GOSPEL

“You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition”
From the Gospel according to Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalemgathered around Jesus,they observed that some of his disciples ate their mealswith unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.—For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,do not eat without carefully washing their hands,keeping the tradition of the elders.And on coming from the marketplacethey do not eat without purifying themselves.And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. —So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,”Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the eldersbut instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”He responded,”Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:This people honors me with their lips,but their hearts are far from me;in vain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines human precepts.You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He summoned the crowd again and said to them,”Hear me, all of you, and understand.Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;but the things that come out from within are what defile.
“From within people, from their hearts,come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,adultery, greed, malice, deceit,licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.All these evils come from within and they defile.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Thank you, Blessed Mother.

Today is the anniversary of Conjugal Love Proyect. On a day like today, 22 years ago, Our Lady of Fatima confirmed this mission for marriage and family with a sign. Today’s readings couldn’t have a clearer message for us: to be faithful to what has been entrusted to us. To be faithful to the teachings of the Church, and above all, to be faithful to the Gospel without adding anything of our own. If we do this, this Word is capable of saving our lives, and we will become a first fruit for many who still follow human criteria.

Applied to Married Life:

Husband : If there is something that stands out about Conjugal Love Proyect,  it is that it is super faithful to the truth.
Wife : And another thing that stands out is that it gives life to thousands of spouses and their families.
Husband: Yes, starting with ours.
Wife: And more and more each day.
Husband: Truly, this has to be from the Virgin. There is no other explanation.
Wife: Mary is guiding this. Blessed be.

Mother,

Thank you for this gift of Conjugal Love Proyect.  How many marriages and families have been saved by your generous hand. Thank you, Mother, thank you, thank you… Blessed are you.

GOSPEL

 
“Since you were faithful in small matter, come, share your master’s joy.”
From the Gospel according to Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus told his disciples this parable:”A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one–to each according to his ability.Then he went away.Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them,and made another five.Likewise, the one who received two made another two.But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the groundand buried his master’s money.After a long timethe master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them.The one who had received five talentscame forward bringing the additional five.He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents.See, I have made five more.’His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.Since you were faithful in small matters,I will give you great responsibilities.Come, share your master’s joy.’Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,’Master, you gave me two talents.See, I have made two more.’His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.Since you were faithful in small matters,I will give you great responsibilities.Come, share your master’s joy.’Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said,’Master, I knew you were a demanding person,harvesting where you did not plantand gathering where you did not scatter;so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.Here it is back.’His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!So you knew that I harvest where I did not plantand gather where I did not scatter?Should you not then have put my money in the bankso that I could have got it back with interest on my return?Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.For to everyone who has,more will be given and he will grow rich;but from the one who has not,even what he has will be taken away.And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside,where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’
The Gospel of the Lord

Putting It into Practice

God distributes gifts to one and another according to His will. They are usually different so that we can complement each other. But what do I do with the gifts I’ve received? I might demand to my spouse to have the same ones I do. I might decide that if he or she doesn’t respond the way I want (because he or she doesn’t have those gifts), I won’t use mine to serve either, as a form of retaliation. And when the Lord asks me what I did with the gifts He gave me, what will I say? That my husband didn’t respond the way I would have liked him to?

If God has given me a gift, I have to put it fully into play, for the greater glory of God.

Applied to married life:

Peter: And if my wife doesn’t respond to faith at the same pace as I do, what should I do? If she doesn’t want to give herself like Christ, I’m not going to be the fool giving my life for her.

Elizabeth: You have to ask yourself what God wants from that situation He’s allowing, but what is certain is that He doesn’t want you to fail to respond to what He’s asking of you. Remember, Peter, your vocation is a call from God, and it is to Him that you respond. He has given you everything. A humble heart, God does not despise. You’ll see.

Peter: Thank you. I see that in this, I have a mission entrusted by God. Glory to Him.
(Peter gave himself without expecting his wife’s response, and God worked in her… and in him, a good and faithful servant.)

Mother,

How many times would you have seen that St. Joseph was not immaculate, and yet you were. And still, you treated him as an equal and submitted to him and his decisions because you knew that God had assigned him the gift of guarding you and your Son. What a beautiful way to respond to Love with a capital “L.” Blessed Mother.

GOSPEL

“Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
From the Gospel according to Matthew
25:1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable:”The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.Five of them were foolish and five were wise.The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,brought no oil with them,but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.Since the bridegroom was long delayed,they all became drowsy and fell asleep.At midnight, there was a cry,’Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.The foolish ones said to the wise,’Give us some of your oil,for our lamps are going out.’But the wise ones replied,’No, for there may not be enough for us and you.Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’While they went off to buy it,the bridegroom cameand those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.Then the door was locked.Afterwards the other virgins came and said,’Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’But he said in reply,’Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’Therefore, stay awake,for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
They Gospel of the Lord.

