1. From My Heart to Your Heart by Father Bernadino

– 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

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

From today’s Gospel: «In the temple, Jesus found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple…», Jo. 2, 14-15)

THE ABUSES THAT INFURIATED JESUS

1) The merchants selling animals and the money changers had converted the Court of the Gentiles into a noisy market making it impossible for the Gentiles to worship Yahweh.

2) The merchants sold the animals and birds for sacrifice at unjust and exorbitant prices (18 to 20 times the regular price outside the Temple).

3) The animal-inspectors, bribed by the merchants, disqualified even the healthy animals brought by poor shepherds and farmers for sacrifice. This was an unjust extortion at the expense of poor and humble pilgrims, who were practically blackmailed into buying animals and birds from the Temple booths. Jesus considered this a glaring social injustice aggravated by the fact that it was perpetrated in the name of religion.

4) The Temple authorities, by sharing the profit made by merchants and money-changers, converted it into a “hideout of thieves” (Mark & Luke).

5) Roman coins, bearing the images of pagan gods and the emperor, were forbidden as offering in the Temple. The money-changers, who exchanged the Temple coin (Galilean shekel) with Roman coins, demanded 1/6 of the value of the coin as their commission, even from the poor people who had to pay one and a half days of their daily wage as their annual Temple tax.

6) What especially enraged Jesus was not that a fee was being charged, but that the amount being charged to the poor was exorbitant and, hence, unjust. What was happening was a great social injustice done in the name of religion. In fact, the money-changers were street-level representatives of a corrupt Temple banking system which had become an instrument of injustice, fleecing the poor to benefit the powerful.

By chasing the money-changers and merchants from the Temple, Jesus was questioning the validity of the entire sacrificial system itself — of Israel’s ability to atone for its sins, be forgiven and stand in right relationship with God.

“Jesus’ symbolic attack on the Temple would (in His culture) have had a meaning not unlike that of the terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Centre – symbolically attacking a building that was widely seen as the “nerve center” of an entire network of political, economic and religious power. In addition to its key religious functions, the Temple had also taken on political and economic roles in Judaea. Apparently, its Treasury was used by many wealthy Jewish people as the “central bank of Jerusalem,” where they stored their wealth, considering it safe from theft or pillaging.” (Dr. Murray Watson).

Love and Peace
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

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

On February 11th the Catholic Church celebrated the World Day of the Sick and by coincidence the Gospel told the story of Jesus healing a leper.

In the time of Jesus there was not a more horrifying illness than leprosy. It was not just a body painfully being decomposed in life but especially the condition of being ostracized, excluded and outcast. Their loneliness was unbearable, but lepers, their family and friends had no choice according to the cruel rules of the time of Jesus.

They were accused, judged and condemned for being «sinners». According to their laws, leprosy was a punishment from God for their sins. They «deserved» to be excluded. They were «unclean». And if any person touched them, that person would become unclean. Jesus, who was a rebel against inhuman laws, in the process of healing the leper, touched him, and consequently became unclean.

During Mass on the World Day of the Sick, we reflected about today’s lepers: the «unclean» and the «untouchable» of our society. And we identified some of them like the homosexuals, the poor, the homeless, the prostitutes, the beggars and so on.

Since I started saying Mass in English at Penha de França I have been «condemned» to encounter, every Sunday, a homeless man called “Antonio”, begging for money. I never liked that and I still don’t like it. Instead of Antonio extending his hand begging for money I would prefer to see Carla dressed as a folkloric ballerina offering flowers to the tourists who attend Mass at Penha de France. It doesn’t look good, especially for the tourists.

Somebody said that «In today’s society, image is not the most important thing. Image is the only important thing». His presence «ruins» our image of «good and clean» Portuguese People.

The problem is that Jesus didn’t ask for my opinion. What he tells me is that

«Whatever you do to the least of my brothers you do it unto me» (Math. 25:40).

