¡Buen viaje y buena suerte!

¡Te vamos a extrañar, querido señor Obispo!

We will miss you, dear Bishop Cantú! 

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Ricardo Ramírez, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and named Bishop Oscar Cantú, 46, auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, to succeed him. The appointment was publicized in Washington, January 10, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Oscar Cantú was born December 5, 1966, in Houston, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Dallas and his master of arts and master of divinity degrees from the University of St. Thomas, Houston. He was ordained a priest in 1994 and named auxiliary bishop of San Antonio in 2008.

 ...

El Papa Benedicto XVI ha aceptado la renuncia del obispo Ricardo Ramírez, de 76 años, al gobierno pastoral de la Diócesis de Las Cruces, Nuevo México, y ha nombrado al obispo Oscar Cantú, de 46 años, obispo auxiliar de San Antonio, para sucederle. El nombramiento fue publicado en Washington, 10 de enero, por el arzobispo Carlo Maria Viganò, nuncio apostólico en los Estados Unidos. Oscar Cantú nació 05 de diciembre 1966, en Houston, Texas. Obtuvo una licenciatura en Inglés de la Universidad de Dallas y su maestría en artes y una maestría en teología de la Universidad de St. Thomas, Houston. Fue ordenado sacerdote en 1994 y nombrado obispo auxiliar de San Antonio en 2008.

Year of Faith

My brothers and sisters in Christ, I wanted to write again on the Year of Faith because it is important for us to be focused on it, is a major event in the life of the Universal Church and a great opportunity to strengthen our identity as Catholics and to rediscover and share the precious gift of Faith entrusted to the Church and the personal gift of faith that we have each received. We are celebrating the anniversary of two important events in the life of the Catholic Church: The 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Year of Faith will close on November 24, 2013, the Solemn Feast of Christ the King throughout the world. In our parish, we have embraced the Holy Father's invitation to celebrate these important events. We know we cannot love what we do not understand. So, over the coming months, we will have the opportunity to stop for a bit to approach, read, and better understand the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I invite you to attend our Year of Faith Sunday sessions at the Parish Center.  Please see the schedule on the reverse side of this invitation for more information.  On these nights of study and reflection, we will view the Catholicism series and study the Vatican II documents. You will be provided copies of the documents and helpful tools for reading and studying them.  We also hope to show you how to use the Catechism of the Catholic Church, not only as a tool for studying and defending our Faith, but also to help you grow in spirituality.  Finally, there will be some time spent in fellowship. These sessions are free of charge and registration is not required. This is a great opportunity to help us better form our faith and to join with the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, in meditating deeply about our Catholic Faith. I encourage all of you to attend these sessions and hope to have your support in this effort.  Please encourage your family and friends to join us, as well. 

Peace and blessings!

Fr. Agustin

Year of Faith Study Sessions 2013

CALENDAR

When: February-November 2013

Where: Parish Center / St. Vincent de Paul

Time: 5PM-7PM

-February 3 2013 DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH

LUMEN GENTIUM (2) 5pm-7pm

-March 3 2013 CONSTITUTION  ON THE SACRED LITURGY

SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM (1) 5pm-7pm

-April  7 2013 CONSTITUTION  ON THE SACRED LITURGY

SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM (2) 5pm-7pm

-May 5 2013 PASTORAL CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD GAUDIUM ET SPES.

5pm-7pm

-June 2 2013 DECLARATION ON THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS NOSTRA AETATE. 5pm-7pm

-July 7 2013 DECREE ON THE MINISTRY AND LIFE OF PRIESTS PRESBYTERORUM ORDINIS. 5pm-7pm

-August 4 2013 THE ADAPTATION AND RENEWAL OF RELIGIOUS LIFE PERFECTAE CARITATIS.

5pm-7pm

-September 8 2013 CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (1)

5pm-7pm

-October 6 2013 CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (2)

5pm-7pm

-November 24 2013 Conclusion of the Year of Faith.

We ended up with joy the Christmas season and begin Ordinary Time, 

the great joy that we have is that we always have the Lord in the Eucharist, 

may He be praised and blessed and adored forever!

