GIVE THANKS: A Permanent Attitude and Conquest.

Every year in November, North American tradition, culture, and society contemplates the celebration of THANKSGIVING: “Thanksgiving Day”. On this day, the most beloved and the most anticipated, the most important and the most celebrated by the American people, we recall a foundational historical event of the United States as a Nation: the first harvest and first meal shared between the natives and the pilgrims in the year 1621. I cannot fail to recognize that those who revise history tend to have another interpretation to this so-called celebration.

The emotion evoked by this historical event provides all of us who live in this Country with a reason to travel and gather together with our families and with those who are dearest to us, to indulge, to rejoice, to break bread together, but, above all, to GIVE THANKS for all that we are and all that we have.

And within this opportunity to GIVE THANKS, at this pause, meeting and annual holiday that, as a Nation, we observe to BE THANKFUL, lies the importance and worth of this celebration. It is a celebration that summons us to a GIVING OF THANKS to be happy.

Because the original vocation and the primordial and unceasing search of humans is to be happy and only he who is able to be thankful, who is able to live finding reasons in everyday life to be thankful can be happy. Therefore, Thanksgiving is a day for happiness, it is a day when we feel happy and when we are happy, because it is a day to evoke, collect and bring out all the reasons we have to be thankful, all the reasons we have to be happy.

But gratitude cannot be relegated or limited to one day, to one date every year, because daily life is itself a gift ... so GRATITUDE, beyond this annual celebration, must be a permanent attitude in our lives and in the work of each one of us and of all of us as a family and a Nation.

It gives us the possibility to be thankful, to be happy, a historical existence seen, conceived and lived with a sense of transcendence: with the possibility of discovering life and everything within it as a gift and as evidence of the presence of God's love: the possibility, definitively, to live life as a space-time of blessings…. But, while also remaining vigilant against the gratitude for, and the possibility of being happy in, a life lived in the immediacy of money, in the ephemeral nature of buying and selling, in the tangible utilitarianism of supply and demand, in consumerist materiality and in exhausting, innate, and passing mercantilism.

All of us who live here have many reasons to be thankful and to be happy. Because all the good that we are, have and that happens to us is something for which we can be thankful, or at the very least, something good from which we can learn and then move on. 

Our lives, our families, our loved ones, our health, our educational and work opportunities, our dreams and goals, our daily efforts and our personal and community achievements reflected in the greatness of this Nation and in the quality of life we ​​can enjoy ... these are all reasons we see daily and for which we can be thankful and live with a permanent attitude of thankfulness.

But, we do not ignore and we all know that here and in all of humanity there is a lot of room for improvement, a lot to humanize, many reasons for pain, anguish, and suffering, many experiences of injustice, of violence and of death, many frustrated dreams and many failed hopes, many ways in which evil manifests in human selfishness.

Then, on THANKSGIVING and on every day, we are presented and offered  an opportunity to give thanks but, also and especially, we are offered a challenge to be happy, to build reasons to be thankful. Gratitude is a daily attitude and conquest: an attitude that is conquered.

Gratitude, then, is an attitude, a challenge, and a permanent construction. THANKSGIVING gladdens and challenges us, brings us together, but sends us out to build reasons every day to keep thanking, to remain happy. ... We have much to celebrate, but we have many more reasons to keep living and constructing every day the existences, families, relationships, communities, and abundant living spaces around us that will allow us to continue giving thanks. ...

Without this ongoing search for happiness, to find, build, give, and offer other reasons to GIVE THANKS, Thanksgiving is just another day on the calendar that, on the next day, is gone and forgotten. ... Because there cannot be a true and authentic THANKSGIVING when there are still people in the world who suffer and languish because they lack the minimum conditions to live, believe, love, wait, thank and be happy ...

THANKSGIVING DAY is an annual holiday of our homeland, a day on the calendar to GIVE THANKS, but especially a celebration to remind us that this must be our permanent attitude: an attitude of gratefulness to be happy and to relaunch ourselves not into the egotistical and frantic search and selfishness of another passing holiday, but into the construction of a better, fairer and more humane world; a world in which all inhabitants of the earth—not only those of this Nation—live and have the opportunity to celebrate and give thanks. 

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving Day! May you always find and build many reasons to give thanks and be happy!

