We begin this holy season of Advent with the simple word: Watch. Next week we will be told: Stay Awake, and the third week we have: Rejoice. For the fourth week we have: Behold! Watch! So, there are three ways that we need to watch.  The first is to watch for those moments when the Lord is calling on us to reach out to others.  St Teresa of Avila used to say something like «Christ has no body now on earth, but yours; no feet, but yours. It is your eyes through which Christ’s compassion looks out to the world; your feet with which he must walk about doing good; your hands with which he blesses humanity; your voice with which his forgiveness is spoken; your heart with which he now loves. Jesus is calling upon us to bring his presence to others». There is a second way that we need to watch. We need to watch for those seemingly minor changes or additions to our lives that might change the very direction of our lives. If we watch, sometimes things that might seem to be a good idea, might be the Lord giving us a great idea. The point is paying attention to the prompts of the holy Spirit. The third way we need to watch might appear a bit scary, but it is realistic. We need to watch is for the time that the Lord is calling us to leave this world and be fully united to Him. We always need to be ready to come before the Lord. Actually, we need to live as though every day might be both the best day and even the last day of our lives. We all like to think that we are going to live to be a hundred, but what if we don’t live that long?  Will we be ready for Him when we are 80? How about 50? How about 25?  We always need to be ready for the Lord! No matter how old we are, our lives on earth will end much sooner than we expect.  We always need to be ready to hear the Lord say, «Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Father»[1]. So, let us watch for the times to bring Jesus to others. Let us watch for the quiet call from the Lord to refine the direction of our lives more towards Him, and let us watch for the time when we are called to present our lives to our God.  This first Sunday of the season of Advent let us remember that the Lord Jesus has marvelous things in store for us all • AE

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[1] Cfr. Matthew 25:23.

Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the First Sunday of Advent of 2020.

Saturday, November 27, 2020.

4.00 p.m. Sacrament of Confession and 5.30 p.m. English Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church.

Sunday, November 28, 2020.

10.30 a.m. English Mass @ Our Lady of Grace (Outdoors mass)

12.00 p.m. English Mass @ Our Lady of Grace (Main church)

4. 00 p.m. Sacrament of Confession and 5.00 p.m. English Mass @ Trinity University (Margarite B. Parker Chapel)

Primer Domingo de Adviento del año del Señor del 2020 (Ciclo B)

El Adviento debe despertar nuestra espera de Cristo. Hoy podríamos preguntarnos si esperamos verdaderamente al Señor, si lo esperamos no con un egoísmo posesivo, sino también para nuestros hermanos, para el mundo. Hoy por hoy todos buscamos la felicidad. Los cristianos sabemos dónde y de quién hay que esperarla, por tanto ¿qué hacemos para que nuestros hermanos vuelvan sus ojos y sus corazones al Dios que viene a nosotros en Navidad? ¡Ay si tuviéramos respuestas de vida a este inmenso clamor de los hombres! Aún más ¿Cómo debemos obrar para que nazca en nosotros la esperanza? Este tiempo de Adviento que hoy comenzamos podría ser como el despertar a una fuerza interior capaz de transformar el sentimiento del mero pasar el tiempo a una actitud más espiritual. El auténtico Adviento procede de nuestro interior. A nuestro alrededor muchos no esperan a Aquél a quien nosotros esperamos y, sin embargo, esperan al menos un poco de alegría y paz. La espera está inscrita en el corazón de todos. El primer paso hacia ellos, la primera manera de amarlos, podría ser que estemos atentos a su espera, compartirla con ellos para hacerles partícipes de la buena noticia del evangelio de Jesús que nosotros ya conocemos: ¡Hablarles de Dios, en menos palabras! Los cristianos iniciamos este camino del Adviento con una súplica sincera y profunda: que se abran de nuevo los cielos y el Justo aparezca como el resplandor y el camino de toda la humanidad, que los cielos lluevan su justicia, y que la lluvia venga bien cargada de esperanza[1]. Este es nuestro grito en este tiempo de Adviento que hoy comenzamos • AE

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[1] Rorate Caeli, del Libro de Isaías (45,8) son las palabras iniciales de un texto usado en la liturgia católica y, con menos frecuencia, en la liturgia protestante durante el tiempo de Adviento. Con frecuencia se canta en la Misa y en el Oficio Divino durante el Adviento, donde expresa los anhelos de los Patriarcas y Profetas, y simbólicamente de la Iglesia, de la venida del Mesías. A lo largo del Adviento ocurre diariamente como el versículo y la respuesta después del himno en Vísperas.

