G. K. Chesterton, wrote a wonderful essay on three modern wise men. These three heard that there was a city of peace, a city where there would never be wars or disturbances. The men wanted to live in that city, but to do so, they had to past a test. They had to present themselves at the gates of the city with gifts to demonstrating that they belonged there because they were men who would ensure the continual peace of the city. So they journeyed to this wondrous city with what, they were sure, would be gifts that would guarantee peace and earn them admission into the city. When they got to the gates of the city, St. Joseph was there to judge their gifts. The first modern wise man brought gold. He suggested that money was the root of all wars. With the gold that he bought, people could buy all the pleasures of the world and have no need to fight. He was convinced that gold would bring peace. The second modern wise man did not bring frankincense. He brought chemistry. He brought modern science. With his science he could drug the minds of people into a state of perpetual bliss. With his chemistry, he could seed the soil and control the population. People would then have all that they would need so they would never go to war again. The story was developed to present the third modern wise man bringing a split atom, a new myrrh, a new symbol of death. His message was that anyone who opposed the way of peace would face death. This wise man was the father of nuclear deterrence. After they showed him their gifts, St. Joseph refused to let any of them enter. «What more could we have brought to demonstrate that we are men of peace,» they protested. «We carry with us means to provide affluence, control nature and destroy enemies.» St. Joseph whispered something into the ear of each man. Then they turned and went away with heavy hearts. He told them that they had forgotten the child. With all our technology, with all our affluence, with the power we have shown to dominate many forces of nature, we moderns are convinced that we are wise. We are convinced that we can find ways to ensure peace and happiness for everyone. We are convinced that we are wise. This might all seem good, but we have forgotten the child. Peace only comes through the Prince of Peace. Men cannot create peace apart from God. A century ago, the Pope, Benedict XV, decried the Treaty of Versailles. He said that God was not even mentioned in the treaty. The Treaty of Versailles ended WWI the so-called “war to end all wars.” How well did that treaty work? Nineteen years later World War II began. Are we wise? Do we seek him? Or do we have all the answers in our technological pockets? Do Siri, or Alexa or Google hold the answers we really need? Technology cannot answer the deep questions of life. It can only deal with relatively surface issues. The true answer to our big questions is beyond the realm of technology, but one of the first answers provided by faith. We must be convinced that unless our thoughts are Christo-centric, revolve around Jesus Christ, our Way to the Father, not only do we not have the answers about life, we don’t even know the questions that need to be asked. Although the advance of technology continues and this can and does benefit humankind, we have to ask, “Is the unbridled use of technology acceptable? Is AI, Artificial Intelligence, the solution to all problems? Do we need to apply ethics to technology? If, so, how? We seek peace, but we forget the child. First we have to find the child. Then we can enter the City of Peace. There are many messages carried in this feast day. There is the message of the Word of God manifested to the Gentiles. There is the message of God’s secret plan now revealed. There is the message that God calls all people from all nations to Himself. There is a message against prejudice and bigotry. There is also the message that seeking Christ means wanting Him to transform our lives. This transformation will temper our acceptance of advancements in technology and materialism. The Christian way of thinking molds us into wise men and women. And the wise still seek him • AE

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Un relato de la Natividad

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Solemnidad de la Epifanía del Señor (2022)