For a Purposeful and Well-led Hispanic Presence in the United States

Like a waterwheel, year after year, September arrives, the month decreed by the US government for the celebration of Hispanic Heritage. And, also like a waterwheel, year after year, we rejoice in this celebration as we acknowledge the presence of Hispanics and our Hispanic heritage in this Nation.

We deserve to have our presence recognized in this society as well as the contributions that, through our daily lives and work and over the decades, we have made to the construction of this great Nation.

And it is very good that we celebrate, that we rejoice, that we have parades and processions, that we display our traditional clothing and our joy, that we show our customs and traditions and our jubilation. But, this important annual occasion cannot exist in just external gatherings. … There are many problems that humanity faces, many very serious problems that our nations of origin are discussing, and many, also very serious problems that Hispanics face at this historical and political juncture in this Nation, like wasting the opportunity presented by this official and national recognition of our heritage in this Nation by lending ourselves to the vain game of simplistic formalities...

As Hispanics in this Nation, we must be more serious and more profound, less superficial, more thoughtful and committed to our present and to our near future in the United States.

I put forth, here, in these lines, some of the problems that we should approach seriously, that we should face together and decisively, issues for which we should pause, reflectively and purposefully, so that we achieve, here and now, in this Nation, a presence that is not only physical and symbolic, but also strong and decisive. So that our presence and heritage in the United States is not remembered just one month a year, but rather, is a presence and heritage that is respectable and respected, a presence that is strong, united, solidary, and powerful for the harvesting of our best aspirations for today’s Hispanic community, for the Hispanics yet to come and for the future generations of Hispanics in the United States.

The ancestral account of our Hispanic origins tells us that we come from the "cosmic race" of Vasconcelos. That Hispanics carry in our blood the alchemy of all races of humanity. That we are, all at the same time: blacks and whites, aborigines and Indo-Europeans, Asians and Moors. ... We are ecumenical and Catholic in the most literal sense of these words: we are universal. In our hearts and in our minds, all colors, shapes, expressions, and cultures fit. ... Because we are a cosmic race, social and ideological positions as well as racist and discriminatory politics do not fit in our hearts and minds. There is no place in our existence and our lives for a world of walls and divisions; there is no place for separation or segregation. ... We do not discriminate against anyone, but we cannot allow discrimination, division, separation, labeling..

Therefore, I appeal to the conscience of the Hispanic community so that, I repeat, in addition to our annual Shrovetide gatherings, we focus on fighting, with our deeds and our words, with our votes and our laws, the anti-immigrant positions and prejudices that we suffer today and that results in millions of our Hispanic brothers and families finding themselves in endless situations of enormous suffering.

Communism, guerrillas, internal revolutions are not, here and now, our threat. Our real problems, our real threats come—among other extensive issues and problems that fall outside the scope of this discussion—from the enormous and unmeasurable administrative and political corruption that, along with drug trafficking, corrodes the foundations of our nations of origin and that, as a ruthless and immediate consequence, causes a thousand forms of violence and death, impoverishes millions of Latin Americans and forces them to emigrate to this Nation, among others, in search of better living conditions.

The solution to all of this and the successes that we urgently need for our Hispanic heritage and presence in this Nation, therefore, require a Hispanic leadership here and in our homelands, that is intelligent and honest, serious and combative, generous and altruistic, and that is trained in and committed to the best hopes of Latin Americans and Hispanics residing in this Nation.

We urgently need leaders who are in tune with Hispanics and with all things Hispanic, trained, intelligent, and knowledgeable about the functioning of this American society and our socio-historical roots.

We need a leadership that is capable of tuning into all things American and into the needs and common good to which Hispanic residents in this nation aspire. We urgently need leaders who are capable of knowing and tuning in to our frustrations and desires, our anger and our values, and the best of our heritage as well as the best of this American society. Leaders capable of defending our integration into this society above and against any form of submission, surrender or assimilation. Leaders, in short, who will fight to achieve more just, equitable, and respectful political and diplomatic relations between this Nation and our nations of origin and with our Hispanic presence and heritage in the United States of America. We have a lot to think about and to reconsider during this month when we celebrate our Hispanic heritage! There is much we have done, built and achieved, but we have much left to do!

