Our society perpetuates the great lie that love can be won through an elixir. The elixir may be becoming a professional who makes a great deal of money. Money is supposed to guarantee that happiness can be bought. Or the elixir might be that having the perfect body will attract lasting love. But the beautiful bodies of the young become the bodies of the middle aged. Commercials try to convince us that the right perfume or cologne will do the job. That’s as close to an ancient elixir as you can come. But a good job never won anyone love, and a beautiful body may attract another person but it isn’t going to win his or her love. And a Chanel No. % is not going to be a love magnet. Today’s second reading from the First Letter of John, and our gospel reading is from John 15 both speak about love, Christian love. Christian love is not forced on a person. It isn’t due to an elixir, nor does it come merely from physical attraction, or any other attraction for that matter. Love, true love, lasting love, only results from the Love of Christ. And that love becomes a magnet. If a person loves the Lord, that love itself will attract other people who are seeking the Lord. Perhaps it will attract a person who is looking for someone to make a life with, certainly it will attract many others who are looking for the meaning to life. St. Teresa of Calcutta. Her work among the poorest of the poor spread throughout the world. Her religious order, the Missionaries of Charity, became the fastest growing religious order in the Church. Why were so many people attracted to Mother Teresa? Certainly, they felt called to join her in making the gospel a reality: «…when I was hungry you gave me food to eat, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, etc.»[1]. But there was even more than this that attracted people to Mother Teresa. They were drawn by Jesus’ love within her. And like a magnet, that love flowed through her into them. And then they attracted others to Christ. The love of Christ flowed through her into them. It still does. We have been attracted by the dynamism, the magnetism of Jesus Christ. We know that saying that we love Him is not enough. We have to live His Love. In the Gospel Jesus uses this phrase: “Remain in my love.” He tells us that we remain in His Love if we keep His commandments. But Jesus doesn’t give a whole list of commandments like Moses did when he came down from Mt. Sinai. Jesus just gives one commandment: Love one another. That is all that really matters, if we love each other, truly, in the sacrificial love of the Lord, everything else falls into place. St. Augustine put it this way: «Once and for all, a short rule is laid down for you: Love and do what you will. If you keep silence, do it out of love. If you cry out, do it out of love. If you refrain from punishing, do it out of love. Let the root of love be within you. From such a root, nothing but good can come»[2]. So, we are concerned about this or that member of the family. Maybe he or she is in a bad relationship, or behaving badly. If we strike out at them, let them feel our wrath for the people they are hurting, we will accomplish nothing. But if instead we allow the magnetism within us to be evident in our concern for them, and we seek the ways that we can we best expose them to the love of Christ, eventually, over time, Christ will prevail. The Easter message is that Jesus is the Victor. Christ wins. He always wins. Another example: we are invited to join an activity which is immoral; and we decline respectfully, but lovingly. A close friend asks us to join him or her. And we say, “I have to tell you what is happening inside of me. I just can’t reconcile going there and doing that with the deep love for God I feel within me. It just is not me. It is not my style.” And we leave it at that, then the person we are speaking to might eventually, someday, also say, “I want that deep love of God in my life.” Jesus Christ is the Elixir of Love. He is the potion that brings happiness. Let us pray today for the courage to love His Presence so much that His Love will flow through us and attract others to love as He Loves • AE
[1] Cf Matthew 25 [2] From St. Augustine’s sermon on 1 John 7
Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 2021
Saturday, May 8, 2021
11.00 a.m. First Communion Mass @ Our Lady of Grace
4.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
5. 30 p.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
Sunday, May 9, 2021
9.00 a.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
11.00 a.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
5. 30 p.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
VI Domingo de Pascua (Ciclo B)
Autor anónimo, Cristo devolviendo la vista a un ciego, oro y tempera sobre papel, Salterio de Rutland (f 29v), British Library.
