On Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 - "The Secret Place of the Heart"

 Scripture Reading: (Read slowly)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds 
in order that people may see them; otherwise, 
you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. 

When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 

"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues
and on street corners so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 

"When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. 
They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Leader: Jesus invites us into a secret place. A place where no one sees but God.

A place where the heart speaks truth, away from the noise of approval, applause, or appearance.
In our world, everything is visible.
We post, we share, we perform. Even our faith can become a performance:
- prayers for show, - kindness for recognition, - sacrifices for admiration.

But Jesus calls us deeper. He says: When you give, don't announce it.
When you pray, go to your room. When you fast, keep it between you and the Father.

Why? Because the reward He offers is not human praise. It is something far greater: 
the gaze of God. To be seen by Him — truly seen, loved, and known — is enough. 

Silent Reflection: (Pause for a moment)

·         Do I seek the approval of others more than the presence of God?
·         What would it mean for me to enter my "secret room" today
         to pray, to give, to sacrifice, just for the Father's eyes?________________________________________________________________________________________________

All: Father in heaven, You see what is hidden. You know what is real.
Draw me into the secret place where only You and I exist.
Free me from the need to be seen by others.
Let my giving, my praying, my fasting be for Your eyes alone.
And in that secret place, let me find my reward: Your loving gaze upon me. Amen.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION
This week, choose one spiritual practice: prayer, giving, or sacrifice and do it in complete secrecy.
Tell no one.
Let it be just between you and the Father.

On the Holy Trinity

In the gospel the figure three symbolises completeness and perfect symmetry, and re-appears at all the key moments of the Christ story. His life itself constantly reflected the Trinity. 

Three figures make up the nativity scene in Bethlehem – the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Their first visitors were the three wise men. Later, in the desert preparing to begin his public life, Jesus was tempted three times by the devil. A good story should have a beginning, a middle and an end. Christ was a storyteller par excellence and three figures prominently in his parables. The Prodigal Son is about a father and his two sons; the Good Samaritan tells of the behaviour of three passers-by, the priest, the Levite and the Samaritan; the sower sowed his seed in three different types of terrain, yielding three different levels of harvest. 

John stands in his gospel three saving qualities of the person of Christ: I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).

The end of his life, as the beginning, has again the three motif. During his Passion, Peter denied him thrice. On the road to Calvary, he fell three times. The crucifixion scene has three figures, Christ between two thieves. Before his resurrection, he spent three days in the tomb.

God is love. There are Three Persons in the Trinity, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Together they represent the fullness of love. The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father. 

The Holy Spirit is their love for each other. We are made in the image of a triune God. God the Father, who created us, his Son who saved us, and the Holy Spirit who continues to guide us. Our lives should reflect the Trinity. We should be always creative like the Father, compassionate like his Son, and dispose our talents in the service of others like the Holy Spirit.

Confronting problems with hope, enthusiasm and trust

Eustache Le Sueur, Jesus heals a blind man.

Growing with the impulse of the spirit

Sometimes Faith moves us to see life from simplicity to a more complicated mystery, from the beauty of the natural universe to the depths of the human heart where emotions vibrate and reasons may clash. Our life of faith too should follow the quick spontaneity of the child that reaches towards its mother’s breast for “the pure milk of the spirit.” We should follow these finest impulses of life and taste deeply the goodness of the Lord; and perhaps also study widely and refine our theology, drawing from Scripture and Tradition, joining the impulsiveness of an infant or a blind who want to see with the studied searching of the adult. Then we will be at peace and protected against evil desires.

Enthusiasm for the Lord*

Faith does not depend on a great amount of knowledge. Bartimaeus is a richly described character in Mark´s gospel. The blind man Bartimaeus, probably did not know Jesus very well. He only heard that he was the Son of David and that he cured some people somewhere. But this knowledge gave him great hope. He felt that Jesus could cure him too. And so when he heard that Jesus was passing by, he called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”  We learn that he is a blind, roadside beggar who was unafraid to raise his voice when he learned that Jesus was passing by.  Though told to be quiet, he raises his voice yet again to get Jesus´attention.  Finally, when he learns that he is being called, he “throws off” his cloak and “jumps” to his feet.  In Bartimaeus we see perseverance, a desire for healing, and maybe most importantly his enthusiasm. He does not want this moment to pass by.  His engagement with the present moment, with the reality that surrounds him, is strong and passionate.

