RELIGION

Let us rebuke from the baptism of Jesus our own baptism and its meaning. This is the sacrament that identifies us with Christ, through which God delivers us from sin, aggss us with his Spirit and looks at us lovingly to say to us too, as jesus: “You are my beloved son”. How important it is for Christians to remember every day, in every place and in every event that, by baptism, we are called to identify with Christ, who went through the world doing good.

We celebrate the solemnity of the Epiphany or feast of the Three Wise Men, a feast very full of symbols and meanings for our Christian faith, for it is the revelation of the presence of the Incarnate God. Jesus Christ recognizes all men and women of good will. In front of Christ, king of light, there will always be the Herods of every age and place as kings of darkness. Herod “reincarnates” in all those who subdue, oppress, deceive, humiliate, manipulate, violent, or kill whoever it takes to remain in “his power.” Herod’s figure also represents the evil to which we are always exposed. Above all, the evil that can go against love and faith, against others and against ourselves. Just as the Magi set out to be trusting in a star, we too are invited to stand in the way of Christ, detaching ourselves from all that does not allow us to be his disciples. Only God can be offered and given everything. From the image of the Three Wise Men, Christians are called to be missionaries; transformed by the living experience of encountering Jesus, we are sent by Him to witness his light.

2020 was the year maritza Sánchez, director of Cáritas Cuba, planned her retirement after more than two decades leading this Catholic institution, and in which she was given a gift? farewell, face the covid-19. God has not given him a break, as if he were still trying it at the end of the long career of his professional life. Maritza, with the energy and faith that have always characterized her, has continued to work since the day of March when it was decided to implement telework, sustain the essential services and continue from the central office encouraging and accompanying the diocesan Caritas.

With the entry into Cuba of covid-19, the Church insisted on an affective, spiritual follow-up and, in many cases, material support for food, grooming and medicines, to those who needed it most. This is the specific field in which you have expressed your charitable commitment during this period. It’s easy to say, but the experience we’ve experienced makes us think we’ve gone through “a real ordeal.” The arrival of covid-19 on the island at the beginning of the year added to a reality of crisis, a health situation that was already complex, even for countries with strong economies, in many of which it put its health systems in check. The disease entered and added to a complex scenario characterized by a shortage of medicines, food and a variety of necessities. In this same context, more sharpened, we continue, with the addition in these final months of the year, of the discontent expressed by some sectors of the population, especially intellectual, so that the Cuban State recognizes the right of citizens to dissent and freedom of expression. By the way, Palabra Nueva spoke with Msgr. Emilio Aranguren Echeverría, President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba (COCC) and Bishop of the Diocese of Holguin.

December 27, 2020 Whoever respects his father will have a long life, and whoever honors his mother obeys the Lord. As God’s chosen, holy and beloved, review yourself with endearing compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. […]

In his allocution this December 25th, Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García, Archbishop of Havana, invites us to follow in the light of Christ so as not to live and walk in darkness. This light makes us see the wonders of God and united families. “In births we see angels proclaiming and singing: Glory to God in heaven and on earth, peace. Glory to God in heaven and in Cuba, peace. Glory to God in heaven and in my house, peace.”

At Christmas we recall God’s greatest commitment to humanity. The eternal Son of the Father became flesh forever, for us, and for our salvation. May such a delivery be fruitful for all. May we, in this particular year, feel God close again and pass it on to those around us.
Merry Christmas.

In his Sunday address to this fourth Sunday of Advent, December 20, Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García, Archbishop of Havana, invites us to repeat continually before all events: “Behold the slave, the slave of the Lord, may thy Word be fulfilled in me”.

Saying yes to God will lead us on unsuspected, even unwanted paths, but It will free us from fear and risk of mistakes, from the danger of wasting the life He has given us. Saying yes to God implies humility of heart, serenity, audacity, perseverance, struggle with oneself, capacity and willingness to listen, generous dedication. So was Mary’s yes, not a one-day response, but a decision that defined her whole life.

How are we going to rejoice when the pain passes us by? What are we going to rejoice in when we are robbed of the deepest essence of who we are and want to be? Why should Christians rejoice when many live cocks and sad? Today’s Word of God comes to help us reverse this apathetic and annodine situation of sadness and abulia. Certainly God does not want us sad, hesitant, or ungrateful. Joy, like good, is communicative and diffuse. You can’t hide. It has to be shared, and sharing it grows and multiplies. Let us ask the Lord to live our Christian faith with joy. Let us ask Mary to smile always, to smile, even if we have a soul full of tears, as her song says. True and permanent joy, not momentary, superficial or cover-up of reality; joy that is founded on the strength of the Spirit of Christ that always aggss and accompanies us. May nothing and no one deprive us of the joy of the Lord. He’s our joy.