En el evangelio que la liturgia nos presenta este domingo, el sexto del tiempo de Pascua, Jesús se está despidiendo de sus discípulos[1]. Los ha querido apasionadamente. Los ha amado con el mismo amor con que lo ha amado el Padre. Ahora los tiene que dejar. Conoce su egoísmo y sabe que les cuesta quererse. Los ve discutiendo entre sí por obtener los primeros puestos. ¿Qué será de ellos? Las palabras de Jesús adquieren un tono solemne. Han de quedar bien grabadas en todos: «Éste es mi mandato: que os améis unos a otros como yo os he amado». Jesús no quiere que su estilo de amar se pierda entre los suyos. Si un día lo olvidan, nadie los podrá reconocer como discípulos suyos. De Jesús quedó un recuerdo imborrable. Las primeras generaciones resumían así su vida: «Pasó por todas partes haciendo el bien». Era bueno encontrarse con él. Buscaba siempre el bien de las personas. Ayudaba a vivir. Su vida fue una Buena Noticia. Se podía descubrir en él la cercanía buena de Dios. Jesús tiene un estilo de amar inconfundible. Es muy sensible al sufrimiento de la gente, a su dolor, a sus desgracias. No puede pasar de largo ante quien está sufriendo. Al entrar un día en la pequeña aldea de Naín, se encuentra con un entierro: una viuda se dirige a dar tierra a su hijo único. A Jesús le sale desde dentro su amor hacia aquella desconocida: «Mujer, no llores»[2]. Quien ama como Jesús, vive aliviando el sufrimiento y secando lágrimas. Los evangelios recuerdan en diversas ocasiones cómo Jesús captaba con su mirada el sufrimiento de la gente. Los miraba y se conmovía: los veía sufriendo, o abatidos o como ovejas sin pastor[3]. Rápidamente, se ponía a curar a los más enfermos o a alimentarlos con sus palabras. Quien ama como Jesús, aprende a mirar los rostros de las personas con compasión. Es admirable la disponibilidad de Jesús para hacer el bien. No piensa en sí mismo. Está atento a cualquier llamada, dispuesto siempre a hacer lo que pueda. A un ciego que le pide ayuda en el camino, lo acoge con estas palabras: «¿Qué quieres que haga por ti?»[4]. Con esta actitud anda por la vida quien ama como Jesús. Jesús sabe estar junto a los más desvalidos. No hace falta que se lo pidan. Hace lo que puede por curar sus dolencias, liberar sus conciencias o contagiar confianza en Dios. Pero no puede resolver todos los problemas de aquellas gentes. Entonces se dedica a tener gestos de bondad para con todos: abraza a los niños de la calle porque no quiere que nadie se sienta huérfano; bendice a los enfermos porque no quiere que se sientan olvidados por Dios; acaricia la piel de los leprosos porque no quiere que se vean excluidos[5]. Así son los gestos de quien ama como Jesús • AE
The image presented by the liturgy this Sunday is simple and of great expressive force. Jesus is the true vine, full of life; We disciples are those branches that nourish ourselves with the sap that comes to us from Jesus. The Father is the vinedresser who personally cares for the vineyard so that it bears abundant fruit and so that his project of a more human and happier world for all becomes a reality. And at the same time, the image highlights where the problem lies: There are dry branches through which the sap of Jesus does not circulate, that is, disciples who do not bear fruit because the Spirit of the Risen One does not run through their veins. Christian communities that are turned off because their members are disconnected from their Lord. That is why an affirmation charged with intensity is made: «the branch cannot bear fruit if it does not remain on the vine»: the life of the disciples is sterile if we do not remain in Jesus. His words are very clear: «Without me you can do nothing.» Isn’t this the root of the crisis in our Christianity? The way many Christians live our faith, without a vital union with Jesus Christ, will not last long: it will be reduced to a kind of anachronistic folklore that will not bring the Good News of the Gospel to anyone. The Church will not be able to carry out her mission in the contemporary world, if those of us who call ourselves Christians do not become disciples of Jesus, animated by his spirit and his passion for a more human world. Being a Christian today requires a vital experience of Jesus Christ, an interior knowledge of his person and a passion for his doctrine. We Christians today live some kind worried and distracted by many issues however we must not forget the essential: We are all branches and only Jesus is the true vine. The decisive thing in these moments is to remain united to Him, to pay full attention to the Gospel. This is the only way to nurture our communities and our souls • AE
Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the Fifth Sunday of Easter 2021.
