Prayer: Anthony of Padua

Just as God is compassionate towards you in a three-fold way, so ought you to show compassion toward others in three ways. God's compassion is gracious, specious, and precious.

It is gracious, that is, grace-filled, because it purifies the soul of vice.

It is specious because with the passage of time it extends itself to good works.

It is precious in the joys of eternal life.

Poem: Francisco X. Alarcon

I want a god
as my accomplice
a god
who hurts
to the last
bone and
bites the air
in pain
a jobless god
a striking god
a hungry god
a fugitive god
an exiled god
an enraged god
a god
who longs
from jail
for a change
in the order
of things
I want a
more godlike
god

Prayer: Damien de Veuster

Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the most tender of friends with souls who seek to please him. His goodness knows how to proportion itself to the smallest of his creatures as to the greatest of them. Be not afraid then in your solitary conversations, to tell him of your miseries, your fears, your worries, of those who are dear to you, of your projects, and of your hopes. Do so with confidenc and with an open heart.

Prayer: Augustine

O God in whom all things live, who commanded us to seek you, who are always ready to be found; to know you is life, to serve you is freedom, to praise you is our soul’s delight. We bless you and adore you, we worship you and magnify you, we give thanks to you for your great glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer: Augustine

Holy Mary, help those who are miserable, strengthen those who are discouraged, comfort those who are sorrowful, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God. May all who venerate you experience your assistance and protection. Be ready to aid us when we pray, and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it your continual concern to pray for the people of God, for you were blessed by God and were made worthy to bear the redeemer of the world.

Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

Ignatian Spirituality: Set the World Ablaze

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Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

August 30, 2015

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; Psalm 15; James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

            Ah, our fickle relationship with the law. The Israelites bent and challenged the laws just as we do. We are proud when we cleverly manipulate the law to our advantage and we get burned up when the law catches up with us, but when it comes to holding someone else to the law, we stringently hold fast and want justice metered out to the offender. We have a problem. We do not want the laws to apply to us, but we want them held to the highest standards against others. When we lord it over others, we are acting as counter-signs against our faith. We do not see the laws as something positive, but an encroaching aspect of our lives that must perpetually be challenged, yet these laws provide us with protection, safety, personal space, positive attitudes, and they contribute greatly to the common good. Laws are designed to contribute to the proper functioning and flow of society, while agitating the law slows down the slow forward movement of community standards. Moses reminds us that the commandments are given to us so that we have life-giving freedom because they will make the Israelites into a great nation.

            Laws without charity are not laws at all, and charity is our authentic Christian virtue. The very antithesis of charity is bitter zeal, which we see in religious fundamentalism. Someone who holds tightly to a law acts like the Pharisees that Jesus holds up for scrutiny. They are people who honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far away from charity. People who worship documents without integrating mercy and compassion perpetuate bitter zeal. We need to lead them to the law of charity.

            The Pope’s visit to the U.S. next month may pit those who cling in comfort to highly idealistic church teachings against those who admire the Pope’s call for greater mercy and compassion. For years, conservatives held court denouncing those who asked for a softening of tone and attitudes to officious church rulings. They were known as culture warriors because they stood against the values of the world and sought to change them, and their tone and style disrespected many. It is not a way to build a healthy church. Today, a new tone of tolerance, understanding, and acceptance is creeping into the church’s style and the vast majority of people are responding in gratitude. Documents without charity lead to bitter zeal. Pope Francis is setting right what has long been broken. Pope Francis is returning us to the teachings of Jesus.

            Jesus changed attitudes of many hard-hearted people. He showed everyone that the world was good, but he pointed out that the things that come out from within are what defile. In other words, people are good; the world is good; society is good. We do not have to always stand against it and condemn it. We have to uphold what is good and build a more just, compassionate, and merciful society. It will take a while to change the church from its place of harshly judging others to become one that welcomes the stranger and cares for each other. It will become a church that his humble.

            We have to make sure our souls and our churches are devoid of evil attitudes because they defile from the inside out. Church is often a place where people with poor boundaries are welcomed and their behaviors accepted. We cannot let this be. When someone exhibits an unholy attitude and tone, we must help them soften their bitter zeal as we approach this Jubilee Year of Mercy. The business at work here is the salvation of everyone’s souls, not just someone who agrees with your theology. We are responsible for each other’s souls, and it begins with our attitudes.

