Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time - Learning to Follow Directions

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick– no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” So, they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe in you, and I believe that I must follow your will in all that I do. I hope in you, and I place my hope in what you have planned for me today. Teach me not to place my hope in created things, but only in your will. Lord, I love you, and I desire to love your will with greater fervor. Open my heart to respond to your will with generosity and joy.

Petition: Lord, help me to transmit your message through my words and actions.

Two by Two: Our Lord didn’t send the apostles out in their mission as isolated individuals, but in pairs. Jesus wanted them to realize that alone they would not be strong enough. Alone they would be vulnerable to attacks. Alone they might succumb to temptation and discouragement. Jesus’ disciples were not alone as they labored to carry out their mission, and neither are we. The mission we have of following Jesus may be difficult at times, but Jesus knows this. He places people in our path to help and support us. We must realize that we need the help of others and that others also need our help. We are not alone!

Take Nothing: Jesus wanted his apostles to realize that he is in charge of the mission. Jesus tells them to leave at home what we would consider basic items necessary for any trip. This was a radical lesson for the apostles, as it is for us. Jesus doesn’t want us to rely on our personal efforts, the advanced technology of the day, or any other methods or elements that we can invent for our security or success. He is the origin of any success in our lives, and he alone gives true security. Jesus tells the apostles to take nothing on their journey, except him.

They Went Off: The apostles then went to preach repentance and cure the sick. They trusted in Jesus and in the mission he had entrusted to them. As they began to work, they saw that their efforts were bearing fruit. The people they encountered were responsive. They could see that they were changing lives. In our own lives we don’t often encounter receptive crowds, open and eager to hear about Christ and prepared to amend their lives and start off on a new path. We often find hostility and opposition. In either situation — success or failure — as we try to build Christ’s Kingdom, we must trust in him and remember that we are called to be faithful, not necessarily successful from a human standpoint.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, you’ve given me a mission to spread your Gospel among my family members, friends and coworkers — everyone I encounter. Help me to be faithful to this mission and to undertake it in the way you wish, not the way it most pleases me.

Resolution: I will fulfill my prayer commitments today with generosity and fidelity.

Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs - Made for God

He departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.  When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.  Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.

Introductory Prayer: O Lord, you said that blest are they who find no stumbling block in you. I want to be a blest person, so that you may find in me no obstacle to the holiness you want for me. I believe in you, but I long for a greater faith to see and respond to the signs of your hand moving in my world. I love you, Lord, and wish to lead my brothers and sisters to you through my testimony, through my being truly convinced that you are the life of men.

Petition: Lord, grant me the gift of total surrender to your will for me in all things.

1. “Where did this man get all this? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands”: How beautiful it is to contemplate the humble and meek Christ!  He now manifests, to the shock and awe of the worldly-minded, the signs of his true origin and the nature of his true mission.  The power of God, the power of the supernatural, now intervenes in what is merely natural through the mere “carpenter’s son.” The “signs of credibility” that Christ enacts through his mighty words and deeds powerfully point to his divine origins and invite his contemporaries to faith.  It is an invitation to leave behind them the superficial category of Jesus as just a nice neighbor (which means they can live the same as before) and receive the gift of Christ as Redeemer (which means change and conversion). Are there signs in my life that the Lord is looking to change me, to change my behavior in some way so I might live more by faith and charity?  How much longer will I resist before I will am won over by his goodness?

2. “And they took offense at him”: It is a sacrifice to give God his place in the ordinary flow of our day. To do so, we need to sacrifice our sense of self-sufficiency, by which we are inclined to be the prime mover of everything in our world. We need to sacrifice our vanity, which desists from efforts to adore God since they bring little or no applause from those around us. We need to sacrifice the comfort of our naturalism, our horizontal view of things. Ultimately this sacrifice is a work of love responding to a divine invitation to share in God’s life––love, because he is asking and wants to see us giving. Let us move our hearts to embrace this sacrifice joyfully, for the sake of love. It helps to see that in this passage there are no neutral states. Those who reject the invitation to love are turned to love’s opposite––hate, specifically the hatred of the supernatural. It is a tragedy at work in our culture in many places, giving rise to the forces of anti-evangelization. Let us pray and be vigilant that it may never become our tragedy.

