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GOSPEL

The Gospel passage from the book of Luke 14:25-33 conveys Jesus’ message to a large crowd.

He tells them that to be His disciple, one must be willing to prioritize their commitment to Him over even their closest family members. Additionally, Jesus emphasizes the importance of carrying one’s own burdens, symbolized by the cross, to follow Him faithfully. He uses examples of estimating the cost of building a tower or the wisdom of a king going to war to illustrate the need for careful consideration before embarking on any endeavor. Ultimately, Jesus teaches that true discipleship requires a willingness to relinquish all worldly possessions.

Message of the Lord.

The Tower of the Heart

Jesus underscores that true riches come from relying on earthly possessions for personal satisfaction. He challenges us to consider the purpose of our lives and what kind of “tower” we are building. If we lack the means to achieve our ultimate goal – goodness, beauty, truth, and justice – we should engage in negotiations with the One who possesses everything. If we seek to align our plans with God’s, we must make a pact with Him, even while He seems distant. This pact requires us to be prepared to let go of all earthly attachments to inherit the eternal.

In the context of married life:

Emma: Mike, should your marital commitment be governed by your intellect or your heart?
Mike: I believe my intellect should govern it.
Emma: Therein lies a challenge, as love is not guided by our intellect but by our heart’s passions and will. These elements are intertwined within the heart. Why did you choose the intellect?
Mike: I thought it would provide the right judgment for a loving relationship.
Emma: You’re on the right track. Order your heart using your sound judgment and the grace’s strength, and then let your heart guide your commitment in marriage. This is the path of virtue. A virtuous person attains the spontaneity of the heart because their heart aligns with Christ’s, and their desires become Christ’s desires.
Mike: I may not fully grasp it, but it sounds promising.
Emma: We are working on taming our unruly passions, and the day we desire God’s will above all else, without clinging to other desires, is when we can fully enjoy marriage here on Earth.
Mike: I understand it better now. It’s a pursuit worth undertaking.

Mother,

It is worthwhile to relinquish the finite to attain the infinite. It is worth sacrificing fleeting attractions for eternal love. The spiritual battle to follow Christ is a worthy endeavor. Praise be to our Lord forever.

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GOSPEL

From the Gospel according to John 2:13-22

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[a]

The Jews then responded to him, “What signcan you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Message of the Lord.

Temple’s dignity

The Gospel of the Lord underscores the sacredness of the temple, with Jesus showing deep dedication to His Father’s temple and referring to his own body as a new temple. He foretells a future where God’s worship will transcend physical locations and become a matter of spirit and truth. In this new era, our bodies are the temples, as the Spirit resides within us, and God is at the core of our souls. This prompts us to reflect on how we should diligently care for and treat our own bodies, as well as how we should regard and interact with our spouse’s body.

In the context of married life:

Anna: I struggle to grasp the severity of the Lord’s actions when He expelled the money changers from the temple.
Peter: The temple was a holy place, and those individuals were in the area meant for purification. The Lord needed to convey that this was not the proper path for purification.
Anna: Now our bodies are the temple. How does He expect us to treat them?
Peter: Certainly, with the utmost purity. He takes the sanctity of God’s temple very seriously, and our bodies now hold this same dignity.
Anna: Undoubtedly, considering His response, we must appreciate the significance He places on maintaining purity in our sexuality.

Mother,

May we consistently treat one another with the dignity that God has granted us. If we falter, let us accept correction with humility. Praise be to God.

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Gospel
From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 14:15-24

One of those at table with Jesus said to him,
“Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.”
He replied to him,
“A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many.
When the time for the dinner came,
he dispatched his servant to say to those invited,
‘Come, everything is now ready.’
But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.
The first said to him,
‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it;
I ask you, consider me excused.’
And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen
and am on my way to evaluate them;
I ask you, consider me excused.’
And another said, ‘I have just married a woman,
and therefore I cannot come.’
The servant went and reported this to his master.
Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant,
‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town
and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out
and still there is room.’
The master then ordered the servant,
‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows
and make people come in that my home may be filled.
For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'”

Message from the Lord.

The essential grace.

The nourishment for the soul is God’s Grace, which allows us to experience His kingdom. God grants us enough grace to fulfill His plan, but often, we make excuses to avoid taking responsibility for losing His grace. These excuses weaken us, hindering our willingness to embrace it fully. The result? We miss out on God’s kingdom on Earth.
The Lord offers us a banquet of graces, but we reject it with our excuses, missing out on the blessings.

