Don't be judgmental

"Don't be judgmental" is more difficult than "don't judge".
More than the act of judging, it's the attitude of being judgmental that causes a breach between us and God, between us and others.
More than just refraining from judgment, it means to cultivate a heart that recognizes the truth that all of us are pilgrims on a journey. There are ups and downs. The important thing is to continue the journey.
More than the negative "don't", it is an invitation to believe that we're all in this together. When one is left behind, all of us suffer.

True love of self

Unhealthy love of self is fatal. A person who only focuses on himself is on a road to self-destruction. It is in the human person's very identity to long for communion with others, and this desire for communion helps us to rein in our never-ending desire for self-fulfillment, addressing it in a healthier direction.

Born to be free

"It was for liberty that Christ freed us."
To live by the Spirit is to live in freedom, and this freedom is always projected to something higher, to something noble: the true, the good, the beautiful.
The journey to freedom is never easy because it requires us to strip ourselves of each and every security we have. True freedom is not some haughty or arrogant independence. It is rather based on the awareness that I come from God and I am going back to God; everything in between is passing.

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.

Laura's lesson

January 22 is the commemoration day of Blessed Laura Vicuña, but since this year January 22 is a Sunday, we celebrate it today. Laura was a pupil at one of our schools in Argentina in the early 1900s.
By all standards, Laura didn't have an easy life. Some might even say that, as a young girl, she had a lot on her plate. The factors for a "successful" life weren't "in her cards". So why is she remembered and held as a model for adolescents and youth?
As I remember this amazing adolescent who, at such a tender age, had understood that to love is to offer one's life so that the beloved may have true life, I cannot help but ask myself, what does Laura's life teach me as a Salesian educator?
What lessons do I learn from Laura Vicuña's life?
Lesson number 1: I do not educate alone. Education is more efficacious when done in synergy and when the environment itself offers a space where education is possible. Our educational settings must be places where young people feel that they matter, that they are accepted with their limits and possibilities, but with trust in the presence of good in each one.
Lesson number 2: I should have the guts to show them to strive for something more. Young people have great hearts capable of aiming high. We don't do them justice when what we offer is mediocre.
Lesson number 3: Simple and ordinary are exciting, too. We have practices and traditions that some might think outdated, but in reality, they help to form convictions and habits. Our Salesian spirituality offers a view of life that is positive and full of hope. We do not need big events to have an exciting life. What makes us happy is not when we are focused on ourselves but when we share and when we serve others. Looking at Jesus, listening to His Word and being nourished by the Eucharist will help me become a "person for other", and this is the secret of joy. We need idols, people whose lives show us that yes, aiming high is possible, being good is cool, because, in the end, it lasts. Mother Mary is for us not only a mother, but an all-time-model.
Laura Vicuña reminds me to believe in the young. They have good hearts. They desire to have meaningful lives.
With young people, we are called to be missionaries of hope and of joy.

Immersed in mystery

The God who knows me, knows me more than I know myself.
This God loves me, more than I can ever love myself.
To truly love myself is to allow God to love me.
Since God is God, I cannot totally fathom his ways.
To enter into this mystery, is to be willing to grope in the dark, or to float in an endless ocean. I cannot totally identify or explain everything, yet there is peace, an intuition that assures.
And this is why living in faith is life's greatest adventure.

Pray!

Pray. Pray much. We can never pray enough.