Viva Mexico!

Well this past week we celebrated Mexican Independence Day on Thursday! We had a great meal with wine and tequila and pozole, a Mexican delicacy.  There were many firecrackers and other sounds of parties in the neighborhood.  The following day was quiet as I think everyone was sleeping off the day before! After Mass I walked to the gym only to find it was closed for the holiday, I guess you win some and lose some!

Starting on Friday afternoon we hosted a Vocation Retreat (jornada) for 5 men ranging in ages from 23-47.  Br. Nereo arranged for all of the guys to come from different parts of Mexico to have an opportunity to get to know the community better.  Some of the men I had met before, but others were new for me.  Each of the Brothers in the community played a role in the retreat, either giving presentations, or helping in the kitchen and tending to the needs of the young men.  They all went into the Center of Queretaro on Friday night to experience the festivities of the holiday, the next day was filled with prayer, presentations, recreation, quiet time, and a trip to a Lay community in Apaseo Grande where the American Brothers first worked back in the 1980s.  Sunday they all came to the 8:30am Mass and then continued the day with presentations and reflection.  I had 3 Masses on Sunday, so I was not able to join them for some of the other activities on Sunday morning. 

On my way to one of the Chapels, I was thinking about our early Brothers and the sacrifices they made to go to distant lands, taking boats, riding horses, taking trains all a great distance.  I was thinking about this because I had to walk up a big hill and then walk on roads that were not paved so well.  I felt a bit in solidarity with my ancestors in the Society of Mary because I was heading to Mass and I wasn't in a car, but instead I had to walk....and lo and behold this is what I stumbled upon on my way to the Chapel.  I knew I wasn't in St. Louis on my way to celebrate Mass at Our Lady of the Pillar Church!!!

As you can see the area is not well off, and the people are simple and very nice.  It was okay sharing the road with 2 cows on the way to Church! After Church I walked back down the hill and had a little time to myself before we gathered for the afternoon meal.

We all ate dinner together on Sunday and then they were off to the bus station to go to the many places from where they came.  It was a good weekend, and I was happy with the way the Brothers all pitched in and made the weekend a success.

The 5 Candidates

The Candidates with the Community

We are all wearing Bicentennial Shirts....the Logo was misplaced on the back!

I will be heading to St. Louis on Thursday to attend the Perpetual Vows of two of our Brothers, Br. Brandon and Br. Michael.  I am looking forward to seeing many people there, we all come out of the woodwork for professions and ordinations...its a great family reunion!

Enjoy the rest of the week and keep me in your prayers! 

Here is my homily from this past weekend,

Homily 25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Good morning Church! Turn to the person next to you and say, I’m glad you are here! If you are glad to be here, say Amen! You don’t sound convinced! Are you glad to be here?  Yes, we should always be glad to hear God’s Word and to receive the Body of Christ each week, Amen? And the Word of God this week reminds us to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us.  In the book of Genesis, God tells Adam that he would have dominion over all of the earth that he needed to be a caretaker, a good steward of the Garden of Eden.  Adam was not the owner, but the caretaker of the Garden.  God is the owner, Amen?  In the end, nothing really belongs to us, we are only stewards or caretakers of the things that we have.  In the same way, we are stewards of our life, but God is the owner.  God entrusts our life to us and we are to do the best we can to honor, protect, and preserve our lives. We only have one life on this earth, are you doing everything you can to be a good steward of your life? Are you concerned about your mind, heart, body and soul, or are you only concerned with material things and money? The Word of God continues to challenge us to think about higher things for our life.

The Prophet Amos warned the people to be concerned about more things than making money and finding not so moral ways to make money.  Is money more important than your reputation? Is money more important than honor? Is money more important than your family name? Yes, we all need money to live, but if making and having money consumes every waking thought, then we have not learned the ways of God correctly.  If money becomes more important than honoring God and the Sabbath, then we have forgotten who the owner is of our life, Amen? As the Gospel states very clearly today, “one cannot serve two masters”.

