COURSE AT THE START OF THE COURSE 2019-

2020. EXTRACTS.

Kiko Arguello: Drawing by S. Francisco Javier

* FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 Kiko: You know that we have been

received by the Holy Father to thank him for opening the Macao seminary
for Asia. It was he who wanted to open it and the Seminary depends on
Propaganda Fide. Here is the rector of Macau, who also greeted the
Pope at the end of the audience . Tell us about the meeting with the
Pope. Tiago: On Wednesday 18, after the audience with the Holy
Father - myself, the vice-rector and 3 seminarians were in the audience -
then we greeted him. He was very affectionate with us, he wanted to know
the names of the boys, their origin. I told him: "This seminar is very important
to resume communion with Pedro because Asia is losing her catholicity ."

He replied: "I know. With this seminar I have risked a lot to open it, but I have
done it because I love you. Go ahead." Kiko: Well, we thank the Holy
Father. We are happy to be able to help the Church! We have a seminar in
Macau for Asia. He told us that he is very happy with the Camino, especially
with our mission of evangelization because this is the essential content of
the Church and, above all, because we do it without proselytizing. He said
that the testimony of the families is wonderful to him. I took the opportunity
to tell him that in the spring we were thinking of having a family reunion with
him. He replied, "It will certainly make me happy to be with the families and
send them." We applaud the Pope (applause).

He encouraged us to continue, said: "Don't fear Kiko, carry on!" As long as I

have a little health. Good! I gave the Pope a drawing of Saint Francis Xavier,
patron saint of the Asian missions. I will also give it to you in a smaller
format. We have 3 new Redemptoris Mater seminars: one in Macau, one in
Lodz, Poland and the other in Kingston, Jamaica. We applaud the birth of
these seminars (applause). We now have 125 Redemptoris Mater seminars,
maybe too many. Perhaps we will have to merge the little ones, as the
Holy See asks us . ** AWARDS
Commentary after the proclamation of the second psalm
ASCENSION:
This psalm that we have proclaimed about Habakkuk, with such poetic
images, comes to our aid, to what we are going to celebrate and to what the
Lord has brought us today, because "it is convenient" - as Kiko said - that
the Lord enter our home. Today we are going to celebrate Forgiveness,
which is what we all need and which is the solution to so many problems we
have: entering into Forgiveness. Habakkuk was denouncing the northern
kingdom, that they were rich, much richer than the kingdom of Judah, and
that they had made a compromise between God and money. And he already
announces the exile. As I said here, "in the midst of the years" the Lord acts
in history. And we see that all the world's problems are, basically, in the euro,
in the dollar, in money. And we are not far from all those problems. We are
seeing how the Lord is purifying the Church with things that seem
scandals but that it is the Lord who is behind this story purifying and
saving his Church .
As it also happens to us with our problems, what we need is to reconcile with
ourselves to enter into rest, into forgiveness.
The solution to our anguish lies in what only God can give us, which is
forgiveness, and that is what the Lord has called us to do today: so that we
may enter into rest, in believing in his love. I hope that Kiko will preach to us
about love as he has preached in the Porto San Giorgio coexistence, in Italy,
which has been very good, because God is love. And this coexistence
speaks of love between brothers, which is what we are called to. And for that
we need to enter into reconciliation with ourselves, to be able to enter into
forgiveness, which is the happiness to which the Lord calls us: to love one
another.
***

KERYGMA
KIKO:

I have a ministry that God gives me and that he invites me to carry out with
you. That is why I have no choice but to announce God's love to you this
morning.

The Lord invites you to love him, he invites us to love him with all our heart,
with all our soul and with all our strength; to love Him. To love Christ, say the
desert fathers, is the only truth, the rest is all vanity. So, if this coexistence
helps us to love Christ a little more, blessed be it, because that is why we
have been placed on Earth, so that we meet the Lord and, having met Him,
listen to his voice, believe in that truth has gone up to the cross for all of us
and we can receive forgiveness of sins and immortal life. In this coexistence
we will receive the forgiveness of sins and the immortal life will dwell in us,
the very life of God .

For that we have been created, so that we know his Son Jesus Christ and
love him and accept his oblation, and by accepting his oblation we may be
freed from the eternal fire of condemnation, we may be freed from the
punishment that men have deserved when we have separated ourselves
from God .
Our ancient parents sinned against God, seduced by the devil, who invited
them to reject God and to become a god themselves, to become a god of
history. And being God fascinated them: «Be like God. You will be like gods
because you will decide for yourselves what is good and what is evil, nobody
will have to tell you what is good and what is bad: thirst, rebel against God
». And our former parents fell into this trap, which is a seduction. In other
words, the devil puts a decoy in front of us: "Be like God!" And they fell into
that trap and rejected the true God to follow an idol, which is the projection
of themselves as gods.
Somehow we have been saved from this deception .

And those who fall into this deception are damaged, condemned, because
they kill God in them and enter the infernal abyss of outer darkness. But we,
in some way, have been taken out of there and the Lord has sent you
catechists, brothers to help you, who, like you, were once subjected to pride
and evil. But we were rescued by the Lord. And he has invited us to help
you, just as you are also invited to help others, so that a chain is formed, a
caravan of the saved, of men who walk towards heaven carrying out the
mission for which it was created. this universe.
God created the Earth for man and for man to inhabit it, so that placed on
this Earth he could meet Jesus Christ and could participate in his victory over
death and sin.

We have all been sinners, all of us, but the Lord had mercy on us. He is
infinitely Holy, infinitely good. And he did not mind coming to save men when
the men who inhabited the Earth were separated from God. The Earth was
full of violence, wars, lusts, money, horrible things ... Men exploit each other,
and so we can see what the reality in which we live is like.
But God, out of his great love and his infinite mercy, thought of us since
before the creation of the world so that we would meet his Son, because God
loves us. God is love, He loves us, He loves us with an infinite love. So great
is that love that He showed on the cross of His Son, full of sufferings, in a
torture of horror, the love that He had for us and that He has for us, which is
a love that has already rescued us; He wants to live in us. Well, that this
coexistence, really, leads us to no longer live for ourselves, but rather that
He is the one who dwells in our heart, in our soul: "It is no longer I who lives,"
says St. Paul. who lives in me ». This is for all of us. If not, this coexistence
is useless, It is useless if this great mystery of God's love realized in Jesus
Christ is not given in us, which makes us participate in his glory, in his victory
over death, and who allows us to participate in his immortal life; something
truly great. And it leads us to love each other: «Love each other, love each
other as I have loved you. By this all will know that you are my disciples: if
you love each other »; That is why it is very important to love each other. But
since we are all very weak and sinful, the Lord helps us with this coexistence.
More important than what I can tell you, or Father Mario or Ascension, is
what the Holy Spirit seals in your heart while you listen. What do we have to
tell you? Well, God's love, that God loves us and is preparing us to act in
the world, to help Him save other souls who go with us to heaven .

He is preparing us for a mission, a mission granted to us in the parish or

outside the parish by those of you on mission. The Lord is preparing us
all. There is nothing greater in the world than evangelizing: "Go and make
disciples of all nations: go, I am with you." Since Jesus Christ is the one who
loves all men, through us he wants to help so many people; and we are doing
it. I do not realize the life that I lead because He leads it. Now I am in this
coexistence and then I do not know, I do not know how long the Lord will
have me with Him and will have me announcing the Gospel and helping
you. Because He thought, before the creation of the world, to unite us, and
for us to help you in your faith. Within that mission that he has entrusted to
us is this coexistence.

That is why it is very important that we come humbly and kneel before Jesus
Christ present in his Church in the figure of the minister, the one who
administers the eternal goods that the Lord gives us with the laying on of
hands and the forgiveness of sins. Well, let us go to Him happy to be able to
reject the old man, the man of pride, of arrogance, the man who seeks
pleasure in everything, who seeks himself, who lives for him a prisoner of
lust. But the Lord, who loves us all, has brought us here to forgive our sins.