Terminamos con alegría el tiempo de Navidad,

 y comenzamos el Tiempo Ordinario;

la gran alegría que nos queda es que siempre tenemos al Señor 

en la Eucaristía ¡Él sea alabado y bendito por siempre! 

The baptism of the Lord (2013)

Dear brothers in the Lord, before the Christmas holidays we started talking about the Fathers of the Church who have been for many centuries the great systematists of Christianity. Today, on the beautiful feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the beginning of our Ordinary Time I would like to return these reflections. Let us remember today St. Basil, described by Byzantine liturgical texts as "a luminary of the Church". He was an important Bishop in the fourth century to whom the entire Church of the East, and likewise the Church of the West, looks with admiration because of the holiness of his life and the excellence of his teaching. He was born in about 330 A.D. into a family of saints, "a true domestic Church", immersed in an atmosphere of deep faith. He studied with the best teachers in Athens and Constantinople. Unsatisfied with his worldly success and realizing that he had frivolously wasted much time on vanities, he himself confessed: "One day, like a man roused from deep sleep, I turned my eyes to the marvelous light of the truth of the Gospel... and I wept many tears over my miserable life". Attracted by Christ, Basil began to look and listen to him alone. He devoted himself with determination to the monastic life through prayer, meditation on the Sacred Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers of the Church, and the practice of charity, also following the example of his sister, St Macrina, who was already living the ascetic life of a nun. He was then ordained a priest and finally, in the year 370, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia in present-day Turkey. Basil spent himself without reserve in faithful service to the Church and in the multiform exercise of the episcopal ministry. In accordance with the program that he himself drafted, he became an "apostle and minister of Christ, steward of God's mysteries, herald of the Kingdom, a model and rule of piety, an eye of the Body of the Church, a Pastor of Christ's sheep, a loving doctor, father and nurse, a cooperator of God, a farmer of God, a builder of God's temple". He was a man who truly lived with his gaze fixed on Christ. He was a man of love for his neighbor. Full of the hope and joy of faith, Basil shows us how to be true Christians ■ Fr. Agustin, pastor.

Bautizame Señor conTu espíritu

Bautízame

Bautízame Señor con Tu espíritu

y déjame sentir,

el fuego de tu amor,

aqui en mi corazón. Señor,

y déjame sentir,

el fuego de tu amor, 

aquí en mi corazón Señor.

Lávame Señor con Tu espíritu

lávame

Lávame Señor con Tu espíritu

y déjame sentir,

el fuego de tu amor,

aqui en mi corazón, Señor,

y déjame sentir,

el fuego de tu amor, aquí en mi corazón Señor.

Renuévame Señor con Tu espíritu, 

renuévame.

Renuévame Señor con Tu espíritu

y déjame sentir,

el fuego de tu amor,

aqui en mi corazón... Señor,

y déjame sentir,

el fuego de tu amor, aquí en mi corazón Señor...

En la fiesta del Bautismo del Señor (2013)