At the end of the story, Jesus tells him that it was his faith that saved him.  The the story tells us that we must persevere when we pray and never give up. This is what Bartimaeus did. He kept calling out to Jesus, and so Jesus called him to himself and cured him.   Given the actions of Bartimaeus in the story, we might say that it was his passion and enthusiasm that saved him.  Faith in this story has something to do with “throwing off our cloak” and“jumping to our feet”. May the persistance of Bartimaeus inspire us.  May his witness help us jump to our feet to meet those who most need us today.

Prayer*

Lord, too often we silence ourselves when we should defend the good name of another Sometimes we become quiet and surrender our convictions to preserve harmony and spare ourselves the tension that conflict brings. With the persistence and enthusiasm of Bartimaeus let us not flinch before the truth.  And like Bartimaeus may we hear those assuring words: Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”

Originally published on 05 of May 2013 / Source: ACP and JD

Feast of the Body of Christ

Melchizedek, king of Salem, offers Abraham some bread and wine. It is a gesture of solidarity, the food is given to help Abraham and his men replenish themselves after returning from the battle against four kings. This scene seems religious. Melchizedek is fully a priest thanks to his hospitality, which is important and valued in the Mid-Eastern custom.

The second reading is a Eucharistic catechesis of Paul to the Corinthian community about celebrations in Christian assemblies. Paul reminds the Corinthians of an early tradition that he learned about the Eucharistic meal: contempt, humiliation and lack of attention to the poor in the assemblies destroys from its roots the deepest sense of the Lord's Supper: sharing. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, He strongly condemns the rite performed by itself. This becomes a hypocritical ceremony if it is not accompanied by a life of charity and justice as Jesus did.

The Eucharist is a memorial of the surrendering love of Jesus. The true believers live it in the same spirit of surrender and charity as Jesus. The institution of the Eucharist by Jesus comes from the love of Christ that surrenders himself for us and, therefore, it must always be lived and celebrated in love and generous surrendering, as the Lord did, without divisions or hypocrisy. The Eucharist updates the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, his alliance with us, his dedication and sacrifice, the mystery of love that becomes actual again. Christ establishes his alliance not with animal blood shed upon the people, but with his own blood, a perfect instrument of communion between God and humankind. In the community, the Eucharistic celebration embraces and fulfills our history, past present and future. It gives new meaning:

a) In the community, Jesus was really present in the mystery of love and his personal donation on the cross;

b) The community, obedient to their Lord; must repeat the gesture of the Last Supper as long as the History exist; "in memory of me";

c) Now and in the future the community celebrates with the expectation of his glorious return, "until he comes".

The gospel tells of the multiplication of the loaves, a historic and fundamental event to understand the mission of Jesus. Jesus is near Bethsaida in front of a large crowd of the poor, sick, and hungry. Jesus serves the marginalized and oppressed people. The dialogue between Jesus and the Twelve is when dusk begins, similar to the invitation of the two pilgrims of Emmaus, at nightfall. In both episodes the bread is blessed at nightfall. When people are tired, hungry and want to rest.

In a "human way" the apostles want people to leave the place and find their own food. Is it real that everyone should look after their own material needs. The attitude of the disciples resembles the resistance and unbelief of Israel to the power of God becoming real through saving deeds for his people. The perspective of Jesus, is the "way of love", a complete self-giving. For Him, to announce the kingdom includes too the solution of the material needs of the people. He does it in the desert where Israel experienced the mercy of God with great wonders as during the Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land.

The answer of Jesus is provocative-for the small amount of food available-, but it is also formative because he wants the disciples to learn and participate in the merciful gesture that he is going to do. The disciples, like that afternoon near Bethsaida and throughout the history of the Church, are called to collaborate with Jesus worrying about getting bread for his brothers and sisters. The act of breaking and distributing the bread reminds us of Jesus' last supper. There the Lord gives new meaning to the bread and wine of the Passover meal; He makes it a sacramental sign of his life, death and resurrection as a dynamic of extreme love for their own. It will fully satisfy everyone.

Moreover, sharing bread in the desert opens a new era of fraternity, communion in fullness. Jesus´ Disciples must repeat and multiply this gesture of the Kingdom, both free and generous. We who believe In Jesus should work for bringing to all people material bread, helping to achieve a life of dignity as children of God. This is also, the bread of hope and freedom of love. It is especially the bread of the Word and the Eucharist, the sacrament of the presence of Jesus and his merciful love for all people.