And then, in this celebration that we will celebrate of conversion, of

reconciliation, the cross of her Son, the cross of Jesus Christ, is made
present here. Jesus Christ crucified is God himself who was reconciling the
world to himself through his Blood in a terrifying torture such as the
crucifixion; Christ offered himself so that all of us who are here could receive,
in this coexistence, the forgiveness of all our faults , of all our sins, and a
new man can be rebuilt within us: the man Christ Jesus dwelling in us full of
humility .

Without humility there is nothing Christian in us; modesty. May the

forgiveness of sins grant us the humility of Christ, may he grant us to
consider ourselves the last and worst than others, may we consider others
superior to ourselves as St. Paul says, saying, by the strength and
illumination of the Holy Spirit, that we don't deserve to be here.

That we are no better than the thousands and thousands and thousands of
men who are in prisons, in prisons of horror in Africa, in Spain, prisons that
are full of violence and where men live slaves of evil, of the devil, hating,
killing, etc., just like in the world. But we have been rescued from the empire
of evil and darkness and we have been placed in the light of his love that
illuminates us in this coexistence.
That is why we have to be very grateful to the Lord who loves us so much,
who loves us, who is happy to dwell in us and to show in us his humility, his
infinite humility, his infinite love, making us a life of holiness following his
Steps.

Therefore: courage brothers, let us thank God for this coexistence, for his
love.

In the name of Jesus, I say to you: convert to him, reject your life and offer
him your bodies so that his Holy Spirit dwelling in you, you may be Christians,
you may be other Christs, so that we are all Christians and he may be shown
in us, in our body, the dying of Jesus; so that the victory of his resurrection,
the strength of his resurrection, may be seen in our bodies. He, who has
conquered death and sin and lives forever, wants us to participate in his
victory over death and gives us his Spirit.
The first thing the Holy Spirit does in us is that we love one another; May we
forgive ourselves if anyone has a complaint about his wife or husband or the
other. Forgive each other, consider yourselves the last and worse than the
others. «Love each other as I have loved you. In this love everyone will know
that you are my disciples. The Lord calls us to this great mission: to show in
us his presence, his love, his victory over sin and death. He wants to truly
dwell in us. His love in us makes us holy, makes us children of God through
the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, now, we will prepare ourselves for a celebration of reconciliation
with God, a celebration of forgiveness, of his mercy, to receive from his love,
to receive his Spirit.
ASCENSION:
To begin this celebration, we wanted to recall a brief catechesis that Carmen
did on this sacrament.

You know that the Lord has inspired him so many things about Penance,
about Baptism… And we (sic) do them thinking that it will be a great help for
the brothers of the Way, especially for the younger ones. You, many of you
have been fifty years old, you have heard it. In any case, it is one of the times
that Carmen spoke in a very beautiful way about this sacrament, and she did
it in a Coexistence of Bishops.
And since I'm talking about Carmen, I want to remind you that, as you know,
Charlie Metola is collecting all the graces, all the documentation, so that
when five years have passed since Carmen's death, the beatification
process can be opened. And I wanted to remind you that physical miracles
are very important, but also thanks, that many brothers are helping to ask for
help individually; but then they forget to write it, they forget to write to the
Neocatechumenal Center in Madrid to give testimony of the help they have
received through Carmen's intercession. Many times they think that the
grace they have asked for is not important: everything is important. It seems
to me that I already said that at the beatification of Álvaro del Portillo - it
seems to me that it was four years ago and I think it is important to remind
the brothers so that they can write these graces they receive -,

So, I read you this catechesis by Carmen on the Sacrament of Penance.

FROM A CATECHESIS BY CARMEN ON THE SACRAMENT OF
PENANCE TO THE BISHOPS OF AFRICA (ROME, JANUARY 28, 1994)
«In this room we are going to enter a mystery, a SACRAMENT. A sacrament
is a mystery that speaks to man in such a way that the Gregorian university
cannot do it because of the many holy teachers it has. God has not left his
memorial in a university, Jesus Christ has not established any university, nor
any school: he has left us his facts in sacraments, in mysteries that can be
experienced not only with the head, but with the whole body, with the whole
spirit, and enter them.

But these sacraments cannot be understood without the people of Israel,

without this Hebrew (this Hebrew who is on the cross). Israel has a history:
a history of sin, of sin, of sin; and an experience of forgiveness, of
forgiveness, of forgiveness. He has experienced death, he has seen the
snakes that bite and make everyone die in the desert; He has seen evil and
death into which he entered, he has seen death from the beginning. That is
why Israel will see that this death, this serpent attacks the woman.
I am very happy to see how in this sacrament the Church presents herself
as a woman, as a mother, in this sacrament the Church expresses herself
—and not symbolically— as MOTHER. For this reason, the figure par
excellence that the Church presents as Mother is the Virgin Mary, and the
Virgin Mary is nothing but the icon of the maternal womb of God.
I want to tell you a word that for me has been a key word: I don't know if it is
still taught in universities, but the Hebrews know it so well that all Scripture,
all the Word of God, which is revelation, is full of one word. what is
"rahamim." This "rahamim" is an untranslatable word. In Spanish it has been
mistranslated from the beginning with "mercy", but this word mercy: "miser"
and "cor", has a relationship with the heart.

Whereas the Hebrew word "rahamim" has nothing to do with the heart, but
with "rehem", with the womb, with the uterus.

The heart is very important, it governs life, but it does not CREATE LIFE. On
the contrary, "rahamim" indicates the creative entrails of God, which
ENGENDS LIFE. It is very important to know the Hebrew world, because not
by chance, God has chosen a people of slaves to manifest liberation. Israel
enslaved in the largest Empire that was at that time in history, which was
Egypt.
The Hebrews also say that God, before creating the world, like a great
architect, began to design it to see what this universe would be like, and
everything seemed fantastic and wonderful to him. It says: "Let us make man
in our image and likeness," that is, it gives him freedom. And as the free man
appears, God says: «It is fantastic! But there is a danger: that in his freedom
man can truly ruin this wonderful plan of creation. Says a midrash: “So what
did God do? Before creating the world, God created 'teshuvah' ». "Teshuvah"
is a Hebrew word that is also very interesting. "Teshuváh" is the way of
return, the possibility for man, in his mistakes, in his breaking the plan of
God, the possibility of returning, it is the man of return. Also this word
"teshuvah" is untranslatable: it goes far beyond the "metanoia" we have
learned in universities, which indicates only a change of mind. "Teshuvah"
means to recreate a thing again, which is this same "rahamim", this entering
again into the bowels of God.
This man of return, this work of return is nothing other than the Passover of
Jesus Christ!

This is why in the city of Jerusalem, where the tree of life in paradise has
risen, He has been raised, Jesus Christ, the tree that gives life.

It is He who will enter precisely the deepest problem of man, as he makes it

explicit by entering the Jordan, which is the deepest part of the earth, there
is no depression deeper than the Jordan in the whole earth, it is the most
depressed part of all the earth.
There Jesus Christ descends to signify that he enters the deepest problem
of man, white, black, Indian, which is DEATH, this death produced by the
break with the life that is God. Who enters death to defeat and kill
death? Christ with his resurrection! He enters death and rises again, he is a
new man, risen. This is "teshuvah" - turning death into life.

