GOSPEL

She gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 2, 36-40

There was a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.
The word of the Lord.

Complaints and praises.

We see in Anna a woman, very old, yet full of life. She arrives praising God. Can one be complaining and praising God at the same time? Can one be bitter and praise God? Anna was happy in her old age because she had dedicated her entire life to surrendering herself to God. First as a wife, then as a widow, but with her heart set on the love of God and allowing herself to be filled with the love of God. She spoke to everyone about the Lord, communicating to them the love she had received from Him.

As a husband, I know that the only thing preventing me from being happy in life is myself when I do not focus my heart on God, but instead, put my joy and hope in my expectations. If I want to live happily even in old age, I have to set my heart on the Lord, serving the Lord through my vocation.

As the catechism says: Man has been created by God and for God, and only in God will he find the truth and happiness that he constantly seeks.

Applied to married life:

Antonio: Lately, you’ve been complaining a lot, not giving me the attention I need, and I can’t be happy like this.

Marga: I feel the same way. I don’t feel valued by you, you ask things of me that you don’t do yourself… and I don’t feel you in my heart.

Antonio: We need to do something, but certainly, looking at ourselves won’t get us anywhere. That’s not love.

Marga: I think the solution is that we stop looking at ourselves and start being spouses not to receive from the other, but to give glory to God, with our hearts set on God. It’s a decision: I am going to love you, specifically you, because it’s the mission God has entrusted to me and because He is in you.

Antonio: You’re right. God doesn’t deserve us to respond like this after creating us with love and assigning us this wonderful marital mission, with all its excitement, so that we become saints through it. Let’s love each other with our eyes on Him. I’m beginning to regain joy!

Marga: Yes, and hope. Let’s go for it! I’m going to love you so much, you’re going to be amazed!

Antonio: Haha, and I to you. You’re going to be amazed!

Mother,

We seek happiness outside of God and we won’t find it. We need constant conversion to regain the true perspective, which will allow us to be happy until the end of our days. Surrendering ourselves for God and with God. Glory to God!

GOSPEL

The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.
Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 2:36-40

There was a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Masterpiece.

God wanted to be a part of a family, and by doing so, besides dignifying it, He teaches us that this is the means to enter human life, to grow and strengthen as people. In the family, there is an authority of the parents that seeks to free their children from the slavery of sin, an obedience of the children that fulfills them and builds them up, an equality of differences in which, being all of equal dignity, we live with our great differences, a communion in which reciprocal love is lived like nowhere else, a love that unites us and makes the family possible despite our imperfections, and the Peace of Christ that redeems our relationships time and time again. This is the wealth of the family.
What a great miracle of God the family is, what beauty of creation, capable of reflecting the Family that is God.

Applied to married life:

Husband: My wife is key in taking care of the small details. She has been crucial for the growth in faith of our family. She is the one who always seeks to understand the other, who shows close affection towards our children. She is the delicacy, the tenderness of the family.
Wife: My husband is the head of the family. He is like the pillar to which all the rest of us cling. He provides strength, security, and when he says yes, it is a firm yes. He greatly helps in the steadfastness of our children, teaches them to mature in life, and loves them from that apparent distance of someone who, above all sentimentality, wants their well-being.
Both parents: Our children are a gift from God. Bringing them forward in life costs us our very lives, but that is precisely what fills us: Giving our lives to see them grow healthy (especially spiritually). It is an honor that God places these children of His under our authority; they will be our siblings in Christ for all eternity, if He wills it.
Children: Our parents are a demonstration of God’s abundance. Seeing how our parents have devoted themselves to us, we understand a little more how much God loves us. We have a debt to them that we can never repay. So many sleepless nights, so many worries, so many hours spent teaching us, educating us… The honor of having witnessed firsthand a testimony of love, seeing them love each other, strive, ask for forgiveness…

Father,

Thank you for the family you have given us. Thank you because love and family communion have been and are essential for all. Thank you because in it, we have known you and learned to pray. Thank you because it is clear that the family is your masterpiece born from your creative hand. Praise be to you, Lord.

GOSPEL

A light to reveal you to the nations.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 2, 22-35

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared in the sight of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

The Word of the Lord.

Unsatisfied.

If we were not unsatisfied, we would not move. In this life, we will live with permanent dissatisfaction until our last days. This dissatisfaction, of which we speak, can drag me to despair, because I cannot seem to find what I am looking for, because my desires are not fully satisfied. Our marriage is heading towards a constant search for perfection, for mutual understanding, for that love that never seems to be fully satisfied. The missing piece to stabilize and balance this permanent dissatisfaction is called Hope. The Song of Songs reflects very well that beautiful search between the lover and the beloved that does not cease, but always hopes to reach the summit. Simeon’s key was that, the Hope that arises from faith and leads to peace.

