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Contact us
Our Lady of Guadalupe Province
1204 Stinson Street, SW
Albuquerque, NM 87121
505 831 9199 [email protected]
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A Note from Father Charles McCarthy
Hello! Welcome, all!
A remote streaming liturgy can only give so much--and can be rather dry--especially without music and contact with real people. How can an individual, a couple, a family or a group of friends – a community – be fed by the Word?
When we are accustomed to catching up with friends and lifelong relationships in person in our parish, and now we may find ourselves unable to see the ones whom we support and who support us--what tool is there to share my story and daily longings in faith?
Nurturance of spirit and psyche are part and parcel of weekly, if not daily, “attendance” at liturgy, and reception of the Eucharist is central to that. How can the shelter of my home be a place to be nurtured in faith?
The idea of agape, a Greek word and tradition: Early Christians connected with it. The word embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance. And what more difficult circumstances are there for so many of us in this time of pandemic?
The purpose of this series, Breaking Open the Word: Sunday Agapes, is to allow people physically in their households to connect with their remote family/community and be able to pray, reflect on the Word and share faith, hopes and fears. We hope you find this resource fruitful.
The idea is to augment, not to replace, the viewing or listening to the weekend or weekday Liturgies that most parishes are continuing to offer. The hope of this series is that those who participate in them will be challenged to connect with each other, sharing the faith which binds us and encourages us. We can also see beyond the limits of the four walls of a house and connect by phone, online or a respectful social distanced circle of lawn chairs from stoop to yard.
We are not alone!
None of us are alone!
But each of us needs to hear that from another--to nurture and be nurtured in faith.
I hope your use of these Sunday Agape prayers and reflections help you understand that your household, the "Domestic Church" (as Vatican II documents call the home) is the core and basic church! This is where we learn to hear, to walk, to eat, to feel, to speak, to be moved to share and to respond in action by the Living Word, of the Living God.
Peace to you!
Fr. Charles
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2022 September - DecemberSunday Readings and Reflections by Father McCarthy
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Lectionary 16
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The Four Themes of Advent
While many denominations are not staunch traditionalists of Advent, there are some denominations that observe Christmas celebrations to include it. I did this page for those of us who wish to go a little deeper while musing upon the reason we celebrate this season. The four short videos available below by the Bible Project are presented in layman’s terms so that even the youngest viewers can understand.
Blessed Advent! Be the Light
Be Peace! Father Charles/Charlie
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – HOPE - VIDEO
Hope: Waiting for God to bring about good in our lives. It’s different than optimism, which looks for the silver lining in the cloud of circumstance. Instead, biblical hope chooses to wait expectantly for God to bring his goodness to bear in our future regardless of how dark our circumstances are. This hope comes from God’s past faithfulness. At Advent, we look backward in order to look forward to a better future. Our hope is that God will liberate humanity, and the entire universe, from evil.
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – PEACE - VIDEO
Peace: Biblical peace means to make complete or to restore to a state of wholeness. The Advent of Jesus is the arrival of peace. He not only made peace with God for us, but he became our peace. Through The Advent of Jesus, not only are we no longer in conflict with God, but much more God has restored us to a state of wholeness.
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT – JOY - VIDEO
Joy: Biblically, it is an attitude that God’s people adopt, not because of good circumstances but because of God’s love and promises. It’s our future promise, not our current struggles that determine our joy as we anticipate our future redemption. But joy isn’t about ignoring the negative aspects of life, but rather it’s a profound decision of faith and hope in Jesus’ life and love.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT – LOVE - VIDEO
Love: It’s a kind of love that seeks the well-being of others, even enemies, without looking for anything in return. The magnitude of God’s love was revealed in The Advent, life, and death of Jesus. The heart of the Christian faith is a trust that at the center of the universe is a being that is overflowing with love for this world and that our primary purpose is to receive his love and express it back to others.
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December 18, 2022 | Breaking Open the Word: Let Us Walk in the Light of the Lord | 4th Sunday of Advent (Year A) | W/ Video
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT – LOVE - VIDEO
Love: It’s a kind of love that seeks the well-being of others, even enemies, without looking for anything in return. The magnitude of God’s love was revealed in The Advent, life, and death of Jesus. The heart of the Christian faith is a trust that at the center of the universe is a being that is overflowing with love for this world and that our primary purpose is to receive his love and express it back to others.
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December 11, 2022 | Breaking Open the Word: What do we seek in the desert? | 3rd Sunday of Advent (Year A) | W/ Video
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT – JOY - VIDEO
Joy: Biblically, it is an attitude that God’s people adopt, not because of good circumstances but because of God’s love and promises. It’s our future promise, not our current struggles that determine our joy as we anticipate our future redemption. But joy isn’t about ignoring the negative aspects of life, but rather it’s a profound decision of faith and hope in Jesus’ life and love.
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December 4, 2022 | Breaking Open the Word: Prepare the Way of the Lord | 2nd Sunday of Advent (Year A)
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – PEACE - VIDEO
Peace: Biblical peace means to make complete or to restore to a state of wholeness. The Advent of Jesus is the arrival of peace. He not only made peace with God for us, but he became our peace. Through The Advent of Jesus, not only are we no longer in conflict with God, but much more God has restored us to a state of wholeness.
