Category: Parish News & Events

I once read about someone who, instead of seeking attention, gifts, cards and cake on their birthday, chose to bring flowers and a special note to their mother instead. Why? Because that woman on that day labored in love to give birth. That woman on that day chose to give life instead of take it. That woman on that day began the difficult task of raising another human being for the foreseeable future. 

Today I celebrate 43 years of life outside the womb. Sure I will have my fair share of greetings and sweets, but my heart, as any mother’s, is more focused on my children. I almost forget my birthday each year, as I am preceded by one son’s birthday in September and another son’s later this month. 

And although I am grateful for this life that God has given me, I cannot help but be saddened by what is happening throughout our country to destroy life. October is Respect Life Month, and we are in the midst of the 40 Days For Life prayer campaign. The abortion clinic that was shut down in my town, reopened due to a loophole in the law. Elections for pro-abortion laws are looming in the next few weeks. All I can do is pray, pray, pray, vote, and beg God for His mercy. 

In today’s Gospel the Pharisee was amazed that Jesus did not wash before the meal. Jesus rebuked him. What good is it to have a clean body if the soul is not clean. “Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” 

Hmmm, interesting. Instead of telling him to change his attitude and his focus, he told the Pharisee to give alms. Wait a minute…maybe he was telling him to change his attitude and his focus! Let’s think about this for a moment. What happens to us when we give to others? We shift from an inward to an outward focus. We are giving instead of receiving. We are caring instead of falling into greed. Our Jesus is one wise God!

So as we all celebrate one more day (or one more year) of life, let us turn our attention outward. May we all make at least one intentional act to help another person today. And may we all continue to pray for God’s mercy so that the right to life may be protected in our country. 

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Una vez leí acerca de alguien que, en lugar de buscar la atención, los regalos, las tarjetas y el pastel en su cumpleaños, optó por llevar flores y una nota especial a su mamá. ¿Por qué? Porque esa mujer en ese día laboró con amor para dar a luz. Esa mujer ese día eligió dar la vida en lugar de quitarla. Esa mujer en ese día comenzó la difícil obra de criar a otro ser humano por el futuro previsible.

Hoy celebro 43 años de vida fuera de la matriz. Claro que recibiré lo suficiente en cuanto a saludos y dulces, pero mi corazón, como el de cualquier madre, está más centrado en mis hijos. Casi me olvido mi cumpleaños cada año, ya que me precede el cumpleaños de un hijo en septiembre y el de otro hijo a finales de este mes.

Y aunque estoy agradecida por esta vida que Dios me ha dado, no puedo evitar entristecerme por lo que está pasando en todo nuestro país para destruir la vida. Octubre es el Mes de Respeto a la Vida, y estamos en medio de la campaña de oración 40 Días por la Vida. La clínica de aborto que cerró en mi ciudad, reabrió debido a un detalle de la ley. Las elecciones a favor de las leyes a favor del aborto están por venir en las próximas semanas. Todo lo que puedo hacer es orar, orar, orar, votar y rogar a Dios por su misericordia.

En el Evangelio de hoy, el fariseo se asombra de que Jesús no se lave antes de comer. Jesús lo reprendió. ¿De qué sirve tener un cuerpo limpio si el alma no está limpia? “¿Acaso el que hizo lo exterior no hizo también lo interior?”

Muy interesante. En lugar de decirle que cambie su actitud y su enfoque, le dijo al fariseo que diera limosna. Espera un minuto… ¡tal vez le estaba diciendo que cambiara su actitud y su enfoque! Vamos a pensarlo. ¿Qué nos sucede cuando damos a los demás? Pasamos de un enfoque interno a uno externo. Estamos dando en lugar de recibir. Nos preocupamos en lugar de caer en la codicia. ¡Nuestro Jesús es un Dios sabio!

Entonces, mientras todos celebramos un día más (o un año más) de vida, dirijamos nuestra atención hacia afuera. Que todos hagamos al menos un acto intencional para ayudar a otra persona hoy. Y que todos sigamos orando por la misericordia de Dios para que en nuestro país se proteja el derecho a la vida.

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Jesus refused to be a sideshow attraction, as he rightfully should have. Jesus referred to the generation he encountered on earth as evil for their unwillingness to accept the things of heaven on faith. They sought signs and wonders; some were given, but not on demand to humor the believer. Instead, the signs offered blessed those already possessing faith, even faith as small as a mustard seed.

Yes, even the tiniest mustard seed of faith can move mountains. Faith preceded the healing of the hemorrhaging woman, Jairus’ Son, and the centurion’s slave. No one is more guilty of seeking signs than this girl! And when I first read Jesus’ words in this Gospel, I was taken aback, having been blessed abundantly with signs accredited by me to the showering of love and mercy from heaven. I didn’t consider my desire to see God in some tangible way as evil; most often, I sought signs to clarify His will over mine. Not as proof of his existence but as affirmation of what He was asking of me.

