GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to 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.

The Word of the Lord

Efficiency or Love

So often, we do things out of habit or simply because they need to be done, rather than out of love. Today we see how the Lord places love, care and charity above the act itself.

We may do many things, but if they are empty and without love, they are worth nothing. As St Paul says, “If I have not love, I am nothing.”

Within our marriage, an act done with love makes Christ Himself present, and He, in turn, enables our love to grow.

So ask yourself: In my day-to-day life, am I focused on being efficient and doing more and more, or do I do things with love and out of love?

Applied to married life

Mariam: Darling, we need to do the shopping, then call the doctor and pick up the children for their after-school activities…

Enzo: I know, but I’m not going to have time to do everything, Mariam.

Mariam: It’s always the same. I do a thousand things, and I have to get everything done to keep the household running…

(Mariam, after prayer)

Mariam: Enzo, I’m sorry. During prayer, the Lord showed me that I place more value on getting lots of things done than on the love I put into them. And that isn’t what makes our home work. Only love can make our family, rather than simply our household, truly work.

Enzo: Don’t worry, darling. With everything we have to do, it’s only natural that your mind is focused on getting things done.

Mariam: Thank you for being so understanding, darling. It’s wonderful that you know when to slow me down.

Enzo: Well, as we saw in the previous Proyecto Amor Conyugal catechesis, we complement each other really well, don’t we?

Mariam: Yes! How lovely that you remembered! You’re wonderful!

Mother,

May we, like you, do everything from Love, with Love and for Love. Blessed are You, Lord!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to 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.”

The Word of the Lord

Steadfast in His Will

The Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod wants to kill Him. It may seem that they are concerned for Jesus’ well-being; however, what they really want is to take advantage of Herod’s persecution of Jesus to make Him stop preaching and thereby prevent Him from fulfilling His saving mission.

We too may hear similar warnings from those around us when our marriage seems to be failing: “You’d be better off separating”, “It’s not worth it”, “You don’t deserve this”, “You have a right to be happy”… Be careful! Let us not be led astray. Wrapped in “concern” and “compassion” comes the temptation to abandon our mission, to give up God’s plan for us and for our family.

But Christ remains steadfast in the Father’s will, and He gives us the strength to remain steadfast in His will as well. Let us turn to sacramental grace. Our Sacrament is a source of grace! Jesus wants to protect us as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.

Applied to married life

Claire: I’m very worried about our daughter. Her marriage seems to be getting worse and worse, and I can see how much she is suffering. Perhaps it would be best if they separated.

Peter: She doesn’t deserve this. She has a right to be happy. But what if we are encouraging her to abandon her mission?

Claire: That’s true, but we can’t simply ask her to endure it without helping her.

Peter: Let’s walk alongside her. Let’s help her seek the Lord in this situation and, above all, pray for them. Let’s not forget that the Sacrament of Marriage is a source of grace, and that Christ can give them the strength they currently lack.

Claire: Yes, let us ask the Lord to protect them under His wings and teach us to accompany them with love, never losing hope in His grace and in His will being fulfilled. When we embrace the Cross, it is Christ Himself who carries it for us, and that is why it becomes light.

Peter: Sacred Heart of Jesus, in You we trust.

Mother,

May we know how to lovingly embrace God’s will in every circumstance, just as you did, with complete trust. Blessed are you, Mother!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke 6:12-16

Jesus went up to the mountain to pray,

and he spent the night in prayer to God.

When day came, he called his disciples to himself,

and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:

Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,

James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,

Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,

Simon who was called a Zealot,

and Judas the son of James,

and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

The Word of the Lord

Your Strength Can Do Everything 

Thank You, Lord, for enlightening us through Your life.

In this Gospel, You give us the keys to walk this path.

First, we see the central place that prayer must occupy in our day. For You, it was the foundation, that moment of listening to the Father in order to do His Will. We also see the need to continue listening to You throughout the day so that we may always do Your will and not our own.

To do this, we also need that strength which comes from You and can accomplish all things. And what is that strength? The sacraments, flowing from Your pierced Heart so that we may love as You love us. Especially, in our vocation as spouses, the Sacrament of Marriage.

Lord, how can I receive all Your strength through our sacrament, so as to love my spouse as You desire? By disposing myself to receive it, by approaching my spouse with reverence, recognising that he is the greatest gift You have given me. And by knowing that every time I make an act of self-giving and acceptance towards him, every act of love, through the power of our sacrament my small love is transformed into Your Love. In this way, I come to love my spouse with Your Love.

What a wonder, Lord!

A thousand thanks to You!

Applied to Married Life:

Albert: Marisa, I can’t stop thanking God for you. It’s incredible how He has been changing me. Not long ago, everything seemed dark. I looked at you so negatively and was convinced that our marriage was over. Then I said “yes” to Him, let Him enter my life, and He has been making everything new.

Marisa: Yes, it’s wonderful. He has brought us back to life. It’s as though a power has transformed us. It’s that power which comes from Jesus, the very power the Gospel says healed everyone.

Albert: Sometimes I wonder, why us?

Marisa: He longs to heal every one of us. That is why He died for us, to heal us all. The problem is that we do not let Him; we do not say “yes” to Him. But when we do, when we set aside our own ways of thinking and begin a life of prayer, the sacraments, and living out our faith with perseverance whatever the cost, He does the rest.

Albert: Yes. The Proyecto Amor Conyugal retreat was the beginning. And then came that perseverance you speak of. And allowing others to help us, the marriage groups…

Marisa: Yes, it is about saying “yes” to Him in faith, recognising our own weakness and poverty. It is about beginning to live out those words: “deny yourself, take up your cross each day and follow Him”.