The Hebrew "teshuvah", this change of soul, of spirit, this molecular

transformation from death to life, to resurrection, this is Jesus Christ. He will
not only make a transformation from death to life, but will do even more: he
will make an ascension with man and will enter the womb of God, in
eternity. In other words, this sacrament never ends, it is linked to
Baptism. This sacrament of regeneration cannot be understood without
Baptism, the water of the maternal womb. The child is born in water, in the
water of the womb, of the uterus. The Church is a Mother who has a womb
that begets children of God.
And conversion is always changing towards the resurrection, walking
towards the resurrection, towards the transformation of this man of death
that we carry within, into the spirit of life. It is living in Christ, in Christ risen
from the dead, who changes our cells, which every day transmit us envy,
unbelief, apostasy, murder. We are all murderers. That is why God, looking
for Cain, the son of Adam, tells him first of all: "Where is your brother?"
I would like to say many other things, but above all I want to immerse you a
little in the enormous greatness of the Word of God that we do not know. We
have to immerse ourselves in the history of the people of Israel, because that
is where the Gospels were born, which are like a targum, an interpretation of
the entire historical Word of God. God has chosen geographical places, He
has chosen historical facts, He has entered the history of this planet through
a Word.
I say all this to underscore the importance of the sacraments. Do you want
to transform your dioceses, your parishes, your communities, your
families? Do you want to transform the world? Let us carry out this sacrament
of regeneration, because what our history needs is forgiveness,
forgiveness! Where do all homicides and wars come from?
Forgive me, because I am lengthening and I wanted to be brief. But I want
to tell you that this sacrament represents regeneration. That is why Saint
Jerome already saw that the word "rahamim" was mistranslated as "mercy"
and added the word "bowels", "bowels of mercy". So it is a matter of truly
entering into these entrails of regeneration, because it is God who can
regenerate, and has shown this by raising Jesus Christ from the dead and
making us enter divine life.
You priests have a very important mission over sin and death, which is to
crush the head of the serpent that today, as the Apocalypse says, is circling
around women. To finish, I tell you that Jesus Christ is this new Adam who
has truly stepped on the head of the serpent and has made an immaculate
woman, without blemish, who is the one who today presides in the Church,
in this womb.

He is able to step on our sins, our death, and be able to regenerate us today
to the life of God, to his great and wonderful love of eternity. And pass us to
eternal life, which is what all of us and all nations need today.
Forgive me if I have taken too long, I just wanted to make present the merciful
entrails of this sacrament of regeneration, so that you are not afraid of
manifesting your sins .

In times past, the sacrament had been greatly reduced, almost only to the
confession of sins. Confessing sins is a preamble that helps to enter this
matrix, because if you do not recognize yourself as a wrongdoer, you have
no need for regeneration: therefore, it is already a great help that the Church
offers you an ear, and helps you to draw with the word your lust, your
wickedness, your envy, your pride, your arrogance. Get out! To leave! That
is why, before entering the water of Baptism, there was a stripping, a
undressing, a renouncement of Satan: «I renounce you, Satan! I renounce
your pride, I renounce your vanity, I renounce you! I don't want this, I want
to clothe myself with the life of the risen Christ, with his love, and love God
with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my being and with all my strength,
with all my power, with all the money:

Kiko: We applaud Carmen, who is your catechist: what she has read is about
Carmen, a catechist whom God chose before the creation of the world to
help your faith, that's why the things that Carmen says are very important
and always they are inspired.

P. MARIO:
Before the blessing, I forgot to say in the homily that as today is St. Francis
of Assisi, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and of "Francisco de León" I wanted
to say - I do not know if you know - that St. Francisco de Asís was
married. Did you know? He was married to the «Madonna
povertà». Francisco de León with the "Madonna precarietà". Do you know
what precariousness is? It may be that we come to Madrid, it may be that
not, that we will leave it for another time ... I say this to thank Kiko and
Carmen.

Presentation of the video: "Coexistence of Bishops in

the Domus Galilaeae, April 2018"
KIKO:
We have made a small brochure to invite the bishops to the conviviality that
we will have next year. Here you can see the sculpture of the Sermon on the
Mount that we have placed on the ceiling of the chapel, the presence of the
Lord. In the background the Sea of Galilee. Inside are some photos of the
interior of the building and a letter to the bishops.
To those who want to invite you have to give them this folder with a letter
that I have written, which says:
«Dearest Father:
The Neocatechumenal Way is a charism that God has raised to carry forward
the Second Vatican Council - Pope Francis has said - and to carry out a new
evangelization of the world today.
We are pleased to invite you to a meeting that we will have on the Mount of
Beatitudes, in Upper Galilee facing the beauty of Lake Tiberias, from Easter
Tuesday to Sunday "in Albis": April 14 (arrival) - April 19 (departure) 2020.

We ourselves are surprised by the gifts that God gives us and that we could
never have imagined: thousands of families who offer themselves available
to be sent on mission, so many vocations… We think it is important to
discuss these issues with the initiators of the Way.

The land of the Lord is the fifth Gospel that always gives us new graces. In
the preceding meetings, the bishops have been grateful because they have
felt enriched and at the same time they have rested.
We hope that the Holy Virgin Mary allows you to attend this meeting and that
it may be useful for your pastoral ministry.
Together with Fr Mario and María Ascensión, we ask for your blessing.
Kiko Argüello
Rome, 8 September 2019
Nativity of the Virgin Mary »
So that you can understand a little what this coexistence to which you are
going to invite the bishops consists, we are going to see some flash images
of this coexistence that we did in April 2018.
***

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
ASCENSION:
We wanted to remember today one of the patriarchs: José, the son of Jacob
and Raquel, of whom some years ago Kiko and Carmen gave us a beautiful
catechesis. Carmen said that José's life is like a gold or diamond mine,
because in those last chapters of Genesis that tell his story, so many things
can be found for our lives and for our faith. Today we are only going to
remember chapter 39 of Genesis, where the beginning of Joseph's life in
Egypt is narrated, and which speaks of Joseph's chastity; and as one of the
themes of Fr. Mario's catechesis will be chastity, we thought that presenting
the figure of Joseph again would be of great help to the young people.
Many parts of Joseph's life remind us of Jesus Christ. Joseph is the beloved
son of Jacob, the favorite son of his father, the most beloved of Jacob's sons
and that will provoke the envy of his brothers. José is charming, he is
handsome, he is wonderful, his father loves him so much, he is his favorite
son. Envy provokes such hatred in his brothers that they want to kill
him. They throw him into a well, then a brother intercedes and instead of
killing him they sell him as a slave to some merchants who go to Egypt. They
sell it for 20 coins, 10 less than Christ, and out of envy. And it is very
interesting to see how in Egypt, in this descent into Egypt, God is going to
act in him.
In Egypt, Potiphar, who was the head of Pharaoh's guard, buys it. He acts
with such wisdom that he earns Potiphar's full trust and trusted him so much
that he put everything in Joseph's hands. It only had one prohibition. Potiphar
tells him: "You can manage my entire estate but you can't touch my
wife." Just like Adam and Eve in paradise —they could eat everything except
the tree in the center, the tree of life—, so Joseph could not do one thing,
only one thing: touch his wife.

José was a beautiful young man, a very handsome boy, and Potiphar's wife
falls in love with him and tries to seduce him; every day she tries to go to bed
with him but this young man is afraid of God, a gift of the Holy Spirit that is
so lacking in this generation. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God,
and that wisdom enables Joseph to live with discernment. José says: "How
can I do this job for my master who is terrific to me, who has put me in charge
of his house, who has given me everything!"
The image of Adam in paradise: "I can do everything, only one thing has
been forbidden to me."

Like Adam in paradise, Joseph too could eat everything, but he could not do
one thing, only one: touch his wife. The serpent invites him to touch the
woman, to touch the tree, to eat the fruit. One day they were alone in the
house, she took off her cloak but José ran away. Then Potiphar's wife
slanders him and, lying, tells her husband that José has tried to rape
her. Potiphar, offended, throws José in jail. And because he is chaste,
because he is faithful to the Lord, he will live a whole kenosis, which is a
figure of the kenosis of Christ. He will be slandered and taken to prison, to a
horrible hole.

Prisons at that time were awful, as prisons always are. And in that kenosis,
what does the poor thing think? Wouldn't it have been better to sin, to go to
bed with a married woman? Look to be chaste what has happened to
me! They have taken me to jail, to this horrible hole ... It is a horrible suffering!
».