Es tal el ruido en que vivimos y tan grande la ola de materialismo, que casi hemos quedado atrofiados para descubrir a Dios en el día a día. No es que seamos ateos, es que nos hemos vuelto incapaces de relacionarnos con Dios. Cuando buscamos o conocemos el amor bajo formas degeneradas y cuando la vida está movida exclusivamente por intereses egoístas de beneficio o ganancia, algo se seca en nuestro corazón, y perdemos esa capacidad de relacionarnos con Él. Delp, ejecutado por los nazis, veía en este endurecimiento interior el mayor peligro para el hombre moderno: «Entonces deja el hombre de alzar hacia las estrellas las manos de su ser. La incapacidad del hombre actual para adorar, amar, venerar, tiene su causa en su desmedida ambición y en el endurecimiento de la existencia». Es así. Esta incapacidad para adorar a Dios se ha apoderado también de muchos creyentes que sólo buscan un Dios útil. Sólo les interesa un Dios que sirva para sus proyectos privados o sus programas socio-políticos. Dios queda así convertido en un artículo de consumo del que podemos disponer según nuestras conveniencias e intereses. Pero Dios es otra cosa. Dios es Amor infinito, encarnado en nuestra propia existencia, encarnado en la persona -real- de Jesús. Y ante ese Dios, lo primero es adoración, adoración profunda y de rodillas, y también júbilo, acción de gracias. Cuando olvidamos esto el cristianismo corre peligro de convertirse en un esfuerzo gigantesco de humanización, y la Iglesia en una institución eternamente agobiada, con la conciencia de no lograr el éxito moral por el que lucha y se esfuerza, terminando en una agencia que aboga más por el cambio climático que ayudando a sus hijos a alcanzar la salvación. Nuestra fe cristiana, antes que nada, es el descubrimiento de la Bondad de Dios; la certza de que sólo Dios salva. El gesto que nos presenta hoy el evangelio -los Magos arrodillados delante el Niño de Belén- expresa la actitud primera de todo creyente ante Dios. Dios existe. Está ahí, en el fondo de nuestra vida. Somos acogidos por Él. Amados por Él. Constantemente perdonados por Él. No sabemos con exactitud qué nos espera detrás de la muerte, pero hoy podemos vivir con confianza ante el misterio. Ante un Dios del que sólo sabemos que es Amor, no cabe sino el gozo, la adoración y la acción de gracias. El Espíritu nos conceda comenzar el añ nuevo con éstas tres actitudes en nuestro corazón: gozo, la adoración y la acción de gracias • AE

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¡Changos y chinitas duérmansen!

Llegaron ya los reyes eran tres

Melchor, Gaspar y el negro Baltasar.

Arrope y miel, le llevaran,

y un poncho blanco de alpaca real.

Changos y chinitas duerman sen

que ya Melchor Gaspar y Baltasar,

todos los regalos traerán

para jugar mañana al despertar.

El Niño Dios muy bien lo agradeció

comió la miel y el poncho lo abrigó

y fue después, que sonrió,

y a media noche el Sol relumbró •

So, how can Mary, a human being, be the mother of the Infinite One? This mystery is best understood when we focus on Jesus Christ. He is the Eternal Second Person of the Trinity, and a human nature, He took on humanity through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is the mother of his human nature, not his divine nature. Mary is not a goddess. She is a human being who was prepared to be the vessel through which the Word would become flesh. 

That is why we say Mary is the Mother of God. This is what we are celebrating today. What must it have been like for the Eternal Word, to take on the nature of a human within the Blessed Virgin? He had to feel her heart beating. He had to be aware of the experience of being a human when he was only a microscopic zygote, then an embryo, then a fetus. When during her pregnancy Mary prayed to God, the child within her heard and answered her prayers. The Incarnation began at the Annunciation. Life outside of His Mother began on Christmas. There is a Christmas hymn that explains the mystery Jesus and Mary in a very simple way. 

The baker woman in her humble lodge received a grain of wheat from God. For nine whole months the grain she stored. Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Make us the bread, Mary, Mary. Make us the bread, we need to be fed. The baker woman took the road which led to Bethlehem, the house of bread. To knead the bread she labored through the night, and brought it forth about midnight. Bake us the bread, Mary, Mary. Bake us the bread, we need to be fed. 

She baked the bread for thirty years by the fire of her love and the salt of her tears, by the warmth of a heart so tender and bright, and the bread was golden brown and white. Bring us the bread, Mary, Mary. Bring us the bread, we need to be fed. 

After thirty years the bread was done. It was taken to town by her only son; the soft white bread to be given free to the hungry people of Galilee. Give us the bread, Mary, Mary. Give us the bread, we need to be fed. 