Just as last Sunday’s Gospel was really not about bridesmaids but about the proper use of time to prepare for the Lord, this Sunday’s Gospel is really not about investing money, but is also about preparing for the Lord to come. It might seem strange that those entrusted with a number of talents should be expected to return a greater number to the Lord, and the one man who protected the money given to him would be admonished. It really is not strange if we consider that the parable isn’t about money after all.  It is about the Word of God and about His grace. The parable demands that we consider the grace that we have received and how well we are using this grace to spread the Kingdom of God. Most of us are cradle Catholics. We received the grace of God from our infancy.  We were brought up in Catholic homes. We have been given the opportunity to grow in our faith throughout our lives.  For most of you there were and are the graced moments of marriage, and children being born, and their receiving the sacraments. For those of us in religious life or the priesthood, there are other graced moments. There are the graced moments of religious profession and ordination to the diaconate and priesthood. For all of us there are the graces of the Church year. The question is…. what do we do with the grace we have received?  That is what we are invited today to consider. How well have we lived our faith? Is the Kingdom of God stronger on earth because of us, or have we squandered the grace we have received and done little or nothing to enrich the world with the Presence of the Word Become Flesh? #Honestly We are called to respond to the grace we had received and not in a position to comment on how others have responded to the grace they have received.  We also do not have the right to judge how others have responded to the Grace they have received.  We do not know what Graces they have receive, nor do we know anything that they have experienced in life. My deepest concern, and my deepest regret, are both the same. That is: how many times have I not taken advantage of all the Lord has given me?  How often have I allowed His Grace to slip through my fingers like sand?  How many people would have come closer to God if I had only invested what I was given better? I am sure you all have the same concern! How much better would others have become if you, and I, were more concerned with spreading the love of the Lord than we were with returning insult for insult and hurt for hurt? So, almost at the end of the Church year, we are told to consider the end of time, including the end of our own time.  We are reminded that the end has not yet come.  There is still time, time to take advantage of a bull market of grace.  We can and we must reach out to others.  We can use the grace we have received well.  There is still time, plenty of time, to invest wisely • AE

Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Saturday, November 14, 2020.

4.00 p.m. Sacrament of Confession and 5.30 p.m. English Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church.

Sunday, November 15, 2020.

10.30 a.m. English Mass @ Our Lady of Grace (Outdoors mass)

12.00 p.m. English Mass @ Our Lady of Grace (Main church)

4. 00 p.m. Sacrament of Confession and 5.00 p.m. English Mass @ Trinity University (Margarite B. Parker Chapel)

XXXIII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo A)

