2/11/2012 – Saturday of 5th week - Our Lady of Lourdes – Mark 7:24-30

         On December 8, 1854, over 150 years ago, Pope Pius IX announced the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception to the world.  Only 3 years later, the apparition of a young girl appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubrious in Lourdes, France, identifying herself with these words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”  Through this apparition of the Virgin Mary to this young girl in France, the Blessed Mother revitalized & continues to energize the faith of millions of believers.  The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes was officially declared by the Church in 1907, & we continue to honor the Virgin Mary with this feast on February 11 to this day.

         Countless pilgrims, many of them poor or sick, travel to Lourdes each year due to the many ways healing has come to the faithful on these pilgrim visits.  The pilgrims come to Lourdes inspired by Jesus and his mother Mary, by the love, mercy, and compassion that they both exemplify in our faith.  We hear in the Gospel today of the great compassion Jesus displays toward the crowd, how he does not want to send them away hungry, thirsty, and tired.  We only can imagine what this experience was like for the crowds, how they were moved and touched by Jesus in this act of compassion and generosity.  May the Blessed Virgin Mary continue to lead us to Jesus, and may we place our faith in the healing presence he has in our lives.

2/10/2012 – Friday of fifth week – St Scholastica – Psalm 81:10-15

       “I am the Lord, your God: hear my voice” – this is our psalm refrain for today.  God tells the people of Israel how they have turned away from his voice, how they had hardened their hearts.  As we get ready to start the holy season of Lent in two weeks, we are called to look inside of our hearts, to see where the Lord is calling us to change our lives and to change our hearts. 

         For us as Catholics, we have a lot of examples and role models to help us along our journey, to provide us inspiration and encouragement when we struggle or reach a dry period in our lives.  Today we celebrate St Scholastica, who lived way back in the sixth century.  St Scholastica was the twin sister of St Benedict.  Benedict greatly influenced the way the monasteries evolved all over Europe.  St Scholastica founded her own community of nuns only five miles from where her twin Benedict lived in Monte Cassino.  St Scholastica is the patron saint of nuns.

         May we look into our hearts today to see how God’s voice is crying out to us, to see how we are called to a conversion of heart.  

2/9/2012 – Thursday of fifth week – Mark 7:24-30

        Sometimes our Gospel reading can be comforting.  Sometimes it can be challenging or it can shake us out of our complacency.  However, sometimes the message in the Gospel can be very shocking, which how I see today’s Gospel.  Jesus meets a non-Jewish woman, a Greek woman who was Syrophoenician by birth.  This desperate, courageous woman seeks out Jesus in order to heal her daughter, who was possessed by an unclean spirit. She would have been seen as an unclean person to the Jews of Jesus' day.  Jesus dismisses her at first, saying that he should first take care of the children of Israel, that helping this woman instead of a Jew would be akin to taking the food out of the mouth of a child to give it to a dog.  However, because of her persistence and great faith, Jesus heals her daughter. 

Sometimes, we come to God, thinking that we know exactly what we want. We might not know how God is going to answer our prayers, we might not know how we are going to receive a call from God or experience healing in our lives. Yet, we might ask ourselves if we have the faith and courage to trust in God, to ask him to heal us and guide us in life.  Are we as tenacious as the Greek woman who begged Jesus to heal her daughter?  Are we willing to go out on a limb and to take a risk in our life of faith.?

         Through the example of people of great faith like this woman in today's Gospel, & through the intercessions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, may we trust in God & have faith in his ability to heal us & guide us along our journey of faith. 

2/8/2012 – Wednesday of fifth week – 1 Kings 10:1-10

         Today, we continue to hear the story about Solomon, this time about his encounter with the Queen of Sheba.  The Queen of Sheba is actually a well known historical figure from the ancient world whose kingdom was situated in either Yemen or Ethiopia.  She is referenced not only in the Old Testament, but also in the historical writings of Josephus and in the Qur’an.  We see her approaching Solomon, knowing of his great reputation of being a wise and holy man.  He impresses her with the way he receives her and answers her questions.  The quantity of precious stones and spices that she presented him in return were very impressive indeed.

