Author Archives: Esposos Misioneros

Going out to meet. Reflection for marriages. Matthew 18:12-14

Leave a Reply

From the Gospel according to Matthew 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples: “What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

Going out to meet.

How much hope and joy these words of Jesus should stir in us knowing that He came into the world to rescue each one of us, and especially the most lost souls, those for whom He rejoices so greatly once they open their hearts to Him and find their way back to the Father’s house. And for us, are we aware that we become the Lord’s instrument when our spouse is lost and strays from the flock? How do I respond when my spouse is blinded by his sin? Do I go quickly to meet him, moved by the desire to console Jesus by collaborating in His plan of salvation, or do I lose patience, judge him, run away from him…? Jesus goes out in search of that sheep; He does not wait for it to return, but goes to meet it. And that is what we must do with our spouses: give ourselves without measure, regardless of the circumstances, because when my spouse deserves it the least is when Jesus needs me the most.

Applied to Married Life:

Rob has been very stressed at work for some time and, when he gets home, he unloads all his nerves on Jo.
Rob: Hi, I’m home! Is dinner ready? I’m so tired… honestly, I don’t think I can keep this up much longer. I’m exhausted…
Jo (thinking to herself): Here he goes again with that terrible mood! Every day the same. I’m going to lock myself in the kitchen and prepare something so he won’t bother me.
That night, during their couple’s prayer time:
Rob: Lord, I want to ask You to help me be gentle and humble, but You know that the workload at this time of year overwhelms me. I beg You, come in search of me, like that lost sheep in today’s Gospel. I want to return to You, but I need help.
Jo: Lord, today You show me that You want me to be Your instrument for Rob; You want me to go out to meet him in Your name, giving him my affection and my smile… You want that when he comes home tired and irritable, I don’t hide, but go out to meet him so that he may feel loved by You through me. Forgive me, Lord, because many times I do the opposite… I run away and leave him alone. I ask You to help me persevere in the path of selfless Love.
Rob: I love you, Jo, my angel, you are the engine of my life.

Mother,

We ask you that, as happened with Saint Juan Diego, we may become your guardians and remain always by your side.
Glory to the Lord who prepares our hearts for His coming!

To Do and to Let it be done. Reflection for marriages. Like 1:26-38

Leave a Reply
From the Gospel according to Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

To Do and to Let it be done.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Our Mother’s “Let it be done” is one of the most magnificent human acts in history; it is not just a pious expression: it is a pure act of love and trust. Mary does not know how what God proposes will come about, but her yes is not naïve; it is courageous because it renounces control over the outcome.
In marriage, this renunciation is essential. None of us begin our marriage knowing what life will be like, whether illness will come, job changes, infertility or unexpected children, economic crises, or all the differences we discover over the years. The marital “let it be done” means admitting that we do not have absolute control over life.
“Let it be done” is accepting the reality of the other person and of oneself, without trying to impose our own view of things. But giving up control does not mean passivity or indifference; it means loving without possessing or manipulating. It means accepting that the other has different ideas, tastes, and emotions and not trying to shape them according to our own design. True love appears when control gives way to trust.
But just as the Virgin is not the one who makes it happen, rather, the angel tells her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her; we too, as spouses, are called to allow ourselves to be shaped by the Holy Spirit. In marriage, “let it be done” is not merely a “moral effort” or an “I have to manage this,” but above all a humble openness to God’s action within the relationship. Spouses cannot transform themselves by sheer willpower, but they can open themselves so that the Spirit may transform our hardness into tenderness, our indifference into attentive regard, our tiredness into patient service, our ego into fruitful self-giving. Our part is to acknowledge that we are frail, but God can do in us what we cannot do alone. Of course, God does not do His “almost everything” if we do not offer our “almost nothing.”