3. “He was not able to perform any mighty deed there”: Our Lord makes himself vulnerable to us, to our willingness to believe. He comes only to make us happy and to elevate our lives to be more beautiful, deeper in meaning and richer in fruits. He wants to bring into our life his power to work miracles and to move mountains of fear and burdens that we encounter. He comes to be ointment for our wounds and consolation for our weary hearts. The only thing he needs to make us happy, then, is our faith, our unconditional and active faith. Without it (since he respects our freedom), we cripple his capacity to act in our life as Savior and Lord. How sad it is to see how easily we refuse such a selfless and beautiful gift.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, teach me to receive you with a heart ready to leave my rationalistic way of acting and choosing. Help me to know how to read your invitations with supernatural faith and to follow them in true obedience, where true love proves itself.

Resolution: I will be very obedient to the lights I receive today from the Holy Spirit, acting on them with promptness and generosity.

Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr - Touched by Faith

When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.” He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak.  She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?'” And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”  While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.  So he went in and said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was.  He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, who should I turn to first but you? You have given me another day. This gift calls me to come to you first, to hear you first. My faith tells me there can be nothing better than to follow your plan; my hope is to bring you into my life and to other people; my love wants to be fuller and better — it wants to be like yours, Lord.

Petition: Grant me the grace of deeper trust and faith in all moments of hardship.

1. “…afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.”  When problems are prolonged, or reach fever-pitch levels, we can get the mistaken impression that God has lost interest.  Somehow he seems no longer moved by our misery.  All the signs say he has forgotten us, abandoned us and left us hanging.
But God is only seemingly absent. He is creating a new set of circumstances wherein we can experience him at a wholly new level.  The long, hard and persevering fight to walk in hope enables God to bring about greater fruits of holiness in us.
In the woman with the hemorrhage and in Jairus, father of a dying daughter, we must contemplate a mature and vibrant faith, observing how it conquers pessimism and transcends the cold calculations and superficial tones of their peers.  Truly this is the first miracle we see that Jesus has worked for them, and the most important one.

2. “And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out.” The dismal voices of his “friends” come to the father. Though they have seen the miracle of the woman with the hemorrhage, they coldly say, “Your daughter is dead. Be realistic. It is no use to go on.” True, in the name of realism, we can dismiss hope and cooperation with Christ’s action in our life. We can ridicule Christ whenever he wants to work in mystery and outside our human limits. We can be tempted to abandon trust in God in the name of reaffirming control over our world. “Let’s be realistic,” we say. “It will never work.”  These phrases veil a weak faith, a poor faith, a sterile or compartmentalized faith that works only when everything makes sense to us, when everything is easy.  Where there is this lack of faith, Christ cannot work.

3. “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Many say they are near Christ, yet few are acknowledged by Christ as close to him. Many were brushing against him that day, many were verbally praising him, many were serving him, but only one touched him and got his full attention. Why? Only one made an act of unconditional faith. What is the secret? How can we really get his attention, truly speak to his heart? None are closer than those who trust him, who humbly depend on him, and who wish to live from him. The woman’s unconditional faith was open to whatever would happen, whatever would be Christ’s response.  Those who suffer and support themselves patiently with faith and prayer experience new levels of union with Christ.

Conversation with Christ: Lord let me use hardships to build newer levels of trust and intimacy with you. Open my heart to seek you on your terms.
I do not ask you for happiness or sorrow,
Health or sickness,
Riches or poverty,
Freedom or slavery,
Goods or evils;
For goods are misfortunes if you do not come with them,
And misfortunes are goods if they arrive with you.
For goods without you, what good would they be?
And misfortunes with you, are they not the best goods?

