THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

“There is one among you whom you do not recognize”

 (Jn.1, 6-8.19-28)

Rev. Alexander Díaz

We are celebrating the Third Sunday of Advent, it seems the Gospel is the same we heard from Mark’s mouth last week. In reality, it has similar phrases and you can say it has the same meaning, the preparation for the coming of Jesus and the vigilant listening of the voice that invites us to conversion. 

The Liturgy fully announces   us a big period and it seems that today’s world have lost it and it is of great joy.  St Paul invites us and tells us: “be always happy in the Lord”.  Even though is true we are living times of intense tension and even of dejection. 

There is a huge list of  interminable reasons to feel dejected and sadden, the violence does not cease all over the world, the injustice that cover the life of millions of people, the indifference to the Gospel’s Good News by our satisfied society in its own network, the non-support of the poor and weak. 

So, so many reasons for dejection and sadness.  But today, we have a joyful announcement, as done by Isaiah and Paul at one time.  As St. John Crisostomo said: “Real happiness is found in the Lord. All other things apart from being moveable, do not give us so much joy to prevent the sadness caused by other matters.  Hence, the fear of God will produce it inefficient, because when the fear of God is as it should be, even though you fear,  you also trust in Him and this allows you to acquire the fountain of pleasure and the spring of all joy”. 

 The Prophet Isaiah have profoundly reflected about the true plan of God. This will not be manifested in a brilliant way as men expects, rather it will be known thru an “anointed”, who is worried most of all about the poor of this world.  This salvation will be manifested thru the justice and the praise to a Living God.  

The Apostle Saint Paul wrote to the Thessalonians Community.  He invites them to fully live their lives in God, manifested fully in Jesus Christ, the true joy. The assurance of the closeness of the Lord,  should adhere to all your Christian life,  which is define in three aspects:  the confident and peaceful joy, under all circumstances;  the overcoming of all worries and anguish; the prayer of petition and thanksgiving to the God of peace.  

In today’s Sunday gospel there is a particular phrase that caught my attention, when John responds to the question of the Pharisees: “There is one among you, whom you do not recognize”. (Jn.1,6-8)  and it caught my attention because truly, many of us have not yet discovered the joy of His presence among us, that is why we cannot discover the Joy.  

The text begins saying: “A Man emerged”, John is only described as a man, without any qualifications; the text does not mention his social or religious condition. But his mission is emphasized, which was to give testimony of the light, he was not the light but a witness of the light.

We all wish to be disciples of Jesus, we are called to be witnesses as John was, men and women following John’s humbleness, who did not misunderstood his mission, he did not take merits that were not his, he only call out for us to wait and he showed the light of grace on his mission with perseverance.  

The apparition of John in the Jordan and his impact to the town people, made the top leaders, the ones in authority very nervous.  It is very interesting to see that when the prophets spoke and showed divine authority, the powerful ones got nervous and uncomfortable.

That is the reason why the Jews in Jerusalem sent a committee of priests and Levites to ask him:  ¿Who are you?... John answered with a negative response, he is none of the ones they think, he is not what their traditions believed.  He does not speak at any time of speculations, he simply and straightforward repeats: “I am the voice of one crying out in the dessert”   

Saint Agustin said that the” word” can be recognized by the” voice”. The “voice” is the organ thru which we recognize the word.  The voice, without words is a sound that bothers the ears.  The Lord is the “word” and John is the voice that announces the Lord. John knows very well who Jesus is and he proclaims Him in the dessert.  John is an instrument that God uses to let other know Jesus. 

John  conceived Jesus in his heart, and his mouth spoke of Him.  We all are and should be the voice of the Lord.  We must talk about Jesus, especially now, during the Christmas season.  John is the voice that cries in the dessert and it is fruitful, even though it was not what they were awaiting for, because the voice was not heard as it should have been.  In many occasions we too, have the feeling, the impression of preaching in the dessert. 

The parents who have raised their children as Christians now they see these children not going to church or practicing their faith, they do not want to hear about God, they feel disappointed, guilty and with a feeling of anguish.  ¿Have we preached in the dessert?  No, no, it is not so. All labor, all effort is fruitful, even though many times we don’t see it immediately, but rather, later on in time.  One of the sins of omission, is not to talk about Jesus.

