Third Sunday of Advent

 Yesterday was the Third Sunday of Advent, called Gaudete Sunday, which means joy or gladness for the imminent return of Christ. On this day, priests wear pink, which represent this joy in Jesus. The priest tells us that we must distance ourselves from everything that takes away this joy in Jesus, such as worldly pleasures that are only fleeting, money, sex, fame, drugs, and anything else that robs us of this joy. Instead, let us rejoice in Christ!

Be Happy

 

One can be happy in pain.

I know it's possible.

We must leave our hearts open.

And let Divine love

Live there.

We have to open the door 

To hope.

Knowing that God exists

And that in Jesus,

You find everything  That your heart longs for.

Well, there is no pain

That is not comforted

If you approach

Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

And it is in the Eucharist

Where you already enjoy the fullness

Of the heavens.

And so within your pain

You will understand:

That  you are loved 

With sublime love.

I sense You

 

Yes, I sense You

In the murmur

From the voice of the wind

In the aroma

From the flower that opens

In the beam of light

Even in the rain

You are present

In the smile

From the one who is next to me

In the homily

From Sunday at mass

And in my life

You are always present .

The Divine Motherhood of the Virgin Mary

  

In Eastern traditions, the Virgin Mary is known in Greek as "Theotokus," which literally translates to "Mother of God." Yesterday, I read an explanation on EWTN about this. It explains that any mother's motherhood encompasses our entire being; that is, even though we are both body and soul, we don't have one mother for our body and another for our soul. Similarly, Mary, having given birth to the Son of God, who is both true God and true man, Jesus, is the mother of his entire being, and consequently, she is the Mother of God.

Here is a translation of the explanation given by James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 to 1921. It was published by EWTN in English in an email message about a novena that I received (this is a version translated back from the translation in Spanish and may differ from the original):

When we call the Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of God, we affirm our belief in two things: First, that her Son, Jesus Christ, is truly man; otherwise, she would not be a mother. Second, that He is truly God; otherwise, she would not be the Mother of God.



In other words, we affirm that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Word of God, who in His divine nature is eternally begotten of the Father and consubstantial with Him, was begotten again in the fullness of time by being born of the Virgin, thus taking upon Himself, from her womb, a human nature of the same substance as His own.


But it can be said that the Blessed Virgin Mary is not the Mother of the Divinity. She had no part, and could not have had any part, in the generation of the Word of God, because that generation is eternal; her motherhood is temporal. He is her Creator; she is His creature. Make of her, if you will, the Mother of the man Jesus or even of the human nature of the Son of God, but not the Mother of God.


I will answer this objection by posing a question. Did the mother who bore us have any part in the production of our soul? Was this noblest part of our being not the work of God alone? Yet, who would for a moment dream of saying "the mother of my body" and not "my mother"?


The comparison teaches us that the terms father and son, mother and child, refer to persons and not to the parts or elements of which persons are composed. Therefore, no one says, "the mother of my body," "the mother of my soul"; but in every respect, "my mother," the mother of me who lives and breathes, thinks and acts, one in my personality, even though uniting in her a soul created directly by God and a material body derived directly from the maternal womb.

Likewise, insofar as the sublime mystery of the Incarnation can be reflected in the natural order, the Blessed Virgin, under the shadow of the Holy Spirit, communicating to the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, as mothers do, a true human nature of the same substance as her own, is therefore truly and genuinely His Mother. It is in this sense that the title of Mother of God, denied by Nestorius, was reclaimed for her by the General Council of Ephesus in 431; in this sense, and in no other, has the Church called her by that title.

The Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus

 

