There is a novel set in a small village in Scotland. It was about an ex convict and the teenage sister that he was raising. He had gone to prison for a violent crime, but was released after seven years, when his parents died in a car accident and his sister was only fourteen. He had served most of his sentence and the prison officials were very pleased not just with his avoiding trouble, but with the fact that he had sincerely embraced religion. He was an ardent evangelical Christian. When he left prison to take care of his sister, he immediately joined a group of determined Christians. He had prayer meetings over his parents’ home, now his and his sister’s home. He took over his father’s job. He did his best to be loving and kind to his sister. It was all new to him, being both big brother and father, but he prayed for her and asked his prayer friends to continue to support him, to help him hold his hands up in prayer. She, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do either with his new found religious life or with his determination to get her to join him in prayer. She was going through a lot of her own problems. She felt he was domineering her. She knew how to get him upset. He panicked when she ran away from home, even though she was nearby at a girl friend’s house. She came back during one of his prayer meetings and kicked up a fuss when he told her to go to her room and stay there. She yelled and screamed from her room and was horrible, vulgar and obscene. He finally had enough, and went up to her room to try to reason with her. She got worst. He lost it. He hit her. Then he gave up. He went down to the prayer meeting and threw all his friends out of his house, literally and physically. He threw out his cross, bibles, etc. He decided that he was a violent man and God couldn’t help him. He gave up. When I saw that movie, I said, “I’ve been there. I know that feeling. The feeling that somehow or other, I am not that good. I will never be good enough.” I know the feeling that says, “I should just give up.” I know the temptation to forget what God did to the Amalekites when Moses refused to give up. Perhaps you have been there too. Perhaps you also know the temptation to give up and give in. Perhaps you also think that there are times you are too weak to continue the fight for the Lord, which is really the fight for yourself, for your own spiritual life. These are the times in our lives when we are the weakest. These are the times in our lives when it is the easiest for the forces of evil outside of us and within us to dominate us. These are the times in our lives when we need prayer more than ever. Today’s reading reassure us. Persist in prayer. A setback can lead to a strengthening, a knowledge of a new situation that needs to be avoided. A revelation that God is infinitely stronger than you are or than I am. He will not give up on me or on you. We can’t give up on ourselves. With the help of Aaron and Hur, Moses persevered in prayer and Joshua defeated the forces that were attacking the people of Israel. It was really God who defeated the Amalekites. Not Joshua. It is really God who will defeat our enemies, not us. We just need to keep praying, trusting and doing our part to put up the good fight. Our community, the Christian Community, is helping us hold up our hands in prayer. Jesus has told us to persevere in prayer, and he will defeat the Amalekites, in whatever shape they take when they attack us. That’s for sure! • AE

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Schedule for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

St Dominic Catholic Church (San Antonio, TX)

Saturday October 15, 2022

3.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confessional)

5.00 p.m. (English Mass @ Main Church)

Sunday October 16, 2022

7.30 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)

10.00 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)

3.00 p.m. Santa Misa en Español (iglesia principal)

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XXIX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo C)

