Tag: Advent

Advent Reflections – December 8, 2015

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Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception! Today’s feast is near and dear to my heart. The chapel at the University of Dayton where I went to college is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

Today also marks the beginning of the Year of Mercy. Click here to learn more about the incredible opportunities we have to celebrate and participate in this year.

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Able to Love without Requiring Love in Return: The Reality of Motherhood

The most fundamental task of motherhood is giving life, being open to life. Coupled with this live-bearing ability is the capability of loving another person, even if there is no expectation of reciprocal love. When a woman first conceives a child, for the first few months the only signs of the life growing within her are nausea,  fatigue, odd eating habits, new sensitivity to certain smells, and random bouts of tears during commercial breaks.

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Our son John, around 8 weeks

She has felt no movement, sometimes hasn’t even heard a heartbeat yet. But already she is making extraordinary changes for the sake of her not-yet-known child.  Perhaps she is quitting smoking. She has reduced or ceased drinking alcohol. She is sleeping more and has increased the amount of water she is drinking. Very likely she is more closely watching her diet. She is or will be going to the doctor regularly.

The reality is that this new life has at this point, given her nothing. But in the depths of her heart, indeed her very being, this child is grown in love. The changes, the suffering, the anxiety, all come from this deep place of love.

Do you love anyone without needing them to love you in return?

Advent Reflections – December 7, 2015

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Open to Life: Real Life

So, how does being open to life manifest itself in each of our own daily lives?

To start with, it means being open to the people we immediately come in contact with. When we greet one another with a smile, when we stop what we are doing to look someone in the eye and engage in conversation with them, we are being open to their life. We are affirming their human dignity and worth by encountering them, rather than brushing past them.

It means looking beyond our circle, our comfort zone. Consider visiting  a nursing home, even if you don’t know anyone there. Participate in a food drive and actually go to the food bank, rather than just dropping off a few cans in the bin. Serve a meal at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter and don’t just stay behind your ladle – actually engage with the people you are serving.

It means knowing that there are people out in our shared world who do not have the same values as you, do not have the same priorities as you and perhaps do not even see the purpose of your life. Yet, instead of giving into despair, thinking that humanity is lost, or seeking vengeance for suffering others have inflicted upon us,  we choose to hope, and despite it all, to love.

So we can’t allow ourselves to be stopped by the misfortunes of life or the suffering that we’re enduring, as if this had no meaning. Through them, we can discover that God is knocking on our door and wants to call us again to life, and open up to us the ways of life.

        Archbishop Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, France

November 18, 2015

How is God calling me to live a life that is more open and welcoming? 

Advent Reflections – December 6, 2015

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Open to Life: In Church Tradition

A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members; and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying. – John Paul II

The Catholic Church has an actually very simple philosophy on life. Life is to be respected, valued and protected from conception until natural death. Each life, regardless of who that life is, where they live, what they do, is sacred. And yet, often the simplest things in life are also the most complicated and challenging.

It is easy to be open to the life that we desire. It is easy to be open to the planned child, the neighbor who offers to watch our dog while we are out of town, the parent who ages gracefully, the person who holds the door open at the grocery store. Openness to life on our terms is easy.

The Church, however, isn’t calling us to be open to only the easy life. Jesus did not say “Blessed are those who loved the lovely, the gentle, the kind and forgiving.” Instead, he challenged that only those who saw Him hungry, thirsty, naked, in prison and sick, and did something about it, those few will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 25:31-46).

The Church’s understanding of being open to life is an outward motion. It’s about hands extended, reaching out to those in need to offer comfort, warmth, acceptance and mercy, even when we find it difficult to do so.

Mother Teresa was famous for her “Five Finger Prayer.” Holding up each finger on one hand, slowly say the words “You did it for Me.” How does this prayer, coupled with your understanding of “openness to life” challenge you to be more open to those you encounter today?