Today’s first reading comes from the Prophet Habakkuk who lived around 650 years before the Lord. It was a time of violence. The Babylonians had conquered the Assyrians and were threatening or attacking the rest of the world, including the Kingdom of Judah. The Jews themselves were continually assaulting each other. Hatred and violence were seen as part of life, even accepted. Habakkuk’s society was not all that much different than ours, where violence and might are glorified and the weak are kept in their place. I am saying this because today is Respect Life Sunday. Although Roe vs Wade has been overturned as a federal law, many states still allow unique lives to be murdered before birth, so today we join Habakkuk and cry out, «How Long, O Lord, I cry out to you, ‘Violence,’ but you do not intervene». We have been conditioned by a violent society to respond to violence with violence, even escalating the situation and so we rejoin a nasty word with a vicious word, we respond to a dirty deed with an even more horrible one. That is not the way of Christ. What, then is it that we are called to do? We are called to have faith in God to set our world straight. We are told to have an active faith in God and to be instruments of peace and reconciliation. But we are weak. Our faith is weak. We know that God’s solutions are infinitely better than ours, but we decide to take matters in our own hands. So, we need more faith or a stronger one. Today we have a precious opportunity to pray for faith and for the courage to be people of peace. Violence is not more powerful than God. We have to put our trust in God. God can and will destroy whatever the violence is that is assaulting us. If we have faith, even as little as a mustard seed, we can and will move mountains. May we be true to whom we are, disciples of Jesus Christ. May through our spiritual practices, our personal devotions, our daily effort, our sincere willingness to forgive may we be people of integrity, one with ourselves, one with others and one with our God • AE
RESPECT LIFE SUNDAY 2022
O Blessed Mother you received the good news
of the incarnation of Christ, your Son, with faith and trust.
Grant your protection to all pregnant mothers Facing difficulties.
Guide us as we strive to make our parish communities
places of welcome and assistance for mothers in need.
Help us become instruments of God’s love and compassion.
Mary, Mother of the Church, graciously help us build
a culture of life and a civilization of love,
together with all people of good will, to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life. Amen •
Schedule for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
St Dominic Catholic Church (San Antonio, TX)
Saturday October 2, 2022
3.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation (@ Confessional)
5.00 p.m. (English Mass @ Main Church)
Sunday October 3, 2022
7.30 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)
10.00 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)
XXVII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo C)
Auméntanos la fe. Así le piden los apóstoles a Jesús. Es como si le dijeran: « Jesús, añádenos más fe a la que ya tenemos». Sienten que la fe que viven desde niños dentro de Israel es insuficiente. A esa fe tradicional han de añadirle algo más para seguir a Jesús. Y, ¿quién mejor que él mismo para darles lo que falta a su fe? Jesús les responde con palabras enigmáticas: Si tuvierais fe como un granito de mostaza, diríais a esta morera: «Arráncate de raíz y plántate en el mar» y os obedecería. Los discípulos le están pidiendo una nueva dosis de fe, pero lo que necesitan no es eso. Su problema consiste en que la fe auténtica que hay en su corazón, no llega ni a un granito de mostaza. Y entonces el Señor les hace ver que lo importante no es la cantidad de fe, sino la calidad, una fe capaz de arrancar árboles como el sicómoro, símbolo de solidez y estabilidad, y de plantarlo en medio del lago de Galilea. Probablemente, lo primero que necesitamos hoy los cristianos no es aumentar nuestra fe y creer más en toda la doctrina que hemos ido formulando a lo largo de los siglos, sino reavivar en nosotros una fe viva y fuerte en Jesús. Lo importante no es creer cosas, sino creerle a él. Jesús es lo mejor que tenemos en la Iglesia, y lo mejor que podemos ofrecer y comunicar al mundo de hoy. Por eso, nada hay más urgente y decisivo para los cristianos que poner a Jesús en el centro del cristianismo, es decir, en el centro de nuestras comunidades y nuestros corazones. Y para ello necesitamos conocerlo de manera más viva y concreta, comprender mejor su proyecto, captar bien su intención de fondo, sintonizar con él, recuperar el fuego que él encendió en sus primeros seguidores, contagiarnos de su pasión por Dios y su compasión por los últimos. Si no es así, nuestra fe seguirá siendo más pequeña que un granito de mostaza. No arrancará árboles, ni plantará nada nuevo • AE
¿Qué tenemos para leer en otoño?
LA MEDITACION DE LA ESPOSA 