Infinite presence

A new month, a new beginning. Every day is a new beginning, but there is something special about the beginning of each month. For one, you turn over a page in your calendar; for some, it might even be necessary to tear the page of the old month. So it is like a ritual that tells you that, indeed, you have a new horizon ahead of you.
As I write new pages in my life's story, I realize that I am not alone. There is a Presence that is infinitely other than me, beyond me. And it is in this infinite Ocean that I am able to accept my mistakes, my limitations, and my failure when I see how little I have accomplished and how much I have wasted.
But is anything ever wasted? I think not, I hope not. I believe that every experience, even the ones that may seem like a backward step, has something to offer: a deeper capacity for empathy, the realization that I cannot control everything, a call to be patient and to trust the process.
God's presence in my life and in history is much, much more than what I can see and evaluate.

Not by force, never by force

I like what our Constitutions say about our style of education-evangelization: by persuasion.
By tapping on a person's interior resources, we create conditions that would allow the person to make a free choice.
Jesus never forces Himself on anyone, even when rejecting Him ultimately makes us sad. He just tries and tries again, knocking on our heart and hoping that we would open the door to Him.
We should do the same.

Taking my life seriously

To fully live life is to decide to go through the painstaking process called growth. Growth requires patience and perseverance. Nothing that is valuable is ever achieved the easy way. Unfortunately, we look at waiting as a waste of time. We want to reach the top without any effort at all, using magical and instant solutions. Perhaps that is why we have no depth. That is why we run from one thrill to another, and another, and we are never satiated. That is why long-standing and permanent commitments are considered taboo. Fidelity is scoffed at as a sign of some personality disorder. Respect and decency are considered cowardice.
It is time to take our life seriously, after all, it is the only life we have. Let us not let the mob rule it. is this the life that I truly want? When I turn 80, will there be no regrets in the way I have lived my life? Will I be proud to say that, of course, my life is not perfect! I do have my share of failures and setbacks, but I tried to listen to the voice of my heart and live a life that is worth being called human.

God writes with crooked lines

We hear a lot the most common argument against God's existence: "If God exists, why does He allow suffering and death, especially of the innocent?"
The flaw in this argument is that we try or we want God to fit in with our categories, God in our own terms. If He doesn't fit in, He is not God. And that is the flaw. If God fits in with our categories, clearly and cleanly, is He really, truly God?
How many times have we experienced that what we once considered as an experience of suffering or as an experience that doesn't make sense, finally fits in. Finally it makes sense!
Just like the story of Joseph and his brothers... After years of solitude, exile and betrayal, it made sense...
"I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you."
We must be patient in living the questions because one day we will know the answers, or we won't even need answers at all.

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.

On the pains of growing

There are no shortcuts to growth. And there are no proxies, either.

In patience, Jesus shows strength

Yesterday, we followed on television the Pope's annual Via Crucis. The commentary this year was very profound and touches life. Or it could be that I am in a very sensitive and pensive state at the moment. The brief introduction for the 7th Station "Jesus falls the second time" struck me: Gesù non dimostra potenza, ma insegna pazienza (Jesus does not show power, but teaches patience).
As I followed that Way of the Cross, it has struck me more and more that Jesus has really assumed everything that is human. We can say that in Jesus we see everything that is truly human, yes, everything, even those we would want to do away with in our lives: mistakes, failures, incomprehension, misjudgment, rejection, solitude, wounds, sickness, death. Yes, everything except sin.
So I can no longer say that since God cannot suffer, He cannot understand human suffering.
Indeed, God does understand. In the broken and mangled body of Jesus, we see that God has entered into the abyss of human suffering.
The God of Jesus, my God, has His own way of dealing with suffering. It is mindboggling because it defies human logic.
Often, I refuse His way. Often, like a spoiled child, what I want is for Him to take away the pain and to make everything right.
Because I am often fixated on what I want, on what I believe is the logical, the right way, I fail to see that, constantly, especially in moments of suffering, God gives me the greatest gift: HIS PRESENCE.
It is this presence of God that will allow me to be more patient everyday, patient with myself, patient with others, patient with life. It is patience which is the sign of true strength.