I think of the young people, who will be marginalized so many times, if they
do not want to participate in obscene things, or in the suffering of losing a
boyfriend or a girlfriend for wanting to live in chastity… And how could José
come out victorious? Because he was afraid of God! and the fear of God
gave him discernment in the trial.
Carmen said that justice and chastity were united in him. Being chaste is
also fair. Joseph is the figure of Christ, the Just. God is making a story: he
will be the image of Christ, of the salvation that God wants to do with me and
with you. The important thing is to see Joseph keeping in mind the image of
Christ, what He has suffered. Christ has suffered, he has descended to death
and from there God is going to put him above everything and make him a
source of life for all The humanity.
José knew that he could not sleep with Potiphar's wife. This fear of God has
given him discernment not to fall into the devil's traps. Today it is very easy
to fall into the traps of the devil, especially with the internet - Fr. Mario will
speak in the catechesis - because now it is not necessary to hide to sin; One
can only sin easily with the computer, with the telephone… This fear of God
has made Joseph not betray his master even though he did not see him; in
the same way we are invited to live being aware that there is One who sees
us, who loves us, who is our Father, who is God. Even if you hide with the
internet, God sees you. It is important to fear God in the face of these sins
that are so close at hand today. In order not to betray the Lord, who has
chosen us, we need the fear of God and wisdom.
José suffers the ignominy of jail but later the Lord does justice to him. The
Lord does not forget the just, the one who adjusts his life to the will of
God. Although he has been in prison, Joseph will become the most important
man in Egypt after Pharaoh and thanks to that he will be able to save his
family from hunger; in this way, Jacob and his sons will go to live in Egypt.
The story of José is wonderful. God exalts him in such a way that Joseph
becomes the great economist of the Middle East and the known world at that
time. So much so that during the great hunger crisis, José is the only one
who solves the problem, because he is fair.

The just man does justice because he truly adjusts to what God has
said; while the one who deviates from the justice of God falls into death,
injustice, selfishness ... The righteous, on the contrary, truly conforms to the
Word of God.

I have tried to introduce you to José as Kiko and Carmen introduced him to
us, uniting justice and chastity.

P. MARIO: Can I say a word? I wanted to underline something in the

catechesis that Carmen did about Joseph of Egypt.
I don't know if you remember that it was stupendous and that later we repeat
it when we talk about the meaning of history in the light of faith, in the light
of revelation ; I wanted to underline, in addition to what Ascensión has said,
that Carmen emphasized that in front of the opportunity that José has to
make love with Potiphar's wife secretly, without anyone seeing them,
because of his fear of God he renounces, contrary to what Esau did with
Jacob.

Esau in front of a very rich plate of lentils, renounces his birthright if the
brother gives him his plate of lentils. By this Carmen meant that in José,
making love with Potiphar's wife is leaving God's plan, it is not trusting
God. Because when José rejects her she starts screaming and saying that
José had tried to violate her. And for this the guards take him to jail, for having
defended his chastity, his integrity.

But God does justice because while he is in prison, the king has visions that
none of the wise men of Egypt knew how to interpret. And then they tell
Pharaoh that there is one in prison with a lot of discernment, his name is
Joseph. And then they call him. And Joseph knows how to interpret those
dreams of Pharaoh: that his kingdom will last very little, that there will be
famine, etc. And then it exalts it. From prison, because of his fidelity to the
Lord, he is raised to be viceroy. And with this he will also help his family who
had betrayed him. It is the sense of history, that God in time does justice and
that fear of God, especially today, is very important because for a plate of
lentils we sell our birthright as children of God.

ASCENSION:
Thanks Mario. I end then by saying that the blessing is not only for him, but
will also reach his family.
By chance Charlie Metola found —among Carmen's things— some
comments in which Carmen said that what the Hebrews were saying about
Jacob's blessing to Joseph was precious. Charlie found it and has passed
me some notes that are endearing, as Carmen said. And to finish I transmit
them to you, just to say that the Lord does not forget the just.
It is beautiful how the life of Joseph ends, he has been in Egypt sold by his
brothers, then in prison, and in the end he receives the blessing of his father,
and not only him, but also his children. When Jacob is about to die, he calls
Joseph and Joseph's sons born in Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim, accepts
them as his own sons, and gives them his blessing as well. This blessing
that Jacob gives is the one that every Sabbath the Hebrews give to their
male children. Then the Hebrews say: “Why do we bless like this? Because
Manasseh and Ephraim are the first brothers in the Bible, in the history of
salvation, who have been able to live together, who have not lived with rivalry
", because the other brothers: Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Isaac and
Ishmael, and Joseph's brothers, Joseph's twelve brothers, all have lived in
rivalry. Ephraim and Manasseh,
At the moment of the blessing, Manasseh was the eldest and had to receive
the blessing with his right hand and Ephraim, the younger, with his left
hand; the right hand is a sign of strength, but Jacob crosses his hands, puts
them in the shape of a cross and blesses Ephraim with his right and
Manasseh with his left. Manasseh, who was the oldest, has accepted without
murmuring that his younger brother receive the most important blessing.
This possibility of living in harmony is so beautiful that for this reason,
remembering that it is not only beautiful to be holy and just, but also to live
in harmony with our brothers, that this is the most beautiful and most
important thing, that is why - say the Hebrews - We continue to bless our
children saying: "May you live like Ephraim and Manasseh", without this
competition between brothers, but seeing that they love each
other. Manasseh, who could murmur, rejoices in the blessing of the other, to
whom that blessing did not correspond, let's say. And this sign that Jacob
makes, of crossing his hands, is like the sign of the cross: there is no
possibility of living in harmony without the cross, without the cross, without
Manasseh accepting and accepting this decision of Jacob with benevolence.
Another rabbi says that these sons - Efraim and Manasseh - were born in a
foreign country, unlike the other patriarchs who have grown up in the land of
Israel.

Then they say: "It is easy in the Holy Land to be faithful to the Lord, but to be
faithful to the Lord in a foreign land, in a pagan world like Egypt was, in the
midst of idolatry, this is much more difficult."

And why has Jacob established that the descendants of the Hebrews bless
their children to be like the children of Joseph? For among all the seventy
sons and grandsons of Jacob, Ephraim and Manasseh, they are the only
ones who were born in Egypt and who have lived their entire lives in
Egypt. Jacob knew that in future generations the believers were going to
have their own Egyptians and their own exiles, therefore, the reference
model for the young people was that they were people like Ephraim and
Manasseh, born and raised in Egypt, and yet they remained faithful to the
traditions of Jacob, and have even become part of Pharaoh's court, but have
lived a righteous life. Faith in God is not lost because people live in places
hostile to the faith: Ephraim and Manasseh remained faithful in the midst of
a pagan and idolatrous world.

The wisdom to live like this is the wisdom that parents wish to transmit to
their own children by blessing them every Saturday saying:
«May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,
may the Lord bless you and protect you
May the Lord enlighten his face on you and be gracious to you,

May the Lord show you his tenderness and grant you peace.

KIKO:
Well, we are, brothers, chosen by God to be the body of his Son in the midst
of a perverted and evil generation, in the midst of a world that is all based on
money, full of bad passions, greed, impure thoughts, of fornication, of
wickedness. But we have been taken out of this world and we have been
placed in the Kingdom of God: we live in his Kingdom and He dwells in us:
Christ dwells in our hearts!

That is why it is important to meet in community and pray with song, proclaim
his Word and see how that Word resonates within our soul, cleanses our
soul, purifies it, speaks to us, prepares us for a mission of holiness and
salvation for men. . This is fantastic! That is why he says: "Be thankful, be
thankful." Of course we have to have a lot of gratitude to God who has
remembered us and who has us with him and who loves us with a great,
great love. So come together to celebrate the love of Christ. The love of
Christ personally and the love of Christ as a body, as a Church, as a Christian
community. Conscious that he is preparing us for a mission of holiness and
salvation for so many others.

