Monthly Archives: October 2025

Grace, Grace. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 14:1-6

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Gospel of the Day

From the Gospel according to Saint Luke 14:1-6
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.
In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?”
But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.
Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?”
But they were unable to answer his question.

Grace, Grace
Today we see the Lord curing on the sabbath, because His Mercy wants to reach us at every moment. He says that He is ready to heal us and save us.
Therefore — why don’t we let Him? Why do we resist Grace? The Lord is longing for us to welcome it. In prayer, in the sacraments, and especially, He wants to heal us in the sacrament of confession.
In the sacrament of marriage we have the grace to recognise our sin when “I look badly at my husband”. When I’m seeing that my husband “does everything wrong”, the Lord tells us: “The lamp of the body is the eye”, so then, let us go to confession to heal our interior, let us reconcile with God and then with our husband.
Thank you Lord for giving us the sacraments! Thank you for marriage!

Applied to Married Life
Carmen: Hello Charles! How are you? How’s your day been?
Charles: Fine.
Carmen: (thinking… here we go again — abrupt and cold, always comes home tired and thinking about his work problems…) And your day good?
Charles: Yes.
Carmen: (thinking… well, could you at least ask how my day was? I’ll go prepare dinner, let’s see if he helps.) Charles, I’m going to make dinner, what would you like?
Charles: I don’t mind, whatever you feel like.
Carmen: (thinking… but come on, this is the limit! He doesn’t even help me decide what to cook! He doesn’t even help with that… Lord help me, because I can’t. I’ll pray.)
And the Lord said to her: “The lamp of the body is the eye”.
Well, Lord, it’s true that I’m seeing only the bad, so I’ll be the one to clean my heart and my gaze.
I’ll go to confession. Thank you Lord!
Carmen: Charles, I’ve been to confession because I was seeing everything wrong in you, I’m going to prepare the dinner you like so we can enjoy it together, does that sound good?
Charles: Of course my love! What a blessing your Faith is and how persevering you are in it. What a wonder to have you, Carmen!
Mother,

you are example of humility and of receiving the Grace of God. Thank you for being our Mother and model to reach your Son, Our Lord.
Praised be the Lord for ever!

Unity is the Fruit. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 13:31-35

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Gospel of the Day

From the Gospel according to Saint Luke 13:31-35

Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said,
“Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied,
“Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose. Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.’
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Unity is the Fruit
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you!” What a terrible thing if the Lord said this to me as He said it to Jerusalem! We might think that we have done nothing of the sort: killed or stoned; but what if it turns out that I am doing it? How? By killing and stoning my husband when I do not receive him, do not love him, see him as a nuisance and even an impediment to “loving my God”.
God’s love always bears the fruit of unity. If something separates me from my husband, then it is not from God. It is the devil who sows division. God wants to gather us under His wings, as a hen gathers her brood and gives them warmth and protection.
Let us be clear: we will hardly see God if we do not discover Him in our husband, because he is the one sent in the name of the Lord to be our suitable help.
Applied to Married Life
Charles: Marta, that look of happiness — what’s it down to?
Marta: Darling, it’s incredible how grace has changed my view of you. Before, I saw you as a brake, as an impediment to growing in my relationship with God.
Charles: And now? What’s changed? Because it’s true I notice you’re different.
Marta: I’m so glad you’ve noticed. Simply that I’ve discovered you are a gift from God to me — that we are sent to each other to be a path towards Him. That you are the task and the help God gives me to grow in holiness, in union with Him, growing in love and unity with you to reach communion and Heaven.
Charles: What a wonder! I love it! I’m in on this task too. And I’ll try to make it easier for you, I know sometimes I make it complicated. Thank you, darling. You’re a blessing. I love you.
Marta: I love you too, and going together — this is going to be amazing!

Mother,

teach me to discover in my husband the gift of God for me.
Praised be the Lord for ever!

The Narrow Gate Sets Us Free. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 13:22-30

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Gospel of the Day

From the Gospel according to Saint Luke 13:22-30
Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
The Narrow Gate Sets Us Free
Are only a few saved? Lord, I too could ask You that question, almost as if to say, “Do I really have to make such an effort?”
And You respond, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate… for many will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”
At that moment, I realise this is serious — I cannot play games with my eternal life.
I cannot keep settling for “just enough”, doing everything on my own terms and thinking that will suffice.
Lord, You love me madly. You proved it by giving Your life for me.
You tell me to trust You, to listen to You, and to do what You say.
That true happiness lies in remaining in Your Love — and that happens by listening to You and keeping Your commandments; by denying myself, taking up my cross daily, and following You; by loving as You love.
That is what it means to pass through the narrow gate — to be freed from self-love, from everything that enslaves me, and to be filled with Your Love.
Lord, how marvellous is Your narrow gate, which frees me from what enslaves me and fills me with true Love — so that even here on earth, I can begin to share in the happiness of Heaven!

