To see upcoming RETREATS AND MISSIONS click HERE

GOSPEL

He noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.
Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 21:1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.

He said, “I tell you truly,
this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Of what I need.

In this Gospel passage, Christ once again reminds me that I do not have the authority or necessary tools to judge anyone. But there is something else that strikes me: the value of what the elderly woman gives is measured mainly because what she gives is all she had to live on. She doesn’t give out of her surplus, but out of what she needs for herself.

I can give from what I have left after reserving what I am entitled to, or I can give from what I legitimately deserve and need. Giving what I need, surrendering what I need and what I am entitled to. That is the true value of giving, and in marriage, we have many opportunities to do so. May the Lord, who sees us, be amazed at how we give ourselves, and not just the leftovers.

Applying it to married life:

Marriage Mentor: How was yesterday? Did you overcome the temptations of the devil in the difficult circumstance you were facing?

Carlos: It went well, thank God. Carmen brought up the same issue again and started giving reasons to defend her position, as she always does. Usually, I respond with my own reasons and the atmosphere starts to heat up, because it’s a topic that, as you know, has left us resentful. So, I gave up the need I felt to defend my reasons in order to safeguard our relationship and avoid conflict with her.

Marriage Mentor: And did that help overcome the temptation in the moment?

Carlos: At first, it seemed like it did, but then she started to be bothered by my silence. She took offense at my silence and became more and more nervous, repeating phrases I had said in previous arguments, until she ended up offending me and getting angry with me.

Marriage Mentor: What did you do then?

Carlos: I love her so much that I understood her pain. So, I gave up my need for justice and sacrificed my honor for her well-being.

Marriage Mentor: Blessed be God. You have given much, and therefore, you have loved much. It is the power of your sacramental marriage that made it possible.

Carlos: I’m sure I didn’t do it with my own strength.

Mother,

Saint Teresa of Calcutta put it very simply: Give until it hurts. Let my sacrifice for my spouse be felt, so that I know I am giving beyond what I have left. We offer this to you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

To see upcoming RETREATS AND MISSIONS click HERE

GOSPEL

He will sit upon his glorious throne, and he will separate them one from another.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

Represents Christ.

When facing an exam, oh, how much I would have liked to have had access to the questions in advance! Right?

Well, Jesus loves us so much that He gives us the questions for the most important final exam we will ever face. I will be examined on love, and Jesus wants me to pass in order to enter eternal life with Him in His kingdom.

For me, as a spouse, this Gospel shows me how to live out my marital vocation well because, everything I do to my spouse, I do to Christ. In my eyes, my spouse represents Christ on Earth.

 

Applied to married life:

Mery: Joseph, I thank you for saying yes to the Lord; thanks to that, my life is fuller. We have been praying together for years, getting to know each other and deepeing our knowledge of God.

(Thirsty) Joseph: Mery, thanks to you because, I was thirsty for your love and didn’t know it. I wanted to see you happy and didn’t know how to make it happen. You knew how to help me delve into the truth. You knew how to wait for me patiently. You gave my soul what it needed.

(Stranger) Mery: Joseph, thank you for helping me integrate into your family of origin. How difficult it is for some wives when the families of their husbands treat them like strangers, intruders who are unnecessary and not considered friends or family. In contrast, you took care to speak well of me to your parents, giving me a preferential place and always having all kinds of details to make sure I don’t feel alone and to make me feel you by my side.

(Naked) Joseph: Mery, I realize that you have the most positive view of me among all the people around me. You always excuse me, always convey hope when I go astray. I always find in you a support, a hand to hold onto when everyone else has withdrawn theirs. I can bare my soul to you, without fear of being harshly judged.

(Sick) Mery: I greatly value how you are always by my side in sickness, taking care of me, while I have seen other husbands abandon their wives fed up with having to endure their health problems. Blessed are you, because every time you did it for me, you did it to Christ.

(In prison) Joseph: Blessed are you, because every time you saw me imprisoned by my sin, you didn’t criticize me, you didn’t underestimate me, you didn’t beat me down thinking about the harm I was doing, but you thought of me and helped me to free myself. Every time you did it for me, you did it to Christ.

 

Mother,

Pray for us so that each day we may love one another, drawing us closer to Christ, living the love of communion to which we are called from the beginning, when we were created. There is no better destiny for us. The Lord loves us deeply. Praise be to the Lord.