I have discovered a vast difference between the one who demands proof of God’s existence versus the one who seeks verification of the will of God. The skeptic who looks to check Jesus’ heavenly ID card to prove He is who He says He is, versus those who accept the truth on faith. We should not mistake the proud trying to debunk the humble approaching God’s throne of grace with confidence for an occasional bit of reassurance, not convincing.

If His Resurrection doesn’t convince them, nothing else He does will. The sign of Jonah would be witnessed and attested to not only by believers but also by “hostile witnesses.” People alive at the time of the Resurrection who, although they did not wish to perpetuate Jesus’ mission, could not refute what their eyes beheld. Jesus who died had risen, not as a spirit but as a man, who ate among them, something a ghost cannot do and has no need for.

Seeing by faith and not by sight, as Jesus tells St. Thomas, is a tremendous gift. “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” I believe Jesus; sometimes, I just need a little nugget to help my unbelief. 

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There is a scene in a popular TV show where two scientists are discussing what makes up a human person. They go through all the elements that a body is made of and the percentages that we have of each. Most of our bodies are made of a mix of just six elements: Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus. Pretty remarkable way to describe a human being, huh? But I bring this up because I think oftentimes we treat our own bodies this way. As if they are just masks that we can change at will, or abuse. After all, they are just elements mixed together at random right? What’s the harm?

The scene in the show gets them to the end of a list of elements but they are still missing some percentage of unaccounted for elements. They determine that it must be the soul. As Catholics, we believe we are body and soul composites that have been infused with the life and breath of God. We even hear in Genesis that we are made in the image and likeness of God. More than just a cute little phrase to hand out on prayer cards, this means something. It means that matter (our bodies), matters.

Our body and our soul together is what makes us a human being, totally unique and perfect in the plan of God. The Catechism tells us then that, “Man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day.”  CCC 364

Matter, matters. God, as our Creator, knows that we are both physical and spiritual beings, and he loves us so much that this purely spiritual being took on flesh. God became man. That is significant. The moment that the second person of the Trinity took on flesh, our bodies were raised to a higher level than ever. We now share the same human DNA with God.

Now, it’s not only that God created us and became man for us, he also wanted to stay with us even after he was taken back into heaven. We receive his grace and love in a tangible way through the sacraments. And notice, every sacrament requires matter. Baptism requires water and the Eucharist requires bread and wine. In the First Reading today we have a foreshadowing of baptism where Naaman washes and is made clean of leprosy. His body is made new. And we know that in baptism we are made new as well. Matter, matters.

The Catechism sums this up beautifully by saying, “The flesh is the hinge of salvation. We believe in God who is the creator of the flesh; we believe in the word made flesh in order to redeem the flesh, we believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the fulfillment of both the creation and redemption of the flesh.” CCC 1015

God loves your body. God loves you. Let’s take a few moments today to thank God for making us in his image and likeness, for giving us his sacraments so that we might partake in his love, and for the future hope of one day reaching heaven and being happy with him and all the saints forever. Just a bunch of humans walking around with glorified bodies praising God and living their best life. Sounds pretty good to me.

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

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Hay una escena en un popular programa de televisión en la que dos científicos discuten qué constituye una persona humana. Pasan por todos los elementos que componen un cuerpo y los porcentajes que tenemos de cada uno. La mayoría de nuestros cuerpos están hechos de una mezcla de solo seis elementos: oxígeno, hidrógeno, nitrógeno, carbono, calcio y fósforo. Una forma bastante notable de describir a un ser humano, ¿verdad? Pero menciono esto porque creo que a menudo tratamos a nuestros propios cuerpos de esta manera. Como si fueran solo máscaras que podemos cambiar a nuestro antojo o abusar de ellos. Después de todo, son solo elementos mezclados al azar, ¿verdad? ¿Cuál es el daño?

La escena en el programa los lleva al final de una lista de elementos, pero todavía les falta un porcentaje de elementos no contabilizados. Determinan que debe ser el alma. Como católicos, creemos que somos compuestos de cuerpo y alma que han sido infundidos con la vida y el aliento de Dios. Incluso escuchamos en Génesis que estamos hechos a imagen y semejanza de Dios. Más que una pequeña frase linda para repartir en las tarjetas de oración, esto significa algo. Significa que la materia (nuestros cuerpos), importa.

Nuestro cuerpo y nuestra alma juntos es lo que nos hace un ser humano, totalmente único y perfecto en el plan de Dios. El Catecismo nos dice entonces que “no es lícito al hombre despreciar la vida corporal, sino que, por el contrario, tiene que considerar su cuerpo bueno y digno de honra, ya que ha sido creado por Dios y que ha de resucitar en el último día”. CIC 364

La materia importa. Dios, como nuestro Creador, sabe que somos seres tanto físicos como espirituales, y nos ama tanto que este ser puramente espiritual se hizo carne. Dios se hizo hombre. Eso es significativo. En el momento en que la segunda persona de la Trinidad se hizo carne, nuestros cuerpos se elevaron a un nivel más alto que nunca. Ahora compartimos el mismo ADN humano con Dios.

