chap and asks, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to his attendants, “Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” It all sounds a bit dramatic. All because he wasn’t wearing a wedding garment. So the million dollar question is this – what is the wedding garment?

In interpreting the symbol of the wedding garment we can look at various meanings or senses of the Sacred Scripture. The literal sense tells us the man was not wearing the kittel, the white robe used to celebrate weddings. The allegorical sense recognizes the symbolic value of the wedding garment such that it could represent baptism. The moral sense would suggest that the man had not acted justly. The anagogical sense places the parable in an eschatological context such as the last judgment and eternal life. A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses: The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith; The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny. So what is the meaning of the wedding garment? Taking the various senses we can view the parable in the context of the here and now and also in the context of the Last Judgment. The man was lacking something which the others had, something important, which meant he was thrown out of the banquet. He was excluded from the Kingdom. What was he lacking?

We are not the first to ask this question. The Catholic Church has a great cloud of witnesses who have pondered the meaning of the sacred text long before us. Saint Gregory the Great, who lived in the 6^th century, wrote:

“What should we understand then by the wedding garment, if not charity? Each of you who lives in the Church and believes in God has already entered the wedding banquet. But the one who does not take care of the grace of charity is the one who has come without the wedding garment. Please consider whether you have come to this wedding feast with the wedding garment. Examine your thoughts attentively. Weight your hearts very carefully and see whether you don't hate anyone, if there is no envy that inflames you against the happiness of another, if you are not thinking of damaging anyone with secret malice. See the king enters the wedding hall and observes the clothings of our heart. And to him whom he does not find clothed in charity, he says angrily: ‘Friend, how were you able to enter here without the wedding garment?’ It is worth noting dearest brothers that he calls this one friend and yet condemns him as if he has called him both friend and enemy at the same time. A friend in faith, an enemy in works. ‘And he was silent.’ that is -- and one could not speak of this without pain -- in the last severe judgment, all possible excuse will be gone because he who rebukes from outside will also be the voice of conscience who accuses the soul from within.”

The importance of charity is again highlighted in the document of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium: “He is not saved, however, who, though part of the body of the Church, does not persevere in charity.” (LG 14). It is not enough to be simply a member of the Church. We need to persevere in charity. Jesus does not want only adorers or admirers - he seeks imitators. He wants us to enjoy the banquet of each day to the full. Let us pray that in front of our Lord, the just judge, this day and at the end of our days we will not be found lacking in that which lasts forever, charity

REFLEXION del Evangelio dominical

2011-10-01T17:16:00.002+02:00

Amor con amor se paga

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Mateo 21, 33-43: «Escuchad otra parábola: Habla un propietario que plantó una viña, la rodeó con una cerca, cavó en ella un lagar, construyó la casa del guarda, la arrendó a unos labradores y se marchó de viaje. Llegado el tiempo de la vendimia, envió sus criados a los labradores, para percibir los frutos que le correspondían. Pero los labradores, agarrando a los criados, apalearon a uno, mataron a otro, y otro lo apedrearon. Envió de nuevo otros criados, más que la primera vez, e hicieron con ellos lo mismo. Por último les mandó a su hijo, diciéndose: "Tendrán respeto a mi hijo." Pero los labradores, al ver al hijo, se dijeron: "Éste es el heredero¡ venid, lo matamos y nos quedamos con su herencia." Y, agarrándolo, lo empujaron fuera de la viña y lo mataron. Y ahora, cuando vuelva el dueño de la viña, ¿qué hará con aquellos labradores?»

Isaías 5, 1-7: Mi amigo tenía una viña en fértil collado. La entrecavó, la descantó, y plantó buenas cepas; construyó en medio una atalaya y cavó un lagar. Y esperó que diese uvas, pero dio agrazones. Pues ahora, habitantes de Jerusalén, hombres de Judá, por favor, sed jueces entre mí y mi viña. ¿Qué más cabía hacer por mi viña que yo no lo haya hecho? ¿Por qué, esperando que diera uvas, dio agrazones?

Esta parábola de Jesús sólo se puede leer a la luz del texto de Isaías capítulo 5. Cada vez que la leo descubro el corazón enamorado de un Dios que dándolo todo a sus hijos, es más, dando su amor, su gracia e incluso dándose a si mismo a nosotros en su Hijo Jesús, se duele porque no ve frutos en nosotros de gratitud y amor.

De esta lectura de la Palabra se puede sacar una meditación preciosa sobre el amor de Dios derrochado y desbordado sobre nosotros abundantemente (Meditación para alcanzar amor de San Ignacio de Loyola). Dios es amor, según dice la palabra de Dios. Y como tal, el amor puro y autentico es generoso, es dación de si, es cuidado sobre su criatura amada, es entrega de sí. El amor cuando es puro no busca recibir, sino solo darse.

Por eso, uno puede descubrir como Dios se vuelca en cuidarnos desde lo material hasta lo inmaterial, desde lo creado hasta lo increado.

