EVANGELIO DEL DÍA

viernes, 7 de mayo de 2010

«No sois del mundo, sino que yo os he escogida sacándoos del mundo, por eso el mundo os odia»

EVANGELIO DEL DÍA: 08/05/2010
¿ Señor, a quién iremos?. Tú tienes palabras de vida eterna. Jn 6, 68


Sábado de la V Semana de Pascua

Libro de los Hechos de los Apóstoles 16,1-10.
Pablo llegó luego a Derbe y más tarde a Listra, donde había un discípulo llamado Timoteo, hijo de una judía convertida a la fe y de padre pagano.
Timoteo gozaba de buena fama entre los hermanos de Listra y de Iconio.
Pablo quería llevarlo consigo, y por eso lo hizo circuncidar en consideración a los judíos que había allí, ya que todo el mundo sabía que su padre era pagano.
Por las ciudades donde pasaban, transmitían las decisiones tomadas en Jerusalén por los Apóstoles y los presbíteros, recomendando que las observaran.
Así, las Iglesias se consolidaban en la fe, y su número crecía día tras día.
Como el Espíritu Santo les había impedido anunciar la Palabra en la provincia de Asia, atravesaron Frigia y la región de Galacia.
Cuando llegaron a los límites de Misia, trataron de entrar en Bitinia, pero el Espíritu de Jesús no se lo permitió.
Pasaron entonces por Misia y descendieron a Tróade.
Durante la noche, Pablo tuvo una visión. Vio a un macedonio de pie, que le rogaba: "Ven hasta Macedonia y ayúdanos".
Apenas tuvo esa visión, tratamos de partir para Macedonia, convencidos de que Dios nos llamaba para que la evangelizáramos.

Salmo 100,2.3.5.
Sirvan al Señor con alegría, lleguen hasta él con cantos jubilosos.
Reconozcan que el Señor es Dios: él nos hizo y a él pertenecemos; somos su pueblo y ovejas de su rebaño.
¡Qué bueno es el Señor! Su misericordia permanece para siempre, y su fidelidad por todas las generaciones.

Evangelio según San Juan 15,18-21.
Si el mundo los odia, sepan que antes me ha odiado a mí.
Si ustedes fueran del mundo, el mundo los amaría como cosa suya. Pero como no son del mundo, sino que yo los elegí y los saqué de él, el mundo los odia.
Acuérdense de lo que les dije: el servidor no es más grande que su señor. Si me persiguieron a mí, también los perseguirán a ustedes; si fueron fieles a mi palabra, también serán fieles a la de ustedes.
Pero los tratarán así a causa de mi Nombre, porque no conocen al que me envió. 
Jn 15,18-21
Leer el comentario del Evangelio por 
San Cipriano (hacia 200- 258), obispo de Cartago y mártir
Carta 56
«No sois del mundo, sino que yo os he escogida sacándoos del mundo, por eso el mundo os odia»
    El Señor ha querido que nos alegremos, que saltemos de gozo cuando somos perseguidos (Mt 5,12), porque cuando vienen las persecuciones, es cuando recibimos las coronas de la fe (St 1,12); es entonces que los soldados de Cristo hacen su prueba, es entonces que los cielos se abren a sus testigos. No nos comprometemos a luchar en la milicia de Dios para pensar sólo en una vida tranquila, para escaparnos del servicio, siendo así que el Señor de la humildad, de la paciencia y del sufrimiento, él mismo, antes que nosotros, se ha entregado a este mismo servicio. Empezó por cumplir lo que después enseñó, y si nos exhorta a mantenernos fieles, es que él lo ha sufrido en sí mismo antes y por nosotros.

     Para participar en las competiciones del estadio, antes uno se ejercita, se entrena, y se siente muy honrado si, a los ojos de la multitud, tiene la dicha de recibir el premio. Mas ahí tenéis una prueba de otra manera noble y brillante en la que Dios nos aguarda, a nosotros sus hijos, al combate y en la que él mismo nos da una corona celestial (1C 9,25). También nos miran los ángeles y el mismo Cristo nos ayuda. Armémonos, pues, con todas nuestras fuerzas; combatamos bien y con un alma valiente y una fe entera.

                    



sábado 08 Mayo 2010

San Estanislao



Nacido en Szczepanowski (Polonia) hacia el año 1030 hizo sus estudios en París. Ordenado presbítero, sucedió a Lamberto, obispo de Cracovia, el año 1071. Fue un buen pastor al frente de su Iglesia, ayudó a los pobres y visitó a sus clérigos todos los años. El año 1079, fue asesinado por el rey Boleslao, a quien había increpado por su mala conducta.

jueves, 6 de mayo de 2010

Love of God and neighbor

DAILY GOSPEL: 07/05/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68


Friday of the Fifth week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles 15:22-31.
Then the apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers.
This is the letter delivered by them: "The apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings.
Since we have heard that some of our number (who went out) without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind,
we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth:
'It is the decision of the holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities,
namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.'"
And so they were sent on their journey. Upon their arrival in Antioch they called the assembly together and delivered the letter.
When the people read it, they were delighted with the exhortation.

Psalms 57(56):8-9.10-12.
My heart is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and chant praise.
Awake, my soul; awake, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn.
I will praise you among the peoples, Lord; I will chant your praise among the nations.
For your love towers to the heavens; your faithfulness, to the skies.
Show yourself over the heavens, God; may your glory appear above all the earth.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:12-17.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another. 
 Jn 15,12-17
Commentary of the day 
Dorotheus of Gaza (c.500-?), monk in Palestine
Instructions, VI, 76-78 (SC 92,  p. 281-287)
Love of God and neighbor
       The more we are united to our neighbor, the more we are united to God. So that you can understand the meaning of this saying I'm going to give you an image taken from the Fathers: imagine a circle drawn on the ground, that is to say a line drawn into a round shape with a compass, having a centre. We refer to the middle of the circle as being the exact centre. Now give your attention to what I am saying. Imagine that this circle is the world, its centre is God and each radius represents different ways or kinds of lifestyle. When the saints, desiring to draw near to God, move towards the middle of the circle, then to the degree to which they penetrate further into its interior they draw closer to each other even as they draw closer to God. The closer they draw to God, the closer they draw to each other; and the closer they draw to each other, the closer they draw to God.

       From this you will understand that the same thing applies conversely when we turn away from God to withdraw outside the circle: then it becomes obvious that, the more we withdraw from God, the more we withdraw from each other, and the more we withdraw from each other, the more we also withdraw from God..

     Such is the nature of charity. To the extent that we stand outside and do not love God, to the same extent each one of us stands apart with regard to their neighbor. But if we love God, then insofar as we come closer to God through our love for him, we also participate in love of neighbor to the same extent. And insofar as we are united to our neighbor we are equally so to God.


