Dear Friends:
There is a paradox that beautifully summarizes the heart of the gospel. When Jesus affirms that “my burden is light,” he is not promising a life without effort, but an experience of God that liberates without oppressing. Jesus does not propose a religion of suffocating obligations, but a faith at the service of the person. What a good criterion for reviewing our communities. Do we lighten people’s burdens or do we contribute to making them heavier?
With your suggestions, we are polishing the details of the new website, which we are finally about to launch. We have a form to register new people for the weekly email. Will you help us grow by sharing it?
For October there is a proposal for a retreat led by José Arregi with a very interesting approach. More information in the Bulletin Board.
Gospel and Commentaries on the Gospel
Matthew 11, 25-30. Blessed are you, Father, because you have revealed these things to simple people…
Miguel A. Munárriz Casajús: The Wise and the Simple. Perhaps we are missing the Good News
José Luis Sicre: Better to be Simple than Wise. This Sunday’s passage contains an act of thanksgiving, a teaching and an invitation.
Enrique Martínez Lozano: The Transforming Power of Gratitude. The word “thank you” has a high vibration and is one of the most important expressions of love.
Fray Marcos: God Neither Hides nor Reveals Anything to Anyone. He is always revealing himself to everyone.
José Antonio Pagola: God is for Simple People. It was many years ago, at L’École Biblique in Jerusalem, when an exegesis master initiated us into the difficult art of unraveling the gospel of Matthew.
Fidel Aizpurúa: Without Counting Women and Children. The thing is that we know by heart the account of the multiplication of the loaves with its thesis that by sharing there is enough for all, poverty being no obstacle.
Inma Eibe: Come to Me. Today’s gospel impresses both in content and form. We are very accustomed to seeing and contemplating Jesus acting and proclaiming his Word. But we are not always introduced into such an intimate moment as this.
Selected Articles for the Week
Mario J. Paredes: PETER and PAUL: Francis and Leo XIV. Each one, with their origins, their style, their training and their emphases, offers the Church and the world of these days a necessary and complete response from the logic and criteria of the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesús Lozano Pino: Where is the Gospel in the Face of Europe’s Deportations? The Mediterranean and the Quota of Shame. The management of borders has become a chessboard where human dignity runs the risk of being the sacrificed pawn.
Gerardo Villar: Praying the Psalms?. I find it very difficult to pray by reciting the psalms and in them the word Israel. Today we are living circumstances in which this people attacks and destroys, kills people around them.
Religión Digital: The Consistory Demands that Christians “not be mere Spectators of Social Ruin, but Wise Architects who Rebuild the City for All”. A language of the heart is needed to overcome conformism, corruption and the sense of impossibility generated by seeing that properties and resources to achieve it are in the hands of a few.
Luis Miguel Modino: Born to Serve, Not to Dominate. Whoever you are, even the Pope, if you are willing to listen, to place yourself on a lower plane, or at least a similar one, you will never be able to guide. At the same time, whoever never wanted to learn will never manage to teach.
Julián Bedoya Cardona: The Artificial will Never be Equal to the Natural. In the face of a dislocated stage of society, we find hope as an active and creative force that constantly transforms, seeking what is needed.
Héctor López. Theologian: The Empire of Lies: Historical Expression of the Anti-Kingdom. A Church is needed that truly lives its paschal mystery of the kingdom of God and thus preserve the life of the poorest and our common home at all its levels. The path was traced 46 years ago by the martyred bishop Monsignor Romero.
José Lorenzo: The Pope, in Pavia, Before the Relics of Saint Augustine: “Let us Cultivate a Church Capable of Renewing Itself Without Division”. Pastoral visit of Leo XIV to the basilica of Saint Peter in Ciel d’Oro, where he held a meeting with the Augustinian community and venerated in it the relics of the saint of Hippo
For More Participatory and Contemporary Eucharists
Zechariah 9, 9-10. Rejects the image of the Davidic messiah to replace it with a peaceful and humble king.
Romans 8, 9-13. Contrasts the spirit of God, the humanizing divine impulse and subhuman tendencies.
Florentino Ulibarri: Rest in You. Rest in You, and thank you, with words or without them, for your solidarity presence in simple and humble people.
Vicky Irigaray: 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time. In Jesus’ life, thanksgiving and praise occupy a central place; the free and gratuitous love of God is at the origin of everything.
Anaphora: Human Values. What counts are the human values of people and their deeds.
Benedictine Nuns of Montserrat. Sunday 14th of Ordinary Time.
Multimedia Material
The Wisdom of Inner Silence. Learning to speak, learning to live, in another way, with the serenity that silence gives, without giving the ego the opportunity to impose itself. Cultivating the wisdom of inner silence is one of the best methods to preserve our energy, balance our deeper self, and preserve our physical, emotional and spiritual health.
Salomé Arricibita: Rest in Me. Jesus, our guide, support, rest… our peace… we need to stop and accept his insistent invitation to not fear, to be at peace, to rest in him… Presentation by Lenin Cárdenas.
There is No Love Like Yours. “Only You look at me so deeply, when I lose confidence”. Song-meditation, for those bad moments when we lose ourselves.
In the Deep. We forget the meaning of life and yet… we keep searching for something to believe in. How much we have diverted our gazes: “we distance ourselves from the foundation and origin of days, and we do not go deep”. Precious and inspiring song.
Rest. We live running, worried, carrying weights that sometimes seem too big. In the midst of the noise and demands of each day, Jesus continues to pronounce a simple and profound invitation: “stop for a moment, breathe and let God give us rest, peace and hope”.
Never Stop Dreaming. It is an inspiring song to trust life again, even when you don’t know how or when everything will fall into place. It speaks of walking without haste, of listening to what you carry within, of remembering that what is real does not need to be perfect to be true. This song is born to accompany you in new beginnings, in bright days and also in those that only need a little hope. Listen to it calmly, and let it remind you of something simple: that dreaming is still an act of courage.
In the EFFA School we facilitate the link to the syllabus where all the talks and available bibliography are, for those who have not been able to see them or want to review any. The link to access the latest videos that have been uploaded may also be useful.
And, as I promised you, the letters will end with these three links: this week’s letter, last week’s letter and letters from other weeks. When someone loses -or hasn’t received- the email with the news, they can use an old letter to access the new one.
A warm embrace,
Inma Calvo
Adult Faith is a 100% independent portal. We do not receive subsidies from any group. It is financed with the generous contributions of readers. We also have no fixed fees. With the frequency that each person deems necessary, we receive income and publish both the entries and expenses, with complete transparency. The accounts of the Adult Faith Association can be seen in the link to the sum of all. The portal is also sustained by the purchase of books and with contributions to the School, whose numbers can be seen in the EFFA in figures.
To register someone for the weekly email, you must fill out the following form.
To stop receiving these emails: [cancel your subscription].