Month: February 2021

In his allocution on this second Sunday in Lent, Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García, Archbishop of Havana, tells us that in order to find strength, encouragement, on the path of life and in the face of failures and sufferings, “we must go up to a place where we can find God”. And that place, he says, “is personal, family, ecclesial prayer. Each of us needs to see God, we need to listen to the Son of God speaking to us.” That listening must be accompanied by prayer and acting. […]

How many times do we distrust God! And we ask him, do you really exist, why do you ask us for so many sacrifices, why don’t you fix this or that personal or social problem? Abraham’s example impels us to continue to say yes to God, even in the rawest times, in unexplained and irrational situations. Faith and trust in God leads us to stand before Him with all that we are and have, including all our miseries, to say to Him, “Here I am, Lord.” The encounter with God does not alienat us, but transforms us and makes our understanding of life and the world around us another, his, always more authentic and elevated. It does not change that reality; we’re the ones who change. Let us live in this Lent the experience of feeling transformed and transfigured by the Grace of the Lord to be more and better Christians in everyday life. […]

Would we dare try again? It is the question left to us in the inkwell by Father Raúl Arderi García SJ, after reviewing two historical facts of the Church in Cuba: the Cuban Ecclesial Reflection (REC) and the Cuban National Ecclesial Meeting (ENEC). In both, the prominence of the laity was a distinctive and defining sign. Today, when we are attended by the duty and commitment to dream together of a better future, to think of this prominence, which was also accompanied by the shepherds of God’s people. This country and this Church need it. […]

El su alocución de este primer domingo de Cuaresma, el cardenal Juan de la Caridad García, arzobispo de La Habana recordó que así como Jesús lo hizo, hoy la Iglesia invita al ayuno. Y entre los ayunos a practicar, propuso ayunar de juzgar a otros y llenarse del Cristo que vive en cada uno de nosotros. Invitó también a ayunar de palabras hirientes y llenarse de frases que purifican. En una lista extensa de ayunos, el cardenal recomendó ayunar de descontentos y llenarse de gratitud; ayunar de enojos y llenarse de paciencia; ayunar de pesimismo y llenarse de optimismo; ayunar de preocupaciones y llenarse de confianza en Dios; ayunar de quejas y llenarse de apreciar lo que nos rodea. El arzobispo insistió en la oración que no cesa y en la compasión por los demás. […]

February 21, 2021 God said to Noah and his children: “I establish my alliance with you and your descendants.” Jesus said, “Become and believe in the gospel.”     Readings First Reading Reading the book […]

Have we ever wondered what the rite of the imposition of ashes means? What is the point for our Cuba today of this sign? […]

Fasting, prayer and alms, as presented by Jesus in his preaching (cf. Mt 6:1-18), are the conditions and expression of our conversion. […]

Advanced in the second month of 2021, Father José Miguel González Martín proposes to resume the message of the Papa Francisco of the most recent World Day of Peace to talk about healing and reunion, two such urgent realities in Cuba today, which presuppose that there is disease and fracture, confrontation and disenquitment. “In open and sincere dialogue, he believes, without prejudice or prevention, among all partners, its causes must be addressed, because symptoms and consequences are already known and suffered. By analyzing the causes together, we will be able to propose, not impose, common paths of peace and reconciliation, of healing and reunion; we will be able to implement ingenious and bold solutions, but achievable and that benefit everyone. The free and sincere expression of all that we understand as a lack of truth in the social fabric of the country cannot do without the also sincere desire for healing and reunion. Truth, however true, cannot be imposed or cast by force, reason, ideology, or even religion; it must be sought, found and shared in open, sincere and fraternal dialogue.” […]

In his address this Sunday #14defebrero, Lord’s Day and Valentine’s Day, Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García, Archbishop of #LaHabana, invited the faithful to do the same as Christ: listen to the sick, pity them, reach out to them, help them, speak to them, fill them with peace. “This peace, he said, will lift their spirits and make them fight with all their might to regain the health of soul and body.” He recalled #17defebrero next year in every church in the world will be celebrated on Ash Wednesday. In this way the path of forty days of preparation to Holy Week begins. “During this time, he said, God invites us to conversion, to change to be better.” Taking advantage of the celebration of Valentine’s Day, the Haban archbishop exhorted husbands to live a new life in their marriages, full of hope and illuminated by the light of the gospel. […]