In this season of Advent, we have to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus with joy on Christmas Day.   Saint Agustin said that John cried out so Jesus may come into our hearts, but He will not come unless we “set straight the way of the Lord”. To set straight the way of the Lord is to be always joyful, happy. Saint Paul said: “Rejoice always in the Lord, I repeat, rejoice always”. 

When we talk about joyfully preparing the Christmas feast, we should do it solemnly, with a joyful spirit.  We want to make reference to the happiness that instills itself in our spirit, there, in the place where this joy encounters the communion with the Spirit of God and is shaken by Him.  It is not to close our eyes to the reality, but instead,  to abandon ourselves in the arms of the Lord.

Amen!!

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”

(Mark 1,1-8)

Rev. Alexander Diaz

Today we begin to read the gospel according to Saint Mark.  The word “Gospel” means “Good News”. Which means, that it is something good, something big, something capable of making us happy, something which causes this vessel of clay to overflow, this and more represents the Holy Gospel. 

The message touches the individual and also touches society as a whole, it touches the body and the soul; it goes way down and touches the deepest part of the Spirit.  The “Good News” which transforms us, that uplifts us.

The “Good News” that make us according to God’s plans, our Creator.  The Bearer and Consumer is Christ.  None other than the Son of God.  He brings us the Good News as we are the direct addresses of this grace. 

This is something very curious, rather odd, the Good News which should make us happy and joyful, begin with a call for penance and conversion.   Nowadays, we are exposed to multiple factors of alignment and real slavery, sometimes is the absolute empire of the scientific reason , badly understood, that suffocates our being, what we are. 

Other times, we install ourselves in a superficial life that does not allow us to reach out and touch our own hearts.  We are only interested in our immediate satisfaction, there is no room for God in our lives.  Frequently, the emptiness left by the absence of God, is filled with the “modern gods”, like money, social prestige, sex, having fun, the standards of living, the consumption of things, etc.

But life’s profound dimension is kept suppressed and it disturbs our relation with God, our relation with our brothers and sisters.   In these days of Advent we have to listen again to the voice of John and we have to recognize our own faults, we have to leave our bad habits behind, and start all over again.  

Be a free, loose and liberated man.  Without palaces, without luxurious clothing, without ornaments, without any kind of ties, to be able to shout to all: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.” (Mc.1,3)  This means to remove the obstacles that prevent  the arrival of the Lord in our lives,  nothing will block the doors of our hearts  to His presence which is coming to liberate us, to free us.   

The Voice of God in the dessert.  This invitation is good news that awakens our hopes, hope that is not a cheap optimism or the search of naive consolation, but rather a way to confront life from our radical trust in God.  A frequent question is: ¿Who are those who prepare the way of the Lord”   They prepare the way of the Lord and open doors to those who make an effort to “make straight His paths”.   

These are the ones who, with a systematic effort are willing to acquire the virtues that quickens the coming of the Lord into their hearts.  Therefore, !Dispose of, remove the selfishness and attachments to material goods and cover yourself with generous and open handed attitudes! Dispose of the insensibility in front of your neighbor’s needs.   Cover yourself with love and charity which become a reality with attitudes and initiatives of your solidarity.  

Get rid of the gossip, the slander,  the defamation, of talking bad behind other peoples’ who are not present to defend themselves,  of obscene, indecent and crude language and cover yourself with a speech that is reverent, that looks to edify, build up, make others look and feel good. Someone who really loves, do not bear to wait, he wants “now”, the presence of his/her loved one. 

If you love God with all your heart, “lower the mountain and hills”, get rid of all obstacles, clean your heart of all sin, vice and bad habits which will prevent Him from coming and staying in your heart. At the same time “make straight the paths” , clothes yourself with Christ and His virtues,  make a great effort to think, love and live like Him.

We should not forget that the continuous effort of conversion will be totally useless and sterile, if we do not go constantly to the Lord in prayer, if we do not turn to the sacraments where we will find the strength and grace we need, where we will find the Lord Himself.  “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”  (Jn. 15,5). 