Saint Paul reminds Timothy that all people must pray for leaders in nations and that in every day and age, we should lift up our holy hands and give praise to our God.  Again, it is difficult to raise your hands in prayer when you have one hand looking through your wallet looking for more money! As Christians we are called to live a quiet life with dignity and devotion.  When we serve God and not money, this type of life is possible.  But if we serve money, then our lives are fast, never satisfied, always looking for more.  We will never have enough when we are always looking for more.  Is this the life that God wants for us?  I don’t think so! Being a good administrator of our lives, we need to keep our lives in balance and not live on the extremes of too much and too few.

The Gospel today from Saint Luke once again challenges us to live our lives fully and to honor all that has been given to us.  The administrator in the story squandered the property of the master.  He did not realize the importance of the gift that was in front of him.  When the master was going to fire him, the administrator used his intelligence to make things right with both the debtors and the master by reducing the amount owed to the master.  This was probably an interest placed on top of the debt so that the administrator could earn some money.  The administrator came to his senses and realized that money was not the most important thing in the world, but rather, a roof over his head, food on his table, a good reference so that he could get a job after the master would fire him.  These were the things that were going to sustain in for the rest of his life, not a percentage of the money owed to the master.  Sometimes we need to come to our senses about what is truly important in our lives, Amen?

I read this recently on social media which I think fits into being good administrators of the goods and the life that God gave each us.

10 Signs You Are Doing Well in Life

1.     You have a roof over your head

2.     You ate or will eat today

3.     You have a good heart

4.     You wish good for others

5.     You have clean water

6.     Someone cares about you

7.     You forgive others

8.     You have clean clothes

9.     You have faith

10.  You are breathing

Many people in our world cannot say yes to as many of the preceding statements that we can.  Sometimes it is the little things in life that matter most.  I can say yes to all of those signs in life.  This is the life that God entrusts to us.  It is not about cars, money, big houses, expensive clothes.  It is about the simple things, because the simple things make us appreciate all that we have and help us to work for others who have far less, Amen?

So, are you glad you are here?  Are you glad to be alive? Are you happy for the things you have in your life? Will you honor the life that God gave you? It is difficult to serve God and money.  Money will pass, but God is eternal.  As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord, Amen?

                                Homilía Domingo 25 del tiempo ordinario

Buenos días Iglesia! Gira a la persona a tu lado y decir, estoy feliz de que estés aquí! Si Uds. están contento de estar aquí, decir Amén! No parece convencido! ¿Están contento de estar aquí? Sí, debemos estar siempre contento de escuchar la Palabra de Dios y para recibir el Cuerpo de Cristo cada semana, Amén? Y la Palabra de Dios esta semana nos recuerda que debemos ser buenos administradores de lo que Dios nos ha confiado. En el libro de Génesis, Dios le dice a Adán que iba a tener dominio sobre toda la tierra que tenía que ser un cuidador, un buen administrador del Jardín del Edén. Adán no era el dueño , pero el cuidador del jardín. Dios es el dueño, Amén? Al final, nada realmente nos pertenece, somos sólo administradores o encargados de las cosas que tenemos. De la misma manera, somos corresponsables de nuestra vida, pero Dios es el dueño. Dios confía a nuestra vida para nosotros y tenemos que hacer lo mejor que pueda para honrar, proteger y preservar nuestras vidas. Sólo tenemos una vida en esta tierra, Uds. están haciendo todo lo posible para ser un buen administrador de su vida? ¿Uds. Están preocupado por su mente, corazón, cuerpo y alma, o están sólo se ocupan de las cosas materiales y el dinero? La Palabra de Dios continúa desafiándonos a pensar en cosas más elevadas para nuestra vida.