Si primero uno hace una lista de todas las cosas maravillosas que le rodean no habría suficiente papel para escribirlas todas. Mira hacia atrás, mira como Dios te ha ayudado en tantos bienes materiales… un trabajo, una casa, un coche, ropa, comida en la mesa, unos estudios, etc. Todo esto al ser material es obvio. Uno puede decir, pero si esto yo lo conseguí con el sudor de mi esfuerzo… entonces entramos a otro nivel de la gracia abundante de Dios los bienes inmateriales: ¿Quién te dio las fuerzas? ¿quién te dio la salud? ¿de donde la memoria para estudiar? ¿de donde la lucidez mental para trabajar? Tienes vista, tienes capacidades, talentos, sueños, entusiasmo… sería de poco agradecido no reconocer que todo esto también viene del amor abundante de Dios hacia ti.

Así lo describe Jesús desde la parábola: un propietario que plantó una viña, la rodeó con una cerca, cavó en ella un lagar, construyó la casa del guarda. E Isaías dice: La entrecavó, la descantó, y plantó buenas cepas; construyó en medio una atalaya y cavó un lagar.

Después de tanto que hizo por su viña, después de tanto bien que Dios nos da, surge la pregunta: ¿Cómo puede ser que en ved de uvas, dio agrazones?, ¿Qué más cabía hacer por mi viña que yo no lo haya hecho? ¿Por qué, esperando que diera uvas, dio agrazones?

¿Por qué, esperando que tanto bien recibido diera un corazón agradecido por tanto bien abundante, salimos con la queja de que algo siempre falta, la ingratitud, el egoísmo, e incluso la indiferencia de agradecerle poco o casi nada? Este es el dolor del Dios-Amor.

Pero aún hay más… dice San Pablo (Rm 5,20): que donde abundó el pecado, sobreabundó la gracia. Es decir, que a pesar de no reconocer tanto amor, se derrochó aún más en la entrega de su Hijo Jesús. La parábola así lo refleja: Por último les mandó a su hijo. Es decir, a todo este bien abundante hay que sumarle el derroche sobreabundante que recibimos de Jesús por medio de la fe. Solo hace falta pensar en cuantas eucaristías uno ha recibido, y tanta gracia derramada en el sacramento de la reconciliación, o la adopción filial de nuestra Madre la Iglesia al darnos el bautismo… es decir, hemos recibido bendiciones no-materiales innumerables.

Lo que Dios busca de nosotros no son cosas, sino un corazón agradecido, un corazón que le ame. Hay un dicho popular que dice: amor con amor se paga… Pues eso lo que busca Dios, mediante tanto derroche de amor, despertar gran amor en nosotros hacia El. Su felicidad es poderle decir “te quiero, Dios mío”.

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-09-30T19:17:00.004+02:00

“Deliver the fruit of the harvest at the proper time” Mt 21, 41 (Fr. James McTavish)

In the gospel of today (Mt 21, 33-43) Jesus tells us of a vineyard leased out to tenants. The vineyard produces its harvest and the owner sends his servants to collect the fruits. The tenants kill the servants so the owner sends his own beloved son who meets with the same fate. What will the owner do? The listeners respond “Kill the tenants!” filled with a sense of rough justice and indignation. But they then add, “And the owner will then lease the vineyard to other tenants who will be able to deliver the fruit of the harvest at the proper time.” The fruit of the vineyard is so precious that the show must go on. So the owner of the vineyard entrusts the harvest to “other tenants.” Who are these other tenants? You guessed it, you and I! It is our turn now. But how can we be trustworthy tenants who can produce the fruit of the harvest at the proper time.

Perhaps it helps us to remind ourselves what is a tenant. A tenant is not the owner and does not own the produce of the vineyard although the tenant can enjoy the benefit of a fruitful harvest. We are tenants in that we are called to collaborate, to be co-labourers, in the Lord’s vineyard. In the Eucharist we offer the bread to be consecrated as “fruit of the earth and work of our hands.” There is a col-laboration with God here, a working together in harmony with the Creator. God has given each one of us certain gifts and talents, he has given us a heart capable to love and a mind which can be creative in searching for solutions to problems. All that we have received including our time and our very lives are urgently needed to participate in building the Kingdom. A mentality prevalent today is that what I have is mine and I can do with it whatever I want. But what do we have that we have not received? It is good to examine if we use what we have in function of the Kingdom. For example our time - sometimes we find “no time” to pray but it is amazing how time flies when we are watching television or surfing the net!

The prophet Isaiah in the first reading (Isaiah 5, 1-7) laments that the vineyard has produced no fruit - “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth sour ones?” Sometimes we can mount the defensive and plead that “Well I am not a bad person. At least I haven’t killed anyone.” If we were living in the 16^th century perhaps we could get away with this. In that era, the moral life of the Christian was seen by many as merely to avoid sin. To not do evil. We are now in the 21^st century. The focus is not simply to avoid evil but to do good! The second Vatican council spoke of the moral obligation of Christians to do good in the world in a document called Optatam totius when it explained that the followers of Christ are called to assume the challenge and vocation “to bear fruit in charity for the life of the world.” Not simply to avoid bad things but to love. And not merely to think at an individual level but for the life of the world. When we see the great challenges of the world of today who cannot feel moved to respond fully to the call of Jesus to help out?

Sometimes we are too stressed to think much about the Kingdom. In fact, our minds can be so full of anxiety and negative thoughts that we think that our lives will never produce good fruit. It is a reality of our modern lives that sometimes we get very stressed by our work. We idolize it too much. It is well known that countries with a developed economy also have developed high levels of stomach ulcers! Or even in the Western world we can boast of increased levels of technology but also increased levels of depression. Of course our work can contribute to the Kingdom but we must only give to Caesar, or our boss, what belongs to him, but give to God what belongs to God. Many today will make great sacrifices for their work. In pagan times harsh sacrifices were often demanded to appease the false Gods but even today, for the sake of a career, many will sacrifice their maternity and paternity by delaying childbearing or having too few children. Others sacrifice their health, others their marriage.

