ePriest.com: Your Spanish Homily

Readings

Reading I: Isaiah 63:16-17, 19
Psalm: Psalms 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
Reading II: First Corinthians 1:3-9
Gospel: Mark 13:33-37

Preaching Tip

Getting Personal in Weekday Homilies

Preaching every day is demanding.  But we must remember that daily communicants are, for the most part, already in tune with the Holy Spirit.  Unlike the Sunday congregation, they need less elaborate illustrations and shorter applications. Often what helps them most is getting a glimpse into your own personal experience of Christ.

  • One method for preparing the daily homily, therefore, is to preach what you have prayed.
  • What moved your heart in your mental prayer this morning?
  • Preach about that; tell why it moved your heart.
  • Doing so (especially if you are using the liturgical texts for your personal prayer) will have a good chance of feeding their hearts too, since God is feeding you precisely so that you can feed them.

This method poses one serious danger: you will be tempted to turn your mental prayer into homily preparation. Bad idea. If that starts to happen, stop using this method. Without quality mental prayer, no priest can stay united to the Vine.

B Adviento 1                              

COMIENZA NUESTRA ESPERANZA

Nos encaminamos hacia una celebración entrañable, la Navidad. El Adviento que hoy comienza es el tiempo apto para prepararnos a la venida de Cristo practicando las obras de misericordia y no poniendo nuestro corazón en las cosas pasajeras sino en los bienes eternos.

Hermanas y hermanos:

1.  Nuestra existencia es como una noche. Puede ser larga y oscura si miramos nuestra impotencia, nuestra debilidad, nuestro pecado pero esto no significa que seamos "hijos de las tinieblas". Estamos esperando una visita personal de Jesús y esto nos obliga a estar atentos a "los signos de los tiempos" que nos indican la cercanía del gran día. Ciertamente Cristo ha venido ya en la primera Navidad. Y ahora vuelve a venir, aquí en donde estoy, en lo que hago, si mi corazón está dispuesto a acoger su manera de venir como una luz. En la misa de Navidad Isaías nos dirá: "El pueblo que caminaba en tinieblas ha visto una gran luz".

2.  El adviento es tiempo de espera y de preparación al nacimiento del Salvador. Hay que aprender a esperar. El atalaya se mantiene de pié sobre los muros de la ciudad, no grita, no se pone nervioso, no se desespera. Nosotros aprendemos a vigilar en la oración y la esperanza, porque sabemos que ya llega el Señor. Vigila el que mantiene abiertos los ojos del espíritu para ver la luz verdadera; vigila el que con sus obras demuestra su fe; vigila el que rechaza las tinieblas de la mediocridad y la negligencia; por eso S. Pablo añade: "Vigilad y no pequéis, es hora de despertar".

En adviento deben multiplicarse las iniciativas de oración y de servicio al prójimo. Mayor recogimiento en el templo, mayor participación en los cantos y plegarias, el uso de los símbolos como la corona de adviento, la práctica de la penitencia reparadora y de la purificación en la confesión.

3.  A los grandes y a los chicos motiva mucho la preparación del pesebre con sus figuritas, sus ángeles y pastores. Pero en el centro está la cueva o la cabaña como el corazón de toda la escena. Preparar el corazón es amar en acción. No podremos ver ni recibir al Salvador hecho niño si no aprendemos a verlo a través de nuestros hermanos que sufren. Tenemos por delante cuatro semanas de solidaridad, de esperanza y de alegría para crecer como cristianos.

 "Para amar a una persona hay que acercarse a ella" decía la Madre Teresa de Calcuta. "No atiendo nunca a las multitudes sino solamente a las personas". Jesús nos ha enseñado el arte de amar: Amándonos primero, gratuitamente, sin esperar ser amado. Amando a todos, incluso a los enemigos; amando sin medida hasta dar la propia vida. Hermanos: Preparémonos durante este adviento mediante la práctica de la caridad. Estemos más cerca de todos, pero especialmente de nuestros hermanos más necesitados.

English Translation

First Sunday of Advent, Year B                         

OUR HOPE BEGINS

We are moving towards a celebration that touches the heart: Christmas. Advent, which begins today, is the suitable time to prepare for Christ's coming by practicing works of mercy and not setting our heart on fleeting things but on eternal goods.

Sisters and brothers:

1.  Our existence is like a night. It can be long and dark when we look at our powerlessness, our weakness, and our sin, but this does not mean we are "children of darkness." We are waiting for a personal visit from Jesus and this obliges us to be attentive to "the signs of the times" that indicate the closeness of the big day. Certainly, Christ has already come in the very first Christmas. And now he is coming back, here where I am, in what I do, if my heart is ready to welcome his way of coming as a light. In the Christmas Mass, Isaiah tells us, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light."

2.  Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the birth of the Savior. We must learn to wait. The sentinel stays standing on the walls of the city. He does not cry out, does not get nervous, does not despair. We learn to watch in prayer and in hope, because we know the Lord is on his way. The person who watches keeps his spiritual eyes open to see the true light; he makes sure his works show his faith; he makes sure he rejects the darkness of mediocrity and neglect, which is why St. Paul adds: "Watch and do not sin, it is time to wake up."

In Advent, we should multiply our initiatives of prayer and service to others. More recollection in church, greater participation in the songs and prayers, the use of symbols such as the Advent wreath, the practice of restorative penance and of purification in confession.

3.  For adults and kids alike, it can be highly motivating to prepare the manger with its figurines, angels, and shepherds. But at the center is the cave or hut as the heart of the whole scene. Preparing the heart is putting love into action. We cannot see or receive the Savior made a child if we do not learn to see him in our suffering brethren. We have ahead of us four weeks of solidarity, hope, and joy to grow as Christians.

"To love someone, we have to draw close to them," said Mother Teresa of Calcutta. "I never care for the crowds, just for individual people." Jesus taught us the art of love: loving first, freely, without waiting to be loved. Loving everyone, even our enemies, and loving without measure to the point of giving our life. Brothers and sisters: Let's prepare during this Advent through the practice of charity. Let us be closer to everyone, but especially to our brothers and sisters who are most in need.