God is love. From the beginning of time, He had a plan for humanity, a plan for our salvation. And in that love, God thought of Mary, the Virgin Mother, Mother of God and our Mother, and of course, of salvation through Jesus, our Lord. We cannot speak of Mary without thinking of Jesus. Already in Genesis, God gives us hope when He says to the serpent in Genesis 3:15, “        I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head.”   This new woman is the Virgin Mary, and her offspring is Jesus.   Thus, God promises us a new mother and a savior, a new Eve and a new Adam.   And just as through Eve's disobedience we find death, it is through Mary's obedience that God gives us the hope of eternal life through Jesus.  For without the Virgin Mary's "yes," the life of Jesus would not have been possible.   And it is this Jesus who brings life to humanity, new life through grace.   Therefore, the Virgin Mary occupies a very important place in God's plan of salvation.   I recently heard on an EWTN program that the Virgin Mary can be compared to the Ark of the Covenant, because just as the Ark of the Covenant represented God's presence among the people of Israel, the Virgin Mary is the ark, the virginal womb that carried within her God the Son, Emmanuel, God with us.   Isaiah 7:14 tells us, “ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:   The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel.”  This young woman could be none other than the Virgin Mary,  the Most Holy and Chaste Virgin before, during, and after childbirth.   This is a dogma of faith, but this ark that carried within her God the Son, this Mother of God, could not be stained by sin; therefore, she is a Virgin and was conceived without original sin.   I don't remember the saint's name because I heard it several years ago, but this is what he said about the Virgin Mary's virginity: "God willed it, He could, and He did it."   The God of creation willed to create the Virgin Mary to be the Mother of Jesus, and He chose her  from the beginning.   The mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus is undoubtedly the greatest miracle of all time.   Through Mary, the prophecies are fulfilled, and God Himself is present in our lives through Jesus, God the Son, who shows us His humility and His love and dwells among us.

Saint John the Baptist

You leaped for joy in the womb

Feeling Jesus near you

In the Immaculate Womb of Mary

To whom she is received with humility.

Saint John the Baptist, for you baptized

And you announced that He would come soon

You said not to baptize with water:

The Holy Spirit would descend.

And Jesus asked you to baptize Him,

You refused, you felt unworthy

But Jesus told you it was right.

And the prophecy was fulfilled.

The Holy Spirit was a dove

That confirmed it was who you came for

And you heard a voice from heaven

That confirmed what you already knew.

The Lamb of God, that's what you call him

The one you were paving the way for.

Once baptized, He began His journey:

By proclaiming God's good news.

It was your zeal for God for which you lived

You didn't care about the danger you were in.

And you died for denouncing what

That the eyes of God did not consent.

And so you gave your life for Him.

And on a silver platter, your head

Announced that the last prophet

Suffered martyrdom for love of his faith.

That faith which accepts everything for God,

On the value of giving one's life for God,

Of humility, of respect, and of prowess that

Asks for repentance, and God delivers.

May God confirm us in His faith and may we accept

Jesus, Man and God in our lives,

And let us not hesitate to tell the world

Jesus is life lived through love.  

The song of a little bird (January 8, 2023)

 

I confess that my favorite animals are birds. Especially the little birds that sing among the trees. They sing to their creator, I know. But they remind me of God for another reason. I feel that God speaks to us in different ways: in the scriptures, in nature, in a child's smile, in the wise voice of an elder, in the eyes of someone who has no roof to shelter them from the cold, the heat, and the rain, and also in the song of a little bird. The little birds remind me of God because I can hear them and yet I cannot see them. They hide among the branches of the trees, concealed from my view, like God. Except for winter mornings. I just went out to have a coffee in my backyard and I could hear their song. However, because the trees were bare, they were exposed to my eyes. And I thought that's how life is sometimes. God tries to speak to us, to make Himself present in our lives, but through the leafy canopy of our life's tree, we cannot see Him and we pass Him by, ignoring His call. However, it is in our winter days that we can clearly see the Lord, that we feel Him closer, that we pay closer attention, as when we face a difficulty, an illness, a problem. It is then that we realize that God has always been by our side, perhaps hidden by our own spiritual blindness. Yes, I love the leafy trees of summer and spring, but the leafless trees have reminded me how, during my own illness, God revealed Himself to me in a book, in a Bible, in a journal, in some drawings. But thank God my illness is behind me; I only hope that I never lose sight of Him. As a popular song says: "You can see Him if you look at the one next to you; you can feel Him deep within your heart."

Wind

 Almost intervening

God comes and saves you

From the hand of the wind

That was taking you far away

Now God stops you

And the wind caresses you.