Applied to married life:

Almudena: I feel like giving up. I don’t know what else to do for our marriage. And it seems like my husband doesn’t care at all, he does nothing, doesn’t make an effort, I always have to do everything… Marriage mentor: We believe you need more hours of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Almudena: But what does that have to do with it? The problem is with my husband, he’s not making an effort. Marriage mentor: That’s what you believe, the problem is that you lack faith, and that’s why you’re losing hope. You base your arguments on your efforts, on what you do, on what your husband does, and you don’t realize that your marriage is a work of God. You lack faith. Trust us. Adore the Blessed Sacrament and you’ll see. (A few weeks later) Almudena: You were right. I felt so small by His side… Thank you. I have renewed my sacrament with a renewed hope.

Mother,

We have faith, but increase our faith to continue living our vocation with Hope and reach peace. Praise the Lord. Only He is enough.

GOSPEL

Herod ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem. Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 2, 13-18

When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:

A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.

Word of the Lord.

New “Herods”.

Today we celebrate the day of the Holy Innocents. Today we learn that holiness is a gift from God and does not depend on our “merits,” although we should be ashamed every time we speak of them. These children are reigning with the Father, and we could say that they have done nothing to deserve it. They suffered martyrdom, but it was against their will and they could not prevent it. The fact is that they have already participated in the death of Jesus and now participate in His resurrection by pure Divine Grace.

But in the end, God is God of everything and everyone. That defenseless Child Jesus is saved, because God saves him, thanks to Saint Joseph, His Custodian, who protects him by doing what He dictates. Let us do the same with our children, whatever God tells us to do.

Applied to Married Life:

Ramón: How are you, Marta. I haven’t seen you in a long time. Are you not coming here anymore?

Marta: No, we changed the children’s school.

Ramón: And why is that?

Carlos: We didn’t like the environment or the education they were receiving. Even though it was a religious school, Eucharistic celebrations were not frequent, nor were there acts of penitence… and what was taught was not in full communion with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I want my son to be happy, and I know that he will only be so if he follows the path of truth. So, if they are showing him a somewhat misguided path, I will do whatever it takes to ensure that my son is saved. Then come the disappointments and tears, as has happened to my neighbors when their oldest daughter came in the door with a suitcase and two small children, because she can’t stand her husband anymore and is separating. Poor neighbors, poor daughter, and poor children. They have a rough road ahead. We are praying a lot for them and trying to redirect the situation, because they have no idea how to love or what marriage is.

Ramón: Hey, but going back to the school, what you’re telling me is very interesting. Please, tell me, tell me about the details you discovered about the education at our school and also tell me about the school you are taking them to now…

Mother,

The new “Herods” are killing the consciences of children, distorting God’s law. They want to show a god that is not God and a love that is not Love. Mother, we are willing to do everything for the salvation of our family and our children. Praise be to the One who is the Truth. Amen.

GOSPEL

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first.
Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John 20:1a, 2-8

On the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we do not know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.

The Lord’s word.

Why do you believe?

Today we celebrate the day of Saint John the Evangelist, known as the beloved disciple. Why did John believe in the resurrection? Because of the clues he saw in the shroud that wrapped Jesus’ body. Experts say that the correct translation of the Gospel would be the following: “Simon Peter following him entered the tomb and saw the shroud unsoiled, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the shroud but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.” In other words, what John saw is that all the cloths in which they had wrapped Jesus were there, just as they had put them, and that’s impossible unless the resurrected Jesus passed through the shroud and the cloth on his head without untying the tight knot that was used to close the mouth of the deceased.

They were not irrefutable evidence, but they were clues, and John believed in the resurrection. Billions of others have believed after him, maybe also because we have perceived some indication that made us believe.

Applied to married life:

Andrew: Laura, why do you believe?

Laura: I have had many experiences with the Lord. I have experienced how the Father loves me, how he has taken care of me, and how Jesus intervenes in my life and transforms me and those around me. And you?

Andrew: I would almost say I believe because of everything, but if I have to choose something, I would say it’s because I know how our marriage was before I found Him, and I clearly see that a miracle has occurred between us. Before our conversion, nobody thought our marriage would last.

Mother,

I believe that you were the first to believe. Blessed are you. Thank you for going before us in everything, blessed Mother.