Existen muchos libros sobre la oración. Están escritos por maestros espirituales de gran experiencia, creyentes que pasan muchas horas recogidos ante Dios. Son grandes orantes, capaces de estar en silencio contemplativo ante el Misterio. Su experiencia estimula y orienta la oración de no pocos creyentes. Sin embargo, hay otras muchas formas de orar que no aparecen en estos libros y que, sin duda, Dios escucha, entiende y acoge con amor. Es la oración de la mayoría, la que nace en los momentos de apuro o en las horas de alegría intensa. La oración de la gente sencilla, la oración de quienes ya no saben muy bien si creen o no. Oración humilde y pobre, nacida casi sin palabras desde lo hondo de la vida. La oración con minúscula.  ¿Cómo no va a entender Dios las lágrimas de esa madre humillada y sola, abandonada por su esposo y agobiada por el cuidado de sus hijos, que pide fuerza y paciencia sin saber siquiera a quién dirige su petición? ¿Cómo no va escuchar el corazón afligido de ese enfermo, alejado hace ya muchos años de la práctica religiosa, que mientras es conducido a la sala de operaciones empieza a pensar en Dios sólo porque el miedo y la angustia le hacen agarrarse a lo que sea, incluso a ese Dios abandonado hace tiempo? ¿Cómo va a ser Dios indiferente ante el gesto de ese hombre que olvidó hace mucho las oraciones aprendidas de niño y que ahora sólo sabe encender una vela delante de una imagen de la santísima Virgen, mirarla con angustia y marcharse triste y apenado porque a su esposa le han pronosticado sólo unos meses de vida? ¿Cómo no va a acoger la alegría de esos jóvenes padres, bastantes despreocupados de la religión, pero que agradecen sorprendidos el regalo de su primer hijo? Cuando Jesús invita a orar sin desanimarse no está pensando probablemente en una oración profunda nacida del silencio interior y la contemplación. Nos está invitando a aliviar el peso o la dureza de la vida…. recordando que tenemos un Padre. Algunos lo hacen con palabras confiadas de creyente, otros con fórmulas repetidas durante siglos por muchas generaciones, otros desde un corazón que casi ha olvidado la fe. A todos escucha Dios con amor. A todos. De esto podemos estar seguros • AE

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Cicero, the famous Roman scholar once wrote, «Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.»  This Sunday’s gospel narrative reminds us that gratitude is a rare virtue indeed. The virtue of gratitude is the ability to express our thankful appreciation in word or deed, to the person whose words or actions have benefited us in some way.  The truly humble and noble person will always be grateful for the benefits received.  Ingratitude is an ugly sin. How can the virtue of gratitude be acquired? Fundamentally, cultivating the spirit of gratitude requires us to develop humility.  We need to understand that everything that we have and everything that we are is a gift.  Next Thanksgiving Day, very soon by the way, we might begin by taking out a pad of paper and a pen and making a list of all of the wonderful gifts that we receive each day of our entire life, all that God has done for us. There is a great story. A man in Budapest who goes to the rabbi and complains, «Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?»  The rabbi answers, «Take your goat into the room with you.»  The man is incredulous, but the rabbi insists. «Do as I say and come back in a week.» A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. «We cannot stand it,» he tells the rabbi. «The goat is filthy.» The rabbi then tells him, «Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week.» A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, «Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there’s no goat — only the nine of us.» The virtue of gratitude can be expressed in very simple ways.  We should always express our gratitude. The phrase «thank you» should be a common part of our daily vocabulary. G. K. Chesterton once said: «You say grace before meals.  All right.  But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.» He also said, «When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time.  Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?» Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.» The virtue of gratitude is very important. However it is equally important that we serve others with a spirit of detachment.  We must not look for recognition or earthly glory.  We must continue to love others without seeking anything in return. The Lord calls us to give of ourselves unconditionally and seek as our only reward eternal life in heaven. This is true Christianity. Any other posture is simply rooted in egotism. The standard of greatness for Christianity is not earthly glory, but the Cross of Jesus Christ • AE

OUR LADY OF HOLY ROSARY

The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October, the anniversary of the decisive victory of the combined fleet of the Holy League of 1571 over the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto. After about five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corinth, off western Greece, the combined navies of the Papal States, Venice and Spain managed to stop the Ottoman navy, slowing the Ottoman advance to the west and denying them access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Americas. If the Ottomans had won, there was a real possibility that an invasion of Italy could have followed so that the Ottoman sultan, already claiming to be emperor of the Romans, would have been in possession of both New and Old Rome. Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory in order to commemorate the victory at Lepanto, which he attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary

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Food for Thought

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Schedule for the Twenty-Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time

St Dominic Catholic Church (San Antonio, TX)

Saturday October 8, 2022

3.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confessional)

5.00 p.m. (English Mass @ Main Church)

Sunday October 9, 2022

10.00 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)

12.30 p.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)

3.00 p.m. Santa Misa en Español (iglesia principal)

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XXVIII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo C)