Second Sunday of Advent (December 4, 2022)

 Today is the Second Sunday of Advent. Today's Gospel speaks to us about Saint John the Baptist, who calls us to repent of our sins to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus, for the Kingdom of Heaven. The priest told us that we must not confuse remorse with repentance. Remorse makes us feel bad about our sins, but it doesn't last long. On the other hand, if we are truly repentant, we will experience a change in our way of thinking, a true conversion of heart. And we will change our behavior, turning away from our sins. This is why Saint John the Baptist calls us to repentance. We must then, in repentance, approach the source of grace, who is Jesus Christ, and confess our sins in the confessional. Let us also remember what we declare in the Act of Contrition, where we promise: "to avoid occasions of sin, to confess my sins, and to do penance..." And thus we will receive Jesus with a heart worthy of Him.

Today it was also my turn to read the first reading, where the prophet Isaiah speaks of a beautiful promise when Jesus comes, among other things, that the lion and the horse will graze together. This represents the peace that can only come in the presence of Jesus. With the hope of this peace, I share with you a small painting I did a few years ago, which exemplifies the peace that can come to our hearts if we have a true conversion and allow Jesus to reign in our lives: it is a lamb beside a lion, under a star, which could well be the Star of Bethlehem.

Second Sunday of Advent

 Today, Saint John the Baptist invites us to repent of our sins and demonstrate it through our actions. For what is faith without works? We must therefore attend to the poor, comfort the afflicted, visit the sick, and so on. 

Today, Isaiah also tells us that a shoot will spring from Jesse, who was the father of David. This shoot is none other than Jesus, who is a descendant of David through Joseph. The Gospel of Luke shows us Jesus' entire genealogy back to Adam, if you'd like to read it. I believe it's in chapter 3.

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, December 8

 Already celebrated by the 11th century, this solemnity is inserted in the context of Advent-Christmas, uniting the messianic expectation and the glorious return of Christ with the admired memory of the Mother.

In this sense, this liturgical period should be considered a particularly suitable time for the worship of the Mother of the Lord.

Mary is the all-holy one, immune from all stain of sin, almost formed by the Holy Spirit and made a new creature. Already prophetically foreshadowed in the promise made to the parents of the victory over the serpent, Mary is the Virgin who will conceive and give birth to a son whose name will be Emmanuel.

 The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed by Pius IX in 1854.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who truly is full of grace and blessed among women, in view of the birth and saving death of the Son of God, was from the first moment of her conception, by a singular privilege of God, preserved immune from any stain of original sin, as solemnly defined by Pope Pius IX, on the basis of a doctrine of ancient tradition, as a dogma of faith, precisely on the day that is celebrated today.

Not the memory of a Saint, we commemorate today: but the highest and most precious solemnity of Her who is called Queen of the Saints. The Immaculate Conception of Mary was proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX.

But the history of devotion to Mary Immaculate is much older. It predates the proclamation of the dogma by centuries, even millennia, which, as always, has not introduced anything new, but has simply crowned a very long tradition. Even the Fathers of the Eastern Church, in extolling the Mother of God, had used expressions that placed her above original sin.

They had called her: "Ashamed, guilty, beauty of innocence, purer than the Angevins, purest lily, unpoisoned seed, cloud more splendid than the sun, immaculate."

In the West, however, the theory of the Immaculate Conception encountered strong resistance, not out of aversion to the Virgin, who remained the most sublime of creatures, but to uphold the doctrine of Redemption, accomplished solely through the sacrifice of Jesus. If Mary had been immaculate, that is, if she had been conceived by God outside the law of sin, the doctrine would have been incompatible with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Original sin, common to all the children of Eve, meant that she would not have needed Redemption, and therefore Redemption could no longer be called universal. The exception, in this case, did not confirm the rule, but rather destroyed it. The Franciscan John Duns Scotus, called Scotus because he was a native of Scotland, and known as the "Subtle Doctor," managed to overcome this doctrinal obstacle with a subtle but convincing distinction. The Virgin Mary, too, had been redeemed by Jesus, but with a preventive Redemption, before and after time. She was preserved from original sin in anticipation of the merits of her divine Son. This was fitting, it was possible, and therefore it was done. John Duns Scotus died at the beginning of the 14th century. After him, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception made great progress, and devotion to her spread ever more widely.

