The God of life

Today's Gospel reading is on the Magnificat. Mary remembers and gives praise for the presence of God not only in her life but in the life of her people. This Magnificat led to the "Pietà". God is not only the God of good times. God is the God of life, and it includes the failures, the suffering, the apparent defeat of reason and goodness. In your courage, in your steadfastness, in your magnanimity in these times, God is present. And that is the meaning of Christmas. God-became-flesh, and in doing so there is no one and nothing excluded from God's embrace.
A very merry Christmas to all.
Let us bring back Christ to Christmas.

Saints let God's light pass through them

Whenever I enter a church, big or small, I am always fascinated by stained glass windows. When there is good light outside, the stained glass windows make whatever figure or design etched on them come alive. The stronger the light, the clearer the image.
I remember one anecdote. In one catechism class, the teacher asked this question: Who are the saints? One child answered: Saints are those who let the light pass through them.
Holiness is more than just doing something good or heroic. It is, first of all, allowing God to be present in us, to pass through us.

Salvation

"Lord, will only a few people be saved?" (Lk 13:23), a question addressed to Jesus. Wrong question. It shows a mindset that is non-inclusive, a competitive tendency.
Salvation is a gift. It is not based on our merits or our worthiness.
Does it mean an upright life is not necessary?
Again, wrong logic.
Salvation is a gift. As with other gifts, it is useless unless we accept it. Accepting salvation is not a matter of words; rather, it is conforming our lives to Jesus: loving people and doing good to others.
We don't pay for our salvation. Someone has already done that for us. We are truly saved when we begin to look at others as brothers and sisters; when we realize that life is not about enjoying it but of finding its purpose.
We have only one life, let us make it worth living.

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.

Life stories are complex

Take courage. Don't lose hope. Jesus has overcome the world and Jesus will help those who trust Him and follow in His ways.
This world, as we know it, is a battlefield between good and evil. This world is reflected, in a miniature way, in ourselves. There is always a battle within me: what will I choose?
Making choices is not always easy. A lot of times our choice is not between good or evil, right or wrong.
When one chooses what is convenient, expedient, easy, popular, consensual .... it doesn't always mean that they are choosing evil or wrong, right?
It is because of this dilemma that we are called to be merciful in our judgments. We don't know the whole story. And life stories tend to be complex.
But at the same time, we are called to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, who illumines us to make choices according to the mind and the heart of Jesus.

Act justly

"A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench" (Mt 12:20).
The truth of our godliness is expressed in the way we treat the most vulnerable and the most marginalized.

True prayer is "Thy will be done"

When we pray, we don't convert God to our ways; rather, we are converted to God's ways. We see life with God's eyes, we live life with God's heart.

At all times, give thanks

Thank you, Lord, for your goodness and love.
Thank you for taking care of us in your own unique and unexpected ways.
Thank you for assuring us that whatever happens, we are always in your loving hands.
Convert me in your own ways. May this gratitude lead me to greater trust, and may trust open my heart to always be grateful.

Accountability

I am not expecting our leaders to be perfect. No one can live up to that expectation. What I ask for is accountability, and I think it is fair to expect that. To be accountable is to remember that the role and responsibility are bigger than one's self and interests; to do one's best for the good of all, especially those in the fringes of society; to accept mistakes and face their consequences.

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".