Friday, 07 May 2010

St Rosa Venerini (1656-1728)



SAINT ROSA VENERINI
(1656 - 1728)
Origins
        Rosa Venerini was born in Viterbo, on February 9, 1656. Her father, Goffredo, originally from Castelleone di Suasa (Ancona), after having completed his doctorate in medicine at Rome, moved to Viterbo where he practiced the medical profession brilliantly in the Grand Hospital. From his marriage to Marzia Zampichetti, of an ancient family of Viterbo, four children were born: Domenico, Maria Maddalena, Rosa and Orazio.
        Rosa was naturally gifted with intelligence and an uncommon human sensibility. The education that she received in her family allowed her to develop her many talents of mind and heart, forming her in steadfast Christian principles. According to her first biographer, Father Girolamo Andreucci, S.I., she made a vow to consecrate her life to God at the age of seven. During the early years of her youth, she lived through a conflict between the attractions of the world and the promise made to God. Rosa overcame this crisis with trusting prayer and mortification.
        At age twenty, Rosa raised questions about her own future. The women of her time could choose only two orientations for their live: marriage or the cloister. Rosa esteemed both, but she felt called to realize another project for the good of the Church and the society of her time. Urged on by prophetic interior occurrences, she committed much time in suffering and searching before reaching a resolution that was completely innovative.
        In the autumn of 1676, on the advice of her father, Rosa entered the Dominican Monastery of St. Catherine, with the prospect of fulfilling her vow. With her Aunt Anna Cecilia beside her, she learned to listen to God in silence and in meditation. She remained in the monastery for only a few months because the sudden death of her father forced her to return to her suffering mother.
        In the years immediately following, Rosa had to bear the burden of serious events for her family: her brother Domenico died at only twenty-seven years of age; a few months later her mother died, unable to bear the sorrow.
        In the meantime, Maria Maddalena married. There remained at home only Orazio and Rosa, by now twenty-four years old. Challenged by the desire to do something great for God, in May of 1684, the Saint began to gather the girls and women of the area in her own home to recite the rosary. The way in which the girls and women prayed, and above all, their conversation before and after the prayer, opened the mind and heart of Rosa to a sad reality: the woman of the common people was a slave of cultural, moral and spiritual poverty. She then understood that the Lord was calling her to a higher mission which she gradually identified in the urgent need to dedicate herself to the instruction and Christian formation of young women, not with sporadic encounters, but with a school understood in the real and true sense of the word.
        On August 30, 1685, with the approval of the Bishop of Viterbo, Cardinal Urbano Sacchetti and the collaboration of two friends, Gerolama Coluzzelli and Porzia Bacci, Rosa left her father's home to begin her first school, according to an innovative plan that had matured in prayer and her search for the will of God. The first objective of the Foundress was to give the girls of the common people a complete Christian formation and prepare them for life in society. Without great pretense, Rosa opened the first "Public School for Girls in Italy". The origins were humble but the significance was prophetic: the human promotion and spiritual uplifting of woman was a reality that did not take long to receive the recognition of the religious and civil authorities.
Expansion of the Work
        The initial stages were not easy. The three Maestre (teachers) had to face the resistance of clergy who considered the teaching of the catechism as their private office. But the harshest suspicion came from conformists who were scandalized by the boldness of this woman of the upper middle class of Viterbo who had taken to heart the education of ignorant girls. Rosa faced everything for the love of God and with her characteristic strength, continuing on the path that she had undertaken, by now sure that she was truly following the plan of God. The fruits proved her to be right. The same pastors recognized the moral improvement that the work of education generated among the girls and mothers.
        The validity of this initiative was acknowledged and its fame went beyond the confines of the Diocese. Cardinal Mark Antonio Barbarigo, Bishop of Montefiascone, understood the genius of the Viterbo project and he called the Saint to his diocese. The Foundress, always ready to sacrifice herself for the glory of God, responded to the invitation. From 1692 to 1694, she opened ten schools in Montefiascone and the villages surrounding Lake Bolsena. The cardinal provided the material means and Rosa made the families aware, trained the teachers, and organized the schools. When she had to return to Viterbo to attend to the strengthening of her first school, Rosa entrusted the schools and the teachers to the direction of a young woman, St. Lucia Filippini, in whom she has seen particular gifts of mind, heart and spirit.
        After the openings in Viterbo and Montefiascone, other schools were started in Lazio. Rosa reached Rome in 1706, but the first experience in Rome was a real failure which marked her deeply and caused her to wait six long years before regaining the trust of the authorities. On December 8, 1713, with the help of Abate Degli Atti, a great friend of the Venerini family, Rosa was able to open one of her schools in the center of Rome at the foot of the Campidoglio.
        On October 24, 1716, they received a visit from Pope Clement XI, accompanied by eight Cardinals, who wanted to attend the lessons. Amazed and pleased, at the end of the morning he addressed these words to the Foundress: "Signora Rosa, you are doing that which we cannot do. We thank you very much because with these schools you will sanctify Rome ".
        From that moment on, Governors and Cardinals asked for schools for their areas. The duties of the Foundress became intense, consisting of travels and hard work interwoven with joys and sacrifices for the formation of new communities. Wherever a new school sprang up, in a short time a moral improvement could be noted in the youth.
        Rosa Venerini died a saintly death in the community of St. Mark's in Rome on the evening of May 7, 1728. She had opened more than forty schools. Her remains were entombed in the nearby Church of the Gesù, so loved by her. In 1952, on the occasion of her Beatification, they were transferred to the chapel of the Generalate in Rome. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 15, 2006 at Rome.
Her Spirituality
        During her entire life, Rosa moved in the ocean of the Will of God. She said, "I feel so nailed to the Will of God that nothing else matters, neither death nor life. I want what He wants; I want to serve Him as much as pleases Him and no more".
        After her first contacts with the Dominican Fathers at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Oak Tree, near Viterbo, she definitely followed the austere and balanced spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola under the direction of the Jesuits, especially Father Ignatius Martinelli.
        The crises of adolescence, the perplexity of youth, the search for a new way, the institution of the schools and the communities, the rapport with the Church and the world-all were oriented to the Divine Will.
        Prayer was the breath of her day. Rosa did not impose on herself or her Daughters long vocal prayers, but recommended that the life of the Maestre, in the practice of the precious education ministry, be a continuous speaking with God, of God and for God.
        Intimate communion with the Lord was nourished by mental prayer, which the Saint considered "essential nourishment of the soul". In meditation, Rosa listened to the Teacher who taught along the roads of Palestine and in a particular way from the height of the Cross. With her gaze upon the crucifix, Rosa always felt more strongly her passion for the salvation of souls. For this reason, she celebrated and lived daily the Eucharist in a mystical way. In her imagination, the Saint saw the world as a great circle; she placed herself in the center of it and contemplated Jesus, the immaculate victim, who offered Himself from every part of the world to the Father through the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
        She called this means of elevating herself to God "The Greatest Circle". With incessant prayer, she participated spiritually in all the Masses being celebrated in every part of the world. She united with love the sufferings, hard work and joys of her own life to the sufferings of Jesus Christ, concerned that His Precious Blood would not be shed in vain.
The Charism
        We can summarize the charism of Rosa Venerini in a few words. She lived consumed by two great passions: passion for God and passion for the salvation of souls. When she understood that the girls and women of her time needed to be educated and instructed in the truths of the faith and of morality, she spared nothing of time, hard work, struggle, and difficulties of every kind, as long as it responded to the call of God. She knew that the proclamation of the Good News could be received if people were first liberated from the darkness of ignorance and error. Moreover, she intuited that professional training could give woman a human promotion and affirmation in society. This project required an educating Community and Rosa, without pretense and well before its time in history, offered to the Church the model of the Apostolic Religious Community.
        Rosa did not practice her educational mission only in the school but took every occasion to announce the love of God. She comforted and cured the sick, raised the spirits of the discouraged, consoled the afflicted, called sinners back to a new life, exhorted to fidelity consecrated souls not observing their call, helped the poor and freed people from every form of moral slavery.
        "Educate to save" became the motto that urged the Maestre Pie Venerini to continue the Work of the Lord intended by their Foundress and radiate the charism of Rosa to the world: to free from ignorance and evil so that the project of God which every person carries within can be visible.
        This is the magnificent inheritance that Rosa Venerini left her Daughters. Wherever the Maestre Pie Venerini strive to live and transmit the apostolic concern of their Mother, in Italy as in other lands, they give preference to the poor.
        After having made its contribution to the Italian immigrants to the USA from 1909 and in Switzerland from 1971 to 1985, the Congregation extended its apostolic activity to other lands: India, Brazil, Cameroon, Romania, Albania, Chile, Venezuela and Nigeria.


- Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Amar a Dios y al prójimo

EVANGELIO DEL DÍA: 07/05/2010


Viernes de la V Semana de Pascua

Libro de los Hechos de los Apóstoles 15,22-31.
Entonces los Apóstoles, los presbíteros y la Iglesia entera, decidieron elegir a algunos de ellos y enviarlos a Antioquía con Pablo y Bernabé. Eligieron a Judas, llamado Barsabás, y a Silas, hombres eminentes entre los hermanos,
y les encomendaron llevar la siguiente carta: "Los Apóstoles y los presbíteros saludamos fraternalmente a los hermanos de origen pagano, que están en Antioquía, en Siria y en Cilicia.
Habiéndonos enterado de que algunos de los nuestros, sin mandato de nuestra parte, han sembrado entre ustedes la inquietud y provocado el desconcierto,
hemos decidido de común acuerdo elegir a unos delegados y enviárselos junto con nuestros queridos Bernabé y Pablo,
los cuales han consagrado su vida al nombre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo.
Por eso les enviamos a Judas y a Silas, quienes les transmitirán de viva voz este mismo mensaje.
El Espíritu Santo, y nosotros mismos, hemos decidido no imponerles ninguna carga más que las indispensables, a saber:
que se abstengan de la carne inmolada a los ídolos, de la sangre, de la carne de animales muertos sin desangrar y de las uniones ilegales. Harán bien en cumplir todo esto. Adiós".
Los delegados, después de ser despedidos, descendieron a Antioquía donde convocaron a la asamblea y le entregaron la carta.
Esta fue leída y todos se alegraron por el aliento que les daba.

Salmo 57(56),8-9.10-12.
Mi corazón está firme, Dios mío, mi corazón está firme. Voy a cantar al son de instrumentos:
¡despierta, alma mía! ¡Despierten, arpa y cítara, para que yo despierte a la aurora!
Te alabaré en medio de los pueblos, Señor, te cantaré entre las naciones,
porque tu misericordia se eleva hasta el cielo, y que tu gloria cubra toda la tierra!
¡Levantate, Dios, por encima del cielo, y que tu gloria cubra toda la tierra!

Evangelio según San Juan 15,12-17.
Este es mi mandamiento: Amense los unos a los otros, como yo los he amado.
No hay amor más grande que dar la vida por los amigos.
Ustedes son mis amigos si hacen lo que yo les mando.
Ya no los llamo servidores, porque el servidor ignora lo que hace su señor; yo los llamo amigos, porque les he dado a conocer todo lo que oí de mi Padre.
No son ustedes los que me eligieron a mí, sino yo el que los elegí a ustedes, y los destiné para que vayan y den fruto, y ese fruto sea duradero. Así todo lo que pidan al Padre en mi Nombre, él se lo concederá.
Lo que yo les mando es que se amen los unos a los otros. 
 Jn 15,12-17
Leer el comentario del Evangelio por 
Doroteo de Gaza (hacia 500 - ?), monje en Palestina
Instrucciones, VI, 76-78
Amar a Dios y al prójimo
     Cuanto más se está unido al prójimo, más unido se está a Dios. Para que comprendáis el sentido de esta frase os voy a poner una imagen sacada de los Padres: Suponed un círculo trazado sobre la tierra, es decir, una línea redonda dibujada con un compás, y un centro. Precisamente se llama centro el punto más interior del círculo. Poned atención con vuestro espíritu a lo que os voy a decir. Imaginaos que el círculo es el mundo, el centro Dios, y los radios los diferentes caminos o maneras de vivir que tienen los hombres. Cuando los santos, deseando acercarse a Dios, caminan hacia el centro del círculo, tanto cuanto más penetran en el interior, se acercan los unos a los otros y al mismo tiempo de Dios. Cuanto más se acercan a Dios, tanto más se acercan los unos de los otros; y cuanto más se acercan los unos de los otros, más se acercan a Dios.

     Y ya comprendéis que igual ocurre en sentido inverso: cuanto más uno se aleja de Dios para retirarse hacia lo exterior, es evidente que cuando uno se aleja de Dios, más se aleja de los demás, y cuanto más uno se aleja de los demás, más se aleja también de Dios.

