Today

Entering into the liturgical “ordinary time,” we are invited to accompany Jesus at the start of his public ministry through St. Luke’s gospel. In fact, the reading today begins with the introduction of this great gospel account. From this foreword, we skip 3 chapters and proceed to chapter 4 to join Jesus in his first official public appearance in his hometown. Here he stands before his people in the synagogue and, creatively using a text from the prophet Isaiah, he announces, as it were, his vision and mission: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
I love the way St. Luke creates the suspense after this announcement: “Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.” If it were a film, you can almost imagine the camera doing the close up on the hand of Jesus handing back the scroll to the attendant; and more close-ups on the eyes of the audience…perhaps with a background music heightening the suspense. Then lo and behold, what do we hear? Jesus actualizes the text, with this simple but totally provocative words: “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

While I listened to these words being proclaimed on this relatively sunny day here in our parish somewhere in Rome, I was called back to look at my “today”. And I thought if Jesus applied all these words to himself by actualizing this vision of the Reign of God in his own life, moved and reinforced by the Spirit, how would he want me to respond to these words, today, a totally ordinary day, in a totally ordinary human space? I can’t do great and heroic things as perhaps the aid workers are doing now in Haiti or in Africa or in other places needing relief and aid. I couldn't even solve the many worries and problems I am facing right now.
But the Spirit inspired me to enter deeply into a personal vision-mission, my desire to “build bridges”: the link between my apparent self and my real self; deep and authentic relationships between persons, among peoples, starting from this world and far into the next. And as I reflected over all these, I was graced today with this on-line link from a fellow sister who’s now doing research in Australia. I consider it as one possible answer to my question – how do I respond to God’s word today? How can Jesus continue to announce the Good news today, through me?
The answer is quite simple, but very deep: “open your eyes...open your heart... accept today... learn the art of gratitude... today.” See this inspirational piece of how to live the Gospel today. May you have a truly good day!

Friendship

In the beginning of this New Year 2010, as I thanked the Lord for the blessing of my natural and religious families, I also remembered the blessing of friends who have accompanied me in this past year, and friends I have "re-connected with" through the help of modern technology.

I believe that the invaluable gift of friendship which we receive and give is connected to our faith in the mystery of the Incarnation that we are celebrating these days. Our human friendships are reminders of the great love and friendship of God the Father, manifested in his Son Jesus – our friend, brother, Divine Teacher and Lord – indeed, the Way, the Truth and the Life who leads us back to the Father through the work of his Spirit.

Secondly, our friendships lived within the context of our natural and religious families are also a participation in the life of the Holy Family – in the love which prevailed in the house of Joseph, Mary and Jesus, as each one allowed the Holy Spirit to be the guide and rule of both private and public life.

As a third source of inspiration, I'd like to mention here the celebration we had yesterday, January 2 – the liturgical feast of St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nazianzen. These two Fathers of the Church could really inspire us in making some kind of "examen" as to the friendships we have and we continue to nurture in our life. Here are some excerpts from St. Gregory’s testimony about this holy friendship, delivered on the funeral of his friend St. Basil:
We were contained by Athens, like two branches of some river-stream, for after leaving the common fountain of our fatherland, we had been separated in our varying pursuit of culture, and were now again united by the impulsion of God no less than by our own agreement. I preceded him by a little, but he soon followed me, to be welcomed with great and brilliant hope. (…)
This was the prelude of our friendship. This was the kindling spark of our union: thus we felt the wound of mutual love. (…) And when, as time went on, we acknowledged our mutual affection, and that philosophy was our aim, we were all in all to one another, housemates, messmates, intimates, with one object in life, or an affection for each other ever growing warmer and stronger. (...)
We were impelled by equal hopes, in a pursuit especially obnoxious to envy, that of letters. Yet envy we knew not, and emulation was of service to us. We struggled, not each to gain the first place for himself, but to yield it to the other; for we made each other's reputation to be our own. We seemed to have one soul, inhabiting two bodies. (…)
The sole business of both of us was virtue, and living for the hopes to come, having retired from this world, before our actual departure hence. With a view to this, were directed all our life and actions, under the guidance of the commandment, as we sharpened upon each other our weapons of virtue; and if this is not a great thing for me to say, being a rule and standard to each other, for the distinction between what was right and what was not. (…)
Two ways were known to us, the first of greater value, the second of smaller consequence: the one leading to our sacred buildings and the teachers there, the other to secular instructors. All others we left to those who would pursue them— to feasts, theatres, meetings, banquets. For nothing is in my opinion of value, save that which leads to virtue and to the improvement of its devotees. Different men have different names, derived from their fathers, their families, their pursuits, their exploits: we had but one great business and name— to be and to be called Christians .

For the complete text of this discourse, you can visit this site.