Resolution: I will acknowledge the presence of Christ in all the difficulties of today.

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time - A Madman for Christ

Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” (He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.” And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But he would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

Introductory Prayer: Father in heaven, my heart is hungry for your word. I believe that you want to speak a word of hope to me today. How good it would be if I were to see myself and my future as you do, but at least I do trust in you. I wish to take up your challenge to be holy, whatever the cost, and I am confident that you will accompany me closely and help me with your grace.

Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to abandon myself to your healing power.

1. A Hopeless Situation? The man possessed by a legion of demons seemed to the people around—and perhaps to himself—a hopeless case. Living there alone amidst the tombs, he could not help but harm himself, gashing himself against stones. Nobody could help him by restraining him. In our lives with God, some seemingly unsolvable situation may exist, perhaps some sinful state we got ourselves into, but from which we cannot seem to extract ourselves. Or we experience that we are always falling into the same sins, the same biting impatience, the same laziness, the same sensuality. Friends and family seek to help us, but we don’t have the will to change. Instead of rectifying the situation, we just make a pact with a kind of modus vivendi, saying to ourselves, “We can only live as best as we can.” But the result is that that one demon has multiplied in me and become a legion of demons.

2. Jesus Has Power: Jesus encounters the possessed man. The scene is intriguing: the man runs to prostrate himself before Christ, while at the same time the demons show fear and beg Jesus not to be harsh with them. How consoling to know that no situation can escape Christ’s power to straighten it out. It is also consoling to know that Jesus wants to free us from the power of the devil, from any sinful state in which we find ourselves. We can always turn to Christ to ask to be healed because no one is ever so sinful or so possessed to be totally repugnant to God’s love. Certainly, we may fear that Christ’s medicine may hurt, but we need to trust that the spiritual “treatment” is worth it. The treatment may be an honest and thorough confession, a brutally sincere self-examination, or the breaking-up of an unhealthy relationship.

3. Transformation into a Witness: Imagine the cured man, still with the scars of his gashes, but now in his full senses. What an amazing sight! It brings us to our knees in thanks to Christ for his power and mercy. Of course, the cured man is overwhelmed by the transformation. He gives no thought to going back to “ordinary” life. His thankfulness makes him want to accompany Jesus, his friend and savior. However, Jesus gives him a mission, sending him to his family and friends to tell the story of how Jesus cured him. Wherever the cured man goes, he will proclaim the marvels the Lord has done in him. When we experience absolution from our sins in confession, does our thanksgiving cause us to proclaim the power and love of Christ to our family and friends?

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have set me free and kept me from so many vices and demons, addictions and grudges, materialism and indifference. You have given me the grace to know you and choose you. I want to thank you for your power and mercy towards me. I resolve to be a witness to your great love among my family and friends.

Resolution: I will witness to some healing that the Lord has worked in my life with a friend or family member.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - To Believe or Not to Believe

He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.  Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land.  It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I do believe in you, and I long to open my heart completely to receive your Word in total faith and trust. I seek you ardently in this prayer so as to know you better. I want to know you so as to love you more completely as my Savior and Lord.

Petition: Lord, grant me the grace of active and total faith in you.

Mixed Opinions and Emotions: There is a striking contrast between the question, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” and its preceding line: “And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” It seems contradictory that at the same time as they are praising him, they are doubting him. But the Apostles also experienced mixed feelings, even during their last encounter with Jesus Christ before he ascended to heaven: “And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted” (Matthew 28:17). Don’t we also sometimes find this same inner shakiness of our faith in Christ, even while we may be professing it with our lips? Christ knows the weakness of the human heart, but he will not force himself upon us nor work miracles without our sincere profession of faith in him. Nevertheless, he is willing to help us if we can only humbly recognize our weakness and implore his help. We have proof from the Gospel that he will not spurn the prayer “Lord I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