He will make fruitful all your efforts, if you constantly go to Him and fight with patience and perseverance.  Hence, in all your struggles and efforts, be persistent in your daily prayers, in the constant, intimate dialogue that is your encounter with the Lord, listen to His words.    

We are renovated, transformed, we are children, sons and daughters of the Father.   We are His confidants, we are His friends, we are the heirs of His Glory.  We are heirs of His Kingdom. To all these we call Salvation and we are short. 

The Salvation takes place right now in an admirable manner, but “Tomorrow”, the Great Day of the Lord, will be revealed completely to us.  We have to prepare ourselves, be ready.

 We have to do penance and believe in the Gospel,   AMEN!

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

“Be Watchful! Be Alert! You do not know when the time will come”

Mc.1,33-37

Rev. Alexander Diaz

This Sunday we begin the Advent time.  Advent from the “latin” word “adventus” which means “the coming”.  In the Christian language it refers to the coming of Jesus Christ.  The Church’s liturgy gives the name  “Advent” to the four weeks preceding Christmas, giving us the opportunity to prepare ourselves in hope and repentance for the coming of the Lord.  This time invites us to be watchful, to be alert, before the arrival of the Lord.   To wait is to be in constant and responsible vigilance. 

There are people who await certain definite events in their lives.  They wait in a global manner for a lucky event, for example: win the lottery or wait for a situation to happen after a considerable effort and that is all fine and good, for someone who does not know the Gospel.  But for a Christian, the waiting is different, because our expectation moves thru the present and the future.   We should wait, not from our prospects but in the rhythm marked by God, one step at a time, slowly.  Our waiting is free, but above all, secure.  Our waiting supersedes all human knowledge.   

To wait for Jesus is something completely different, is to accept what we already know,  we await for Jesus, the love of all loves, the love that destroys every occasion of darkness and sin.  Something interesting about this Sunday’s liturgy is that the Lord does not tell us when His definite coming will be. 

To me, it have always been somewhat disrespectful, when many groups have been daring enough to affirm in various occasion the end of the world with concrete dates. They have filled with fear and doubt so many individuals who are so naïve to believe these charlatans.   The Word of God does not tell us anything about this ending. 

The Word of God only invites us to be alert and watchful.  We have to be alert in order to discover the passing of the Lord thru our lives.  Be alert to discover His invitation to change and to convert.  This Word invites us to accept three commitments:  To be alert, to be watchful and to pray without ceasing, constantly.

Alert to ensure that nothing distracts us from watching out for the coming of the Lord. There are lots of things that can distract us from discovering the Lord.  It is relatively easy to distant ourselves from God and even hide from Him.   It is very difficult to stay with God, because the reality of the world does not help us at all.  To be watchful, to be awake, to be able to discover in the night of life, in the shadows of our “self” and see the light of Christ that comes. 

To watch means to allow Jesus to illuminate our lives.   Pray, wait alert,  watching in prayer. It is not to wait in any which way; but with a prayerful attitude, the attitude of a helpless child, of someone who is in reality and truth awaiting the Lord.  To wait prayerfully without getting desperate or losing our cool, await calmly.   When you pray, the waiting is not tiring, it acquires a sense of value and transforms our hearts.  Whoever does not know how to wait confident in the Lord, gets desperate.     

Today’s world is not prone to advise you to wait.  Everything has to be quickly, fast, eat, clean, repair, photos, communication, etc, etc. Today’s world have been thought of to deal with what the human being has created.  To wait for the Gospel, instead, adds to the most intimate part of the human being: a person does not change in one day or in a quick manner. A person does not automatically have a change of heart or interior. 

Hence, the necessity to wait for the Lord.    The Christian therefore, must live as a sentinel of hope in the night of the world.  Something that should be characteristic of a Christian is, his joyful hope in the triumph of Christ over evil and over sin.  In truth, there are many motives of suffering and of darkness for men.