In the second reading of today (Philippians 4, 6-9) St Paul gives us all some healthy advice for not get too caught up in the rat race and keep things in perspective. A healthy tree produces good fruit so what is needed is a healthy inner life, or life of prayer. We know that our lives are like the iceberg – 10% is visible and above water but the main part, 90% of it, is submerged. Externally we see a small fraction of the expression of a person. The battle is won and lost inside, in the so-called hidden life. Sometimes we are so disturbed by a comment or situation. How different when our stability lies in our inner life, in our relationship and friendship with Jesus. Herein lies our stability. For this reason St Paul advises: “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). What is lacking many times in the busy world of today? Go to the essential. In the days of exploring the high seas, the dreaded disease on long sea voyages was scurvy, a condition that caused the gums to bleed, the teeth to come out and the skin to fall away. What was lacking in the diet? A vital amine, later known as vitamin C. What is lacking in the lives of many Christians today? Vitamin P. What is that? Vitamin Prayer! Man cannot live on work alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. It is only in prayer that we discover that the owner of the vineyard is actually our loving Father telling us, “I love you and I need your help in the vineyard.” We discover a Jesus who does not call us servants but calls us friends. And we get to know this Holy Spirit who is not a spirit of timidity but of love and energy. Phew! We can breathe and relax a bit. All the strength does not need to come from us but from God. This is the secret of bearing fruit. It is our intimate relationship with the Trinity, a simple loving dialogue with them. This is why St Paul tells us to share all our worries with them. We need to speak to God like he is our best friend and most intimate companion. This is the advice of all the praying Saints. St Alphonsus Ligouri says our intimacy with God must be greater than that with our closest friend, and St Teresa of Avila describes prayer as an intimate dialogue with the person who loves us the most. We don’t need to think that “this is impossible for me as I cannot spend all day in the monastery.” Let us listen to the advice of St John Chrysostom - “It is always possible to pray. When we are walking along and even when we are in the marketplace.” So we can pray when we are at work as well and make our work part of our mission, a place where we can sow seeds of the Kingdom. A little Word here and there and we do our bit planting little seeds of love and humility. God will make them grow.

So let us ask for the gift to be good tenants, to grow in our loving, prayerful relationship with God so that we can “deliver the fruit of the harvest at the proper time.”

REFLEXION Evangelio Semanal

2011-09-24T23:38:00.003+02:00

No, pero Si...

P. Luis J. Tamayo

En aquel tiempo, dijo Jesús a los sumos sacerdotes y a los ancianos del pueblo: «¿Qué os parece? Un hombre tenía dos hijos. Se acercó al primero y le dijo: "Hijo, ve hoy a trabajar en la viña." Él le contestó: "No quiero." Pero después recapacitó y fue. Se acercó al segundo y le dijo lo mismo. Él le contestó: "Voy, señor." Pero no fue. ¿Quién de los dos hizo lo que quería el padre?» Contestaron: «El primero.» Mateo 21, 28-32

Recuerdo que en un pueblo donde estuvimos de misión había un pastor que nos contaba que tenía una cabra que era muy tozuda y obstinada y si la quería conducir y llevar hacia la derecha, la tenía que empujar en sentido contrario hacia la izquierda. Siempre que tiraba de ella, se ponía tan terca que tiraba hacia atrás para el lado contrario.

Esta imagen me recuerda un poco a ese espíritu rebelde que nos caracteriza a todos… solo falta que nos empujen o nos pidan una cosa para no hacerla. ¿quién no ha vivido algo así alguna vez en su vida? Cuantas veces una madre le pide a su hijo tirado en el sofá sin hacer nada: “¿Hijo. Puedes ir al supermercado un momento a comprar el pan?” y el chaval responde: “Mama… ahora voy!”… para nunca ir. O lo contrario, uno se encuentra una prohibición, y tu padre te dice: no te bañes en ese río… y uno responde: “no me bañaré”, para cuando el padres se despista uno ya se está bañando. El primero… si, si ahora voy, para nunca ir; o el segundo, no, no lo hago, para luego hacerlo. Cuantos de nosotros lo hemos vivido así. Esto es el evangelio de hoy: El padre le dijo al segundo hijo: "Hijo, ve hoy a trabajar en la viña." Él le contestó: "Voy, señor." Pero no fue. Sin embargo le dijo al primero: "Hijo, ve hoy a trabajar en la viña." Él le contestó: "No quiero." Pero al final si fue.

Jesús hace la pregunta final: ¿Quién de los dos hizo lo que quería el padre? Obviamente ellos contestaron que el primero. Por lo que se deduce, el interés primordial en Jesús es resaltar el “hacer” y no tanto la “intención”. Hay un dicho que dice: EL infierno está lleno de cristianos con buenas intenciones. Lo que cuenta es el ‘hacer’, el ‘poner por obra’, el ‘practicar’ o ‘vivir’ según el deseo de Dios y no tanto al intención y al final nada. "Hijo, ve hoy a trabajar en la viña." Él le contestó: "No quiero." Pero al final si fue.