For thirty coins the bread was sold, and a thousand teeth so cold, so cold, tore it to pieces on Friday noon when the sun turned black and red the moon. Break us the bread, Mary, Mary, Break us the bread, we need to be fed. 

And when she saw the bread so white, the living bread she had made at night, devoured as wolves might devour a sheep, the baker woman began to weep. Weep for the bread, Mary, Mary. Weep for the bread, we need to be fed. 

But the bakerwoman’s only son appeared to his friends when three days had run on the road which to Emmaus led, and they knew him in the breaking of bread. Lift up your head, Mary, Mary. Lift up your head, for now we’ve been fed. 

How beautifully this captures today’s Solemnity. Mary, Mother of God, baked the Bread of God within her, delivered this bread in Bethlehem, the city that means House of Bread, and watches as we are fed by the Bread. She is the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God. She is the Mother of God. So, Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen • AE

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Fr. Agustin Schedule for

The Octave Day of Christmas: Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God (2022)

The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (2022)

Friday, December 31, 2021. 

Saturday, January 1, 2022. 

Sunday, January 2, 2022

TBD

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ALMA REDEMPTORIS MATER

Alma Redemptoris Mater (Loving Mother of our Redeemer in English) is a Marian hymn, written in Latin hexameter, and one of four seasonal liturgical Marian antiphons sung at the end of the office of Compline (the other three being Ave Regina Caelorum, Regina Caeli and Salve Regina)

Alma Redemptoris Mater (Madre del Redentor) es un himno Mariano, escrito en latín, y una de las cuatro Antífonas Marianas que se cantan al final de la liturgia de las horas. Las otras tres son: Ave Regina Caelorum, Regina cœli y Salve Regina. Se cree que su autor fue Hermannus Contractus (“Herman el Cojo”; 1013–1054) quien se basaría en los escritos de los santos Fulgencio, Epifanio, e Irineo de Lyon.1​Este himno se menciona en «el cuento de la priora», uno de los relatos de Geoffrey Chaucer en los (preciosos) Cuentos de Canterbury. Antiguamente se recitaba en las completas sólo desde el primer domingo de Adviento hasta la Fiesta de la Candelaria o fiesta de la purificación de la Virgen (2 de febrero) •

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Solemnidad de María Santísima, Madre de Dios (2021) 

LA VISITADORA

Era Belén y era Nochebuena la noche. Apenas si la puerta crujiera cuando entrara. Era una mujer seca, harapienta y oscura con la frente de arrugas y la espalda curvada. Venía sucia de barro, de polvo de caminos. La iluminó la luna, y no tenía sombra. Tembló María al verla; la mula no, ni el buey, rumiando paja y heno igual que si tal cosa. Tenía los cabellos largos color ceniza, color de mucho tiempo, color de viento antiguo. En sus ojos se abría la primera mirada, y cada paso era tan lento como un siglo. Temió María al verla acercarse a la cuna. En sus manos de tierra, ¡oh Dios!, ¿qué llevaría…? Se dobló sobre el Niño, lloró infinitamente y le ofreció la cosa que llevaba escondida. La Virgen, asombrada, la vio al fin levantarse. ¡Era una mujer bella, esbelta y luminosa! El Niño la miraba. También la mula. El buey mirábala y rumiaba igual que si tal cosa. Era en Belén y era Nochebuena la noche. Apenas si la puerta crujió cuando se iba. María al conocerla gritó y la llamó: «¡Madre!» Eva miró a la Virgen y la llamó: «¡Bendita!». ¡Qué clamor, qué alborozo por la piedra y la estrella! Afuera aún era pura, dura la nieve y fría. Dentro, al fin, Dios dormido sonreía teniendo, entre sus dedos niños, la manzana mordida • A. Murciano

