Thanksgiving

Our word for the body of Christ and for the celebration of that sacrament (Eucharist) comes from a Greek word that means “praise and thanksgiving.” As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, it’s a good reminder that we are called to constantly give thanks for our blessings.

At a time when the majority of the world’s population lives on less then $300 a year, even those of us who are poor in America are materially wealthy in comparison. So we can use this holiday to pause and remind ourselves of the many blessings we have. Some of these blessings are things we take for granted that many in our world can’t have: clean drinking water, a soft bed to sleep in, A/C units to keep us warm or cool, more than one set of clothing we can wear, indoor plumbing, and our health. Others may be more personal, tailored to each individual or each family.

Whatever the case, pause often this month and take the time to turn your thoughts to God in prayer, and thank God for the blessings and the tribulations that are part of our life. It will connect us to the saints and angels who surround God’s throne in heaven and continually offer him praise and thanksgiving.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

Saint/Virtue of the Month: November

Each month at Our Lady of Sorrows is dedicated to a particular saint (generally chosen from the month) and virtue (generally taken from the fruits of the Spirit—Galatians 5:22-23, 2 Corinthians 6:6, Ephesians 5:9, and 2 Peter 1:5-7). The saint and virtue are incorporated into our morning prayer, religion bulletin boards, and religion classes. This focus on one saint and one virtue complements our Words of Wisdom, and serves as a supplement to our religion curriculum. This month we focus on St. Martin de Porres and the virtue of Generosity.

St. Martin was born in 1579 at Lima, Peru. He was born into impoverished circumstances as his father left his mother after his sister was born. He started working at the age of 12 to help support his family. At the age of 15 he asked to be taken in as a lay brother of the Dominican order, not feeling himself worthy to be a full religious brother.

Once in the order he spent many of his nights praying and doing penance, while his days were spent nursing the sick, caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, and even taking care of pets and homeless animals. His love and care extended to everyone, regardless of skin color, race, status or privilege.

St. Martin called himself a “poor slave” until the end of his life, even though he became the spiritual director of many of his fellow religious. To this day he is loved as the patron saint of African-Americans, race relations and social justice, among others.

Our virtue for the month is generosity. St. Martin is a perfect example of this, as he gave of his time, talents and resources to help as many people as he could. In our families we are challenged to be generous with patience, forgiveness, understanding and time. In our community we are challenged to be generous to individuals and institutions who need our help to help others. And in our personal life we are challenged to be generous to every individual who crosses our path, imitating Jesus is giving all that is asked of us for the greater glory of God and for the building up of the body of Christ.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo De La Rosa III

Faith & Family: November

Parents exercise their love for their children by caring for their physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and moral needs. Concern for these needs takes much time and commitment on the part of both mother and father. (US Catholic Catechism for Adults, p. 378)

For most married couples, children are a natural part of starting a new family. Whereas at first a couple is intensely focused on each other, the birth of their first child (and any subsequent children) enlarges their sphere of concern to include these new family members.

Our Catechism reminds those of us who are parents (or who will one day be parents) that having children brings an immense responsibility to make sure that we do our very best in raising them. It puts emphasis on the amount of time that it takes to devotedly raise our children—time that we are challenged to sacrifice from other pursuits.

Practically, this means that no job, no volunteer organization, no hobby, no friends, not even our extended family members have the unique claim on our time that our children do. While grandparents, teachers, coaches, relatives and other adults can and should help us raise our children, the ultimate responsibility rests with us.

Raising our children encompasses all of the areas listed above—we are the primary religion teachers of our children, passing on our faith and morals through word and example. We are the primary socializers of our children, teaching them how to act and behave with others, both through our words and through our example. And we are the main caretakers of our children’s hearts and souls, nurturing their emotional and intellectual growth in appropriate ways, and sheltering them when they are young from the harsher elements in our world.

It is not an easy task. But it is part of our road to holiness, just as silence and simplicity are the road that religious travel on. God gives us this great gift of children to stretch us, while at the same time bringing us untold joy with their presence. [I tell parents of pre-teens and teens that they are growing in the same way and at the same time as their children. Adolescence is a time for the whole family to adjust, and sometimes it can just as hard on us as adults as on our kids. Roles are being redefined, teens are doing their developmentally appropriate task of pushing boundaries and asking questions, and parents are challenged to continue loving the young adults that are forming in front of their very eyes. The love will in some ways be the same as the love given to the newborn, toddler and elementary aged child, but in other ways it will have to change. Just as we don’t treat our 4th grade child like a toddler, we must also adjust to treating our pre-teens and teens in slightly different ways then our 4th graders. This becomes immensely important as they journey through high school, where we have four short years to teach them how to function as adults out on their own. No one said being a parent was easy :) But it is an immensely rewarding and challenging responsibility chosen by a couple and graciously gifted by God.]