EASTER: Everyone CROSSES OVER, every day ...

Easter Sunday is an essential Christian holy day. Easter is a liturgical season lasting approximately six weeks, starting at the most significant Sunday of the Catholic liturgical year, when we celebrate Christians’ greatest confession of faith – proclaiming Christ risen and alive in the life of Christians and in the ecclesial community – and lasting until the solemnity of Pentecost.

Although it is the most significant annual holy day for Catholic Christians, the celebration of Easter has a universal message, i.e., a valid message for all men and women of good will, from any location, race, religious creed, political ideology, socio-educational level, social position, etc.

The Spanish word for Easter, PASCUA, comes from a Hebrew word meaning "CROSSING OVER". Easter was already celebrated by the men and women of the Old Testament when they commemorated the "crossing" of the Red Sea (cf. Ex 12-15), through which they were freed from the oppression to which they had been subjected for several centuries by the Egyptians. Later, the men and women of the Old Testament, converted now to Christianity, continued celebrating Easter, but with a new essence and meaning: the triumph and "transition" of life over death, the victory and "triumph" of good over sin in the person of Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ was crucified (cf. Ac 5:30), the first Christians who witnessed his Resurrection and confessed and proclaimed him as Living God (Mt 28:6) in their midst; these same first disciples made the transition from the old to the new (2 Cor 5:17), from selfishness to love , from those who are capable of recognizing themselves as brothers of the same God and Father (Gal 4:6), from sadness to joy (Jn 20:1- 18), from disbelief to peace (Jn 20:27), from cowardice to courage, from life alone to an existence where we can share bread with others (Lk 24:13-35), from the oppression of a life lived according to the law to a life lived in service and freely and generously given toward others (Mt 16:25), especially to those most in need (Mt 25:31ss).

This was understood, lived and theologized, at the time, by men like Paul of Tarsus or John the Apostle when they wrote that Easter consists of the renewal of the mind (Rm 12:2) or in the "crossing over" from death to life, if we love one another (1 Jn 3:14ss).

It is enough to see and hear the news that the media and social networks give us to make us aware of all the deep problems and  serious crises and conflicts now facing mankind in all the institutions that make up society and in all its facets.

These are conflicts that touch and involve the individual, the family, society, international relations, etc. Problems, conflicts and crises that manifest themselves in the loss of the value and meaning of life, in the solitude of many, in the use of psycho-addictive substances , in the breaking down of values, in the impermanence of family structures (divorces, de facto unions, infidelities, lack of commitment in marital couples, job instability, lack of social security for the family in many countries, intergenerational conflicts between parents and children, etc.); in administrative corruption; in lack of public services; unemployment; the loss of prestige, leadership and credibility of the religious institutions governing moral and social values; the lack of social opportunities for a personal and family life of dignity; the loss in the  quality of education; the pursuit of personal and social fulfillment through hedonistic and pansexualist pleasure; by recognizing selfishness and materialism as supreme values and through abusive and confrontational power; in scandalous forms of social inequality; injustices; a thousand forms of violence and death; drug trafficking; arms races; exploitation, and irreversible damage to ecosystems; internal and international war conflicts; famines; epidemics and pandemics; moral relativism according to which nothing is worth anything or everything is equal; and, a total lack of the existential meaning of transcendence.

This list of personal, family, social, national and world ills represents the manifestations of a greater evil: the evil that lives within man, in the very heart of the human being (cf. Mk 7:21ss). The crisis of structures is first and foremost a crisis of men and women. The rotten fruits of our human coexistence and our societies are the product of bad trees, with diseased sap. Because "the tree is known by its fruits ... " (Mt 7:15ss).

The first and deepest causes of our personal and social discomfort must be sought in the gaps, deficiencies and losses within the human spirit. While we have made significant advances in science, in technology, in the capacity to telecommunicate amongst ourselves, in the globalization of markets and in the accumulation of great capital and lifestyles full of luxury and comfort, we have diminished the importance of the great principles and values ​​that define the essential, intrinsic, innate spirit of the human being, that is, everything that makes us truly "human" and not inhuman.

EASTER has a message and a call for all to change and renew from within, to improve everything within us. EASTER is an auspicious time to pause on our journey and to start again. In Pauline terminology, we may cross over from the old man to the new man (cf. Col 3:10).