Saturday, May 1, 2021
11.00 a.m. First Communion Mass @ Our Lady of Grace
4.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
5. 30 p.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
Sunday May 2, 2021
10.30 a.m. Mass @ Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church
12.00 p.m. Mass @ Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church
5. 30 p.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
May, month of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The month of May (Overview – Calendar) is the «month which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady,» and it is the occasion for a «moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God’s mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance» (Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May, no. 1). This Christian custom of dedicating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin arose at the end of the 13th century. The practice became especially popular among the members of the Jesuit Order — by 1700 it took hold among their students at the Roman College and a bit later it was publicly practiced in the Gesu Church in Rome. From there it spread to the whole Church • AE
V DOMINGO DEL TIEMPO DE PASCUA (CICLO B)
E. Hopper, Compartment C Car293 (1938), oleo sobre tela, colección privada.
La imagen de este domingo, el quinto dentro del tiempo de Pascua, es de una belleza y una fuerza extraordinarias. Jesús se presenta a si mismo como la vid y de nosotros dice que somos los sarmientos. En otras palabras: la vitalidad de los cristianos nace de él. Si la savia de Jesús resucitado corre por nuestra vida, nos aporta alegría, luz, creatividad, coraje para vivir como vivía él. Si, por el contrario, no fluye en nosotros, somos sarmientos secos. Quizá nuestro problema radica en que celebramos a un Jesús que es una vid llena de vida, pero formada, en buena parte, por sarmientos muertos. ¿Para qué seguir distrayéndonos en tantas cosas, si la vida de Jesús no corre por nuestras comunidades y nuestros corazones? Quizá nuestra primera tarea debiera ser permanecer unidos a la vid, no vivir desconectados de Jesús, sin savia, secos. ¿Cómo lograrlo? El evangelio lo dice con claridad: hemos de esforzamos para que sus palabras permanezcan en nosotros. La vida cristiana no brota espontáneamente entre nosotros. El evangelio no es una deducción racional. Es necesario meditar largas horas las palabras del Señor. Sólo la familiaridad y afinidad con los evangelios nos hará ir aprendiendo poco a poco a vivir como él. Este acercamiento frecuente a las páginas del evangelio nos va poniendo en sintonía con Jesús, nos contagia su amor al mundo, nos va apasionando con su proyecto, va infundiendo en nosotros su Espíritu. Casi sin darnos cuenta, nos vamos haciendo cristianos. La meditación personal y silenciosa de las palabras de Jesús nos cambia más que todas las explicaciones, discursos y exhortaciones que nos llegan del exterior. Las personas cambiamos desde dentro. Y no cambiamos porque con frecuencia por nuestro corazón no pasa la savia de Jesús. La vida de la Iglesia sería ¡ay! Tan diferente si los creyentes -los matrimonios cristianos, los presbíteros, las religiosas, los obispos, los educadores- tuviéramos el libro de los evangelios como nuestro libro de cabecera. Este domingo podríamos tomar esta decisión: leer, todos los días, una página de los evangelios • AE
To remind us of the Lord’s concern for each one of us, to remind us that He rose from the dead to give His Life to all of us and to each of us, the liturgy of the Church presents to us today, Fourth Sunday of Easter, the Gospel of the Good Shepherd[1]. Jesus did not just die for mankind in general. He died for you. He died for me. He knows His sheep. He knows you. He knows me. In fact, He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows everything that has affected our lives from the days when we were in our mothers’ wombs. He knows why we are more joyful or more deeply grieved than others in various situations. And He saves us from our sins. Each of us. You know, when I come upon that expression, “He saves us from our sins,” I’m tempted to limit this to something like “I can go to heaven because of the Blood of Jesus.” And that is true. But there is more, so much more to “He saves us from our sins.” By saving us from our sins, He delivers us from eternal death. We luxuriate in the Presence of Jesus Christ. We treasure this Presence. We want to remain in this Presence. We look forward to resting in His Presence forever. “May eternal rest come upon him or her,” is not just a prayer we make for others. Within it is the profound hope that we also will rest with Him. Every one of us is continually tempted to do really evil things, but giving into their temptations carries with it a huge cost. Giving in means giving up Jesus. And, by the Grace of God, we are just not going to do that. And yes, we are tempted to live a selfish lifestyle, use other people to satisfy our physical needs and behave more like animals than human beings. After all, the media presents this as normal. But for us, if hedonism is normal, we would rather not be normal. We are not going to sacrifice Jesus Christ for a few moments of pleasure. If TV and the movies portray it normal to be sinful, then we would rather be abnormal for the Lord. We would rather be crazy for Jesus in the eyes of an immoral world. And this is yet another way that He saves us from our sins. He saves us from sinning. He means too much to us for us to squander His Presence. He means too much to us for us to become presumptive, to think that, well, “I’ll sin now and ask Him to forgive me tomorrow.” Well, there may not be a tomorrow for us. What would we be like without Jesus? This is the question! Let’s us ask ourselves, and let us be honest. And then let us remember that we have the Lord. Because we value His Presence, we are protected from the physical and psychological dependencies that could easily take over our lives. Those who are sober addicts know this so well. Having the Lord in their lives results in their having an all-surpassing reason to fight off giving in to the addiction. The Lord told the parable of the merchant who found the pearl of great price. Everything was sold to purchase that pearl [2]. We have found the pearl of great price. Or perhaps, to put it better, the Pearl has found us! And now we, like the merchant, are willing to do whatever we can to hold onto that Pearl. He means more to us than anything the world can offer. Jesus Christ makes us want to be better than we are. Alleluia we proclaim. We are sheep. And the Good Shepherd has found us, every single one of us! • AE
Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the Fourth Sunday of Easter 2021.
