Back to the Routine

Well Good People, I am back to posting weekly (I hope)!

Last week we met several times during the week to discuss some changes in our community timetable and how we will minister in the two Chapels for which we have responsibility.  I think the changes in our routine will be good for the community and good for each one of us personally because the changes demand that we are attentive to one another and active in our decision making. 

Some changes that are now part of our daily routine:

1. Each brother has the responsibility to give a reflection at daily Mass.  This is a Win-Win for me because it helps the individual Brother focus more deliberately on the Word of God and it gives me a break from preaching every day.  I am now the only priest in the house, so I do preside each morning at the Eucharist.  I still need to practice the Gospel and practice the prayers each day, but it is a relief not to have to have a homily prepared.  If it were in English, I could do it...but in Spanish, es dificil!

2. Each brother cooks the morning breakfast and other are assigned to dishes.  This is good because last year this task was a bit uneven...there were always some Brothers who either arrived later for breakfast and so therefore never cooked, and others who always had a meeting right after breakfast so they conveniently got out of dishes.  Let me assure you....I was neither of these!

3. We have a cook now for our main meal at 2pm.  Yolanda will cook for us M-F.  She is an excellent cook and a wonderful person.  This has helped me on WW because she provides pretty healthy meals which include salad and vegetables.  There are still some fried options, but you can't have everything!

4. We have weekly community meetings scheduled in our calendars.  Last year, the meetings were few and far between.  This will definitely help us in our living together. 

I think these changes will definitely change our community for the better!

We had a meeting on Saturday with our former teacher, Rita Fermini, who will lead us through a mini internship in some schools in Mexico.  During the month of October, the Brothers will go to different sites throughout Mexico to complete a mini internship in a school.  They will arrive on Sunday, and depart on Friday.  This will be a good way of contextualing the material that they learned during our course with Rita.  We are all excited to see the results of our learning.

On Sunday, I presided at two Masses.  It was good to be back into the swing of things.  I'm still struggling with Spanish, but I think I'm harder on myself than the people are on me!  We meet again this afternoon to continue our meetings.  Br. Nereo and I will go to Puebla on Thursday afternoon for a meeting of the Sector Council and to meet with our accountant to review some of our financial questions.  It will be good to be back in Puebla and to spend some time with the Brothers in that community. 

All for now.  Here is my homily from this past Sunday!

Peace

Homily August 28, 2016

Morning Church! Welcome to the Feast, welcome to the banquet! Each and every Sunday we are invited to eat at the Supper of the Lord.  Today, the Gospel invites us to look at our meals in a different way, and perhaps we should look at how we celebrate our time around the Altar in a similar way.

Now all of us here have had the experience of eating a meal with others, Amen? When we were younger our mom and dad explained to us the proper manners at the table, what to talk about and what not to talk about at the dinner table.  We learned that on special occasions we invited others to our table, and sometimes we had to give up our place at the table for an invited guest.  Usually mom told us to let the guests take their food first and then we could follow.  We were usually reminded not to take too much the first time and then we may go back for seconds once everyone has eaten their fill.  This was something my mom always told my brothers and myself.  With four boys in the family, we certainly could eat a lot and forget that there were others who also had to eat!  During these meals we usually all ate together and only left the table at the end of the meal when everyone was finished. With formal dinners we usually took our time and ate slowly and spent the time talking and listening to one another.  At the table, we learned to share, to look out for one another, to be flexible, to sacrifice for others and to respect our elders.  Many things were learned sitting at the dinner table.

Jesus uses the same imagery of a feast, a banquet, a special meal in order to teach those around him the importance of sharing and humility.  Jesus used many simple ideas in order to teach a lesson.  Many of those who heard the parable had an experience of eating at table with others, of perhaps being invited to a formal dinner and maybe even having the experience of not being invited to a celebration. 

Jesus reminded the people to not take a place of honor, but rather to be invited to that place.  Jesus echoes the word of the Book of Sirach today who stated, “My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.  Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.” Jesus reminded the Pharisees that, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” So it seems that humility is important to the Christian life, Amen?

So the parable today teaches us about humility and finding our proper place before God and others, but it also teaches us many other things both personally and as a Church.  The parable tells us about the invited guests.  As young people we learn how to invite others to share in our meals by the example of our mothers and fathers.  We learn that it is important to open up our homes and our table to others, sometimes other family members but also, sometimes strangers and those who have no one else.  We learn to invite because we have been invited in our own lives.  We also need to think about this in terms of the Church.  Do we seek out others and invite them to come to feast at the Supper of the Lord?  Do we open up our space so that others may feel welcomed?  Are we okay if someone sits in “our spot”, as if we had assigned seating in the Church? Are we a welcoming community? The banquet metaphor is important for us who gather around the Table of the Lord each and every week.

We also learn how to be a host by our mom and dad.  Do we seek out others and make our guests feel comfortable?  Are we willing to be of service to others so that they can enjoy themselves in our presence? When we are humble, then there is no one too good or not good enough to share in the Banquet of the Lord.  When you are the host, you are attentive to the needs of your guests over your own needs.  Is the Church a host for the poor, the marginalized, the outcast and those uninvited in our society? That is the role of the Church that is our role as believers, to let everyone know that all are welcome to dine at the Supper of the Lord, Amen?

