prospero ano nuevo

If there is one thing I have learned to be true and important in the last five years, it is that St. John was absolutely, 100% correct: "God is love." (1 John 4:8)

If there is another thing I have learned to be true and important in the last five years, it is that the first part of 1 John 4:8 (which oft seems to be ignored) is equally absolutely, 100% correct: "Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love."

If there is yet one more thing I have learned to be true and important in the last five years, it is that perception is not always, and not even often, reality. However, I've also learned that if we approach people and situations through the lens of Christian charity, we will rarely fall short in our response to the call we have received from God to treat all people with the dignity He has endowed them with, in a spirit of loving justice. It doesn't mean we condone behavior we know to be immoral - but it does mean that we see all people as the loved children of God - for that is what we ALL are. 

And... perhaps more directly on the New Year's Eve end of things...
If you'd told me five years ago that I'd be sitting here, writing this post, right now, with everything in my life as it is, I would've laughed. And probably told you I thought you were crazy. 

Five years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed - not in my wildest imagination - that half... well, no, even a quarter... of the things that have happened in the past five years would have come to pass - the good and the bad.

It's true, our experiences shape us, and how we relate to the world we live in. I think it's also true that we choose how those experiences shape us. 

Some of you who read this blog may think I have chosen poorly in how I have allowed my experiences to shape me. 

Some others of you may think I've done just fine. 

I will leave the ultimate verdict up to God, because in the final analysis, what any and all of the rest of us think doesn't matter.

If you know me well, you are probably well aware that I don't make New Year's resolutions, because I think the turning of the year is a poor excuse to make changes in our lives that know no season and no deadline (and I know I blogged about this sometime earlier this year!). This year will be no different. 

However, I've been giving this post some serious thought for the past few days. In light of this retrospective, I've come to the conclusion that there are a couple of things I'd like to put "out there" into cyberspace:

First, if you want to judge me for who I was, who I am, or who I will be - understand this: I have one Judge - and what He thinks, is all that matters to me. Don't like how I live (or how you think I live), where I work, what I do, the way I think, what I say/write, or where I go to church? OK. You're welcome to your opinions.

All I ask is this: if you take issue with me, how I live/where I work/what I do/the way I think/what I say or write/where I go to church... say it to my face. Don't say it to others. Say it to me.

Aside from that, I would offer you this: 

This year, let's strive to be better than we were last year. If you believe in God, work to be better for Him. If you don't believe in God, work to be better for the principle of being better. 

But let's be better, friends. Let's take better care of each other. Let's love each other better. Let us be love, be justice, be goodness to one another. Let's try to make that difference in the life of everyone we meet. 

And instead making this a New Year's resolution, which would be thrown out with the gym membership by March - every time we fail at this, let's strive to pick ourselves back up, dust ourselves off, and start over again. Because saints are sinners who get back up and keep trying. 

+Peace and good, friends - and Prospero Ano Nuevo!

I'll leave you for the year with this image - which I think this is my favorite photograph of all those I made in 2012 - an image of the statue of St. Francis in front of the church of San Francisco de Asis in Ranchos de Taos. It's my favorite of 2012, not only because of where the image was made (which is one of my favorite places in the world), but also because of what it "says." St. Francis understood, far better than most of us ever will, the true meanings of love, sacrifice, and enduring grace. His example is a tall order to imitate, but important to keep in mind - everyday. 

love made man

"Pour forth, 

we beseech you, O Lord, 

your grace into our hearts,

that we, to whom the incarnation of your Son was made known by the message of an angel, 

may by His Passion and Cross 

be brought to the glory of His resurrection. 

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 

one God, forever and ever. Amen."
- collect prayer from the 4th Sunday of Advent (also prayed in the Angelus)

Truth be told, I actually wrote this post on Christmas Eve... but was so busy with family-related Christmas Eve gatherings, I never had the chance to post it. So... edited a bit since it's Christmas Day now...

When the hubs and I went to Midnight Mass (heh, this morning!), we sat in our usual spot - off toward the right side of the sanctuary, where (as in most, if not all Catholic churches) a crucifix hangs. 

Even on Christmas. 

This crucified Christ is the child, announced to a waiting world by the angel Gabriel - whose birth we will celebrate in mere hours.

It's interesting, isn't it, the contrast of Christmas with Crucifixion?

A child born to die. And moreover, the child who is God-made-man - is born to die, assuming our flesh in order to suffer all its pains. 