That is why now, brothers, we are going to pray to the Lord, to have a time
of silent prayer, in which we have to descend to the depths of our center, of
our spirit. And there speak to the Lord and say: «Lord, how is it that you have
noticed me if I am a sinner? You wanted to show your glory by loving this
sinner as I am, a poor man ».
Well, it is wonderful to be here summoned by the Lord who has told us:
"Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of
them." This presence of Christ, which He has told us, we have to exalt. And
we are going to have a time of prayer so that we can speak with Jesus Christ,
to speak with Him internally and say: «Lord, what do you want from me? Here
I am very happy to talk to you. Where are you taking me? To Indonesia? Well,
very good!
Sister Ascensión reminds me of what God inspired me in Italy.
I have to say a very important word to you because Jesus Christ says: "Love
each other as I have loved you." And this must be repeated and it must be
exalted and seen how it is deeply realized. «Love each other as I have loved
you. In this love everyone will know that you are my disciples "because you
love each other not as the world loves its friends, but rather that we love" as
I have loved you. " «I have loved you when you were my enemies. No one
wanted to be with me, each one followed their passions and I have allowed
you to follow the thoughts of your heart and fall into all kinds of filth and
wickedness and evil. Although those sins have been reversed against me,
who am the creator and love, and you have seen how on Earth I have also
appeared crucified for you », for all of us.
That is why we have to be very grateful to the Lord, love him very much, ask
for his forgiveness, ask him to protect us and to make us holy and humble of
heart so that we can be his disciples. "Learn from me that I am meek and
humble of heart and you will find rest, rest for your souls," says the
Lord. "Learn from me that I am meek and humble of heart."
To be humble of heart what does it mean? Humble, humble of heart. I wish
we could be deeply humbled! We know that - according to the Fathers - in
Christianity without humility there is nothing. Tell me how humble you are
and I will tell you how holy you are. And what is humility? Accepting
reality. The humble man accepts the story that God is making with him, he
does not rebel against history, he does not contradict God, he humbles
himself and accepts to follow the steps that he is marking. And we are all
marked by a story, an eternal story, because we only live once on Earth
and everything that happens to us is decided and written for us .

That is why living is a wonder; to live. And our life is hidden in God
forever. Because after the time that God wants to have us here on this Earth,
then He will take us with Him and take us to Heaven. Let's hope! He has
prepared a place for us, he already told his apostles that he was going to
prepare a place for us, a place in heaven.
Well, brothers, be encouraged, being gathered here in the name of the Lord
is very important.

Tell you that Christ has told us: «Love each other as I have loved you. Love
you, don't lie to each other; supporting you if one has a complaint about the
other; with humility and holiness. Courage, courage, you are Christians! ». As
Christ has forgiven us and loved us, so do you forgive each other if anyone
has a complaint about the other brother. That is why it is very important to
receive the Spirit of Christ to be Christians in the world.
What can I tell you in this coexistence? That the Lord still has me here, that
I am still alive, although I have already passed 80 years. I feel young, strong
and ready to continue, to spend myself in favor of you and in favor of the
brothers, and in favor of whatever the Lord wants. I have been chosen by
the Lord and he has given me his Spirit, his presence and the strength to
give my life to you and to so many others.
I am happy and I am not worthy, I am not worthy. We hope to die soon,
another life awaits us: this is our faith, the faith, the faith in eternal life that
God has prepared for us, knowing that dying - as St. Paul says - is the best,
because to die is to go with Christ, dying is certainly the best, the best of all:
being with Christ!
He loves us with an infinite, infinite, infinite love, to the point of giving his life
for us when we were evil, and he died on the cross for us to show this love,
which is so great, that it makes us want to go with him to heaven, where He
has prepared for us a life worthy of Him. Love is diffusive by itself, the
happiness that God wants to give us: in this God shows his magnanimity, his
deepest being of love, his being God; because the love that God has is
diffusive, he wants to give it. That is why he created us, so that we participate
in his love: it is something beautiful and wonderful. To this we are called: to
show love among us and in this love to show what awaits us, the heaven that
awaits us. Life is not a monstrosity, it is not a horrible thing. The Lord says:
"I have not created you in a desert land." I have made for you a paradise, an
earth, I have given you a body, eyes, love, all the wonders that surround us,
and all this is just a first of what God has prepared for us. As St. Paul says:
"what the eye did not see, nor human thought has been able to imagine,
what God has prepared for those who love him", that is, may God make us
participate in his intimate happiness, in his being , it is something
wonderful. Therefore, we should always be happy. St. Paul says: "Always
full of good cheer," always, never sad, because Christ is with us. He who is
full of pride is sad, he is sad because things are not as he thinks; But he who
is humble and holy is happy with what God gives him, because everything
contributes to the good of those who love God. the eyes, the love, all the
wonders that surround us, and all of this is just a first of what God has
prepared for us. As St. Paul says: "what the eye did not see, nor human
thought has been able to imagine, what God has prepared for those who
love him", that is, may God make us participate in his intimate happiness, in
his being , it is something wonderful. Therefore, we should always be
happy. St. Paul says: "Always full of good cheer," always, never sad,
because Christ is with us. He who is full of pride is sad, he is sad because
things are not as he thinks; But he who is humble and holy is happy with
what God gives him, because everything contributes to the good of those
who love God. the eyes, the love, all the wonders that surround us, and all
of this is just a first of what God has prepared for us. As St. Paul says: "what
the eye did not see, nor human thought has been able to imagine, what God
has prepared for those who love him", that is, may God make us participate
in his intimate happiness, in his being , it is something wonderful. Therefore,
we should always be happy. St. Paul says: "Always full of good cheer,"
always, never sad, because Christ is with us. He who is full of pride is sad,
he is sad because things are not as he thinks; But he who is humble and
holy is happy with what God gives him, because everything contributes to
the good of those who love God. As St. Paul says: "what the eye did not see,
nor human thought has been able to imagine, what God has prepared for
those who love him", that is, may God make us participate in his intimate
happiness, in his being , it is something wonderful. Therefore, we should
always be happy. St. Paul says: "Always full of good cheer," always, never
sad, because Christ is with us. He who is full of pride is sad, he is sad
because things are not as he thinks; But he who is humble and holy is happy
with what God gives him, because everything contributes to the good of
those who love God. As St. Paul says: "what the eye did not see, nor human
thought has been able to imagine, what God has prepared for those who
love him", that is, may God make us participate in his intimate happiness, in
his being , it is something wonderful. Therefore, we should always be
happy. St. Paul says: "Always full of good cheer," always, never sad,
because Christ is with us. He who is full of pride is sad, he is sad because
things are not as he thinks; But he who is humble and holy is happy with
what God gives him, because everything contributes to the good of those
who love God. we should always be happy. St. Paul says: "Always full of
good cheer," always, never sad, because Christ is with us. He who is full of
pride is sad, he is sad because things are not as he thinks; But he who is
humble and holy is happy with what God gives him, because everything
contributes to the good of those who love God. we should always be
happy. Saint Paul says: "Always full of good courage," always, never sad,
because Christ is with us. He who is full of pride is sad, he is sad because
things are not as he thinks; but he who is humble and holy is happy with what
God gives him, because everything contributes to the good of those who love
God.

God has created us to participate in his happiness, for this we should be

content and happy. And everything contributes to the good, everything, to
the good of those who love God: everything that God has prepared for us is
wonderful. Christ has prepared for us a way back to the Father, a way that
leads us to heaven, a way of love. He has given us a community, he has
given us catechists, he has given us a mission: so how can we not be happy?