The deep moral pains, illnesses, the personal misfortune, the “boredom of life”, the huge catastrophes that destroy whole cities and towns.  It seems that everything around us invites us to feel downhearted.  Yet, Christ appears in the path of our lives and reminds us that the darkness have been defeated and that we must live as children of the light.  Christ invites us to be “sentinels of the morning”, sentinels of hope, to be preachers of the Good News of salvation. 

In this sense we should nurture the capacity of wonder in front of all this created world.  Blessed John Paul II (second) affirmed: “It is necessary to open our eyes to admire God, who hides from us and at the same shows Himself on all things and introduces us to the spaces of mystery”.

The technological culture and our excessive immersion on the material realities, frequently prevent us from perceiving the hidden face of things.  In reality, for someone who knows how to read in depth, each thing, each event, brings a message that in the last analysis, takes us to God. 

The signs that reveal the presence of God are therefore, multiples. 

But in order not to let them get away from us, we have to be pure and humble like children (Mt.18,3-4).  We should be able to be amazed, surprised, astonished, delighted, in wonder by the divine gestures of love and closeness He has for all of us.

AMEN!! 

SOLEMNITY OF JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you”

(Mt.25, 31-46)

Rev. Alexander Diaz

This Sunday is the end of the liturgical year and next Sunday we begin the time of Advent, which is the preparation of the Christmas mysteries. The liturgical year has, as solemn ending, the feast of Christ, King of the Universe.

 The subject developed in today’s Gospel is the last act of human history or final judgment.   ¿What is the story shown to us about final judgment?  In spite of all the manipulations and traps that prevent human justice to prevail, at the end of times the justice of God will be manifested based on the truth, that cannot be bought or intimidated.

 The impunity of the offense intimidates the honest citizens and encourages the criminals.  In the everyday life it seems that the evil forces prevail. But it is an apparent triumph, since it won’t be able to avoid the final accountability.  We will be judge for what we did or what we did not do for others. 

In the Pharisee’s mentality, the fidelity to God was measured according to how they carried out all the numerous norms they had and the fulfillment of the rites described in their minimal details.  It is the Lord the only judge of every person and redeemer of all. He does not talk to us about an abstract and remote divinity, distant from the world but from God made man, who gave Himself to save us and was left disguised as poor and weak by our side.

This gospel comes to remind us that to follow Jesus is not something theoretical but practical.  We don’t follow Jesus by merely reading books or following theories which are more or less convenient.  The encounter with the Lord is given through every day life, on every corner of the world and in our interior.

There are people who are extremely preoccupied of what they will be carrying in their hands when they meet the Lord; it will be the good deeds which will determine the encounter.  The more good deeds we do, the closer to God we will be.  And I think it will be just, otherwise.  I am not referring about not doing good deeds. Good deeds are the most clear distinctive of the Christian.  

Faith and deeds must be united in the well understood synthesis of the Gospel. I am referring to the life of a Christian, that is not only to accumulate good deeds to present to the Lord so he can see who we are, instead, that the good deeds should be accompanied by a total giving of oneself and in sublime love. 

Not do these deeds because it is written in the Gospel, and we have to do them without any particular reason.  Give ourselves, bleed to death and surrender to Jesus without expecting any recompense in return at the end, but do this only out of love. 

For the followers of Jesus, the fidelity to the Lord is measure by the love we have towards our brothers and sisters.  Both commandments – love of God and love of neighbor – are integrated in only one commandment because the love of neighbor is the same as the love of God.

 This gospel is an unequivocal proof that faith cannot be reduce to an individual existence but it has to be a social dimension: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you care for me, in prison and you visited me”  (Mt. 25,34-36)

Jesus, Lord and Judge of the universe, makes a surprising affirmation:  “Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”  Jesus identifies Himself with the weak.

The situation of extreme generalize poverty, obtains in real life, concrete and definite faces in which we should recognize the face of Jesus Christ, the Lord, that questions and examines us.

The message of this Sunday, dedicated to the Feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe is clear.   Our behavior will be evaluated in accordance to the solidarity we have shown and manifested towards the poor, weak and suffering.  The contemporary expression to refer to the “parable of the talents” is “social responsibility”: of other people, of the businesses, of the universities and all social collectives.