He Only Seeks Our Happiness: When we look at the panorama that Christ offers us from the history of Israel, he describes God’s true motive for encountering man, for seeking him out. Is it to bring him into submission and lay upon him an unsupportable burden of ‘holiness’? God, rather, is the healer and has no other purpose than to make these privileged souls happy. He yearns to lift a burden from their souls. He is there to heal and to elevate their whole experience of life. Ultimately, all that Christ needs to make them happy is that they have faith: an active and all-embracing faith, a faith that is not diluted by rationalistic demands that condition their acceptance of God’s plan. Do I experience Christ only as trying to tighten the noose of responsibilities around my neck, or do I see that through what appears to me as difficult, he seeks only to bring out something more beautiful in me?

Christ is the Alpha and the Omega: Faith is not just for the future, not just to recognize Christ as the Omega—the end point of my journey where I find an explanation for death. Nor is faith just for when my personal plans have gone awry and I need an explanation for my moral and spiritual failures. Christ is not simply the caboose, trailing my life to clean up the disorders that pull my train off the track. Our Lord is also the Alpha—the beginning point. He is the engine that drives the whole process and the place from which every new initiative for advancement must begin. I must acknowledge that he is not just one means among others to live a good life. He is the source and summit of true life itself, goodness incarnate, and no effort of mine can have value or merit unless it is done in total dependence on him. Let my faith reveal this truth to me, so that my heart may be open more and more to making Christ my reason for living, my foundation for giving myself day after day.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I want to open myself to what you propose to me in prayer and to eliminate all pride and human calculation at work in my heart and mind. I trust in you, Lord, for you seek only to make me happy, never to hurt me. When my own reason becomes darkened and my natural enthusiasm wanes before the mystery of your design, help me confide in and walk by your holy power and wisdom.

Resolution: Today I will offer an act of faith and trust in some desire of Christ for me, one that I originally met with fear or indifference.

Living Your Marriage Vows: A Sign of Contradiction Newly Married Retreat

Living Your Marriage Vows: A Sign of Contradiction
Newly Married Retreat
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Fr Humberto Palomino, PES

Today we celebrate the PRESENTATION OF THE LORD.
Mary and Joseph are a young married couple. They are new parents, bringing their infant Son to be presented to the Lord. As married couples, you can all put yourselves in their shoes.
But we know also that this is a very ironic moment. It was traditionally a time for the ritual purification of the mother, and of course Mary is the spotless virgin, with no need for purification. And Jesus is God Incarnate.  He is God in the 2nd person of the Trinity and there is no need to present him to God. 

We know that as faithful and obedient Jews, Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem with Jesus, to present Him in the Temple.
It is there that they have this interesting encounter with Simeon.
We hear that Simeon is “righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel.” We get this beautiful sense from his prayer (we call it the Canticle of Simeon) that Simeon has been waiting and even LONGING for this moment for a LONG TIME 

He says to God, “Master, you may let your servant go in peace…for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
It is what Simeon says next, which we only find in the longer version of this Gospel at Mass, that I would like to use as our jumping off point for the thoughts I have for you this morning.
We hear that Simeon blessed this little family. 

And then he turned to Mary.
And he said to her, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted, and you yourself a sword will pierce.”
On your wedding day, you INVITED JESUS AND MARY into your marriage. Because of that, your marriage should stand apart as something different. You will share the LIFE of Jesus and Mary through your marriage. It’s a GREAT GIFT and brings GREAT MEANING to your marriage. It also means that your marriage should reflect Jesus and Mary. It should be A SIGN of God’s Love. That means that you too will be CONTRADICTED by the world at times. 

Your hearts might even be PIERCED at times, because of who you are.
Your marriage will be COUNTERCULTURAL. 

As I said, you will be different in some way…you will stand apart.
But because you have invited Jesus and Mary into your marriage, many souls will be touched by the GOODNESS OF GOD. 