El profeta Amós advirtió a la gente a preocuparse por cosas más que hacer dinero y no encontrar maneras de modo morales de hacer dinero. ¿Es el dinero más importante que su reputación? ¿Es el dinero más importante que el honor? ¿Es el dinero más importante que su apellido? Sí, todos necesitamos dinero para vivir, pero si hacer y tener dinero consume cada pensamiento de vigilia, entonces no hemos aprendido correctamente los caminos de Dios. Si el dinero es más importante que honrar a Dios y el domingo, a continuación, nos hemos olvidado de quién es el dueño de nuestra vida, Amén? A medida que el Evangelio dice muy claramente hoy en día, "no se puede servir a dos señores".

San Pablo recuerda a Timoteo que todas las personas deben orar por los líderes de las naciones y que en cada día y edad, que deben levantar nuestras manos santas y alabar a nuestro Dios. Una vez más, es difícil levantar las manos en la oración cuando se tiene un lado que mira a través de su cartera en busca de más dinero! Como cristianos, estamos llamados a vivir una vida tranquila con dignidad y devoción. Cuando servimos a Dios y no el dinero, este tipo de vida es posible. Pero si servimos dinero, entonces nuestras vidas son rápidos, nunca satisfecho, siempre en busca de más. Nunca tendremos suficiente cuando estamos siempre en busca de más. Es esta la vida que Dios quiere para nosotros? ¡No lo creo! Al ser un buen administrador de nuestras vidas, tenemos que mantener nuestra vida en equilibrio y no vive en los extremos de demasiado y demasiado pocos.

El Evangelio de hoy de San Lucas, una vez más nos desafía a vivir nuestras vidas plenamente y en honor a todo lo que ha sido dado. El administrador de la historia desperdició la propiedad del amo. No se dio cuenta de la importancia de la donación que estaba frente a él. Cuando el maestro le iba a disparar, el administrador utiliza su inteligencia para hacer las cosas bien tanto con los deudores y el maestro mediante la reducción de la cantidad adeudada al maestro. Esto fue probablemente un interés colocado en la parte superior de la deuda para que el administrador podría ganar algo de dinero. El administrador volvió en sí y se dio cuenta que el dinero no era lo más importante en el mundo, sino más bien, un techo sobre su cabeza, comida en su mesa, una buena referencia para que pudiera conseguir un trabajo después de que el maestro le dispararía . Estas eran las cosas que iban a sostener en el resto de su vida, no un porcentaje del dinero adeudado al maestro. A veces tenemos que volver a nuestros sentidos acerca de lo que es verdaderamente importante en nuestras vidas, Amén?

He leído esto recientemente en los medios sociales, que creo que encaja en ser buenos administradores de los bienes y la vida que Dios le dio a cada uno de nosotros.
10 señales de que está haciendo bien en la vida
1. Usted tiene un techo sobre su cabeza
2. Usted comió o va a comer hoy
3. Tiene un buen corazón
4. Usted desea bien a los demás
5. Usted tiene el agua limpia
6. Alguien se preocupa por ti
7. Perdonar a los hombres
8. Usted tiene ropa limpia
9. Usted tiene fe
10. Usted está respirando

Muchas personas en el mundo no pueden decir que sí a que muchas de las afirmaciones anteriores que podemos. A veces son las pequeñas cosas de la vida que son más importantes. Puedo decir que sí a todas esas señales en la vida. Esta es la vida que Dios nos confía. No se trata de coches, dinero, casas grandes, ropa cara. Se trata de las cosas simples, porque las cosas simples hacen a apreciar todo lo que tenemos y nos ayudan a trabajar para otros que tienen mucho menos, Amén?

Entonces, ¿Uds están contenta de que está aquí? ¿Están contento de estar vivo? ¿Están feliz por las cosas que tienen en su vida? Van a honrar la vida que Dios les dio? Es difícil para servir a Dios y al dinero. El dinero va a pasar, pero Dios es eterno. En cuanto a mí y mi casa serviremos al Señor, Amén?