 

To see upcoming RETREATS AND MISSIONS click HERE

GOSPEL

“He is not God of the dead, but of the living”

From the Gospel according to Luke 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher, you have answered well.”
And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

More, every day.

Some couples are troubled by this Gospel: “So much time building communion only to be separated in eternal life?” That’s not what God wants or what Christ says. He is referring to the fact that we will not be united by the sacrament of marriage, but in a much better way: we will be perfectly united by God Himself, through divinization. A perfect and complete union.

 

Applied to married life:

Anna: How are you feeling today, my love?

Barry: (With a weak voice) I am in a lot of pain. I know I have little time left in this world. I just hope that God gives you comfort and strength when I’m no longer with you.

Anna: I pray that you will be ready when the times comes. You know what I’ve learned? There are very powerful experiences of spiritual connection between spouses after one of them passes away. Will you be with me when you are with the Lord?

Barry: Of course, I will. I’ll be closer to you than ever. After all, my mission is to guide you to heaven, and I can continue doing that from above.

Anna: I won’t be able to physically touch or hug you, but I will continue to love you, more every day.

 

Mother,

What God has united, He surely does not want to separate. He will never cease to unite us, more every day. Praise be to the Lord.

To see upcoming RETREATS AND MISSIONS click HERE

GOSPEL

You have turned the house of God into a ‘den of thieves.’

From the Gospel according to Luke 19:45-48

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

The gospel of the Lord.

 

Always with you.

The Lord´s house is our soul, and it must be a house of prayer. A place of intimacy with the Lord. My life depends on that presence of the Lord. He is in the deepest part of me. He is in our marriage, in my acts of love. I just need to keep Him in mind, minute by minute. Lord, may I always have you present.

 

Applied to married life:

Luke: Hey, thanks for picking me up. I am exhausted.

Sharon: Give thanks to the Lord.

Luke: Yeah, but it was you who came.

Sharon: No, I came by the grace of God. He guides me, acts through me. Give thanks to the Lord, please.

Luke: Thank you, Lord, and thank you for this wonderful wife.

 

Mother,

Always with you, always with Him. Praise be to the Lord.

To see upcoming RETREATS AND MISSIONS click HERE

GOSPEL

 

“If you only knew what makes for peace”

From the Gospel according to Luke 19:41-44

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying,

“If this day you only knew what makes for peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

 

 

The gospel of the Lord.

 

While he cries.

 

It is true that we are surrounded by enemies encroaching on our lives, robbing us of peace. These are all the tasks that must be done, messages that must be read, apparent obligations that are not really obligatory. We are constantly bombarded by distractions from what is important, demands that I impose on myself or that society imposes, proliferating rules, complaints… If I let them, these enemies can destroy my joy, my patience, my kindness… and my supernatural merits. They can literally sweep away everything that God wants for my life, leaving no stone unturned. This happens when we do not recognize God in our lives. Then, we can make Him cry. Could it be that the Lord is watching my life while crying?

 

Applied to Married Life:

 

Jack: I can’t find a way to pause. So many resposabilities are overwhelming. I can’t sit in peace before the Lord every day.

Kate: Jack, I know. . I’ve wanted to help you because it’s evident that your responsibilities are consuming you. Even if you had an extra two hours a day, you will fill them too.

Jack: Well, that’s true… but I don’t know what to do.

Kate: I suggest that when we pray together, you vocalize your prayers all the time, or if it’s a more meditative prayer, write it down. That way, you focus more on prayer and don’t let the enemies that steal your peace slip in.

Jack: That sounds like a wonderful idea, Kate. I think that can help me truly focus on the Lord and dedicate that time only to Him.

Kate: Shall we start now?

Jack: Just a moment, I have to send something quickly…

Kate: Carlos… Shall we start now?

Jack: Yes, sorry. I was starting off on the wrong foot. I love you, Kate.

 

 

Mother,

 

Neglecting to allocate time to the Lord, failing to keep Him in mind, disrupts our peace and makes the Lord cry. We do not want to bring Him sorrow, we want to console Him. Grant us the grace to be faithful to our prayer times and work to keep the Lord in mind more each day. Praise be to the Lord who loves us.