Children are our light

 

My dear children,

The world is a beautiful place, but in the midst of its beauty you will find darkness.  As any glorious and flowering rose bush will testify, there are thorns hidden that will pierce our flesh if we are not careful as we stoop to enjoy its scent. So it is with our world and I would fail as a mother if I did not show you how to enjoy the roses that surround us yet alerting you of its ability to take away our soul if we are not careful.

In Spanish there is a phrase for when a woman is expecting to give birth, you may have heard it; “dar a luz”.  Literally translated this means “to give light”.  What a beautiful phrase to describe what will happen at the moment of birth, a light is brought into the world in the form of a little baby. A baby, no matter how it may look or how “productive” it may be in our world is still a light.  That is our ultimate purpose: to be a light and to perpetuate that light!

Having gone through four pregnancies always gave me pause to reevaluate life. I did not think of the 8 week old being inside of me as “fetus”, I thought of you as “my light” and I didn’t want to lose you. I remember seeing the ultrasound image of one of you at 12 weeks old, being told I was miscarrying. I remember your little limbs moving around and you seemed so content in your warm watery home. (And yes, once you were older you were the one that never could walk without skipping.) With each pregnancy and labor and even soon after birth we faced dangers and near death experiences, and yet miracles occurred that allowed each of you to be a unique light in our world.

I understand that there are many who would argue with me on this point; they are convinced that had I been pregnant under other circumstance perhaps I would have celebrated your passing.  The world convinces us that if something is not perfect, it should not have a chance at existing; that suffering has no meaning.

There was a time in my young life when I was in a life or death situation. I had been abducted and was struggling for my life and I considered killing my deranged attacker, (it would have been legal and justified) and yet, even in that moment, I couldn’t do it and threw down what would have been my weapon and was able to escape (another miracle).  So, I know what it is like to have that instinct to kill. It is frightening to know what I am capable of, and I know that such decisions are never “easy” or “simple”. 

Today one thorn is our society who has accepted the arguments for “choice”.  It is a woman’s choice to “give light or destroy it”. 

So today, as we “celebrate” the 40^th year of the Roe v. Wade law, I say to you, my lights, beware of the thorns!  The rose bush is only made more beautiful by your light. Always be courageous and bold as light. The right to live is a matter of liberty and justice for all, let no one convince you otherwise.  I pray that you will always be true to the One who breathed in you his Ruah,  through this your light will always shine.  

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalms 139:13

A most beautiful gift: my Baptism

In our scripture reading for Mass this Sunday we are reminded of God’s grace given through our rebirth in the sacrament of baptism and by celebrating the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. We are also reminded that baptism is a gift available to all, freely given by God, without having to give anything else in return. It is a gift of grace that challenges us to change and to be transformed by its power. I like what Patricia Durchack Sanchez says about baptism:

"We call it grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth and seal. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; baptism because sin is buried (baptism in Greek means to bury, plunge or immerse); anointing for it is priestly and royal; enlightenment because it radiates light; garment since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God’s dominion over us."
(from an article at the Sanchez archives, Patricia Datchuck Sanchez, "Grace Teaches Us", 2000, http://www.ncrpub.org )

Preparing for my own reflection, I came across an ancient homily given on the 6th of January in the year 381 by Church father, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also known as Gregory the Theologian. In his (#40) oration he connects Jesus’ baptism to the Epiphany, a feast which we celebrated last Sunday. These liturgical feasts have been taking place in our Christian liturgies since the very beginnings of our Church! It is easy for us lose sight of the beautiful richness that our liturgical traditions provide throughout our year when we fail to realize how our teachings have been passed down from the apostles time to today. When we go back and read how the early Catholic Church understood who Jesus was, what his mission was, and how our liturgical celebrations raise our awareness on our own mission as disciples of Jesus, we can appreciate how the Church cares for the sacredness of liturgy; worshiping and giving glory to God and evangelizing all people throughout the centuries; uniting cultures.

Reading Gregory’s commentary, I am made aware that our faith is a journey of daily repentance and forgiveness, a dying to our self so that we may be born anew. The Christian baptism was not just a “symbol”for early Christians; this was a gift from God, an initiation to a new and holy life, gifting us with God’s Grace; protecting us from temptation. A few paragraphs from his Oration #40 that he preached in Constantinople on Jan 6….

“For, to say it all in one word, the virtueof Baptism is to be understood as a covenant withGod for a second life and a purer conversation. And indeed all need to fear this very much, and to watch our own souls, each one of us, with all care, that we do not become liars in respect of this profession.”

And….

