THE wounded love can be healed - Parroquia Nuestra Señora ...

THE wounded love can be healed
  Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time —October 3, 2021
This Sunday’s Gospel reading (cf. Mk 10:2-16) offers us Jesus’ words on marriage. The
passage opens with the provocation of the Pharisees who ask Jesus if it is “lawful for a man
to divorce his wife”, as the Law of Moses provides (cf. vv. 2-4). Jesus firstly, with the
wisdom and authority that come to him from the Father, puts the Mosaic prescription into
perspective, saying: “For your hardness of heart he” — that is, the ancient legislator —
“wrote you this commandment” (v. 5). Thus it is a concession that is needed to mend the
flaws created by our selfishness, but it does not correspond to the Creator’s original
intention.
And here, Jesus again takes up the Book of Genesis: “from the beginning of creation, ‘God
made them male and female’. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and
be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one’” (vv. 6-8). And he concludes: “What
therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (v. 9). In the Creator’s original
plan, it is not that a man marries a woman and, if things do not go well, he repudiates her.
No. Rather, the man and the woman are called to recognize each other, to complete each
other, to help each other in marriage.
This teaching of Jesus is very clear and defends the dignity of marriage as a union of love
which implies fidelity. What allows the spouses to remain united in marriage is a love of
mutual giving supported by Christ’s grace. However, if in the spouses, individual interests,
one’s own satisfaction prevails, then their union cannot endure.
And the Gospel passage itself reminds us, with great realism, that man and woman, called
to experience a relationship of love, may regretfully behave in a way that places it in crisis.
Jesus does not admit all that can lead to the failure of the relationship. He does so in order
to confirm God’s plan, in which the power and beauty of the human relationship emerge.
The Church, on the one hand, does not tire of confirming the beauty of the family as it was
consigned to us by Scripture and by Tradition; at the same time, she strives to make her
maternal closeness tangibly felt by those who experience relationships that are broken or
that continue in a difficult and trying way.
God’s way of acting with his unfaithful people — that is, with us — teaches us that
wounded love can be healed by God through mercy and forgiveness. For this reason in
these situations, the Church is not asked to express immediately and only condemnation.
On the contrary, before so many painful marital failures, she feels called to show love,
charity and mercy, in order to lead wounded and lost hearts back to God.

Let us invoke the Virgin Mary, that she help married couples to always live and renew their
union, beginning with God’s original Gift.
                                                                       POPE FRANCIS October 7, 2018

el amor herido puede ser sanado
         XXviI Domingo del tiempo ordinario —3 de octubre, 2021

