Friends:
In our hemisphere, these are winter days; the hours of sunlight are scarce, and the symbols of these holidays have to do with Light and Hope. Starting a New Year on the calendar will rekindle the embers of illusions that the passing of days has been extinguishing. Happy New Year! …And may it come loaded with all the utopia we can gather.
We include in this letter the comments from the Epiphany celebration. Contextualized in our days, it is an invitation to tolerance between cultures. Sometimes it is the different one, the foreigner, who can help me see things differently, and their vision enriches me.
For those in Madrid and surrounding areas, there will be a cycle of talks at San Carlos Borromeo. More information on the Bulletin Board.
Santa María Madre de Dios
Luke 2, 16-21. They gave him the name Jesus, as the angel had called him.
Fidel Aizpurúa: Everyone Was Amazed. Admiration allows us to escape the routine and the numbness that lurks for the believer of always. How to keep the admiration alive in the experience of faith?
Mª Luisa Paret: Santa María, madre de Dios. The revolutionary thing is that God fixed his attention on a young, poor, and humble woman to collaborate with God in the great work of redemption.
Numbers 6, 22-27. This text of blessing is traditional heritage and very dear to the people of Israel.
Galatians 4, 4-7. Jesus has been announced to the whole world, to Jews and Gentiles, and has shown us that we are children of the Father.
Florentino Ulibarri: Blessing at the beginning of the year. As we begin this year, let us once again feel how God looks at us with tenderness and sends us into life with joy and love.
Vicky Irigaray: Mary, Mother of God. The testimony of Mary reveals to us how to advance on the path to the God of our hope.
Anaphore: Mary, Mother of Jesus. Mary has been doubly blessed, for being the mother of Jesus and for following him.
2nd Sunday after Christmas
John 1, 1-18. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Michael Angel Munárriz: Visibility of God. Wisdom of God offered to human beings.
**José Luis Sicre: A story in five stages.** For the author of the Prologue, Greek wisdom was a recent product, a work of human ingenuity, and had its temple in a pagan place, Athens. True wisdom is eternal, it proceeds from God, and resides in Jerusalem.
**Enrique Martínez Lozano: The word (logos), metaphor for what is truly real.** Word, Logos, Brahman… are terms that, beyond the geographical or cultural origin of each of them, point to that which transcends the world of forms or objects, that which, being the only thing that remains, is what is truly real.
**Fray Marcos: The Word poured out upon God.** Neither is it a single reality nor are there two.
**Fidel Aizpurúa: They are born of God.** Those who receive the Word are born of God, they have a different perspective in life, the one that has the same God who is compassionate and accompanying.
**José Antonio Pagola: Living without embracing the light.** We all make mistakes and blunders throughout life.
**Mª África de la Cruz: God becomes man so that man may become God**. The God of Jesus, in us and among us, commits us. He makes us co-responsible for his project of progressive humanization of every human being, for his salvation.
****Sirach 24, 1-2 and 8-12****. God-Wisdom is presented, who dwells in Israel, in the Dwelling Place, in Jerusalem, and takes root in the People.
Ephesians 1, 3-6 and 15-18. Christians are chosen for holiness, to be children of God and heirs of the riches of the knowledge of God.
Florentino Ulibarri: God has taken the lead for us. We must put our hope in God since He has put it in us before. We must trust God more and lean on His arms and rest in His lap.
**Vicky Irigaray: 2nd Sunday of Christmas**. The Word comes to manifest the presence of God in history and reaches its fullness in the incarnation of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas.
** Anaphore: The vocation of Jesus**. It stands for humanity, for the happiness of all human beings.
**Benedictine Monks of Montserrat**. 2nd Sunday after Christmas.
Epiphany of the Lord
Matthew 2, 1-12. We have seen his star and have come to adore him.
Brother Marcos: God is always manifesting. But not through the senses, nor through reason.
Isaiah 60, 1-6. Arise, shine, Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
Ephesians 3, 2-6. You have heard of the distribution of the grace of God that has been given to me for your benefit.
Florentino Ulibarri: A light on the way. Now that the stars disappear from our horizon, and life clouds and closes in on us… it’s time to be silent, to forget sad feelings and embrace your unusual proposal.
Vicky Irigaray: Epiphany of the Lord. Jesus has come to liberate all human beings, his salvation is for all humanity, without borders.