Applied to Married Life
Matthew: Mary, thank you — thank you so much.
Mary: Oh? Why are you thanking me all of a sudden?
Matthew: Because I’ve discovered God’s love through you, and I’m beginning to taste happiness.
Before, I used to get upset when you asked me to pray, to go to Mass… And when you asked me to change my plans — plans that were all about me, though I didn’t see it then — I’d get even angrier.
Now I can see that none of that made me happy. Quite the opposite: I was becoming blinder, more self-centred, more frustrated with you.
Thanks to you — and to the Lord — I’m no longer enslaved by that. I love praying together, planning things together… I feel free and at peace. That “famous narrow gate” is truly amazing!
Mary: [laughs] It’s the same for me! That narrow gate is wonderful! It may seem hard to enter at first, but soon it fills us with God’s peace and love — love for you! And that’s what I want! How great is the Lord!
Mother,

thank you so much for showing us the truth, for teaching us to love.
May we allow ourselves to be guided by you towards your Son.
Praised be the Lord!

Pray, Choose, Heal. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 6:12–19

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Gospel of the Day

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 6:12–19
In those days, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
When day came, He called His disciples and chose twelve of them, whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor.
He came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the whole crowd sought to touch Him, because power came out from Him and healed them all.
Pray, Choose, Heal
First pray, then choose, and finally heal. This is also what we must do…
First, pray: only through prayer can spouses discover the will of the Lord in each moment of their lives and discern what God desires for their marriage.
Then, choose: on the one hand, we must recognise that the Lord has chosen us for this great vocation and that God will equip us for it. On the other hand, we must choose to love at all times. Let us not remain focused on our spouse’s faults and mistakes, but look beyond them, seeing who God wants them to become and helping them reach that.
Finally, heal: we must allow the Lord to heal us and, at the same time, become instruments of healing as we build up our marriage.
They say that “the family that prays together, stays together”; and so we must do the same — let us place God at the centre of our family and pray together.
Applied to Married Life
Paul: Rachel, I’ve been asked if we’d like to help with the next Proyecto Amor Conyugal retreat… Honestly, I’m not sure — we’re a bit of a mess. We’re far from perfect, and we’re not exactly overflowing with free time either.
Rachel: I understand what you mean, Paul… What if we bring it to prayer? Let’s keep this intention throughout the day and offer it at Holy Mass. I’m sure that when we pray with the Word of God tonight, things will become clearer.
(At the end of the day…)
Paul: Lord, thank You for this wife who constantly leads me to You! How beautiful to see that before making any decision, Jesus always spoke with the Father so that He could show Him the way.
Rachel: You see how simple it is — it’s not about being the “best” in human terms, but about being willing for the Lord to equip us. With much prayer, it won’t be us acting, but the Holy Spirit within us, making us a reflection of His love.
Paul: Sometimes I struggle to see that God is calling us to something greater and I stay stuck in what we are now. Let’s give thanks to the Lord and ask Him to help us persevere in prayer.

Mother,

How much we need you as an example to remain always in harmony with what God desires!
Praised be the Lord!

Looking as Christ looks. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 13:10–17.

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Gospel of the Day

Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 13:10–17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him

Looking as Christ looks
The first thing that stands out in this Gospel is that it is Jesus who sees the bent-over woman, calls her, and sets her free.
This attentive and compassionate gaze is a key for married life: conjugal love is renewed when we are attentive to one another and look at our spouse with the gaze with which God looks at them.
There are times when a husband or wife may be “bent over” by daily burdens, resentments, fears, or silences, and it is precisely then that God asks us to go out to meet them and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, heal and free them.
This merciful gaze toward the other must be constant. We should not wait for the “right” moment to act — even if it is the “Sabbath”, we must do it. We are called to be quick in love, always alert, and whenever we see our spouse starting to “bend over”, we must, following Jesus’ example, look with compassion, draw near, reach out with tenderness, and help them rise again.
Jesus shows that charity — true love — is above the law. The law only makes sense if it leads us to Him. Therefore, in marriage, spouses are called to seek communion above their own reasoning or criteria. In that communion, spouses are not bound by what “should be done”, nor do they settle for a mediocre love, but rather love as Jesus loves: with freedom, tenderness, and truth. And that way of loving heals, straightens, and lifts up.
Applied to Married Life
(Martha and John discuss the Gospel)
Martha: What hope this Gospel gives! Eighteen years of illness — and she is healed.
John: Yes, Jesus sees her and doesn’t wait for her to ask for anything. He simply looks at her, calls her, and frees her. I wish we could always have that same look between us. So often, we get caught up in our own things and fail to notice how the other is doing.
Martha: It’s true that sometimes the other person doesn’t make it easy — bent over by work, the house, the children… they don’t even realise it. But look how beautiful this is: Jesus touches her and makes her stand up straight. His touch straightens her. Maybe in marriage that means touching the other’s heart with tenderness, not with reproach.
John: And what a difference between Jesus and the synagogue leader. The synagogue leader gets angry because He healed her on the Sabbath. How many times do we also have our own “Sabbaths”: “They don’t deserve it right now”, “I’m tired”, “I don’t have time”, “We’ll talk tomorrow”…
Martha: It’s true — how often we postpone love, forgiveness, or a kind word, because we expect the other person to take the first step. Jesus doesn’t wait for the perfect moment; He loves and frees as soon as He encounters a need.
John: How great is the Lord!
Martha: What do you think about us going to Mass during the week too — to let ourselves be looked at by Christ and healed of our own “bentness”?
John: Wonderful idea, my love. What would I do without you?

Mother,
Teach us to love above the rules,
to prefer communion over being right,
and always to make your charity
the measure of our words and actions.
Blessed be God who teaches us so much.