You will become LIGHT for your family and friends…and for our culture. Remember what happened at the Wedding Feast at Cana.
Because Jesus and Mary were invited into that marriage, water was turned into WINE. 

It wasn’t just wine, it was the BEST WINE. 

And it wasn’t just for the couple who were married, it was for ALL THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
Because that young couple invited Jesus and Mary into their marriage, and shared in their living as a SIGN OF CONTRADICTION, they also became a SIGN OF GOD’S LOVE to others.
Everyone who was there that day received the NEW WINE…THE GOODNESS OF GOD.
This morning I want to talk with you about WHY it is that inviting Jesus and Mary into your marriage will make you different…why it will make you countercultural.
And I want to get into some PRACTICAL ways that simply living out your marriage vows will make that happen. 
You are inviting Jesus and Mary into your marriage by being here…
By choosing to get married in the Catholic Church…
By choosing a SACRAMENTAL marriage, with all that means. 

By the vows you chose to make on your wedding day.
And when you invite Jesus and Mary into your marriage, they teach you gradually, more and more, to LOVE like them.
You become LIGHT for others.
You become a SIGN OF GOD’S LOVE. 

That is the way that God’s GOODNESS is brought to light through you.
That is the NEW WINE that He wants to give through you. 

On your wedding day, you made these vows to each other and to God:
You took each other as husband and wife.
“To have and to hold from this day forward.”
And then the important part…which interestingly is omitted in many Protestant or non-denominational wedding ceremonies… 

“FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE…”
“FOR RICHER, FOR POORER…”
“IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH…”
“UNTIL DEATH DO US PART…”
There is no doubt that if those words are really meant, they point to a COUNTERCULTURAL kind of love. 

In our culture today, it’s very common to say “I love you until…”
I love you until you change in ways I don’t like… 

I love you until you take too much from me…
I love you until you stop loving me…
I remember a story about a young Catholic couple. 

They met because they were both marathon runners 

They loved to spend time together outdoors, running or hiking.
They were active and full of enthusiasm for life. 

On their honeymoon they were in a terrible car accident.
The wife became paralyzed.
Instantly their life changed, before they had even opened the gifts or written the thank you notes. She couldn’t run any more, and she wasn’t going to be able to run for their rest of their life together. 

What this couple imagined for their marriage was not going to happen.
But that didn’t change anything about the way they loved each other.
They had invited Jesus and Mary into their wedding, and He was still going to make new wine through them.
Everything changed…all of their plans…but because of that their love had a chance to really GO DEEP. I think they probably were a better reflection of GOD’S GOODNESS than if they had both remained healthy until old age. 

There are probably many who would say that the ending of their marriage, though sad, would have been JUSTIFIED.
But because this couple chose to really LIVE their marriage vows…for better and for worse, in sickness and  in health…
 …their love waz COUNTERCULTURAL. 

It was SUPERNATURAL.
It was MORE than the love we see in the world.
In his book Deus Caritas Est (which means “God is Love”), Pope Benedict talks about 3 kinds of love. 