Anaphora: God unique and of all. You have revealed yourself equally to poor shepherds of Israel and to gentile foreigners. You make yourself visible to all who truly seek you.
Selected articles for the week
**Adele Howard: The humble and persevering peace of Pope Leo XIV opens the heart.** The theologian, after the recent Sydney massacre: “The Pope’s call to vigilance ‘against the growing attempt to turn even thoughts and words into weapons’ is even more timely.”
**Carmiña Navia Velasco: Mary of Nazareth: sisterly love.** Let us look at Mary of Nazareth through this prism. We find traits that show us a sisterly woman who supported other women or the community in situations that required it.
**Gabriel Mª Otalora: Cuento de Navidad**. Dickens helped quite a bit with his book *A Christmas Carol* to popularize Christmas as a holiday around family and celebrating with loved ones.
José Manuel Vidal: The Pope at the Angelus: Catholic families be “light of hope, school of love and instrument of salvation”. Unfortunately, the world always has its “Herodes,” its myths of success at any price, of power without scruples, of empty and superficial well-being, and often suffers the consequences with loneliness, despair, with divisions and conflicts.
**Magda Bennásar Oliver: Feeling the Cave.** I feel invited to open my soul wide open to the nakedness of the Word that accompanies the celebrations of the Christian community.
**Bruno Desideria: Nicaragua: Another Sad Christmas for a Persecuted Church.** The Ortega regime continues to repress religious freedom, but faith remains alive. Among forced silences and fear, bishops and faithful bear witness to a martyred Church that resists and continues to hope, even in the hardest trials.
**José Arregi: Reflections on the film Los domingos.** It powerfully and beautifully portrays, and with great honesty, the real story of an adolescent trapped between two closed ideological worlds: the “religious” world and the “anti-religious” world. Two blocs that never truly engage in dialogue.
**Rafael Narbona: Hakuna o el regreso del cristofascismo.** Hakuna is one of the fruits of the brutal political and religious repression orchestrated by Wojtyla and Ratzinger against Liberation Theology, born within the bosom of Opus Dei… Not even think about the poor of the Earth.
**News**. Silvio Báez: “The Ortega and Murillo dictatorship uses exile as a systematic method of repression.”
Multimedia material
**An Inner Christmas** By Herminia Gisbert. Beyond the noise, the lights, and the traditions, this reflection is an invitation to recognize that silent rebirth of inner light, even after a difficult year. A light that is not always seen, but that can be rekindled when we stop, listen to ourselves, and embrace ourselves with honesty. May this Christmas also be a return home, an act of presence, a gesture of care towards yourself.
**A New Compass.** Every step, every crack, every surprise and every silence brought you to here. Today a new path begins, one that is written with courage, with faith and with the certainty that the best is yet to be born. May 2026 find you awake, grateful and ready to move forward. May doubt not steal your light, may your dreams travel with you, and may your soul follow the rhythm of its own orchestra. Happy Year may the journey begin today.
Salomé Arricibita: Maria, strong woman. Tribute to Maria, and to all those people who are selfless, unconditional love, every day of their lives.
The night God called. Inspired by the birth of Jesus in a humble manger, this song reminds us that God does not seek greatness, but a willing heart. Ideal for moments of prayer, recollection, inner peace and spiritual preparation at Christmas.
**Equipo Quiero Ver: Estar a lo que se celebra.** Sometimes, with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the gifts, the meals… we forget what we are celebrating at Christmas. The coming of Jesus and what He brings with Him: the kingdom of love. God made a baby, incarnate in a humble creature who is born in a manger. This Christmas, let’s be present for what we celebrate and not invite Jesus to a birthday party that has nothing to do with Him and His proposal.
**Before the year ends.** The year is coming to an end, and it’s the perfect time to look back, not with sadness, but with a heart full of gratitude. This is a love letter set to music, to say goodbye to these twelve months and everything they left us. May it serve as a hug from afar, to thank you for the laughter, for the lessons, for the health, and above all, for the people who stayed by our side despite everything.
At the EFFA School we provide the link to the study material where you can find all the talks and bibliography available, for those who were unable to see them or want to review them. The link to access the latest videos uploaded may also be useful.
And, as I promised, the letters will end with these three links: the letter of the week, the letter of last week and letters from other weeks. When someone loses -or doesn’t receive- the email with the news, they can use an old letter to access the new one.
A hug,
Inma Calvo
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English version translated with AI