Columban Reflection / The Body and Blood of Christ, Feast, year A

Dt 8,2-3.14 b-16: 

I fed you with manna which you did not know and your fathers

Psalm 147: Praise the Lord, Jerusalem

1Cor 10:16-17: 

The bread is one, and so we, though many, are one

Jn 6:51-58: My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink

Today we proclaim Jesus, Bread of life, who satisfies our hunger in our desert, He gives us his body, the true manna, as a gift from the Father to humankind. 

All other breads: money, sex, consumerism, fame and power, never fully satiates the hunger of the human heart, but leave us hungrier. 

The words and deeds of Jesus, his kingdom and his alliance with us opens for us a world in solidarity and full of possibilities to sharing ourselves so no-one need feel left outside hungry.
Before entering the Promised Land, Moses gives the people three great and solemn speeches recorded in Deuteronomy, which some call the "Testament of Moses", his last words, full of anointing and deep spirituality. Moses invokes the past to make sense of the present in every generation.

Saying “remember” he tells us that to remember is to keep the memory alive, to connect to the glorious past, to be part of the history of faith or salvation. God has done this in the history of his people and has been present in all their happiness and sadness, never abandoning them. 

The ordeals in the wilderness (a purifying act of faith) were necessary to mature, to trust more in Him, to live alone with Yahweh and without human support. Hunger confronts them with their basic needs and prepares them to grow in a stronger faith, to trust in the God who fully satisfies. Later, when they became affluent and consumerist they forgot to be the trusting people of Yahweh. With his words, Moses reminds them that "people does not live by bread alone, but by what comes from the mouth of God", and since then, fasting takes a deeper meaning. Matthew retakes this verse and uses it in the temptations of Jesus. 

The believer no longer lives for himself, he is consecrated and possessed by a presence that transforms, makes eternal and gives him a full meaning to his existence. 

The Gospel relates this special and unique food with the sacrifice of Jesus: In it we eat his body and drink his blood. 

At Communion we not only receive the body and blood of Christ, but we identify, join and are especially trained by Christ to give and offer ourselves, to promote a decent life for all, like the one whom we are in communion with.

Paul warns about the dangers of a divided community. He Opens the true spirit of the Eucharist and gives some practical applications to enjoy it. He Affirms that the Chalice, the bread.. must "unite" all in the blood, in the body of Christ. In Spirit and in truth, we all are united in the Eucharist, in the body and blood of Christ, we are in communion (common - union) with Him and with all. Drinking His wine, eating His bread, we give true meaning to our faith committed for unity, brotherhood, love, solidarity and selfgiving to brothers and sisters in Christ. 

If we are not united, our Masses are empty of meaning, it becomes a merely personal religious rites. Paul never taught his community to celebrate Eucharist in that way. The Apostle “reminds” them that "even though we are many, we are one bread". 

At communion "we become one body." The unity and universality, becomes real and actual. This "united body" expresses the sacramental dimension of the Church in the diversity of races and cultures and makes visible the whole Christ.

In Chapter 6, San Juan explains his "Eucharistic discourse." The word "will live forever", is present at the beginning and end of the verses 51-59 that we use in this Sunday readings. Jesus reveals himself by saying, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven." The Jews did not understand it, not many of us do today. You need faith to understand this great mystery. 

Yet explained by Jesus himself, without faith it is impossible to grasp the meaning of his words and their power to our lives.  

Only through faith, we can truly say that Jesus is the Bread of Life, which has come from above, from God, to feed this insatiable and limited world, to satisfy the deepest hunger of the human heart. He quenches our dissatisfactions, our tired life, the senseless search and the deepest desires of our hearts. This bread of life gives us a healthy remedy. It Changes the place of loneliness and isolation into a room of communion of life.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, you who left and broke
your bread, your wine, your body and your blood,
your whole life,
and on the eve of your death did it symbolically
in the breaking of the bread.

Help us to realize that 

every time we do the same "in memory of you"
we will renew our determination
to continue breaking and sharing, like you,
in everyday life,
our bread and our wine,
our body and blood,
everything we are and have. 

We ask this from you,
who gave us an example for us
to do the same, always. Amen.


My Body is food

My hands, those hands, your hands
We make this gesture, sharing
the table and the destination,
as brothers, as sisters.

We are lives in your death and Your Life.

United in the bread, the many grain,
we will learn to be the united
City of God, City of humans.

By eating you we will learn to be food,
The wine of His veins challenges us.

The bread they have not yet summons us
to become with you the daily bread.

Called by the light of Your Memory,
We march to your Kingdom making History,
A fraternal and subversive Eucharist.
(Pedro Casaldáliga)

Columban Reflection, Feast of Pentecost / Cycle A

We celebrate the feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter. 

Feast of the Holy Spirit
and the "beginning" of the mission of the Church.

Acts 2:1-11: all were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
Psalm 103: Send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth
1 Cor 12:3 b- 7.12 -13:
We have been baptized in one Spirit into one body 
Jn 20:19-23: Receive the Holy Spirit

In his book of Acts, Luke tries to explain why the disciples, like Jesus Christ, have the power to do the wonders they do. Luke uses the "feast of weeks" of ancient Israel that celebrates the commemoration of the arrival of the people to Mount Sinai where Yahweh gave the tables of the Law to Moses in the middle of thunder and lightning. Both, the symbolic elements of Sinai and of Pentecost are symbols of cosmic resonance that manifest God's intervention.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul highlights the work of the Spirit in the lives of believers and in the construction of the ecclesial community. The Spirit links the mission of the Church to the mission of Jesus. Paul knows of the divisions within this community, that is why he insists that gifts, charisms, ministries and services come from the same Spirit.

He says that all the charisms, gifts and ministries are given for the growth of the Church. The action of the Spirit makes the mission of the Church a Mission for the world and not just for individual sanctification.

John presents two contrasting scenes. 1) The disciples at dusk, locked in a house full of fear. 2) Jesus entering, communicates to them peace and shows his wounds as a sign of his real presence. This fills them with joy and gives them the Spirit who makes them ready for Mission. Jesus transforms his fear, darkness, isolation and confinement into: peace, joy and a missionary spirit. The mysterious and transforming action of the Spirit within the believer and in the community makes the resurrection, ascension, eruption of the Spirit and ecclesial mission are a closely and articulated action. They are not isolated but simultaneous, progressive and facilitating moments within the community of believers.

Jesus promised his disciples that he will soon return, that He will never leave them alone; and he fulfills it! He said that the Holy Spirit of God will assist them to make them understand everything he told them; and that happens! By blowing on them as God breathed to create the human being, Jesus tells them that the Spirit creates and makes everything new. They are the new people of the creation restored by the loving self-giving of Jesus.

- With the advent of the Holy Spirit in human history begins a new way to experience God´s presence.

- Pentecost is the beginning of the final stage in the history of salvation.

- it is the starting point of the preaching of the gospel by the Apostolic Church.

- The Spirit pushes the Church beyond geographical, social and cultural boundaries, everyone understands the message in their own language. All countries known until then indicate that the Gospel message is universal.

- The Spirit comes in community, when the disciples are gathered, and his announcement opened a new community.

Sometimes, violence, injustice, poverty and corruption of society fill us with despair, fear and discouragement. We see no outputs and we lock ourselves in our individual issues and forget the big issue that is Jesus. Then, suddenly, he breaks into our interior, pierces the doors of our heart and enlightens our understanding, helping us to realize that He has not abandoned us, He is still present in the believer's life, in the community and in the world.

We recognize Him and His Spirit acting in many people and organizations who fight against all forms of sin that dehumanize and alienate us. The Spirit of God keeps acting in our history even when we do not perceive it , He does it silently and often we do not feel Him because He acts in a simple way through gestures that may go unnoticed. The daily rush and worries prevent us from hearing  and recognizing Him. We must make space for a deeper prayer time, trying to hear the motions that the Spirit inspires in me, in my community and the world, in the commitment of love, in the care for the poor.

PRAYER

Beautiful God, elusive Spirit, Light of all lights, love ever present in all love,

Life and Force who blows on all creation:

empty Yourself out, again, today,
on all creation and all peoples,

so that in beyond the different names
that we use to invoke You,

we may find you, and we could meet each other
in You, united in our love
for all that exists.  

You who live and make live, everything,
for ever and ever.

Diálogo con el amor - Padre Diego y Gilmer Torres