     Así es la naturaleza de la caridad. En la medida en que estamos en lo exterior y que no amamos a Dios, en esa misma medida nos alejamos cada uno del prójimo. Pero si amamos a Dios, tanto nos acercamos a Dios a través de la caridad para con él, tanto estamos en comunión de caridad con el prójimo; y tanto estamos unidos al prójimo cuanto lo estamos de Dios.



viernes 07 Mayo 2010

Bienaventurada Catalina Tekakwitha



En la admirable corona de nuevos santos que el Papa Juan Pablo II elevo a los altares en Junio de 1980, se presentó la veneración de los fieles junto al gran apóstol de Brasil, José de Anchieta, a una india de piel roja de América del Norte, que creció  como lirio de pureza en medio de las espinas. Catalina Tekakwitha.
Esta nueva beata nació en la frontera entre el Estado de Nueva York y Canadá alrededor del año 1656. Su nombre original era Joragod, que significa «esplendor del sol» y de hecho estaba predestinada a resplandecer por sus heroicas virtudes. Su madre fue catequizada por los primeros misioneros jesuitas de Canadá cuando todavía era muchacha, pero como consecuencia de una guerra entre tribus fue apresada, llevada como esclava y tomada como esposa por el jefe de la tribu enemiga.   De ésta unión nació Catalina.
A pesar de que el padre era contrario a la religión de los blancos, su madre logró sembrar en el pequeño corazón de su hija las primeras nociones de la religión cristiana y un gran amor a Jesús crucificado. Sin embargo, la pequeña crecía sin bautismo, pues no les era permitido entrar en contacto con los misioneros.   Una grave epidemia de viruela causó la muerte de toda su familia.
Catalina conservaba vivas en su memoria las principales oraciones y nociones de la fe. Fue confiada, entonces, a los cuidados de dos tías obstinadamente opuestas a la religión cristiana. Catalina sufría un terrible aislamiento espiritual, ya que sin contacto con los misioneros, no tenía oportunidad de alimentarse en la fe ni recibir el bautismo o tener dirección espiritual.   Finalmente tuvo noticias de la existencia de misioneros y decidió huir de la casa de sus tías.
Así, enfrentando una serie de peligros, consiguió llegar a la misión completamente extenuada.   Los padres de la misión quedaron atónitos al reconocer en esta alma escogida, instruida únicamente por el Espíritu Santo en tantos años de aislamiento, virtudes cristianas de elevada perfección.
Catalina vivió santamente, ocupada en los servicios de la misión, dedicándose con ardor a la oración, a las obras de penitencia y de caridad. Falleció a los 24 años de edad.





Oremos

Concédenos, Señor, un conocimiento profundo y un amor intenso a tu santo nombre, semejantes a los que diste a Catalina Tekakwitha, para que así, sirviéndote con sinceridad y lealtad, a ejemplo suyo también nosotros te agrademos con nuestra fe y con nuestras obras. Por nuestro Señor Jesucristo, tu Hijo.







Calendario  de  Fiestas Marianas: Nuestra Señora de Haut (1267). Los Siete Gozos  de Nuestra Señora (Siglo II).




miércoles, 5 de mayo de 2010

“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you”

Daily Gospel: 06/05/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68


Thursday of the Fifth week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles 15:7-21.
After much debate had taken place, Peter got up and said to them, "My brothers, you are well aware that from early days God made his choice among you that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.
And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the holy Spirit just as he did us.
He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts.
Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?
On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they."
The whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them.
After they had fallen silent, James responded, "My brothers, listen to me.
Symeon has described how God first concerned himself with acquiring from among the Gentiles a people for his name.
The words of the prophets agree with this, as is written:
'After this I shall return and rebuild the fallen hut of David; from its ruins I shall rebuild it and raise it up again,
so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord, even all the Gentiles on whom my name is invoked. Thus says the Lord who accomplishes these things,
known from of old.'
It is my judgment, therefore, that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God,
but tell them by letter to avoid pollution from idols, unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals, and blood.
For Moses, for generations now, has had those who proclaim him in every town, as he has been read in the synagogues every sabbath."

Psalms 96(95):1-3.10.
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, bless his name; announce his salvation day after day.
Tell God's glory among the nations; among all peoples, God's marvelous deeds.
say among the nations: The LORD is king. The world will surely stand fast, never to be moved. God rules the peoples with fairness.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:9-11.
As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 
Jn 15,9-11
Commentary of the day 
Thomas de Celano (around 1190-1260), Wrote a biography of St. Francis and St. Clare
Vita Secunda of St. Francis, §125 and 127 (translated from the French - Debonnets et Vorreux, Documents, p.430)
“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you”
       Saint Francis maintained: “My best defense against all the plots and tricks of the enemy is still the spirit of joy. The devil is never so happy as when he has succeeded in robbing one of God’s servants of the joy in his or her soul. The devil always has some dust on hold that he blows into someone’s conscience through a small basement window so as to make opaque what is pure. But in a heart that is filled with joy, he tries in vain to introduce his deadly poison. The demons can do nothing against a servant of Christ whom they find filled with holy gladness; whereas a dejected, morose and depressed soul easily lets itself be submerged in sorrow or captured by false pleasures.”

       That is why he himself always tried to keep his heart joyful, to preserve that oil of gladness with which his soul had been anointed (Ps 45:7). He took great care to avoid sorrow, the worst of illnesses, and when he felt that it was beginning to infiltrate his soul, he immediately had recourse to prayer. He said: “At the first sign of trouble, the servant of God must get up, begin to pray, and remain before the Father until the latter has caused him or her to retrieve the joy of the person who is saved.” (Ps 51:12)…

       I sometimes saw Francis with my own eyes picking up a piece of wood from the ground, placing it on his left arm, and scraping it with a straight stick as if he were moving a bow on a violin. In this way, he mimed an accompaniment to the praises he was singing to the Lord in French.


Thursday, 06 May 2010

Bl. Anna Rosa Gattorno (1831-1900)