I pray, that the day I die, I will present myself in front of God with empty hands.  Empty because everything that was given to us, we gave to those in which He was present  and we will be able to tell Him: Lord, you gave me joy and I planted it on others, intelligence and I put it in the disinterested service to others, hope and I gave it to the one who needed it most. 

The repertoire, with which we will present ourselves to God, will not be what we have, or what we have done.  Let us face God empty, imploring, poor, because we gave all to cover the necessities of others.  And He will be our giver for all eternity.

Amen!!

  

Thirty-third Sunday In Ordinary Time

“Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten”

Mt. 25,14-30

Rev. Alexander Diaz

Today’s Gospel invites us to think about how we use our liberty, and put in front of us the fact of how to give account.  It does this by using images and a language from twelve-thousand years ago.  I want to invite you to explore with me this parable of the Talents, that further from a style which might seem a bit archaic, it presents and arises actual subjects of great importance. 

According to what the evangelist Matthew relates, three servants, whom the master confided in, received money from him before he went out on a journey.  After a long time, the master came back and settled account with them.  It was a simple “give account” of what was done with the money, which is a common practice in the business world.  As we read the text of the parable, it is easy to decipher the symbolic language the evangelist uses:    The master of this story, who the servants call “Master”, is Christ, who have been absent after His resurrection and who will return at the end of times.

The “talents” or “millions” received by the servants are the “charismas” each one of us possess and the duties that He has assign to each one of us.   No one has come to this world without a “charisma” , those talents are hidden inside of us and we have to develop and expand them for the development of our social surroundings, to expand our own horizon, with faith, enthusiasm, with passion and with the love God has planted in our hearts.

The “settling of accounts” is the final judgment, in which everyone will be evaluated in accordance to the results obtained. , this evaluation will be done face to face with God, theology and the tradition of the Church tells us, that is an evaluation according to the way we lived our lives, how we used our liberty, and how far were we willing to go over the minimal effort.   The diverse behavior of the servants shows the diverse ways to live the Christian faith. Let us see the various models of behavior shown in the story.

The efficiency of the first two servants is the result of assuming faith, not as a theoric discourse, , but as a compromise service and as a transformation of the society to the light of the values announced by  Jesus.  There is so much to do in this world, yet so few who are willing to cooperate and help in the development of it.  In many cases I have a feeling that society have lost the initiative to better themselves, to duplicate and facilitate  a better way of constructing peace, liberty, healthy joy and the sense of living in harmony.  

The first two characters represent those who get to work imagining how the business owner would do it.   Ask yourself, ¿what will Jesus do in a case like this, right now, if He were me? What will He answered those who ask questions?  ¿How will He make it easier for someone that sees no sense in his own life?  Jesus, thru the talents He has given us and that we have to put to work, wants to give us an answer to all these questions, He wants to built a society that do not stand still, that will not feel comfortable of being dependent, instead He wants to begin a new adventure, an adventure that will transform, that will allow people to dream and learn to live the Christian realities.  These realities and those answers we demand today, are present in you and I.

On the other hand, the third character was paralyzed by fear. His prejudices and imaginary fears did not allow him to act and put his talent to work.  Fear is one of our worst enemies, because it won’t allow us to grow, we are afraid of what is going to happen,  we are scared of what others might say,  or we are afraid of being wrong,  afraid that we might do the wrong thing, to be mistaken.  I think that none of those characters should stop the way we march towards our personal development.

The third character was not able to develop his talent because he was afraid of making a mistake, he was not able to challenge himself, he was not able to break his own chains, his own barriers.  We have to break the barriers of fear, we have to stop being so fragile and weak, how many things we have not done or have done half way because we   are afraid of the people close or around us.

 Be not afraid, walk and do not look back.  The parable of the talents is a way which allow us to consider two different styles of Christian life:

In one hand, our life of faith is presented as a transformation task of our reality.  God is counting on our collaboration, He needs our lips to continue announcing the Good News, He needs our hands to continue supporting others,  He wants us to make His presence known wherever we go, make Him known to the limits of the earth. 

On the other hand, the parable demonstrates to us a sad spectacle of believers, who remain passive to the needs of the Church and the community. They won’t talk, they won’t do anything.  For these people, faith is an absolute individual experience, which takes place in the intimacy of their own conscience and transcends to their social lives. They limit themselves to be good individual in their own environments.