Applied to marriage:

Peter: While reading the Gospel, I initially thought it didn’t apply to me because I’ve responded to the Lord. But I wondered, “Why am I not experiencing the Kingdom?”
Anna: That’s an intriguing question. Have you reached any conclusions?
Peter: Yes, I’ve realized that God constantly invites me to a feast of graces, but I keep making excuses instead of embracing them.
Anna: I see. Could you clarify a bit more? I’m not fully understanding.
Peter: Well, with the Sacrament of Marriage, God assures that I’ll receive the necessary grace for our marriage as He intended. But if I’m not living it that way, it’s likely because I’m not fully accepting it.
Anna: Are you squandering the grace?
Peter: Exactly. I’ve declined God’s invitation to live in His Kingdom, and from now on, I’ve resolved not to make excuses.

Mother,

You are filled with Grace. You wholeheartedly accepted God’s grace. Rejoice, Queen of Heaven! Hallelujah.

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EVANGELIO

No invites a tus amigos, sino a pobres y lisiados.
Lectura del santo Evangelio según san Lucas 14, 12-14

En aquel tiempo, Jesús dijo a uno de los principales fariseos que lo había invitado:
«Cuando des una comida o una cena, no invites a tus amigos, ni a tus hermanos, ni a tus parientes, ni a los vecinos ricos; porque corresponderán invitándote, y quedarás pagado.
Cuando des un banquete, invita a pobres, lisiados, cojos y ciegos; y serás bienaventurado, porque no pueden pagarte; te pagarán cuando resuciten los justos».

Palabra del Señor.

Carta a un hijo:

Hay dos maneras de amar. Una es la concupiscente, propia del “amor” a las cosas y la otra es propia del amor a las personas.
Las cosas se “aman” cuando tienen una utilidad para mí. Digamos que se aman por el interés.
Las personas se aman por sí mismas. Se les ama porque se desea un bien para ellas y por tanto, no pretendo otra cosa que amarte, y nada más.

Aterrizado a la vida Matrimonial:

Carta a un hijo:
Marcos: Pensé que tu madre iba a ser siempre tan dulce como el día que la conocí.
Natalia: Pensé que tu padre iba a tener tantos detalles conmigo como cuando éramos novios.
Marcos: Pensé que yo iba a ser siembre el centro de su vida, y llegasteis vosotros, nuestros hijos… y sentí que yo pasaba a un segundo plano.
Natalia: Pensé que cuando tu padre llegase del trabajo iba a llegar deseando compartir conmigo todo lo que le había pasado durante el día…
Etc, etc, etc.
Marcos: Pero gracias a que tu madre no ha sido perfecta, he aprendido a quererla a pesar de sus limitaciones.
Natalia: Pero gracias a que tu padre no ha sido perfecto, he aprendido a amarle de verdad, tal como es.
Marcos y Natalia: Que sepas, querido hijo, que el amor de tu esposa tarde o temprano te va a defraudar. Ese día, en que ella no podrá pagarte con amor, podrás ser bienaventurado, porque Dios te pagará todo lo que tú seas capaz de amarla a ella. Y Dios es inmensamente generoso.
Que seas muy bienaventurado, o feliz, hijo.
Tus padres.

Madre,

El Señor se empeña en enseñarnos a amar de verdad. Nosotros nos resistimos, y por eso nos perdemos la grandeza del plan que Él tiene para nosotros. Alabado sea el Señor que nos creó para algo grande: Para amar.

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GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 14:12-14

From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 14:12-14On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Message from the Lord.

Letter to a child:

There are two ways to express love. One is the self-serving love, typical of affection for material things, while the other is the love directed towards people.
Material objects are “loved” when they serve a purpose for oneself, essentially driven by self-interest.
On the other hand, love for people is about cherishing them for who they are, desiring their well-being, and nothing more than that.

Applied to married life:

Letter to a child:
Peter: I initially expected your mother to remain as sweet as the day I first met her.
Anna: I thought your father would continue to show as much affection as he did when we were dating.
Peter: I believed I would always be the center of her life, but when you and our children arrived, I felt like I took a back seat.
Anna: I hoped that when your father returned from work, he would come home eager to share his daily experiences with me…
And so on, and so forth.
Peter: However, because your mother isn’t perfect, I’ve learned to love her despite her shortcomings.
Anna: Similarly, because your father isn’t flawless, I’ve learned to genuinely love him just as he is.
Peter and Anna: Know, dear child, that your spouse’s love will eventually fall short. On that day when they can’t reciprocate with love, you can find happiness, for God will reward you based on how much love you’re able to give. And God’s generosity knows no bounds.
May you find great joy, my child.
Your parents.

Mother,

The Lord is determined to teach us the essence of true love. We often resist, which leads us to miss out on the grand plan He has in store for us. Let us give praise to the Lord for creating us for a significant purpose: to love.