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Most important for today’s feast, the Feast of the Holy Family is the conclusion of the reading: Jesus went back to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them, growing in wisdom, and age, and favor with the Father. So let us take a look at the family, the Catholic family. For the Catholic family to function as God meant it to function, there must be certain fundamentals. The family must be centered on the real presence of God’s love. This springs from a sacramental union of husband and wife. Sacramental union. Sadly, some people are more concerned with their wedding than they are with their marriage. They are willing sacrifice the sacrament of matrimony for a sunset. But just as the secular celebration of Christmas quickly fades away on December 26th, a secular marriage will quickly fade into a simple remembrance of a wonderful party. What is needed, what is necessary for a real marriage, a Christian marriage, a Catholic marriage, is the presence of Jesus. The sacrament of matrimony is the union of Jesus Christ to the love of the husband and wife. With Christ present in their marriage, the newly married couple joins the Lord in creating the Little Church. That is an expression that used to be popular in describing the Catholic Family. The Little Church exists as long as there is a sacramental union, even if the couple does not have children. If the husband and wife are blessed with children, then the children are brought up in the Little Church of their parents’ marriage. That is why we baptize infants. They are baptized in the faith of their parents. People are not ready to think about marriage unless they are ready to think about having children and raising them for God. Those who think that they are too young to have children are too young to marry. Parents have the responsibility of caring for their children in every aspect of their children’s lives. They feed them, keep them clean, care for them when they are sick, help them to learn how to have a good relationship with other children, help them as their minds develop, and in all ways protect them. The greatest responsibility that parents have, though, is to raise their children for God. They have to give their children the ability to become that unique reflection of God’s presence He created them to be. Parents bring their children to Church and prepare them to celebrate the second two sacraments of initiation, communion and confirmation. They make sure their home is a Little Church by keeping all that would destroy that Church out of their home. Jesus was subject to his parents and obedient to them. He allowed them to fulfill their responsibility to care for him in all ways. Children need to be taught that the authority of their parents comes from God. The Fourth Commandment, Honor you Father and Mother, is rooted in the responsibility God gives parents to lead their children to be all they can be: physically, mentally, emotionally, and most importantly spiritually. Jesus was the center of the Holy Family. Jesus must be the center of all our families • AE

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Fr. Agustin Schedule for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (2021)

7.30 a.m. English Mass @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

10.00 a.m. English Mass @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

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Fiesta de la Sagrada Familia (2021)

Los hombres terminamos por acostumbrarnos a casi todo. Decía Péguy que hay algo peor que tener un alma perversa, y es tener un alma acostumbrada. Por eso no nos puede extrañar demasiado que la celebración de la Navidad, envuelta muchas veces en superficialidad y consumismo, apenas diga ya nada nuevo y gozoso a tantos hombres y mujeres de alma acostumbrada. Ya no nos sorprende ni conmueve un Dios que se nos ofrece como niño. Lo dice A. Saint-Exupéry en el prólogo de El Principito: «Todas las personas mayores han sido niños antes. Pero pocas lo recuerdan». Se nos olvida lo que es ser niños. Y se nos olvida que la primera mirada de Dios al acercarse al mundo ha sido una mirada de niño. Pero ésa es justamente la noticia de la Navidad. Dios es y sigue siendo, misterio, pero ahora sabemos que no es un ser tenebroso, inquietante y temible, sino alguien que se nos ofrece cercano y entrañable desde la ternura y la transparencia de un niño. Y éste es el mensaje de la Navidad. Para salir al encuentro de ese Dios, hay que cambiar el corazón, hacerse niños, nacer de nuevo, recuperar la transparencia, abrirse confiados a la gracia y al perdón. A pesar de nuestra aterradora superficialidad, de nuestros escepticismos y desencantos, y, sobre todo, de nuestro inconfesable egoísmo y mezquindad de adultos, siempre hay en nuestro corazón un rincón en el que todavía no hemos dejado de ser niños. Atrevámonos siquiera una vez a mirarnos con sencillez y sin reservas. Hagamos un poco de silencio a nuestro alrededor. Apaguemos el televisor. Olvidemos nuestras prisas, nerviosismos, compras y compromisos. Escuchemos dentro de nosotros ese corazón de niño que no se ha cerrado todavía a la posibilidad de una vida más sincera y más confiada en Dios. Es posible que escuchemos una llamada a renacer a una fe nueva. Una fe que rejuvenece; que no nos encierra en nosotros mismos, sino que nos abre; que no recela, sino confía; que no entristece, sino ilumina; que no teme, sino ama • AE

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ADESTE FIDELES

Adeste fideles laeti triumphantes, Venite, venite in Bethlehem. Natum videte Regem angelorum. Venite adoremus Dominum.

