Monthly Archives: September 2024

Committing madness. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 5:1-11

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GOSPEL 
Leaving everything, they followed him.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
Word of the Lord.

Committing madness.
The first thing that happens in our relationship with the Lord through the Word is that we are amazed by its effects. The Word is effective! And through it, the Lord accomplishes His actions. 
This is the first thing that surprises us: inexplicable “things” begin to happen. 
But then we continue to scrutinize the Word, and what happens? We fall in love with the Lord. 
Crazy in love, we begin to commit madness. The greatest of them: to leave everything to follow Him. Tottus tuus ego sum, Mary.

Landing in Married Life:
Jaime: We have to say it and proclaim it to the four winds: The Lord has saved our marriage.
Laura: It’s super clear. A series of divine coincidences guided us, and all we did was say “yes” at every step. 
Jaime: But the height of it all is that He has not only saved it but has also made us fall in love with Him, with our vocation, and with each other. A love like this conquers anyone.
Laura: Here we are, drooling… Crazy in love. Praise be to the Lord forever.
Mother,
Blessed be the day you looked upon us, this poor marriage, and called us to this adventure of God’s Love. Glory to Him forever.

From You to You. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 4:38-44

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GOSPEL
It is necessary for me to evangelize also to the other cities, for this is why I have been sent.  
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 4:38-44
After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.”
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, “To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent.”
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Word of the Lord.

From You to You.
The Lord was laying hands on each of the sick until dawn, healing them one by one. Could He not have performed a general healing? He also took the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law to heal her.  
The Lord wants to have a personal relationship with me. A relationship from You to You, with me.  
Every time I stand before Him, He is alone with me. That is how the Lord loves me; He dedicates intimate and personal attention to me.  
That is the relationship He desires to have with me despite my smallness. A relationship of intimacy, from Heart to heart.
Grounded in Marital Life:
On one occasion, a couple told us that the husband would come home very irritable from work, and that was seriously affecting their relationship. So we asked him, “And if she gave you a hug and a kiss as soon as you got home, would that help you disconnect from work?” “Of course!” he said, “That would make everything disappear!”  
Spouses, let us touch each other, caress each other, kiss each other, look at each other, embrace each other. Our flesh is part of the mystical Body of Christ. Through it, His love is transmitted. Let us do as Jesus did, who touches to heal. How many relationships would be healed simply because spouses touched each other more?

Mother,

How important the gestures of affection are; how important it is that we pay attention to one another. It is worth staying up late or overcoming fatigue, just as Christ did. Praised be our Master who spares no effort, who is a close God, and personally heals me in every confession.

To the core. Reflection for marriages St. Luke 4:31-37

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GOSPEL

I know who you are: the Holy One of God.  
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 4:31-37
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.
He taught them on the sabbath,
and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,
and he cried out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!”
Then the demon threw the man down in front of them
and came out of him without doing him any harm.
They were all amazed and said to one another,
“What is there about his word?
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out.”
And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
The word of the Lord.

To the core.
There are words and words. There are empty words and words that carry within them the power of God. That was the fear of the unclean spirits, that the Word of Christ cast them out.  
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there without having watered the earth and made it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).  
It is the Word of God.

Grounded in married life:
Carlos: And you all, why are you so eager to pray the Gospel daily in your Conjugal prayer?  
Carmen: Because the Gospel is not like any other reading. The Gospel has a healing, transforming power. The Gospel expels evil from us and fills us with the Holy Spirit.  
Carlos: We still find it difficult to do conjugal prayer every day.  
Carmen: Saint Paul says to the Hebrews: that the Word “penetrates to the dividing line of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow; and it discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” When you experience this, you will understand what it is to live a truly deep experience between you.
Mother,
May the Word penetrate us and transform us. Blessed be God who gives us His Heart and His wisdom.

Not getting used to you. Reflection for marriages St. Luke 4:16-30

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GOSPEL
He has sent me to evangelize the poor… No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke 4:16-30
Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll,
he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said,
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
The Word of the Lord.
Not getting used to you.
Mismanaged trust poses a serious danger, which is getting accustomed to the presence of the Beloved (with an uppercase letter) and not valuing it to the height it deserves. 
We wonder today what the Lord sees from the Custody when He is exposed before us. How many lost gazes, how many distractions, how many vague thoughts jumping from one trivial theme to another without paying attention to the impressive presence of the Most High before us.
May we not get accustomed to the Beloved with an uppercase letter nor to the beloved with a lowercase letter. Grant us this grace, Lord.
Grounded in married life:
Juanjo: How many times do couples come to talk to us, each filled with mutual complaints (which are usually authentic nonsense), and they are not able to appreciate the “great” man or woman they have by their side.
Marisa: They are hearts of immense beauty and they cannot appreciate it. It makes one want to shout at them: Have you looked closely at your spouse lately?
Juanjo: How important it is to do exercises of “mutual unaccustomedness.”
I love looking back at you as if receiving a gift and unwrapping it slowly as if it were the first time.
Marisa: I love that you look at me with those eyes and make an effort to please me. It helps me a lot to recognize the impressive value that God has given you.
Mother,
May we learn to value the gift of the closeness of the Beloved with an uppercase letter and of the beloved husband who has been entrusted to me as a task. Blessed be the Lord for so much.

Not getting used to you. Reflection for marriages St. Luke 4:16-30

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GOSPEL
He has sent me to evangelize the poor… No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke 4:16-30
Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll,
he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said,
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
The Word of the Lord.
Not getting used to you.
Mismanaged trust poses a serious danger, which is getting accustomed to the presence of the Beloved (with an uppercase letter) and not valuing it to the height it deserves. 
We wonder today what the Lord sees from the Custody when He is exposed before us. How many lost gazes, how many distractions, how many vague thoughts jumping from one trivial theme to another without paying attention to the impressive presence of the Most High before us.
May we not get accustomed to the Beloved with an uppercase letter nor to the beloved with a lowercase letter. Grant us this grace, Lord.
Grounded in married life:
Juanjo: How many times do couples come to talk to us, each filled with mutual complaints (which are usually authentic nonsense), and they are not able to appreciate the “great” man or woman they have by their side.
Marisa: They are hearts of immense beauty and they cannot appreciate it. It makes one want to shout at them: Have you looked closely at your spouse lately?
Juanjo: How important it is to do exercises of “mutual unaccustomedness.”
I love looking back at you as if receiving a gift and unwrapping it slowly as if it were the first time.
Marisa: I love that you look at me with those eyes and make an effort to please me. It helps me a lot to recognize the impressive value that God has given you.
Mother,
May we learn to value the gift of the closeness of the Beloved with an uppercase letter and of the beloved husband who has been entrusted to me as a task. Blessed be the Lord for so much.