Following Jesus Christ

Saints are men and women who have accepted God in their lives and live or have lived their lives coherent to that choice. Saints are men and women who are just like you and me, of different temperaments, ages, contexts, interests. So it is understandable when we have preferences. After all, it is similar to having friends. We have preferences, some are just acquaintances, some are friends of the heart.
There is a risk that we pit saints against each other. We say that one is more powerful than the other, or that one is holier, or that one is more radical, etc.
What a pity if we get lost in this and forget what the saints really want to tell us: to choose God, to follow Jesus Christ.
So in honor of our founder's feast today, I say: "It is Jesus Christ I follow, according to the way of Don Bosco!"

Another Francis

I don't think I need to apologize if I write about this other Francis, Francis de Sales, for after all I am a Salesian. Today is his feast.
What I find most fascinating about Francis de Sales is his very positive vision of God and of the human person. No grandstanding, no threats of going to hell, no use of violent force for this pastor. As he said, "a spoonful of honey catches more flies than a barrel of vinegar".
I think Francis de Sales ought to be rediscovered by bishops, priests, and by all of us Christians as we try to live our lives in a way that is worthy of our name. Zeal is important, but it is not a zeal that divides the world between the good and the bad. It is not a passion that instils fear; rather it is a passion that draws, that attracts.
Francis de Sales reminds us that the way we can lead others to Jesus Christ is by us becoming more and more like Jesus Christ, the meek and humble of heart, who leaves everything to search out the lost, who doesn't break the bruised reed.

Laura's gift

Today is the feast of another adolescent saint, well technically not yet a canonized saint but she is already
on her way. Laura Vicuña was originally from Chile but she migrated with her mother and younger sister to Argentina. There she became a boarder-student at the school of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
Hers was a short life so it is quite an invitation to take seriously my Christian faith. She found the reason for her life and she was faithful to it at the cost of her own life.
For today Laura's gift to me is the call to take my choices seriously. In a society where there is a seeming allergy to long-term decisions, where we always want to have our options open indefinitely, or where we always bail out of commitments by resorting to our so-called rights, this adolescent puts me to shame.

Meekness

Today is the feast of Saint Agnes, a Roman virgin and martyr who paid a high price for her faith. At thirteen years of age she was martyred. Of course it is so impressive to know that a girl of that age, an adolescent, made such a heroic gesture. But what is even more inspiring is that she showed meekness in the  face of persecution.
In a world such as ours, meekness is so much undervalued, nay, even despised. It is considered a sign of weakness. But in reality meekness is strength, for only the truly strong can repay evil with good, turn the other cheek, and assume on oneself violence so as to put a stop to this vicious cycle.
It would be helpful to remind ourselves and the world of the words of Pope Francis, "Do not be afraid of tenderness!".
Tenderness sets us apart from animals.
Tenderness shows that we are human beings.

Perspective

Sometimes the difference between problem and possibility is only a matter of perspective.

Speaking

Speaking ill of others is a sign of insecurity.

The fear factor

I don't like it when evangelizers try to make people accept God by using the fear factor. Indeed, I am turned off. They shouldn't even be called evangelizers. Evangelizers are supposed to be carriers of the good news, and anything that builds on fear or ignorance is never a carrier of anything good.
Jesus Christ invites, yet never forces anyone to accept His invitation. Really, look at the four Gospels and this is what we will see. So, in our zeal for evangelizing, let us not lose sight of this fundamental fact.
We are called to be bearers, proclaimers, announcers. The Good News that we bring is like a seed that we plant and it will bear fruit in its own time.
When? That is not for us to know.
How? Through the power of God. And, thank God for this, we are sure that God's simplest way is infinitely more effective than our craftly-planned tactics.

Giving

Giving always enriches the giver.

Finding the horse

I saw this on Facebook today. I didn't really want to do it immediately since I am not very good at this. But since it is the beginning of a new year, I just told myself to try something different.
So I tried to look for the horse and I found it!
I have learned some lessons:
First, it's necessary to change your perspective. I tried to look for the horse by looking directly at the photo and I didn't find it. When I moved to my left side and tried to look down, I found it.
Second, be open to other possibilities. When it said look for a horse, I was looking for a whole horse. But  the photo only has the horse's head.
So, thanks to this game I'm reminded of two of life's important lessons. And the third lesson is, don't stop learning.

Closure

There is closure when you no longer have the overwhelming desire to change the course of things.

The one among us whom we do not recognize

John the Baptist summarizes the people's response to God's epiphany in the person of Jesus: There is one among you whom you do not recognize.
John the Evangelist takes it even one step further: He came to his own and his own people did not accept him.
God comes to our world still, in many and varied ways. But often we cannot recognize God because we have our own expectations of how this God should be.
Perhaps we ought to remember that God, since he is God, totally defies our categories, boxes and boundaries.

Blue skies

When I opened my windows this morning I saw the blue skies, they were so beautiful, so close I wanted to reach out and touch the fluffy white clouds. Then I saw on the horizon the sun just rising, what a glorious red, no, it’s not really red. It’s like a whole palette of different shades of red. Then I just put my head outside the window … breathe in, breathe out, in, out, in, out … I felt the air filling my lungs and infusing energy into my body. All of these happened in the span of less than ten minutes, yet I felt as if time stood still. 

At the beginning of this new year, dear God, please give me eyes to see and ears to hear so as to appreciate that every moment is a gift. Open my eyes to see the colors of nature, ears to hear the music all around me, to experience your glory everywhere. Amen.