         What do we do to cultivate the acquisition of wisdom and holiness in our lives?  Do we undertake prayer and spiritual disciples?  Do we try to really live out our faith, to have our daily lives reflect the values that Jesus teaches us? 

         We don’t really know why the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon.  Was it to observe his great wisdom and to learn from him, or was it to test him?  No matter what the case was, may we be intent in learning from our faith, in growing in wisdom and holiness as we travel along our pilgrimage in life.  

2/7/2012 – Tuesday of fifth week – 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30

        Today's first reading from the first book of Kings tells us about Solomon, the son of King David.  At the time of this reading. Solomon is now King and his father David is living out his final days.  David had planned on building a Temple in Jerusalem, but that task now falls to Solomon. 

         Solomon speaks to the people of Israel in front of the Ark of Covenant in the newly constructed Temple, proud at having at last an appropriate place for their worship of the Lord, the place the people saw as the residence of the God of Israel.  Solomon makes a prayer of gratitude to the Lord as he speaks to the people of Israel who are assembled there.

         As we hear about this newly built Temple in Jerusalem, as we listen to the gratitude and humility with which the people present themselves before God, it makes me wonder if we really see ourselves as inhabiting the Temple of the Lord in our bodies which are truly Temples of the Holy Spirit?  And do we consciously understand that we as a community of Christ's followers form the Body of Christ here on earth, entrusted with bringing Christ's Gospel to the ends of the earth?  When I go into the prisons to celebrate mass with the inmates, I see how eager they are to hear God's word and to gather together with us around the Lord's table.  May we always have an attitude of eagerness, gratefulness, and gratitude in coming before the Lord and in our identity as the community of the faithful.

         I am also so touched and inspired by how many people come to our mass of anointing each month.  We not only find a special presence of healing in our lives through the sacraments we receive today, but we also share food and fellowship as a community of faith.  Let us give thanks to the Lord for the opportunity to gather in his house today, for the blessings his gives us through these sacraments.  

2/5/2012 – Marcos 1, 29 – 39 – Quinto Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

        La semana pasada, escuchamos la narración sobre Jesús en la sinagoga de Cafarnaúm, enseñando con autoridad y curando un hombre con un demonio.  Después de esta visita en la sinagoga, Jesús se fue a la casa de Simón y Andrés, donde Jesús encontró a la suegra de Simón.  Después de su encuentro con Jesús, quitó la fiebre de esta mujer.  La curación de los enfermos por la parte de Jesús es un signo muy importante de su proclamación del reino de Dios. 

         Y nosotros podemos entender la importancia de curación de las enfermedades en nuestra vida.  Hay enfermedades físicas, pero también hay enfermedades emocionales, morales y espirituales.  Necesitamos curación en todas de estos niveles de nuestra vida.  Pero, las enfermedades y la muerte son aspectos esenciales de nuestra vida, de nuestra identidad como seres humanos.  En mi papel como sacerdote, yo visito mucho los enfermos y los ancianos de nuestra parroquia.  Las curaciones de los enfermos que escuchamos en Los Evangelios significan en nuestra fe cristiana que Dios tiene misericordia y ternura para nosotros cuando estamos enfermos, cuando estamos sufriendo.  Jesús está con nosotros para decir que las tinieblas y las sombras y los dolores de nuestra vida tienen un sentido, un significado.  La llamada cristiana dice que necesitamos acercarnos a la cruz de Jesucristo, pero al otro lado de sus sufrimientos, hay su resurrección, hay la vida nueva que tenemos en El.  Porque estamos cerca del Tiempo de Cuaresma, cuando caminamos con Jesús a su viaje a la cruz, este mensaje en el Evangelio de hoy habla con claridad para nosotros. 

         Jesús se acerca a la suegra de Simón, una mujer enferma, en su curación de su enfermedad, en este signo del reino de Dios que está con nosotros.  Jesús se acerca a todas las personas que sufren, que abren sus corazones a su cruz y sus sufrimientos.  Necesitamos darnos cuenta que Jesucristo estaba presente en Israel en la encarnación cuando vivía aquí en la tierra, pero todavía Jesús vive con nosotros – El vive en nosotros. Como sus seguidores, tenemos confianza en Cristo, en su mensaje, en su viaje, en su presencia con nosotros, en su proclamación del reino de Dios.