Author: ANTONINO

Scripture Readings 10th March 2017, 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A

Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 94; Romans 5:1-2,5-8; John 4:5-42

The Israelites escaped from Egypt probably under Ramses II about 1300 BC. They wandered in the wilderness of Sinai, fed daily by God with quail and manna. But they continued grumbling, losing faith that “God was with them”. The places were named “Massah”, “test”, and “Meribah”, “quarrelling”. But God still looks after his people, giving them water. They are not punished now, as it is before they accept the Covenant God made with Moses on Sinai. But none of this generation will enter the promised land.

Paul tells the Romans that God loves and forgives us, just as he continued caring for the ungrateful Israelites. God proved his love in that Christ died for us, gaining pardon for all humanity. So we can be at rights with God and have peace because faith gives us access to this grace.

We hear the first 3 gospels over 3 years, but we hear parts of John’s gospel every year during Lent and Easter. Today Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. John carefully moves the characters on and off stage as the woman gradually comes towards faith in Jesus. Then, while still unsure, she goes and brings the rest of the Samaritans in her town to hear this man, wondering “Could he possibly be the Messiah?”

Psalm Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! “Harden not your hearts”.

FROM MY HEART TO YOUR HEART – Monica, an Angel who teaches healing

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade

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Monica is a 7 years old angel but when somebody asks her, Monica prefers to say that “I am almost 8”.
When Monica comes to Mass with Mom and Dad, if she is not seated very close to me on the steps of the altar I know that she is dressed in a white robe in the Acolyte’s chair. She is serving Mass. I have seen Monica worried, sad and in different moods. But I have never seen Monica without a shy and beautiful smile.

Not long ago an incident happened and it brought lots of pain to Mom and Dad. Things like this are normal in loving and healthy couples like Monica’s parents. Both went through a few “dark nights”, tears, confusion and pain that was affecting their level of communication that is one of the essential ingredients in any couple and in any relationship. Monica was worried, of course. Any child who sees his/her parents in pain and confusion goes through the experience of someone who is in a tall building that is being affected by an earthquake.

One Sunday, during Mass, when she left the altar during the Greeting of Peace to give her parents the kiss of Peace, the first thing she asked her Daddy was if he had joined hands with Mom during the Our Father.

Finally, Mom and Dad did what any healthy and mature couple does. They decided to talk to someone. This someone can be a counselor, a priest or simply a trusted friend. Secrets can be very destructive. Because I have the privilege of being their pastor and their friend I was the one who had the privilege of being chosen and being part of their painful journey.

Both have recovered their smile, their trust and their hope. However, I think that I had very little to do with this outcome. I think the biggest role belonged to Monica. She knew that Mom and Dad were coming to see me and she knew why. When Mom was saying good-bye, Monica looked in her eyes with a very beautiful but sad face and said:

– “Mom… please, clean out your heart”.

During our meeting the mother told me and Dad what Monica had said to her. We both reacted at the same time like two actors in a play:

– “Did she say that”? Then lots of healing tears were shed, caused by this angel’s words.
“Clean out your heart”.

Thank you Monica. I can’t imagine any priest or psychologist, or psychiatrist, or doctor in the world who could have offered better healing advice or better healing medicine. Hopefully, during this Season of Lent our main prayer will be:

“Lord clean out my heart that I may be renewed”.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade
March 5, 2017

PS. This story was written in Oakley, California, almost 15 years ago.

Scripture Readings 12th March 2017, 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A

Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 32; 2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 17:1-9

After hearing last week about the Fall, Genesis moves past the Flood and the Tower of Babel to the times of the patriarchs, probably before 1500 BC. God tells Abram to travel from Haran near the Euphrates to “a land that I will show you”. God promises that Abram’s descendants will become a great nation which will be blessed, and will take God’s blessings to other peoples. Abram trusts in God and obeys, following the age-old migration route through Palestine to Egypt.

In one of his last letters Paul instructs Timothy to continue proclaiming the true gospel he received from Paul, and to correct the errors that will arise from false teachers. God’s plan, made before time began, was revealed by the appearing of Jesus Christ, who has saved all humanity and abolished death. We cannot merit the grace to be holy, it is a free gift.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus for the first time tells his disciples of his coming passion. They are then given a preview of Jesus’ glory as the Son of God. Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus, who is the correct interpreter of the Law and the Prophets. Then Jesus predicts his resurrection, after which they will understand what they have seen.

Psalm Response: May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.

The Carnival Season – A Madeiran tradition before Lent

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In Madeira, the carnival season is celebrated just before the beginning of Lent. There is a constant festive atmosphere on the island during this time, with cheerfulness prevailing in the streets.

Some traditional gastronomic delicacies which are meant to be eaten on Shrove Tuesday are “Sonhos” (a fried dough, literally translated as “dreams” because they are fluffy and are eaten with black sugar-cane honey) and “Malassadas” (literally translated as “under-cooked”) are egg-sized balls of yeast dough that are more compact and are also deep-fried in oil and coated with granulated sugar.

