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It does not belong to me. Reflection for married couples. Mt 14:13-21

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GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew

Mt 14:13-21

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,

he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.

The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,

his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.

When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said,

“This is a deserted place and it is already late;

dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages

and buy food for themselves.”

He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away;

give them some food yourselves.”

But they said to him,

“Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”

Then he said, “Bring them here to me,”

and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,

he said the blessing, broke the loaves,

and gave them to the disciples,

who in turn gave them to the crowds.

They all ate and were satisfied,

and they picked up the fragments left over–

twelve wicker baskets full.

Those who ate were about five thousand men,

not counting women and children.

The gospel of the Lord.

It does not belong to me.  

I ask myself: Would those who put up those 5 loaves and two fish be proud? Obviously not, because they would clearly see that what they had given was not proportional to what was shared, judging also by the evidence of the leftovers collected.

This is the difference between doing something on our own without previously giving it to Our Mother through our consecration or by entrusting it to Her. If I do it without offering it, I will believe that the results come from my effort and the merit is mine. If I give it to our Mother, I will see a disproportionate distribution with what I have given and the abundance that we all have received …

This is what we see every day in the “Conjugal Love Project”, about what happens with our marriage, with our family and with so many marriages that come to us sent by our Mother, Virgen Mary. Great miracles happen here and they make us increasingly aware of how little we put in and how small we are.

Landing in Married Life:

Peter: I love you.

Martha: And so do I.

Peter: But I love you more.

Martha: You always say that. Why do you say that?

Peter: Because it’s true. I am more affectionate than you, I don’t put up any obstacles for you to go and see your parents, I am much more attentive to you and your needs all day long, and for me you are my life, while for you I am one more thing of the many that you have to look after.

(A few years later, after her conversion to the love of God)

Peter: Wife, since we consecrated ourselves to Mary, I recognise that this love that I experience for you is not human. It is not mine. The Lord has shown me how little I am and has given me a love that surpasses me as a testimony that it is He who does it.

Martha: I thank the Lord for having made you a mediator of His grace. It is wonderful to be able to live His love amongst us.

Mother,

Thank you for taking our simplicity and making it beautiful for the Lord and thank you for giving us Him all in return. Thank you our blessed Mother.

What’s at the bottom? Reflection for Married Couples. John 6:24-35

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GOSPEL

He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  
Reading from the holy Gospel according to John 6:24-35
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
“Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
you are looking for me not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”
So they said to him,
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
So they said to him,
“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
So they said to him,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them,
“I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Word of the Lord.

What’s at the bottom?
At the bottom, this is what happens to us. We work not for the glory of God, but to live a pleasant marriage, full of harmony, filled with gestures of affection, in which we feel loved. But am I willing to give up the experience of living such a marriage for the love of the Lord? Or do the spouses who have been abandoned not have the right to live in the Love of God?  
That is the question, that at the bottom, I seek my own satisfaction, not to give myself to my husband out of love. And without going through the cross of self-giving, I will not be able to discover true communion. Conjugal Charity.

Grounded in Married Life:
Jaime: Dear tutors, I was very happy because everything was going very well until today when I had a bad day with my wife.  
Marriage Tutor: Define that “bad day.”  
Jaime: Well, she got up in a very grumpy and demanding mood, and she made me have a really difficult day.  
Marriage Tutor: And how did you react?  
Jaime: What am I going to do… I just tried to hang in there as best I could.  
Marriage Tutor: So, the Lord gives you the opportunity to love your wife with a mature love, participating with Him in His Love, and you have squandered it?  
Jaime: Well… Said like that… I would have to say yes, I squandered it.  
Marriage Tutor: So, you’ve lived a wonderful day as if it were a horrible day.  
Jaime: It seems so…
Mother,
Let us not seek the Lord for worldly interests but love Him in Spirit and in Truth.  
Thank you, Mother.

What am I missing? Reflection for Married Couples. St. Matthew 14:1-12

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GOSPEL

Herod had John beheaded, and his disciples went to tell Jesus.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 14:1-12
Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus
and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison
on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
for John had said to him,
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
But at a birthday celebration for Herod,
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
Prompted by her mother, she said,
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison.
His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl,
who took it to her mother.
His disciples came and took away the corpse
and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.
Word of the Lord.

What am I missing?
In this Gospel, we can identify almost with each of the characters. The proud Herod, the superficial daughter of Herodias, who attracts others but doesn’t even know where she wants to go… But our reflection oriented towards marriage is: How great must marriage be to God, that someone like John the Baptist died defending it! The greatest man born of woman, as Jesus himself said, and he dies a martyr for upholding the truth of marriage. What are we missing about the beauty and greatness of our vocation that we are not willing to give our lives for it, as John did?
In the end, martyr means witness, and all Christians are called to be, in a sense, martyrs, witnesses, of the Truth. We need many who are willing to do so.

