Life forevermore

"God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (1 Jn 5:11)
There is more to life than today, but this today is an important part of life.
The present moment is what gives life concreteness; it's not just a memory nor a dream.
To live the present moment well does not mean denying the past; indeed, when we live the present moment, we pay homage to the past because we acknowledge its lessons.
To live the present moment well does not mean rejecting the future, for today is the soil on which the future is built.
To live the present moment is to be grateful because today, this fleeting time we have in our hands, is a gift, that is why we call it "present".

Holding the uncertain

To hold the uncertain with tenderness and grace.

On our knees

On the feast of the Epiphany, we heard once again the story of the wise men's journey looking for the newborn promised king. Their journey led them to Jerusalem. After conferring with the chief priests and the scribes, the experts in scriptures, King Herod orients them to Bethlehem.
Only the wise men proceeded to Bethlehem. The experts who knew the prophecies did not budge. Knowledge and expertise, in fact, do not always lead to transformation. St. Thomas Aquinas once said that we learn theology on our knees.
"Fall on your knees", says a famous Christmas carol. Indeed, adoration is the only attitude in front of God, the One from whom I, and all of life itself, come and by whom everything exists.
In front of God's immensity, we realize that we are finite and totally dependent.
But we don't cower in fear. Perhaps that is why God chose to be born as a baby, of a very ordinary family, in the dark of the night, and in a stable in an insignificant town.
God draws us to Him, never by force, but by an attraction that we cannot explain; but we know it because it feels like coming home.

By the Spirit

In Luke's infancy narrative, highlighted in the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of John the Baptist and the Birth of Jesus, there is an emphasis on the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that transforms the life of the personages involved in the various events. It is the Spirit that transforms mundane events into salvation history.
Before being a fruit of our efforts, salvation is a gift of God.
I actually have a very interesting way of representing the Spirit's work in our lives.
The Spirit encircles our lives and sweetly, gently and patiently brings down our defenses, until we open up to His presence and discover that surrendering to God does not mean losing but finding the best and the truest of our humanity.

May God's face shine on you

I love the first reading on the first Mass of every year. It is taken from the book of Numbers.
It speaks of the Lord telling Moses how Aaron and his sons (the priests) are to bless the Israelites:
  The Lord bless you and keep you!
  The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
  The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!
I've read somewhere that the phrase "shine upon you" means "make you smile".
Yes, my prayerful wish is that we may turn our face to God so that His face may shine upon us. As Pope Benedict XVI said, "God doesn't take anything away from us. Rather, He gives us everything".

The Gift

A gift is always undeserved; otherwise, it would be called a prize. What makes something a gift is, it is unconditional; otherwise, it is an exchange.
This Christmas, let us pause for a while and think whether the gifts that we give or the gifts that we receive are truly gifts. Are they unconditional?
Christmas shows us what a true gift is: God, choosing to assume human nature, and choosing the most helpless and the most marginalized form of all: a little child, born of poor and ordinary parents, in a foreign land.
We don't deserve this gift, but it comes from the abundance of God's love for us. We don't need to work for it. That's just how God's logic operates.

Pray

Pray ... pray ... pray ... 
Prayer helps us remember that we are not at the center of the world. The world has existed before us and will continue to exist long after we're gone.
Prayer reminds us that, though we may seem small and insignificant, we are a part of something great. Prayer helps us to care and to be concerned about something other than ourselves.
Prayer gives us a solid ground to navigate the uncertainties of life. As we address ourselves to Someone (up there, or deep within, or ever-present in everything), we experience a companionship with Someone (to be grateful to, to bombard with our complaints, to share our struggles and doubts).
Pray.