A Pilgrim’s Notes: OTHERS FRIENDLY

FAUSTO GOMEZ OP

faustogomezb@yahoo.com

     Someone said that “people are not bad; they just suffer.” People – most people – are good, and treat others with kindness and gentleness. Being “others friendly” in our daily life does not make it to the front pages of newspapers or TV news casts, but it is worthwhile to practice: events, experiences, encounters that contribute to make our life meaningful and joyful. Let me share with you a few little stories which happened to me.

     In Macau I take the bus almost daily. I would say that ninety eight per cent of the time someone offers me his or her seat (I am young at heart!). Sometimes, particularly after five in the afternoon I resist, because I see people are tired and my distance home is a few stops only. No way. I remember one time a middle-aged lady offered me her seat. I tell her that I am getting off the next stop. No way: “Please, sit.” Amen – and thanks!

     The following story happened last summer. A young lady offered her seat to me in the Metro or subway of Madrid. As I was sitting, I stepped on the left foot of another young lady. I said thank you to the first and sorry to the second, who did not say a word, but gave me a truly sincere smile. She made my day!

     Another little happening. Some weeks ago, I was waiting for a taxi in Jardim de Flora, Macau. A young man was ahead of me, so he stopped the first taxi that passed by, opened the door and … called me – I was about three meters away from him. He asked me to please get on the taxi. I told him: “Please, you take it. I am in no hurry. I wait for another.” He just smiled at me and showed me the open door with an inviting gesture of his right hand. People are good!

     Once I bought a daily newspaper in a street stand. This time in Madrid. After paying, I said to the man who handed me a copy of the newspaper: “Thank you,” and added: “May you have a good day.” I think he was surprised and reacted late. I was already meters away from him, when he shouted: “Señor, sir, “and you too; may you have a good day.” I still smile when I remember him.

     Three years ago I had a student in Moral and Spiritual Theology. He was an atheist. He came to love the class and the exchanges among the eight students of the class. One of the questions of the final exam was on how they found the class – positive and negative points. This student was happy he enrolled: he learned to read books and present them in class, and, above all, he said he learned something essential for his life: “Though this class is about religions and I do not have beliefs in religions, I believe the essence of all religions is love; therefore this class is also teaching me how to love. Thank you very much.” He opened his answers to the questions of the final exam thus: “Dear professor. Here are my answers. God bless you.” I remember with joy and gratitude my atheist (?) student who asked God to bless me!  And I know he meant it.

     I have a friend who is a doctor of medicine and very kind. She answers emails right away. I think she believes that gratitude should not just walk but run – like the Father of the Prodigal Son! The majority of people answer emails or WhatsApp after some minutes or hours or days; some, much later, and a few, almost never, or until one asks them: “Did you receive my email?” I remember Charlie Brown the kind master of Snoopy and friend of Linus and the rest of the Peanuts Family. Before Christmas Charlie sent a Christmas card to all his friends. Some did not answer so he called them up and asked them: “Did you receive my Christmas card?” They answered him: “Yes, thank you very much.” Charlie Brown: “It is good to help people say the right thing.” Did you receive my email?

     A religious sister told me this story. She was given a free trip to Lourdes, France. She was happy. She wanted to ask Our Lady of Lourdes to heal her from her constant pains and aches, especially her crippling arthritis. When she arrived at the Shrine she forgot her petition: “Seeing so many people ill – some very disable, others in wheel chair, others limping, still others crying… -, I did not mind my request.” Instead of praying for herself, she prayed for all those brothers and sisters who went to visit Our Lady in search of a miracle, or just peace of soul. How beautiful! To forget ourselves to connect with others and try to help them. For believers, every person is a brother or a sister in Christ – the Crucified and Risen Christ: God is the Father of all.

     A few years ago I traveled to Matsuyama with another brother Dominican. We had to stop at Osaka Airport. We had time for lunch so, not knowing much of the rich Japanese cuisine, we opted for MacDonald. We checked the different kinds of sandwiches and their corresponding amount in yens. I was greatly surprised by the price of the last item in the list: zero (0). I checked what it was: Smile! I was indeed joyfully surprised – Smile: 0! St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata, who practiced the apostolate of the smile, said: “Perhaps I do not speak your language, but I can smile.”

     In December of last year (2016), walking on my way to the house of the Missionaries of Charity in Macau, a woman was shouting at my back. I turned around and saw her:  she was young, a teen-ager. She kept talking in Chinese and pointing to my cap. I realized she was a bit mentally disable. I made signs trying to tell her if she wanted my cap. She answered moving her head up and down. So I gave it to her. She was so happy. And I was very happy. She made my day – and some more.

     Walking one day with a friend, under the Aqueduct of Segovia, Spain, a middle-aged woman approached us and asked for some money to feed her children. We gave her some amount. Her answer: “Many thanks, and may God give it to you in another way.” That was wonderful and true: Jesus pays well, St. Teresa of Avila says. I remember the words of St. Peter Chrysologus: “Give to the poor and you give to yourself.”