La pregunta es: ¿qué es lo que pudo pasar en el hijo para hacerle cambiar de parecer? ¿qué es lo que pasó para decir que no lo hacía y acabar haciéndolo? Es muy sencillo, lo explico con un ejemplo: antes del verano, cuando yo invitaba a los jóvenes a participar de la JMJ algunos decían que no sabían y tuve que llevarles a rastras… y sólo cuando hicieron la experiencia de la alegría que allí vivimos es cuando no hizo falta empujar… cada día los tenía a primera hora donde hiciera falta.

El paso de tener buena intención a la puesta en practica está en que el primer hijo tuvo la experiencia del amor del padre, pues sólo cuando uno se para y descubre que hay una experiencia de alegría y de amor… entonces es cuando aunque uno reniegue, al final acaba cediendo y lo hace.

Al final a todos nos pasa que la asistencia a un grupo parroquial de fe, a una eucaristía, a una formación, hay momentos en los que uno dice que no… pero luego si te paras y descubres que participar de ello te lleva a vivir una experiencia profunda de la alegría de Dios, entonces ya no se hace una obligación sino que aunque uno reniegue acaba haciéndolo. Cuantas veces he escuchado: “Que pereza ir a misa... pero luego se que si voy me va a hacer mucho bien”. La experiencia de la alegría, la paz, el amor, el gozo, la serenidad es lo que al final debe mover nuestra vida cristiana y no un cristianismo de la obligación, puesto que éste al final se hace una carga.

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-09-24T19:19:00.005+02:00

Yes, Lord!

Fr. James McTavish

In the gospel of this Sunday Jesus gives us the interesting example of the two sons. When asked by their father to go and work in the vineyard the first one replies “I will not,” but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The other son was also asked to go and work in the vineyard and replied, “Yes, sir,” but did not go. Jesus then asks the question, “Which of the two did his father's will?” We would all agree, as did the listeners 2000 years ago, that it was only the first son who did the will of his father. Jesus uses this example to explain that many people such as tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of heaven because they changed their ways. They believed in the gospel that they heard and had a change of heart and mind. In this sense, by their lives they first said no to God but later changed their ways and said yes, like the first son in the parable. However the so called righteous ones are those that say yes to God with their lip service but their heart is far from God and in their lives they give a big no to his presence and to his love. Like the man who sang in the choir every Sunday, “Yes Lord!” but away from the Church his life was big no to the Lord.

God does not just want a blind yes from us, a yes given out of fear, a yes out of conformism. Many times today the yes of we Christians is very mediocre. It is a Christianity of “cheap grace,” a yes that does not cost anything. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German protestant pastor who was executed by the Nazis in World War II, wrote about the grace offered to Christians. It is a grace so powerful that it enables the Christians to grow in faith and love, even to the point of living exemplary and holy lives, to live a life that stands out in the crowd. This grace has been bought at a price – the cost of the life of Christ. When we modify our following of the Lord and water down our options, we are living a life of cheap grace. Our yes does not cost us anything. Very soon that yes will become a maybe and then a no. Jesus wants us to be sincere with him. It is more honest to say no to the Lord if we really feel that what he asking seems beyond our strength at that moment. How many play with the idea of a vocation for example, talk about it, gain admiration from interested listeners, but deep down there is no real commitment? Better to be honest with Jesus and say, “Lord, if you don’t make me more in love with you I cannot follow what you are asking me.” The word in Greek for sincerity is translated as: “not to be a hypocrite.” Many people say they are searching for God. But there are many types of searching. One can search for a new jumper on a leisurely shopping trip, one can search for a lost key with a bit more urgency or one can search for a lost child with all one’s heart and strength.

Jesus criticizes those who did not believe the example of John the Baptist. They see but they do not believe or change their ways. Often what they see can make them lose faith. Many today lose faith in the Church because they say it is rich. Once I came to mass on my bicycle to serve as deacon. There was a man standing outside the church and I asked him if he was going to the service. “No” he said, “I don’t have faith anymore. How can I believe when the Church is so rich?” He then proceeded to tell me a friend had heard that a Bishop was leaving the Vatican in a sports car! I started to laugh because instead of noticing the bicycle in front of him he had decided to believe this story. Often we believe what we want to believe, and many times it is to justify our own mediocrity! He could also believe in many examples of religious men and women who leave everything behind and dedicate their whole lives to the poor such as the brothers and sisters of Mother Teresa who have as their specific charism to go to the poorest of the poor.

It is true that it is not easy for us to change. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks! But Jesus is patient. His patience is our opportunity for salvation. Even if we say no at first, with the help of his Spirit we can give a big yes. In many quiz shows they announce, “I’m sorry. We can only accept your first answer.” Luckily for us Jesus gives us a second chance and our initial no can change when we see it is not the right answer, when we see that the way of life we have chosen is not making us happy. We don’t need to be stuck in a rut or complain that God is not fair. Like in the first reading of today: “You say, ‘The LORD'S way is not fair!’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?” (Ezekiel 18,25). God’s grace makes it possible for us to live a truly Christian life. Jesus became man, emptying himself of his divinity so that we could become divine! (see Philippians 2, 1-11). This is an admirable exchange. Perhaps we can only become holy little by little. This is our hope that each day our little options can make us grow more in love with Jesus and our neighbour. We try to live our ordinary lives in extraordinary ways. Let us give thanks this day for the opportunity offered to us in Christ to grow. Let us put our roots deep in Christ and remain united to him and we shall bear much fruit. Let us ask Mary to strengthen us, to help us when we say no, and to make our yes a real “YES Lord!”