And the most important thing is that He has made us know Him, the only true
God, Him, Christ. For this reason, in our houses we have a crucifix, the
crucified Christ who has offered himself to the Father for us, and the Father
has accepted his oblation, his gift for us. He wanted to give his life for our
life, his sufferings for our happiness, that is why loving Christ is the only
truth. The rest, brothers, is all vanity.
Well, now we will listen to the Gospel and then we will have a time of silent
prayer, of quiet prayer, to speak with the Lord who is in our hearts. The Lord
loves us and would like to dwell in us: "Father, I in them and You in me, so
that they may be perfectly one and the world creates," says Christ. Christ
must dwell in us, and living within us makes us one; there is a deep love in
us that comes from heaven, which is the presence of Christ. And this
presence of Christ in us gives birth to a communal love that is good news for
the world. This is what the Lord wants, that is why he has given us a
community. How can you not give thanks to the Lord for your community, for
the brothers that God has given you?

It is impressive, you have been together for almost fifty years, and you are
happy thanks to the presence of the Lord: fifty years! Do you see how the
world is? People are always full of wars, litigation! The Lord has given us a
community and says: "Love each other!" What a wonderful thing that God
has told us: "Love one another as I have loved you, in this love you will know
that you are my disciples." "Love one another as I have loved you" means
loving the other even though the other is annoying and makes you suffer.

How have I loved you? I have not resisted your sins, although they have
crucified me, I have accepted them: love each other like this. Accept from
the other what makes you suffer, which is the opposite, let the other crucify
you, love each other as I have loved you. This love is a bomb in the world:
"Love each other!"
He calls us to this mission in the world, and to prepare us for this mission
that saves the world, that saves history, and so many men seeing you will
leave the road to hell and return to the Father's house, to prepare us for this
mission there is this coexistence.

The Lord would like you to join the Lord deeply in this coexistence. And you
join the Lord above all with gratitude: thank him because he has chosen you,
because he has given you a community, because he has given you some
catechists, because he has given you Kiko, Carmen and Father Mario,
because he has given you on a road.

So many people in the world are alone, they don't know what to do, victims
of so many vices, of so many lusts, of so many problems, always with the
desire for money, always upset because things are not exactly as he
thinks. Not us, we have been called by the Lord to live our faith in community:
Love each other, love each other! Look what a fantastic word, God comes
and says: "Love each other." And whom? St. Paul says: To everyone, but
especially to the brothers in faith, love everyone, but fundamentally that love
for everyone is shown in the love of the brothers in the faith of your
community. He has given you a community: what a great mystery! And he
says: "Love each other!" To the extent that we unite ourselves to Christ, we
unite ourselves to our brothers, because Christ is love for our brothers.

Evangelio: Mt 7,7-11.
PJ BLÁZQUEZ:
This is the Gospel that the Church gives us today and that also comes to our
aid.
When we proclaimed the first psalm this morning, which is the first Word of
God that we have spoken, it said: "It is good to give thanks to the Lord and
to play for your name, O Most High, to proclaim your mercy in the morning
and your fidelity at night" . And I always remember how Carmen interpreted
this psalm, from the beginning, which is an absent present here among us.

She said that the early Church did the examination of conscience in the
morning: it did not say that it did it at night. And because? Because in the
morning he proclaimed the mercy of God, which is prayer. This mercy of God
is not an idea, it is not a concept: it is the very person of Jesus Christ, the
one who did justice and salvation for us. So, in the prayer that we pray in the
morning, if we open Scripture we face Him. And prayer helps us because the
Gospel has said: "Ask and you will receive, knock and it will be opened to
you" so that the Lord may give us the good things. And as we all know very
well: what is the good thing? Well, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us in the day
to know how to interpret history according to God's will, accept the facts, help
us to glorify his name, to so many things.

Therefore, brothers, without prayer there is no Christian life, it is not

possible. Therefore, how many times, I the first, do the prayer with
routine. But what you said is important: Open the Word! And she is the one
who guides our steps. And at night we proclaim his fidelity. Carmen said -I
hope I interpret what she said well and don't send me a message from
heaven saying: “You are making it up” -. But it is that I have sealed: that the
examination of conscience enters the Church with the Jesuits. And you
always start to have a relationship of how I have behaved, how I have acted
during the day. And we almost always end up issuing a certificate of good
behavior: "It was the others' fault!" While it is not. According to the spirit of
the Church, this phrase: "and at night we proclaim your fidelity",

With this attitude I too want to thank the Lord for all this, as some of you have
congratulated me, above all let us congratulate the Lord for the 50 years of
uninterrupted itinerant priest. (Applause) It is not by virtue, it is the work of
the Spirit when I made a gesture in my life, that I made a serious act of faith
in the Lord, renouncing what had seemed to me when after the experience
of the barracks I did not feel to move forward in the ministry for nothing. But
I trusted God because he had put a parenthesis to the Lord in my life to order
me: it was that I didn't see myself as a cure for the mentality of that moment,
a village priest and those little things. And that parenthesis prevented me
from going forward. I trusted God and said, "Okay, no strings attached. And
if you send me to a town, I'll go to a town ». The bishop after ordering
me, After Fuentes's coexistence when the team for America was made, I
introduced myself to D. Maximino and told him that a team had been made
and he asked me who the team was. I started with Carmelo and Dulce, who
already knew them. Then I spoke of Fr. José María Garciandía. And I didn't
say anything about Buby because he was also waiting to go in to talk to the
bishop. And I said: "The other is me." He looked at me, laughed, said
nothing. And finally he said: "Very well, I give you permission." And then the
five or six bishops that I've had to date have confirmed the mission. Imagine
how not to give thanks to the Lord underlining how God is faithful to any little
thing that we give him, that it is an act of trust in his love, how God rewards
and blesses him with one hundred for one. Maximino and I told him that a
team had been made and he asked me who the team was. I started with
Carmelo and Dulce, who already knew them. Then I spoke of Fr. José María
Garciandía. And I didn't say anything about Buby because he was also
waiting to come in to talk to the bishop. And I said: "The other is me." He
looked at me, laughed, said nothing. And finally he said: "Very well, I give
you permission." And then the five or six bishops that I've had to date have
confirmed the mission. Imagine how not to give thanks to the Lord
underlining how God is faithful to any little thing that we give him, that it is an
act of trust in his love, how God rewards and blesses him with one hundred
for one. Maximino and I told him that a team had been made and he asked
me who the team was. I started with Carmelo and Dulce, who already knew
them. Then I spoke of Fr. José María Garciandía. And I didn't say anything
about Buby because he was also waiting to go in to talk to the bishop. And I
said: "The other is me." He looked at me, laughed, said nothing. And finally
he said: "Very well, I give you permission." And then the five or six bishops
that I've had to date have confirmed the mission. Imagine how not to give
thanks to the Lord underlining how God is faithful to any little thing that we
give him, that it is an act of trust in his love, how God rewards and blesses
him with one hundred for one. And I didn't say anything about Buby because
he was also waiting to go in to talk to the bishop. And I said: "The other is
me." He looked at me, laughed, said nothing. And finally he said: "Very well,
I give you permission." And then the five or six bishops that I've had to date
have confirmed the mission. Imagine how not to give thanks to the Lord
underlining how God is faithful to any little thing that we give him, that it is an
act of trust in his love, how God rewards and blesses him with one hundred
for one. And I didn't say anything about Buby because he was also waiting
to go in to talk to the bishop. And I said: "The other is me." He looked at me,
laughed, said nothing. And finally he said: "Very well, I give you
permission." And then the five or six bishops that I've had to date have
confirmed the mission. Imagine how not to give thanks to the Lord
underlining how God is faithful to any little thing that we give him, that it is an
act of trust in his love, how God rewards and blesses him with one hundred
for one.
Let's pray.
...........

