A pregnant woman was walking in the store and met an old friend. Her friend exclaimed, “You are absolutely beaming!” The new life God placed in her womb radiated throughout her body. It was brightly visible on her face and in her eyes. Transformation and change usually happen from the inside out. It is very rare that simply imposing structure from the outside does any good. Yes, it is true that routines and habits can change when things are done differently. But, for this change to last there has to be an interior renewal and metamorphosis as well. Simply regulating behavior and bringing someone into conformity with accepted protocols doesn’t mean their heart and soul come with them.

St. Oscar Romero said, “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” These powerful words provide the perfect framework for a conversion oriented Lenten experience. God is giving us this Lenten sign to stop being concerned about what you have and focus on who you are. This requires that we create a desert space and listen more attentively for God to reveal His presence. It is all so wonderfully simple on the one hand and so incredibly challenging on the other. The message is simple: love God, neighbor, and self. Those simple words make great sense, but we struggle translating them into reality. Our attachments, compulsions, obsessions, addictions, routines, and busyness all anchor us to the “idol of the self,” keeping us mired in our compulsive need for self-aggrandizement. It’s not about us!

Quizá ha tenido la experiencia de ser ministro de Eucaristía y llevar la comunión a los enfermos en su casa. Ha visto el dolor de cerca y su deseo es darles la mano y que se levanten de su lecho. Sí, ahora nos duele el no poder llevar la comunión por razón de la pandemia, aún existen muchas restricciones. Sin embargo, el Evangelio narra cómo Jesús visita a la suegra de Pedro que estaba enferma. Jesús le da la mano, la cura y ella se levanta y se dice que de inmediato se puso a servir. Claramente, se ve que enfermos no podemos hacer ministerio. Sanar, para servir.

It was a normal day by all accounts, but John just wasn’t feeling himself. He was a little lightheaded and out of sorts. Later in the afternoon, he experienced a sharp pain in his chest and arm. Quick thinking and action brought John to the emergency department with a diagnosis of a significant heart attack. Surviving this ordeal, he found himself face to face with his cardiologist, having an honest conversation about things that needed to change. “I came close to death,” John found himself thinking. Then came the remorse. He was a young man with a loving wife and children who were very close to facing life without him. John found himself with intense sorrow for living an unchecked and self-indulgent life that almost brought him to his demise. He wanted to change.

Our faith is not just about ideas. It’s really about having an encounter with God and, in particular, the Risen Christ! Once we give ourselves over to the notion of God’s presence, we have to train ourselves to listen for God’s voice and be attentive to God’s call. Having companions on our faith journeys is so incredibly important as they can help us fine-tune our listening skills and discern God’s voice from others we may be hearing. Faith is all about having these profound encounters not only with God but with our brothers and sisters, and creation itself. Anyone or anything that is alive with God’s presence becomes an occasion for God to speak and call us to deeper graces and experiences. “Come, and you will see.”

It was a normal day by all accounts, but John just wasn’t feeling himself. He was a little lightheaded and out of sorts. Later in the afternoon, he experienced a sharp pain in his chest and arm. Quick thinking and action brought John to the emergency department with a diagnosis of a significant heart attack. Surviving this ordeal, he found himself face to face with his cardiologist, having an honest conversation about things that needed to change. “I came close to death,” John found himself thinking. Then came the remorse. He was a young man with a loving wife and children who were very close to facing life without him. John found himself with intense sorrow for living an unchecked and self-indulgent life that almost brought him to his demise. He wanted to change.

Our faith is not just about ideas. It’s really about having an encounter with God and, in particular, the Risen Christ! Once we give ourselves over to the notion of God’s presence, we have to train ourselves to listen for God’s voice and be attentive to God’s call. Having companions on our faith journeys is so incredibly important as they can help us fine-tune our listening skills and discern God’s voice from others we may be hearing. Faith is all about having these profound encounters not only with God but with our brothers and sisters, and creation itself. Anyone or anything that is alive with God’s presence becomes an occasion for God to speak and call us to deeper graces and experiences. “Come, and you will see.”

In Blaise Pascal’s work, Pensees, he says: “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”

La Primera Lectura nos dice que David deseaba construir un templo de cedro a Dios, pero por medio del profeta Natán, Dios le dice que no quiere que se le construya un templo. Las intenciones de David eran buenas, pero, encerrar a Dios en un templo no era el plan de Dios para la humanidad. Su plan perfecto era la Encarnación del mismo Dios en María. Es decir, Dios afuera. Dios en todos, en cada ser humano. Nosotros somos el templo de Dios; Él desea morar en cada persona. ¡No en un templo, no en la parroquia! Dios está vivo, se mueve en cada ser humano.

Desde niños hemos escuchado este pasaje del Evangelio y hasta lo hemos cantado infinidad de veces en nuestras Misas. Hoy la liturgia, nos pone la escena nuevamente de preguntar a Jesús sobre la resurrección de los muertos y sobre cuál es el mandamiento más importante de la ley. Jesús contestó: “Amarás al Señor tu Dios con todo tu co-razón, con toda tu alma y con toda tu mente”. Este es el gran mandamiento, el primero. Pero hay otro muy parecido: “Amarás a tu prójimo como a ti mismo”. El mandamiento nuevo, el mandamiento del amor. El amor espiritual vertical hacia el Señor, hacia arriba y el amor horizontal hacia el hermano/hermana, y hacia el interior de la persona, como a ti mismo. ¡Qué hermosa enseñanza nos heredó Jesús! Solo un desentendido no la comprende. Tres pasos, a seguir:

Since his beatification on 10 October in Assysis( Italy), more and more is known every day about the life and work of Blessed Carlo Acutis, such as the phrases he uttered. Although the so-called "cyberaprostol of the Eucharist" was only 15 years old when he left for the Father's House after suffering from leukemia, during those years he cultivated great wisdom as a result of his close relationship with Jesus and Mary, and which was reflected in his works and words.

Here are some of the phrases he left as a legacy from which one can learn to live a holy youth in the 21st century:

Carlo Acutis was born on 3 May 1991 in London, England, where his parents worked. A few months later, his parents Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano moved with him to Milan. As a teenager, Carlo was diagnosed with leukemia. He offered his sufferings "for the Lord, the Pope, and the Church." He died on October 12, 2006, the day of Our Lady of Pilar. He was buried in Assisi at his request, because of his great love for San Francisco.

We human beings seem to have forgotten that God is God. We also have forgotten that His Ten Commandments were not mere suggestions, but His commands.

The Fifth Commandment states ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ which means the innocent babies in the womb, the elderly and infirm, and all people in between should be protected.

No one has the right to kill the babies in the womb, not surgically, nor by abortion-inducing pills dispensed personally or by telemedicine. No earthly being, whether he or she is a doctor, a lawyer, a politician or judge in a courtroom can change God’s laws! One day, we will each stand before God to answer for our actions here on earth.