Applyed to Married Life:

Rose: You know? Today, while I was praying, I was thinking about Mary’s “let it be done.” And I asked myself how that “let it be done” sounds in our marriage.
James: And how do you think it sounds?
Rose: Sometimes… it sounds like “let it be done” when I accept that you’re tired and I don’t ask more of you than you can give. Or when I let my plans fall aside to listen to yours, and I try not to impose my own ways or my own hurry.
James: Then it also sounds like “let it be done” when I let go of my pride and tell myself: “I don’t have to feel wounded by my wife’s struggles.” Or when I hold you even if I didn’t fully understand what you were feeling.
Rose: The thing is, “let it be done” isn’t just for the big moments… it’s for the small daily renunciations. Don’t you think?
James: Absolutely. And also for the surprises we can’t control. Like the problems we’ve had with our daughters, or with our jobs… and also in those situations we have to remember to say our “let it be done.”
Rose: Yes. It’s trusting that God can bring something good even when we don’t know how to move forward.
James: And to do it together. Your “let it be done” strengthens me. It reminds me that I don’t walk alone.
Ros: And yours brings me peace. It helps me believe that whatever comes, if we live it united, it can become fruitful.
James: Then… shall we say it?
Both (softly): “Lord, let Your will be done in us.”

Mother,

Immaculate Mary, woman of the “let it be done,” teach us to say our yes with love each day. May God’s will always be fulfilled in our marriage. May our God be praised forever.

The Diagnosis. Reflection for married couples. Matthew 3:1-12

Leave a Reply

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea

and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:

A voice of one crying out in the desert,

Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths.

John wore clothing made of camel’s hair

and had a leather belt around his waist.

His food was locusts and wild honey.

At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,

and the whole region around the Jordan

were going out to him

and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River

as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees

coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!

Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.

And do not presume to say to yourselves,

‘We have Abraham as our father.’

For I tell you,

God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.

Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit

will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,

but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.

I am not worthy to carry his sandals.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing fan is in his hand.

He will clear his threshing floor

and gather his wheat into his barn,

but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The word of the Lord

 

The Diagnosis

John’s language is stern yet nourishing for my soul. In Advent, a sound diagnosis is necessary to stop doing what makes us ill. It is the preliminary step towards being healed, towards preparing ourselves for what is to come—or rather, for who is to come.

What deeds, thoughts, or omissions are preventing me from becoming one with my husband? Let us name what is happening within me. The time is now. There is nothing worse than becoming accustomed to sin, to falsehood, to hypocrisy. John calls us to the truth. He invites us into the desert, to discover the emptiness within me that I tend to anaesthetise with distractions and comforts…

If a baptism of fire is coming, how much of me will burn? How much of me is incompatible with our communion? What must I purify?

Applied to Married Life

The words with which she had answered her husband harshly the night before still echoed in her mind. Andrew had shared how hard his day had been, and she, almost without thinking, replied:

“Well, everyone has hard days; you’re not the only one.”

The following morning, kneeling before the Tabernacle, she asked herself in silence:

What is happening to me? Why do I always have a complaint, a judgement, or a correction for Andrew?

She felt within her the need to face the truth, yet at the same time something in her resisted. She did not want to.

“I’ve suffered enough with this,” she told herself, “it’s something I want to forget.”

But the more she tried to flee, the stronger that inner voice became, speaking with tenderness and firmness:

“Share that pain with your husband. I am in him and I want to heal you. Your husband is the steward of the gifts I long to give you. Allow yourself to be shaped. Rest in him, trusting in Me. I desire to pour out My Spirit upon you through the sacrament of marriage, to transform your lives with My Power and to heal your hearts with My Love. Do not be afraid.”

Leaving the church, her soul still trembling, she took her phone and wrote a message:

“Darling, today I need to talk with you. I love you.”

In her heart, still expanded, a new hope had been born.

She was not alone.

Mother,

Teach us to know ourselves through the mystery of Your Son. Blessed and praised forever be He, who redeemed us with His Blood.

Little Shepherds for the Harvest : Reflection for Married Couples : Matthew 9:35

Leave a Reply

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Then he summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

Little Shepherds for the Harvest

“Freely you have received; freely give,” says the Lord. We have received freely from the Father all that we are and all that we have, beginning with life itself, baptism which has made us children of God, faith, my spouse, our marriage… freely we have been healed of our blindness, deafness, spiritual leprosy… freely we have received the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven in our marriage, freely we have been born into a new life… how many, many marriages are being raised to new life through Proyecto Amor Conyugal!