Reforming our attitudes to include humility is a start. Teach people to honor positive attitudes that work to build a cohesive, harmonious community. Our generosity of heart will lead others to salvation. We are not in a game to win a theological position; we are in the life and death ministry of saving souls. Make it a mantra to start the day: My ministry is to save a soul today. It will only come about if our attitudes conform to that of Christ and the saints.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: 

·      Monday: (1 Thessalonians 4) We believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

·      Tuesday: (1 Thessalonians 5) Disaster comes upon the complacent, but not for you who are not in darkness. Let us stay alert and sober.  

·      Wednesday: (Colossians 1) We always give thanks to you for your love of Jesus Christ and for the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.

·      Thursday: (Colossians 1) We do not cease praying for you and asking that you be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

·      Friday (Colossians 1) Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that is all things he might be preeminent.

·      Saturday (Colossians 1) You were once alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds; God has now reconciled you in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him.

Gospel: 

·      Monday: (Luke 4) Jesus came to Nazareth and attended synagogue on the Sabbath. He read from the scroll of Isaiah and when finished declared, “This reading has been fulfilled in your hearing.” No prophet receives honor in his hometown.

·      Tuesday: (Luke 4) Jesus came Capernaum in Galilee and taught on the Sabbath with authority. A man’s unclean spirit was silenced and thrown out of him. The demon recognized Jesus as the Holy One of God.

·      Wednesday (Luke 4) Jesus cured Simon’s mother-in-law and at sunset, all who had people with various diseases brought them to him to be curried. At daybreak, everyone was looking for him, but he said he had to leave. “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom.”

·      Thursday (Luke 5) At Lake Gennesaret, Jesus saw two boats with fishermen washing their nets. He signaled to Simon, who was frustrated with the last night’s catch. Jesus told him to put out his net and Simon caught so many that the boats were in danger of sinking. Simon recognizes his sinful nature and asks Jesus to depart. He doesn’t.

·      Friday (Luke 5) The scribes and Pharisees asked why his disciples do not fast while John’s disciples do. One day they will, but now they do not have to while the groom is with them.

·      Saturday (Luke 6) Jesus ate the heads of grain in a field on the Sabbath and some Pharisees protested. Jesus recalled David’s precedent and declared that the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.

Saints of the Week

September 3: Gregory the Great (540-604) was the chief magistrate in Rome and resigned to become a monk. He was the papal ambassador to Constantinople, abbot, and pope. His charity and fair justice won the hearts of many. He protected Jews and synthesized Christian wisdom. He described the duties of bishops and promoted beautiful liturgies that often incorporated chants the bear his name.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Aug. 30, 1556: On the banks of the St. Lawrence River, Fr. Leonard Garreau, a young missionary, was mortally wounded by the Iroquois.

·      Aug. 31, 1581: In St. John's Chapel within the Tower of London, a religious discussion took place between St. Edmund Campion, suffering from recent torture, and some Protestant ministers.

·      Sep 1, 1907. The Buffalo Mission was dissolved and its members were sent to the New York and Missouri Provinces and the California Mission.

·      Sep 2, 1792. In Paris, ten ex-Jesuits were massacred for refusing to take the Constitutional oath. Also in Paris seven other fathers were put to death by the Republicans, among them Frs. Peter and Robert Guerin du Rocher.

·      Sep 3, 1566. Queen Elizabeth visited Oxford and heard the 26-year-old Edmund Campion speak. He was to meet her again as a prisoner, brought to hear her offer of honors or death.

·      Sep 4, 1760. At Para, Brazil, 150 men of the Society were shipped as prisoners, reaching Lisbon on December 2. They were at once exiled to Italy and landed at Civita Vecchia on January 17, 1761.

·      Sep 5, 1758. The French Parliament issued a decree condemning Fr. Busembaum's Medulla Theologiae Moralis.