En la segunda mitad del siglo XX empezamos a ver cómo poco a poco se empezaron a demoronar los grandes ideales sociales y religiosos que despertaban la generosidad y entrega de hombres y mujeres. Para muchos de nuestros jóvenes mejor es vivir el presente intensamente exprimiéndole el máximo placer. Al mismo tiempo, valores tan importantes como la familia, la autoridad, la tradición, el magisterio de la Iglesia, han quedado oscurecidos o se han debilitado profundamente en la conciencia de muchos. El desconcierto se ha hecho todavía mayor al caer por los suelos normas concretas de comportamiento y leyes de conducta que hace unos años eran todavía intocables. La crisis ha provocado en muchos una sensación de vértigo, vacío y desorientación. No pocos se preguntan con inquietud: ¿Ha cambiado la moral? ¿El pecado terminó por disolverse en medio de una sociedad en la que todo es relatico y todo depende del cristal con que se mire? ¿Hemos vivido equivocados hasta ahora? ¿Volverán de nuevo los tiempos pasados? Al mismo tiempo tenemos el reverso de la moneda: la reacción de muchos que se defienden instalándose íntegramente en el pasado, cerrándose a toda novedad y gastando casi todas sus energías en conservar intacta la moral de siempre. El choque o la fricción resultan mortales. El tercer siervo de la parábola de este domingo –el penútimo del Tiempo Ordinario- condenado solamente por preocuparse de conservar el talento sin arriesgar nada más, nos recuerda que seguir a Jesús es mucho más que conservar intacta nuestra moralidad frente a todo y frente a todos. La moral cristiana no consiste en conservar fielmente la herencia que hemos recibido del pasado, sino en, además buscar movidos por el Espíritu de Jesús, cómo ser más humanos y cómo mejores cristianos precisamente en el mundo de hoy. Más. Siempre más #Magis Las leyes son necesarias. Nos indican la dirección en que hemos de buscar y nos señalan los límites que no debemos franquear. Pero sería una equivocación pensar que estamos respondiendo a las exigencias profundas de Dios sólo porque nos mantenemos íntegros en el cumplimiento de unas leyes. Hay que ir más allá. Ser creyente, ser cristiano, es algo mucho más grande y apasionante que enterrar nuestra vida en unas leyes para conservarla segura. El seguimiento a Jesús es siempre llamada a buscar y crear una humanidad nueva y siempre mejor. Por eso mismo, seguir a Jesús es riesgo más que seguridad. Exigencia fecunda más que cumplimiento estéril. Urgencia de amor más que satisfacción del deber cumplido. Y esa urgencia de amor sólo la satisface Jesucristo. Él es el unico que sacia el corazón humano. El Santo Padre Benedicto XVI lo escribió de manera maravillosa: «No se comienza a ser cristiano por una decisión ética o una gran idea, sino por el encuentro con un acontecimiento, con una Persona, que da un nuevo horizonte a la vida y, con ello, una orientación decisiva»[1]. Hoy, en esta Eucaristía, nos encontramos con Él ¿tiene este encuentro la fuerza  y la luz suficientes para reorientar nuestro caminar? • AE

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[1] Enciclica, Deus Caritas est, n. 1

This beautiful parable in today’s gospel invites us to ask ourselves an important question: “Am I ready for the bridegroom to come?” #Honestly If Jesus were to come, would I be ready for him?  We know that our God is merciful. That’s for sure, His mercy endures forever, says one of the psalms… but it’s important to remember that we cannot be presumptive, we cannot assume he will be merciful if we have ignored the many opportunities, he has given us to trim our lamps and to be with Him.  The foolish virgins were…too busy they did not do the one thing they needed to do: getting the oil and being ready for the bridegroom:  they were exhausted, they fell asleep… they were not ready. We are always busy, and with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, our lives will get even busier but…   do we do the one thing we need to do?  Do we prepare our lives, our family, our parish community for the Lord?  On a scale of one to ten …what´s the quality of my spiritual life? What kind of care do I give to my soul? Sometimes we live so focused material stuff, on the economic part, on politics and politicians that we forget that we have a covenant of love with Jesus that we forget that we have a soul and that soul will live forever; And there are only two options: heaven or hell… Often we regret having made a bad decision, Or not being able to finish a project, or having entered the wrong romantic relationship … well, all this happens because we do not stop to think, because we are always in a hurry, because there are no spaces for silence…it´s time to slow down! Time to be quiet and to spend more time in real conversation with the Lord. It’s now or never. Right now, in the midst of all this chaos, this political turmoil, everything that the pandemic has brought, the best we can do is take care of our spiritual lives. The best we can do is reinforce our personal relationship with the Jesus #Honestly: When was the last time you grabbed the book of the Gospels to read and learn more about the life of Jesus? We constantly need to ask ourselves questions: What are my priorities? What place does God have in my life? MyBmyS we could be super busy, having days full of activities but may be are we totally empty inside …And from there comes the bad mood, anger, resentment, the desire for revenge …That void can only be filled by the Lord, the Bridegroom; He is the only one who gives meaning to everything that happens to us, He is the only one who can give an authentic direction to our life. How many times have we put our hope, trust, in things, people, institutions, political parties, money, power, presidents, bishops, stuff that only leave us even more empty…? Only Christ fills the heart; and far from him we cannot find true peace or happiness; substitutes, maybe. We call ourselves Christians, and we are, because we have put our faith in Christ, our love is His; Jesus Christ is our owner! Yes: owner, we belong to him! That sense of belonging; that feeling that comes from knowing that we belong to him that feeling… does a lot of good to our soul! The world constantly invites us to be independent from everything, but depending on Christ, his love and his mercy is a good thing. Anyway, here comes Thanksgiving and Christmas; In the weeks coming the frantic race of preparations will begin, we could be lost in the middle We could lose sight of the Lord, with our lamps not lit. On Christmas Eve the angels are going to announce «The Bridegroom, the Messiah is coming!”, if we have not prepared ourselves, if we do not have the oil of silence, meditation, we will pass before the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God distracted, cold, and full of superficiality. We’re still on time! The liturgy of the Church presents to us this parable today as an invitation to be aware of the time we are given. The parable says that the Bridegroom has a banquet, and we have to be prepared to enter. Now is the time! Now we can rearrange our schedule with a small daily spot that is just for the Lord. Now we can decide that this is not the time to spend on things we don’t really need; Now we be sensitive to the fact that eating and drinking more would not make our Christmas Eve better. In the responsorial psalm we have repeated six times: My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God. Are we really thirsty for God? Let us ask our Lady for her help to be always thirsty for her son. Mary is the Virgin who always has her lamp lit. She is the woman always ready to receive the Lord Jesus. This morning we can renew our commitment of love and with St. Ignatius we could say:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding,