QUESTIONNAIRE
KIKO:
We are going to make forty groups of ten brothers each. And this afternoon
we'll put forty chairs on the dais here. You have to choose in each group a
rapporteur, a secretary who collects the testimony of all.
The questionnaire is quite simple, but it is very important because it says like
this:
The Cardinal J. Ratzinger, in 1997, in the book interview The Salt of the
Earth. Christianity and the Catholic Church before the new millennium , in
conversation with the journalist and writer Peter Seewald, says:
"Today it is not possible to be a Christian alone, being a Christian means
being within a community on the way ... That is why the Church must worry
about creating these communities ... Today's social environment is no longer
enough, why not there is already a Christian atmosphere. Therefore,
Christians have to support each other. A renewal of the catechumenate is
indispensable, which makes possible the exercise, the discovery of the
Christian reality ".
"Christianity will offer models of life in a new way and, in the desolation of a
technical existence, it will once again present itself as a place of real
humanity. This is already happening in our day. Objections to ecclesial
movements, such as the Neocatechumenal, or the Focolare, or others, but,
of course, it cannot be denied that something new is beginning.
Here Christianity is present as an event of novelty, and is perceived, by
people who often come from far away, as the possibility of living and being
able to live in this century. "
On the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1959, the Virgin Mary,
appearing to Kiko, told him:
"We must make Christian communities like the Holy Family of Nazareth, that
live in humility, simplicity and praise: the other is Christ."

1. What is your relationship with Christ today and what helps you the
most to grow in this relationship? Give concrete facts.

2. Christ says: "Love each other as I have loved you." According to you,
what does it mean to love yourself as Christ has said? Give concrete
facts.

***
The catechesis of this year is about:
The Christian Community.
p. Mario Pieces
I want to say that this year I have not been able to prepare catechesis as I
do the other years, because I can no longer read the books as I did some
years ago. So, Kiko said: "Talk about the Christian community." But before
speaking of the Christian community, according to the inspiration of the
Virgin Mary on the community in the light of the Family of Nazareth, before
beginning, as a preamble, I wanted to present two notes on Morals or Life in
Christ.

In the primitive Church, morality, the Christian attitude in life, came from the
Catechumenate, because during the Catechumenate, which was not
theoretical, but concrete, the catechists in the scrutinies saw by the concrete
facts of the person, if the life of the person changed, if he had truly received
Christ, the Kerygma, and began to bear fruit in the different stages of the
Catechumenate. While later, when the Catechumenate was over, as a
consequence of the entry of pagan multitudes into the Church, morality
became detached from Christian Initiation and has become a separate issue,
unrelated, very doctrinal, very difficult to understand and to practice. And
thanks to the Second Vatican Council, Christian morality has once again
been rooted in Revelation, in Tradition and in the Magisterium.
At the same time, the Lord has inspired these stages to the initiators of the
Neocatechumenal Way, which are fundamental for the growth of the new
man in all of us.

And I also wanted to underline one thing: I think it is important to emphasize,

as I have said many times, that the Neocatechumenal Way is not an
assembly line in which one enters with the old man and ends up clothed with
the new man.

And I wanted to underline it because the Way appeals to the free response
of the person. That is why it is important to emphasize that the effectiveness
of the Way is in proportion to the free adherence of each brother to the Word
of God. For this itinerary of Christian initiation to be effective, it is important
to be convinced of the presence of the Holy Spirit who has sent the
catechists to announce the Good News to us and to begin the journey of
conversion, which the Holy Spirit accompanies them throughout the journey,
through the different stages that mark the growth of the new man in us.

That the way to be effective is very important to know the catechumen and
recognize that catechists are sent by the Holy Spirit, authorized by the
Church and that they (sic) accompanies the Holy Spirit, throughout the route
and stages of the Way , even if they have defects, even if they do the
catechesis wrong, even if they are poor. If you doubt the presence of the
Holy Spirit and the catechists, you do not do the Way well.

Without this trust in the Holy Spirit who accompanies catechists, and without
obedience to catechists, the path of growth in faith is only apparent, because
it does not really touch our life.

And this is shown because sooner or later, after the Path is finished, the
Spiritual Marriage has been completed, if one has not done the Path well,
one has not seriously tried renouncing goods and has not taken seriously
the different scrutinies, the different stages, sooner or later he stumbles in
front of the cross; and sadly we see a few cases.
… The experience of these 50 years shows that whoever does not fully
adhere to the Word of the Lord, sooner or later, will find himself in front of a
cross so burdensome that he will stumble and fall. We have seen in these
years, some brothers who have completed the Neocatechumenal journey
and some who had celebrated the spiritual marriage with their own
community, who have fallen, perhaps leaving the wife and children, or the
husband and children, or their zeal has been been turning off and they have
left the community. There are very few cases, but if the goods have not been
surrendered, if the Camino has not been taken seriously, sooner or later it
collapses.

For now few, but we have seen brothers or sisters who after the Spiritual
Marriage leave their husband and children and go with another.

This year, as every year, our team has gone to celebrate Easter, the Triduum
and the Vigil, with the brothers of the Domus Galilaeae, also in preparation
for the annual gathering of bishops that we do in the first week of Easter.
And when we go to the Domus Galilaeae, usually some brothers who are
there for a period of recovery from the use of drugs, alcohol, pornography or
a dissolute life, come to talk to me. And they tell me their story.

In general, they are boys in conflict with their mother or father, with injuries,
who even while on the Camino decide to leave it, leave the family, leave the
community, they don't want to know anything: "now I want to see what the
world offers me. And they enter periods of unbridled sexuality, drugs, alcohol,
pornography, and when they hit rock bottom, usually the family or the
community or the catechists see that they are truly destroyed, and decide to
send them to the Domus. So they agree to go to the Domus to recover in an
atmosphere of prayer and work, where it is not possible to escape (because
there is the desert). And this formula has produced miracles, because
listening to others who are also in the Domus, seeing the communities that
come every week for the wedding journey at the end of the
Neocatechumenate, the Spiritual Marriage, they recover a little. And this
environment, Little by little, with the Celebration of the Word, the Eucharist,
and confession, it favors recovery. I have seen that some recover very well,
in such a way that there are several who offer to be priests and today priests
have already been ordained once recovered.

They have lived through hell, they know what it is, they have known what this
deceptive trap means and they do not want to fall into it anymore. And these
will be apostles who will help and save many other young people. But there
are some that are unrecoverable: they have received so much damage to
their brain that they have to be sent to specialized centers because they
cannot continue.

For this reason, the first inspiration I had from the Lord –– which I think was
in Lent or after going to Domus–, thinking especially about this coexistence,
has been that this year we would need to sound the alarm to parents, to the
catechists, the brothers, about this plague that is ruining our children . And
it sometimes happens that when parents show up and tell them that their
child… the parents fall from the cloud: «My child! So good, so
gentle! impossible! Impossible". They don't know their children.

Kiko, in his catechesis, has often cited an episode taken from the Desert
Fathers: when a person falls into a well, he finds himself in a situation from
which he cannot escape alone. The only way to get out of the well is for
someone, from outside the well, to lower a rope, and if the unfortunate really
wants to get out, he has to tie the rope tightly around his body, so that he
can be pulled out of the well.
And Kiko, commenting on this episode of the desert fathers, said: The one
who can get you out of the well is your catechist, the rope that pulls you to
save you is called “obedience”. Obedience to catechists. If you obey you will
come out of the well. .
In addition, I would like to draw the attention of confessors, who ignorantly
do not give importance to pornography, do not realize that absolution of a sin
is not enough, and then fall again after a short time. «Well, I give you
absolution - thought it is a distraction - well, sin no more. And then it falls
again. No, no, we have always said that when a confessor meets a brother
who has difficulties or divorce or separation or, in this case, porn
dependency, he cannot say so, in a naive way, I forgive your sins; It is not
enough, you have to tell him: «You have to go to a doctor to be cured. And
who is this doctor? Your catechists, open yourself to your catechists, open
yourself to them and they will advise you on what they have to do ».