Ahora bien, no es solo que Dios nos creó y se hizo hombre por nosotros, sino que también quiso quedarse con nosotros incluso después de haber sido llevado de regreso al cielo. Recibimos su gracia y amor de manera tangible a través de los sacramentos. Y si se dan cuenta, cada sacramento requiere materia. El bautismo requiere agua y la Eucaristía requiere pan y vino. En la Primera Lectura de hoy tenemos un presagio del bautismo donde Naamán se lava y queda limpio de lepra. Su cuerpo es hecho nuevo. Y sabemos que en el bautismo también somos hechos nuevos. La materia importa.

El Catecismo resume esto hermosamente al decir: “La carne es soporte de la salvación. Creemos en Dios que es el creador de la carne; creemos en el Verbo hecho carne para rescatar la carne; creemos en la resurrección de la carne, perfección de la creación y de la redención de la carne”. CIC 1015

Dios ama tu cuerpo. Dios te ama. Tomemos hoy unos momentos para agradecer a Dios por hacernos a su imagen y semejanza, por darnos sus sacramentos para que participemos de su amor, y por la esperanza futura de llegar un día al cielo y ser felices con él y todos los santos para siempre. Un grupo de humanos caminando con cuerpos glorificados alabando a Dios y viviendo su mejor vida. A mí me suena bastante bien.

De parte de todos nosotros aquí en Diocesan, ¡Dios los bendiga!

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When the Gospels are short like today’s–only two verses–it always makes me think that the message is really vital to how we live our lives. It’s like someone wanted us to be hit with something short so that we could spend our time reflecting on that message. Today’s Gospel offers us beautiful words with which we can contemplate the faith of Mary and how we are to imitate her faith in our lives. 

These two verses from Luke can be a bit confusing; the first time I read them I asked myself, “Is Jesus saying that Mary’s role as His mother is unimportant?” That is certainly not what He is saying to this woman! St. John Chrysostom, in a reflection on these two verses from Luke says, “In His answer He did not disgrace His mother, but showed that His birth would have profited her nothing had she not been really fruitful in works and faith.” Christ is not dismissing nor diminishing the importance of Mary’s role as His mother. Rather, He is emphasizing the importance of her faith in her role as mother. In order for her to become the Mother of God, she first had to say yes to the will of God. Before fulfilling her title of mother she fulfilled the words Christ uses to respond to the woman: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Mary heard the word of God and observed it when, after learning that she would bear the Son of God, she responded with “Let it be done unto me according to thy word.”

We should look to Mary as a perfect example of faith. It is she who models true blessedness. She embodies perfect and joyful submission to the will of the Father. When God calls us to something that is difficult, do we answer as Mary did? 

When we are struggling to observe the word of God, may we remember Mary and her joyful acceptance of His word. When we hear the word of God, may we joyfully observe it!

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Cuando los evangelios son cortos como el de hoy, solo dos versículos, siempre me hace pensar que el mensaje es vital para la forma en que vivimos nuestras vidas. Es como si alguien quisiera que nos golpeáramos con algo corto para que pudiéramos pasar nuestro tiempo reflexionando sobre ese mensaje. El Evangelio de hoy nos ofrece hermosas palabras con las que podemos contemplar la fe de María y cómo debemos imitar su fe en nuestra vida.

Estos dos versículos de Lucas pueden ser un poco confusos; la primera vez que los leí me pregunté: “¿Está diciendo Jesús que el papel de María como Su madre no es importante?” ¡Ciertamente eso no es lo que Él le está diciendo! San Juan Crisóstomo, en una reflexión sobre estos dos versículos de Lucas dice: “En su respuesta no deshonró a su madre, sino que mostró que su nacimiento no le habría aprovechado nada si no hubiera sido realmente fructífera en obras y fe”. Cristo no está descartando ni disminuyendo la importancia del papel de María como Su madre. Más bien, está enfatizando la importancia de su fe en su papel como madre. Para que ella se convirtiera en la Madre de Dios, primero tuvo que decir sí a la voluntad de Dios. Antes de cumplir su título de madre, cumplió las palabras con las que Cristo responde a la mujer: “Bienaventurados los que oyen la palabra de Dios y la guardan”. María escuchó la palabra de Dios y la observó cuando, después de saber que daría a luz al Hijo de Dios, respondió: “Hágase en mí según tu palabra”.

Debemos mirar a María como un ejemplo perfecto de fe. Es ella el modelo de la verdadera bienaventuranza. Ella encarna la sumisión perfecta y gozosa a la voluntad del Padre. Cuando Dios nos llama a algo que es difícil, ¿respondemos como María?

Cuando estemos luchando por observar la palabra de Dios, recordemos a María y su gozosa aceptación de Su palabra. Cuando escuchemos la palabra de Dios, ¡que la observemos con gozo!

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