Today, the greatest emergency facing society and humanity demands of every human being an "Easter" experience, that is, an experience of "crossing over" inhumane, sub-human, or less humane circumstances and conditions to reach those that are more humane and worthy of people.

The desire for everyone, around the planet, to build  better societies and a better world in which we achieve the happiness we relentlessly seek, challenges us all to a daily and ongoing Easter experience: that of being better human beings, better families, better professionals, better citizens in order to build the apocalyptic utopia of "a new heaven in a new land" (cf. Rev 21:1-8).

Thus, the celebration of Christian EASTER is not merely a Catholic liturgical celebration, but also a birthright of all humanity, a call to all and a daily task while we are living: to be men and women, new and renewed, capable of transforming ourselves, our personal lives, and through those, our institutions and social structures to be more just, more solidary, and more humane.

HAPPY EASTER!

 

SIX YEARS OF POPE FRANCIS

On March 13^th and the 19^th, the Catholic world will celebrate the sixth anniversaries of the 2013 election and inauguration, respectively, of Pope Francis’ Pontificate.

Six years is a long way to look back and to evaluate what has been accomplished but, above all, to project the near future that awaits and challenges us under the guidance of this man, this Christian, and this pastor, recognized as a spiritual leader by and for all humanity.

Some Information About His Profile ...

His Pontificate has elicited admiration, and no one remains indifferent about it, either by the novelty of his genuine personality as a human being and as Pope or by the themes, accentuations and emphases of his Petrine ministry.

Francis is, above all, a Latin American man, a Christian, and a Jesuit priest who embraced and embraces the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in integrating them into his own life and his own teachings. And, this desire to want to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ authentically, simply, transparently and without airs, is not foreign to him, nor has it escaped the amazement and admiration of all, both within and outside the Catholic Church.

His own temperament and his life as a Christian also make him an intimate man and pastor – simple and humble – one who is like us. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is, as a man and as Pope, a daily, simple, and authentic being in his words and gestures, in the topics he addresses, in his attitudes and in his way of communicating and getting close to everyone. ...

His way of being in the Church and in the world shows him as a man who is conservative in his doctrine, but progressive in his attitudes and approaches; as a good pastor, welcoming, compassionate, and inclusive, and not exclusive (for example, in his approach to the position of women and homosexuals in the life of the Church) and as a Pope who has, wants and proposes a new way of understanding the forms of government within the Church, to the point of appearing and presenting himself as "anticlerical".

His Challenges and How He Has Answered Them ...

Restoring the trust and credibility of the world and of the Catholic faithful in the Catholic Church, in its hierarchies, in its institutions, and in its message is, without a doubt, the great challenge facing the Church in this era of the Pope Francis’ government. The Pontificate of Francis is challenged by important issues and problems – within and outside the Church – that must be confronted and resolved for the life, existence, and work of the Church in the world.

To these problems and challenges, Francis has responded by confronting them, without fuss or noise, but with all the determination and seriousness that these challenges demand from the Leader and Shepherd of the Universal Church.

In the remainder of this article, I briefly enumerate the big challenges that I see facing the Pontificate of Francis and the responses that the Pope has delivered in each case, during the six years of his Pontificate.

First, it is urgent that the Catholic Church, its authorities, especially its universal leader and guide, develop and lead positions on the major issues concerning the Church and all humanity. It is urgent that the light "does not stay under the bed, but that it gives light to all those who are at home". It is urgent that the light "shines amidst the darkness". It is urgent that the preaching of the Church leaves the sacristies to illuminate the path of all men and women of good will in the great issues, of all types, relating to human existence and to life in society.

Responding to this challenge, Francis, as a Latin American man, knows first-hand the various sounds, pains and profiles that the very serious social problems facing today's man have, and, from the first hours of his Pontificate, he has asked the Church to "go out to the peripheries".  What this means and implies is not to only go to the geographical peripheries, but also and, above all, to the central issues of the world and of all humanity where the Church, perhaps, became peripheral. ... Francis, in all his messages, is interested in everyday problems of all kinds where human beings live with the certainty and conviction that the Gospel of Jesus may enlighten and clarify the existence of every man and all men, with its mystery, its problems, its lights and shadows (cf GS 22).Francis's openness to any topic that interests everyone has been demonstrated in his many trips, messages, and meetings with political and religious leaders from around the world.

