How wonderful that this Sunday we can talk and meditate on our Mother the ever-blessed Virgin Mary! With the exception of Jesus Christ, who is the Eternal Word, conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit, she is the greatest person to ever exist.  She is the greatest person to be conceived through a human mother and a human father. She is greater of any of the great people of history. She is the one who was conceived without sin. She gave her life so we can have a Savior. She is the greatest of us all. The greatest of us all is a woman. Mary brought a new dignity to every woman who has ever lived and who ever will live. Women bring life into the world and nurture this life.  Because Mary sacrificed herself for us, our women bring unique reflections of God into the world and nurture His Image with their bodies and with their lives. Women are life givers. Christian women give life to the Divine. Women are sources of love, carriers of love and nourishers of love. In these days when the most lucrative industry in the world is the pornography industry, where mainly young girls are exploited, Our Lady reminds us of the Dignity and Respect that are the natural rights of every female among us. We men are reminded that it is our obligation to care for and protect our women, be they little girls, teens, wives, singles, widows or the elderly. All men need to pray for those among us whose biblical origin was a gift from God to Adam. In these days of the glorification of the self, Our Lady reminds us of a person whose body and spirit were created for another.  She said “Yes” to the angel at the Annunciation and allowed God to radically change her life. She nurtured and cared for the child that others wanted dead.  She supported Jesus as a young man when some thought he was deranged. She stood with Him as He was tortured to death to complete the Father’s plan of redemption. She accepted John the apostle and us into her heart and became our mother. For all this and more than we could ever imagine, Mary was rewarded with her total union with God at the conclusion of her earthly life. She was assumed into heaven. Now closest to her Son, the judge of the Living and the Dead, within whisper length from his ear, she brings our prayers before Him.  We can be sure of this! She brings the prayers we offer when we honor her in the Rosary.  She brings the prayers we offer when we just call out, “Mother, help us!” so today we pray to her and we celebrate, with hearts full of joy, that she was taken to heaven where she lives forever • AE

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Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the weekend of August 14-15, 2021,

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saturday, August 14, 2021

4.00 p.m. Sacrament of Confession

5.00 p.m. Vigil Mass (English) @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

Sunday, August 15, 2021.

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

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

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Solemnidad de Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María (2021)

Hoy es fiesta grande para los creyentes. Una fiesta que no es sino el eco del anuncio pascual: Cristo ha resucitado y María es llevada en cuerpo y alma a los cielos. Aquella mujer que supo acoger como nadie la salvación que se le ofrecía en su propio Hijo, ha alcanzado ya la vida definitiva. La que supo sufrir junto a la cruz la injusticia y el dolor de perder a su Hijo, comparte hoy su vida gloriosa de resucitado y nos invita a caminar por la vida con alegre esperanza. La Asunción de la Virgen es una fiesta que confirma nuestra esperanza cristiana: hay salvación para el hombre. Hay una vida definitiva que se ha cumplido ya en Cristo y que se le ha regalado ya a María en plenitud. Hay resurrección. María es la Madre de nuestra esperanza. Ella es «la perfectamente redimida», como solía decir Rahner. En ella se ha realizado ya de manera eminente y plena lo que esperamos un día vivir también nosotros. Pero María es sobre todo Madre de esperanza para los pobres y los rechazados de este mundo. Si María es grande y bienaventurada para siempre es porque Dios es el Dios de los pobres. María se alegra de que Dios sea así. El Dios de los pobres y los humillados. El que ha sabido mirar la humillación y bajeza de su esclava. El que no se ha detenido ante Popea o Cleopatra, sino que ha fijo su mirada en una pobre muchacha sin brillo ni riquezas. Al cantar hoy el Magníficat podríamos recordar quién es el Dios que ha glorificado a María y en el que ella ha puesto todo su gozo y su esperanza. No es el Dios lejano e indiferente en el que a veces pensamos, sino el Dios de los sencillos, aquel que «derriba del trono a los poderosos y enaltece a los humildes; el que coIma de bienes a los hambrientos, y a los ricos despide con las manos vacías». Estas palabras no son palabras de ningún profeta agresivo ni de ningún guerrillero violento, sino que han brotado de la ternura, la limpieza y el gozo que caben en el corazón de María santísima; ese corazón que había guardado la memoria y el gozo de Jesús, quien bendecía al Padre porque ha ocultado su reino a los aristócratas de la tierra y lo ha revelado a aquellos que aparentemente no valen nada, pero valen todo • AE