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo De La Rosa III

Saint/Virtue of the Month: October

Each month at Our Lady of Sorrows is dedicated to a particular saint (generally chosen from the month) and virtue (generally taken from the fruits of the Spirit—Galatians 5:22-23, 2 Corinthians 6:6, Ephesians 5:9, and 2 Peter 1:5-7). The saint and virtue are incorporated into our morning prayer, religion bulletin boards, and religion classes. This focus on one saint and one virtue complements our Words of Wisdom, and serves as a supplement to our religion curriculum. This month we focus on St. Francis of Assisi and the virtue of Patience.

St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment, but there is much more to Brother Francis then an ecological concern for our planet. One of his largest contributions to Catholicism was his desire to live his life as close to Jesus’ as possible.

He fell in love with Lady Poverty early on in life, so much so that even when he was living surrounded by his family’s wealth he had times in his life when he would go off alone to pray, or take everything he had on him and give it to someone who needed it more. He tried to radically live Jesus’ prohibition against putting our trust in stuff and instead trusting God (through the kindness of strangers and benefactors) to provide anything and everything he needed.

He was so patient with others that people marveled at him, and his humility and gentleness shone through to everyone he met, from beggar to world leader. He made his peace with life and death, so much so that he could talk about Sister Death gently and lovingly coming to lead him (and everyone else) into God’s presence.

Our virtue for the month is patience. In a world of fast food, instant messaging, streaming movies, disposable items, and sound bites that masquerade for news, patience is in short supply. Yet Jesus reminds us that no one can rush the growth of crops—it happens at its own pace. We are reminded this month to slow down, to savor the experiences of the moment, to marinate in the present instead of always looking to the future, and to let God unfold our lives as He sees fit.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo De La Rosa III

Faith & Family: October

Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." (Ephesians 5:22-31, abridged)

[Don’t you just love contentious Scriptural quotations?:)]

This particular part of Scripture speaks about the continuing relationship between a man and a woman who have celebrated the sacrament of Matrimony. They are to behave in mutually humble ways with each other, with the goal of mirroring the relationship between Christ Jesus glorified in heaven and the Body of Christ working out our salvation here on earth. What exactly is this relationship?

Jesus gives everything he has for us. His time, energy, and teaching was given to us while he was physically alive on earth. Ultimately he held nothing back, as even his very life was given to us as a gift. Even now he continues to intercede for us, to watch over us, and to give us an example of how fierce and passionate and humble and self-sacrificing love can be, all at once.

As the Body of Christ, we are called to follow Jesus’ example. But even more then that, we are called to willingly submit (make ourselves slaves, if we follow the Greek New Testament literally) to the demands that Jesus makes of us: sell everything you have, forgive everything, pray without ceasing, trust God in all things.

Being a husband or wife both demand sacrifice, but St. Paul gives us an example to follow: the mutual self-sacrifice of Christ for his people and of the Church for Christ. He gives us an example of the way marriage should be—not a partnership where each person gives 50/50, but a covenant where husband and wife agree to submit to each other, to love each other, to forgive each other, and to eventually become saints together in heaven.

[The rest of this is new material :)]

The church teaches that the sacrament of matrimony is a way to holiness. Our day to day actions are pathways we can take to make sure that everyone in our family eventually reaches heaven. For a husband and wife that necessarily involves sacrifice. It involves agape love – not the passionate sexual love that bonds a couple to each other (though it’s important and holy in it’s own right), but the willingness to do whatever is best for the other person. True love means putting our own needs, wants, emotions and desires aside at times so that we can choose the route that is best for our whole family, not just ourselves.

When St. Paul asks a wife and husband to submit and love, it is a command born of the love Jesus showed for us. May all of us who are in a committed relationship find the strength to truly love our partner as Christ loves us.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo De La Rosa III

Saint/Virtue of the Month: September

In a similar vein to my last post, our school chooses one saint and one virtue each month. This is a digital reprint of the article that appears in our newsletter. Enjoy :)

Each month at Our Lady of Sorrows is dedicated to a particular saint (generally chosen from the month) and virtue (generally taken from the fruits of the Spirit—Galatians 5:22-23, 2 Corinthians 6:6, Ephesians 5:9, and 2 Peter 1:5-7). The saint and virtue are incorporated into our morning prayer, religion bulletin boards, and religion classes. This focus on one saint and one virtue complements our Words of Wisdom, and serves as a supplement to our religion curriculum. This month we focus on the Archangels and the virtue of goodness.

According to Catholic teaching there are several choirs (ranks) of angels, divided into three hierarchies: Seraphim, Cherubim & Thrones; The Dominions, Virtues & Powers; Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. All angels are spiritual beings (they have no physical body) that have great wisdom, freedom, goodness and power. Archangels are under the guidance of St. Michael, and they are tasked with guarding over the church. Our personal guardian angels always watch over us as God commands as well. 