Vigésimo Segundo Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

Vigésimo Segundo Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

30 de agosto 2015

Deuteronomio 4: 1-2, 6-8; Salmo 15; Santiago 1: 17-18, 21-22, 27; Marcos 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Ah, nuestra relación inestable con la ley. Los israelitas dobladas y desafió las leyes del mismo modo que hacemos. Estamos orgullosos cuando hábilmente manipular la ley a nuestro favor y nos quemamos cuando la ley se pone al día con nosotros, pero cuando se trata de la celebración de otra persona a la ley, nosotros sostenemos rigurosamente rápido y queremos justicia medido hacia el ofensor. Tenemos un problema. No queremos que las leyes que se aplican a nosotros, pero queremos que mantienen los más altos estándares en contra de otros. Cuando se enseñorean de los demás, estamos actuando como contra-indicaciones en contra de nuestra fe. No vemos las leyes como algo positivo, pero un aspecto usurpación de nuestras vidas que constantemente debe ser impugnada, sin embargo, estas leyes nos proveemos de protección, seguridad, espacio personal, actitudes positivas y contribuyen mucho al bien común. Las leyes están diseñadas para contribuir al buen funcionamiento y el flujo de la sociedad, mientras se agita la ley ralentiza el movimiento de avance lento de las normas de la comunidad. Moisés nos recuerda que los mandamientos están dado a nosotros para que tengamos que da vida la libertad, ya que hará que los israelitas en una gran nación.

Leyes sin la caridad no son leyes en absoluto, y la caridad es nuestra auténtica virtud cristiana. La antítesis de la caridad es el celo amargo, que vemos en el fundamentalismo religioso. Alguien que sostiene firmemente a una ley actúa como los fariseos que Jesús posee para el escrutinio. Son personas que honran a Dios con los labios, pero su corazón está lejos de la caridad. Las personas que adoran a los documentos sin la integración de la misericordia y la compasión perpetúan amargo celo. Tenemos que llevarlos a la ley de la caridad.

La visita del Papa al mes próximo los Estados Unidos puede enfrentar a los que se aferran con comodidad a las enseñanzas de la iglesia altamente idealistas contra aquellos que admiran el llamado del Papa para la mayor misericordia y compasión. Durante años, los conservadores mantienen judicial denunciando a los que pidió un ablandamiento de tono y actitudes a las resoluciones de la iglesia oficiosos. Eran conocidos como los guerreros de la cultura, ya que estaban en contra de los valores del mundo y trataron de cambiar ellos, y su tono y estilo respetados muchos. No es una forma de construir una iglesia saludable. Hoy en día, un nuevo tono de la tolerancia, la comprensión y la aceptación se está arrastrando en el estilo de la iglesia y la gran mayoría de las personas están respondiendo con gratitud. Documentos sin caridad conducen a amargo celo. Papa Francisco está fijando la derecha lo largo se ha roto. Papa Francisco nos está volviendo a las enseñanzas de Jesús.

Jesús cambió las actitudes de muchas personas de corazón duro. Él mostró a todos que el mundo era bueno, pero señaló que las cosas que salen de dentro es lo que contamina. En otras palabras, la gente es buena; el mundo es bueno; la sociedad es bueno. Nosotros no tenemos que permanecer siempre en contra de ella, y la condenarán. Tenemos que defender lo que es bueno y construir una sociedad más justa, compasiva y misericordiosa. Tomará un tiempo para cambiar la iglesia de su lugar de otros con dureza a juzgar a convertirse en uno que da la bienvenida al forastero y se preocupa por los demás. Se convertirá en una iglesia que su humilde.

Tenemos que asegurarnos de que nuestras almas y nuestras iglesias están desprovistos de actitudes malas porque contaminan desde adentro hacia afuera. Iglesia es a menudo un lugar donde las personas con límites pobres son bienvenidos y sus comportamientos aceptados. No podemos dejar que esto sea. Cuando alguien presenta una actitud impía y el tono, debemos ayudarles a suavizar su celo amargo cuando nos acercamos a este Año Jubilar de la Misericordia. El negocio en el trabajo aquí es la salvación de las almas de todos, no sólo alguien que está de acuerdo con su teología. Somos responsables por las almas de los demás, y comienza con nuestras actitudes.

La reforma de nuestras actitudes para incluir la humildad es un comienzo. Enseñar a la gente para honrar actitudes positivas que trabajan para construir una comunidad armoniosa cohesiva. Nuestra generosidad de corazón conducirá a otros a la salvación. No estamos en un juego de ganar una posición teológica; estamos en el ministerio de la vida y la muerte de salvar almas. Que sea un mantra para empezar el día: Mi ministerio es salvar un alma hoy. Sólo será posible si nuestras actitudes se ajustan a la de Cristo y de los santos.