Second, Francis has pledged much of the last six years of his Pontificate to a major reform within the Church that starts from the very heart of the Vatican State organization  and, in particular, from the Roman Curia, its dicasteries, its organizational chart, accounts, etc. With the conviction that the testimony begins at home, Francis appointed, at the beginning of his Pontificate, a commission of Cardinals in charge of this reform, who serve as his immediate consultants and advisors. This reform has not been easy for the Pope due to the resistances that, in the very bosom of Vatican life, have arisen and have become evident.

A third challenge, the most mediatic of all, concerns the scandals that, in sexual matters, have undermined the credibility of the Church, especially through the sexual abuse committed against minors(pedophilia) by ordained ministers and of consecrated men and women (bishops, priests, religious men and women). These sex crimes committed, an immense majority of them decades ago and many others in recent times, today come to light thanks to accusations, the payment of lawsuits and, above all, the immediacy of the events in which we live today due to communication through the media and social networks.

In this, as in the most important matters of the life of the Church, Francis has taken the reins, has faced the issues, and has put the cards on the table so that the subject can be discussed and aired openly and without fear. The government of Pope Francis has made drastic decisions, legislated, met personally with the victims, has asked for forgiveness, has punished, has reduced many clerics to lay life, has decreed zero tolerance, but - above all – it has denounced the hypocrisy of our current life in society in which hedonism and pansexuality prevail. It is a pansexualist society and one that is libertine in sexual matters in which priests and clergy are born, in which they are raised and from which they come and, then, lose their minds in sexual crimes - of all kinds - that occur daily by the hundreds throughout the world and that are committed not only by the clergy, but also by men and women of all conditions and stations of life.

Finally: all of this sets a challenge more, and not less, important to the Catholic Church: the current and growing scattering and/or fall in the number of Catholic faithful in all latitudes, due to - in most cases - the problems mentioned above. Francis is aware of this and with his personality, his accentuations, his life, and his Pontificate, gravitates, above all, toward a Christian and ecclesial life in which the authenticity and quality of Catholicism and discipleship in Christ among believers prevails over mere quantity; and this quantity is a result of the testimony and Christians’ authentic following of Christ.

May God bless Francis so that, with the human and Christian authority and authenticity he has shown in these six years of his Pontificate, he may continue to guide the life of the Church and illuminate the path for all humanity for many years to come.

New Year…New Life and a Better World

The end of one year and the beginning of the next is a time of goodbyes and hellos. It is a time of good wishes and of wishing for the prosperity of loved ones and for all of humanity. But, above all, it is a time for balance, good purposes and intentions. ...

When the year ends, we evaluate what has been achieved and what has not been achieved with respect to the objectives and goals that we set for the ending year ... goals that range from the merely individual and very personal to those that transcend family, social, racial, ideological and cultural boundaries, to open ourselves up to the best intentions and purposes for the good of all of us who inhabit the earth.

We all live, even he who ignores it and he who doubts it, through times of profound changes and crises that affect us all, anguish us and fill us with uncertainty regarding the immediate future in each of our lives, in the lives of those closest to us, of our compatriots, and of the world. ...

Changes and crises that touch all strata of human life in society and throughout the planet. Crises and changes that involve all spheres of society: political, economic, religious, cultural, social, etc. ... crisis in social frameworks, crisis in institutions and in social organizations. There are crises and changes in the traditionally known and established. ... If anything characterizes our time, it is the uncertainty about what is to come ...

Nobody, no one among us, is or can be a passive or foreign spectator before what is happening in this stage of man’s life on earth. We all share responsibility for the history that we are building or destroying. We are profoundly united in good and in evil. None of our words and deeds, our actions or omissions ceases to have an impact on the daily human task of building better personal lives, better families, a better society and a better world. ...

A brief analysis of our current reality at a micro or macro level, on a personal, family, social, national or global level, allows us to recognize great advances and, at the same time, enormous and very serious problems.