REFLEXION Evangelio

2011-09-18T08:58:00.000+02:00

"Cadena de favores" Mateo 20, 1-16

P. Luis J Tamayo

«El reino de los cielos se parece a un propietario que al amanecer salió a contratar jornaleros para su viña. Después de ajustarse con ellos en un denario por jornada, los mandó a la viña. Salió otra vez a media mañana, vio a otros que estaban en la plaza sin trabajo, y les dijo: "Id también vosotros a mi viña, y os pagaré lo debido." Ellos fueron. Salió de nuevo hacia mediodía y a media tarde e hizo lo mismo. Salió al caer la tarde y encontró a otros, parados, y les dijo: "¿Cómo es que estáis aquí el día entero sin trabajar?" Le respondieron: "Nadie nos ha contratado." Él les dijo: "Id también vosotros a mi viña."»

Lo que sorprende de este evangelio es la cantidad de veces que sale el propietario a la calle a contratar jornaleros: al amanecer, a media mañana, a mediodía, a media tarde e incluso al caer la tarde. Y lo curioso es que siempre que sale no duda en contratar… La pregunta que uno se pudiera hacer no es ¿cómo debe ser la viña de grande para necesitar tantos jornaleros?, sino más bien, ¿cuánta necesidad debe haber en la viña para necesitar de tanto jornalero? El gran problema es la necesidad, es la situación de nuestro mundo.

Al leer este pasaje resuena en mi mente otra palabra de Jesús: “La mies es mucha y los obreros son pocos, rogad al dueño de la mies que envíe obreros a su mies”. (Lc 10,2)

El tema de hoy es la misión de los fieles en la Iglesia. Juan Pablo II escribe laexhortación apostólica Christifideles Laici sobre la vocación y misión de los laicos en la iglesia y en el mundo; y el texto empieza desde este mismo Evangelio de hoy.

Cuando Jesús dice en el evangelio a los hombres de la plaza: “Id también vosotros”, JP II dice: “La llamada no se dirige sólo a los Pastores, a los sacerdotes, a los religiosos y religiosas, sino que se extiende a todos: también los fieles laicos son llamados personalmente por el Señor, de quien reciben una misión en favor de la Iglesia y del mundo.” Y concluye: “La Iglesia ruega en el Señor a todos los laicos que respondan con ánimo generoso y prontitud de corazón a la voz de Cristo, que en esta hora invita a todos con mayor insistencia”.

Delante de la gran necesidad que tiene nuestro mundo hay también gran necesidad de cristianos comprometidos con la misión de la Iglesia en sus diversos campos, y viendo la poca respuesta de los mismos cristianos… surge la misma pregunta del dueño de la vid:¿Porqué estáis aquí ociosos todo el día? Hombre! yo no creo que ociosos, pues sería injusto decir que nos tocamos la barriga… yo creo que todo el mundo tiene un montón de responsabilidades… pero si que es verdad que a veces quedamos demasiado encerrados en nuestras cuatro paredes y no somos capaces de mirar que ocurre más allá. Nos asfixiamos con un pequeño problema… que cada uno ponga su ejemplo...

La pregunta, yo la plantearía de otra forma: ¿Porqué tan preocupados por cosas que no llevan a nada? ¿por qué tanto tiempo o tanta energía en cosas que no son de importancia? Horas delante del televisor, horas delante de un armario para decidir que me pongo, horas haciendo un drama de una cosa muy sencilla, horas discutiendo por cosas sin sentido… Y yo no digo que no haya que ver la tele, vestirse bien, preocuparse por las cosas o discutir los asuntos de la familia… Lo único que digo es que implicándose en el servicio a los otros uno simplifica mucho su vida… si uno pusiera en la mente, como una prioridad diaria, la de hacer actos de amor y servicio a los otros viviría más descomplicado…

Recordad la película “Pay it forward”, en español, “Cadena de favores”… Toda la mente del protagonista está en como hacer el bien a los demás y como eso genera una cadena de favores que se expande. Al final de la película se ve la repercusión de tantas personas beneficiadas.

El Concilio dice: «Dentro de la Iglesia, la acción de los laicos es tan necesaria, que sin ella, el mismo apostolado de los Pastores no podría alcanzar, la mayor parte de las veces, su plena eficacia». La misión no es sólo cosa de curas…

Esta pregunta debiera ser una clara invitación a la acogida por parte de los fieles laicos del llamamiento de Cristo a trabajar en su viña, a tomar parte activa, consciente y responsable en la misión de la Iglesia.