Grounded in married life:
Paco: I am discovering more and more things about marriage. It truly is a mystery created by God, with a greatness that eludes me. I know there is still much for me to discover, and the only way to find it is by living it as God wants.
Marga: Yes, marriage is a wonderful gift. And we have to show the world the truth and beauty of our vocation. It is our mission. Blessed be the Lord who has given us such an important mission.

Mother,
You are the Mother of spouses, and you are performing great miracles in us and in many. We are eager to continue learning and taking steps to grow towards Conjugal Charity. Blessed be God.

Reflection for Married Couples. Matthew 13, 54-58

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GOSPEL

Isn’t this the son of the carpenter? Then, where does he get all these things?
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 13:54-58
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.
The Word of the Lord.

The closeness of God in becoming man, in becoming bread, in being within us… should not confuse us and lead us to treat Him irreverently. He is a man, but He is also God; He comes to serve us, but He is the King of kings. He offers Himself for us, but He is the owner of everything. He is merciful, but He also makes His commands known to us and is a just judge. It is not easy to maintain this balance in our minds and hearts, but we must make an effort to understand that in this infinite mystery of becoming so small for love of us, lies precisely our greatest admiration and His greatest greatness.

Relating to Married Life:
Jaime: Only God is God. I am so amazed by His love… He is capable of renouncing His divine condition to approach me.  
Marta: I am amazed too, because then I take all my abilities and use them to ensure I am not below the consideration that I think I deserve.  
Jaime: I am beginning to understand that true Love makes us place ourselves below the other always. To truly love you means I am willing to even give up my abilities if that will help you feel me more by your side.  
Marta: Saint John Paul says that from mutual submission in the fear of Christ, a precious confluence is born.  
Jaime: I want to experience that.  
Marta: So do I. Should we make it a plan for the summer?  
Jaime: Okay.

Mother,  
To how many did You submit, Queen of the Universe, to be able to reign today alongside Your Son? Teach us the attitudes of God, Mother.

Last call. Reflection for Married Couples. St. Matthew 13:47-53

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GOSPEL

The good are gathered in baskets and the bad are thrown away.  
A reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 13:47-53
Jesus said to the disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old.”
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.
The Word of the Lord.

Last call.
Let’s talk about the final judgment. What? Yes, yes, it is real. There will be a final judgment! The devil wants us to downplay its importance: Since God is merciful… anything goes. No one will be condemned. God is too good. Right? And who knows God? The most distant? Who dares to judge God? The problem is not that God lacks love, obviously, since He is love. Up to that point, salvation is guaranteed. But what if I reject salvation? What if I rejected it yesterday? Today? Tomorrow? The problem is that I do not love God above all things yesterday, today, or tomorrow because I am focused on other things that attract my attention more. If I didn’t prioritize Him yesterday, I am not prioritizing Him today, and I won’t give Him priority tomorrow… Do I intend to believe that in the last moment things will change? How am I going to love Him above all things if I have never been interested? The holy fear of God does not consist of being afraid of Him. It consists of fearing for one second of my life without Him!

Putting it into the context of married life:
Jaime: No, no, but I “believe.” God exists…  
Marriage Mentor: If you believe that God exists, your life should be oriented toward Him, right? Have you taken the time to know Him? Have you contemplated His admirable vastness?  
Jaime: Well, God is there wherever He may be and I am here. I believe that someone has created all of this, but nothing more. I can’t see anything else.  
Marriage Mentor: But if He created you, He must have created you for a reason, right? He wants to have a relationship with you, don’t you think?  
Jaime: I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it.  
Marriage Mentor: Are you not interested in knowing the one who created the entire universe? The one who created you? The one who created your wife? The one who gave her to you? The one who created your children? The one who entrusted them to you…? The one who created and gave you everything you love and care about in life?  
Jaime: I don’t know; I hadn’t thought about it. Yes, of course I would like to get to know Him!  
Marriage Mentor: Do you understand His vastness? His power? His love? Well, desire to know Him. The way is to know Your Mother; she will take you to Her Son, and His Son will show you the Father. All this will be accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit. You only have to do one thing: Want to know Him, but for real. By taking an interest, getting closer to the Church, and through your matrimonial vocation which is your calling to reach Him. And if you don’t want to, or you don’t have time, don’t expect that on the last day you will have more interest than today. Whatever you have to do, do it now, before it is too late. He, God, is waiting for you…

Mother,
Every day of our married and family life, I have the opportunity to discard the bad that distracts me and keep the good that leads me to the Lord. We choose hope. We choose Love. Blessed be God, immense, omnipotent, Holy.