Hay quienes caminan por la vida con aire triste y pesimista. Su mirada se fija siempre en lo desagradable y desalentador. No tienen ojos para ver que, a pesar de todo, la bondad abunda más que la maldad. No saben apreciar tantos gestos nobles, hermosos y admirables que suceden todos los días en cualquier parte del mundo. Tal vez lo ven todo negro porque proyectan sobre las cosas su propia oscuridad. Otros viven siempre en actitud crítica. Se pasan la vida observando todo lo negativo que hay a su alrededor. Nada escapa a su juicio. Se consideran personas lúcidas, perspicaces y objetivas. Sin embargo, nunca alaban, admiran o agradecen. Lo suyo es destacar el mal y condenar a las personas. Hay quien hace el recorrido de la vida indiferente a todo. Estos solo tienen ojos para lo que pueda servir a sus propios intereses. No se dejan sorprender por nada gratuito, no se dejan querer ni bendecir por nadie. Encerrados en su mundo, bastante tienen con defender su pequeño bienestar cada vez más triste y egoísta. De su corazón no brota nunca el agradecimiento. Hay quienes viven de manera monótona y aburrida. Su vida es pura repetición: el mismo horario, el mismo trabajo, las mismas personas, la misma conversación. Nunca descubren un paisaje nuevo en sus vidas. Nunca estrenan día nuevo. Nunca sucede algo diferente que renueve su espíritu. No saben descubrir ni amar de manera nueva a las personas. Su corazón no conoce la alabanza. Para vivir de manera agradecida, lo primero es reconocer la vida como buena. Mirar el mundo con amor y simpatía. Purificar la mirada cargada de negativismo, pesimismo o indiferencia para apreciar todo lo que hay de bueno, hermoso y admirable en las personas y en las cosas. Saber disfrutar de lo que vamos recibiendo de manera gratuita e inmerecida. Cuando san Pablo dice que «hemos sido creados para alabar la gloria de Dios» está diciendo cuál es el sentido y la razón más profunda de nuestra existencia. En el evangelio de este domingo el Señor se extraña de que sólo uno de los leprosos vuelva dando gracias y alabando a Dios». Es el único que ha sabido sorprenderse por la curación y reconocerse agraciado ¡Quién fuera como él! • AE

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¿Lecturas En Otoño?

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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

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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 •

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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)

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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

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¿Qué tenemos para leer en otoño?

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The parable in today’s gospel warns us to be concerned about being isolated. We have to be careful, or our possessions will isolate us from the community. It is easy for us to form the mentality that what we have is totally and only ours. It is easy to assume that we have no obligation to others. This does not just refer to financial wealth. It refers to anything we might possess. But does the community have a right to that which belongs to you and belongs to me? Didn’t we work hard for our positions of authority, or for the wonderful things we want to provide for our families? How can the community make a claim to what is mine? Ultimately, all that we have belongs to someone else. That someone else is God. We are all stewards of His creation. Again, this does not just refer to possessions, it refers to intelligence, to artistic talent, to the ability to lead, etc. All that we have is ultimately God’s. It flows from Him and is only beneficial to us if it leads back to Him. We are all going to be called to give an account for all that we have been given. So, we cannot allow our possessions to isolate us from the community. The great American spiritual writer of the last century, Thomas Merton, wrote: “No man goes to heaven alone.” No woman either. We all receive our salvation as members of a community, the Body of Christ. So, should we trust our government to add to our taxes to help the poor? Not necessarily. Our obligation to the poor does not oblige us to put our trust in organizations that are often inept, incompetent, and sometimes even corrupt. What should we do then? We need to follow the lead of the universal Church. When he was named pope, the first words that Jorge Maria Bergoglio, the new Pope Francis, heard was a cardinal telling him, “Please remember the poor.” Our wonderful Catholic Church continually reaches out to the poor and suffering throughout the world. It is not relevant to the Church whether the suffering are Christian or not. An American Cardinal was once asked why the Church puts so much effort into helping those who may not be Catholic. He responded, “We don’t help them because they are Catholic. We help them because we are Catholic.” Nor is it is not relevant to the Church whether those suffering have brought the pain on themselves. What matters is that the Church has a responsibility to aid the suffering. The Church would not be Catholic if it did not exercise its responsibility to the total community of the world. The word catholic means universal. The Church can never be content as long as one brother or one sister cries out in vain for bread or justice or love. Along with warning us to be careful less our possessions lead us to blindness or being isolated, the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus warns us to be careful or our possessions will lead us to faithlessness. The one true need that we have in life is the need for purpose, for meaning for our existence. Purpose and meaning can only be found in God. But to possess God means that we have to look beyond all that is mundane. Sometimes we fight this call to love. It is too demanding for us. So, what do we do? We hide behind our stuff. We want to find meaning in the amount we have accumulated. We let our material possessions define us. We condemn ourselves to a life of futility. We condemn ourselves to our own hells. Maybe, though, if someone were to rise from the dead, we would change our priorities. Maybe if someone were to rise from the dead we would be infinitely more concerned with the spiritual than we are with the physical. Maybe if someone were to rise from the dead we would use our gifts, our talents, our intelligence, our possessions, to reach out to the presence of God in others. “If only someone were to rise from the dead, my brothers would change their lives,” cried the Rich Man. But someone has risen from the dead. He has called us to have faith in Him instead of faith in our possessions. His name is Jesus. And we are here today to ask Him to help us to be Christians • AE

