Month: May 2017

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Reflexión pequeña para la cuartera domingo de Pascua

Cuando fuimos bautizados, Jesús nos llamó de una manera muy especial. Él nos perdonó y nos dio el regalo del Espíritu Santo. Este regalo del Espíritu Santo nos ayuda ser como Cristo, porque cuando somos como Cristo, podemos entrar al cielo. Creo que todos quieren ir al cielo.

Pero, ¿cómo nos ayuda el Espíritu Santo en maneras pertinentes? Me gustaría hablar sobre dos maneras.

La primera manera: Cristo nos perdona cada vez que vamos a confesión. Cristo quiere que vivamos en la luz, que vivamos con él. Él no quiere que vivamos en nuestros pecados. El Espíritu Santo nos fortifica contra los pecados y las malas cosas en el mundo. Entonces, podemos vivir con Cristo en la luz. A veces, es difícil vivir en la luz, pero Cristo y el Cielo merece la pena.

La segunda manera: Cristo es el buen pastor. Como un pastor, nos protege de los ladrones y los bandidos. Los ladrones y los bandidos, ellos vienen solamente para robar, matar, y destruir. Necesitamos permitir que Jesús nos proteja contra esos malvados. El Espíritu Santo nos da la gracia para identificar la voz de Jesús y para seguir la voz de Jesús. Con el Espíritu Santo, podemos seguir a Jesús por la puerta del cielo.

Cristo quiere que tengamos vida, y en abundancia. Envió a esa hora y continua a enviar ahorita el Espíritu Santo, para que nos ayude tener la vida abundante. Abramos nuestros oídos para escuchar la voz de Cristo y pidámosle al Espíritu Santo que nos ayude a escucharla y a seguirla.

Brief summary in English

Jesus gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit in our Baptisms to strengthen us and to help us live the Christian life.

Las lecturas del día: Hch 2, 14a. 36-41; Salmo 22, 1-3a. 3b-4. 5. 6; 1 Ped 2, 20b-25; Jn 10, 1-10

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First Saturday Devotions

One of the requests of Our Lady of Fatima was for Communions to be offered in reparation for the sins of the world on five consecutive first Saturdays of the month. This is still a very good devotion for many reasons, one because it directly helps repair the damage evil has done to the world, and two because it helps us to develop a healthy habit of attending Mass regularly in addition to Sundays.

It also helps promote regularly going to the sacrament of confession, since must be in a state of grace to receive Communion.

In order to complete the devotion, the Rosary should also be said, and we should spend about 15 minutes meditating on Christ or some other holy thing such as one of the mysteries of the rosary. This helps us learn to pray and meditate on Christ’s life regularly.

For more information, this page seems to be pretty good: http://www.themostholyrosary.com/appendix2.htm

You can also consult the Google.

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Reflection for the Third Friday of Easter

Jesus gave us his flesh to eat. The Jews thought Jesus was talking about cannibalism. How can we eat his flesh and drink his blood? First, we can’t eat his flesh and drink his blood because that would require murder to do so. Second, we can’t because it is forbidden by the law. The first portion of this becomes a moot point with the Eucharist, where Christ transforms bread and wine into himself. The second point, however, requires a little more attention. Cannibalism is forbidden by Mosaic Law. If the bread and wine are Jesus, it would still be cannibalism—we would still be eating a person.

The question we must answer is whether receiving the Eucharist is cannibalism, and if so, is it a bad thing to do. St. Thomas Aquinas was fond of answering both yes and no to questions, and I think that’s the approach to take here. It is cannibalism in the sense that we are eating Jesus. We cannot deny this and remain Catholic. It is not cannibalism in a much more fundamental way: we are not eating the dead body of a person. Jesus is present in the Eucharist in a special way which we call the Eucharistic Presence. In this Eucharistic Presence, he comes in body, blood, soul, and divinity, but it does not look or taste the same as a dead body, so we know something is different about it. Furthermore, Jesus is not dead! He is still alive!

There is one more argument that makes reception of the Eucharist different, and it revolves around the act of eating. Why do we eat? We eat to nourish ourselves. When we eat, the food is broken down and becomes a part of us. The food is transformed. When we receive the Eucharist, something much different happens. Instead of the food being transformed into us, we are slowly transformed into Jesus. The Eucharist is the only food which transforms us into something new.

