Anonymous author, The Creation of Adam & Eve (17th century), oil on canvas, Collection of the Ministry of Culture of Peru
Have you ever had feelings like those Samaritans must have had before Philip visited them with the Gospel? Have you ever felt that you were not good enough to receive the gifts of the Lord? Have you ever looked at another person in the Church and wished you could be half as good as he or she is? Perhaps we have all felt that way at various times throughout our lives. This reading tells us that in the eyes of God we are good enough. He makes us good enough. He calls us to faith, and then showers us with the gifts of faith. The joy that the Samaritans had is our joy. We are loved by God. He gave us His very life. He gave us his very spirit, the Holy Spirit. Many of us are still bogged down in the negative self images we suffered from during our adolescence or our teenage years. Some of these negative images are due to our not meeting our own unreal expectations. Sadly, some of the negative attitudes of our lives have been forced on us by people whom we should respect but who have treated us with disrespect. Perhaps it has been conveyed to us that we are a disappointment to our parents, our teachers, our employers, or even, for those who are married, to their spouses or their children. We are precious in the eyes of God. We are also precious in the eyes of all who truly proclaim God. It is a mistake for me to compare myself with other priests. It is wrong for you to compare yourselves with other people at whatever stage of life you are in. It is a mistake for parents to compare themselves with other parents, for men to compare themselves with other men, for women to compare themselves with other women. We are individuals, not clones. It is wrong for any of us to think, as the Samaritans must have thought, that we are not as good as others.
God loves each of us for whom we are, not for what we think we should be like. He loves us for whom He created us to be. We are created in the image and likeness of God; yet in the mystery of God’s creation, each of us is a unique reflection of this image and likeness. He loves us for whom we are. We are not rejects. We are not half breeds, only part Christians. We are precious, precious in the eyes of God, and precious in the eyes of all those who really love the Lord. And He gave us His Son. We possess Jesus Christ. In the Gospel reading Jesus says, «I am in the Father. You are in me, and I am in you.» We are not orphans. We are not alone in the world. We are not rejects from the society that matters. For the society that matters is the Kingdom of God. Every other society has value only to the degree that it participates in the Kingdom of God. We belong to God. He belongs to us. “I am in the Father. You are in me, and I am in you.” The Samaritans embraced the New Way, embraced Jesus because He first embraced them through the teaching of Philip. This is the way of Grace. Grace always begins with God’s gifts of love. It reaches its goal when we respond by loving God in return. We have received grace. God has showered us with His love. Now He calls us to give witness to the world that His love is real. We can do this. We can proclaim Jesus Christ with our lives. We are good enough, plenty good enough. We are sons and daughters of God • AE
Fr Agustin´s Schedule for the Sixth Sunday of Easter of 2023
Saturday May 13
11.00 a.m. First Communion
3.00 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confessional)
5.00 p.m. Holy Mass
Sunday May 14
7.30 a.m. Holy Mass
10.00 a.m. Holy Mass
VI Domingo del Tiempo de Pascua (Ciclo A)
Hay algo que no siempre se señala al estudiar la crisis religiosa de nuestros días. Unos se alejan de la religión, otros la han reducido al mínimo, no pocos viven una fe apagada. Pero, con frecuencia, todo esto se está produciendo sin que las personas se planteen de forma consciente qué actitud quieren adoptar ante Dios y por qué. Se actúa casi siempre sin criterios de referencia. Por otra parte, es fácil observar que muchas veces se habla de Dios como de oídas, es decir, no hay experiencia personal. Olvidamos, que diria W. Schmidt, que «la religión sólo puede captarse con verdad desde dentro», por eso es que corremos el peligro de hablar de ella «como hablaría un ciego de los colores». La fe en Dios se puede debilitar o apagar de muchas maneras, pero sólo conozco un camino para reavivarla: la oración personal. Ese ponerse ante Dios en silencio y a solas. No sé de nadie que haya vuelto a Dios sin haberlo escuchado como amigo en el fondo de su ser. La fe se despierta cuando la persona invoca a Dios, lo busca, lo llama, lo interroga, lo desea. Y es que Dios no se oculta a quien lo busca así. Más aún. Está ya presente en esa búsqueda. El hermoso texto del evangelio de este domingo, el sexto dentro del tiempo de Pascua, nos recuerda que dentro de nosotros vive un Defensor que está siempre con nosotros y nos alienta y nos anima. Es el Espíritu de Dios. El mundo no lo ve ni lo conoce, pero él vive con los creyentes y está con ellos. Hay, sin duda, muchos caminos para encontrarse con Dios, pero todos ellos llevan a él sólo si escuchamos en nuestro interior a ese Espíritu de la verdad y mantenos una converesación con él. Eso: café y conversación. Es Domingo • AE
Salve Madre
Salve, Madre, en la tierra de mis amores
te saludan los cantos que alza el amor.
Reina de nuestras almas, flor de las flores,
muestra aquí de tu gloria los resplandores,
que en el cielo tan sólo te aman mejor.
Virgen Santa, Virgen pura, vida, esperanza y dulzura
del alma que en ti confía, Madre de Dios, Madre mía,
mientras mi vida alentare, todo mi amor para ti,
mas si mi amor te olvidare, Madre mía, Madre mía,
aunque mi amor te olvidare tú no te olvides de mí •
LA MEDITACION DE LA ESPOSA 