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What is there to read?

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Schedule for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

St Dominic Catholic Church (San Antonio, TX)

Saturday September 24, 2022

2.30 p.m. Sacrament of Marriage for Ricardo and Erika (@ Main Church)

3.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation (@ Confessional)

5.00 p.m. (English Mass @ Main Church)

Sunday September 24, 2022

7.30 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)

10.00 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)

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XXVI DOMINGO DEL TIEMPO ORDINARIO (CICLO C)

La parábola parece narrada para nosotros. Jesús habla de un rico poderoso. Sus vestidos de púrpura y lino indican lujo y ostentación. Su vida es una fiesta continua. Sin duda, pertenece a ese sector privilegiado que vive en Tiberíades, Séforis o Jerusalén. Son los que poseen riqueza, tienen poder y disfrutan de una vida fastuosa. Muy cerca, echado junto a la puerta de su mansión está un mendigo. No está cubierto de lino y púrpura, sino de llagas. No sabe lo que es una fista. No le dan ni de lo que tiran de la mesa del rico. Sólo los perros callejeros se le acercan a lamerle las llagas. No posee nada, excepto un nombre, Lázaro. La escena es muy incómoda. El rico lo tiene todo. No necesita ayuda alguna de Dios. No ve al pobre. Se siente seguro. Vive en la inconsciencia total. ¿Se parece a nosotros? Lázaro, por su parte, es un ejemplo de pobreza total: enfermo, hambriento, excluido, ignorado por quien le podría ayudar. Su única esperanza es Dios. ¿Se parece a tantos millones de hombres y mujeres hundidos en la miseria? La mirada penetrante de Jesús está desenmascarando la realidad. Las clases más poderosas y los estratos más míseros parecen pertenecer a la misma sociedad, pero están separados por una barrera casi invisible: esa puerta que el rico no atraviesa nunca para acercarse a Lázaro. Jesús no pronuncia palabra alguna de condena. Es suficiente desenmascarar la realidad. Dios no puede tolerar que las cosas queden así. Es inevitable el vuelco de esta situación. Esa barrera que separa a los ricos de los pobres se puede convertir en un abismo infranqueable y definitivo. El obstáculo para hacer un mundo más justo somos los ricos que levantamos barreras cada vez más seguras para que los pobres no entren en nuestro país, ni lleguen hasta nuestras residencias, ni llamen a nuestra puerta. Dichosos los seguidores de Jesús que rompen barreras, atraviesan puertas, abren caminos y se acercan a los últimos. Ellos encarnan al Dios que ayuda a los pobres • AE

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¿Qué tenemos para leer?