and my entire will,

All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace,

that is enough for me • AE

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[1] Cfr. Matthew 7:21.

Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 8-9, 2020)

Saturday, November 8, 2020.

4.00 p.m. Sacrament of Confession

5.30 p.m. English Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church

Sunday, November 9, 2020.

9.00 a.m. English Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church

11.00 a.m. English Mas @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church

5.30 p.m. English Mas @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Catholic Church

XXXII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo A)

Los hombres no podemos vivir sin esperar en algo o en alguien. De una manera u otra siempre andamos buscando una felicidad, una seguridad, una satisfacción que todavía no poseemos. Naturalmente las esperanzas que marcan nuestra vida son muy distintas. Mientras uno espera encontrar trabajo, otro espera salir curado del hospital. Aquel espera el descanso del fin de semana y el otro vive esperando el nacimiento de su hijo. El punto es que todas estas esperas no constituyen todavía la esperanza real, la que verdaderamente llenará el corazón. Todos necesitamos una esperanza más honda y fundamental cuando sentimos que no vale la pena vivir la vida que tenemos. En esos momentos en que no encontramos ya nada grande ni seguro en medio de nuestros miedos y sufrimientos, fácilmente se despierta en nosotros una pregunta: ¿Esto es todo? ¿No hay nada más que esperar? Hay quien dice que el origen de nuestros miedos todos es ese temor a la soledad y a la pérdida del amor. Ese miedo a no ser amados es el que destruye de raíz la esperanza del hombre. Pero, incluso en las experiencias más gozosas de la vida, cuando uno puede disfrutar de la cercanía misteriosa del otro y sentirse comprendido, aceptado y querido, aún entonces surge una pregunta aún más compleja: ¿Es esta la plenitud a la que puedo aspirar? La verdad es que cuando reducimos el horizonte de nuestra vida y nos limitamos a vivir de pequeñas esperas, nos empobrecemos. Las esperanzas, como flores que nacen por la mañana y por la tarde ya están secas, se desgastan[1]; el optimismo se nos consume, el mal humor llega cada más más pronto. Hay dos caminos. Seguir actuando movidos por la ambición, la envidia o el deseo de triunfar, o buscar la esperanza del amor de Cristo[2]. Esta preciosa parábola de las jóvenes a las que se les gasta el aceite de sus lámparas mientras esperan al esposo podría esta mañana ayudarnos a recordar que ser cristiano es saber esperar en Dios. Esperar con toda esperanza[3]. Con fe, con anhelo ¡con alegría! ¡Sí: ya falta menos! Si esta esperanza se apaga en nosotros, hemos perdido lo más importante. Nuestra vida se hace estéril. San Pablo nos diría que entonces vivimos «sin esperanza y sin Dios en el mundo»[4] y así ¡difícil asunto este de vivir! • AE

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[1] Cfr. Sal 90, 6.

[2] J. A. Pagola, Buenas Noticias, Navarra, 1985, p. 125 ss.

[3] Cfr. Rom 4, 18-21.

[4] Cfr. Efe 2, 12.