Sunday, June 28, 2020

Reflections for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By: Gaby Alpizar, Music Minister, Cristo en mi

Today the Church calls us through the Word of God to deepen our call as children and servants of Our Lord Jesus Christ; not to be afraid to Evangelize by giving our lives to those who need to have an encounter with God. As it teaches us in the Gospel of Saint Matthew -verse 37-, to give our life not only to those around us, like family and friends, but also to expand our heart even further to all those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
I have witnessed the Lord's goodness through Evangelization in the music ministry. When we celebrate Mass at the correctional facility and Jesus comes present in his Body and Blood, I have been able to contemplate the joy on the faces of my brothers there. At that moment the music becomes the channel in which we all together worship God in the same spirit. The same Merciful God who makes no distinction among us in regard to the ones who have freedom and the ones who don’t.

Without any doubt, we have been able to proclaim as Psalm 88 says, "Proclaim unceasingly the Mercy of the Lord". 

Today, as we live through these times of pandemic, we have been able to witness how the virus has deprived us of our daily routine, yearning to be able to return to our ordinary life, which without a doubt has led me to meditate through prayer. The Risen Lord is present in our most difficult moments every day as I have experienced  in my personal life through the death of my father. He has made me feel and understand that with him we can have strength, hope, and joy, not letting any situation make us prisoners, but rather trusting and taking up our cross and following our Divine Savior. Freedom is without a doubt a gift, but true freedom is that which we have when we discover Christ and share him with others. Music has that beautiful gift of freedom that unites us as brothers and sisters to praise and proclaim that Christ is our Lord. We confidently hope that when we can gather together again, we will live with great joy the life of the Risen Christ with the power of the Holy Spirit.