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Sadly, it seems that when it comes to religion, many people resort to relativism.  They decide that they can determine what is a teaching of the Church, or what they feel is moral or immoral.  You see this reflected in today’s Gospel. In this the third of five weeks on the Sixth Chapter of John, people who have heard Jesus say that He is the bread that has come down from heaven do not want to listen to his teaching. Now this is after they had witnessed his multiplying the loaves and fish.  This is after they heard about his walking on the water.  This is after they had learned about the great signs Jesus worked in healing people.  He had a wonderful teaching for them.  He was offering them the gift of His Body and Blood. But they did not want to hear it.  They had decided for themselves who this Jesus was. “To me, the Jesus is just one of us.  He can’t be giving us a new teaching,” they said using the Ad Hominem argument, the attack on the person instead of considering the statement that person made. And so, they refused to hear Jesus explain that their prophets had predicted that they would be taught by God.  They would not consider that Jesus’ wonders were signs that He had come from the Father.  They were not open to hear that those who believed in Him would have eternal life. They scoffed at His declaration that He is the Bread of Life. They did not want to hear that those who eat this bread will live forever. They had decided for themselves what they would believe.  As a result, they rejected Jesus, His Teaching, and His Gift of eternal life. Many people are held captive to what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called the Dictatorship of Relativism. They decide for themselves what the truths of our faith are or what they should or should not do to live the Christian life.  They may not say those words, but we witness this in people who treat Holy Communion as a sacramental instead of as a sacrament.  A sacramental is a devotional object or practice to remind us of some aspect of our faith.  Signing ourselves with holy water is a sacramental.  It reminds us of our baptism.  Receiving ashes at the beginning of Lent is a sacramental.  This practice reminds us of our dependence on God.  Sacramentals are useful but are totally optional.  The Eucharist is not a sacramental.  It is a sacrament! It is the real presence of Jesus Christ uniting His Body and Blood to us and presenting us with Him to the Father. Holy Communion is the Bread of Life that we need to eat to have eternal life. Yet, some people will treat communion as a sacramental, an option that may or may not be received. So, they say, “To me Holy Communion is something I do when I go to Church, but it is not necessary for me to receive it; so, I do not attend Mass every Sunday.” People simply relegate the teaching of Jesus Christ as inferior to their own perception of the truths of the faith.  They are bound by the dictatorship of relativism. This also takes place in the Church’s teachings on morality.  Some people will say, “To me there is nothing wrong with two people who love each other having marital relations outside of marriage even though they are married to other people.” They refuse to accept the Church’s teaching #Magisterium on fidelity in marriage because it does not fit their own perception of morality. The “to me this teaching means….,” or “to me this or that is moral or immoral,” are the same faulty ways of understanding and living the faith that are reflected in today’s Gospel.  My brother, my sister: it is not up to us to decide what faith and morality is or is not.  It is our duty and responsibility to learn what the Church teaches and to follow these dictates.  Period. Does this sound too radical? It certainly is, but the following of Christ is radical! In doing this we are protecting ourselves from the relativism that renders all teaching superfluous, even that teaching which emanates from Christ Himself. May this weekend we find a little moment to meditate on this • AE

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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Agustin’s will be out of town during the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time and he will resume his regular schedule on Monday August 9, 2021 with the 8.30 a.m. Mass.