Acudid, fieles, alegres, triunfantes; venid, venid a Belén, ved al nacido Rey de los ángeles. Venid adoremos, venid adoremos,venid adoremos al Señor. He aquí que dejado el rebaño,los pastores llamados se acercan a la humilde cuna y nosotros nos apresuramos con paso alegre. Venid adoremos, venid adoremos, venid adoremos al Señor. El esplendor eterno del Padre Eternolo veremos oculto bajo la carne Al Dios Niño envuelto en pañales Venid adoremos, venid adoremos, venid adoremos al Señor.

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Every year brings with it unexpected blessings, and unexpected challenges. This year has been no different than any other. No matter what life has brought us, there is something extremely beautiful that at the end of the year we are celebrating our reason for hope. Jesus the Christ has been born! The eternal Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Word of God, has become flesh and dwelt among us. What does this birth in a stable mean to me, to you, to the world? That is the question; the big one. It means that mankind’s reality is being drastically changed. Before Jesus, man was merely a physical being. He was created to be physical and spiritual, but he forfeited his capacity for the spiritual to the power of evil. The grasp of evil is still experienced in many people turning to the secular values of life to find hope, fulfillment, and salvation. Glamour, fame, power, prestige, and money preoccupy much of their attention and energy. Many people, and perhaps, to some degree all of us, look for hope in the wrong places. Jesus Christ is the source of hope. His life is the antithesis of those secular values that so many grasp and that lead so many to despair. He is the King of Kings, yet He is born in a stable. Our nativity scenes often whitewash the fact that stables are dirty places, stinky places. We contemplate Jesus in a manger for his throne, but we forget that a manger is a place for animals to get their food. The One who is the source of hope makes it clear from the first moments of his life outside of his mother that hope is found in God, not in materialism of any sort. Isn’t it sad that many have transformed the day we celebrate the birth of a child in a stable into a celebration of materialism? When St. Francis of Assisi built the first nativity scene in Italy[1], he called upon people to celebrate the life of the Poor One who was in fact our Savior. Jesus Christ is our Savior. His name, Jesus, means God saves. We needed to have our capacity for the spiritual restored. We needed to be saved from eternal death. We needed to be saved from the power of evil, the dominance of Satan. How? How is it that He saves us? Jesus responded to the hatred of the devil with the Love of God. He let evil do its worst to Him, out of obedience to the Father and love for those creatures made in God’s image and likeness. He was born and placed in a manger so He could die on a cross. Satan wanted to be like God. He told Adam, mankind, Eve, mother of the living, and the rest of us that if we immerse ourselves in the material we could be like God, gods ourselves[2]. But the result of our pushing God out of our lives was radically different than expected. It did not make us gods. Instead, our world was filled with hatred, and death. The birth of the child in the manger, Jesus, the Savior, resulted in the Triumph of God. Love conquers all. A child is born for us today. A Savior is given to us. He restores our spiritual life. He gives our lives meaning and purpose and fulfillment. May we view every challenge and every joy from the perspective of the One who is the Center of all Creation. It is here for us. It is here for you. It is here for me. He is here for us. He is here for you. He is here for me. We can have peace. If we keep God in the center of our lives, we will have peace, a peace infinitely greater than any the world could provide. May the Peace of Christ be with you! • AE

[1] 1223, in Grecio. [2] Cf Genesis 3:5

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Christmas celebrations 2021 • St. Dominic Catholic Church

Saturday December 25, 2021

12.00 a.m. English Mass (Yes: this mass begins at midnight)