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It is amazing how astute we can be when making business deals. Whether it’s buying a used car or selling a house, all of us learn how to get the most for our money. This is not something new. It’s part of human nature to get the best deal possible. Jesus was aware of this. The parable he told in today’s gospel is about that exactly. The Lord’s point is that we often demonstrate our intelligence, but we don’t apply this intelligence to the one thing that really matter: our eternal salvation. Consider the number of times we’ve sat down and worked out how we can use our talents to be better Christians. Consider the number of times we’ve plotted out how we can foster the practice of our faith in our families. Consider the number of times we’ve thought out how we can put ourselves in situations which would avoid moral problems we’ve had in the past. If we were to add up the minutes spent a month doing this and compare them to the minutes a month spent working out our financial deals, would there be any comparison at all? “You cannot serve God and mammon,” the reading concludes. Basically, the Lord is telling us, «You have the intelligence, use it. Use it to fulfill the mission you assumed when I called you to be my disciples. We must be as resourceful and dedicated in the ways of God as we are in the ways of commerce and politics. Jesus’ parable challenges us to be as eager and ingenious for the sake of God’s reign, to be as ready to use our time and money to accomplish great things for the Gospels as we are to secure our own happiness. We cannot be successful in life by ourselves. But we are not alone. God did not create us and then abandon us. Jesus did not just call us to follow Him and then leave us to our own devices. God gives us His Holy Spirit to empower us. He strengthens us with His Word and His very Body and Blood. He gives us the courage to stand up for the poor, the vulnerable, those about to be born, those being treated poorly by others. Today, in our prayer time, in the silence of our hearts, we could ask the Lord to help us to use our ingenuity to promote His Kingdom • AE

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BOOKS? HERE SOME

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Schedule for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

St Dominic Catholic Church (San Antonio, TX)

Saturday September 17, 2022

3.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confessional)

5.00 p.m. (English Mass @ Main Church)

Sunday September 18, 2022

7.30 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)

10.00 a.m. Holy Mass (English Mass @ Main Church)

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XXV DOMINGO DEL TIEMPO ORDINARIO (CICLO C)

No podéis servir a Dios y al Dinero». Es la sentencia que mejor refleja la actitud de Jesús ante el dinero. Hablamos mucho de la crisis religiosa provocada por el racionalismo contemporáneo, pero olvidamos que el alejamiento de Dios tiene su origen en el poder seductor del dinero. Según Jesús, quien se ata al dinero termina alejándose de Dios. El evangelio no denuncia tanto el origen inmoral de las riquezas conseguidas de manera injusta cuanto el poder que el dinero tiene de deshumanizar a la persona separándola del Dios vivo. Las palabras de Jesús buscan por tanto que tomemos conciencia de la gran diferencia que hay entre el señorío de Dios y el del dinero. No se puede ser fiel a Dios y vivir esclavo del dinero. La riqueza tiene un poder subyugador irresistible. Cuando el individuo entra en la dinámica del ganar siempre más y del vivir siempre mejor, el dinero termina sustituyendo a Dios y exigiendo obediencia absoluta. En esa vida ya no reina el Dios que pide amor y solidaridad, sino el dinero que sólo mira el propio interés. En el evangelio el término «dinero» viene designado con el término de «mammona», y este aparece cuatro veces en el Nuevo Testamento y siempre en boca de Jesús. Se trata de un término que proviene de la raíz aramea «aman» (confiar, apoyarse) y significa cualquier riqueza en la que el individuo apoya su existencia. El pensamiento de Jesús aparece así con más claridad: cuando una persona hace del dinero la orientación fundamental de su vida, su único punto de apoyo y su única meta, la obediencia al Dios verdadero se diluye. La razón es sencilla. El corazón del individuo atrapado por el dinero se endurece. Tiende a buscar sólo su propio interés, no piensa en el sufrimiento y la necesidad de los demás. En su vida no hay lugar para el amor desinteresado y la solidaridad. La consecuencia es que no hay lugar para un Dios Padre de todos. El mensaje evangélico no ha perdido actualidad pues restituye al dinero su verdadero valor y su carácter humano. También hoy es un error hacer del dinero el valor absoluto de la existencia. ¿Qué humanidad puede encerrarse en quien sigue acaparando más y más, olvidado absolutamente de quienes padecen necesidad? • AE

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PARA LEER

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