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King of Love. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 6:1-5

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GOSPEL
Why do you do what is not permitted on the Sabbath?  
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
Word of the Lord.

King of Love.
God has granted us power to dominate the Earth, and it is clear that we dominate it. But there are other domains that belong solely to God: the laws of what is right or wrong, the laws of love, the laws of religion, the laws of the divine, human life… We do not have dominion over all that; while God can create and destroy without giving explanations to anyone and, obviously, without committing any wrong.  
Everything is ours, we are of Christ, and Christ is of God, as Saint Paul says.

Applied to Married Life:
Marina: Dad, that way of living courtship is from your time. Things have changed and modernized. Do you understand?  
Pedro (Marina’s father): Look, daughter, the things of love do not change with trends. If you love as God says in the Gospel, then you will live true love, which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is called charity. If you do something different with your boyfriend or in the future with your husband, you will experience the works of the flesh: jealousy, arguments, discord… That has not changed and will never change because they are the laws of love, and those are immutable because they are God’s laws. You observe this in your life and in the lives of your friends.  
Marina: It is true that Cristina is having a lot of problems with her boyfriend since she slept with him. The joy between them has been lost, and excessive jealousy has sprung up from her towards him.  
Pedro: You are a smart girl who has never allowed yourself to be dominated by what others do or don’t do. Observe your surroundings and, in the meantime, live the Gospel with your boyfriend. If you treat each other as children of God and temples of the Holy Spirit, the love of God will grow between you, and you will discover the fullness of Love together.

Mother,
We submit to the Lord and His laws before those of men. Only He is God. Only He. Be praised.

The Spiritual Insight. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 5:33-39

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GOSPEL

They will take away the bridegroom from them, and then they will fast.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Luke 5:33-39
The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink.”
Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
then they will fast in those days.”
And he also told them a parable.
“No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one.
Otherwise, he will tear the new
and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins,
and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new,
for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
The Word of the Lord.

The Spiritual Insight
Perhaps the worst thing is to judge the bridegroom. First, because it replaces God, and thus I place myself above what is human, with all that it entails for my pride. Second, because the Lord, when speaking of judging others, calls it “the beam” in contrast to “the speck” in another, qualifying any other sin, regardless of what it is, as “the speck” in relation to the judgment that considers it “the beam.” 
Third, because I was created to give myself for the salvation of my husband, and the accusatory judgment goes directly against the very foundation of my vocation, which is the one that leads me to God.
Fourth, because with the measure I use to judge, I will be judged, and as God uses that measure to judge me, I can already assure myself of condemnation.
Lastly, judgment predisposes me to “contempt.” It is easy that after judging, I experience rejection towards the “accused,” and that is the real danger; that is the spiritual downfall for my soul.
So, we must be very careful with mutual judgments and give them the seriousness they deserve to flee from them as from a plague!

Grounded in Matrimonial Life:
Luis: I just gave you a bad response; I’m sorry.
Merche: I forgive you.
Luis: What strikes me is that this time, and for a while now, you haven’t scolded me for the sins I commit.
Merche: No, because I have understood that for my marriage, I exist to defend you before God, not to accuse you. Besides, I am sure that if I were in your place, I would have done worse, so I am not one to blame you for anything.
Luis: What a blessing from God I have with you. Thank you for your testimony of the love of God that clearly shines in you.

Mother,
Help me in the mission to save my husband. He is wonderful and deserves it. Praise be to God for the gift of my husband.

Committing madness. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 5:1-11

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GOSPEL 
Leaving everything, they followed him.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
Word of the Lord.

Committing madness.
The first thing that happens in our relationship with the Lord through the Word is that we are amazed by its effects. The Word is effective! And through it, the Lord accomplishes His actions. 
This is the first thing that surprises us: inexplicable “things” begin to happen. 
But then we continue to scrutinize the Word, and what happens? We fall in love with the Lord. 
Crazy in love, we begin to commit madness. The greatest of them: to leave everything to follow Him. Tottus tuus ego sum, Mary.

Landing in Married Life:
Jaime: We have to say it and proclaim it to the four winds: The Lord has saved our marriage.
Laura: It’s super clear. A series of divine coincidences guided us, and all we did was say “yes” at every step. 
Jaime: But the height of it all is that He has not only saved it but has also made us fall in love with Him, with our vocation, and with each other. A love like this conquers anyone.
Laura: Here we are, drooling… Crazy in love. Praise be to the Lord forever.
Mother,
Blessed be the day you looked upon us, this poor marriage, and called us to this adventure of God’s Love. Glory to Him forever.

From You to You. Reflection for marriages Saint Luke 4:38-44

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GOSPEL
It is necessary for me to evangelize also to the other cities, for this is why I have been sent.  
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 4:38-44
After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.”
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, “To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent.”
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Word of the Lord.

From You to You.
The Lord was laying hands on each of the sick until dawn, healing them one by one. Could He not have performed a general healing? He also took the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law to heal her.  
The Lord wants to have a personal relationship with me. A relationship from You to You, with me.  
Every time I stand before Him, He is alone with me. That is how the Lord loves me; He dedicates intimate and personal attention to me.  
That is the relationship He desires to have with me despite my smallness. A relationship of intimacy, from Heart to heart.
Grounded in Marital Life:
On one occasion, a couple told us that the husband would come home very irritable from work, and that was seriously affecting their relationship. So we asked him, “And if she gave you a hug and a kiss as soon as you got home, would that help you disconnect from work?” “Of course!” he said, “That would make everything disappear!”  
Spouses, let us touch each other, caress each other, kiss each other, look at each other, embrace each other. Our flesh is part of the mystical Body of Christ. Through it, His love is transmitted. Let us do as Jesus did, who touches to heal. How many relationships would be healed simply because spouses touched each other more?

Mother,

How important the gestures of affection are; how important it is that we pay attention to one another. It is worth staying up late or overcoming fatigue, just as Christ did. Praised be our Master who spares no effort, who is a close God, and personally heals me in every confession.

To the core. Reflection for marriages St. Luke 4:31-37

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GOSPEL

I know who you are: the Holy One of God.  
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 4:31-37
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.
He taught them on the sabbath,
and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,
and he cried out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!”
Then the demon threw the man down in front of them
and came out of him without doing him any harm.
They were all amazed and said to one another,
“What is there about his word?
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out.”
And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
The word of the Lord.

To the core.
There are words and words. There are empty words and words that carry within them the power of God. That was the fear of the unclean spirits, that the Word of Christ cast them out.  
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there without having watered the earth and made it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).  
It is the Word of God.

Grounded in married life:
Carlos: And you all, why are you so eager to pray the Gospel daily in your Conjugal prayer?  
Carmen: Because the Gospel is not like any other reading. The Gospel has a healing, transforming power. The Gospel expels evil from us and fills us with the Holy Spirit.  
Carlos: We still find it difficult to do conjugal prayer every day.  
Carmen: Saint Paul says to the Hebrews: that the Word “penetrates to the dividing line of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow; and it discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” When you experience this, you will understand what it is to live a truly deep experience between you.
Mother,
May the Word penetrate us and transform us. Blessed be God who gives us His Heart and His wisdom.