In recent years I have found a brother in the community, a catechist, quite

adult, who was in this situation of slavery to pornography, without being able
to leave.

Insistently pleading with the Lord to help him, he has found a priest, who had
experienced the same problem in his own life, and who had left. This light of
hope led him to express his problem to his catechists, asking for a time of
rest in which to be able to do the Way well with his community, and to be
able to attend a recovery group for dependence on pornography led by this
priest.
And he has told me that since the age of puberty he was a slave to
masturbation, but he soon found pornography, at first through magazines,
later with videos, and with the advent of the Internet, he had become
dependent. Always more, always more.
Seeking the help of the confessors, he had not been able to express his
problem, which was consuming him internally, because of the shame of
losing face and honor, and of being considered a poor thing that one could
not trust.
In the scrutinies we invite the brothers to be sincere, not because we want
(sic) to enter their inner self, but so that their problems, if they become light,
can be helped.

This brother has done all the Steps and had never exposed this problem that
tortured him, out of shame, out of fear of losing his honor, his prestige, and
being treated as abnormal.
After almost two years I have found him and asked him how he was doing:
he told me that thanks to the help of the Way and this recovery group he had
been able to free himself from this slavery and was ready to return to
evangelization.
I say this because a sister from Rome, a psychologist, who has followed
these cases since the 1990s, in a report that she sent me, says:
"People who discover that they are sick of sex dependence, are people who
have developed a strong disorder in the affective, emotional, cognitive and
spiritual areas, and who have contracted serious obsession and dependence
for any form of lust, pornography, masturbation , voyeurism, exhibitionism,
prostitution, adultery, pedophilia, homosexuality or promiscuous
relationships.
Such obsessive habits have destroyed the lives of these people, their work
and their families, and they may have come to think of suicide as an extreme
solution to the problem. Many young people and youngsters have already
been abducted by the Internet and are lost in aberrant pornographic
visions. Internet has contributed to accelerate this disease ”.
For this reason, this sister advises that when a brother is ill and needs to be
helped by a recovery group - you have to be well informed, here in Madrid,
in the diocese, or in Valencia, there are many groups - that they be sent to
these groups recovery that do not replace the Camino. They follow the Way,
all the brothers meet once a week with the same problem and, therefore,
they are not ashamed to speak and help each other, little by little, led by one
who has come out of this situation; These groups do not prohibit pornography
during the process, but they do recommend half an hour less and thus, little
by little, they decrease until they recover.
Adults with sex-dependency problems should be helped and referred as
soon as possible to a "support group" to begin recovery from
dependency. The earlier you start, the better it is, although experience
confirms that each one to recover must touch their own bottom.
In the groups they speak one by one, without interrupting and without
dialogue, beginning and ending with a prayer, in the consideration that
healing starts from the soul. The group constitutes a favorable environment
to open up without shame, being all slaves of this disease, and little by little
they begin to help each other.

Some say: But isn't the Way enough for you? Isn't the Word of God enough
for you? Obey us and do not see more pornography, and they do not know
that they are sick, that they need, like all sick people, further and
complementary help. The fact of frequenting the Camino faithfully and
meeting once a week, to help each other to get out of hell, this is going very
well and we do not have to be scandalized.

ASCENSION:
It is important now, especially you who are catechists, to listen carefully to
this communiqué, which should be read at all gatherings. You know that
Pope Francis is very concerned about the defense of minors. And in the
Church there are regulations that we also comply with.
Then, you will read this statement in all the gatherings.
BEHAVIOR PROCEDURE ON THE NEOCATECUMENAL PATH IN
RELATION TO THE GUARDIANSHIP OF MINORS
The Secretary of State and the Laity, Family and Life Congregation are
intervening so that Episcopal Conferences, Dioceses, Parishes, Movements
and Associations activate a behavioral procedure for the guardianship of
minors and vulnerable people.
The Neocatechumenal Way, as a Christian initiation itinerary, does not have
an associative structure, having been recognized as "one of the diocesan
modes of action of Christian initiation" (Statutes, Art 1,2), it adheres to the
"guidelines" established by the Episcopal Conferences of the different
countries, and to the regulations established in the Dioceses and in the
Parishes where the communities are present.
Regarding the indications of the Congregation on the abuses perpetrated to
minors or vulnerable persons, the persons of reference are the national
teams or the regional teams that carry out the Way: they are responsible for
pointing out the possible abuses that may occur. in the communities of the
respective zones, with respect for the canonical and civil norms of the
different Parishes, Dioceses and Episcopal Conferences.
The praxis of the Way has always been to tell catechists to act as a team
(which normally includes a married couple and a priest). If it is necessary to
speak with a brother, especially if he is a minor, precise instructions are given
to the catechists never to do it alone, individually, but as a team.
Special attention is paid on the Camino, with specific catechesis on the
family, so that a “Christian style” of domestic life is adopted, avoiding all
forms of promiscuity and helping families to be aware of the potential
dangers that can occur.
Special attention will be paid to the formation of the catechist teams with
regard to both the handling of news related to abuse and the respect of the
local state regulations.
Porto San Giorgio, 29 September 2019
Holy Archangels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

You read this in all the gatherings. You read it, do not submit
photocopies. And by the way I remind you to be careful, because last year
the monstrosity was published on the Internet the following week. Tell the
brothers to pay attention, that it cannot be sent by email to the whole
community, but that it is only a guide for catechists.
The address of the new web page of the Neocatechumenal Way that we
have renewed will also come in the mammoth; It will be written on the
mamotreto so that you can inform that this is the address of the official
website of the Neocatechumenal Way.

New Internet address: www.neocatechumenaleiter.org

KIKO:
At the end of the Eucharist we will ask for charisms that help evangelization:
boys, girls, families. Good. Are we all ready? Is Fr. Mario covered? Can we
start? Well, stand up.
We have to do the collection and the calendar and if there is a brother who
can complete the Merkaba for us.
- Priests for itinerancy
- Seminarians
- Guys for roaming
- Girls and sisters for evangelization and seminars
- Families for the mission
- Restorers for the artistic work of Kiko Argüello (contact
via [email protected] )
- Sisters for the Liturgical Workshop founded by Kiko de Madrid (contact
Pepita and Ángel on the phones +34 6.9 9.7 4.2 and +34 6.9 9.7 9.5)
Collections for coexistence and for evangelization
KIKO: These collections are to pay for coexistence and help evangelization.
Now they have to pay tuition for the seminaries; be good and give us a hand.
KIKO's Commentary on the Youth Scrutatio, Sundays
KIKO: It is important to help young people to scrutinize the Scripture on
Sundays. If the catechists go, it works. It is done one Sunday a month. In
Madrid they tell us that in the parish of La Paloma it works very well; those
responsible for the vicariates get in touch and organize it in a parish in the
area. In Barcelona they also tell us that it has been working for eight
years. Young people must be helped. Cheer up!
Delivery of the drawing of S. Francisco Javier
KIKO: I have brought a gift for you. I have made a drawing of Saint Francis
Xavier, patron of the missions, and I have put here: Glory to you Lord! One
this big for every seminar. And for you a small one so that you have it in the
Psalter.

Comment of Fr. MARIO on the celebration of the 50 years of his priesthood

Father MARIO: First of all, I am very grateful to the Seminary in Madrid and
the Seminary in Rome for the help that you have given me to go to the house
of the Virgin in Ephesus, which has been wonderful. And I had made a
reminder of my 50 years as a priest and I would have liked to give it to the
communities, but there were not enough. Some have been left over. I give it
to you to pray for me, for my health and for Kiko. If anyone wants the memory
of Father Mario, they can ask Pilar Pajes, secretary of the Neocatechumenal
Center in Madrid.

KIKO: Very good, brothers, have you been happy in this coexistence? When
do we meet again? In the announcement of Advent. May you be good and
pray for us! We carry you in our hearts.