From 1476 onwards, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was introduced into the Roman calendar. In the squares of Italy, celebrated preachers wove praises of the Immaculate Virgin: among them, Saint Leonard of Port Maurice and Saint Bernardino of Siena, who with his witty and moving voice said to the Sienese: "Now tell me: what shall we say of the knowledge of Mary being filled with the Holy Spirit, having been born without any sin, and thus remaining always clean and pure, always serving God?"

In 1830, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré, who then promoted a "miraculous medal" bearing the image of the Immaculate Conception, that is, the one "conceived without sin." This medal sparked intense devotion, and many bishops petitioned Rome for the official definition of this dogma, which was already in the hearts of almost all Christians.

Thus, on December 8, 1854, Pius IX proclaimed the "woman clothed with the sun" exempt from original sin, all pure, that is, Immaculate. It was an act of great faith and extreme courage, which aroused joy among the faithful of the Virgin and indignation among the enemies of Christianity, because the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was a direct denial of the naturalists and materialists. But four years later, the apparitions of Lourdes appeared as a wondrous confirmation of the dogma that had proclaimed the Virgin "all beautiful," "full of grace," and without any stain of original sin. A confirmation that seemed like an expression of gratitude for the abundance of graces that flow from the heart of the Immaculate Conception upon humanity. And from the devotion to the Immaculate Conception came the immediate spread, in Italy, of the feminine name Concetta, in Spain that of Concepción: a name that repeats the highest attribute of Mary, "sine labe originali concepta", that is, conceived without stain of sin, and, therefore, Immaculate.

Source: (Parish Archives)

Humility

 

Humility, according to the definition of the Royal Spanish Academy, is the virtue that consists of knowing one's own limitations and weaknesses and acting in accordance with this knowledge

It could be said that being humble is about allowing oneself to be loved by God and recognizing that everything we have, whether material or spiritual, comes from Him, acknowledging that the only thing that is truly ours is our misery, our weaknesses. By recognizing our misery, we can recognize our need for God and seek Him. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains (2733), “The humble person is not surprised by his misery; it leads him to greater confidence, to remain steadfast in perseverance.” By giving thanks and glory to God for what we have received, we avoid vain glory and can open ourselves to receive His gifts and use them to serve others. By being humble, we accept not only joy but also sorrow, and we can offer both to God in thanksgiving and rejoice in Christ.   

In Jesus our Lord, we find true humility, for being the Son of God, he came into the world and became man like us, sharing our human nature and using his life in service to others.   He accepted the will of his Father, our God, in everything, even giving his life to obtain eternal life for us.

Our Mother, the Virgin Mary, is also an example of humility, for she not only accepted what God asked of her, but called herself "the handmaid of the Lord," becoming nothing in order to be everything in God.

By being humble, we can stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking about others.   Only through humility can we stop relying on our own strength and start trusting more in God, our Father and Creator.

Humility, a virtue that leads us to follow you closely, Jesus, to let ourselves be molded by your hand, to accept the cross with your joy.

Mary's Advent

 

I've been wondering how Mary experienced Advent. And since writing helps me think, I started writing here. First, Mary had trust, and more than trust, faith in the words the angel communicated to her, words that came from God. She believed she would be the mother of Emmanuel, God with us. She believed and offered her fiat, which changed the course of history. So, to await Jesus, to await Christmas, we must first believe that God became man. And we must have trust in God despite everything. Mary trusted despite what her "yes" implied; she didn't stop to think about what would happen. She trusted and said "yes" to the Lord's will. Mary, the Virgin Mary, was not passive. Despite her pregnancy, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth to help her. And she was able to transmit her joy to the baby in Elizabeth's womb. Likewise, we must not remain unmoved by the coming of Jesus. We must share our Christian joy with others, bring Jesus to those who need him, offer help, comfort, advice, and joy. It seems the Bible doesn't tell us much about Mary, but the angel called her "full of grace." Perhaps we won't reach Mary's level of grace, who was conceived without original sin, but we should still aspire to a state of grace to receive Jesus this Christmas. The purple color we see in churches this Advent season is a sign of penance. And many parishioners, as well as priests, often wear purple vestments to Mass. Let us then do penance for our sins, go to confession, and prepare ourselves to worthily receive Jesus this Christmas and celebrate his birth with renewed faith, joy, and acceptance of God's will, which at this time is that Jesus be born and remain in our hearts, not only during Christmas, but throughout our lives.