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-09-17T09:01:00.004+02:00

“No one hired us”

Fr. James McTavish

There is a well known verse from the Old Testament that runs “God ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts.” It comes from the prophet Isaiah and happens to be the first reading today (Is. 55, 6-9). The verses continue with the Lord telling the prophet that as high as the heavens are above the earth so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. Once an F-15 fighter pilot was recounting his testimony. He was a lay member of our Verbum Dei community. He said that on one flight he was pushing his F-15 plane to its limits. The move he was doing was the vertical climb. He was going vertically upwards, higher and higher. As he was leaving the earth behind and entering the upper atmosphere he remembered the verses from Isaiah about heaven being so high above earth and God’s ways being higher. As he gained height he asked the Lord “And are your ways higher than this?” It was as if in the silence of the stratosphere God was giving his answer indeed that his ways and thoughts are higher. The F-15 pursued relentlessly on and it reached its limit but the pilot experienced the infiniteness of God, that he goes beyond limits, and that his ways are truly higher!

We see an example of God’s ways being different from our ways in the Gospel of today. It is the parable of the workers in the vineyard. A landowner goes out at dawn to hire workers and agrees with them the daily wage. The owner then goes out at 9am, midday, 3pm and then again at 5pm. In the evening they all get the same wage even though the last ones had only worked one hour! The workers who had grafted the whole day complain about this. The owner replied “My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?”

There are some interesting applications of this challenging parable. Sometimes you meet people who feel they are responding only to God’s call rather late in their life. Often they have a sense of regret at having squandered so much time in not responding. Somehow the parable is good news as those who joined later received the same reward at the end. Just imagine the good thief! He only responded it seems in the last hours yet Jesus promised him that he would be in paradise with Jesus that very day. Wow, he really was a good thief because he ‘stole’ the heart of Jesus with his humility. Of course it does not mean we should just leave our salvation until the last minute. One reason why is that our only concern is not merely our individual salvation but also how many people we can bring along with us. As the line from the song goes “We all go together.”

Another reading of the parable puts us as the landowner. As Christians we all have received a great inheritance and are asked to multiply the talents we have received. One way is by getting others involved in the gathering of the harvest and like the landowner to invite others to help. Once I was looking at a group of youth standing around doing nothing. My first reaction was a kind of sadness, wondering why they were not making good use of their time. The next day a community worker asked them to help repaint a wall of the school. They all joined in so enthusiastically, working the whole day in the heat of the sun to finish the task in time. When I reflected on why they had been standing around it was the same situation in today’s gospel. When the owner say the men standing around idle he said to them “Why do you stand here idle all day? They answered “Because no one has hired us.” How many more people would be involved in their community or Church if only they were asked.

There was a very famous poster in wartime Britain aimed at recruitment. There was a picture of Lord Kitchener with a finger pointing to the reader of the poster. The slogan was “Your country needs you!” The reality is that Jesus is the one pointing at each one of us saying “The Church needs you, it needs your response. I need you.” Why are we standing idle? There is work to be done. Let us roll up our sleeves, like the hard working St Paul in the second reading today. That man was totally committed to the mission, ready for anything - “Whether I live or die it does not matter as long as Christ is glorified” (See Phil 1, 20-24. 27). May we be inspired by St Paul to work for the building up of the Kingdom and to recruit labourers for this great task.

REFLEXION Evangelio Semanal

2011-09-10T09:58:00.003+02:00

Como yo tuve compasión de ti

P. Luis J. Tamayo

Pedro preguntó a Jesús: «Señor, si mi hermano me ofende, ¿cuántas veces le tengo que perdonar? ¿Hasta siete veces? Jesús le contesta: «No te digo hasta siete veces, sino hasta setenta veces siete”. El tema que nos presenta el evangelio de hoy es el del perdón.

Este tema tiene toda su importancia al inicio de este curso. Si nos damos cuenta al comienzo de la misa hacemos el rito del perdón: “yo confieso que he pecado mucho de pensamiento, palabra y omisión…” ¿Con que fin? El fin de vivir el resto de la celebración reconciliado. Uno presenta su corazón débil y frágil pide perdón por las faltas de amor y una vez renovado, restaurado se dispone a recibir a la Fuente del Amor siempre nueva y siempre pura.

¿Por qué no pensar que el Señor nos invita a hacer lo mismo al inicio del año? Iniciar el curso desde el perdón y la reconciliación para afrontar el año con renovadas fuerzas, sin arrastrar lastres.

La lección de este evangelio tiene una clave muy clara para meditar y se resumen en una de las frases de la parábola que cuenta: “Toda aquella deuda te la perdoné porque me lo pediste. ¿No debías tú también tener compasión de tu compañero, como yo tuve compasión de ti?".

Perdonar no es fácil… Cuantas veces escuchamos: “Si, yo perdono pero no olvido”. La realidad es que cuando nos hacen daño algo se rompe en el corazón que genera un resentimiento, una ira, un deseo de venganza, una carga que no deja al corazón libre. La reacción pronta que nos sale es la de echar la culpa al otro… “Mira lo que me ha hecho”. Y lo último que nos sale es el perdón.

Una pregunta que me hacen muchas veces en el acompañamiento espiritual: “Padre, ¿de donde sacar amor para perdonar? Esto es muy difícil…” Nadie ha dicho que perdonar sea fácil, pero como Jesús lo sabe, como Jesús sabe que nos cuesta entonces aquí nos da una clave, un camino para facilitarnos el camino del perdón: “Toda aquella deuda te la perdoné porque me lo pediste. ¿No debías tú también tener compasión de tu compañero, como yo tuve compasión de ti?".

