Merry Christmas? You say....it's not Christmas...yes it is. Perhaps not in our society....which stops all Christmas music the day after Christmas and takes down the Christmas tree and all symbols of the Big Feast...but the Church celebrates Christmas until after the feast of the Three Wise Men...so I do wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!
And I want to share with you a poem I wrote a few years back.
INCOMPREHENSIBLE
God....unconditional LOVE.
Incomprehensible!
God....unconditional MERCY.
Incomprehensible!
God...incomprehensible COMPASSION.
Incomprehensible!
God...Tender. Forgiving. Caring.
The God I am called to birth.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Monday, December 24, 2012
Our anticipation is over....
This is December 24, 7:40....the holy night is here. In a couple hours I will be on my way to midnight Mass....yes, midnight Mass...an almost extinct phenomenon!
I love midnight Mass. It brings back such wonderful memories of my childhood. Being awakened in the middle of the night. Dressed in Christmas best. My long braids tied with red ribbons. And up the hill we went to join the townsfolk. Walking amid the luminarios.
A packed church. A night of Spanish and English carols. Back home to eat tamales and do more singing and finally to bed.
This is the night of memories. Of remembering a tiny babe's birth. A teenage mother in a strange country, in a stable, yet, what joy!
This is the night when "the eternal Word will leap from heaven to make his home among us. (Wisdom 18:14-15). Let's allow the Lord to continue to build his home, his dwelling in our hearts.
Emmanuel....God with us. Not only with us, but within us! What a Christmas gift!
I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS...may you be blessed with all the special blessings of this holy season!
I love midnight Mass. It brings back such wonderful memories of my childhood. Being awakened in the middle of the night. Dressed in Christmas best. My long braids tied with red ribbons. And up the hill we went to join the townsfolk. Walking amid the luminarios.
A packed church. A night of Spanish and English carols. Back home to eat tamales and do more singing and finally to bed.
This is the night of memories. Of remembering a tiny babe's birth. A teenage mother in a strange country, in a stable, yet, what joy!
This is the night when "the eternal Word will leap from heaven to make his home among us. (Wisdom 18:14-15). Let's allow the Lord to continue to build his home, his dwelling in our hearts.
Emmanuel....God with us. Not only with us, but within us! What a Christmas gift!
I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS...may you be blessed with all the special blessings of this holy season!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
International Immigrants' Day
Today, Dec 18 we commemorate INTERNATIONAL IMMIGRANTS' DAY.
Join me in remembering and praying for the MANY immigrants who come to our country seeking a better, safer, happier life.
Join me in WELCOMING THE STRANGER. Living the works of mercy!
Perhaps today we too seek a safer and happier life!
We remember the Holy Family, the immigrants....strangers in another culture...and, perhaps our own ancestors.
Join me in remembering and praying for the MANY immigrants who come to our country seeking a better, safer, happier life.
Join me in WELCOMING THE STRANGER. Living the works of mercy!
Perhaps today we too seek a safer and happier life!
We remember the Holy Family, the immigrants....strangers in another culture...and, perhaps our own ancestors.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Mary, Mother of Sorrows
We are all bathed in sadness and a spirit of compassion, of tears as we share the pain of the people in Newtown. Father added them to our prayers of the faithful yesterday and I was so touched, I was embarrassed. My tears just flowed. I am sure I have lots of company.
Mary, Mother of Sorrows, or the Sorrowful Mother, truly knows what this pain is like for all those mothers and fathers. She knows what it's like to lose a Son to senseless violence. Mary is there for them all to comfort, console and give them hope.
Recently our readings were: COMFORT MY PEOPLE...for this we pray.
December 28, Feast of the Holy Innocents, we commemorate all the baby boys who were slaughtered at the time of Jesus' birth...in hopes of killing that new-born King of the Jews. We have our own holy innocents to whom we can bring our hopes, our needs. They have God's ear!
That first Christmas Jesus brought LIGHT and HOPE to a world in darkness. Christmas 2012 Jesus again brings LIGHT and HOPE to our country where the "culture of death" with its many hues has such a dark hold.
Let us be people of the LIGHT. People of HOPE.