Temas para las misas de esta semana

Primera Lectura:
• Lunes: (1 Tesalonicenses 4) Creemos que Jesús murió y resucitó, así también será Dios, por medio de Jesús, trae con él a los que durmieron.
• Martes: (1 Tesalonicenses 5) Desastres viene sobre los complacientes, pero no para ustedes que no están en la oscuridad. Quedémonos alerta y sobrio.
• Miércoles: (Colosenses 1) Siempre damos gracias por tu amor de Jesucristo y por el amor que tenéis a todos los santos a causa de la esperanza reservada para ti en el cielo.
• Jueves: (Colosenses 1) No cesamos de orar por vosotros y de pedir que seáis llenos del conocimiento de la voluntad de Dios a través de toda sabiduría e inteligencia espiritual.
• Viernes (Colosenses 1) Jesucristo es la imagen del Dios invisible, el primogénito de toda la creación. Él es el principio, el primogénito de entre los muertos, es decir todas las cosas que podría ser preeminente.
• Sábado (Colosenses 1) vez, estaban alejados y hostil en cuenta debido a las malas acciones; Dios ahora los ha reconciliado en el cuerpo carnal de Cristo a través de su muerte, para presentaros santos, sin mancha, e irreprensibles delante de él.

Evangelio:
• Lunes: (Lucas 4) Jesús vino a Nazaret, y asistió a la sinagoga en sábado. Y leyó en el libro de Isaías y cuando termine declarado: "Esta lectura se ha cumplido en su audiencia." Ningún profeta recibe honor en su ciudad natal.
• Martes: (Lucas 4) Jesús vino Capernaum en Galilea y enseñó en sábado con autoridad. Espíritu inmundo de un hombre fue silenciado y expulsado de él. El demonio reconoció a Jesús como el Santo de Dios.
• Miércoles (Lucas 4) Jesús curó madre-en-ley y al atardecer de Simón, todos los que tenían las personas con diversas enfermedades los traían a él para ser curry. Al amanecer, todo el mundo lo estaba buscando, pero él dijo que tenía que irse. "A las demás ciudades también debo proclamar las buenas nuevas del reino de Dios."
• Jueves (Lucas 5) En el lago Genesaret, Jesús vio dos barcas con los pescadores lavaban sus redes. Hizo una seña a Simon, que estaba frustrado con la última noche de la captura. Jesús le dijo a apagar su red y Simon cogió tantos que los barcos estaban en peligro de hundimiento. Simon reconoce su naturaleza pecaminosa y pide a Jesús que partir. El no.
• Viernes (Lucas 5) Los escribas y fariseos le preguntaron por qué sus discípulos no ayunan mientras los discípulos de Juan lo hacen. Un día lo harán, pero ahora no tienen que mientras el novio está con ellos.
• Sábado (Lucas 6) Jesús comió las espigas de trigo en un campo en el día de reposo y algunos fariseos protestó. Jesús recordó el precedente de David y declaró que el Hijo del hombre es señor del sábado.

Santos de la Semana

3 de septiembre: Gregorio Magno (540-604) fue el primer magistrado en Roma y resignados a convertirse en monje. Él era el embajador papal a Constantinopla, abad, y papa. Su caridad y justicia justa ganaron los corazones de muchos. Protegió Judios y sintetiza la sabiduría cristiana. Describió los deberes de los obispos y promovió liturgias hermosas que a menudo incorporan cantos la llevan su nombre.

Esta semana en la historia de los jesuitas

• 30 de agosto 1556: En las orillas del río San Lorenzo, el P. Leonard Garreau, un joven misionero, fue herido de muerte por los iroqueses.
• 31 de agosto 1581: En la capilla de San Juan dentro de la Torre de Londres, tuvo una discusión religiosa entre San Edmundo Campion, que sufren de tortura reciente y algunos ministros protestantes.
• 01 de septiembre de 1907. La Misión de Buffalo se disolvió y sus miembros fueron enviados a las provincias de Nueva York y Missouri y la Misión de California.
• 02 de septiembre de 1792. En París, diez ex-jesuitas fueron masacrados por negarse a prestar el juramento constitucional. También en París se pusieron otros siete padres hasta la muerte por los republicanos, entre ellos los PP. Peter y Robert Guerin du Rocher.
• 03 de septiembre de 1566. La reina Isabel visitó Oxford y oyeron el 26-años de edad, Edmund Campion hablar. Era volver a verla como un prisionero, traído a oírla oferta de honores o la muerte.
• 04 de septiembre de 1760. En Pará, Brasil, 150 hombres de la Sociedad fueron enviados como prisioneros, llegando a Lisboa el 2 de diciembre Fueron a la vez desterrados a Italia y desembarcaron en Civita Vecchia el 17 de enero 1761.
• 05 de septiembre de 1758. El Parlamento francés emitió un decreto condenando P. Médula Theologiae Moralis de Busembaum.

