REFLECTION

EUCHARIST AND THE SYNOD ON THE FAMILY

Pablo Cirujeda 

2014 has come to an end, but the Synod on the Family initiated this past year in the Catholic Church is still going on and bridges into 2015.  A major Church gathering in October will bring that process to completion, while considering questions regarding our families under the theme “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world.”

As we prepare for that event, I have come to remember the writings of Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), a medieval German-born Dominican preacher, who authored the famous “Counsels on Discernment,” which have been published in different languages. One of “counsels” deals with the benefits of receiving sacramental Communion, and how he was encouraging the people of his time to do so.

It is difficult not to note the similarities between this Dominican scholar and Pope Francis, who in his letter The Joy of the Gospel reminded us that “the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” Meister Eckhart’s counsel, written some 700 years earlier, speaks for itself:

Counsel 20: Of the body of our Lord: how one should often receive it,

and with what manner and devotion:

Do not let people talk and preach you away from your God; the oftener, the better, and the dearer to God. For it is our Lord’s delight to dwell in man and with him.

Now you may say: “Alas, sir, I know how empty and cold and inert I am, and that is why I dare not go to our Lord!”

But what I say is, all the more reason for you to go to your God; for it is in him that you will be warmed and kindled, and in him you will be made holy…

Now you may say: “Alas, sir, I can find nothing better than poverty in myself. How could I dare go to him?”

Be sure of this, if you want all your poverty to be changed, then go to that abundant treasury of all immeasurable riches, and so you will be rich…

“Alas, sir, I have committed so many sins that I cannot atone for them!”

Go to him for this, for he has made fitting atonement for all guilt.

In short, if you want all your sins to be wholly taken from you and to be clothed in virtues and graces, if you want to be led back joyfully to the source and to be guided by every virtue and grace, see to it that you are able to receive that sacrament worthily and often; so you will become one with him and be ennobled through his Body.

(Quoted from: Meister Eckhart: Selections from His Essential Writings, HarperCollins Spiritual Classics, 2005.) 

END OF YEAR ACTIVITIES AT CASA SAN JOSÉ, COCHABAMBA

There were several exciting activities that took place at Casa San José at the end of 2014, and we would like to share some of them with you.   Casa San José is the Community of St. Paul's refuge for street children in Cochabamba, Bolivia.   

On the morning of November 25 last year, Msgr. Tito Solari, Archbishop of Cochabamba, visited Casa San José, joined by his sister and Father Alfredo Rizzi. It was a very special day since it was Archbishop Solari, deeply sensitive to the suffering of the many children who were living in the streets, who fourteen years ago asked the Community of Saint Paul to start a center to shelter and reintegrate the children. So, quite literally, Archbishop Solari was the inspirational advocate for the very existence of this apostolate.

In a highlight of the visit, the archbishop shared Mass with the children and the dedicated team of educators at Casa San José.  During his reflection, the children spontaneously responded to each question that he asked, especially little Josué, who tried to answer all of them.  The children and the program's staff know Msgr. Solari very well since he holds Casa San José in his heart and never passes up an occasion to visit them.  The children were also happy to be able to bring up the gifts of bread and wine.  After Mass, everyone shared a delicious lunch and little Carlitos took the opportunity to sit next to the archbishop and had a lively chat with him.  We thank Msgr. Solari for his sympathy and tenderness with the boys and girls.

Also, the Christmas celebration of the children and teenagers of Casa San José included the traditional living Nativity.  In this annual dramatization, the children reenact the story of the family of Nazareth and celebrate the birth of the child Jesus. Joseph, Mary, her son, angels, kings, shepherds and several animals make up the beautiful scene. The play finished with songs to the child Jesus and sharing a delicious meal with families and the team at Casa San José.

REFLECTION

The baptism of Jesus: the Decision 

Esteve Redolad

The baptism of Jesus is probably one of the most important events in his life. Its feast, a week after Epiphany, merely tiptoes through Christmas celebrations as perhaps one of the most depreciated and less valued celebrations of the liturgical calendar.

It could be seen as just a minor episode, when in fact it was perhaps the fundamental event of his inner life, the moment in which he assumes his mission and begins his public ministry, most probably still without knowing the full scope and significance of his decision. Sometimes popular culture makes us believe that very early in His life, almost at birth, Jesus would be endowed with the capacity to be all knowing as to the events that would unfold during his time on earth. Thus, we assume that he knew in advance that he was going to be baptized by John at the River Jordan, and that he knew his mission and identity. If that is the presumption, then the baptism episode loses its significance.    

REFLECTION

FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY: THE SHOCK WAVE OF THE GOOD NEWS REACHING US

Ricardo Martín

Still in the Season of Christmas, we celebrate today the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany, in our faith context, means the manifestation of Christ to all the Nations.

In the readings of these last days we have been hearing all these stories about the birth of Jesus from the two gospels that have them, Luke and Matthew. One of the beautiful things of all these texts in Christmas is to see how the Good News of the birth of Christ has this expansive effect: first, only Mary knows about it; then Joseph; then Elizabeth and Zachariah; then the shepherds (representing the downcast of Israel); and today it reaches all the Nations. Using 21st century language, Jesus goes viral at the Epiphany.

This manifestation of Christ is still happening to us, and it is a matter for us to hear it, and be transformed as the Magi were transformed. When the gospel begins, the Magi are looking for Jesus in Jerusalem, in the center of power of the time, and they thought Herod would be of help. But at the end of the gospel, transformed by the encounter with Christ, they realize that they have to avoid Jerusalem and Herod, to return as different people, carrying with them the good news of Jesus.

We can look at the attitude of the Magi in today’s gospel and learn from them how to let Jesus transform our lives:

(1) The Magi were people on a journey, who were searching. The opposite of that is our tendency to settle, in life and in faith, and to stop searching. We tend to become people with all the answers instead of people of questions.

(2) In their search, they read a sign–a star. We believe God continues sending us many signs on how to find Jesus. People and events that happen in our lives are messages from God, but we often do not pay attention, in the midst of our busy lives. We have lost the sensitivity to discern signs.

(3) Once they encounter Jesus, the Magi gave him everything. They gifted themselves to the Child: Gold, representing their material wealth; Frankincense, representing their faith, as incense has in many cultures been a sign of our relationship with the Divine; and by gifting him with myrrh, they have given him also their suffering and their eventual death, as myrrh was used in antiquity as an ointment with medicinal effects, also used to prepare a body for the funeral rituals. The opposite happens when Jesus does not change anything in our lives, as we live faith on the surface. We compartmentalize lives and we do not live all dimensions of our lives following the values of Jesus.

(4) And they were “overjoyed” upon encountering Jesus—and we continue preaching that joy is a choice we make. We all have problems and depressions, and excuses not to be joyful. Does the encounter with Jesus fill us with joy?

The Epiphany is an explosion of joy and meaning, and its shock wave is reaching us today. We learn from the Magi how to set ourselves to continue the journey that takes us to the Child and beyond–in constant journey of transformation.

Are we still searching? Are we making the choice of Joy? Are we giving everything to God or in what areas I am still holding back?