 
We still have a long way to go

Sometimes it may seem to us that “we are already converted,” so it’s others, the pagans, who need to convert. We might even criticize them in our hearts because they don’t do what we do. This is the worst thing we can do because we stop being vigilant, and the devil manipulates us as he wishes. Let’s stay alert to be attentive to the Bridegroom before it’s too late.

Applied to Married Life:

Monica: The other day, when I was criticizing you for your attitudes, I thought of myself as God’s advocate, on the team of the good, those destined for heaven. But when I did my examination of conscience at night, it occurred to me to examine myself in Love, which is what determines whether we are in the Heart of Christ or not.
Roger: And how do you examine yourself in love?
Monica: By confronting oneself with the Gospel. I took the Letter on Love from Saint Paul and started reading that whoever loves always excuses the spouse, believes in God for the spouse without limits, hopes for the spouse without limits… And that’s not what I do.
Roger: So, who then can be saved?
Monica: For men, it’s impossible, but not for God.
Roger: I see we’re in no position to criticize anyone. We still have a long way to go.

Mother,

Only God is holy. May we not become complacent. Praise be to the Lord.

Gospel

“I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
From the Gospel according to  Mark 6:17-23

 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.  For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.”  And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom. She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

The Gospel of the Lord

Self-centered

There are paths that lead to life and others to death. The first step is to embrace life, which is what God communicates to us through the Word and the Sacraments (especially the Eucharist). Ultimately, the path of life is Christ, and as long as we remain in Him, we will have life within us. 
John the Baptist chose the path of life, which led him to give his life and to attain Life with a capital “L.” 
Herod and Herodias chose the path of death, which is to replace living in Christ and His Word with living self- centered (closed within themselves), and they sowed death because only the Lord generates life. 
Whoever listens to the Word of God and obeys it will have life and have it abundantly, and the Word says that marriage is indissoluble.

Applied to Married Life:

Antony: Honey, do you think we are on a path of life or death? 
Helena: We have chosen a path of life because we have sincerely said yes to the Lord and try to remain united to Him. But it’s true that sometimes we take a shortcut, and when that happens, we experience the consequences of death and sow death. 
Antony: Yes, like yesterday, right? When I made that decision without asking you and didn’t want to apologize for it. 
Helena: Exactly. It hurt me that you didn’t include me, I took it as disrespect, I demanded that you apologize, you made excuses, and the chain of death continued with me judging you and demanding that you appreciate me, and so on. 
Antony: It’s clear that these shortcut must be stopped from the beginning with the barrier of humility. 
Helena: That’s what the Word tells us. Otherwise, death could continue to advance and destroy our marriage and family. 
Antonio: God forbid.

Mother,

We love the Lord and want to remain in Him, the source of Life. Praise be to Him forever.

Gospel

“You are the children of those who murdered the prophets”
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 23:27-32

Jesus said,“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.You build the tombs of the prophetsand adorn the memorials of the righteous,and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’Thus you bear witness against yourselvesthat you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

The Gospel of the Lord

Marital Heart Attack

When we let ourselves be driven by a passion that doesn’t bring us closer to God, and our only concern is to ensure that no one finds out, or when we’re hurting ourselves and don’t want the neighbors to know, or when we avoid having our children present so we can hurt each other without mercy… It might be that I’m more concerned with not exposing the damage, forgetting that it’s killing my heart, and that harm is unforgiving. The consequences of that destruction will eventually catch up with us. We might also be forgetting that, no matter how much we want to hide, in all these situations there’s one exceptional spectator we can’t hide anything from, and that’s God. How good it is to realize that it’s pointless to hide our wrongdoing on the outside if we’re not fighting to prevent it within. God’s eyes are fixed on my soul, and He is the only spectator who truly matters. I can’t hide anything from Him. May I never forget that.

Applied to married life:

James: Anna,I see that every argument leaves a sediment in our hearts that keeps growing and distances us more each time. It’s true that we forgive each other, but the damage is done, and that’s like a marital heart attack, causing part of the relationship to die, making it harder and harder to move forward.

Anna: You’re right. Our souls are also affected, making it harder to advance towards God. We need to make a firm resolution to avoid hurting each other. God transforms our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, but with every wound, we develop a scar, and they’re no longer as soft as before.

James: We have a lot at stake, Anna. Our vocation, the example we set for our children, eternal life… We need to put more effort into this.

Anna: We need to live more deeply, closer to God, and create more of a God-centered atmosphere between us. Only God can protect us and make all things new.

James: That sounds good. I love you and want to love you more.
Anna: I love you and want to love you more.

Mother,

The things of God are beautiful. Sometimes we’ve discovered wrong paths because they weren’t beautiful. The things of God must be beautiful in their very essence and, therefore, must generate beauty around them. There’s nothing more beautiful than God. Praise be to my God, who is great and full of Life.