This is not negotiable. Then I started seeing Jesus in the person of Antonio. That’s why, before giving him some money, I always hug him. He knows that, that’s why when he sees me, before extending his hand to receive money, he extends his arms to hug me with his wonderful smile.

To experience the uncomfortable message of Jesus, at the end of the Mass two Sunday’s ago, I asked Manny and his wife Tracy to invite and escort Antonio to join me close to the altar and bless him. And blessing Antonio (a homeless and a beggar), we also blessed all the «lepers», the «untouchable» and the «unclean» of today’s society.

We blessed him and I hugged him, and I promised that any «leper» who decides to come to our church we are going to extend a red carpet to welcome him or her. They are our masters. They make us more human. That’s why I expect one day to see in every newsletter and in every news board of any Christian church this slogan: COME AS YOU ARE.

Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade

– 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

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

HOLY FAMILY – THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

The Catholic Liturgy celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday after Christmas. Church is about relationships. Family is about relationships. The difference between a good family and a bad family is the level of communication.

Last Monday, on Christmas Day, a large family with 7 children attended Mass here at the Chapel. They were on holiday in Madeira, visiting from France. During Mass I invited the family to come up to the altar and introduce themselves to everyone. I asked if each member of the family could say their name, age, and something that has been good about being part of a large family. The father of the family spoke first, and what he said was beautiful.

He said:

“Thank you very much Father. We have what can be considered a big family… seven children! Seven reasons to be happy; and Seven reasons to be sad sometimes. Seven people to love, and to be loved by…
And I would say… seven reasons to thank God!”

ADOPT A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS

Related with the «People Helping People» project, my Parish in California, started another project we called «Adopt a family for Christmas».

My Parish already had a program called «Christmas Baskets». But Christmas baskets had their rules and their paralyzing bureaucracies. It was supposed to be for Parishioners only with proof of residence. I have never been famous for following rules especially in dealing with people’s suffering. When we build boundaries (“Parishioners only”) we build walls that exclude people. Exclusion is the opposite of the Good Shepherd’s dream. It is the opposite of church that is supposed to be a family. Besides I always believe that in Liturgy my main job is to mobilize many people to involve many people, and the same in dealing with the poor. My main job should be «to mobilize many people to help many people».

«Adopt a family for Christmas» consisted in taking the names of the people who needed help and the names of the people who were willing to help. Families willing to help would adopt a needy family and they would take care of their needs, like toys for the children, food or clothes or whatever. No association would be controlling them or telling them what to do or how to do it. The main thing would be to build a kind and loving relationship between the two families. The results were excellent.

HOLY FAMILY SUNDAY

ADOPT A HOMELESS PERSON FOR CHRISTMAS

Carla Rodrigues, one of the leaders of the People Helping People project in our Community decided to do, for the first time, something similar to «Adopt a Family for Christmas». But she went a little further. In the project People Helping People, Carla is dedicating her ministry towards the homeless. The results are slower but Carla is a woman who doesn’t believe in quitting. Or, as she says, she will quit only when God quits. That means never. God never quits on any of His children.

She knows the statistics. When a person sleeps in the streets during three days, it takes three months to recover and to integrate that person back into society. When a person is homeless for three months it takes three years to recover that person and to integrate him/her back into society. That’s why Carla knows that failures and lack of success are part of her job.

The most important thing like Mother Teresa says, is not success but fidelity.
This year, December 25, Christmas Day, instead of preparing food and clothes for the homeless she invited one of them to join her family and have Christmas dinner at her home. Her parents were very cooperative and it was a great experience.

Beto (not his true name), joined them, very clean and had also his Christmas present like anybody else. On Christmas Day, a new program was established with the name of «ADOPT A HOMELESS PERSON FOR CHRISTMAS». Thank you Carla. This is just the beginning of many beginnings and many failures. Maybe next Christmas we will have more people adopting a homeless person for Christmas.

Love and Peace
Fr. Bernardino Andrade