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!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’

will enter the Kingdom of heaven,

but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them

will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

The rain fell, the floods came,

and the winds blew and buffeted the house.

But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.

And everyone who listens to these words of mine

but does not act on them

will be like a fool who built his house on sand.

The rain fell, the floods came,

and the winds blew and buffeted the house.

And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

The word of the Lord

 

Rock or Sand?

How easy it is to do the will of God, and yet how readily we complicate our lives by following our own ideas. The Lord speaks to us simply, but we twist His words because they do not suit us, or we think it does not matter if we put them off until later. How easily we place the pleasures of the world before the call of the Lord. The choice is ours.

It may seem that God asks for great things, but that is not so. He begins by asking what may appear most difficult precisely because it is so simple: to love in the small things. Without realising it, we are building upon rock. But when we think it is little and act according to our own judgement, we are in fact building upon sand, for great deeds done without love collapse quickly.

In marriage, the same often happens. How easy it is to love in the small things, in those everyday details we let slip by without giving them importance. It seems we wait for grand occasions to give ourselves, and in doing so we lose the chance to love in those hidden acts that only God sees, which strengthen our communion.

Let us choose to love in the small things and build upon rock, strengthening our union as we draw closer together to the heart of Jesus.

 

Applied to Married Life

Iggy: Hello María, how has your day been? I’ve been thinking of you a great deal.

María: Thank you, dear Iggy, you are always so attentive and I love it.

Iggy: It’s the least I can do. Through the illness the Lord has allowed us, He has taught me what truly matters.

María: It’s amazing how this illness is drawing us closer together and how much we are learning. I never imagined that in the face of difficulty I would be able to respond in this way.

Iggy: The Lord knows best and permits the trials He knows we can embrace. All we need to do is accept His will.

María: Yes, to accept His will and to be certain that the Lord is at our side, sustaining us, and that everything is for our good—this brings a peace and security that is hard to explain. We are truly privileged.

Iggy: Let us give thanks together to God for choosing us as instruments of His work.

María: Blessed be God.

Mother,

Help us to build upon rock, loving in the small things and accepting the will of your Son. Blessed and praised be God.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew 15:29-37

At that time:
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,
went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
Great crowds came to him,
having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him,
“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.

The word of the Lord

The Miracles of the Tabernacle

In this Gospel we contemplate what Jesus does: to have compassion, to heal, and to feed. Is this not precisely what He continues to do today from every Tabernacle? That multitude, sick and hungry, is us — and the Heart of Jesus, hidden in the Tabernacle, looks upon us with tenderness, takes pity on us, and longs to heal and nourish us by giving Himself as our food. Jesus is alive, and He is eager for us to come to Him.

That bread which He multiplied in Galilee foretold this Bread which awaits us today in the Tabernacle — the only one that can also multiply the love within our marriage. What are we waiting for to go to Him?

Applied to married couples

Patricia: Alfie, sometimes I get anxious because I don’t know if I’m praying properly. At times I feel God’s presence, but at other times I don’t. Sometimes He gives me a light… but so often He doesn’t, and it’s as though my mind is blank and my heart is silent.

Alfie: Well, I think that means you’re on the right path. It’s normal to feel uncertain in prayer. It happens to me too. I don’t believe there are methods we can control… Besides, what does it matter? The important thing is what God is doing in our souls, isn’t it?

Patricia: Seen that way, you’re right. So placing ourselves in prayer before the Tabernacle is the best thing we can do. Perhaps we don’t feel anything, but God is at work — and that is our great treasure.

Alfie: Exactly. I think what matters is our disposition. We bring our loaves: our presence, our faith, our love, our fragility, and our perseverance… And the Lord will work the great miracle: the transformation of our hearts.

Patricia: Of course! They are the miracles of the Tabernacle. It reminds me of what we once heard: “I bring my almost nothing, and God brings His almost everything.” What a wonderful exchange! That God should transform our hearts is the greatest miracle that happens each day. Well then, let’s go and pray — we need many hours before the Tabernacle!

Mother,

You were the first Tabernacle in history, and you kept Jesus safe with your love. Lead us to Him, so that in this Advent we may embrace Him, kiss Him, and sing to Him… Come, Lord! We await You with all our hearts; we hunger for You. Mother of Hope, blessed and praised be you!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke 10:21-24

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

The Word of the Lord

Do Not Miss Christ

Only the soul that makes itself small before God and before its spouse can contemplate the truth without deception. For pride swells the heart and also swells the eyes, making them blind; whereas humility opens them to the light. How often we present ourselves before our spouse as though we were great! We think we know everything, we need nothing; we walk in the arrogance of “me, myself and I,” and in doing so we close the door through which grace enters.

