Monthly Archives: June 2024

Ultrasound of the Heart of Jesus. Reflection for Marriages. Matthew 5:1-12

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From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.
Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Word of the Lord.

Ultrasound of the Heart of Jesus.

We often recommend looking to the Heart of Christ when reading the Gospel. Today we propose it especially because Jesus speaks to us about being happy, and we immediately focus on understanding the keys to happiness to see if, finally… it fully arrives. But if Jesus describes who the blessed are, it is because He wants to make them blessed. Therefore, we delve into the desires of the Heart of Jesus.

Applied to married life:

Carmen: Many times, we ask to be in the Heart of Jesus and to live everything from Him. How can we do it?
Luis: Certainly by knowing Him to have “the same feelings as Christ,” and for that, there is no better ultrasound than the beatitudes. In them, He describes His deepest desires.
Carmen: For example, His inclination toward those most in need. He will be attentive to you, especially when you need Him the most.
Luis: Also toward those who suffer for His cause. How much He loves you when you are criticized for loving Him.
Carmen: Or toward those who follow Him in that mercy. How much I must value you each time you reach out to someone despite their sin.
Luis: And those who strive to establish the will of God as He did and give themselves to achieve peace. We are in His Heart when we give ourselves on the cross to bring His peace to others.
Carmen: And also the pure of heart. Here, I especially see those He said were His Mother and brothers, those who hear the Word and fulfill it. How much He values this unwavering faithfulness. This is what He likes us to have among ourselves, without criticism, without complaints…
Luis: How much one learns from the Heart of Jesus in the Beatitudes, right?
Carmen: I love it. I have to keep praying them to discover more things.

Mother,

With you, my spirit rejoices in God. Praise be.

Madness, yes, but madness of love. Reflection for marriages: Mark 3:20-35

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GOSPEL

A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand
From the Gospel according to Mark 
Mk 3:20-35
Jesus went home with his disciples, and such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.
  The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’ So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either – it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his house.
  ‘I tell you solemnly, all men’s sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.’ This was because they were saying, ‘An unclean spirit is in him.’
  His mother and brothers now arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’
The Gospel of the Lord
Madness, Yes, But Madness of Love

When people think it’s already excessive how much one gives to others or how deeply one loves God, they often think one is out of their mind. Such is the intensity of Jesus’ love for people that it even prevents Him from eating.

Applied to Married Life:

Father: Daughter, this isn’t normal. You’re almost skipping meals just to see your husband for a bit and have coffee with him. One day, it’s going to take a toll on you. You’ll see him again tonight anyway. Why such a rush? Stay a bit longer, eat calmly, rest, and then go straight to pick up your children from school.
Mary: Dad, I want to see him, alright? We can spend a little time together. He tells me that being with me makes him feel great, it relaxes him and clears his mind, and on the days I can’t go, he misses me a lot and really notices the difference.
Father: Daughter, no one would believe you’ve been married for 24 years. Your husband is very lucky!
Mary: No, Dad, I don’t believe in luck. I am truly blessed with the husband God has given me!

Mother,
I know you prefer that I love the Lord above all, because by loving Him, I make you happy too. That’s the beauty of your holiness. Teach us, Mother, to discern where madness lies and where true wisdom is, so that we may be truly faithful to the total surrender Christ asks of us. We ask this through Him. Amen.

How Comfortable It Is. Reflection for marriages: Luke 2:41-51

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GOSPEL

Mary stored up all these things in her heart
From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 2:41-51
Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere.
  Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’
  ‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied. ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant.
  He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart.
The Gospel of the Lord
How Comfortable It Is
Today we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And what does the Gospel reveal about Her precious Heart? It shows that She kept only the things of God there, even if She understood little or nothing at all, as this Gospel explicitly states: “They did not understand what He said to them.”
Let us live in the Heart of Mary, where everything smells of God, tastes of God, and leads us to God. I love it!
Applied to Married Life:

(Before their consecration to the Heart of Mary):
Myriam: I don’t understand why my husband is so harsh with me. God should have given me someone more sensitive because he makes me suffer so much…
George: I don’t understand why my wife blames me for her sufferings when I don’t see myself as the cause. She brings it upon herself with her interpretations…

(After their Consecration to the Heart of Mary):
Myriam: Thank you, Mother, for teaching me to love my husband as God wants. I suffered a lot until my sensitivity was purified, and I learned to look at him with affection in his lack of delicacy until he learned to be gentle through God’s grace, through you.
George: Thank you, Mother, for introducing me to Your Heart and showing me my wife’s delicate heart. It required much purifying patience and understanding, but now I almost understand her, and she understands me too. Now we both understand God’s plan for us.

Mother,
How comfortable it is in Your Immaculate Heart. It is so pure that it purifies, so sweet that it sweetens, so tender that it softens… And at the same time so firm that it strengthens us and so faithful that it makes us faithful in the Love of Christ.
Praise be to God for the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In Response to the Piercing. Reflection for marriages: John 19:31-37

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GOSPEL

Out of his pierced side there came out blood and water
From the Gospel according to John 
Jn 19:31-37

It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath – since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water. This is the evidence of one who saw it – trustworthy evidence, and he knows he speaks the truth – and he gives it so that you may believe as well. Because all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture:
“Not one bone of his will be broken”;
and again, in another place scripture says:
“They will look on the one whom they have pierced”.

The Gospel of the Lord
In Response to the Piercing

Today, on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we look upon the One we have pierced.
What is the response of His Most Sacred Heart? To pour out upon us His redeeming Blood and purifying water. That is the answer to my piercing.
But what Heart would use the wounds I inflict to shower me with all His Love and His last breath of Life?
Only the Heart of Jesus. Only God.

Applied to Married Life:

Sylvia: I gaze in awe at the Heart of Jesus, with that burning Love He needs to share with us as spouses, and I wonder, why don’t we use it to love each other more?
Richard: It’s incredible that the Lord offers us His Nuptial Love for us to enjoy with each other. I think the problem is that He gives it to us along with the Blood of Sacrifice, and that part we want to avoid.
Sylvia: Exactly. We want to live His glory but not His Cross. But I will not miss the opportunity to respond to His burning Love, so I offer myself to Him in sacrifice through Mary.
Richard: I won’t miss it either, so I too offer myself to Mary in sacrifice. Let Her decide for me.

Mother,
Totus Tuus ego sum.

Let her decide. Reflection for marriages Mark 12: 28-34

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GOSPEL

‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’
From the Gospel according to Mark
Mk 12:28-34

One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him any more.

The Gospel of the Lord

Let Her Decide

Loving God. That is the key. How to do it? With the heart, it is clear, as it means desiring only Him and His will, and that is already complicated. But what about the mind? And the whole being? I finally conclude that it will be He who makes it possible, because if I do it myself, I will only make a mess of things. My role is to throw myself into His Heart, like the lance that pierced it. He will be the one to welcome me into His wound.

Applied to Married Life:

John: Lord, I don’t see clearly what my wife is proposing. I’ve communicated my doubts to her, given her alternative options, and explained my reasons several times. Yet, despite everything, she sees it so clearly… And I feel that I am becoming internally troubled, and this situation is distancing me from her heart, which cannot be.
Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to offer you my mind and place it at Your service. I know what I will do. I will tell her that I trust her judgement more than my own and that we will do as she suggests. If she sees it so clearly, I will trust her judgement over mine. For the rest, I leave us in Mary’s hands for Her to guide us as she sees fit.

Mother,
Be the one to help me cross the threshold that separates me from the cross, so that my surrender may be complete, and my love for God and my husband may be total.