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XIX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo B)

La incredulidad no es, como más de algun@ ha llegado a pensar, una «deformación perversa del espíritu», o algo propio de hombres malvados y retorcidos que pretenden enfrentarse con Dios. No. La incredulidad es una tentación que siempre estará presente en nuestra vida, y que empieza a echar raíces en nuestro corazón desde el momento mismo en que decidimos caminar de espaldas a Dios. Vivimos en una sociedad donde creer en Dios es como anticuado, como algo poco importante y fácil arrinconar en algún lugar muy secundario de nuestra vida. Lo sencillo es vivir como si Él no existiera ¿Qué puede significar hoy para muchos hombres y mujeres la invitación de Jesús a escuchar al Padre? Los que nos decimos creyentes hemos ido perdiendo la capacidad para escuchar a Dios. No es que Dios no hable, sino que llenos de ruido, posesiones y autosuficiencia, no sabemos ya percibir su voz. Esta es la mayor de nuestras tragedias porque al no escucharlo, lo echamos de nuestra conciencia. Cada vez más intentamos ocultarnos a su mirada amorosa. Preferimos otros dioses con quienes vivir con más tranquilidad. El Concilio Vaticano (¡siempre tan criticado!) nos recordaba que «la conciencia es el núcleo más secreto y el sagrario del hombre, en el que se siente a solas con Dios, cuya voz resuena en el recinto más íntimo de aquélla»[1]. Cuando perdemos la capacidad de escuchar la voz de Dios en el fondo de nuestra conciencia, corremos el riesgo de gritar colectivamente afirmaciones muy solemnes sobre el amor, la justicia, la solidaridad y honestidad, pero sin darles luego cada uno un contenido práctico en nuestras propias vidas, y así vivimos fracturados. Este domingo, en nuestro rato de oración, podríamos pedir al Espíritu de Dios que nos regale su luz y su sabiduría para no olvidar que vamos construyendo nuestra vida no tanto en los acontecimientos ruidosos sino en esas horas calladas en las que Él nos habla y nos invita a ser dóciles, obedientes. A confiar en Él • AE

[1] Constitución Pastoral Gaudium et Spes, sobre la Iglesia en el mundo actual, n. 16.

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There are many people who at a certain point in their life have the impression of finding themselves in a dead end. What troubles them are not the normal problems of work, family or the minor things of regular life, but an inner restlessness that is difficult to explain. A time has come when they hardly have any taste for life. They don’t know exactly why, but they no longer manage to live with any joy. They may not reveal it to anyone, but there is a kind of inner emptiness in them. How to get life back? What to do to feel alive again within yourself? Where to find a liberating energy? How to open again to the «miracle» of life? Perhaps, first of all, we have to realize that what we need then is to discover where «the source of life» can be capable of regenerating us. According to K G. Dürckheim, who recently died in Germany, the greatest problem for many men and women today is living isolated from God. Depending on the moment or the circumstances, a person may feel alive or inert, euphoric or despondent, empty or dissatisfied, but the real problem is living «without roots», separated from the mysterious depths of existence, without contact with the source of life. Whether we know it or not, what worries us from the inside is always, in some way, the fear of losing ourselves, the bewilderment in the face of the absurd, the anguish in the face of loneliness. This triple anxiety marks our life and makes us always look for security, meaning and love. Consciously or unconsciously, man carries within himself the nostalgia for a life that is above all death, for a meaning that is beyond the meaning and nonsense of this world, for a protection and welcome that nothing can endanger. When we perceive this deeply enough, something tells us inside that God and only God can be the source of true life. Nothing that is not God is enough for us. If then one succeeds in humbly opening up to God, a liberating force penetrates and regenerates; everything changes, then we can live with a different confidence, with a new meaning, with true hope. The words of the Lord in today’s Gospel are a wonderful announcement to understand that in him and only in him is that solution that we have been looking for so much • AE

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Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for Eigteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

Saturday, July 31, 2021

TBD

Sunday, August 1, 2021. 