Saturday, April 24, 2021
10.00 a.m. Reconciliation Service for Children @ Our Lady of Grace
4.30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
5. 30 p.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
Sunday April 25, 2021
9.00 a.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
11.00 a.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
5. 30 p.m. Mass @ St. Peter Prince of the Apostles
IV DOMINGO DE PASCUA
K. Argüello, Cristo Buen Pastor (1979), óleo sobre madera. Colección particular.
Creo que no somos del todo conscientes que muchas veces vivimos “relaciones de intercambio” donde, como decía Weber, parece “estar prohibido el amor” y el sacrificio. El intercambio se ha convertido en factor que determina muchas relaciones. Pareciera ser la principal regla de juego aquella que dice: “Yo te doy en la medida que tú me das”, y así el único principio ético consistiría en no engañar ni cometer fraude en ese intercambio. Por lo demás, uno puede dedicarse a conseguir toda clase de ventajas para sí mismo. Este principio de actuación mercantil no funciona sólo cuando nos intercambiamos artículos, servicios o favores. Es algo que llega a impregnar incluso las relaciones de los matrimonios, las parejas y los amigos, sin embargo, viviendo así estamos vaciando de amor y de amistad nuestras relaciones. Quien ama a una persona, se preocupa por su felicidad y busca antes que nada su bien. Quien, por el contrario, vive una relación mercantil, no se siente responsable del bien o la felicidad del otro; se limita a respetar sus derechos. En el fondo, no está unido amorosamente al otro, sino separado de él por su propio interés. En el amor lo decisivo es aprender a dar sin esperar a nada a cambio. Quiere, quiere, quiere, si tú quieres deveras que no te importe el por qué, que dice la sevillana esa tan bonita[1]. El que ama, sabe dar gratis. No da con el fin de recibir. Da porque ama, porque se siente dichoso al dar. Da de sí mismo, de su vida. Da lo que está vivo en él, su alegría, su fe, su escucha, su comprensión, su perdón. No se puede amar sin dar. Este amor es creador. Engendra fuerza para vivir, ayuda a crecer, crea y recrea continuamente a las personas y las parejas. Uno de los signos más claros de tal amor es la alegría que despierta en los que se aman, a pesar de los desacuerdos, conflictos y tensiones inevitables. Cuando el amor se vuelve triste es señal de que se está apagando, o de que está infectado de ese mercantilismo. Las palabras del Señor en el evangelio de este domingo, el cuarto dentro del tiempo de Pascua, podrían ayudarnos a hacer un silencioso y sereno examen de conciencia sobre este tema. Hoy Jesús nos habla del pastor bueno y del asalariado. Aparentemente los dos aman a las ovejas, sin embargo, uno busca recibir su salario -no le importan las ovejas y por ello las abandona- y el otro, el bueno, da su vida por las ovejas, porque las ama. Es justo en ese amor verdadero de Cristo Buen Pastor que podemos alimentar nuestra capacidad de amar; es ahí donde podemos purificar nuestras relaciones, para no caer en una vida puramente mercantil, y parecernos ¡ay! Un poquito más al Señor • AE
LA MEDITACION DE LA ESPOSA 