     The icon of kindness, compassion and tenderness is the mother, our mother. Best images are mother and child, or mother (grandmother) and father (grandfather). I remember the words of St. John of Avila: “The most beautiful thing in the world is to see in Bethlehem a young woman with her child in her arms.” What a joy for me to watch the little children going to school with their parents and or grandparents: some parents talk with their children, others listen to them, and still others just smile to each other. So much love and tenderness and joy! I thought: the future in in good hands. With these uplifting images, one understand better what Jesus says:  “Let the children come to me… If you do not become like children you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.”

     When I see a needy person, the following well-known story comes to my mind. There was a little girl – hungry, dirty, fragile, poor – shivering in a cold winter morning. A priest passed by and felt some kind of pity for her. So at night before going to bed, the priest asked God: “Why don’t you do something about the little girl, your child?” He asked the same question for a few nights in a row. God kept silent. Finally, one night God answered him: “I did something. I created you.” There are many in our world like the little girl, perhaps not far from us, who need an act of kindness, a piece of bread, a smile.  I am sure of this: we will never regret helping some needy children, women, and men.

     Little acts of kindness, or courtesy to others enrich us all. Courtesy, St. Francis of Assisi tells us, is the little sister of charity or love. St. Therese of the Child Jesus invites us to practice her “little way of love, not to miss out on a kind word, a smile, or any small gesture which sows peace and friendship” (Pope Francis). These little acts of love, of courtesy, of kindness and gentleness are truly refreshing for the giver and the receiver.

(Published by O Clarim, The Macau Catholic Weekly: May 12, 2017)

Saint Catherine of Siena, A Patron of Macau

FAUSTO GOMEZ OP

faustogomezb@yahoo.com

     San Domingos Church in Macau is one of the favorite places for tourists and in particular for Christians and believers. The original structure of the Church was built upon orders of the first three Spanish Dominican missionaries, who had arrived here about September 1, 1587. The main altar of the baroque Church is presided by a royal statue of Our Lady of the Rosary accompanied on her right side by a statue of St. Dominic de Guzman (San Domingos), the founder of the Order of Preachers or Dominicans, and on her left side by a statue of St. Catherine of Siena. The great Italian mystic and Dominican saint is one of the patrons of the Diocese of Macau, and her feast is celebrated on April 29 of every year.

     Catherine Benincasa was born on March 25, 1347 in Siena, Italy. Jacobo and Lapa, her parents, had twenty five children. Catherine was their twenty third child.  She was a deeply pious girl. When she was about seventeen years old, Catherine joined the “Mantellata” of Siena – a group of lay women of the Third Order of Penance of Saint Dominic. She died on April 29, 1380 – after much suffering. She was canonized by Pius II in 1461, proclaimed a co-patron of Europe by Pope Pius XII in 1939, and declared Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

     Catherine wrote a major work of spiritual and mystical life: the Dialogue, or the Book of Divine Providence, which is a conversation between God and Catherine. As it has been said, more than a book it is Catherine’s life. She also wrote hundreds of wonderful moving letters and about twenty six prayers uttered by her during periods of ecstasies or while praying aloud; the prayers were taken down by her followers.

     The point of departure of St. Catherine’ spiritual life is knowledge of God and self-knowledge. God tells her: “From knowledge of me to knowledge of self, and from love of me to love of others.” For Catherine, God is the Supreme Truth, “gentle first Truth,” and the Supreme Love, “Love itself.” God asks her: “Do you know, my daughter, who you are and who I am? If you know these two things you will have beatitude within your grasp. You are she who is not, and I AM HE WHO IS.” Self-knowledge eradicates self-love, which is the source of all evils. The virtue of discretion attains for us knowledge of God and of self, which leads to humility that takes us to gratitude and love.

     Catherine had three special loves: God, neighbor, and the Church. Jesus tells her: Love of God and love of neighbor are “the two feet” on which she must walk, or “the two wings” on which she must fly.

    God fell in love with his creature’s beauty and created him: “We have been created in such dignity that no tongue can relate, nor eye see, nor heart think what the dignity of man is” (Letter). After man’s falling into sin, God sent his only Son Jesus to redeem him and thus increase his dignity. For Catherine, the death of Christ is the supreme expression of God’s ‘mad’ love for man: “O loving madman, was it nor enough for you to become incarnate, without also wishing to die.”

     Jesus is the Bridge to reach God. God tells St. Catherine: “So I gave you a Bridge, my Son, so that you could cross over the river, the stormy sea of the darksome life, without being drowned.” One crosses the Bridge through three steps. The first step is the step of servile fear – the fear of hell. The second step is the step of holy fear – the fear of offending God. The third step is the step of love of God – loving God as a son or daughter and as our friend.