The main attraction of the Carnival season on the island is the colourful and vibrant Carnival Float Parade which takes place in the centre of Funchal, with over 1000 participants dressed in eye-catching costumes. On Shrove Tuesday, there is another parade, this time a Slapstick Parade (known locally as “O Cortejo Trapalhão”). The parade is open to all, both locals and foreign citizens, either independently or as a group. Many participant’s creativity knows no boundaries and spans from social and political satire, to traditional themes, or simple character disguise.

FROM MY HEART TO YOUR HEART – Feeling Bad For Feeling Good

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade
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One day a truck driver stopped at a restaurant for dinner and ordered a steak. Before he could eat it, in walked a motorcycle gang, with dirty leather jackets and long, unkempt hair. They took the man’s steak, cut it into six pieces, and ate it. The driver said nothing; He simply paid the bill and walked out.

One of the gang members said: «That man couldn’t talk! He didn’t say a word!».
Another said: «He couldn’t fight, either. He didn’t lift a hand! ».
A waiter added: «I would say that he couldn’t drive either. On his way out of the parking lot, he ran over six motorcycles crushing all of them! »

Something in us loves that story, because we like retaliation.
I felt good about this story. Then «I felt bad because I felt good». This «feeling good» was the opposite of the Sermon of the Mount, where Jesus says:
«You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth»
«You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you». (Gospel of the 7th Sunday of the Ordinary Time, Math. 5: 38-48)
Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade
(bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

Scripture Readings 5th March 2017, 1st Sunday of Lent, Year A

Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Psalm 50; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

From Genesis we have the second and probably older description of the creation of humanity. This expresses the truth that God made us as “living beings”, dying without God’s breath. In deciding to eat the forbidden fruit, man does “become like God” in being able to make choices, but without the wisdom needed to choose well. Perhaps a simile of a child’s growing self-awareness. The mischievous serpent later came to be interpreted as Satan.

In his letter to the Romans Paul has been arguing that righteousness comes through faith, not through the Law given to Moses, which identifies sin but cannot save us from death, its consequence. Wisdom comes through the free gift of grace, obtained for us by Jesus Christ, whose obedience to his Father overcame death.

In Matthew’s gospel the devil introduces each temptation with the words: “If you are the Son of God”. The temptations explore what can it mean for Jesus to be “Son of God”? Does it mean he is a miracle-worker, able to satisfy all desires without effort? Is it about showy displays of power in which we try to make God do what we want, in return for our belief in him? Jesus shows his real power by dismissing Satan. Jesus will rule over all creation, but only through the Cross.

Psalm Response: Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.

World Day of Prayer – Holy Trinity Church, 3rd March, 2017 at 10.30am

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A special prayer service will be held on Friday, 3rd March at 10.30am as an initiative of the Women’s World Day of Prayer.

According to the organisation Women’s World Day of Prayer is “the largest ecumenical movement in the world, the only one in which Orthodox and Protestant, Catholic and Evangelical come together to worship: covering 170 counties and territories”.
Women’s World Day of Prayer Site

The theme of this year’s service is “Am I being unfair to You?” which the Philippines National committee has put forward.

The service for the event here in Madeira is to be held at the Holy Trinity Church, Funchal. Everyone, is invited to come along and share in this great initiative. See the map below, to locate the church.

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FROM MY HEART TO YOUR HEART – I found God by Surprise

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade

We, the members of the People Helping People Association, were ready to start our weekly meeting. Ana, our Coordinator, had a very full and well organized agenda that starts with prayer. Then I usually conduct a short reflection about the spirituality of People Helping People where I try to emphasize that the excluded, the unloved, the unattractive, the marginalized are supposed to be our favorites, having as our model, Jesus the Good Shepherd.

We were already a few minutes late to start the meeting when Dr. José Luís and Abel entered the room accompanied by Adrien (not his real name). This man is known by all the people who walk through the city of Funchal. He is dirty and smelly with long, messy hair and a long, messy beard. He is always seated on the sidewalks, exposing his scars which, according to some witnesses, he scratches in order to make them bleed thereby attracting compassion and money to feed his addictions. He is a typical homeless person.

I have known Adrien for a few years. I have been abused and cheated by him. Now instead of starting the meeting I was furious that Dr. José Luís and Abel had decided to ruin our beautiful agenda to deal with such an unexpected surprise. Of course all the attentions concentrated on Adrien and everybody forgot about the agenda. Everybody was kind and helpful except me. We had an agenda and Adrien was not on the Agenda.

