Four years ago, the communion song during our silver anniversary Mass was "Come Tu mi vuoi" (as you want me). As the years pass, may this be the prayer in my heart; a prayer not bereft of tears, but is always a source of deep joy. Yes, to be who God wants me to be. Yes, to go where God wants me to go.
Accompanied by Mary, the road may not be easy, but it is never lonely.
Today we remember one of the greatest tragedies of all time. The mob asked for blood and they got it.
There is a saying that goes "There is strength in numbers". Democracy is considered as vox populi. Sure, being in a crowd, being a part of a crowd hides our identity, but it also hides our vulnerability. The loud voices are the ones that dictate the crowd's direction until it comes to a point that there is no more direction.
How many more people continue to die and be punished because of this.
When something bad happens we always look for someone to blame. And rarely do we find ourselves worthy of blame. It is always someone else - the scapegoat.
It was indeed a dark day. No light emerged because the mob silenced reason, the mob stifled the light.
But it is not over.
Today is the feast of Blessed Laura Vicuña, an amazing adolescent who, at such a tender age, had understood the meaning of true love. To remember Laura is a reminder for us FMAs:
1. to create educational environments where young people feel that they are truly loved and accompanied to undertake a journey to holiness;
2. to not be afraid of proposing high ideals to young people because they have a great heart capable of aiming high;
3. to appreciate the simple elements of our Salesian spirituality: joy and service in everyday life; friendship with Jesus, nourished by His Word and by the Eucharist; the sacrament of Reconciliation; the living presence of Mother Mary;
4. to believe in the young. With them, we are called to be missionaries of hope and of joy.
How do I want to conclude this year? With gratitude.
Saint Paul exhorts us to "give thanks at all times" (1 Thes 5:18). I give thanks not only when things turn out favorable or according to my plans. I give thanks because, come to think of it, in anything that happens something good is always born. It may not be what I expect, but hey, who am I give the final word since I don't know the whole story. If I were to know the total and bigger picture, as only God knows, I will be surprised at the amount of good that a seemingly negative thing has put into motion.
Gratitude is an expression of faith. There is a Higher Force, a Greater Being, a loving God who is in charge. For this, I give thanks.
What brings peace is not force but tears.
Tears wash our eyes of our prejudices.
Tears water our hearts with compassion and understanding.
Tears clean our hands of indifference, readying it for service.
Tears remind us of our humanity. When all is said and done, we rely on a greater power.
Tears enable us to see that on that bench, in that dark alley is not trash, but a sister or brother.
Inspired by today's First Reading (Phil 2:5-11), a homage to a friend.
The measure of a man...
is not in brute strength, but in the strength of character that makes one ready to stand alone despite the pressure of the mob;
is not in naked power, but in the power to create better conditions for a more caring society;
is not in worldly possessions, but in possessing a good heart that grieves with the grieving, that struggles with those who are struggling;
is not in loud rhetoric, but in the quiet and transforming power of following the Golden rule;
is not in self-centeredness, but in the willingness to journey to create a more inclusive "we".