There is Eros, Filios and Agape love
He points out that as fallen human beings, our love – even our “Eros” or romantic love – needs to be TRANSFORMED.
By nature, we tend to be SELF SEEKING.
In the story I told you, there are all sorts of UTILITARIAN reasons why either the man or woman might justify ending the marriage.
Our culture teaches us to think in UTILITARIAN WAYS…what will benefit me most, or even what we think might benefit our culture most?
If love is limited by these dangerous ideas, it could be argued…
This isn’t what I agreed to when I said “I do”
Maybe now she can’t work the way she planned…there are economic consequences to her injury.
Maybe it will affect where the couple can live, whether they can travel.
It might even affect (at least temporarily) the personality of either the husband or the wife…there might be struggles with depression, or anxiety.
Maybe now they can’t have the family they planned on having, the way they planning on having it.
But THE LIFE OF CHRIST teaches us that we need to learn to give ourselves away.
It’s the opposite of utilitarian thinking.
And it’s the only way to find real HAPPINESS.
Our love needs to be PURIFIED.
Inviting Jesus and Mary in to your marriage will do that.
It is the LIFE OF JESUS, as we find it in Scripture, that really introduces the idea of AGAPE love  – a love that goes beyond itself.
Pope Benedict said:
“This Word (the 2nd person of the Trinity) expresses the experience of a love which involves real discovery of the other, moving beyond the selfish character that prevailed earlier.  Love now becomes concern and care for the other.  No longer is it self-seeking, a sinking in the intoxication of happiness; instead it seeks the good of the beloved: it becomes renunciation and it is ready, and even willing, for sacrifice.”
That is certainly a countercultural kind of love, isn’t it?
It’s a CRUCIFIED LOVE – the love of Jesus on the Cross.
But also the love of Mary and Joseph at Nazareth…
The simplicity of day-to-day ABANDONMENT to the will of God.
Doing what is GOOD and HOLY in ordinary life…
…instead of what might seem to benefit me most.
Remember that just because it’s SIMPLE doesn’t mean it’s EASY.
It’s not easy at all to live AGAPE love.
Which means it’s not easy at all to live your MARRIAGE VOWS.
But you have chosen SACRAMENTAL MARRIAGE, and there are real graces there that make it possible.
St John Paul II said:
“The Spirit which the Lord pours forth gives a new heart and renders man and woman capable of loving one another as Christ loved us.  Conjugal love reaches that fullness to which it is interiorly ordained: conjugal charity.”  [Familiaris Consortio, 13]
This kind of love is obviously not modeled in our culture today.
This is a love that puts the other first and that is ready to DIE, in little ways and sometimes big ways, for the other.
What does this mean for you PRACTICALLY?
It means that in marriage, you aren’t looking for a measured 50/50 giving.
You aren’t saying, I’ll give only so far, and you give the rest of the way.
You are each giving fully – 100/100.
This doesn’t mean that one person has the license to let the other person do all the giving.
In marriage, neither can sit back and wait for the other to give to them.
Each person has to learn to give and to receive.
To ALWAYS GIVE is PRIDE – it is refusing to admit your need to receive.
To ALWAYS RECEIVE is PRIDE too – it is putting yourself at the center, and not thinking about the other.
Sometimes the best thing, in fact, is to GIVE WHAT I FEEL I NEED MOST.
If you are sad, try helping someone else who is sad.
If you are lonely, try thinking of someone else who might feel lonely, and invite them to lunch.
God often uses our GIVING OF OURSELVES to give us what we ourselves need.
That’s what St Francis of Assisi meant in his famous prayer when he said, “For it is in giving that we receive.”
St Thomas Aquinas talks about this kind of self-giving love as FRIENDSHIP LOVE. 
It is loving the other for their own good, even at my own expense.
 It means LAYING DOWN YOUR LIFE.
Jesus says:
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.”  [Jn 15: 13]
Selfish love thinks about what you can get from the other.
But friendship love – loves for their good, even at your own expense.
This kind of love is only possible because GOD LOVES US FIRST. 

God became man to model this kind of love for us.
And He has raised us up and given us the grace we need to follow Him in loving.
It is only because of God’s grace that it is possible for us to love with a CRUCIFIED LOVE.
The real test of this is when you LOVE YOUR SPOUSE IN THEIR WEAKNESS. 

It’s the “good times and bad, sickness and health” part of the wedding vows.
That means everything….
When the baby is crying at night, and you are both exhausted.
When you lose your job. 

When you have to deal with your spouse’s character defects, and even sins. 

What a beautiful thing it is to find LOVE in these times. 

It is the gift of realizing that your spouse SEES YOUR WEAKNESS and still loves you.
God is really made present in this moment, because God always loves us in our weakness. 