How great the Lord is! How thankful I am for you!

Mother,

Help me to say “yes” to your Son and to persevere so that He may heal my heart. Blessed and praised be God, who loves us with an infinite love!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke 13:18-21

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?

To what can I compare it?

It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.

When it was fully grown, it became a large bush

and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”

Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?

It is like yeast that a woman took

and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour

until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”

The Word of the Lord

Called to Grow

Do we want to change the world? It all begins with something small. Just as a tiny seed grows into a great tree, so the Lord desires our marriage to grow: through daily effort and small acts of love which, though they may seem insignificant, gradually transform our hearts.

A small loving glance, a small sacrifice, a small act of self-denial, a small gesture of mutual giving… It is in these little moments that we are truly sowing the seeds of something far greater. At first, it may seem as though nothing is happening, as though there is no fruit, but we must be patient and trust.

As with the seed or the yeast, our mission is to sow, to give of ourselves, and to allow God to bring about the growth in love. It is not about achieving great things through our own strength, but about placing our small acts in His hands, persevering in prayer, and allowing Him to work in us and in our marriage, even when we do not always see the fruits of His work.

For every act carried out in love bears fruit. Perhaps not the fruit we expect, nor at the time we would choose, but the fruit that God knows we need.

Applied to Married Life

Freddy: After these 43 years of marriage, I look back and see how much the Lord has helped us. Who would have thought that the little seed we planted all those years ago would bear so much fruit!

Megan: Oh, Freddy, how fortunate we are! The Lord has cared for us from the very beginning. Although we have also had to care for our marriage ourselves, through many acts of self-denial, small sacrifices and, above all, a great deal of prayer, so that we never lost sight of what truly matters.

Freddy: Absolutely, Megan. But I must tell you that I am the fortunate one for having you by my side. You look after me like an angel, and when I look at our children and those grandchildren who bring such joy to our lives, my heart is filled with happiness. Who would have thought that all those prayers and small acts of self-giving would lead to this? I can only thank God for everything, for the good times and for the less good ones as well.

Megan: Do you know what I say to that? All those prayers, sacrifices and little acts of mutual self-giving have helped our love to grow, almost without us realising it, and now they help us face these times of trial. But I must say, you are quite mistaken: I am the one who has come out on top! You say that you have an angel, but I have ended up with the greatest archangel of all, and that’s you!

Mother,

May we know how to wait and pray, giving thanks for all the fruits that the Lord gives us. Blessed and praised be the Lord!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to 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.

The word of the Lord

Sin bends us low, and LOVE lifts us up

There is an image in this Gospel that can shed profound light on our marriage: a woman who has been bent over for eighteen years, unable to lift her gaze. Jesus sees her, calls her, draws near to her and sets her free. He does not wait for her to ask; His love takes the initiative.

We too can live bent over within our marriage. Sometimes, because of past wounds, pride, weariness, unmet expectations, or the small grievances we gradually accumulate, we stop looking at one another through God’s eyes. We become trapped in our own pain, find it difficult to acknowledge our share of responsibility, and end up focusing more on our spouse’s faults than on their dignity as a beloved child of God.

Sin bends us inwards upon ourselves; the love of Christ raises us up so that we may once again look upon the other. We are called to discover that our husband or wife is not someone we must change according to our own standards, but a gift from God, a person we are called to love as Christ loves them. And yet, how often do we seek to correct before we understand, to demand before we give of ourselves, and to be right before restoring communion?

There is another important detail: the leader of the synagogue is indignant because Jesus has healed on the Sabbath. He is so focused on the rule that he loses sight of the person. We too can fall into this trap within marriage: becoming so concerned with how things ought to be done, with who is right, or with who has fulfilled their responsibilities, that we forget what truly matters: is my husband or wife in need of love at this moment? Jesus reminds us that the law is at the service of love, not love at the service of our demands.

Marriage is not meant to be a courtroom where each person defends their rights, but a covenant in which both learn to give themselves wholeheartedly to one another.

Applied to married couples 

Pam: Nick, today’s Gospel made me think that sometimes I become so caught up in my own disorder that I fail to realise how it affects you. But I also need you to look at me with affection and not only see the things I’ve left lying around.

Nick: Yes, that’s true. Very often I focus more on the mess than on you. I want everything to be in its proper place, and I end up forgetting that you are far more important than a perfectly tidy house.

Pam: Sometimes, when you correct me, I feel as though you can’t see anything good in me. And I find it hard to change because I feel judged rather than loved.

Nick: Forgive me, Pam. I want to learn to correct you with love, without placing demands on you because of my perfectionism. I do not want my need for order to rob us of our peace.

Pam: And I want to make a greater effort to keep things tidy, not simply to avoid your annoyance, but because I know it is also a way of caring for you. I also want to try not to become discouraged when you are upset with me. Deep down, I know that this too is caused by my pride, which prevents me from remaining at peace when you criticise something.

Nick: Well, I know a thing or two about pride myself. I want to learn to look at you as Christ looks at us, and to let Him straighten my heart as well.

Pam: And I want to stop fighting, so that it is no longer you against me, but both of us together, allowing God to teach us how to love one another better.

Nick: Then today we begin again: you by bringing a little more order, and I by showing a lot more love, and both of us by having much, much more patience with one another.

Pam: Deal! And if we forget, may Jesus remind us that our marriage and our communion are worth far more than anything else.

Mother,
teach us to see ourselves through your eyes and not to place demands on ourselves out of pride, but to embrace ourselves with mercy. Blessed be the Lord.