12.30 p.m. English Mass @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

3.00 p.m. Spanish Mass @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

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XVIII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo B)

La gente necesita a Jesús y lo busca. Hay algo en él que los atrae, pero todavía no saben exactamente por qué lo buscan ni para qué. El evangelio dice que en aquel tiempo muchos lo hacían porque el día anterior les ha distribuido pan para saciar su hambre. Vemos que el Señor comienza a conversar con ellos y que desea aclararles las cosas. El pan material es importante; Él mismo les ha enseñado a pedir a Dios «el pan de cada día» para todos, pero el ser humano necesita algo más y Jesús quiere ofrecerles un alimento que puede saciar para siempre su hambre de vida. La gente intuye que Jesús les está abriendo un horizonte nuevo, pero no saben qué hacer, ni por dónde empezar. El evangelista resume sus interrogantes con estas palabras: «y ¿qué obras tenemos que hacer para trabajar en lo que Dios quiere? ». Hay en ellos un deseo sincero de acertar. Quieren trabajar en lo que Dios quiere, pero, acostumbrados a pensarlo todo desde la Ley, preguntan a Jesús qué obras prácticas hay que hacer. La respuesta de Jesús toca el corazón del cristianismo: «la obra (¡en singular!) que Dios quiere es ésta: que creáis en el que él ha enviado». Dios quiere que creaamos en Jesus, él es el gran regalo que Él ha enviado al mundo. Ésta es la nueva exigencia. En esto han de trabajar. Lo demás es secundario. Después de veinte siglos de cristianismo, ¿no necesitamos descubrir de nuevo que toda la fuerza y la originalidad de la Iglesia está en creer en Jesucristo y seguirlo? ¿No necesitamos pasar de la actitud de realizar montones y montones de prácticas a vivir como discípulos de Jesús? La fe cristiana no consiste primordialmente en ir cumpliendo correctamente un código de observancias nuevas, superiores a las del antiguo testamento. No. La identidad cristiana está en aprender a vivir un estilo de vida que nace de la relación viva y confiada en Jesús el Cristo. Nos vamos haciendo cristianos en la medida en que aprendemos a pensar, sentir, amar, trabajar, sufrir y vivir como Jesús. Ser cristiano exige hoy una experiencia de Jesús, pero sobre todo una sincera identificación con su vida, con sus enseñanzas. Hoy más que nunca necesitamos de ésa adhesión y de contacto vital con el Señor, ¿cómo lo vamos a lograr? Hoy podríamos dedicarle un café -o dos- a pensar en esto • AE

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Dear friends, in these weeks of transition I am adapting to the schedule of my new parish community, St. Dominic Catholic Church. Some weekends I don’t have an official Confession schedule, but that doesn’t mean I’m not available. I always am! Please, if you need the Sacrament of Reconciliation, send me an e-mail (agusestrada@gmail.com) and we will find the best time to celebrate the Sacrament of joy. This applies even to every weekday. There is always time for a spiritual talk. Currently I am our of town but I will be in my regular schedule on Saturday, July 31. Fr. Agustin

