Author: ANTONINO

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

In the New Testament there is no disease regarded with more terror and pity than leprosy. When Jesus sent out the twelve, He commanded them: «Heal the sick, cleanse lepers». Leprosy was a very special disease among all other diseases. The most painful, the most humiliating and the most repugnant. No other disease reduces a human being for so many years to so hideous a wreck.

Lepers had to live separate from society. They could not attend the religious services in the synagogue, could not enter the temple, could not approach anybody… There were so many rules that were supposed to keep them outcasts and treated like outcasts. They were «unclean». They could not touch or be touched. Any person who touched them would become unclean.

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, a leper came to Jesus and asked Jesus to heal him. If Jesus wanted to heal him it would be so easy to say «be healed». But Jesus proposedly broke the law. The «Gospel says that Jesus «stretch-out his hand and touched him». This was the moment that I am pretty sure that all people present gasped and asked him: «Are you crazy, Jesus? Do you know what you are? You just became unclean. Like the leper».

I am pretty sure that people started talking with each other saying things like «I thought he was smarter. Now he is unclean like the leper who is a sinner. If that leper was not a sinner for sure he wouldn’t get leprosy. Jesus, who looks such a nice person and a smart person revealed his ignorance and his stupidity. He voluntarily became unclean like the leper. This is crazy».

What a confusion. I would’ve loved to be in the middle of that confusion. I would’ve loved to become unclean for the same reason. For touching the untouchable. And I think we all are called to touch the untouchable and become unclean. But on my part I am too coward to act like Jesus and take the risks Jesus took. When people say that Jesus died innocent I always feel this strange reaction. «No! He was not innocent. He broke many laws and one of them was to touch the untouchable. According to the law he was a criminal and for that reason they felt he deserved to die like a criminal».

I wish I could die for the reasons Jesus died. But I am too coward to get involved in the things Jesus was involved in. I prefer to be «entertained» by a religious service on Sunday, take part in a few processions, pray a few rosaries than to be involved in the work and project of an «insane» Jesus who says that we are all children of the same father, that we are brothers and sisters and that the world belongs to every human being. I am smarter than Jesus. I know better. I am not that crazy.

2 – Who are today’s lepers? Who are the untouchable?

They are around us. They live in our streets. They worship at our churches. These include homosexuals, AIDS victims, the homeless, alcoholics, drug-addicts, and marginalized groups – the divorced, the unmarried-single mothers, priests who left the priesthood, migrant workers and the mentally ill. God’s loving and motherly hand must reach out to them through us.

Jesus wants us to touch their lives even at the risk of becoming unclean. Having a cup of coffee with a homosexual you take the risk of being labeled like one of them. You take the risk of being alienated like them. You take the risk of, like Jesus, becoming unclean. Having a cup of coffee with a homeless person you take the risk of being labeled like a person of low class.

You take the risk of being ridiculed even by your friends. You take the risk of becoming ostracized by people in your church and getting a bad reputation. You take the risk of becoming unclean. But Jesus is a fascinating person. I invite all of you to join me and to feel like Jesus, to dream like Jesus, to talk like Jesus, to heal like Jesus and to follow Jesus until the last consequences. To follow Jesus is not always easy but it is always safe.

Today when we celebrate the World Day of the Sick, I would like to give a special blessing to one of those «lepers» who stands every Sunday, begging, at the door of our Chapel before Mass. I plan to ask him inside for a special blessing. I don’t know if he will accept. He is António (true name) and, for many years, he has belonged to the group of the homeless. He never sleeps in the same bench or the same drive way, or under the same tree. But I believe that he begs always in the same places, especially at the door of Penha de França Chapel. He knows where the good people are. In general they are the church goers.

Love and Peace and Laughter,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

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

Today I took my IPhone and “pretended” that I knew something about technology. Believe it or not it worked.
I asked the Siri for “How many Portuguese People are in California”? The answer was: In California there are 79.572 Portuguese people.

The Portuguese Community in California has always been very large. And the Portuguese, like the other ethnic migrant communities, wherever they go, they take with them their language, their traditions, their culture, their food, their dances and, especially, their faith. For this reason it is common to find, in a few cities, Catholic Churches built by the Portuguese to practice their faith.

One of the examples is the Five Wounds Church in the city of San Jose with its beautiful old architecture, built over 100 years ago. This church became a Parish Church and from the beginning has always had a Portuguese Priest as its Pastor who would say Mass, preside to the Sacraments and Funerals and also all other services in Portuguese, even if it was also available for other languages especially the English language.

There was a time when there was no Portuguese Priest available to continue that tradition. The Bishop assigned an American priest to be the pastor of the Five Wounds Portuguese Parish.

One day I visited the Five Wounds Church and spent some time talking with the American Pastor who was presiding to a Portuguese Community without knowing how to speak the language.

That’s when he told me about the way the Bishop approached him for this assignment. He said that he had reacted to the Bishop saying:

– But, Bishop I don’t know how to speak any Portuguese and that is a big responsibility. I don’t feel prepared for that job. What am I going to do when they need me?

The Bishop answered:

– “Just love them”. It worked.

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

An Indian chief knew he was about to die. He was in bed thinking about the future leadership of his tribe.
After some time thinking, he decided to call his three sons to his bedside and ask them:

“My sons..! You know I am about to die. For the continuation and survival of our tribe I need to choose the future chief. It is a very important task full of big responsibilities. I want the three of you to climb that mountain and bring me the most precious thing you find on top of it. Just one thing. Nobody has climbed that mountain before. Nobody knows what’s there. Please go and may the gods of our ancestors bless you on your journey.”

