Thankful reflection...

Here in the USA, we see much of what is going on in the World through the news. But how attentive are we? Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It is a national holiday, but its meaning transcends its history. We have so much to be thankful for, yet it is so easy to take it for granted. Below are some figures I found….s

40% of Mexico lives below the poverty line… (CIA)

Unemployment in Guatemala is 7.5% while 75% below the poverty level …(CIA)

“While 31 million Americans, including 12 million children, according to the US Census, suffer from hunger, the food that is wasted in the US alone could feed 49 million people.”

In Afghanistan, 40% are unemployed with 53% below the poverty line… (CIA)

“Everyday, 5,ooo children die from hunger or hunger-related diseases…”

Human trafficking still exists…

There was a Lebanese government official, a Christian, killed two days ago…

What are you thankful for in your life?? Let us not forget those around the world calling out in pain for us to take on their pains as Christ took on our sins.

“The real weapons of mass destruction are not toxic gases or deadly virus, but poverty and social injustice.” (Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez)

I just want to love...

As I gaze upon this statue of our Blessed Mother holding the child Jesus close to her heart, I can’t help but see love. This statue is a beautiful representation of the love of a mother for her child, setting her life aside for the care of the life that came from her. This child is “flesh of her flesh and bone of her bones.” As the Christ child lays his head on Mary’s shoulder in rest, she gently holds his right hand, close to her heart.

Seeing this, I can’t help but hear a call to do the same with my life. If I want to come closer to Christ, to be Christ, I must first learn to love Christ. I must let him penetrate my heart to its innermost depths, just as Mary did as his mother. I must give up my personal wants and desires until all they become is Christ. Christ should be my first want, my first desire. He was present for creation, already preparing for the day when he would come and live among us. He truly has nothing but love for me. And who am I not to return that love? What is that love to become if I do not let it pierce my heart? What is that love to become if I am to try and keep it to myself?

So if I am to bring him to life as a priest, I must learn to let him in my innermost being, just as Mary allowed her Son into her innermost being. I must learn to love him, so that I can make that sacrifice which she made through her “Yes” to the angel, and which Christ made manifest in the Eucharist, which we find available to us everyday.

So, as I continue to gaze at this statue of our Blessed Mother holding the child Jesus close to her heart, I can’t help but feel loved.