Cesar Fernandez-Stoll

Gospel text ( Mathew 17,10-13): As they were coming down the mountainside, the disciples then asked Jesus, «Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?». And Jesus answered, «So it is: first comes Elijah to set everything as it has to be. But I tell you, Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him, but treated him as they pleased. And they will also make the Son of Man suffer». Then the disciples understood that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.

Gospel text ( Mathew 11,13-19): Jesus spoke to the crowds: «Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain: ‘We played the flute for you but you would not dance. We sang a funeral-song but you would not cry!’. For John came fasting and peo­ple said: ‘He is possessed’. Then the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and people said: ‘Look at this man! A glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’. Yet the outcome will prove Wisdom to be right».

Gospel text ( Lc 1,26-38): In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, «Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you». Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the angel said, «Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever and his reign shall have no end». Then Mary said to the angel, «How can this be if I am a virgin?». And the angel said to her, «The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born shall be called Son of G

We must pray that our leaders, at every level, are blessed by the vision of acknowledging the mandate they have from the one only possible source the can give any mandate, God almighty; to serve and not be served, to protect life and freedom as well as the dignity of the human person, social justice and the common good from the individual to society. On the ongoing presidential race in the United States today, and on just about every other contest for votes everywhere in the world, it seems that the tone of the day is to look for destruction of the opponents while ignoring the virtues offered. The ideal to be elected over the rest, it seems, imposes the ideal to bring defeat by destruction of others while not going through the problem of presenting own virtues.

Gospel text ( Mathew 11,28-30): Jesus said, «Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light».

Immigration is a tool for political manipulation and obtaining cheap votes. Well, maybe not so cheap, given the amount of damage the 'ideal' foments and produces on many areas. The matter though is that too many byproducts of 'immigration' are constantly exploited for or against while all of them are not the point that should really be resolved.

Gospel text ( Mathew 18,12-14): Jesus said to his disciples, «What do you think of this? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, won't he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside, and go to look for the stray one? And I tell you: when he finally finds it, he is more pleased about it than about the ninety-nine that did not get lost. It is the same with your Father in heaven: there they don't want even one of these little ones to be lost».

Gospel text ( Luke 5,17-26): One day Jesus was teach­ing and many Pharisees and teachers of the Law had come from every part of Galilee and Judea and even from Jerusalem. They were sitting there while the power of the Lord was at work to heal the sick.

Gospel text ( Mc 1,1-8): This is the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the book of Isaiah, the prophet, «I am sending my messenger ahead of you to prepare your way. Let the people hear the voice calling in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, level his paths».