Author: ANTONINO

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

Dr. Vittorio Ventura (from Italy) and Beata Balazova (from Slovakia) have been, for a while, members of the Penha de França Community. Don’t ask them to read during Mass or to do anything in front of people because they will show their kind smile but they will decline the invitation. Not because they don’t like to help but only because, according to them, they are too shy. That’s why last Saturday when I invited them to take a special picture they said yes but with one condition. They had to wear a mask, ha… ha… ha… Well ! I think that we both exaggerated a little bit.

Any way if you come to the Sunday Mass and if you want to meet Vittorio and Beata don’t look for them among the «normal» community. If you want to meet them you have to climb a stairway and find them in the choir loft among a small group of shy people. They may be too shy but with a deep spirituality and a profound sense of community. But what I most admire in their spirituality is their option for the poor, for the suffering and for the «subversive» project of Jesus that is to «bring good news to the poor» (Lk. 4: 18). For them, this option is not negotiable. It is the center of their spirituality as it was the center of the Mission of Jesus and the center of the Bible.

Dr. Vittorio and Beata exchanged their Marriage vows in this Chapel last Saturday, April 14th. They had told me that it was going to be a small wedding, meaning a small number of attendants. It really was. Less than 10 people. But I have to tell you that it was the greatest Wedding ceremony I have ever performed during my entire life as a priest. What made this ceremony so special, besides the beautiful and different bride’s dress, so different and so beautiful, was that they decided to give their friends and guests an envelope, addressed to the “People Helping People” project and instead of wedding gifts they suggested a donation for the poor.

The returned envelopes were supposed to be anonymous. I confess that I have been smiling while writing this story. It has been written with a little bit of humor. But now I stopped smiling and have tears in my eyes. The result of the envelopes of that «small Wedding» was the amount of 900.00 Euros. Vittorio and Beata’s «small» Wedding ceremony was without any doubt the «greatest» Wedding ceremony of my entire life.

I strongly believe that when a couple makes room in their hearts for the poor, for the suffering, for God and for the world they are building a bigger room for their spouses. If in the hearts of a woman and a man who get married there is no room for Jesus, for the poor and for the world that means that they are two selfish people with shrinking hearts that take the risk of not finding room for each other anymore.

Congratulations Vittorio and Beata. You have been a 5th Gospel announcing to the world the arrival of the Kingdom of God. Have a happy journey.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

PS. When I mention the 5th Gospel is because there are 4 Gospels of Jesus, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But I believe in the 5th Gospel. It’s the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ according to the life of each one of us. There are lots of people in the world who will never read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The only Gospel they will read is the life of each Christian. Martin Luther King said that the biggest tragedy of the world is not the evil done by evil people. The biggest tragedy of the world is the silence of the good people. The world needs to read these Good News.

For Easter, many different cultures have many different ways of greeting one another. In the English culture we say «Happy Easter!». In the Portuguese culture it’s «Felizes Páscoas!». In the Russian Orthodox culture they say: «He Is Risen!» and the answer to that is «He Is Risen Indeed!

Many years ago Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin was one of the most powerful men on earth. A Russian Communist leader, he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. He was the editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today.

There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly of Communists. The subject was atheism.

Addressing the crowd, he attacked Christianity, hurling insults and arguments against it. When he had finished, he looked out at the audience: “Are there any questions?” he demanded.
Deafening silence filled the auditorium.

Then one man stood up, approached the platform and mounted the lectern. After surveying the crowd, he shouted the ancient greeting of the Russian Orthodox Church:

– “CHRIST IS RISEN!”
The crowd stood up and shouted in a thundering voice:
– “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”

Amazed and dejected, Bukharin left the stage in silence. Finally, he had learned the lesson that Faith in Christ’s Resurrection was deeply rooted in his Russian Orthodox Communist followers!
HAPPY EASTER… FELIZES PÁSCOAS… JESUS IS RISEN…

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

I don’t know in other places but, in the USA, it is common to advertise in the newspapers that there are seminaries, convents and opportunities for those who feel the call to become priests, nuns or to join the religious life that we also call «Consecrated Life».

Of course most of those of advertisements try to impress and attract young people by giving attractive reasons why they can consider joining those communities and that lifestyle. And it works because most of the young people have no proper information about this alternative for their lives. Unfortunately, most of the information they hear is negative, and also through jokes that denigrate a way of life that can be the best answer for their living, which is their love for God transformed into service for others.

I believe that most of us are aware of Mother Teresa and the thousands of young girls who decided to follow her and also of so many many priests and nuns who have lived their lives passionately in love with Jesus and his project. And most of them have lived a very happy life.

But ironically, there was a special religious order that had a very unattractive advertisement with a very high rate of success. The advertisement went like this:

«IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A NOBODY, JOIN US».

Holy Week is the best picture of what a «NOBODY» can be in a Christian life. And those who want to follow him must be open to become a nobody like Him. In the second reading of Palm Sunday Mass, St. Paul (Philippians 2: 6-11) says: «His state was divine, yet Christ Jesus did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave». A slave was a «nobody» with no rights and no dignity. An animal would have more rights than a slave. Is this attractive?

The prophet Isaiah, in reference to the Messiah, says something very unattractive and in a way almost repugnant. Who wants to be like this? «He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases».

(Isaiah 53). JESUS BECAME A NOBODY. If you want to become a nobody, follow him. I have tried and I don’t know if I have been a good priest but I know that, for almost 53 years, I have been a very happy priest. If I could go back in life I would follow the same road.

Happy Holy Week
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

The Bishop who ordained me almost 53 years ago, whose name was Francis, said something that impacted me deeply. Actually it brought me closer to Jesus or maybe it brought Jesus closer to me. It was about Jesus’ language. He said that if we compared the language of Jesus with the language of St. Paul, it was like comparing a fourth grade student with a University professor.

Related with this side of Jesus, I had a colleague in the Seminary (who is still in ministry), who collected the nouns most used by Jesus. His name is Fr. José Pereira. He was fascinated (so was I) to realize that all the words Jesus used to teach His deepest messages were very very simple that even the most illiterate people could understand. It was like: wheat, bread, fish, water, birds, flowers, sky, trees, food and so on. Nobody needs to go to school to understand these words and what they mean.

This is what came to my mind when I was reading today’s Gospel (V Sunday of Lent B, John 12: 20-33) and found Jesus saying: «unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest». Then I found interesting that the bread I eat daily is no more than the result of a «dead grain» of «dead wheat». The same about potatoes, corn, apples, and all the food I encounter on my table. All of them are the result of a dead seed. And if by any chance the seed refuses to die it is good for nothing.

Especially during this time of Lent I need to deeply meditate about my life and if I want to be «food» and «medicine» to the world. If I want to be a follower of Jesus to build the Kingdom of the Father, I have to be like the grain of wheat. I need to die to myself and let Jesus live in me. I need to stop looking for my personal success, and become just an instrument in the hands of my favorite Carpenter called Jesus.

Love and Peace
Fr. Bernardino Andrade