Prayer: Ignatius of Loyola

In a time of desolation, never forsake the good resolutions you made in better times. Strive to remain patient - a virtue contrary to the troubles that harass you - and remember that you will be consoled.

Prayer: Sandra Cisneros

Before you became a cloud, you were an ocean, roiled and murmuring like a mouth. You were the shadow of a cloud crossing over a field of tulips. You were the tears of a man who cried into a plaid handkerchief. You were a sky without a hat. Your heart puffed and flowered like sheets drying on a line.

And when you were a tree, you listened to trees and the tree things trees told you. You were the wind in the wheels of a red bicycle. You were the spidery Maria tattooed on the hairless arm of a boy in downtown Houston. You were the rain rolling off the waxy leaves of a magnolia tree. A lock of straw-colored hair wedged between the mottled pages of a Victor Hugo novel. A crescent of soap. A spider the color of a finger nail. The black nets beneath the sea of olive trees. A skein of blue wool. A tea saucer wrapped in newspaper. An empty cracker tin. A bowl of blueberries in heavy cream. White wine in a green-stemmed glass.

And when you opened your wings to wind, across the punched-tin sky above a prison courtyard, those condemned to death and those condemned to life watched how smooth and sweet a white cloud glides.

Spirituality: “Thy Will Be Done” By Walter Ciszek, S.J.

“Thy will be done.” That was the key, but only slowly did I come to experience how perfect a prayer is the Our Father, the Lord’s Prayer. “Lord, teach us how to pray,” the disciples had said, and in his answer the Lord had explained the whole theology of prayer in the most simple terms, exhaustive in its content and yet intended for the use of all [persons] without distinction. The human mind could not elaborate a better pattern in prayer than the one the Lord himself gave us.

He begins by placing us in the presence of God. God the Almighty, who has created all things out of nothingness and keeps them in existence lest they return to nothingness, who rules all things and governs all things in the heavens and on earth according to the designs of his own providence. And yet this same God our Father, who cherishes us and looks after us as his sons [and daughters], who provides for us in his own loving kindness, guides us in his wisdom, who watches over us daily to shelter us from harm, to provide us food, to receive us back with open arms when we, like the prodigal, have wasted our inheritance. Even as a father guards his children, he guards us from evil – because evil does exist in the world. And just as he can find it in his Father’s heart to pardon us, he expects us to imitate him in pardoning his other sons [and daughters], our brothers [and sisters], no matter what their offenses.

The Our Father is a prayer of praise and thanksgiving, a prayer of petition and reparation. It encompasses in its short and simple phrases every relation between [the human person] and his Creator, between us and our loving, heavenly Father. It is a prayer for all times, for every occasion. It is at once the most simple of prayers and the most profound. One could meditate continuously on each word and phrase of that formula and never fully exhaust its riches. If we could only translate each of its phrases into the actions of our daily lives, then we would indeed be perfect as our heavenly Father clearly wishes us to be. Truly, the Lord’s Prayer is the beginning and end of all prayers, the key to every other form of prayer.

Prayer: Thomas Merton

The ox-eyed land,
The muted lakes,
The cloudy groves that praise you,
Lady, with their blooms,
Fuse and destroy their lights
And burn them into gold for you, great Virgin,
Coining your honor in the glorious sun.

The skies speed up to meet you, and the seas
Swim you the silver of their crests.
If you delay to come, we'll see the meteors, by night,
Skimming before your way,
Lighting the time of death's dismay
In lights as lithe as animals.
And God will blaze your pathway with the incandescent stars.

But oh! Queen of all grace and counsel,
Cause of our joy, Oh Clement Virgin, come:
Show us those eyes as chaste as lightning,
Kinder than June and true as Scripture.
Heal with your looks the poisons of the universe,
And claim your Son's regenerate world!

Prayer: The Christophers

Loving God, grant that I may be a bearer of Christ Jesus, your Son. Allow me to warm the often cold, impersonal scene of modern life with your burning love. Strengthen me by your Holy Spirit to carry out my mission of changing the world or making some part of it for the better. Make me more energetic in setting right what I find wrong with the world instead of complaining about it.