The advances involve, mostly, the growth in the material and financial, the world of markets, of science, of the technical, of technology and of telecommunications. But, unfortunately, it seems that as we grow materially, we regress morally and spiritually. Evidence from the news and daily events alerts us to the decrease in the world of the deeply human values and ideals that sustain and promote the construction of a better world, one that is more just, more equitable, more supportive, more compassionate, more fraternal: a world like a great table in which everyone has the right to a seat and to share in peace and prosperity.

I wish, at the beginning of this new year 2019, that we all become aware of the importance of each of our very personal and individual intentions, decisions, actions or omissions for the construction of social frameworks and institutions. That we understand, once and for all, that our daily life and being is not insignificant to the destiny of all humanity. That our contribution and our grain of sand counts, a great deal, in the mountain ranges of good and well-being that we must build as we search for a better present and better tomorrow for all. That, daily, we are not spectators, but protagonists of our own story and the stories of our neighbors.

Because if our biggest and most serious problems and crises involve social frameworks being eaten away by corruption, this is due to the crisis of the men who create them, shape and sustain them and, more than that, to the deep crisis of values inside each of us: a crisis in the spirit of man, of men; a crisis in the human spirit.

Therefore, I invite everyone to evaluate, honestly, the principles, values, goals and ideals that govern our attitudes and actions. I invite everyone at this time, as one year ends and another comes, for which we are so hopeful, to fill ourselves with the best wishes, to make the best resolutions, and to work to make 2019 a year of better successes in the pursuit of the common good and for peace for all men and all peoples of the world.

There is much we have done, but much more that we still have to do. Our story and our destiny are in the hands of each one of us. And our work and daily actions depends upon who we are, morally and genuinely, as individuals, and on our values and interests. And because our deeds reflect our values, I wish that every day of 2019 will reveal each one of us as better human beings and better citizens of the world. The song says it well: "New Year, New Life, happier days are coming... HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!”

CHRISTMAS: A CALL TO ACTION ...

There are men and women whose lives we cannot ignore: Simón Bolívar, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, Marie Curie, Gandhi, Teresa of Calcutta, Marx, Rosa Parks, Edith Stein.... What did these men and women do to make the impact they had on the history of humanity? What they did was to simply live, and make of their lives, a call to action.... Among them is a man who produced the greatest impact in the history of humanity: JESUS ​​OF NAZARETH. We count 2018 years of history since his birth in the small village of Bethlehem. This event is what marks the holiday season in the world. If there are messages, lights, gifts, trips, vacations, premieres, family reunions, music and parties, it is because we celebrate another anniversary of his birth.

December, then, reminds the world of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, but with the celebration of his birth we remember, above all, his great contributions to the history of humanity and what his whole life, his deeds and his words symbolize and mean not only for his disciples, Christians for all ages, but for every man and woman of good will.

Thus, above all, the entire life and work of Jesus of Nazareth contains a proposal, an invitation for all human beings to build a better world through recognizing that we are brothers, children of the same God, who as we were taught by Him, we call a good, compassionate and merciful Father. A recognition through which we can achieve the happiness we all long for by loving one another, serving, forgiving, sharing, expressing solidarity, tolerating each other, understanding each other. This proposal of LOVE clashes with all forms of selfishness, injustice, discrimination, violence and death.

The proposal of Jesus of Nazareth, with his message and the testimony of his life, are, permanently, a call, an invitation and a challenge to the whole world to make our existence on earth a better and kinder space and time for every man and woman who comes to this world.

The celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, on the other hand, reminds us of and marks us all a course, a path, a life philosophy, a logic, principles, values, a meaning for life that normally is neither our path nor our logic. Thus, while we build a life and a society in which what matters is to have, to pretend, to enjoy at whatever cost, to take care of and protect ourselves selfishly, to hoard, to accumulate, to run over and to crush to climb, to get ahead, to rise above others.... Jesus of Nazareth will always remind us of another logic, another direction for the life of men on earth if we want to be happy: the logic of the nativity scene of Bethlehem, of humility, of humbling, of detachment, of the total giving of one’s life, the logic of service to  others, especially the neediest, to the very end, the logic of forgiveness, the logic of love, even to the cross....