BLESSED ANNA ROSA GATTORNO
(1831-1900)
        "My love, what can I do to make the whole world love you? ... Make use once again of this wretched instrument to renew the faith and the conversion of sinners".
        This generous outburst, uttered at the feet of her 'Supreme Good' - who drew her ever closer to him - constituted the deepest yearning of Anna Rosa Gattorno's heart, leading her to offer her life totally in a continuous sacrifice for the glory and pleasure of the Father.
        She was born in Genoa on 14 October 1841 into a deeply Christian, well-to-do family of good name. She was baptized the same day in the parish of S. Donato and received the names Rosa, Maria, Benedetta.
        In her father Francesco and her mother Adelaide Campanella, like their other five children, she found the first models for her moral and Christian life. When she was 12 years old, she was confirmed at S. Maria delle Vigne by Cardinal Archbishop Tadini.
        As a young girl she was educated at home, as was the custom in rich families at that time. With her serene and loveable character, open to piety and charity, she was nonetheless firm and knew how to react to the confrontations of the political and anticlerical climate of the time, which did not spare even some members of the Gattorno family.
        At the age of  21 Rosa married her cousin Gerolamo Custo (5 November 1852), and moved to Marseilles. Unforeseen financial difficulties very soon upset the happiness of the new family which was forced to return to Genoa in a state of poverty. More serious misfortunes were looming: their first child, Carlotta, after a sudden illness was left deaf and dumb for life; Gerolamo's attempt to find fortune abroad ended with his return, aggravated by a fatal illness; the happiness of the other two children was deeply disturbed by her husband's disappearance which left her a widow less than six years after their marriage (9 March 1858) and, a few months later, by the loss of her youngest little son.
        The succession of so many sad events in her life marked a radical change which she called her "conversion" to the total gift of herself to the Lord, to his love and to love of neighbour. Purified by her trials and strengthened in spirit, she understood the true meaning of pain and was confirmed in the certainty of her new vocation.
        Under the guidance of her confessor, Fr. Giuseppe Firpo, she made private perpetual vows of chastity and obedience on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception 1858; followed by vows of poverty (1861) in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, as a Franciscan tertiary. Since 1855, she had also obtained the benefit of daily communion, which was uncommon in those days. She remained constantly anchored to this source of grace and, encouraged by ever growing intimacy with the Lord, she found support, missionary fervour, strength and zeal in service to her brothers and sisters.
        In 1862, she received the gift of hidden stigmata, perceived most intensely on Fridays.
        As a faithful wife and exemplary mother, never depriving her children of anything - always following and loving them tenderly - with greater availability she learned to share in the sufferings of others, giving herself in apostolic charity: "I dedicated myself with greater zeal to pious works and to visiting hospitals and the poor sick at home, helping them by meeting their needs as much as I could and serving them in all things".
        The Catholic associations in Genoa competed for her, so that although she loved silence and concealment, her genuinely evangelising way of life was remarked by all.
        Progressing on this path, she was made president of the "Pious Union of the New Ursulines Daughters of Holy Mary Immaculate", founded by Frassinetti, and was entrusted with the revision of the Rule destined for the Union at the express wish of Archbishop Charvaz.
        On that precise occasion (February 1864), redoubling her prayers to Christ Crucified, she received the inspiration for a new Rule, her own specific Foundation.
        Fearful of being forced to abandon her children she prayed, made acts of penance and asked advice. Fra Francis of Camporosso, a lay Capuchin, who is hom a saint,  to whom she also expressed her apprehension before the serious troubles that were imminent, supported and encouraged her, as did her confessor and the Archbishop of Genoa.
        However, feeling her maternal duties more and more acutely, she sought authoritative confirmation in the words of Pius IX, with the secret hope of being relieved. The Pontiff, at an audience on 3 January 1866, instead enjoined her to start her foundation immediately, adding: "This Institute will spread in all the parts of the world as swiftly as the flight of the dove. God will take care of your children: you must think of God and his work" She therefore accepted to do the Lord's will, and as she then wrote in her Memoirs: "I generously offered them to God and repeated to him Abraham's words: 'Here I am, ready to do your divine will'.... Having offered myself for his Work, I received immense consolations...".
        Overcoming the resistance of her relatives and, to the disappointment of her Bishop, leaving the associations in Genoa, she founded her new religious family in Piacenza, and named it definitively "Daughters of St. Anne, mother of Mary Immaculate" (8 December 1866). She was clothed on 26 July 1867 and on 8 April 1870 made her religious profession, together with 12 sisters.
        Fr. Tornatore, a priest of the Congregation of the Mission, collaborated with her in the Institute's development. Expressly requested, he wrote the Rule and was then considered Co-Founder of the Institute.
        Entrusting herself totally to divine Providence and motivated from the start by a courageous charitable impulse, Rosa Gattorno began with a spirit of motherly dedication to consolidate God's Work as the Pope had called it and as she too, chosen to cooperate in it, would always call it, attentively caring for any form of suffering and moral or material poverty, with the one intention of serving Jesus in his painful and injured members and of "evangelising first and foremost with life".
        Various works came into being for the poor and the sick with any form of illness, for lonely, elderly or abandoned persons, the little and the defenceless, adolescents, and young girls "at risk" for whom she arranged appropriate instruction and subsequent integration in the working world. In addition, she soon opened schools for the people and for the education of the children of the poor, and other works of human and evangelical advancement in accordance with the greatest needs of the time and with an effective presence in ecclesial and civil life. "Servants of the poor and ministers of mercy" she called her daughters, and she urged them to accept, as a sign of the Lord's favour to serve their brethren with love and humility: "Be humble ... only think that you are the lowliest and the most wretched of all creatures who render service to the Church... and have the grace to belong to her".
        Less than 10 years after its foundation, the Institute obtained the Decree of Praise (1876), and its definitive approval in 1879. For the Rule, it had to wait until 1892.
        Highly esteemed and appreciated by all, she also worked in Piacenza with Bishop Scalabrini, who has now been beatified, and in particular in the institute for deaf-mutes which he founded.
        However Mother Rosa Gattorno was not spared humiliations, difficulties and tribulations of all kinds. Despite this, the Institute spread rapidly, in Italy and abroad, thus achieving the Foundress' ardent missionary desire: "Oh my Love! How I feel myself burning with the desire to make you known and loved by all! I would like to attract all the world, to give to all, to appease all ... I would like to go everywhere and shout out for everybody to come and love you". To be "Jesus' voice" and to bring all people the message of the love that saves was and always remained her heart's deepest desire. In 1878, she was already sending the first Daughters of St. Anne to Bolivia, then to Brazil, Chile, Peru, Eritrea, France and Spain. In Rome, where her work began in 1873, she organised boys' and girls' schools for the poor, nursery schools, assistance for the new-born babies of workers in the tobacco factory, houses for former prostitutes, serving women, nurses for home care, etc. There she also had the Generalate built, with its adjacent church.
        In all, at her death there were 368 houses in which 3,500 sisters were carrying out their mission.
The secret of her journey of holiness, of the dynamism of her charity and of the strength of mind with which she could face all obstacles with firm faith and guide the Institute with full dedication, courage and far-sightedness for 34 years, was her continuous union with God and total, trusting abandonment in him: "Although I am in the midst of such a torrent of things to do, I am never without the union with my Good"; her attention and docility to the impulses of the Spirit; her deep and loving participation in Christ's Passion; her ceaseless prayers for the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of all mankind.
        She had a deep sense of belonging to Church and was ever humble, devout and obedient to the directives of the Pope and the hierarchy.
        With her fondness of St. Anne, she had a special love for Mary, to whom she entirely entrusted herself, in order to belong totally to God and totally to her brethren.
A pure and simple instrument in the hands of the "superfine Craftsman", conformed to the Poor Christ and with him, a victim of love, she fulfilled in her life the desire she inculcated in her daughters: "To live for God, to die for him and to spend life for love".
        She lived like this until February 1900, when she caught a dangerous form of influenza and rapidly deteriorated: her health, sorely tried by her acts of penance, frequent exhausting journeys and an enormous mass of correspondence, worries and serious disappointments, no longer resisted. On 4 May she received the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, and two days later, on 6 May, at 9.00 a.m., having ended her earthly pilgrimage, she died a holy death in the Generalate.
        The fame of holiness which had surrounded her during her life, spread after her death and grew unimpeded all over the world.
        As an expression of a rare plan of God, in her three-fold experience of wife and mother, widow and then religious and Foundress, in her mission of service to humanity and to extending the kingdom Rosa Gattorno brought great honour to the "feminine genius". Although she was ever faithful to God's call and a genuine teacher of Christian and ecclesial life, she remained essentially a mother: of her own children, whom she constantly followed, of the Sisters, whom she deeply loved, and of all the needy, the suffering and the unhappy, in whose faces she contemplated the face of Christ, poor, wounded and crucified.
        Her charism has spread in the Church with the birth of other forms of evangelical life: Sisters of Contemplative Life; a Religious Association of Priests; the Secular Institute and the Ecclesial Movement for the Laity, which are active in the Church in almost all the parts of the world.
        She was beatified by John Paul II on April 9, 2000 at Rome.