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The Advent Wreath Prayer
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November 27, 2022 | Breaking Open the Word: Let Us Walk in the Light of the Lord | 1st Sunday of Advent (Year A)
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – HOPE - VIDEO
Hope: Waiting for God to bring about good in our lives. It’s different than optimism, which looks for the silver lining in the cloud of circumstance. Instead, biblical hope chooses to wait expectantly for God to bring his goodness to bear in our future regardless of how dark our circumstances are. This hope comes from God’s past faithfulness. At Advent, we look backward in order to look forward to a better future. Our hope is that God will liberate humanity, and the entire universe, from evil.
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The Advent Wreath Prayer
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Lectionary 141
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Lectionary 135
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Lectionary 132
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Lectionary 129
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Sunday Readings and Reflections by Father McCarthy
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Lectionary 126
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Lectionary 123
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Lectionary 120
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Lectionary 117
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Lectionary 114
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Lectionary 111
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Lectionary 108
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Our Household Church: Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time | A Franciscan Agape
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Breaking Open the Word: Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) | A Franciscan Agape
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Lectionary 169
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Our Household Church: Life's a Metaphor | Corpus Christi Sunday
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Lectionary 166
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Our Household Church: Living with the Word | Trinity Sunday
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Breaking Open the Word: Living with the Word | Trinity Sunday
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Hello Everyone !
Here’s a little extra for your un-easy listening.
Lyrics: https://genius.com/Leonard-bernstein-viii-epistle-the-word-of-the-lord-lyrics
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1gWUKnfUBg
For the dedication of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, Leonard Bernstein wrote/composed a work named “Mass.” He binds together a powerful challenge engaging his Jewish prayer tradition, John Kennedy’s Catholic tradition and the Social Upheaval of the 1960s. He calls the world, especially “the big men of power,” to be ware of how transitory “their power” is.
This selection in Lyric and recorded performance is from the Liturgy of the Word. It takes the Word into a Reflection on Life. Bernstein interfaces the Word’s living tradition (echoing the writings of Paul) with the questions of his time.
Equally based in the struggles of the Vietnam “Police Action,” the powerful movement of Civil Disobedience in the US and Europe of that time, challenging a conversion of heart of corporate greed and the consistent conscience of racial inequities, Bernstein brings the Gospel message to task us toward transformation. What would be similar movements, social issues or world events that could be reflected in this work today?
I offer this for a time of personal prayer and reflection in a modified version of “Lectio Divino” (Divine Reading: allowing the Word to break into the meditator’s consciousness).- Listen to the recording while reading the lyrics. Cry if it moves your compassionate conscience. Own the anger if it touches your wound of social conscience. Wonder, question and define what it offends of your world view.
- Then, read the lyrics out loud to yourself (or with another) and identify the “touch moments” in word or phrase. Again, identify what part of your spiritual and social conscience/consciousness is touched. Let the movement be with you for a moment. Sit with it in quiet. Allow the sense to reveal to you what is taking place.
- Finally, listen to the recording again. How does the musical “telling” give impact to your “moments” in the text?
And! Above all, enjoy the moment with such an artist!
Be Peace!fr Charles, your lesser brother
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Lectionary 63
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Our Household Church: Death to Life to Action | Pentecost
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Lectionary 58
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Our Household Church: Gratitude in Witness | Feast of the Ascension
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Lectionary 57
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Our Household Church: What's Love to Do with It?
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Lectionary 54
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Our Household Church: Builder or Built | What's Love to Do with It?
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Lectionary 51
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Our Household Church: Who's Voice Do We Follow?
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Lectionary 48
3rd Sunday of Easter | Readings (Year C)
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Our Household Church: You know I love you.
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Lectionary 45
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Our Household Church: So Now What Do We Do?
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Three Easter Gospels
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Our Household Church: Picture a Story | Easter Sunday
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Lectionary 37
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Our Household Church: A Heart Full of Infectious Mercy
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Francis of Assisi: A Heart Full of Mercy and Discernment
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Lectionary 34
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Our Household Church: Unbind Him
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Lectionary 31
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Our Household Church: You have seen him!
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Francis of Assisi: Where There Is Rest and Meditation
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Lectionary 30
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Our Household Church: Transforming Life
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Francis of Assisi: Where there is Poverty with Joy
Admonition 27 | Series of Six |Where there Is Poverty with Joy
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Lectionary 27
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Our Household Church: How's Your Cover?
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Lectionary 78
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Our Household Church: Lenten Reflection
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Lectionary 84
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Our Household Church: Mirror, Mirror! WHAT?!?
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To be posted
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Our Household Church: Seek Peace and Follow After Her
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Lectionary 78
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Our Household Church: Life Greens with Hope
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Lectionary 75
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Our Household Church: Call through Faith to Action
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Reading Bonaventure in the Time of Crisis| Jonathan Bish
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Lectionary 72
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Our Household Church: Prophets Among the People
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Lectionary 69
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Our Household Church: Spirit Fulfillment
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Lectionary 66
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Our Household Church: What’s in Your Wallet?
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Lectionary 21
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Our Household Church: We are Covenanted in Fire Baptism of the Lord
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Lectionary 20
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Our Household Church: The World Shall Be Safe!
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Our Household Church: And So, We Are | Holy Family Sunday
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Lectionary 12
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Our Household Church: Becoming Peace
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Lectionary 3
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Penitential Rite/Wreathe Blessing
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Our Household Church: Water of Fire
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Lectionary 3
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Our Household Church: To Discern What Is of Value!
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Lectionary 3
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