Allocution, October 31, 2021, XXXI Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today, October 31, the XXXI Sunday in Ordinary Time, we listen with attentive ears to what the Lord Jesus himself tells us in the gospel of Saint Mark, chapter 12, verses 28 to 34.
(GOSPEL)
Already from the Old Testament, the book of Deuteronomy, fifth book of the Bible in successive order, in chapter 6, verses 3 and following tells us: “Listen Israel, take care to practice what will make you happy and by which you will multiply.” . Listen Israel, Yahweh is our God, he is the only God, you will love your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Let these words that I tell you today remain in your heart, you will distribute them to your children, you will talk to them about them whether you are at home or on a trip, whether lying down or standing up, you will tie them to your hand as a sign and they will be like insignia between your eyes, you will write them on the doorposts of your house and on your doors.”
The word of God invites us to listen. We walk along the boardwalk and feel the soft breeze and listen to the harmonious sound of the sea waves, we contemplate the setting of the sun and admire the formation and coloring of the clouds. God speaks to us here; In silence we listen to these messages that He sends us through nature. We walked through the wooded walks and through the countryside; We observe the plants, the flowering pine nuts, the flowering of the fruit trees, the different flowers, and with Saint Ignatius we listen and exclaim. Shut up, shut up, I know you’re talking to me about God!
The husband and wife look at each other and admire each other’s physical and spiritual beauty; Parents hold their children and enjoy the wonder they are. Children notice the affection, sacrifice and dedication of their parents for them. The reunited family is happy for the love given and received by everyone. Friends who are grateful for favors feel like brothers. All these people tell us about the love of God; God speaks to us through them, we listen to him, we praise him for the greatness of shared love. Thank.
Also in moments of illness, failure, and death, God the Father is present and speaks to us. Only attentive ears to what is told to us internally and many times by the people present at our side in moments of suffering.
(SINGING)
The Pope also speaks to us in the name of God. We listen to what the Vatican tells us:
“If we lose the thread of the spiritual life, if a thousand problems and thoughts harass us, let us make Paul’s advice our own: let us place ourselves before the crucified Christ, let us depart from Him again, let us take the crucifix in our hands, let us press it over our heart or let us pause in the prayer before the Eucharist where Jesus is the bread broken for us, the resurrected crucified one, the power of God who pours out his love into our hearts. The fruit of the spirit, however, is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, so says Paul. Christians who have put on Christ in baptism are called to live like this. It can be a good spiritual exercise to read Saint Paul’s list and look at your own behavior to see if it corresponds, if our life is really according to the holy spirit, if it bears these fruits, these fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, affability, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control. Does my life have these fruits? For example, the first three listed are love, peace and joy. From here you recognize a person inhabited by the spirit of God. A person who is at peace is happy, and who loves with these three clues you can see the spirit.”
(SINGING)
God speaks to us in Holy Scripture. The Bible is not only history, but a message. The Second Vatican Council tells us: “The Bible communicates to us in an immutable way the Word of God himself. The Church has always venerated her and the same as the body of the Lord himself, since especially in the liturgy she does not stop taking from the table and distributing to the faithful the bread of life, both the word of God and the body. of Christ. Saint Augustine expresses: ‘the most diligent researcher of the Holy Scriptures will first of all be the one who reads them in their entirety and keeps them in mind, if not in memory at least in constant reading.’ The hearer of the Word of God does not praise the divine Word with his tongue and despise it with his life. The gospel is the mouth of Christ, who, already seated in heaven, does not stop speaking on Earth. Let us not be deaf, He speaks loudly; let us not be deaf. The holy scriptures old and new that we call canonical are the sources of faith from which the righteous live. If you see Christ in the Holy Scriptures, not only does what you read have flavor, but you also become intoxicated.”
Christ has said: “The second commandment is: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Dr. Nelson was sent as a doctor to Angola. He took with him the photo of his wife with their two children. He put this photo under his pillow every night and prayed for his wife and children, especially when he was tempted by messengers of the devil, who invited him to be unfaithful to his wife. And the more temptations he had, the more he looked at the family photo and heard the loving words of his wife and also the words of his children, which reached the depths of his heart. And despite the distance, his faithful love for his wife multiplied and he listened to what his children advised him so much with more sound and joy. Every day he sent messages and letters to his dear wife and the blessed fruits of his love. Meanwhile, Gladis and her two children prayed for her husband and father in front of the family photo every night. Every day Gladis cleaned the shoes that her husband left, she checked her husband’s clothes, she smelled them, she washed them every time it occurred to her that he might arrive unexpectedly. I read over and over again the courtship letters from the first years of marriage and the many that came from Angola. Two years later, the triumphant faithful husband returned and the hearts of the spouses beat so loudly that they could be heard in the airport as they met and hugged each other once again. And the children jumped for joy, shouting and hugging their father who never stopped listening to his children, who longed for their return.
Wife love your husband who is your neighbor, the closest. Husband loves your wife, your neighbor, who is the one who loves you the most because she knows how you love her. Dads and moms, listen to the voice of your children who dream, wish and pray that you will always be together by their side.
(SINGING)
Sister Cándida of the Eucharist tells us about the wonderful gesture of her beloved father, Cruz Reyes, and that she lived in Sociedad, her hometown:
Voice: “On one occasion when I was a teenager, my dad and I were in a line to buy tickets to the circus. In front of us there was only one family, a couple and their six children, all under fifteen years old. They looked poor but clean, the children behaved well. Everyone was talking excitedly about the clowns, the elephants and what the trapeze would be like. It was obvious that they had never attended the circus and were very happy for this event they had never enjoyed in their lives. The father and mother were in front of their children in line; The mother held her husband’s hand and looked at him as if to say: ‘You are my knight in shining armor.’ He smiled proudly and looked at her as if answering: ‘You are the most beautiful queen in the world.’ The ticket office attendant asked the father how many tickets he wanted. Six for children and two for adults. The manager told him: ‘ten pesos’. The father put his hand in his pocket and only had five pesos. The father approached and asked: how much? ‘Ten pesos’. He told his wife: ‘I only have five pesos.’ The husband and wife thought: how could we tell our children that we can’t enter the circus, that we can’t afford it? How hard for them. My dad realized the terrible situation and took out five pesos and dropped them on the ground. My dad bent down and said, ‘Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.’ The boys’ father felt sorry, he had not asked for help, but he was grateful for the solution to the distressing and desperate situation in which he found himself. With a look and a handshake he expressed gratitude for the love shown to his neighbor. He paid for the tickets and inside the circus a family was happy. My dad and I returned home, that night we did not go to the circus, we left penniless but with an intense and overflowing joy for having loved our neighbors and their families as ourselves. “Also outside the circus there was a happy family.”
(SINGING)
At the top of the frontispiece at the entrance to the Colón cemetery you will see three images that symbolize faith, hope and charity. At the center is the faith by which we believe. Our faith affirms that Christ crucified has risen, the gospel according to Saint John chapter 20, verses 19 to 31 tells us. To the right of the image of faith is hope, which Saint Paul announces to us in his first letter to the Christians of Thessalonica, chapter 4, verses 13 to 18. To the left of the image of faith is charity. Christ in the gospel according to Saint Luke, chapter 10, verses 25 to 37 explains to us how to live charity. What the Church tells us through these three images guides us to be happy in this life and then in the eternal life with our deceased. We believe, we hope, we love. On November 2 we pray especially for our deceased. Go to the nearest Church or cemetery chapel and offer mass for your deceased family and friends.
In line with the Pope, we held our family synod. Today or this week, the family gathered at lunch or at another time talks. What example and teaching did our deceased leave us? How to make them present among those of us?
(SINGING)
Saint Mary of Charity, you were at the foot of the cross where your son died; You know the pain I feel for the death of my loved one whom I have loved… Pray now for me as I cry as you cried, remind me that death is not the end, but that God will take us to his house in heaven. God the Father forgave our sins with the death of Christ on the cross and will reward every good work. Comfort me, help me and give me hope that one day, after completing my family mission, God will take us together to our deceased relatives. Amen.
We love God by praying the first part of the Lord’s Prayer: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And in this second part we ask God to help us love our neighbors. Give us today our daily bread, forgive us our offenses as we also forgive those who offend us, do not lead us into temptation and deliver us from evil. Amen.
The blessing of God the Almighty Father who created us to constitute a beautiful family… The blessing of Jesus Christ, path of love… The blessing of the Holy Spirit who can achieve all our family dreams, descend on all of you, on your family members, on the sick and remain forever. Amen.
(SINGING)