Gospel
Feed my lambs.Tend my sheep.
From the Gospel according to John. Jn 21:15-19

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Now, follow me.

There was a moment when Peter told Jesus that he would follow Him wherever He went, and Jesus told him that he could not follow him yet, but he would be able to do so later. The time is now. Peter is truly ready to follow Him after the triple call to love His sheep, to love unto giving one´s life.

Applied to Married Life:

Sophie: Now I am know that my love to the Lord correlates with how much as I love you. Everything else is false affection.
Anthony: It is true that when we say we love the Lord but do not love our spouse we create a contradiction.
Sophie: Exactly. The Lord asks me to give myself to you, and still it´s really hard. Looking at those moments I avoid giving myself, I discover they are trivial things and I say to myself, “Because of this silly reason, I have not been able to give myself?”
Anthony: Sophie, I know that you love the Lord very much and you are very close to Him, and that will give you strength to overcome the disorders of your heart. Put your hope in Him and keep fighting. Alright?
Sofía: Alright. Thank you, Anthony, for encouraging me.

Mother,

I love the Lord and I love my husband, but I am unable to love him as much as I would like. Help me, Mother, to give myself fully.

GOSPEL

May they become entirely one!

From the Gospel according to John. Jn 17:20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: 

“I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Find the 3 pilars.

What a blessing that God wants to become one with us. What more can we ask for? Without Him, where will we go? Praise God.

Gospel

From the Gospel according to John. Jn 15, 1-7.

Between longings and desires.

Remaining in the Vine as branches has to bear two necessary fruits: 

Firstly, our soul must be alive, our longings for God and His plan must be well nourished, and the gifts of the Spirit must be active within us.

The second fruit is that this must necessarily lead us to perform acts of love, especially with our spouse.

If either of these aspects is lacking, we must examine our spiritual life.

Applied to Married Life:

Jack: Jessica, I realize that there are two types of needs in my heart. One is very deep, the longings that God has planted and nurtures when I am close to Him, and the other is the more superficial desires that intensify when I engage with the world.

Jessica: How interesting. I had never considered the difference between these two types of needs: the deep longings and the concupiscent desires. It will help me observe myself and distinguish them in my day-to-day life.

Jack: Yes, seeing how they affect me helps me determine whether I am connected to the Lord or not. My goal is to always be in Him.

Jessica: I love that. Yes. Thank you for sharing it with me.

Mother,

We want to always be united to the Lord, always in His presence, always in Him. Praise be to God who nourishes the longings of our soul.

GOSPEL

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you

From the Gospel according to John. Jn 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Spousal Priesthood.

Christ is the eternal Priest, and He asks us to love one another as He loves us. It is time to put in practice the priesthood of the laity. It is time to offer ourselves in sacrifice, remaining in Him, united to His sacrifice. That is marriage: to give ourselves to each other as He gave Himself to us. From there, all the fruits will emerge.

Applied to married life:

Theresa: This Christianity thing boils down to one thing: Do you love Christ? Surrender yourself to Him. 

Rapha: And this marriage thing boils down to one thing: Do you love your spouse? Then surrender yourself to him or her. 

Theresa: It’s clear. And it is love that moves us to surrender. Otherwise, it’s not love. 

Rapha: And that love is given by the Holy Spirit. We understand that, right? So let’s not be surprised by the consequences then. 

Theresa: May the Lord help us on our journey. 

Rapha: May He help us, indeed. We need to stay very close to Him.

Mother,

Love is the key to everything. It is what enables us to surrender. We want to grow in love. Help us, Mother.

Gospel

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

From the Gospel according to Mark. Mk. 16,15-20.

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Signs of those who believe.

Let’s talk today about those signs that accompany those who believe. To do this, we suggest some marital scenarios.

Applied to married life:

Casting out demons (Authority against evil): Several things have happened that have made him lose his patience. She decides to rescue him in the name of Jesus. She withstands the storm because he says harsh things to her. However she knows that when she hugs him he calms down and therefore as soon as she has the opportunity, she hugs him and says, “Come on darling, I love you so much.” And she kisses him. He, surrounded by her love, melts and asks for forgiveness.

Speaking in tongues: Lou comes hurt because her sister-in-law has said very harsh things to her. Her husband knows that his mission is to make her feel heard, understood, and accompanied in her suffering. She says harsh things about her husband’s sister, but he does not judge his wife or defend his sister. He simply listens and delves into his wife’s pain. He tells her how much he understands her pain. In the end, he doesn’t offer her any solution, but she has been comfortable with him and felt loved. After the ordeal, he encourages her to offer her suffering like Christ. This is speaking the language of God.

Taking snakes in one’s hands (overcoming temptations): She is very tired, there are things to do, and he doesn’t seem very active. Thoughts like “I never get a break,” “I have to do everything” come to her inmediately. But she decides to serve with love, in the name of the Lord, who also came to serve and not to be served. And also, to do it with joy, for the opportunity to join the Lord in this. Glory to God! Her heart shouts.

Drinking poison and not dying (not being affected by criticism): Two spouses have different opinions and end up arguing. He says that everything bothers her and that she doesn’t accept others thinking differently. In these situations, she used to feel despised and found it hard to forgive her husband. This time, she decides not to give relevance to those words. Surely the Lord wouldn’t have held it against her in a similar situation. So, she forgives him, and they both continue to have a pleasant day together. There will be times when they are able to share their differences without arguing.

Laying hands on the sick and having them healed: two spouses suffer because they believe they are incompatible. Another couple who have discovered the love of God come to their aid. They talk to them about the beauty of marriage. They explained that they haven’t learned to love each other and that is something that needs to be learned, that Mary wants to help them, that Christ is in the midst and will perform the miracle. That wounded couple fills with hope and decides to start again and fight for their marriage and their family, their great treasure.

Holy Spirit,

Come to our marriage. Give us the strength to love each other despite the circumstances; give us the guidance to discern in complicated situations; give us the wisdom of God to look at our relationship from His Truth; give us the intelligence to understand the Truth of the mystery of our sacrament. Give us the knowledge to value our spouse as a child of God; the piety to open ourselves to the tenderness of the Father and towards our spouse; and the fear of God, the fear of offending Him and the desire to remain in His love. Holy Spirit, transform our marriage. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.