El Evangelio de este domingo (cf. Marcos 10, 2-16) nos ofrece la palabra de Jesús sobre el
matrimonio. El relato se abre con la provocación de los fariseos que preguntan a Jesús si es
lícito para un marido repudiar a la propia mujer, así como preveía la ley de Moisés (cf. vv. 2
-4). Jesús, ante todo, con la sabiduría y la autoridad que le vienen del Padre, redimensiona
la prescripción mosaica diciendo: «Teniendo en cuenta la dureza de vuestro corazón
escribió para vosotros este precepto» (v. 5). Se trata de una concesión que sirve para
poner un parche en las grietas producidas por nuestro egoísmo, pero no se corresponde
con la intención originaria del Creador.
Y Jesús retoma el Libro del Génesis: «Pero desde el comienzo de la creación, Él los hizo
varón y hembra. Por eso dejará el hombre a su padre y a su madre y los dos se harán una
sola carne» (vv. 6-7). Y concluye: «Lo que Dios unió, no lo separe el hombre» (v. 9).
En el proyecto originario del Creador, no es el hombre el que se casa con una mujer, y si
las cosas no funcionan, la repudia. No. Se trata, en cambio, de un hombre y una mujer
llamados a reconocerse, a completarse, a ayudarse mutuamente en el matrimonio
Esta enseñanza de Jesús es muy clara y defiende la dignidad del matrimonio como una
unión de amor que implica fidelidad. Lo que permite a los esposos permanecer unidos en el
matrimonio es un amor de donación recíproca sostenido por la gracia de Cristo.
Si en vez de eso, en los cónyuges prevalece el interés individual, la propia satisfacción,
entonces su unión no podrá resistir. Y es la misma página evangélica la que nos recuerda,
con gran realismo, que el hombre y la mujer, llamados a vivir la experiencia de la relación y
del amor, pueden dolorosamente realizar gestos que la pongan en crisis. Jesús no admite
todo lo que puede llevar al naufragio de la relación. Lo hace para confirmar el designio de
Dios, en el que destacan la fuerza y la belleza de la relación humana. La Iglesia, por una
parte no se cansa de confirmar la belleza de la familia como nos ha sido entregada por la
Escritura y la Tradición, pero al mismo tiempo se esfuerza por hacer sentir concretamente
su cercanía materna a cuantos viven la experiencia de relaciones rotas o que siguen
adelante de manera sufrida y fatigosa.
El modo de actuar de Dios mismo con su pueblo infiel —es decir, con nosotros— nos
enseña que el amor herido puede ser sanado por Dios a través de la misericordia y el
perdón. Por eso a la Iglesia, en estas situaciones, no se le pide inmediatamente y solo la
condena. Al contrario, ante tantos dolorosos fracasos conyugales, esta se siente llamada a
vivir su presencia de amor, de caridad y de misericordia para reconducir a Dios los
corazones heridos y extraviados.
Invoquemos a la Virgen María para que ayude a los cónyuges a vivir y renovar siempre su
unión a partir del don originario de Dios.
                                                                       PAPA FRANCISCO 7 Octubre/2018

                   St John’s Parish - Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
                 office@stjohnskitchener.ca — oficina@parroquiaguadalupe.ca
                            519 745 7855 — 85 Strange St., Kitchener

From Bishop Crosby’s Heart to Heart
                                            October 1, 2021 (#445)

POPE FRANCIS HAS ANNOUNCED that the next Synod of Bishops
will take place in October 2023. The theme for the Synod is: For a
Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission. It will be the
culmination of a “three-year path” involving the People of God at every
level of the Church. Pope Francis will officially inaugurate the event on
the weekend of October 9-10. The first phase of the synodal path will
take place in each Diocese beginning on the weekend of October 17th,
under the leadership of the Bishop. This will be marked in the Sunday
liturgies in all our parishes, and most particularly at the 4 p.m. Mass at
the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King. A Synod Committee has been
established composed of David and Linda Dayler (chairpersons), Paula
Dawson, Bishop Wayne Lobsinger and Monsignor Kroetsch. They will
facilitate the synodal process so that as many parishioners as are
interested in participating can be engaged. More information will be
provided as the process gets underway.

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI PARISH, KITCHENER, celebrates its 60th
Anniversary on Sunday with a special Mass at 2 p.m. Following Mass, a
statue of St. Francis of Assisi will be blessed. I look forward to joining
Father Murray McDermott, C.R., other Resurrectionists, and
parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi Parish for the celebration! May the
Parish be blessed as it “goes into the future with confidence”!

The Third Annual National Catholic Health Care Week runs
from Sunday, October 3rd to Saturday, October 9th. Established by the
Catholic Health Alliance of Canada, this year’s celebration seeks to build
understanding, connection and trust about the organization’s mission and
contribution to the pandemic response in Canada. Through stories,
reflection and prayer, the week also seeks to foster healing, and to
advance Catholic health care’s commitment to social justice and the
values of inclusiveness and compassion in the spirit of reconciliation. In
the Diocese of Hamilton, St. Joseph’s Health System embodies these
fundamental values! How blessed are we! This year, more than ever, we
must celebrate the importance of healthcare in our community.

40 Days for Life
    We will again stand across from Freeport Hospital from 7am to 7pm daily, commencing on
  September 22nd and continuing to October 31st. To register for hours or for more information
please go to www.40daysforlife.com/kitchener or call 519-748-5548 or email paddym@golden.net
                   Thank you for your prayers and your support for the unborn.