Yet it is enough to look around us to see that there are still many marriages who do not yet know the beauty and greatness of marriage as God intended it. Like the crowds, they are weary and abandoned because they are unaware of the Covenant the Lord has made with them and with their marriage, pouring out even the last drop of His Blood to save them.

Husbands and wives, today Jesus Christ calls us, and just as He went through all the towns and villages, He now sends us to all these “lost” marriages so that we may proclaim with our testimony this Good News: the beauty and greatness of our sacrament. The Lord wants to count on us and urges us to give freely what we have freely received.” Husbands and wives, will you take up the work in the Lord’s harvest?

To Apply in Married Life

John: Virginia, I was praying and I remembered how we were before doing the Proyecto Amor Conyugal retreat, and I compare it with how we are now. Isn’t it amazing?

Virginia: Absolutely. It did us so much good. We’ve changed and grown so much. Each of us, and as a couple.

John: Yes, the truth is that since we’ve persevered in going to the marriage group meetings and to the adorations, the change must have been remarkable, because even our parish priest has noticed.

Virginia: The parish priest? Has he said something?

John: Yes, he asked me, wanting to know what had happened to us. And afterwards he mentioned the possibility of opening a marriage group in our parish.

Virginia: That would be wonderful, John. We’ll have to talk it over with the little shepherds of our group, to see how it’s done.

John: He hinted that we could be the little shepherds. Do you feel up to it?

Virginia: Us?

John: Yes. And praying today’s Gospel, I see how the Lord is asking us to work for His harvest, because there is much to be done and few labourers. And the truth is that this transformation in our marriage has been a gift the Lord has given us, freely. And He asks us to give freely what we have freely received.

Virginia: Well, I wouldn’t dare on my own, but if I go with you… Together for the Lord!

Our Mother ,

Teach us to have a grateful heart like Yours, and to give ourselves to others. Blessed and glorious are You, Mother! Praised be the Lord for ever!

Do You Believe It Possible? Reflection married couples. Matthew 9:27-31

Leave a Reply

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew 9:27-31

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out,

“Son of David, have pity on us!”

When he entered the house,

the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them,

“Do you believe that I can do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they said to him.

Then he touched their eyes and said,

“Let it be done for you according to your faith.”

And their eyes were opened.

Jesus warned them sternly,

“See that no one knows about this.”

But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

The word of the Lord

 

Do You Believe It Possible?

When we ask the Lord for something, do we truly do so with faith? To the blind men in today’s Gospel He says, “Let it be done to you according to your faith.”

The best way to have faith, and for it to grow, is through persevering prayer. That constant relationship with the Lord increases our trust in Him, and in this way our faith is strengthened. Knowing that the most important thing is that His will be done in our lives, we must not neglect prayer of petition and intercession for others.

 

Applied to Married Life

Jack: Esther, to be honest I don’t see any solution to the situation our friends Joseph and Ana are going through. It looks impossible to me!

Esther: Darling, at this stage you say it’s impossible? With all the miracles we’ve seen at the retreats, beginning with our own marriage.

Jack: You’re absolutely right, of course. But there’s no way they want to attend the retreat. We’ve tried everything, but with no result. On Friday they have an appointment with the lawyer to begin divorce proceedings.

Esther: We must trust that Our Mother does not consider any marriage lost. It’s true we’ve tried almost everything, and that “almost” is important, because we’ve missed the main thing: intercessory prayer. Let’s begin to pray fervently that they attend the retreat, and share it with our prayer groups.

Jack: That sounds excellent, and we’ll also offer sacrifices of giving and receiving for one another. Let us trust in the Lord, who makes all things new.

(And a few months later Joseph and Ana attended the retreat and began a journey of rebuilding their marriage and family.)

Mother,

You are our best model of faith and trust in God. Help us to keep in our hearts what we do not understand, and to place our confidence in Him. Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!