July 2, 2023: Gospel of Matthew 10: 37-42

Seeking the Better Path

O’ Lord, You are the apex of glory whose generosity is unconfined,

You free me from my intellect, moving me to a position independent of my will.

              Glory to Hashem!

Lord, You are the anchor of my soul that fixes me to a place of safety,

You protect me from the dangerous undercurrents and ravaging seas.

              Praise to the Captain of my soul!

O’ Lord, Your love is irresistible, it is like iron being drawn to a magnet,

You are the perfect yoke of life and freedom, liberating me from darkness.

              Glory to the Light of the World!

Lord, You are the Righteous King and I pitch my tent aside Your castle wall,

All dignity, honor, and respect flows from Your divine throne room.

              Praise to the Lord of All!

O’ Lord, You are my sole refuge, as I roam this liminal path, seeking truth.

You call out to me constantly and guide me on my journey back to the castle.

              Glory to the Divine Compass!

Lord, You remain my sole means of escape from a world of limited satisfaction,

Your voice can be heard in the wafting wind blowing through the willows.

              Praise to the Lord of Deliverance!

O’ Lord, You are the golden rule whose lessons withstand the test of time,

You Lord stand above all else and remain the better path and way to glory.

              Glory to the Divine Trinity!

                                                                        The Pilgrim.

 

 

 

Do Not Be Afraid

 Jesus tells us in this weeks Gospel reading "do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna" On the one hand, it is a very comforting message. God loves you so much more than you can know; and yet, we are told to fear God. (The one who can destroy both body and soul.) So how is it that we should fear a loving God?

I suggest that we should fear God in the same way that we fear gravity. What's that? You don't fear gravity? Well, I understand that: after all gravity is a good thing. Gravity is the reason I find my house in the same place that I left it when I come home form work. I like that about gravity. But gravity is also the  reason I'm very, VERY careful if  I happen to be standing near the ledge of a cliff. Like at the Grand Canyon; right? I won't fool around when I'm close to a cliff because the laws of gravity are clear and the consequences of neglecting the laws of gravity can be tragic. Yes, I fear gravity. 

I also fear my kind and loving God, because the consequences of neglecting Him, or of not being mindful of His laws are just too much to risk.  

         +Theophilus

 

…se compadeció de ellas

Este próximo domingo 18 de junio, 20 23, domingo XI del tiempo ordinario es también el día de los Padres aquí en los Estados Unidos al igual que en algunos de nuestros países latinoamericanos.

 

La festividad del día y el pasaje del Evangelio me ha hecho reflexionar sobre la paternidad en general y sobre la persona de mi papá, que en paz descanse.

 

Mi papá tenía una farmacia, pequeña, no como las mega farmacias de hoy día, como Walgreens o CVS. Era pequeña, constaba de un mostrador de cristal y unos escaparates. 

 

Hasta que yo tenía siete años de edad, vivíamos en las habitaciones en la parte de atrás de la farmacia.

 

Esto facilitaba que si alguna persona, a cualquier hora de la noche, necesitaba medicinas con urgencia. sencillamente tocaba a la puerta y mi padre se levantaba y respondía a la necesidad.

 

Cuando yo tenía unos siete años, mis padres compraron una casa acorta distancia de la farmacia, a un bloque y medio. Recuerdo que mi abuela le dijo a mi papá, “ahora ya usted no se va a levantar por la noche para atender los que le soliciten. ¿verdad? “. Pero mi padre continuó haciéndolo, se levantaba, caminaba hasta la farmacia y atendía al que necesitara medicinas, a cualquiera hora de la noche.

 

En el evangelio de hoy, San Mateo nos narra como Jesús se compadece de la multitud, de las necesidades de aquella gente porque “andaban extenuadas, desamparadas como ovejas sin pastor “.

 

Jesús pide a los discípulos que recen, que pidan al Dueño de la mies que mande trabajadores a sus campos.

 

 Como respuesta a esta oración, Jesús envía a los doce a llevar el amor de Dios, su P adre y nuestro Padre, a las multitudes necesitadas. Ellos irán ahora a poner en práctica lo que habían visto a Jesús realizar.

 

Ya no serían sencillamente testigos de como Jesús hacia realidad el amor de Dios entre las personas necesitadas de sanación.

 

. Ahora ellos mismos realizarían semejantes obras; curarían a los enfermos, resucitarían a los muertos y expulsarían a los espíritus impuros. Esto es, harían el amor de Dios, nuestro Padre, presente entre aquella gente, aquella multitud por la cual Jesús sintió compasión.

 

¿Que nos está diciendo Dios a ti y a mí en este día de los padres, 20 23, en este domingo XI del tiempo ordinario?

Nos está diciendo que al igual que aquellos 12, también nosotros que somos hijos bien amados del Padre, tenemos la obligación de responder a las necesidades de nuestros semejantes, del Pueblo de Dios. Y de esa manera hacemos presente su amor en el mundo.

 

¡Feliz día de los padres!

 

“El Caballero de Nuestra Señora”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What It Takes to Be Satisfied

You are just never satisfied.  When have we heard those words?  Perhaps as a child, we were told that by a parent or other adult.  Perhaps as an adult, we uttered those words to a child.  As children, and perhaps even in adulthood, we seem to always be in a state of constant want.  We seem to have an unsatiable appetite.  Think for a moment of the child at the foot of the tree on Christmas morning.  Once he or she finishes opening the seemingly countless gifts, they take another look under the tree in the hopes that there are more. 

In our fast-paced culture of immediate gratification, the same is true.  At our fingertips, there are countless opportunities for entertainment.  Did you ever turn on your television these days and despite having subscriptions to a number of streaming services, all filled with tons of choices, you can’t find anything to watch?  Or you find yourself in the supermarket, amongst a smorgasbord of culinary delights, and nothing seems to be the right food that you are looking for.  Or perhaps we have the opposite experience.  Perhaps we have just completed several courses of a dinner at a fancy restaurant.  We are literally filled to brim and yet, we feel we have a hunger for dessert.  It does seem like we are never satisfied.

And when I say, “we are never satisfied,” I think that is a commentary on society in this first quarter of the 21^st century.  We have so much, yet we don’t seem to have enough.  But that has been the human experience since the very beginning.  In Genesis, we hear that God gave the first of human creation dominion over the beauty of all creation.  God gave us so much, and yet we wanted more.  We wanted to be Him, as Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  We are just never satisfied.

And yet, despite the insatiable appetite we have, there is something that is even stronger.  And that is  God never being satisfied in how much he loves us.  God is the giver of all that is good, but he doesn’t stop when he feels we have had enough.  He continues to give.  He is pure love.  He is love that is not self-seeking.  He is love that is total self-giving, that is total gift.  He gave of himself on the cross and continues to give himself at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  What we receive in appearance seems totally insignificant – a small piece of bread and a sip of wine, yet there is nothing more significant.  It is God giving us what we wanted all along – a share in his divine life.  The bread and wine are not symbolic of something in the past or even merely a symbol of what is to come.  It is really and truly the presence of what gives us the satisfaction that we desire.  And it is not correct.  The it, the Eucharistic species, is indeed a who, the Body and Blood of the one who is pure love. 

We are not satisfied not merely because material gifts and delicious food and other luxuries can never satisfy us.  We are not satisfied, as a people, because roughly three-fourths of those who have tasted this food from heaven do not make it a part of their regularly lives.  And despite that apathy, out of love, He still makes himself available.

-          - The Servant

 

 

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

John 3:16-18

 

Holy Trinity.

Let’s try thinking of that not as a noun, but as a verb.

A verb which means sacrifice.

Our minds might initially think of Jesus and his sacrifice for us on the cross.  Yet, it was not only Jesus who sacrificed himself, but God the Father, the Creator, too.  We hear in today’s gospel that “God so loved the world that he gave his only son …”

And God, the Father, the Creator gave not only his son, but his very Spirit, as we learned last week on Pentecost Sunday.

So Holy Trinity.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Sacrifice.  Not only a noun to be understood, but a verb to be lived.

And live it we do.

I recognize God’s sacrifices for me, and I, in turn, sacrifice self and give myself over to God, which then enables me to sacrifice for others so that they may experience God’s peace, joy, forgiveness, healing, comfort hope and enduring love.

Me.  God.  Others.  A trinity that exists in loving sacrifice.  The Holy Trinity lived.

And let us not forget that “… God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

We, also, have not been sent into this world to condemn.

We, also, have been sent into this world, in His name, so that others might be saved through Him.

I cannot love God and forgo others.  I cannot say I love others, and forget You.

I pray, dear Lord, that you give me the grace to forego condemnation and to lead others to you.  Only then will I truly live the Most Holy Trinity.

 

“Call Me Ishmael”