We all have something to give ... and to receive

I was recently in Mozambique and in one of my visits to our communities one girl told me these unforgettable words: "we are poor, but what we have we would like to share with you, the fruit of our labor".
In my many experiences, this is something that I can confirm: we all have something to give. Happy is the person who knows how to share.
But in a world where we try to show off an air of independence and autonomy, "happy is the person who knows how to receive, without a sense of shame or entitlement, but only of recognizing that we are all on a journey, and together we reach far".

Keeping and passing on the faith

We can only keep the faith when we share it and pass it on.
I guess this is one reason why faith is a paradox. If we really want to keep it and make it flourish, then we must share it.
Faith kept to ourselves doesn't make sense.
Faith is having a relationship with God. And if this relationship with God is authentic, it always leads us back to others, and we desire that they, too, may have the joy that we have.

May God smile on you and grant you peace

On this new year and for the rest of your life, may God smile on you and grant you peace.
As I grow older, I realize that I don't need a lot of things. What I really need is to have a simple and generous heart: to be happy with what I have and to desire that others find happiness, too.
Joy is always shared. It is never enjoyed in isolation.

The broken pieces feed many

In one of the miracles recounted in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 15:29-37), the feeding of the multitide, Jesus takes the seven loaves of bread, blesses and breaks them, then distributes them to satiate the hungry crowd.
We have something to learn from this. Whoever shared the bread could have kept them for himself/herself/themselves, but he/she/they decided to share. And so the multitude was fed. I do not need to consume a whole loaf to satiate my hunger.
We live in a world where a lot of us have gone beyond mere selfishness. We have become greedy, avaricious. We want to amass more for ourselves or for a very restricted circle called friends, family, tribe or country. And the sad thing is, at the end of the day we don't really enjoy anything because we lust for more. It is like stuffing your mouth with food that you feel like vomitting.
It's time to really be happy living with the essentials.

Food for all and more

In the miraculous feeding of the multitude Jesus blesses, breaks and shares. He feeds everyone and still there is more.
Can't this be an invitation for us today so as to solve the various crises the world is faced with.
To bless, that is, to recognize once again the important and central part that God has in our lives.
To break, yes, to work our butts and redeem work not as an imposition but as an integral part of our human dignity.
To share and to recognize that it doesn't deprive us of anything when we do so, rather, sharing creates a network of care and communion that makes us worthy of being called human.