Wednesday, May 15, 2024

 

VEN ESPIRITU SANTO

 

La semana pasada mis nietas, que son universitarias. se enfrentaron a los exámenes finales del año escolar. Exámenes y sobre todo exámenes finales son causa de ansiedad, de estrés, de nerviosismo.

     Siempre les sugiero que digan una oración al Espíritu Santo antes de comenzar el examen; respiren hondo  y oren al DivinoParáclito, al Consolador.

     Esta vez como se trataba de exámenes finales y para una de ellas, el último año de universidad decidí escribirles una pequeña oración, he aquí lo que dije:

 

    Ven Eespíritu Santo,

calma el latido de mi corazón,

Ilumina mi entendimiento,

Fortalece mi memoria,

Permanece conmigo

Y lléname del fuego de tu amor.

Amen

 

Se dice que el espíritu Santo es la persona de la Santísima Trinidad olvidada. Que estamos conscientes de la presencia de Dios Padre y de Jesús su único hijo pero que nos olvidamos de la tercera persona de la santísima Trinidad.

      Durante mis años de estudiante de escuela superior, los religiosos Marianistas que eran mis profesores, nos instruyeron sobre la presencia del espíritu Santo en nuestra alma. Por virtud del bautismo, cada uno de nosotros se convierte en hijo amadísimo del Padre y templo del Espíritu Santo. Ciertamente esto fue una gracia de Dios para mí y para mis compañeros de clase.

     Temprano en mi camino espiritual, traté de no olvidar al huésped que habita en mi alma; vivir en la presencia de Dios. No puedo decir que siempre he  estado consciente de esta Realidad. Éste es el trabajo de una vida entera. Este es el reto más grande de toda nuestra vida para los que deseamos hacer la voluntad de Dios.

    En los momentos difíciles, en los momentos de prueba, en el momento de enfrentar cualquier reto, trato de recordar  e invocar la ayuda del Espíritu Santo.  No se trata de pedir algo como si fuera magia. Se trata de sentir que no estamos solos, que el Cconsolador está a nuestro lado, que no nos abandona.

  En Santa Brígida, se nos ha invitado a hacer una novena al Espíritu Santo en preparación para la gran fiesta de Pentecostés. Se nos ha proporcionado una guía, un libreto en español y a la vez en inglés. Esa novena se puede hacer en cualquier momento; es excelente. Te invito a que si no las he empezado, que lo hagas tan pronto puedas.

     Aprovecho para concluir esta reflexión con la oración con que empezamos la novena todos los días. Su autor es San Agustín.

 

Respira en mí, oh  Espíritu Santo

Para que todos mis pensamientos sean santos.

Actúa en mi, oh Espíritu Santo

Para que también mi trabajo sea Santo.

Atrae mi corazón,Oh Espíritu Santo

Para que yo ame solamente lo que es santo.

Fortaléceme, oh Espíritu Santo

Para defender todo lo que es santo.

Guardame,Oh Espíritu Santo,

Para que siempre sea santo.

 

¡ Que sientas la presencia del Consolador de manera especial este domingo de Pentecostés!

 

El caballero de Nuestra Señora

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Letting Go

 

One of the most difficult things in life is saying goodbye to someone.  I am not necessarily talking about the final goodbye, although that is the most difficult of course.  I am talking about letting go of someone, so that the next chapter may unfold. 

Parents know this too well.  As a high school teacher, I get to speak to parents of graduating seniors.  As they watch their child walk across a stage at graduation, they are proud yet sad.  They  know their daughter or son will soon be leaving for college or whatever the next stage is.  They smile, but at the same time, they have a lump in their throats.  They know holding on is not possible or even if it was, it is not very healthy.  One must sometimes let go so that the next beautiful thing might occur.  Parents of high school graduates will hopefully see their child eventually succeed,  perhaps as a doctor, or as lawyer, or as a teacher, or whatever God has in store for them.  The emotional parent at the letting go of their child might anticipate the joy of one day being a grandparent, or perhaps see their son become a priest or religious brother or their daughter a religious sister.  None of it possible if they remain an underage child.

Perhaps this bittersweet moment is what the disciples were experiencing at the time of Jesus’ Ascension.   Depending on where you live, you celebrated the Ascension this past Thursday or this coming Sunday.  How difficult it must have been for those who had encountered the Risen Lord to now have to let him go.  They had experienced the desolation of the Crucifixion, and the tremendous joy of the Resurrection.  They road the rollercoaster of emotions that is so much a part of the human experience.  And now, a seemingly repeat of desolation.

The reality is that they needed to let Jesus go to the Father, so that they could experience him in an even deeper way.  He needed to return to the Father.  He needed to send the Holy Spirit. They and we were then meant to experience the desire to be with him for all eternity and the gift of his very existence to us in the reality of the Eucharist and in the reality of his Body, the Church.  What we would experience in these ways, in a very real and very spiritual way, would break the limitations of trying to hold on to him physically.

Letting go is not easy.  It is not meant to be easy.  Letting go creates an ache in the heart, but it creates a strong ache to experience what we let go in a more deeper way.  Jesus, the head, ascended to the Father.  The body aches to experience that divine presence, to go where the head went.  That desire is a desire that God has planted in our hearts from the very beginning of creation.  Our whole lives are meant to be a journey to satisfy that desire.  The fact that we can’t see God, although he has been revealed to us in the person of Jesus, creates in us a desire to be with him for all eternity.  Let us praise him during this time of the Ascension, for going to the Father, so we might deepen our desire for him.

-          The Servant

 

Thursday, May 2, 2024

 

Sixth Sunday of Easter

John 15: 9-17

 

“I have called you friends…”

 

          On April 8, 2024 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome released its latest declaration entitled “Dignitas Infinita” (Declaration on Human Dignity).  The first section concludes with the statement that “The church’s magisterium progressively developed an ever-greater understanding of the meaning of human dignity … until it arrived at the recognition that the dignity of every human being prevails beyond all circumstances.”

 

          My first reaction to this was: Really?  It took several centuries to come to this conclusion?  Didn’t Jesus tell us as much when he said in today’s gospel, “This is my commandment:  love one another as I love you.”?

 

          Don’t get me wrong.  I think this declaration from Rome is all important, especially in this day and age.  Perhaps throughout the centuries, and throughout our own lives, we’ve heard Jesus’ commandment so often that its meaning has become faded and we forget the simple fact that to recognize another’s dignity is essential to loving one another.

 

          Yet, in today’s gospel we hear something else from Jesus that makes his commandment real.  He does not give us this commandment as “magisterium.”  He does give us this commandment as “Teacher” or “Rabbi” or “Master.”  He does not even give us this commandment as our God.  He says “I have called you FRIENDS, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.”  Our God is telling us he is our friend – and telling us that this is how we should love one another.  Friend.  Isn’t that the basis of dignity?  Isn’t that the basis of love?

 

          How will people know that they are loved by God – and have dignity – if they do not know it from us?  I can proclaim scripture.  I can recite declarations from the magisterium.  I can share church teaching.  But God’s love does not become real to someone unless I call them FRIEND.  A true friend does not tell us what we need to know, or how to act, or what to believe.  A true friend listens when need to share; holds us when we suffer; comforts us when we grieve; stays with us when we are most alone.  A friend is a friend under ANY circumstance.

          “I have called you friend…”  What better way is there to be loved?  What better way is there to love?

 

          “Call me Ishamel”