The archangels whose names we know from Scripture (and who form the basis of the Feast day for the Archangels) are St. Gabriel (Book of Daniel, Luke’s Gospel), St. Michael (Book of Daniel and Book of Revelation), and St. Raphael (Book of Tobit). All angels are messengers of God, but these three have specific roles in Scripture: Michael protects; Gabriel announces; Raphael guides.

This month, then, can be used to remind ourselves that God’s protection, wisdom and guidance are always accessible to us in the form of angels who surround us, our world, and our entire universe. Children especially can be taught to call upon their guardian angel in times of need, and everyone can add the petition to St. Michael to their repertoire of prayers.

The virtue of goodness flows through our angelic guides—as messengers who mediate the presence of our all-good God they bring God’s goodness with them wherever they go. We are challenged to live our lives in such a way that we, too, become mirrors that reflect the goodness of God through our actions.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo De La Rosa III

Faith & Family (September Column)

I’m writing a small monthly column for our school newsletter. I’ll be plagiarizing (and maybe expanding/editing/commenting on) those columns for my blog :) Small changes/edits will look normal. Longer edits will be demarcated for your reading pleasure.

Marriage and family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2201)

A basic human experience is that of two people meeting, dating, falling in love, getting engaged, and getting married. It’s the seed from which all families sprout, and, as our Catechism teaches, it is a good thing [sheesh – I sound like Martha Stewart!]. Since marriage is the basis of the family in Catholic teaching, we’ll look at how the Catholic faith approaches marriage in this first column on the family.

Marriage is between one man and one woman. It unites a couple in faithful and mutual love and service [as a lengthy aside, I’d like to pontificate on the fact that love and service go hand-in-hand. “Falling in love,” that rush of emotions that heralds the beginning of a potential relationship, is but the first phase of a life-long relationship. Just as we expect different behaviors from 5th graders and 5  year olds, or 40 year olds and teenagers, we should expect a relationship to grow and change, not stay exactly the same. People who get married and then complain that they have “fallen out of love” probably never took the time to really get to know themselves and their potential spouse. That first blush of overwhelming emotions will settle down, and if that’s all there ever was between a couple they should never have gotten married in the first place.] Husband and wife are called by God to this vocation—this state of graced living—as a way of becoming holy, as a means to bring new life to the world, and as a challenge to be a sign of Christ’s life in and for the world. [Lenghty aside #2: A married couple’s road to sanctity – to holiness – is through the normal ups and downs of married life. Everything we do – from changing diapers, to taking care of each other when one is sick, to doing the laundry, to going on vacation, to simply sitting and watching TV together – everything is a potential vehicle for grace (God’s life, love and creative energy) to enter more fully into each person individually and into the family as a whole]

That’s a pretty big job description! So the Church provides resources to make sure that each married couple can weather the storms that inevitably crop up. During the engagement period, couples are asked to meet with more experienced married couples from their parish to take a pre-marriage relationship inventory and talk about the results. The inventory asks questions related to finances, children, intimacy, family, etc.—the goal is to make sure that a couple has talked openly about all areas of their relationship before deciding to commit to the sacrament. [Personal aside: It was great doing this with my wife. We had done out best to talk about lots of things before beginning this process, but it was still incredibly humbling to find that there were areas where we just didn’t agree, or areas we hadn’t even thought of. Being able to sit down with our great sponsor couple (thanks Lydia and Morris!) and talk over the areas where our results didn’t match up really helped us cement our relationship and more fully prepare us for the great adventure of marriage!]

In order to strengthen the bond between husband and wife after marriage the church encourages participation in retreats, workshops, Mass, and small groups. Date nights, time alone, shared interests and time spent with other adults are also ways to keep a strong marriage bond. [It’s instructive to remember that your spouse is not supposed to be your only point of contact with the outside world. Even for introverts like my wife and I (thank God our son, while not as introverted as us, is still on our side of the field!), there are times when we are apart with friends or extended family. Being able to experience things separately, and then bringing those disparate experiences back into the relationship, helps to strengthen the bonds of love and trust. Time together is great, but time apart is needed as well!]

In keeping that bond strong, a couple gives to their kids and all of their acquaintances a great gift—a strong, Christian example of what a loving, sacrificing, servant-oriented love can look like. [Again I’d stress that a relationship built primarily upon physical attributes, excessive emotions, and/or sexuality is going to quickly burn out. Tempering that “falling in love” euphoria with a selfless, sacrificial, servant-oriented mentality towards your partner is, as far as I can tell, the best way to keep a relationship life-giving over time.] They participate in and reflect the kind of love that Jesus has for us. And in doing so, they provide their kids with an example to follow, and a safe place in which to grow up and explore the wider world.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo