Allocution, November 7, XXXII Sunday in Ordinary Time

By: Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García

Today, November 7, Sunday 32 of ordinary liturgical time, we hear in all the Catholic churches of the world the Gospel according to Saint Mark, chapter 12, verses 38 to 44.

(GOSPEL)

Like the widow in this gospel, who donated everything she had to live on, we are poor; we have received everything from God. God has given us life, family, nature, intelligence, the arts … Everything that God gives us is for a service, a mission, a sharing.

God made the gift to our parents of the children, and from this gift, from the womb until today, the children of our parents have received affection, a joyful sacrifice, exhausting work, a constant concern brought to reality , a delivery without limits, and all this in an increasing way multiplied by each day that passes. Our parents have given us everything they had to live for, the best of their lives. They left comforts to make us happy.

We thank God for this generous offering for us. That is why we find them so happy when they see us return home. Faced with such an example and testimony, we respond in the same way, we give them our love, our service, we do not ask them as when we were children, we give them, we give them back, that it will never be as much as they have given us, and all sharing and giving each other the wealth of love, we will multiply happiness, joy and sufferings and sorrows will dissipate, and thus we become from poor to rich, like the widow, who left the temple without money but with infinite joy, peace and wealth for having given everything with love.

(SINGING)

For some years now, Pope Francis has instituted the Sunday before the Solemnity of Christ the King, the World Day of the Poor, which in this year 2021 we celebrate it on Sunday, November 14. Let’s share our lunch with a person or family. Let us concretely practice one of the works of mercy that the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us; let’s remember them:

Spiritual: teach those who do not know, give good advice to those who need it, correct those who make mistakes, forgive those who offend us, comfort the sad, suffer with patience the defects of others, pray to God for the living and the dead .

Corporal works of mercy: visiting and caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the pilgrim, clothing the naked, comforting the prisoner, burying the dead, and as a family in Synod we ask ourselves: How and when do we practice one of these works of mercy together?

(SINGING)

Money is a preponderant factor in our life, it solves many situations, but we cannot always buy what is sometimes our deepest desire. You can buy, for example, the bed, but not the sleep; the food, but not the appetite; the book, but not intelligence; luxury, but not beauty; A house, but not a home; the remedy, but not the health; coexistence, but not love; fun, but not happiness; the crucifix, but not faith; pleasure, but not love; a woman, but not a wife; diplomas, but not culture; medicines, but not peace; alcohol, but not joy; a place in the most elegant graveyard, but not in heaven.

(SINGING)

We give thanks to the Catholic communities that have already given their monetary offering in the collection of the gift, that is, the collection that we give to missionaries who evangelize throughout the world.

(SINGING)

Last Sunday the Pope spoke to those who were in St. Peter’s Square, and now we listen to the Successor of Peter, who enriches us by giving us his commentary on the word of God:

“The Word of the Lord cannot be received like any news. The Word of the Lord must be repeated, assumed, and guarded. The monastic tradition of the monks uses a bold, but very concrete term, it goes like this: ‘the Word of God must be ruminated’. Ruminating the Word of God, we can say that it is so nourishing, that it must reach all areas of life, involve, as Jesus says today, all the heart, all the soul, all the intelligence, all the forces. The Word of God must resound, resound, be an echo within us. When there is this inner echo that is repeated, it means that the Lord inhabits our hearts and tells us, like that good scribe of the Gospel, “you are not far from the kingdom of God.”

”Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord seeks, not so much skilled commentators on the scriptures, seeks docile hearts that, accepting his Word, allow themselves to be transformed within. This is why it is so important to familiarize yourself with the Gospel, always have it at your fingertips, even a small Gospel in your pocket, in your bag, to read and reread it, to become passionate. When we do, Jesus, the Word of the Father enters our heart, becomes intimate and we bear fruit in him. Let’s take today’s gospel as an example. It is not enough to read it and understand that we must love God our neighbor, it is necessary that this commandment, which is the great commandment, resonates in us, is assimilated, becomes the voice of our conscience. So, it does not remain a dead letter, in the drawer of the heart, because the Holy Spirit makes the seed of that Word sprout in us and the Word of God acts. It is always on the move, it is alive and effective. Thus each one of us can become a translation, alive, different and original, not a repetition, but a translation, alive, different and original. Of the only Word of love that God gives us. This, for example, we see in the lives of the saints, none is equal to the other, all are different, but all with the same Word of God.

Let us take the example of this scribe today. Let us repeat the words of Jesus, let us make it resonate in us: love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, with all our strength, and our neighbor as myself, and let us ask ourselves: Does it really guide my life? this commandment? Is this command reflected in my daily life?

“It will do us good tonight, before we go to sleep, to examine our conscience on this Word, to see if today we have loved the Lord and have given a little good to those we have met. May each encounter be to give a little good, a little love, which comes from this Word. May the Virgin Mary, in whom the Word of God was made flesh, teach us to accept in our hearts the living words of the Gospel ”.

(SINGING)

We pray to God for the riches that he himself taught us to ask for in the Lord’s Prayer.

(PRAYER OF THE FATHER)

We ask the Virgin for her company in the midst of our joys and sorrows.

Hail Mary, you are full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among all women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

We also pray to San José.

Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, whose power knows how to make impossible things possible, come to my aid in these moments of anguish and difficulty. He takes under your protection the serious and difficult situations that I entrust to you, so that they have a good solution. My beloved father Saint Joseph, all trust is placed in you, let it not be said that he invoked you in vain; and how you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power. Amen.

(SINGING)

We are spiritually united with Christ.

(SINGING)

And the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, descend on you, on your families, on your sick and remain forever. Amen.

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