Some weeks passed by and finally the three brothers returned from their journey to the mountain.

The oldest son approached his father and showed him a beautiful little rock.

“My father, here is the most precious thing I found in that mountain. The mountain is full of rocks like this. They look so great and they help the mountain to look solemn and strong.”

The second son approached his father and showed him a little beautiful plant.

“My father,” said the second son. “This is the most precious thing I found in that mountain. There are many of these plants. Some smaller, some bigger but I think they are the most precious thing that exists on the top of that mountain.”

The youngest son was feeling embarrassed. He approached his father with his empty hands and was afraid that his father would feel disappointed with him because he was the only one who had brought nothing.

Then after a few moments of silence he told his father

“My father, I am sorry. I didn’t have the time to look for anything special and precious on the top of the mountain because I was so fascinated by something that I saw a far away from our village. What I saw almost took my breath away. I saw a big, big valley. It is so green. With a large river of crystal clean water and a few lakes. I thought that it would be the answer and the miracle for our starving tribe. Our people could work the land, plant their vegetables, use the abundant water to drink, to water their plants, to cook, to swim, to play, to feed and grow their animals. Oh my father, I am sorry. I was so obsessed with this new finding that I had no time to look for other important things on the top of the mountain.”

“My dear son,” said the chief. “You brought the most precious thing from the top of the mountain. You brought a vision that is going to change and save our families and our tribe. Thank you, my son. You are going to be my successor. You are going to be the future chief of our tribe, because you have a vision, you brought a vision that is going to free our people from poverty and restore in them human dignity. Now I can die in peace. My life was worth living. I raised and left a son with a VISION.”

***

We are the followers of Jesus. We have been grafted in Him. Through Baptism we are mandated to carry out His vision, His project and His work. For some of us the vision of Jesus is to play with beautiful rocks, for other is to carry beautiful little plants and flowers because we have to look good and go to heaven, yet for others it is to restore the dignity of every human being.

«It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me» (Gal. 2, 20).

God loves you and so do I,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

– by Father Bernadio

In 1895, Henry van Dyke wrote “The story of the Other Wise Man”, telling of a Fourth Wise Man called Artaban. Our hero is not mentioned in the Gospel because he missed the caravan. He got to Bethlehem too late to see the Baby Jesus. But Artaban did make it in time to save one of the Holy Innocents by bribing a soldier.

For 33 years Artaban searched for Jesus. He did not find Jesus, but all the while the Fourth Wise Man fed the hungry and helped the poor. Then one day in Jerusalem Artaban saw the “King of the Jews” being crucified.
He started to offer a pearl as ransom. But then he saw a girl being sold into slavery to pay family debts. Artaban gave his pearl to buy freedom for the girl.

Suddenly the earth quaked as Jesus died on the cross and a stone struck Artaban. Dying, he heard a Voice saying: « When you helped the least of my children, you helped me. Meet me in Heaven! ».

Artaban, the Fourth Wise Man, had been making God present in his community for years by helping others. God asks each of us on the feast of Epiphany to be a fourth Wise Man by becoming God’s Epiphanies, making His love present in the world around us by our acts of love and kindness.

THREE WISE WOMEN

While they were talking about the story of the three wise men, a woman asked her parish priest this question: « Do you know why God gave the star to the wise men? » When he professed his ignorance she told him –

« God knows men are too proud to ask directions. If there had been three wise women instead of three wise men, they would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and given some practical gifts! »

God has a sense of humour. Good and healthy people have a sense of humour.

A child´s prayer: Lord make the evil people good and the good people kind.

Love and Laughter Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)
Message of Pope Francis for the Celebration of the 51st World Day of Peace
On Monday, January 1, 2018, we celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. That day was also the 51st World Day of Peace. The motto of reflection that Pope Francis proposed for this year was: “Migrants and refugees: men and women in search of peace.” Here is part of what Pope Francis shared during the celebration:

Pope Francis:
“Offering asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and victims of human trafficking an opportunity to find the peace they seek requires a strategy combining four actions:
Welcoming, Protecting, Promoting and Integrating.

“Welcoming” calls for expanding legal pathways for entry and no longer pushing migrants and displaced people towards countries where they face persecution and violence. It also demands balancing our concerns about national security with concern for fundamental human rights. Scripture reminds us: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2.)

“Protecting” has to do with our duty to recognize and defend the inviolable dignity of those who flee real dangers in search of asylum and security, and to prevent their being exploited. I think in particular of women and children who find themselves in situations that expose them to risks and abuses that can even amount to enslavement. God does not discriminate: “The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the orphan and the widow.” (Psalm 146:9.)

“Promoting” entails supporting the integral human development of migrants and refugees. Among many possible means of doing so, I would stress the importance of ensuring access to all levels of education for children and young people. This will enable them not only to cultivate and realize their potential, but also better equip them to encounter others and to foster a spirit of dialogue rather than rejection or confrontation. The Bible teaches that God “loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:18-19.)

“Integrating”, lastly, means allowing refugees and migrants to participate fully in the life of the society that welcomes them, as part of a process of mutual enrichment and fruitful cooperation in service of the integral human development of the local community. Saint Paul expresses it in these words: “You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people.” (Ephesians 2:19.)
Read the full address on the Vatican’s website

God loves you and so do I.
Fr. Bernardino Andrade