Saturday December 25, 2021

10.00 a.m. English Mass

Sunday, December 26, 2021

(Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph)

7.30 a.m. English Mass @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

10.00 a.m. English Mass @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

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Solemnidad de la Natividad del Señor (Navidad)

La Navidad es mucho más que todo ese ambiente superficial y tan manipulado que se respira estos días en nuestras calles. Una fiesta mucho más honda y gozosa que todos los que podemos tener entre las manos en esta ¡ay! sociedad de consumo. Los creyentes tenemos que recuperar de nuevo el corazón de esta fiesta, descubrir detrás de tanto ruido el misterio que da origen a nuestra alegría. En otras palabras: tenemos que aprender a celebrar la Navidad. No todos saben lo que es celebrar. No todos saben lo que es abrir el corazón a la alegría. Y, sin embargo, no entenderemos la Navidad si no sabemos hacer silencio en nuestro corazón, abrir nuestra alma al misterio de un Dios que se nos acerca, reconciliamos con la vida que se nos ofrece, y saborear la fiesta de la llegada de un Dios Amigo, el Dios con nosotros. En medio de nuestro vivir diario, a veces tan aburrido, apagado y triste, se nos invita a la alegría. No puede haber tristeza cuando nace la vida, decía san León Magno. No se trata de una alegría insulsa y superficial. La alegría de quienes están alegres sin saber por qué. Nosotros tenemos motivos para el júbilo radiante, para la alegría plena y para la fiesta solemne: Dios se ha hecho hombre, y ha venido a habitar entre nosotros, como nos dice el evangelio de hoy[1]. Hay una alegría que sólo la pueden disfrutar quienes se abren a la cercanía de Dios, y se dejan coger por su ternura. Una alegría que nos libera de miedos y desconfianzas delante Dios. ¿Cómo temer a un Dios que se nos acerca como niño? ¿Cómo huir ante quien se nos ofrece como un pequeño frágil e indefenso? Dios no ha venido armado de poder para imponerse a los hombres. Se nos ha acercado en la ternura de un niño a quien podemos hacer sonreír o llorar. Dios no puede ser ya el Ser Omnipotente y Poderoso encerrado en la seriedad y el misterio de un mundo inaccesible. Dios es este niño entregado a la humanidad, este pequeño que busca nuestra mirada, nuestra atención. El hecho de que Dios se haya hecho carne dice mucho más de cómo es Dios, que todas nuestras cavilaciones y especulaciones sobre su misterio. Si supiéramos detenernos en silencio ante este Niño y acoger desde el fondo de nuestro ser toda la cercanía y la ternura de Dios, quizás entenderíamos por que el corazón de un creyente debe estar transido de una alegría diferente estos días de Navidad • AE

[1] Cfr. Jn 1, 1-18 o 1, 1-5. 9-14.

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La Virgen Gitana (Villancico Andaluz)

La Virgen como es gitana
A los gitanos camela
San José como es gachón
Se rebela, se rebela

La Virgen lavaba
San José tendía
La Virgen lavaba
San José tendía
Ay, curricuti
Ay curricuti curricutin
Agua le traía, agua le traía, agua le traía
Madroños al niño no le demos más
Que con los madroños se pué emborrachar
Que sí, que no, Rocío se llama la madre de Dios

La Virgen vendió la mula
Porque le daba coraje
San José como es gachon
Atrincó su correaje

La Virgen lavaba
San José tendía
La Virgen lavaba
San José tendía
Ay, curricuti
Ay curricuti curricutin
Agua le traía, agua le traía, agua le traía
Madroños al niño no le demos más
Que con los madroños se pué emborrachar
Que sí, que no, Rocío se llama la madre de Dios

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During and after the Christmas holidays, I am available to celebrate the Sacrament of Confession. A good time can be before or after the celebration of the Eucharist at our parish community, but if you need another time due to your schedule, the easiest way to arrange a good time for both of us is by sending me an email (agusestrada@gmail.com); I will reply as soon as possible with some options. Peace! • AE