All the attentions concentrated in planning on how to feed Adrien, how to find decent clothes for him, how and where to buy medicine for his epilepsy, how to find a decent place where he could spend the night as a human being. Rita remembered that she had, somewhere, a chocolate bar and immediately took it and gave it to Adrien. He started eating his chocolate bar, and because of his bad teeth, he was involuntarily spitting crumbs all over the table which some of the attendants were trying to keep clean without making him feel uncomfortable.

The meeting was closed with a prayer and the agenda was still on the paper. Carmina and Dr. José Luís took the responsibility of finishing the job on how to help Adrien that night. Carmina and José Luís indicated a place to meet him while they would go around finishing what they considered their job. They invited me to go along with them. Of course I had no choice. I said «yes». However, I thought that this would be the time for me to talk and express my point of view saying:


«I don’t mind bringing the homeless and the poor to some of our meetings but I think that this should be planned in advance and a special agenda should be prepared for that kind of meeting. I don’t agree with what happened tonight».

When I finished expressing my concern, Carmina very kindly, told me: «Father, this is what makes the difference between us (People Helping People) and the other official institutions. We don’t have time tables, hours, days, or nights. What we have is People who are suffering and need help».

That’s when I remembered the first time we met Sir Ronald (Ronnie) at the Reid’s Palace Hotel and he told us: «Your lack of organization is your strength. You don’t close at 5:30 PM».

After Carmina’s kind words I remembered the moving hymn that Professors Cátia and Helena sing once in a while in Portuguese, after Communion at the English Mass, that always brings tears to my eyes: «I Found God by Surprise».

Yes! On that cold Wednesday night «I FOUND GOD BY SURPRISE» and I almost missed Him. I am ashamed of the Pharisee and the hypocrite who live inside of me. But I wish that I would be the only Christian who carries a hypocrite inside him.

I want to ask forgiveness from Adrien, Carmina, Dr. José Luís and all the group present at the meeting who could see my silence and lack of enthusiasm for something that is so crucial in People Helping People. Mother Teresa says: “When you start by judging you have no time to love”. I FOUND GOD BY SURPRISE AND I ALMOST MISSED HIM. GOD IS A DAILY SURPRISE.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

Scripture Readings 26th February 2017, 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Isaiah 49:14-15; Psalm 61; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34

Second Isaiah was writing after the exile of the Jews in Babylon ended in 539 BC. 6 weeks ago Isaiah told us that God wanted his servant, which might be Israel or an individual, to take his salvation to the ends of the earth. Now God promises he will always support his people, using the tender image of a mother’s love for her child. Those who hope in the Lord “shall never be disappointed”. Zion will be restored. The Lord is our “saviour”, our “redeemer”.

Paul’s letter continues with his criticism of the Corinthians for having rival groups. Ministers are accountable as “servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God”. We should not make premature judgements, which will be based on worldly wisdom. Since God is infinitely just there must be a final judgement made by the Lord, putting the whole world to rights. However, Paul does recognise in the next chapter that sometimes the Church has to discipline its members.

In Matthew’s Gospel the sermon on the mount has continued with the Lord’s Prayer. We now hear Jesus’ teaching about worldly possessions. We must choose between God and money. Jesus urges us to have confidence in God, the true meaning of “hope”. Our priority must be righteousness, obeying God’s will. Then our real needs will be met.

Psalm Response: In God alone is my soul at rest.

Isaiah 49:14-15; Psalm 61; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34

FROM MY HEART TO YOUR HEART – What’s the secret?

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade

Before the final blessing of the English Mass at the Chapel Penha de França, in Funchal, we always have a special blessing for the people who are celebrating their birthdays, wedding anniversaries or any special event during that month.

One day we had a couple who was celebrating their 57th Anniversary. After blessing two or three more couples I blessed a very young couple. After the blessing I asked them: «How long ago have you been married?» The young man answered: «One week. But we want to talk with that couple who has been married for 57 years. We want to know the secret».

After Mass they talked. The secret was very simple: «Be good to one another».

St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) was speaking to people who had come to meet her from all over the world. Among those to whom she spoke was a group of religious sisters from many North American orders. After her talk she asked if there were any questions.

– «Yes, I have one», a Sister sitting near the front said.
«As you know, most of the orders represented here have been losing members. It seems that more and more women are leaving all the time. And yet your order is attracting thousands upon thousands. What do you do?».

Without hesitating Mother Teresa answered: «I give them Jesus.»

– «Yes I know,» said the woman, «but take habits, for example. Do your women object to wearing habits? And the rules of the order, how do you do it?»
– «I give them Jesus.» Mother Teresa replied.
– «Yes, I know Mother,» said the woman, «but can you be more specific?»
– «I give them Jesus.» Mother Teresa repeated again.
– «Mother,» said the woman, «we are all of us aware of your fine work. I want to know about something else.»
Mother Teresa said quietly: «I give them Jesus. There is nothing else.»

This is the secret. And this secret is available 24 hours a day.
To fall in love with Jesus is to fall in love with his project.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade