Santa Giusta, Bologna, Olavarria, Buenos Aires... Santa Clarita, West Covina...I've had the great privilege of spending a part of Advent in each of these places. I've prayed in Latin, Sardo, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and of course English. There has been solemnity and fesitivity, light and shadows, lumpia and pasta, Jesse Trees and Paroles. Regardless of the atmosphere, the dialect, and the company, one thing was always crystal clear: Jesus was Coming! Experiencing that I could be anywhere in the world and still receive Our Lord, still prepare for His coming, still anticipate Christmas with all its liturgical beauty, it became eminently clear: I am many things, but above all I am a Daughter of the Church.
As I look at my missionary sisters, some so far away from their homeland, I am struck with an almost overwhelming sense of gratitude to see the truth: We are all Daughters of the Church. With this reality comes another fantastic awareness: Our Home is where the Church is, and the Church is everywhere. Before Christ in the Eucharist, come to us as He did on Christmas day - whole and entire, body, blood, soul, and divinity - we could be anywhere in the world. It doesn't matter, because we are with Him.
This is perhaps a little taste of the Peace of Christmas - to know with conviction that you belong to something bigger than yourself, your city, and even your country. You belong to God, and your Home is in the Catholic Church.
May this peace settle in your hearts as we move towards a Holy and Faith filled Christmas Season!
Well stated...AMEN!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings and peace this Christmas season :)