GOSPEL

Love your enemies.

Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:43-48

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ,that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The word of the Lord.

Thank you for your testimony.

Perhaps, this way of loving is the one that should most differentiate us as Christians, and it is the one that allows us to bear witness to Christ before the world. Because if we love those who love us, what differentiates us from non-believers? Being in God’s image and acting in His likeness is what keeps us still His children in the Son.

Grounded in Married Life:

Eduardo: Yesterday I was asked by a wife whose husband had left her, if she could come to the Proyecto Amor retreat Conjugal with another partner.

Valeria: And what did you say to her?

Eduardo: I told her that we do not exclude anyone, because many of those who are doing it could be in that same situation if the Virgin had not rescued them; therefore, that we understand it perfectly, but that this retreat is to make the most of the sacramental grace of marriage and that only those who can access that grace can come. Nor can a nun or a bachelor come, no matter how holy they may be.

Valeria: The truth is that there have to be very hard situations, but there are husbands who have been abandoned and who continue to give their lives for their spouses. A precious mission that deserves a life, because Christ remains between them and their spouses and we cannot abandon Christ. It is a mission for holiness that of those who are separated or divorced and faithful to the bond, which can only be understood from the eyes of Christ who came into the world and his own did not receive him, and in response to that rejection, gave his life for them.

Eduardo: What a great opportunity to be with Him and live this situation in Him. What a marvel of a mission, what a great dignity that of those who live it. We thank God for his great witness of life, worthy of a Saint. May He bless you.

Mother

Your Son was taken from you and you continued to love those who condemned Him and executed Him. That is why you are the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church. Thank You, Blessed Mother, for Your witness. Amen