Mary, Mother of Sorrows, or the Sorrowful Mother, truly knows what this pain is like for all those mothers and fathers. She knows what it's like to lose a Son to senseless violence. Mary is there for them all to comfort, console and give them hope.
Recently our readings were: COMFORT MY PEOPLE...for this we pray.
December 28, Feast of the Holy Innocents, we commemorate all the baby boys who were slaughtered at the time of Jesus' birth...in hopes of killing that new-born King of the Jews. We have our own holy innocents to whom we can bring our hopes, our needs. They have God's ear!
That first Christmas Jesus brought LIGHT and HOPE to a world in darkness. Christmas 2012 Jesus again brings LIGHT and HOPE to our country where the "culture of death" with its many hues has such a dark hold.
Let us be people of the LIGHT. People of HOPE.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast: 12/12
Decenber 12th! Great memories from my childhood where we celebrated our parish patron and special Lady of the Hispanic people. Sung vespers on the 11th (little did I know that Vespers would one day become my daily prayer as an SSM), processions, luminarios, dinners, and a dance! Now is that not CELEBRATING our special Lady!
Sad to say I no longer celebrate Guadalupe in this high fashion, in fact this year I did not go to one of our Hispanic parishes to take in the specialness of this day.
"Give Us This Day" reflection for today notes that the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is truly an Advent feast as O.L of Guadalupe was HOPE to a people who had no hope because of their suffering at the hands of the Spaniards. THis feast is about the"Incarnation of the Gospel, the good news of God's salvtion among us, here in this land...about who we are and who we are to become as Church in the world, a mestizo, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and mutli-cultural Church."
THis feast truly is an Advent feast "for the simple reason that her Son seeks always to be born anew in us...inviting us to give him a home in which to be born again among us this year and every year."
What an invitation! To birth Jesus anew...right here in our homes and hearts, our neighborhoods and our places of work, our Church and among our friends! How will you respond to this invitation? Are you willing to respond as Mary did: be it done in me?
Sad to say I no longer celebrate Guadalupe in this high fashion, in fact this year I did not go to one of our Hispanic parishes to take in the specialness of this day.
"Give Us This Day" reflection for today notes that the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is truly an Advent feast as O.L of Guadalupe was HOPE to a people who had no hope because of their suffering at the hands of the Spaniards. THis feast is about the"Incarnation of the Gospel, the good news of God's salvtion among us, here in this land...about who we are and who we are to become as Church in the world, a mestizo, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and mutli-cultural Church."
THis feast truly is an Advent feast "for the simple reason that her Son seeks always to be born anew in us...inviting us to give him a home in which to be born again among us this year and every year."
What an invitation! To birth Jesus anew...right here in our homes and hearts, our neighborhoods and our places of work, our Church and among our friends! How will you respond to this invitation? Are you willing to respond as Mary did: be it done in me?
Friday, December 7, 2012
Advent.....
Advent is my favorite liturgical season....time of waiting, quiet, promise, hope.
It is unfortunate that for the majority of us Advent is a time of rushing, shopping, baking...and all the other "ing's" that destroy the true meaning and sense of Advent.
From a reflection I received from the Franciscan Spirituality Center: God speaks to us in whispers, through silence. We need to set aside the dramas, our busyness, so we can hear and feel the divine whispers. By clearing our minds of the clutter of our lives, we can connect with the Divine. Surprise! There is a spiritual self within us.
I invite you, I challenge you, especially this wonderful season of Advent, to be still for a time every day. Surrender into the mystery of stillness.
I wish you the gift of quiet.
It is unfortunate that for the majority of us Advent is a time of rushing, shopping, baking...and all the other "ing's" that destroy the true meaning and sense of Advent.
From a reflection I received from the Franciscan Spirituality Center: God speaks to us in whispers, through silence. We need to set aside the dramas, our busyness, so we can hear and feel the divine whispers. By clearing our minds of the clutter of our lives, we can connect with the Divine. Surprise! There is a spiritual self within us.
I invite you, I challenge you, especially this wonderful season of Advent, to be still for a time every day. Surrender into the mystery of stillness.
I wish you the gift of quiet.
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