When we are changed into Christ through the Eucharist, it is not as obvious as Paul’s conversion in the first reading. Jesus came to him as a blinding light which he could not ignore. We receive something even more previous in the Eucharist. Instead of simply seeing Jesus, we become united with him in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Unity, because it unites us with Jesus, and by extension all those around the world with valid sacraments. (If we are all one with Jesus, and he is one with us, then it logically follows that we are also one with all others who are one with Jesus and with whom he is one.)

Let us never forget the incredible gift we receive in the Eucharist.

Today’s Readings: Acts 9:1-20; Ps 117:1bc, 2; Jn 6:52-59

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Reflection for the Third Thursday of Easter

“I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?”

Then, Philip “proclaimed Jesus” to the eunuch. He didn’t just tell the eunuch the name “Jesus.” He proclaimed Jesus. He undoubtedly told him Jesus is the son of Mary and Joseph, but also the Son of God. He would have told him that Jesus is both fully God, and fully man. He would have told him that Jesus is the complete fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, (this is how Jews referred to the scriptures that make up what we call the Old Testament) and the living embodiment of the Good News. (Remember, the New Testament hadn’t been written yet!) He would have undoubtedly told the eunuch that Jesus came to save us from sin and bring us to life everlasting. Like the disciples on the way to Emmaus, the eunuch must have been burning inside. He stops at the first water they see and begs for Baptism.

“I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?”

What a marvelous question!

We know that the answer is Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God, but how often do we ponder that answer? How often do we actually think about Jesus? Who is he? What is he? Why did he come here? The Gospels, especially today’s passage from John, tell us all these things. They tell us these things, which truly happened, so that we may know who Jesus is. If we know who Jesus is, we can enter into a relationship with him. Once we do that, we can understand even better who he is, we can begin to grasp at what he is, and we can finally realize why he came to save us. We can never run out of new things to ponder when it comes to Jesus, and that is why this question is so striking, because it forces us to ask ourselves: “Who is Jesus?”

Today’s Readings: Acts 8:26-40; Ps 66:8-9, 16-17, 20; Jn 6:44-51

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Reflection for the Feast of Saints Philip and James

When I go out to a restaurant, one of the first things I do is order my food and maybe a beverage. To do this, I could shout my order to kitchen, but it’s much more effective to have the waiter or waitress bring it there for me. Since I don’t like shouting in the middle of restaurants and I like my order to stand a chance of getting cooked, I give my order to a cashier, a waiter, or a waitress. This person takes my request to the kitchen, where another person cooks my food. After my food is cooked, someone will either hand it to me or bring it to me. Often, this is the person with whom I placed my order.

Intercession from the saints functions very similar to this. We begin by saying a prayer, during which we ask for a specific saint to assist us. God will ultimately fulfill our prayer, but the saint has a different mode of access to God. The saints take our prayers and make them more pleasing and acceptable to God, then they present them to him on our behalf. God then responds to our prayer in the most fitting way, often returning his response with the saintly messenger who brought the request to him.

The Gospel today confirms this way of understanding intercession. Jesus is the intercessor for humanity. Only through Jesus will we be able to reach the Father. Even the saints must ask for Jesus to present their prayers to the Father, as no one can go to the Father except through Jesus. Philip had difficulty recognizing this reality. His desire to see the Father was good, but he did not realize that the road to the Father was standing right in front of him. Despite all the miracles that Jesus had done, and all the wisdom that Jesus had taught, Philip still couldn’t connect the dots.

Both Philip and James struggled, at times, to understand the meaning of all the signs and wonders that God worked—even those that God worked through them. Eventually, they figured it out and told everyone around them by spreading the Gospel message: Jesus will lead us to the Father and, God-willing, to our eternal reward, because Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. After Philip and James figured it out, amazing things happened. Philip cast out demons and healed the sick. James was the Bishop of Jerusalem and wrote one of the letters of the New Testament. Both were martyred for their faith, but they were happy to do so, because they had put their trust in Jesus to take them with him to the Father, even in death.

Let us all remember that Jesus is the way to the Father, and if we are having a difficult time understanding that Jesus is the way, let us ask the saints to help us in ways we cannot help ourselves.

Today’s Readings: 1 Cor 15:1-8; Ps 19:2-3, 4-5; Jn 14:6-14

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about the frequency of posts

I would like to have a new reflection posted every day, but due to various circumstances this has proven very difficult for the last few weeks. I continue to strive toward daily postings, and I will be devoting a little more time per day to try to make sure that happens.