Tu puedes tener compasión de tu hermano porque yo la tuve antes de ti; tu puedes perdonar por que has sido perdonado previamente. La fuente de un amor que perdona y de un amor que reconcilia no está en mi… Uffff! Menos mal!! La fuente del Amor está en Dios. El Evangelio dice: como yo tuve compasión de ti, tu debías tener compasión de tu compañero…

La invitación de Jesús es la de contemplar, reflexionar, pensar cuantas veces nos ha perdonado en la vida… si uno pusiera en una balanza lo que ha sido perdonado, si fuera cuantificable se desbordaría la balanza… Si no… que levante la mano aquel que jamás ha roto un plato… Darse cuenta de esto es fuente de tanta gratitud que brota la compasión para perdonar a otros: si Dios me ha perdonado aquí, aquí, aquí… ¿cómo no voy yo a perdonar a este compañero?

El problema está en la falta de humildad para reconocer que tengo faltas que ya me han sido perdonadas… siempre echamos el balón fuera.

En una Cuaresma se me acercó un matrimonio mayor y me piden que les confiese: entra primero la mujer y me dice: Padre me confieso de que mi marido me ha hecho esto, me ha hecho lo otro, es un cabezón, tiene orgullo y no me deja vivir… Yo le dije… pare!! La confesión es para mirar yo mi parte… No es para echar el balón fuera… deje a su marido hacer su propia confesión y usted haga la suya… a ver y usted ¿qué?. Me dice: Uff! Que difícil! Cuando entra el marido otro tanto de lo mismo… Padre me confieso de que mi mujer es una pesada, no me deja en paz… Yo le dije lo mismo… pare!! La confesión es para mirar yo mi parte…

¿Sabes lo grande que es la experiencia de la misericordia de Dios? No te pierdas la alegría de saberte perdonado, no te pierdas la alegría de experimentar la compasión de Dios por tu vida. Es la fuente de un amor que restaura tu corazón y te da la fuerza para amar y perdonar…

REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2011-09-10T09:52:00.003+02:00

For - GIVE - ness

Fr. James McTavish

John Lennon sang a well known song called “Imagine.” Imagine all the people living life as one, yoo hoo ooohh! Imagine if really there was more forgiveness. For sure that would lead to more unity.

Often we believe that forgiveness is very difficult. Is this really true? I remember meeting one lady in Manila. She was telling me “Oh, the teaching of Jesus on forgiveness is very hard. To forgive your enemy is very difficult.” She then went on to tell me how she was so angry with her enemy. I asked her who it was and she told me it was her own brother. He had not paid a debt to her for many years. The woman was grinding her teeth and admitted that she could not sleep but told me that the situation was not really bothering her. Of course I was surprised on asking her how long it had been going on for and she said more than 5 years. What is more difficult? To forgive another or to experience 5 years of hatred, grinding your teeth and not sleeping? What is actually hard is not the teaching of the Gospel but our heads! Our hearts! That is what is hard. We are hard headed and hard of heart.

What is needed often is to lower pride and admit we are wrong. It reminds me of an archery competition in Medieval England. The first archer had to shoot a water melon off a man’s head at 50 yards. He was successful and announced “I am Robin Hood.” Round two was more difficult – an apple. The successful archer declared “I am William Tell” another famous archer. For the third and final round and a prize of 50 gold coins the winner had to shoot a grape off of man’s head. A contestant came forward and reassured all that his vision was fine despite his thick glasses. His arrow ended up in the eye of the man. “I am sorry” he declared. It is not easy to admit our mistakes even when we are obviously wrong. Often we can try to justify and defend. This can be the sin of pride.

Jesus really challenges Peter in the gospel of today to be more forgiving (see Matt 18, 21-35). Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” In other words we have to be people who are good at forgiving others. Now obviously this is not so easy if we do not experience being forgiven ourselves. Jesus makes a strong point in the parable he tells his disciples about forgiveness. A King decided to settle the accounts of his servants. One of them owed him a fortune. Unable to pay he would have to be sold along with his wife, children and all his property. At this the debtor fell down and begged for mercy “Be patient with me and I will pay you back in full.” The King was moved with compassion and forgave him the debt.

When that servant left, he found a fellow servant who owed him a small amount and started to throttle him. He would not accept his pleas of mercy and instead had him thrown in prison. The other servants complained to the King who was furious. He called our man back and said “'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.” Then Jesus delivers the punch line or killer blow to Peter! “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."

It is a call to each one of us to live forgiveness. Are you holding a grudge against someone or are we living with rancor in our hearts? The first reading from the book of Sirach gives us some good advice and words to ponder over: “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Should a man nourish anger against his fellows and expect healing from the Lord? Should a man refuse mercy to his fellows, yet seek pardon for his own sins? If he who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins? Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; of the Most High's covenant, and overlook faults. Avoid strife and your sins will be fewer, for a quarrelsome man kindles disputes, commits the sin of disrupting friendship and sows discord among those at peace” (Sirach 27:30 - 28:9)

As we pray the ‘our Father’ this day, let us pray for the grace to put the words we say into practice: “Our Father...forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Amen.