Let us pray, that the parable of the “talents” help us to be conscious, be aware of the charismas we have received and the social responsibility that weights on each one of us. We have to settle account with our own conscience, to society and to God of the charismas we have received.  We will also hear the words “well done my good and faithful servant “ or the  sentence “you wicked and lazy servant”.  Let us use responsibly all the possibilities given to us thru our liberty.

AMEN!!

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'

Mt.25,1-13

Rev. Alexander Diaz

It is indispensable to acquire the wisdom that will make us ready to our definite encounter with God, Our Lord.  Today’s liturgy prepares us right now for the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  The first reading gives praise to Wisdom and underlines the fact that is “found by those who seek her”.  Hence, wisdom is not far from us.  If we want, we can find it.  

This “wisdom” does not consist solely in gaining a lot of scientific information, but it is rather a wisdom based on God.  It is a profound knowledge and experience of God and His love, a clear knowledge of oneself, of all men and women, my brothers and sisters.

Today’s Gospel also talks to us about wisdom and about the wise, well prepared virgins who were ready to receive the bridegroom.  It is compared to the Kingdom of heaven, a nuptial banquet,  it underlines the necessity to be prepared because we know not with precision the time when the bridegroom will arrive.

The virgins are wise because they knew how to adequately prepare themselves, taking with them enough oil to keep their lamps lit.   The other virgins were foolish, because they went out thru the paths of life without being prepared, they did not realized that the bridegroom could be delayed, , they did not realize that time could make a dent in their hopes and their dreams.

Then they realized, in horror, when the voice of the bridegroom is heard, there is no oil in their flasks to keep their lamps lit.  They are not prepared for the final procession that will take them to the bridegroom’s house. 

  It was a Jewish tradition to accompany the couple from the bride’s parents’ house to the house of the bridegroom.  They organized  a festive procession with lamps and songs.  It was therefore necessary for the virgins or maidens to have their lamps lit to accompany responsibly the bridegroom on his arrival. 

It is about having a vigilant attitude, a disposition of the mind and the spirit to go out and meet the Lord who is arriving.  The objective is to keep the lamps lit, maintain the confession of our faith in Jesus Christ, Our Savior, to keep a hopeful joy, maintain the ardor of mercy to the last moment of our lives. 

On the contrary, to be foolish means “to go to the last events of life, without being properly prepared” allowing love to die first in your heart.   Which is, we ask ourselves, this oil that will keep my lamp lit till the coming of Jesus?  And the answer could be none other than LOVE.

The ardent and generous love that maintains the soul facing towards God and our brothers and sisters. Love that is a donation of oneself.  The love which consists of discovering in each brother and sister the image of Christ.  It is the love that triumphs over sin, over selfishness, over arrogance.  It is the love that “is the greatest of all virtues”. 

If you wish to be prepared for the coming of the Lord, avail your soul for love, to “remain in his love” (Jn. 15,9), because “at the dusk of your life you will be tried over love”.   Scriptures tells us that whomever does not love, remains in death.  The parable also indicates that the wise preparation for the arrival of the bridegroom is a personal matter.  

Each one of us must prepare himself/herself, because when the bridegroom arrives, it will not be possible to exchange the flasks or pass the oil from one to the other.  Each one is responsible for himself/herself and must begin to prepare his/her soul for the definite encounter with God. 

You see, it is not a small responsibility we have in our hands.   We have been created by God out of love and we constantly walk towards Him. It will be very insensitive to live as if God did not exist, as if our lives were not passing by minute by minute, as if after death there was not a celestial banquet available to us and the eternal possession of God.  

One of the biggest temptations of the modern and Christian man is to reduce his hopes only to that which is earthly and worldly.   A man without an eternal horizon.  As if eternity did not exist and it was not closer to us each day.

 Let us keep our spirits alive, let us abandon our drowsiness and laziness, let us firmly maintain our confession of faith because, “the bridegroom is near”. Might be delayed, but he will come.  Let’s check our flasks, let us check our souls and if there is no oil, if there is no love, let us not continue ahead, let us get to work, because “at dusk, I will be judged by LOVE”.