“If after baptismthe persecutor and tempter of the light assail you (for he assailed even the Word my God through the veil, the hidden Light through that which was manifested), you have the means to conquer him. Fearnot the conflict; defend yourself with the Water; defend yourself with the Spirit, by Which all the fiery darts of the wickedshall be quenched. (Ephesians 6:16) It is Spirit, but That Spiritwhich rent the Mountains”

Almost every day I speak to individuals about baptism, many inquiring about baptizing their child. What an opportunity to remind ourselves about our own baptismal experience….and why we want the same for our children? Do we realize that when we bring our children to be baptized, parents and godparents are saying that we will be models of our Catholic Christian faith for our child; that we will do everything to pass on our faith to our children, until they are old enough to make the decision for themselves? If we are willing to do that, then it requires that we scrutinize our own lives regurlarly, lest we fall short of this promise.

And so why not wait until our children are old enough (age of reason, which our Church says is 7 years old) so they canmake that decision for themselves? Gregory answers that question too by reminding us that our Old Testament understanding of convenant and grace is not lost, as Jesus is the fulfillment of God's covenant for us.

“For it is better that they should be unconsciously sanctified than that they should depart unsealedand uninitiated. A proofof this is found in the Circumcision on the eighth day, which was a sort of typical seal, and was conferred on children before they had the use of reason. And so is the anointing of the doorposts,(Exodus 12:22)which preserved the firstborn, though applied to things which had no consciousness.”

So, here we are today, over1,500 hundred years after Gregory’s community at Constantinople heard him speak and our church continues to pass onto us this truth: that Jesus requires of us a response in love; that we willingly and decidedly plunge into death with him, so that we may rise a new creation. Our baptism requires that must make a decision every day: are we with Him or against Him?

The word decision in Greek is krisis. When looked at in this light I realize that the decision I make every day to follow Christ should involve in my heart and mind a type of crisis; in the sense that if I choose poorly I am led to a calamity. The decision to follow Christ in all ways is not one that can be easy to do; Christians should be fairly easy to spot out in a crowd. Everyone should see that “we” are different by how we love others. Unfortunately, there are too many of us who prefer to follow the ways of the secular world and think are doing enough, no; Jesus asks us to always go deeper, to reach farther, to pray harder, to forgive more often and to open our hearts wider. He asks us to step outside of what makes us comfortable. He asks us to be reborn…..this involves a death to our “passions” or those things that cause us lose sight of the big picture. God asks us to build up his kingdom. Many of us, I included, prefer the “basic” membership to his kingdom; but that would be to misunderstand the meaning of baptism as an initiation in the Christian community. No, that is not sufficient, St. Gregory would advice. When we are baptized we are saying we not a people who live by "minimums".

So today’s feast of the Lord’s baptism reminds me of the Grace of God that was given to me at my baptism in Cuba. As an adult I now have a choice to accept this grace daily, as I should also accept my cross daily. I am now responsible to answer for myself before God on how I love Him back.

I am aware that my conversion is not a onetime deal. Today’s feast prepares me to renew my baptismal vows by reflecting on these questions:


Do I reject evil and sin and accept to be taught by God’s grace?

Do I reject pride, arrogance and self-sufficiency and humbly accept to depend on God as the source of my life and strength?
Do I reject materialism and a preoccupation with acquiring the goods of the earth and freely choose to make God the basis of your security and so share what you have with the needy?

Do I reject injustice in all its forms, moral, social, economic and political and pledge to become a part of the solution to this world’s inequities within the parameters of my own family, my own neighborhood, my own community?

Do I reject discrimination in all its forms and promise to welcome those who would not otherwise find acceptance and to defend their rights against those who would deny them?

Do I renounce self-importance and an ambitious struggle for power over others so as to accept the Christian’s role of servant of all?

Do I believe in God, who creates, redeems, forgives, guides and provides?

Do I believe in Jesus Christ, savior and brother in whose name I am saved?

Do I believe in the Holy Spirit, ever present to empower, sanctify and teach the Church?

Do I believe in the Church, the sacrament and visible sign of Christ among humankind?

Do I freely and willingly renew my baptismal commitment and promise to live each day in accord with the gift of God’s grace that teaches me?

(Questions adapted from an article at the Sanchez archives, Patricia Datchuck Sanchez, "Grace Teaches Us", 2000, http://www.ncrpub.org )

The answer to these should be “I do”…..see the crisis? Saying yes to these questions means I must renounce certain thing of myself: power, ego, greed, deceit, ignorance, bigotry, self loathing, pride, hopelessness, selfishness.....I am asked to die daily to myself if I truly mean that I accept God's grace which was freely given to me at my baptism. I can't accept his Grace without accepting my Cross. I believe in Him, He is my savior and I believe in the healing power of Baptism. Baptism; the beauty of God's love expressed through this sacrament was the beginning of my faith journey; one that will never end as long as I live. Each time I reflect on it I appreciate what my parents did for me a bit more, even though I was not aware of it God's grace was anointed on me. Through my parents, I inherited the wonderful gift of faith; through my personal relationship with Jesus I inherited a share in God's kingdom. May I be worthy to enjoy it when God calls me home!