Finally, the celebration of CHRISTMAS also reminds us all - not only Christians - of the importance of the human, of the truly human. The deep and Christian meaning of Christmas contains and reveals to all this truth: God cares about humanity and everything that is deeply human. He cares for the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger, for the man who preached in Galilee and washed the feet of his disciples, for he who healed lovingly and was given to all without measure, for he who came into conflict with the legal and cultural institutions of his time because he placed love above all else, to the point that he died hanging on a tree. Christians confess the Son of God; they confess everything that resembles the Father, and recognize in Him the sum and perfect revelation of God's divinity in his humanity and the plan for man that God has for every man. So, from the first Christmas, until today, nothing that is human can leave us indifferent. Because it is in the deep humanity of Jesus that we are  revealed the absolute divinity of Jesus himself.

We can try to avoid the meaning of Christmas with a thousand expressions and terms. In the name of ideological pluralism and respect for a thousand beliefs, we can try to avoid the meaning of Christmas or confuse it with another holiday, with other breaks during the year, but we cannot help but recognize that the proposal of Jesus of Nazareth’s life and work is still a call, an invitation for the construction of "a new heaven on a new earth," for the construction of a personal and social life according to another logic, another criteriology ... according to which we can love one another in absolute respect for the dignity and fundamental rights of every human being: with love and absolute respect for man and for all men.

Christmas is, then, a bimillennial memory of what happened in Bethlehem; it is a gift from God for the world in the child in the manger, but it is also and above all a proposal, an invitation, a call, a challenge, a task, a commitment.... MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Give Thanks...And Find Happiness

TO GIVE THANKS is an action that arises from our ability as humans to recognize the goodness and beauty in our lives, in our environments, in others, in all that is, all that we have, and all that happens.

Celebrations in which we give thanks have always been held in the most diverse communities, eras and cultures throughout the history of humanity. Here, in the United States of America, we have all grown up knowing and celebrating the historic feat in which, in the origins of this great Nation and specifically in the year 1623 in Plymouth (in the present-day state of Massachusetts) a meeting and a meal of thanksgiving took place for a good harvest. In the beginning, when the colony of Plymouth did not have enough food to feed half of its 102 settlers, natives of the Wampanoag tribe helped the pilgrims by giving them seeds and teaching them how to fish. The practice of carrying out a harvest festival did not become a regular tradition in New England until the late 1660s.

This Nation then has, in its historical foundations, a celebration of THANKSGIVING that has been commemorated from generation to generation and that has become the most important annual holiday for all American families.

It is a celebration, then, that commemorates the historical deeds that gave rise to the Nation we inhabit, in which we live, love, work, dream and hope. ... But it is, above all, a celebration - as its name indicates – in which we thank, give thanks, learn to give thanks, give thanks again. ...

Our current situation in society is defined and conditioned by a culture in which one must have money to be part of the world of the market, of the world of supply and demand, of materialism and consumerism; a world where you have what you buy, you have what you can have, what you deserve, what - through your labor and economic effort - you achieve and you get.

In this economistic vision of the human being and of society, we are losing the ability to perceive in daily human existence the gift of life; the value of what cannot be bought or sold is lost; the value of intangibles like love, family, encounters, solidarity, friendship, kindness, etc., is being replaced by the value of things and objects, by tangibles, by the material and immediate, by the ephemeral, by the disposable and temporary.

For this reason, THANKSGIVING DAY reminds us again of the importance of gratitude in the life of the human being, the urgency of being able to, again and every day, recognize the reasons we have to give thanks and be happy. Because the man who is able to give thanks is a happy man and he is happy when he is able to find and recognize in life the reasons to be grateful.

But THANKSGIVING DAY is not just a day for giving thanks. It must also be a day that pushes us to build reasons to continue to be grateful and to give thanks. It must be a national holiday in which we all commit ourselves to building a society in which we all have reasons to GIVE THANKS. In other words, it must be a day when there is not a single man or woman in the United States who does not find or does not have valid reasons to GIVE THANKS. And this is only possible if we all build better relationships, better family relationships, fairer economic relationships, more supportive political relationships, more humane cultural relationships, etc.

On this THANKSGIVING DAY 2018, I wish that all of us have reasons to be grateful and that, amongst us, we build a Nation in which during this holiday, this Nation’s principal event, all who live here can celebrate with genuine reasons, and in fair, just, and humane conditions for GIVING THANKS. Happy Thanksgiving!