It is those who recognise themselves as small who alone see what so many longed to see but did not: the divine love moving miraculously within two poor human creatures. Do not forget that it is within your reach to live a marriage in the image of Trinitarian Love, to live a love as ardent as Christ’s for His Church, for which He ardently longed to give Himself. But to enter into this supernatural love we must humbly confess that we are small — because we are — and strive that the heart may live in a constant cry of love: Lord, we need Your grace!

Do not say it is impossible, for then we deny the power of God, we scorn the strength of grace, we diminish the fire of our Sacrament. And I ask you: why then did Christ die upon the Cross? Why did He shed His Blood if we allow it to be wasted upon the ground like useless water? Let us not permit a single drop of the Blood of Our Lord to be lost. Gather it with reverence, kiss it with love — it is your Sacrament — and know that in that Holy Blood lies your strength to live a promise which the world misses because it misses Christ.

You will be witnesses of that which many longed to see and did not, to hear and did not, because they thought they already saw. Be light in the midst of darkness; shine, letting Christ shine. Enough of the great — what is needed are the small, who make Christ great in their marriage. And do not miss Him, I beg you, for in missing Him you miss Christ!

Applied to Married Life

Joe : Maria, SOS… Martha our daughter told me in the car, half in tears, that she hasn’t been invited to Lucía’s birthday… and I didn’t know what to say to her.

María: Don’t tell me, Joe.

Joe: Thank goodness Alfie was talking to me at the same time, so I started answering him instead. Anyway… I need your perspective, because I felt such sorrow… I was about to answer her out of my anger, honestly, because my heart broke, but now I know I mustn’t, even though right now I can’t see clearly. I need you.

María: Oh, our little Martha… It hurts me too… but it’s true that it’s never too early to teach them how God looks at each situation they face. We cannot pass on what is in our own hearts, but rather teach them to love as God loves.

Joe: Yes. I thought of telling her it doesn’t matter, that surely it was just an oversight… but I know that isn’t enough.

María: I see an opportunity to tell her first that she doesn’t have to be invited to every birthday, that not everyone always chooses us, and that it’s all right.

Joe: We could tell her that surely she too has, at some point, left out a friend from her own birthday party without realising it, even though that friend would have loved to come.

María: Exactly. And we can also teach her that, even though sometimes others don’t choose us, God always chooses us first. And that Jesus understands better than anyone what it means to feel excluded, to not be chosen. If she feels a little pain at not being invited to the party, Jesus feels that same pain in His heart when we don’t choose Him. So she has the chance to do something wonderful: to console the Heart of Jesus.

Joe: Afterwards we could tell her to go and give a kiss to the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and say: Now I understand you a little. I choose you.

María: I love that. May our children learn, as we are learning, that in every painful situation there is always a hidden treasure that draws us closer to Jesus.

Joe: What would I do without you?

María: And me without you!

Mother,

You presented yourself, even though you were the Mother of God, as the smallest of the small. In your humility lay your greatness. Praised be you forever! Praised be the Lord!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”
He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply,
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The Word of the Lord.

Simply.

The centurion, accustomed to the authority he exercised over his men, knew simply through his Faith that it was enough for Jesus to say the word for his servant to be healed; he saw it as something natural. We often overwhelm ourselves trying to grasp the mysteries of God and become frustrated when we collide with our limited understanding. Let us draw near with simplicity to ask Jesus, to be with Him, to delight in His presence in the Eucharist.

We have the example of Mary, who received with simplicity the great mystery that was revealed to her. She trusted in God’s Love in the face of what she could not fully comprehend, and she filled her heart with joy and gratitude — a reality perfectly expressed in the Magnificat.

Applied to Married Life

Peter: Laura, I’ve been feeling very unsettled these past few days. There are questions I struggle to answer; it seems that no matter how hard I try, I cannot grasp the doctrine. It makes me feel as though my faith is not genuine, as if I’m a bit of a fraud.

Laura: Sometimes we want to understand what many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have received from the Holy Spirit, after much prayer and by the Grace of God. When weighed down, we can miss the joy of God’s closeness to us, present in the Eucharist. Think of the peace we feel when we pray together in silence, when we share in conjugal prayer, or in Eucharistic adoration.

Peter: You’re right. I shall continue reading and praying, hoping to receive the grace of understanding.

Mother,

Help us to draw near to Jesus with your simplicity, with Faith that He will grant us what we need. Amen. Praise be to God!