When we love like this it is like that moment at the Wedding Feast at Cana when Jesus changed water into the best wine and it was received by all.
The GOODNESS of God is made manifest through us in the world.
The living of your marriage vows becomes a SIGN OF CONTRADICTION THAT BRINGS LIGHT INTO THE WORLD.
Often in hidden ways…like Mary and Joseph in Nazareth.
But with POWER…the POWER OF THE CROSS.
St Therese of Lisieux called that power in Mary her “EVANGELICAL HUMILITY.”
Because it is only real love…agape love…that has the power to EVANGELIZE.
Only real love…crucified love…CHANGES HEARTS.
There is nothing more beautiful or more powerful than the CROSS
When you invite Jesus and Mary into your marriage you become VERY POWERFUL IN GOD’S WORK OF SALVATION.
You become a SIGN OF CONTRADICTION in the way Jesus is a sign of contradiction for the world.
You place yourselves into the hands of GOD and He will MAKE WINE!

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord - Speaking from the Heart of Christ

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,” and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I open my heart to receive the power of your Spirit flowing from your heart into mine. I wish to carry it zealously as a light from my heart to my family, to my friends, to the weak and empty of heart. With the fire of your love in me, I want to acknowledge you as true light and as the glory and splendor of every human person. I long to be filled with a consuming love for you.

Petition: Lord, help me to penetrate the meaning of my baptism by contemplating your consecration in the Temple and on the cross.

1. Glory of the Father, Light of the Nations: Contemplate this scene from God’s perspective. The Son, now in human history, enters the Temple for the first time. The Son enters the house of the Father. He, the perfect Lamb for whom no earthly sanctuary is holy enough, accepts to be consecrated in this place built by men, this place that was dedicated to the memory of the signs that were all in expectation of him. The True Lamb arrives at last to the place of offering. The Temple was above all a place of sacrifice in order to gain God’s favor. It was a place of expiation to free oneself of the inheritance of sin, and a place of prayer to offer fitting honor and praise to the one true God. And here, on this day, in the arms of Mary, comes the only sacrifice that counts, for without him no other sacrifice has meaning, whether in sacred rituals or in our personal lives.

2. “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord” Contemplate this scene through the heart of Mary. In the simple rite of consecration; the Son is going to recognize his belonging to the Father, but he will do it through Mary’s fidelity to the prescribed ritual. Yet, who can speak for THIS child?  Can anyone speak for the zeal of his heart, the hunger of his heart to suffer for souls? Mary’s pure and humble heart emerges as his spokesperson, and it speaks the language of self-giving and donation, though under the rituals prescribed by the law. “For their sake I consecrate myself.” She reflects to the world what has been communicated to her by her Son, who is flesh of her flesh. In our ordinary life we elevate the meaning of small events in union with Christ. Flesh of our flesh by grace, he enables us to live a consecration to a mission in his name. Our acts are made from the power of Christ’s living presence moving our heart and will.

3. “A sword shall pierce your heart…” Now contemplate the true temple of Christ’s body on the Cross, where every consecration is made perfect. Yes, Christ gives us the privilege to speak the words that echo from his heart. Over time he perfects this language in us, if we are faithful to the cross in our life. My own baptismal consecration is all about speaking from what is in the heart of Christ, so that his words ‘pierce my own heart’ and replace that heart of stone with a new heart. I seek to speak like Christ––chaste, poor, and obedient––with a language forged and pounded into full authenticity at the Cross. My death to sin and egoism will call forth the risen life of the new man of the Kingdom––possible only through the fire of the Spirit that flows from the open side of Christ.

Conversation with Christ: O Jesus, make my soul a temple worthy of your entry. May the walls of my heart be adorned with purity, honesty and upright intention in all I say and do. May its floors, upon which you walk, be sealed with modesty and sincerity, and lead you to an undivided heart.

Resolution: Today I will renew my personal consecration to the Heart of Christ in a visit to the Eucharist, and I will remember in a special way all consecrated persons throughout the world who renew their vows today.