As every summer, this Sunday we begin a five week focus on the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John, the chapter on the Bread of Life. That the Church should spend five weeks on John 6 demonstrates that this is one of the most important sections of the Gospels. John 6 begins with the multiplications of the loaves and fish, our Gospel for this Sunday. Why is this miracle retold so often in the Gospels? There are two accounts of the multiplication in Matthew and Mark, one in Luke and one in John. In each passage phrases are used that are repeated at the Last Supper.  «He took, He blessed, He broke.»  Each passage refers to God’s continual gift of the one food we need, the Eucharist. Three elements are emphasized in John’s account of the multiplication to provide a deeper understanding of the Eucharist.  Maybe you noticed them.  These elements are the time of the multiplication, references to Psalm 23, and the gathering of the fragments that are left over. The time of the multiplication. The Gospel of John places the multiplication of the loaves and fish at the time of the Passover. This is not just a passing note. The Passover was the sacred meal of the Jews celebrating their freedom from slavery in Egypt and thanking God for His continual protection.  In today’s Gospel Jesus provided a meal at the Passover time. He would provide another meal during another Passover. Holy Thursday took place at the time of the celebration of the Passover. The Last Supper was really the First Supper of the new People of God.  The food would no longer be the Passover lamb, but the Lamb of God. The people would eat the Body and Blood of the Lord.  It would be a meal of deliverance from slavery, slavery to the devil, slavery to sin.  It would be a meal that would provide freedom.  It would be a meal that would celebrate the New Life of the Lord. So, from the very start of today’s Gospel, we know that John is speaking about more than loaves and fish. He is speaking about the meal of the Christian Community, the Eucharist. Secondly, Psalm 23. You all know it: The Lord is my shepherd. In today’s Gospel Jesus sees the needs of the people.  He has them recline on the green grass, green pastures if you will. He restores their strength with his food.  This is not just about loaves and fish.  Jesus is performing a prophetic action.  He provides the banquet Psalm 23 spoke of, the Banquet of the Lord. Those who eat this food will continue to eat it in the House of the Lord forever. When we receive communion, we share in the meal of the Kingdom of God.  We are united to people throughout the world and throughout time who also share in this meal.  Picture yourself at table on Thanksgiving Day.  Around the table are all your loved ones, including those who have passed on to the Lord many years ago.  This is the Banquet of the Lord we share every time we receive communion. The third element that John 6 emphasizes in this account of the multiplication is the recovery of the fragments that are left over. Back in the days of the exodus from Egypt, the food that the people had brought with them ran out. They called upon Moses to give them food.  He prayed to God, and God provided manna. When the people of Israel gathered the manna in the desert, they were told not to take more than they needed.  And the left-over manna was not to be stored. Jesus does the opposite.  He tells his disciples to gather up the remains.  Enough is left over to fill twelve baskets.  Twelve is not a random number.  There were 12 patriarchs, the sons of Jacob[1].  There would be 12 apostles[2], the patriarchs of the New Testament. The Lord tells them to care for the food He provides. This does not just refer to not wasting the bread. The Eucharist which is not consumed during the Christian banquet is not to be thrown out. It is the Body of the Lord.  It is to be saved for those who were not able to be present at His meal so they also can partake of his food.  What we have here is the biblical basis for the preservation of the Eucharist in our tabernacles! The Eucharist is stored so those who cannot attend the feast might still receive the Lord’s Body. It is kept in our tabernacles for them. It is also kept in the tabernacle for all of us to reverence this special presence of the Lord.  We do this every time we come into Church and genuflect and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. We do this when we pause after communion and reflect on the One inside us. So, these three elements emphasized by John in his account of the multiplication, the Passover, the fulfillment of Psalm 23, and the preservation of the fragments, remind us that God has provided a meal that is far greater than we could ever hope for, or even ever imagine.  How great is our God?   God is so great that he has found a way for all of us to attend the eternal Passover.  How great is our God?  God is so great that he leads us into his presence and feeds us his meal.  How great is our God?  He is so great that he has found a way for each of us to join the disciples at the Last Supper, or what is really the First Supper, the First Supper of the Kingdom. We need to ask ourselves at communion time:  «What am I doing? Am I just following the crowd?”  Hopefully not.  “Am I receiving some sort of blessing?”  Hopefully, we realize that communion is much more than a blessing. What is it that I am doing when I receive communion?  I am receiving the Food that God provides. Today we pray for a deeper appreciation, a deeper reverence for the great gift of Love that is the Eucharist • AE

[1] ACTS 7:8-9 [2] Cf Luke 6:13

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Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Saturday, July 24, 2021

4.00 p.m. Sacrament of Confession

5.00 p.m. Vigil Mass (English) @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

Fr. Agustin will be out of the parish from Sunday July 25 to Friday July 30, resuming his usual schedule of confessions and masses on Saturday July 31, 2021.