The imagery of a banquet, a meal, was common in the time of Jesus and it is common in our day and age.  Today the Word of God reminds us to be humble, to invite others, and to let others feel welcomed when we come to our Banquet each and every Sunday.  We learned all of these things as children….we need to remember them as adults if we are to enter the Kingdom of God, Amen?

Homilia

Buenos días Iglesia! Bienvenido a la fiesta, beinvenido al banquete! Todos y cada domingo se nos invita a comer en la Cena del Señor. Hoy, el Evangelio nos invita a mirar a nuestras comidas de una manera diferente, y quizás deberíamos mirar cómo celebramos nuestro tiempo en el altar de una manera similar.

Ahora todos nosotros hemos tenido la experiencia de comer una comida con otros, Amén? Cuando éramos más jóvenes de nuestra mamá y papá nos explicaron los buenos modales en la mesa, de qué hablar y qué no hablan en la mesa de la cena. Hemos aprendido que en ocasiones especiales se invitó a otros a nuestra mesa, ya veces tuvimos que renunciar a nuestro lugar en la mesa para un invitado. Por lo general, la madre nos dijo que dejar que los huéspedes tomar su comida primero y luego nos podrían seguir. por lo general se nos recordó que no debe tomar demasiado la primera vez y luego podemos volver por unos segundos una vez que todo el mundo ha comido hasta saciarse. Esto era algo que mi madre siempre le dijo a mis hermanos y yo. Con cuatro niños en la familia, que sin duda podría comer mucho y olvidar que había otros que también tenían que comer! Durante estas comidas que por lo general todos comimos juntos y sólo dejamos la tabla al final de la comida cuando todo el mundo estaba acabado. Con cenas formales por lo general tomamos nuestro tiempo y comimos lentamente y pasamos el tiempo hablando y escuchando el uno al otro. En la mesa, hemos aprendido a compartir, a tener en cuenta unos a los otros, ser flexible, a sacrificarse por los demás y respetar a nuestros mayores. Hay muchas cosas que se aprendieron sentados en la mesa de la cena.

Jesús usa la misma imagen de una fiesta, un banquete, una comida especial con el fin de enseñar a los que le rodean la importancia de compartir y humildad. Jesús usó muchas ideas simples con el fin de dar una lección. Muchos de los que habían oído la parábola tenía una experiencia de comer en la mesa con los demás, de tal vez ser invitado a una cena formal y tal vez ni siquiera tener la experiencia de no ser invitado a una celebración

Jesús le recordó a la gente a no tener un lugar de honor, sino que se invitará a ese lugar. Jesús se hace eco de la palabra del libro del Eclesiástico hoy en día que declaró: "Mi hijo, en tus asuntos procede con humildad, y te amaran más que al hombre dadivoso. Hazte tanto mas pequeño cuanto más grande seas y hallaras gracia ante el Señor.”  Jesús le recordó a los fariseos " porque el que se engrandece a sí mismo, será humillado, pero el que se humilla será engrandece.”  Por lo tanto, parece que la humildad es importante para la vida cristiana, Amén?

Así la parábola de hoy nos enseña acerca de la humildad y encontrar nuestro propio lugar ante Dios y los demás, sino que también nos enseña muchas otras cosas en lo personal y como Iglesia. La parábola nos habla de los invitados. A medida que los jóvenes se aprende cómo invitar a otros a compartir nuestras comidas por el ejemplo de nuestros padres y madres. Aprendemos que es importante abrir nuestros hogares y nuestra mesa a los demás, a veces otros miembros de la familia, sino también, a veces extraños y los que tienen a nadie más. Aprendemos a invitar porque hemos sido invitados en nuestra propia vida. También tenemos que pensar en esto en términos de la Iglesia. ¿Buscamos a cabo otros e invitarles a que vengan a la fiesta en la Cena del Señor? Hacer abrimos nuestro espacio para que otros puedan sentir como en casa? ¿Estamos bien si alguien se sienta en "nuestro lugar", como si hubiéramos asignado asientos en la Iglesia? ¿Somos una comunidad de acogida? La metáfora de banquetes es importante para nosotros que se reúnen alrededor de la mesa del Señor cada semana.

También aprendemos cómo ser un anfitrión de nuestra mamá y papá. ¿Buscamos a cabo los demás y hacer que nuestros huéspedes se sientan cómodos? ¿Estamos dispuestos a ser de servicio a los demás para que puedan disfrutar en nuestra presencia? Cuando somos humildes, entonces no hay nadie demasiado bueno o no lo suficientemente bueno para compartir en el banquete del Señor. Cuando usted es el anfitrión, que está atento a las necesidades de sus clientes más de sus propias necesidades. ¿Es la Iglesia una gran cantidad de los pobres, los marginados, los marginados y los que no invitado en nuestra sociedad? Ese es el papel de la Iglesia que es nuestro papel como creyentes, para que todos sepan que todos son bienvenidos a cenar en la Cena del Señor, Amén?

Las imágenes de un banquete, una comida, era común en la época de Jesús y es común en nuestra época. Hoy en día la Palabra de Dios nos recuerda que debemos ser humildes, para invitar a los demás, y dejar que los demás se sientan bienvenidos cuando llegamos a nuestro banquete de cada uno y todos los domingos. Hemos aprendido todas estas cosas como los niños... .No necesitan recordar como adultos si vamos a entrar en el Reino de Dios, Amén?