Queridos hermanos en el Señor, antes de las celebraciones de la Navidad y con motivo del Año de la Fe, empezamos a leer en éstas ediciones de nuestro Pastor’s Bench la vida e historia de algunos de los Padres de la Iglesia más importantes. Me gustaría retomar éstas reflexiones y hoy, en la fiesta del Bautismo del Señor (comienzo, además, del Tiempo Ordinario), centrar la atención en la figura del gran San Basilio, quien nació alrededor del año 330 en una familia de santos, «verdadera Iglesia doméstica», que vivía en un clima de profunda fe. Estudió con los mejores maestros de Atenas y Constantinopla. Insatisfecho de sus éxitos mundanos, al darse cuenta de que había perdido mucho tiempo en vanidades, él mismo confiesa:  «Un día, como si despertase de un sueño profundo, volví mis ojos a la admirable luz de la verdad del Evangelio..., y lloré por mi miserable vida». Atraído por Cristo, comenzó a mirarlo y a escucharlo sólo a él. Con determinación se dedicó a la vida monástica en la oración, en la meditación de las sagradas Escrituras y de los escritos de los Padres de la Iglesia, y en el ejercicio de la caridad, siguiendo también el ejemplo de su hermana, santa Macrina, la cual ya era monja. Después fue ordenado sacerdote y, por último, en el año 370, consagrado obispo de Cesarea de Capadocia, en la actual Turquía. Con su predicación y sus escritos realizó una intensa actividad pastoral, teológica y literaria. Con sabio equilibrio supo unir el servicio a las almas y la entrega a la oración y a la meditación en la soledad. Aprovechando su experiencia personal, favoreció la fundación de muchas «fraternidades» o comunidades de cristianos consagrados a Dios, a las que visitaba con frecuencia. En su amor a Cristo y a su Evangelio, el gran Padre capadocio trabajó también por sanar las divisiones dentro de la Iglesia procurando siempre que todos se convirtieran a Cristo y a su Palabra, fuerza unificadora, a la que  todos los creyentes deben obedecer. En el año 379, san Basilio, sin cumplir aún cincuenta años, agotado por el cansancio y la ascesis, regresó a Dios, «con la esperanza de la vida eterna, por Jesucristo, nuestro Señor». Fue un hombre que vivió verdaderamente con la mirada puesta en Cristo, un hombre del amor al prójimo. Lleno de la esperanza y de la alegría de la fe, san Basilio nos muestra cómo ser realmente cristianos ■ P. Agustín, párroco. 

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (2013)

As you notice, a word that has been fairly recently added to our common usage is the word "globalization." The reality of today is that what happens in one part of the world may have effects in other parts of the world, and indeed throughout the whole world. There are the effects of globalization in economics, in political influences, in technological advancement, and so on. What happens in the economic life of Europe has its effect in countries all over the world. Hunger and starvation in Africa is of concern to nations and people far beyond the borders of any single African nation.

Well, we celebrate today the manifestation of Jesus to the whole world (actually the word "epiphany" means "manifestation") so this is in a certain sense, a celebration of a divine globalization. When Moses had the experience of meeting God who spoke to him through the burning bush, God gave Moses the mission of leading the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt. The understanding then was that God's chosen people were the sons and daughters of Abraham. "My people"- God called them. But as the centuries of human history unfolded, the moment eventually came when the time was ripe for God to show that "His people" were not just men and women who belonged to one race or nation. That moment came with the sending of God's Son into our world to be one with us.

A week ago the world celebrated that moment, the moment of Christmas. What the Feast of the Epiphany celebrates today is the bright revelation that the Child born on Christmas is the king of all nations and all peoples. The wise men who come to worship Jesus are representatives of men and women of all nations.

 The realization that Jesus is the king of all nations will take many years to develop, but as the wise men "from afar" kneel before the Child, the process of divine globalization begins.

During today's celebration, let us ask Mary, our beautiful blessed mother to present our offerings to the Lord! Let us ask her, above all, to give us Jesus, in order that the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings might be the one and only Light that shines in our heart, for the Glory of God the Father, in the Holy Spirit! ■

Solemnidad de la Epifanía (2013)

Ya Vienen los Reyes Magos

Ya vienen los Reyes Magos

ya vienen los Reyes Magos

caminito de Belén

olé, olé, Holanda y olé

Holanda ya se ve

Cargaitos de jugetes

cargaitos de jugetes

para el Niño de Belén

olé, olé, Holanda y olé

Holanda ya se ve

Qué cargados van

qué cargados van

los camellos rebozan jugetes

para el Rey de los cielos

que está en el portal

Que está en el portal

que está en el portal

los camellos rebozan jugetes

para el Rey de los cielos

que está en el portal

Como el camino es tan largo

como el camino es tan largo

pide el Niño de beber

olé, olé Holanda y olé

Holanda ya se ve

No pidas agua mi vida

no pidas agua mi vida

no pidas agua mi bien

olé, olé Holanda y olé

Holanda ya se ve

Que los ríos vienen turbios

que los ríos vienen turbios

y no se puede beber

olé, olé Holanda y olé

Holanda ya se ve

Dicen que nació

dicen que nació

sin pañales ni ropa ninguna

y la misma luna sábanas de Dios

Sábanas de Dios

sábanas de Dios

sin pañales ni ropa ninguna

y la misma luna sábanas de Dios