«Os he hablado de esto para que mi alegría esté en vosotros»

EVANGELIO DEL DÍA: 06/05/2010
¿ Señor, a quién iremos?. Tú tienes palabras de vida eterna. Jn 6, 68


Jueves de la V Semana de Pascua

Libro de los Hechos de los Apóstoles 15,7-21.
Al cabo de una prolongada discusión, Pedro se levantó y dijo: "Hermanos, ustedes saben que Dios, desde los primeros días, me eligió entre todos ustedes para anunciar a los paganos la Palabra del Evangelio, a fin de que ellos abracen la fe.
Y Dios, que conoce los corazones, dio testimonio en favor de ellos, enviándoles el Espíritu Santo, lo mismo que a nosotros.
El no hizo ninguna distinción entre ellos y nosotros, y los purificó por medio de la fe.
¿Por qué ahora ustedes tientan a Dios, pretendiendo imponer a los discípulos un yugo que ni nuestros padres ni nosotros pudimos soportar?
Por el contrario, creemos que tanto ellos como nosotros somos salvados por la gracia del Señor Jesús".
Después, toda la asamblea hizo silencio para oír a Bernabé y a Pablo, que comenzaron a relatar los signos y prodigios que Dios había realizado entre los paganos por intermedio de ellos.
Cuando dejaron de hablar, Santiago tomó la palabra, diciendo: "Hermanos, les ruego que me escuchen:
Simón les ha expuesto cómo Dios dispuso desde el principio elegir entre las naciones paganas, un Pueblo consagrado a su Nombre.
Con esto concuerdan las palabras de los profetas que dicen:
Después de esto, yo volveré y levantaré la choza derruida de David; restauraré sus ruinas y la reconstruiré,
para que el resto de los hombres busque al Señor, lo mismo que todas las naciones que llevan mi Nombre. Así dice el Señor, que da
a conocer estas cosas desde la eternidad.
Por eso considero que no se debe inquietar a los paganos que se convierten a Dios,
sino que solamente se les debe escribir, pidiéndoles que se abstengan de lo que está contaminado por los ídolos, de las uniones ilegales, de la carne de animales muertos sin desangrar y de la sangre.
Desde hace muchísimo tiempo, en efecto, Moisés tiene en cada ciudad sus predicadores que leen la Ley en la sinagoga todos los sábados".

Salmo 96(95),1-3.10.
Canten al Señor un canto nuevo, cante al Señor toda la tierra;
canten al Señor, bendigan su Nombre, día tras día, proclamen su victoria.
Anuncien su gloria entre las naciones, y sus maravillas entre los pueblos.
Digan entre las naciones: "¡El Señor reina! El mundo está firme y no vacilará. El Señor juzgará a los pueblos con rectitud".

Evangelio según San Juan 15,9-11.
Como el Padre me amó, también yo los he amado a ustedes. Permanezcan en mi amor.
Si cumplen mis mandamientos, permanecerán en mi amor, como yo cumplí los mandamientos de mi Padre y permanezco en su amor.
Les he dicho esto para que mi gozo sea el de ustedes, y ese gozo sea perfecto. 
Jn 15,9-11
Leer el comentario del Evangelio por 
Tomás de Celano (hacia 1190-hacia 1260), biógrafo de san Francisco y de santa Clara
Vita secunda de san Francisco, § 125 y 127
«Os he hablado de esto para que mi alegría esté en vosotros»
     San Francisco afirmaba: «Contra todas las maquinaciones y las astucias del enemigo, mi mejor defensa es el espíritu de alegría. Jamás el diablo está tan contento como cuando ha podido quitar del alma de un siervo de Dios, la alegría. Tiene siempre en reserva un polvo que sopla en la conciencia a través de un tragaluz, para hacer volver opaco lo que es puro; pero es en vano que intente introducir su veneno mortal en un corazón henchido de gozo. Nada pueden los demonios contra un servidor de Cristo a quien encuentran lleno de santa alegría; pero lo pueden en un alma apesadumbrada, morosa y deprimida que fácilmente se deja sumergir en la tristeza o acaparar por falsos placeres.»

     Por eso el mismo santo se esforzaba siempre en mantener el corazón lleno de gozo, conservar este aceite de alegría cuya alma había recibido esta unción (Sl 44,8). Cuidaba mucho el evitar la tristeza, la peor de las enfermedades, y cuando se daba cuenta que ésa empezaba a infiltrarse en su alma, inmediatamente recurría a la oración. Decía: «En cuanto empieza a experimentar la primera turbación, el siervo de Dios debe levantarse, ponerse a orar y permanecer ante el Padre todo el tiempo necesario hasta que éste no le haya hecho recobrar el gozo del que está salvado» (Sl 50,14)...

     Con mis propios ojos lo he visto, a veces, recoger del suelo un trozo de madera, ponérselo debajo del brazo izquierdo y frotarlo con una varilla tensa como si pasara un arco sobre la viola; así cuidaba el acompañamiento de las alabanzas que cantaba al Señor en francés.




jueves 06 Mayo 2010

San Felipe



Fiesta de los santos Felipe y Santiago, apóstoles. Felipe, que, al igual que Pedro y Andrés, había nacido en Betsaida y era discípulo de Juan Bautista, fue llamado por el Señor para que lo siguiera. Santiago, por su parte, era hijo de Alfeo, de sobrenombre “Justo”, considerado en Occidente como el pariente del Señor, fue el primero que rigió la Iglesia de Jerusalén, y cuando se suscitó la controversia sobre la circuncisión, se adhirió al parecer de Pedro, para que no fuera impuesto a los discípulos venidos de la gentilidad aquel antiguo yugo. Muy pronto coronó su apostolado con el martirio (s. I).




Oremos

Los hermanos eran constantes en escuchar la enseñanza de los apóstoles, en la vida común, en la fracción del pan y en las oraciones. Todo el mundo estaba impresionado por los muchos prodigios y signos que los apóstoles hacían en Jerusalén. Los creyentes vivían todos unidos, y lo tenían todo en común; vendían  posesiones y bienes, y lo repartían entre todos según la necesidad de cada uno. Hch 2, 42-45



Concédenos, Señor todopoderoso, que el ejemplo de San Felipe nos estimule a una vida más perfecta y que cuantos celebramos su fiesta sepamos también imitar sus ejemplos. Por nuestro Señor Jesucristo, tu Hijo.



Calendario de  Fiestas Marianas: Nuestra Señora de los Milagros en la Iglesia de  Nuestra Señora de la Paz, Roma (1483).

Yielding fruit in due season

DAILY GOSPEL 05/05/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68


Wednesday of the Fifth week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles 15:1-6.
Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved."
Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and presbyters about this question.
They were sent on their journey by the church, and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria telling of the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, as well as by the apostles and the presbyters, and they reported what God had done with them.
But some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Mosaic law."
The apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.

Psalms 122(121):1-2.3-4.5.
A song of ascents. Of David. I rejoiced when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."
And now our feet are standing within your gates, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, built as a city, walled round about.
Here the tribes have come, the tribes of the LORD, As it was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
Here are the thrones of justice, the thrones of the house of David.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:1-8.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 
Jn 15,1-8
Commentary of the day 
Blessed Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), hermit and missionary in the Sahara
Meditations on the psalms, Ps 1
Yielding fruit in due season
«Happy the man who... meditates on the Law day and night. He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season» (Ps 1,1-3). O my God, you tell me how happy I shall be, happy with a true happiness, happy on the last day... and that, wretched though I be, I am a palm tree planted near running waters, waters running with your divine will, your divine love and grace... and that I shall yield my fruit in due season. Thus you deign to comfort me. It seems to me that I am without fruit, without any good works, and I say to myself: I was converted eleven years ago and what have I done? What comparison is there between the works accomplished by the saints and my own? I see myself with hands completely empty.

      But you deign to comfort me; you tell me: «You will bear fruit in your season»... What season is this? The season that comes to all of us is the hour of judgement. And you promise me that, if I persevere with good will and in the struggle, however small I see myself to be, I shall yield fruit at the final hour.



Wednesday, 05 May 2010

St Antoninus, Bishop (1389-1459)



SAINT ANTONINUS
Bishop
(1389-1459)
        Antoninus, or Little Antony, as he was called from his small stature, was born at Florence in 1389. After a childhood of singular holiness, he begged to be admitted into the Dominican house at Fiesole; but the Superior, to test his sincerity and perseverance, told him he must first learn by heart the book of the Decretals, containing several hundred pages. This apparently impossible task was accomplished within twelve months; and Antoninus received the coveted habit in his sixteenth year.
        While still very young, he filled several important posts of his Order, and was consulted on questions of difficulty by the most learned men of his day; being known, for his wonderful prudence, as "the Counsellor." He wrote several works on theology and history, and sat as Papal Theologian at the Council of Florence.
        In 1446 he was compelled to accept the archbishopric of that city; and in this dignity earned for himself the title of "the Father of the Poor," for all he had was at their disposal. St. Antoninus never refused an alms which was asked in the name of God. When he had no money, he gave his clothes, shoes, or furniture. One day, being sent by the Florentines to the Pope, as he approached Rome a beggar came up to him almost naked, and asked him for an alms for Christ's sake. Outdoing St. Martin, Antoninus gave him his whole cloak. When he entered the city, another was given him; by whom he knew not. His household consisted of only six persons; his palace contained no plate or costly furniture, and was often nearly destitute of the necessaries of life. His one mule was frequently sold for the relief of the poor, when it would be bought back for him by some wealthy citizen.
        He died embracing the crucifix, May 5th, 1459, often repeating the words, "To serve God is to reign."


Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]




Dar fruto a su debido tiempo

EVANGELIO DEL DÍA: 05/05/2010
¿ Señor, a quién iremos?. Tú tienes palabras de vida eterna. Jn 6, 68


Miércoles de la V Semana de Pascua

Libro de los Hechos de los Apóstoles 15,1-6.
Algunas personas venidas de Judea enseñaban a los hermanos que si no se hacían circuncidar según el rito establecido por Moisés, no podían salvarse.
A raíz de esto, se produjo una agitación: Pablo y Bernabé discutieron vivamente con ellos, y por fin, se decidió que ambos, junto con algunos otros, subieran a Jerusalén para tratar esta cuestión con los Apóstoles y los presbíteros.
Los que habían sido enviados por la Iglesia partieron y atravesaron Fenicia y Samaría, contando detalladamente la conversión de los paganos. Esto causó una gran alegría a todos los hermanos.
Cuando llegaron a Jerusalén, fueron bien recibidos por la Iglesia, por los Apóstoles y los presbíteros, y relataron todo lo que Dios había hecho con ellos.
Pero se levantaron algunos miembros de la secta de los fariseos que habían abrazado la fe, y dijeron que era necesario circuncidar a los paganos convertidos y obligarlos a observar la Ley de Moisés.
Los Apóstoles y los presbíteros se reunieron para deliberar sobre este asunto.

Salmo 122(121),1-2.3-4.5.
Canto de peregrinación. De David. ¡Qué alegría cuando me dijeron: "Vamos a la Casa del Señor"!
Nuestros pies ya están pisando tus umbrales, Jerusalén.
Jerusalén, que fuiste construida como ciudad bien compacta y armoniosa.
Allí suben las tribus, las tribus del Señor -según es norma en Israel- para celebrar el nombre del Señor.
Porque allí está el trono de la justicia, el trono de la casa de David.