Amen!

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

WORLD’S MISSIONS SUNDAY

 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”

 (Mt.22, 34-40)

 Rev. Alexander Diaz

Today the church celebrates World’s Missions Sunday.  I would like to invite everyone to go in depth about the meaning of this calling that has been given to us.  This date is a call for all of us to be mindful of the duty that was given to us in baptism, thru our parents and godparents, which we confirmed in the sacrament of confirmation, to be witnesses and announcers of the good news of Jesus, by manifesting an active solidarity with those men and women who announce and proclaim the message of salvation to everyone who does not know God or probably knew Him but have forgotten about Him.  

In this great day of World’s Missions, we have to be extremely conscious of our responsibility as witnesses of the Gospel, of our surroundings, familiar, laboral and as citizens.  Let us express our solidarity with the missionary missions around the world, giving a generous donation that will go in full to the missionaries, both men and women,  who proclaim the Word of Jesus in difficult circumstances. 

This Sunday’s readings talk to us about love..love in two dimensions:  To love God and love our neighbor.  On these two commands the will of God is entailed in the Sacred Scriptures.   Our relationship with God is vertical and our relationship with our neighbor is horizontal, as if forming a cross, in which both axles are indispensable.  They have to be together, one cannot be separated from the other.

Our love for God is not based on admiration, is in recognition of His majesty…the love for God is an answer: I love God because I feel loved by Him. That is the root of the “commandment”, also the essence of the Good News.  Deep down, the Good News is no more than this:  God loves you, as your mother loves you, but His love is infinite. 

This is an interior experience, not an intellectual knowledge.  Conversion is not a repentance, a change of ideas, a calculated decision.   Conversion is the consequence of a very deep rooted feeling, to feel loved by God changes life, changes hearts.  This change is conversion.     

Feeling loved by God not because we deserve it, but because we need it. God does not love me because I am good, just, a saint, God loves me, no more, as a mother loves her child, not because he is smart or good looking.  She loves him even before he is born, without knowing him.  That is how God loves me. 

Not even my many sins can change the love of God.  My mother’s love is so much stronger than my sins.  God is Love,  that is His essence.  It is the heart of the Good News of Jesus. Our Faith is based on believing Him.

God-love is the essence of the world.  The contrary of love is total death.  To love or die, love or destruction.  The essence of the human being is the capacity to build himself by loving. 

The error is to try and build human society over other foundations: violence, power, justice.  Justice is just a legal substitute or a consequence of love.  Justice alone is not human either.  No one can live of justice alone, because in the essence of the human being sin and error are needed, are mixed. Justice does not heal, does not change the insides of the human being.  True justice is to give every one what belongs to him. 

Pope Benedict, in respect to this affirms:  “The characteristic of the Christian civilization is Charity, the love of God that translates into love of neighbor.  Our love for God and our love for neighbor are inseparable.”  (Benedict XVI, 19-10-2008). 

The Lord tells us to:  “love our neighbor as ourselves”, and ¿what is to love oneself?  To love one-self is to look for our own good and our own pleasure.  That is the minimal measure the Lord ask of us to love our neighbor.  The point is that there is no difference between the love I have for myself and the love I have for others.  

This is a given among brothers, in the family.   Among brothers and in the family we use the first person of the plural rather than the first person of the singular.  This characterizes a marriage that really love each other,  very seldom they say “I” but instead they say “we”.   This is what makes the difference in a Christian.   To know who is God, to know who is the man, and to live for the good of others. 

To know and feel that this is the  best way to live for his own good.  It is the selfishness being corrected, to look for my own good and to discover it when I serve, to forget to look for my own good. In other words, to realize oneself in love, not in hate, not in my triumph over others. 

And let us remember that all the parables in the Gospel go on this direction.  The Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, that is to enter the Kingdom.   This is why, the unify proclamation of our faith is:  “We have discover (Jesus has discover for us) the secret for everything, the secret of God and the secret of the world: love is what moves everything for the good of all.”