From that spot off to the right side of the sanctuary, the view of the crucifix hanging in the sanctuary is partially obscured by a beam in the ceiling. Depending on exactly where we are in the pew, I can often only see the feet of the crucified Christ - as was the case at Midnight Mass this year. 

Again, God-made-man. God taking on our flesh. The feet that walked those roads to Jerusalem. The feet that carried Jesus - the healer, the teacher - on all those dusty roads from town to town in his public ministry. The feet Mary Magdalene washed with her tears. The feet that were pierced on the cross.

Feet that walked because of a Heart that loved.

Several weeks ago at Mass, Fr. Tim mentioned a conversation he'd overheard in a restaurant - two men discussing whatever church they attended - and how they were sick of hearing "all of this stuff about love" - "why can't they talk about the tough stuff?"... And as he recounted this story, the first thing that went through my mind (and which was voiced by him in the same moment!) - was, "but that IS the tough stuff."

And it's true. Love is hard. It's not this fluffy, fun thing that most of the world seems to believe it to be.

Love is tough. And love is a choice. It's not always easy to love the people God puts in our lives: the guy on the street corner, the coworker that's always giving us hell, or -sometimes- even the person we married, if we are so blessed. What does that teach us? Love is incomplete  - and even lacks meaning - without sacrifice.

Love was the choice that Jesus made when He willed to take on our flesh, to walk among us as man, and to suffer the worst humanity had to offer - crucifixion... in order to gain for us God's greatest good - resurrection.

The real gift of Christmas is this gift of love, along with the reminder that love is hard. Indeed, the most perfect example of love comes to us in the night at Christmas, and journeys to the cross on that dark day we call good - Good Friday. (And darkness gives way to Light in both cases!) 

And so, we rejoice! Knowing the choice made by God, in love, for love of His people - to be born in time. God-made-man... Love-made-man. May He be born in our lives this Christmas - and may we share the joy of that love with a world that has forgotten what true love truly means. "Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts..."

+ Peace, good, and Feliz Navidad! 

advent: it's about more than Christmas shopping

Have you thought about Advent lately? Really thought about it?

Most of you who read this blog probably have given Advent quite a bit of thought... but even considering that, it's worth the discussion.

But, let's gut-check this, for a laugh, if nothing else.

Is Advent:

- the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, during which, anticipating the advent of piles of presents under the tree, and copious amounts of food at Christmas dinner, we run around the mall and grocery store like headless (and uncharitable) chickens, getting every last good deal we can?

-or-

- the time marked out by the four Sundays prior to Christmas, during which we anticipate the advent of God-made-man?

The correct answer is fairly obvious, but for anyone who might not be sure, it's NOT the first one!

I think Advent and Lent have some interesting parallels. Both recognize the need to prepare for very certain transitions: Advent, preparing for the coming of Christ into our temporal world, and Lent, preparing for Christ's death and resurrection... preparing for Christ's return to the non-temporal.

During Lent, we always talk about "giving things up." We usually don't talk about that during Advent, but maybe we should. It might help to remedy some of the vicious buy-buy-buy consumerism that has largely overwhelmed the Advent season in our culture, and it would certainly help us focus on what's really important.

Which isn't how many Furbies are left on the shelf at Wal-Mart.
Or how many Christmas cookies you can gorge yourself on at the office Christmas party.
Or gossiping about how many Christmas cookies your coworkers just gorged themselves on at said party.

No, I'm not saying you should give up dessert at the next Christmas party you attend... although, given the incessant gluttony that has come to be associated with such festive occasions, it might be a sacrifice worth considering (I know this is true where I spend my work days). ;-)

But really, what we should think about (in my humble opinion) is about is not so much giving up dessert... but giving up ourselves instead.

Mary offered herself up to bring the Christ child into the world - to bring salvation to mankind.

What if we think about offering ourselves up (though obviously not quite the same way Mary did!) - to bring the light of Christ into the world? Every year when we celebrate Christmas, we are, of course, celebrating the birth of Jesus - but we're also celebrating the fact that, just as Mary was the God-bearer, we who call ourselves Christian are called to be God-bearers, too.

I am reminded of one of the invocations used at the distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday - "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

What can we turn away from this Advent - whether sin, or simply things we don't really need - in order to bring the light of Christ to the world? Only a week and a half into Advent, it's not too late to figure it out, and get going.

+peace and good.