Evangelio según San Juan 15,1-8.
Yo soy la verdadera vid y mi Padre es el viñador.
El corta todos mis sarmientos que no dan fruto; al que da fruto, lo poda para que dé más todavía.
Ustedes ya están limpios por la palabra que yo les anuncié.
Permanezcan en mí, como yo permanezco en ustedes. Así como el sarmiento no puede dar fruto si no permanece en la vid, tampoco ustedes, si no permanecen en mí.
Yo soy la vid, ustedes los sarmientos. El que permanece en mí, y yo en él, da mucho fruto, porque separados de mí, nada pueden hacer.
Pero el que no permanece en mí, es como el sarmiento que se tira y se seca; después se recoge, se arroja al fuego y arde.
Si ustedes permanecen en mí y mis palabras permanecen en ustedes, pidan lo que quieran y lo obtendrán.
La gloria de mi Padre consiste en que ustedes den fruto abundante, y así sean mis discípulos. 
Jn 15,1-8
Leer el comentario del Evangelio por 
Beato Carlos de Foucauld (1858-1916) ermitaño y misionero en el Sahara
Meditaciones sobre los salmos. Salmo 1
Dar fruto a su debido tiempo
     «Dichoso el hombre que... medita la Ley día y noche. Será como un árbol plantado cerca la corriente, que da fruto a su debido tiempo» (Salmo 1,1-3). Dios mío, tú me dices que seré dichoso, dichoso de la verdadera felicidad, dichoso el último día..., que a pesar de ser tan miserable, soy como una palmera plantada al borde de las aguas vivas, de las aguas vivas de la voluntad divina, del amor divino, de la gracia..., y que daré fruto a su debido tiempo. Dígnate consolarme, me siento sin fruto, me siento sin obras buenas, me digo: me convertí hace once años, y ¿qué he hecho? ¿Cuáles son las obras de los santos y cuáles las mías? Veo mis manos totalmente vacías de bien.

     Te dignas consolarme: «Tú darás fruto a su debido tiempo» me dices... ¿Cuál es ese tiempo? El tiempo de todos es la hora del juicio: me permitirás que si persisto en la buena voluntad y la lucha, a pesar de verme tan pobre, daré frutos en esta última hora.





miércoles 05 Mayo 2010


San Vicente Ferrer



Nació en 1350 en Valencia, España. Sus padres le inculcaron desde muy pequeñito una fervorosa devoción hacia Jesucristo y a la Virgen María y un gran amor por los pobres, a quienes repartía significativas limosnas que la familia acostumbraba dar. Ingresó a la comunidad de Padres Dominicos y, por su gran inteligencia, a los 21 años ya era profesor de filosofía en la universidad. Siendo diácono lo mandaron a predicar a Barcelona, ciudad que estaba atravesando por un período de hambre ya que los barcos con alimentos no llegaban desde hace varias semanas.
San Vicente estaba muy angustiado porque la Iglesia Católica estaba dividida entre dos Papas y existía mucha desunión. Estas constantes preocupaciones mortificaron y enfermaron peligrosamente al santo; pero una noche, por revelación divina, descubrió que su misión era la de predicar el Evangelio por ciudades, pueblos, campos y países. El santo recuperó inmediatamente la salud, y durante 30 años recorrió el norte de España, el sur de Francia, el norte de Italia, y Suiza, predicando incansablemente, con enormes frutos espirituales, ya que los primeros en convertirse fueron judíos y moros.
San Vicente fustigaba sin miedo las malas costumbres, que son la causa de tantos males e invitaba incesantemente a recibir los santos sacramentos de la confesión y de la comunión. Los milagros acompañaron a San Vicente en toda su predicación, siendo el don de las lenguas el primordial y básico para su misión de evangelizar las ciudades y pueblos. El santo se mantuvo humilde y sencillo a pesar de la gran fama y popularidad alcanzada por sus predicaciones en varios países. Los últimos años, acechado por varias dolencias y enfermedades, sus predicaciones mantenían esa fuerza, vigor y entusiasmo que lo caracterizaron en el anuncio del Evangelio.
Murió en plena actividad misionera, el Miércoles de Ceniza, 5 de abril del año 1419. Fue canonizado en 1455.





Oremos

Tú, Señor, que concediste a San Vicente Ferrer el don de imitar con fidelidad a Cristo pobre y humilde, concédenos también a nosotros, por intercesión de este santo, la gracia de que, viviendo fielmente nuestra vocación, tendamos hacia la perfección que nos propones en la persona de tu Hijo. Que vive y reina contigo. 




lunes, 3 de mayo de 2010

"My peace I give to you"

Daily Gospel: 04/05/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68


Tuesday of the Fifth week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles 14:19-28.
However, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."
They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Then they spent no little time with the disciples.

Psalms 145(144):10-11.12-13.21.
All your works give you thanks, O LORD and your faithful bless you.
They speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your great works,
Making known to all your power, the glorious splendor of your rule.
Your reign is a reign for all ages, your dominion for all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in every word, and faithful in every work.
My mouth will speak your praises, LORD; all flesh will bless your holy name forever.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14:27-31.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.
I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.
Jn 14,27-31
Commentary of the day 
Imitation of Christ, spiritual treatise of the 15th. century
Bk.1, ch.11 (trans. Robert Dudley)
"My peace I give to you"
We could have great peace if we were willing not to busy ourselves with the sayings and doings of others, for which we bear no responsibility. How can you remain long at peace if you interfere in other people's business, if you are on the watch for a chance to leave your solitude, if your inner recollection is slight and sporadic? Blessed are the simple, for they have great peace. What is it that made some of the saints such perfect contemplatives? Their whole study was to deaden themselves to every earthly desire, and so they could wholly cleave to God from the very depth of their heart, and freely give time to himself. But as for us, we are too much taken up with our appetites, too anxious about transitory things. We seldom perfectly conquer even one fault; so frigid and tepid we remain.

If we were perfectly dead to ourselves, and free of all inner involvements; then we could also taste the things of God, and have some experience of heavenly contemplation. It is total and utter hindrance to me that we are not free from passion and lust; and we do not undertake the perfect way of the Saints. When we meet with even slight adversity, we are quickly thrown and we turn to human comforts. If we were to try like gallant warriors to stand firm in battle; then surely we should see the help of God upon us from heaven. For he is ready to help those who struggle, hoping in his grace... If you did but mind what peace for yourself, what joy for others your good dispositions would secure! I think you would take much more thought for spiritual progress.


Tuesday, 04 May 2010

The English Martyrs



The English Marytrs
        Today the Church celebrates English Men and Women martyred for the Catholic Faith 1535-1680 and beatified or canonised by the Holy See.
        On this day in 1535 there died at Tyburn three Carthusian monks, the first of many martyrs, Catholic and Protestant, of the English reformation. Of these martyrs, forty two have been canonised and a further two hundred and forty two declared blessed, but the number of those who died on the scaffold, perished in prison, or suffered harsh persecution for their faith in the course of a century and a half cannot now be reckoned.
        They came from every walk of life; there are among them rich and poor, married and single, women and men.
        They are remembered for the example they gave of constancy in their faith, and courage in the face of persecution.