To accept that God, that man, that living style, that is the Kingdom.   To love thy neighbor as thyself means to follow Jesus’ other advice:  “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lc. 6,31).

We love ourselves so much, this is the minimal measure  the Lord set for our love for others, He also gave us a maximum measure, one He showed with His example:  ”Love one another as I love you”  (Jn. 15,12). He loved us more than He loved Himself, giving up His life for all of us.

AMEN!

Twenty-Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.” 

  (Mt. 22,2-14)

Rev. Alexander Diaz

We all like to participate in a wedding feast, because we celebrate the love between two people who love each other.  Thru this feast, they manifest their compromise to God and in front of the community, this is why the closest friends and family are invited.  This Sunday, the twenty-seventh Sunday in ordinary time, we are presented with a wedding feast. But not a usual and common feast, it is a “Banquet of the Wedding” prepared by God our Lord for all the human beings at the end of times.

It is the love between the God of life and the human being, of whom God is the eternal lover.  This is about our salvation, our eternal happiness with Him forever in the Celestial Jerusalem, when God “wipe away all the tears, death will be no more, there will be no mourning, no moaning, no sadness”.

And we will live in complete and perfect happiness forever.  This is the celebration of the wedding of the Son of God with humanity.  And to this feast, we are all invited. But in Saint Matthew’s description, we see how some of them answer the invitation of the Lord and some do not, because they had more important things to do. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.  Some ignored the invitation, one went away to his farm, another to his business.” (Mt.22,1-14)

I ask myself ¿How many times we have done the same?  God calls us and instead of paying attention to His invitation, we turn our backs on Him.  We find a thousand excuses not to be with him, there are always multiples excuses to ignore His fantastic invitation and we pay more attention to things that are less important.  

We rather wash our hands, not be interested and make ourselves the important ones when it comes to the Lord’s business.   God offers us the opportunity to go to His Feast and have eternal happiness, to be happy forever and ¿how do we answer Him?  If we look and check ourselves deep down, we can see the importance we give to the things of the world and how we postpone, pass over the eternal things, when we do not accept the Lord’s invitation. 

¿Is is possible that the men and women of today have subsided so much to the world’s business that they consider a waste of time to think about God and His eternal life? And ¿What does the Gospel tells us about our acceptance to the invitation to the Celestial Banquet?  It is very clear, others will be invited in place of the ones that refused to assist. 

Today’s man has lost the illusion for the Kingdom of Heaven, he does not dream of being a saint, he does not think of the possibility of being with God for an eternity, he does not want to take the adventure to conquer heaven, because to him this seems like an utopia, to dream of something that does not exist, something invented, made up by ourselves.  Therefore, we prefer the passing happiness, money, wealth, power, pleasure, which is safer than to wait and participate in the eternal happiness in heaven.

St Luke, in relating the Celestial Feast, is more specific, he gives more details when the principal guests did not accept the invitation to the wedding feast, he tell us that: “then the Master of the house in a rage commanded His servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Lc.14, 22).  

These are the ones the world consider inadequate: the poor of heart - they know they have nothing if they don’t have God; the disabled, the handicapped - disabled in spirit – they know they cannot do for themselves, without the help of God; the lame - they know they need crutches that only God can provide; the blind - they know they need the light of God to be able to see. 

The wise according to the knowledge of this world, the proud, the conceited, the ones attached to the things of this world, attached to all material things,  take the risk of being invited and not assisting, they do not understand that the invitation of the Lord is infinitely more important than any other business, any other material worry, any earthly attachment. 

They take the risk, also, of not being dressed properly and being cast outside.  Not to be properly dressed means, not to have enough spiritual knowledge or preparation to be accepted in the Feast of Salvation. 

The wedding garments to which the Gospel refers to, is the sincerity and the truth of which we have to live constantly.  The invitation to the Celestial Banquet is for everybody, but many will not accept and others are not properly prepared.  Hence the sentence of Jesus at the end of the parable: “Many are invited, but few are chosen”

Remember, you are invited to the Wedding Feast, accept the invitation, because this feast will be forever, to which you are the principal guest, Jesus invites you, put on the garment of truth and authenticity.

!AMEN!