REFLEXION Evangelio Semanal

2011-09-03T12:08:00.001+02:00

Reunidos en mi nombre, allí estoy Yo

P. Luis J. Tamayo

En aquel tiempo, dijo Jesús a sus discípulos: «Si tu hermano peca, repréndelo a solas entre los dos. Si te hace caso, has salvado a tu hermano. Si no te hace caso, llama a otro o a otros dos, para que todo el asunto quede confirmado por boca de dos o tres testigos (…) Os aseguro, además, que si dos de vosotros se ponen de acuerdo en la tierra para pedir algo, se lo dará mi Padre del cielo. Porque donde dos o tres están reunidos en mi nombre, allí estoy yo en medio de ellos.» (Mateo 18, 15-20)

El tema clásico que evoca este evangelio es el de la corrección fraterna, un tema muy trabajado a lo largo de la historia de la espiritualidad cristiana. Pero al final de este evangelio encontramos un párrafo de tres líneas que son un pequeño tesoro que no se puede desperdiciar y que es fuente de alimento para nuestra fe:“Os aseguro, además, que si dos de vosotros se ponen de acuerdo en la tierra para pedir algo, se lo dará mi Padre del cielo. Porque donde dos o tres están reunidos en mi nombre, allí estoy yo en medio de ellos.”

Nuestro punto de partida en esta reflexión es que la Palabra de Jesús son promesas de fe que se basan en la esperanza. Son promesas cargadas de verdad. Si Jesús dice: donde dos o tres están reunidos en mi nombre, allí estoy yo en medio de ellos… No es sólo un tópico, no es sólo algo que dijo hace 2,000 años, no es algo que veamos a ver si realmente se cumple… Lo que Jesús dice en su Palabra es verdad, es un hecho fehaciente.

Para el creyente, las verdades de fe implican un acto de fe personal: “yo me creo que esto que dices en tu Palabra es verdad”. Es un acto muy sencillo pero consciente que debe hacer cada persona: “Señor, si tu dices esto, yo creo que tú estas presente en nuestra comunidad, en medio de nuestra asamblea”. Al acto de fe le debe acompañar un gesto de vida como la veneración o el recogimiento para buscar a Cristo en mi corazón. Por ejemplo, en el momento de la consagración de la Misa no me pongo de rodillas por que “toca”, por que otros lo hacen, sino por que creo que es un momento de adoración delante de la presencia real de mi Señor.

¿Cuál es el problema? El problema está en que nuestro concepto de la palabra “VERDAD” ha cambiado influido por un ambiente en el que nos falta la confianza: “Lo que para ti es verdad, puede que para mi no lo sea…” Hoy no se cree en una verdad absoluta y válida para todos, y menos que esta vedad sea la del Evangelio… eso suena a impositivo, más que a libertad. Hoy se aboga por verdades relativas… “Si eso lo crees tu… a mi no me lo impongas”. Pero, antiguamente habían verdades que lo eran para todos… por ejemplo, los contratos se firmaban con lo que se llamaba “palabra de honor” y un dar de manos; esto era suficiente. En el ambiente eso era lo común, uno se fiaba de que esa palabra dada se cumpliría.

La pregunta que surge ya no es para uno que es creyente, sino para todo este mundo que no cree que Dios está presente, o si cree en la existencia de Dios, no cree que la Iglesia lo haga presente. ¿Cómo puede ser creíble la verdad que hoy proclama el Evangelio en medio de un mundo tan escéptico? ¿Cómo pueden ser creíbles las palabras de Cristo cuando dice: donde dos o tres están reunidos en mi nombre, allí estoy yo en medio de ellos? Esto sólo se hace creíble mediante el testimonio de una Iglesia que lo hace así visible.A esto quería yo llegar.

El testimonio, no sólo de la presencia del Papa, sino de una Jornada Mundial de la Juventud en Madrid, en el que la Iglesia universal estaba presente en sus casi dos millones de jóvenes, sacerdotes, religiosos y religiosas, matrimonios jóvenes, adolescentes… Ahí estábamos todos reunidos en nombre de Jesús… y los múltiples gestos lo hacían presente. Para nuestro mundo escéptico no ha hecho falta muchos argumentos, sino que los hechos, los gestos, las actitudes que veías por la calle eran el argumento evidente e indiscutible. Incluso aquellos periódicos distantes de la Iglesia cambiaron de un tono más agresivo antes de la JMJ a un tono más amigable y evidente de que algo estaba pasando en Madrid… Cristo estaba presente, pues dos o más estábamos reunidos en su nombre.Acabo con algunos gestos muy sencillos de que hablaban de la presencia de Cristo: El primer día vamos a la oración de Taize en la Iglesia de la Basílica 2,500 jóvenes en silencio… Una tarde en el metro, lleno de jóvenes italianos cantando alegremente, entra una señora con su bebe, el niño se asusta y se pone a llorar, todos los jóvenes se callan y en el silencio brota unos jóvenes cantando una nana (canción de cuna) para bebes… Viernes, fiesta del perdón en el Retiro. 200 confesionarios no eran suficientes para confesar las largas colas de jóvenes que buscaban reconciliarse… Me giro y veo multitud de curas confesando debajo de un árbol, en un banco, sentado en el césped… Vigilia, momento de la adoración eucarística: más de 1,5 millones de jóvenes en silencio delante de Cristo en su cuerpo eucarístico… y tantos otros testimonios de fe que se han visto y que vosotros habéis vivido.

Muy duro de corazón (Salmo 94) uno ha de ser para no creer en que cuando "dos o tres están reunidos en mi nombre, allí estoy yo en medio de ellos".

Resumen JMJ en video

2011-08-30T12:19:00.002+02:00