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XVII Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo B)

De todos los hechos realizados por Jesús durante su actividad profética, el más recordado por las primeras comunidades cristianas fue seguramente la multiplicación de los panes y los peces. Es el único episodio recogido en los cuatro evangelios. El contenido del relato es de una gran riqueza. Siguiendo su costumbre, el evangelio de Juan no lo llama «milagro» sino «signo». Con ello nos invita a no quedarnos en los hechos que se narran, sino a descubrir desde la fe un sentido más profundo. Jesús ocupa el lugar central. Nadie le pide que intervenga. Es él mismo quien intuye el hambre de aquella gente y plantea la necesidad de alimentarla. Es conmovedor saber que Jesús no solo alimentaba a la gente con la Buena Noticia de Dios, sino que le preocupaba también el hambre de sus hijos. ¿Cómo alimentar en medio del campo a una muchedumbre? Los discípulos no encuentran ninguna solución. Felipe dice que no se puede pensar en comprar pan, pues no tienen dinero. Andrés piensa que se podría compartir lo que haya, pero solo un muchacho tiene cinco panes y un par de peces. ¿Qué es eso para tantos? ¡Para Jesús es suficiente! Ese joven, sin nombre ni rostro, va hacer posible lo que parece imposible. Su disponibilidad para compartir todo lo que tiene es el camino para alimentar a aquellas gentes. Jesús hará lo demás. Toma en sus manos los panes del joven, da gracias a Dios y comienza a repartir entre todos. La escena es fascinante. Una muchedumbre, sentada sobre la hierba verde del campo, compartiendo una comida gratuita un día de primavera. No es un banquete de ricos. No hay vino ni carne. Es la comida sencilla de la gente que vive junto al lago: pan de cebada y pescado en salazón. Una comida fraterna servida por Jesús a todos gracias al gesto generoso de un joven. Esta comida compartida era para los primeros cristianos un símbolo atractivo de la comunidad nacida de Jesús para construir una humanidad nueva y fraterna. Les evocaba, al mismo tiempo, la eucaristía que celebraban el día del Señor para alimentarse del espíritu y la fuerza de Jesús, el Pan vivo venido de Dios. Pero nunca olvidaron el gesto de aquel muchacho. Si hay hambre en el mundo, no es por escasez de alimentos, sino por falta de solidaridad. Hay pan para todos, falta generosidad para compartirlo. Hemos dejado la marcha del mundo en manos del poder económico inhumano, nos da miedo compartir lo que tenemos, y la gente se muere de hambre por nuestro egoísmo irracional, ¿vamos a seguir así? • AE

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AÑO SANTO COMPOSTELANO

El Año Santo o Año Jubilar Compostelano es un tiempo en el que la Iglesia concede singulares gracias espirituales a los fieles, a imitación de lo que la Biblia dice del año jubilar de los israelitas: Cada 7 años era Año Sabático, en él recuperaba las tierras quien las había vendido por necesidad y los esclavos adquirían la libertad. Cada 50 años era Año Jubilar (Lv, 25). Jesús dice que Él viene a anunciar un año de gracia del Señor (Lc, 4,16). La Iglesia Compostelana, con su Año Santo, concede también un especial año de gracia.

Es Año Santo compostelano cuando el 25 de julio, Conmemoración del Martirio de Santiago, coincide en domingo. Se produce con la periodicidad 11, 6, 5, 6 años. Tiene su origen en 1122, con el Papa Calixto II, confirmado posteriormente por el Papa Alejandro III en la Bula “Regis aeterni” de 1179, confiriéndole perpetuidad. La Sede de Pedro alabó reiteradamente a lo largo de los siglos la peregrinación a Santiago y el Año Santo. “Nos exhortamos a todos amadísimos hijos a seguir esa vía de fidelidad evangélica, de autenticidad cristiana y de iluminada esperanza que, a través de los siglos, ha guiado a tantas almas hasta el Templo Compostelano”. (Pablo VI: A. St 1971). “Invito a los peregrinos a que hagan acopio de las sugestivas experiencias de fe, caridad y fraternidad que encuentren en su andadura, a que vivan el Camino sobre todo interiormente, dejándose interpelar por la llamada que el Señor hace a cada uno de ellos. Así podrán decir con gozo y firmeza en el Pórtico de la Gloria: «Creo»”. (Benedicto XVI: A St 2010).

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