The Gift (December 25, 2018)

 

Among the Christmas tree ornaments, I have one that my dad gave me when I was a teenager. It's a small, hollowed-out pumpkin with a nativity scene inside, featuring Joseph, Mary, a donkey or horse, and of course, Jesus. On top of the pumpkin is a gold star and a small pendant for hanging it on the tree. It's a very simple ornament, but I treasure it because my dad gave it to me, and I think it's beautiful. The photo above shows the ornament on the tree. I confess that years ago, my sister and I used to fight when it came to decorating the Christmas tree because I wanted it to be perfect, or rather, exactly to my liking. We don't fight anymore, although we used to argue about the nativity scene of the Christ Child as well. It wasn't until I understood that Jesus doesn't ask for a spectacular tree or nativity scene, until I grasped the humility of his birth, in a manger, among farm animals, he being the Son of God. And this morning at Mass, while I was looking at the Holy Family in front of the altar, I noticed they had placed a gift there. Being human, the first thought that came to mind was, "What if it's for me?" It was a white gift with a large silver bow. Curious, I imagined what it might contain and even felt like opening it. The gift was placed right in front of the Christ Child, the baby Jesus. And suddenly, I felt like I had fallen in love—yes, I am in love! What God inspired in me at that moment was that this gift was Jesus himself, who had been born to save me, as a non-religious song says, "the greatest gift." Yes, Jesus is the best gift of Christmas; he is born for you, for me, for everyone, and he is God!  Then I felt a great sadness, and I cried, because we celebrate his birth, but where is his gift? And He, being God the Son, through whom the universe was created, as I read in the second reading, what could He possibly lack? He who is surrounded by glory and majesty in heaven and who reigns for eternity. My tears welled up in my eyes again. "What can I give you?" I wondered. And God inspired me once more. At that moment, I decided to give Him my heart, which is the most precious thing I have and which I believe is what He truly desires from us: a heart that He can mold and that loves Him. I don't know if I was already in love with Jesus, but today, with tears in my eyes, I fell in love with Him all over again. I hope my gift pleases Him. I hope many hearts will let Him into them and that He can make His home there, as He did more than two thousand years ago in that manger in Bethlehem.

Hope

  Hope is one of the three theological virtues, along with faith and love. And like them, it is a gift from God. Christian hope makes us wait on God's promises. Among them, that He would send a Savior to His people. And Jesus promises us that He will be with us until the end of time. Sometimes it is difficult to feel hopeful when everything seems to be against us. However, we have a Father God who loves us and accompanies us in those difficult moments. How can we doubt God's love if He was capable of giving His own Son for us? Or of God the Son, who was able to become man and present Himself to us as a baby, as a Child God, small and defenseless out of love for us, through the work of the Holy Spirit? Let us not lose heart and let us remember that Jesus came to die on a cross, but was later glorified in the resurrection. God had a plan to save us from ourselves. He also has a plan for our lives and a plan for our salvation. Let us fix our minds and hearts on the hope of Jesus' birth and remember that nothing can separate us from God's love. Let us trust in God's mercy in our lives and await Jesus with joy.

First Sunday of Advent

 

Today we begin the Advent season. The deacon explained that Advent comes from the Latin word "aventus," which means coming. This means that Advent prepares us for the coming of Jesus this Christmas. The deacon told us that when we await the visit of a relative we haven't seen in a long time, we are very happy, but we also prepare the house so that when they arrive, they will find it clean and tidy. Likewise, we must prepare our souls and our hearts for the coming of Jesus. We should go to confession and avoid occasions of sin, and read the scriptures. I realized something: the Gospel of Saint Luke has 24 chapters. If we start reading one chapter a day, beginning on December 1st, we will arrive at Christmas knowing whom we are celebrating. I also read something on Facebook today that might be helpful for this Advent season; it's a quote from Saint Augustine: "Live your life in such a way that you are not afraid to die." In other words, if we live like this, we will be prepared to receive Jesus this Christmas and also for the Second Coming of Christ.