     How may one cross the Bridge from one step to the next? We may cross the Bridge through prayer and the practice of virtues. St. Catherine’s advice to us: Never abandon prayer; this is the weapon of the soul against every adversary. She affirms: “Prayer is the mother of all virtues”; “It is prayer who conceives virtues as her children in love for God, and gives them birth in love of neighbor.” The virtue of love is above all the virtues, and perfects them all.

     Catherine loves the liturgy, in particular the Holy Eucharist. She attends Mass every day. In the Mass, she says, “the Lord awaits us with open arms.” She approached often the Sacrament of Penance. She loved to read good books. The Breviary is her “first book after the stars and the flowers” (Perez de Urbel).

     Catherine was happy with her interior cell and the intimate company of Jesus. One day Jesus tells Catherine who continues her life of solitude: “Open the door of your cell; but not that I can enter, but that you can come out. You cannot serve me inside; you must go out to serve the neighbor. The soul that truly loves never gets tired of serving the others.” She had a tender love for the poor, the sick, sinners and prisoners. One morning, on her way to St. Peter’s to attend Mass a beggar approaches Catherine. That day she had nothing to give so she gave him her medal.  When the poor man put it on, Catherine saw in him, the face of Christ. Indeed, “I was hungry and you gave me food.”

     Another striking note in Catherine’s life is her constant work for peace. Catherine was a tireless promoter of peace. With Raymond of Capua, her confessor, and her many followers, Catherine walked through the roads of many Italian towns and cities working for and achieving peace among quarreling factions and groups.  She talked to kings, princes, the Pope and cardinals and priests against corruption and on behalf of the needy, and promoted justice with compassion and forgiveness.

     In the last eight years of her life, Catherine focused more on her third love: love of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. In the Church, we all receive the good of salvation through the proclamation of the Word and the Sacraments. To be redeemed and saved, she says, we all “have to pass by the door of Jesus Crucified; this door is found only in the Church.”

     St. Catherine of Siena repeats that “the reform of the Church must be done by holy and good shepherds in deed and in truth, not only with the sound of the word, because if it is said and not done, this would amount to nothing” (Letter, 291).

     Loving the Church implies obedience to the Church, in particular to the Holy Father whom she calls “the sweet Christ on earth.” She says: “He who does not obey the Christ of the earth, who represents the Christ of heaven,  will not have part in the fruit of the blood of the Son of God, because God wants that we receive from her hands that divine blood and all the sacraments that give us life by the same blood.” I remember the words of Saint Cyprian: “One cannot have God as Father if he does not have the Church as mother.”

      When she lived in Rome, Catherine walked every day to the tomb of St. Peter to pray for the Church. Being faithful to the Church requires from all the members to pray for the Church and to work towards her purification. Her greatest visible achievement: the return of Pope Gregory XI to Rome from Avignon, where the popes resided for over fifty years. Catherine always fought for the unity of the Church, particularly after the death of Pope Gregory XI in 1376 and the schism of the west that followed.

     Catherine offered her life as sacrifice for the Church: “My great desire is to shed my blood, drop by drop, in the garden of the Church.”  A few days before her death at thirty three Catherine says: “If I die, know that I die of passionate love for the Church.” Her last words: “Into your hands, Father, I commend my spirit.”

     St. Catherine of Siena is, together with the Immaculate Conception, St. Francis Xavier and St. John the Baptist, patron of Macau. On May 2, 1646 the Macau Senate declared “S. Catarina Padroeira desta terra, que entao se achava na miseria e o seu povo dividido e desunido pela discordia”: The Macau Senate declared St. Catherine Patron of this land, which was then in a state of misery, and its people divided, and not united due to discord (From Manuel Teixeira).

St. Catherine of Siena, Patron of Macau, pray for us – for the people of Macau.

(Published by O Clarim, The Macau Catholic Weekly: April 28, 2017)

 

 

 

 

A Pilgrim’s Notes: UNIQUE SIGNIFICANCE OF “TODAY”

FAUSTO GOMEZ OP

faustogomezb@yahoo.com

       The Psalmist invites us: Today listen to his (God’s) voice, harden not your hearts! (Ps 95:7-8). Today, not yesterday, not tomorrow! Today, harden not your heart by not listening to God’s voice, that is, by not doing good or by doing evil – by being selfish or envious or unforgiving. These harden our hearts!

       We listen to God’s voice today for today is “the day the Lord has made for us, a day to rejoice and be glad” (Ps 118:24). Today is God’s time for us (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 2659). It is not yesterday: “In last year’s nest there are no birds this year” (Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha). The prophet of Nazareth tells us: “Do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Mt 6:34).

       What is the meaning of “today” in the perspective of faith? Today in the Bible means the day of God’s visitation (Lk 12:54). In the Old Testament, “today” is the time for a blessing, for obedience to God, for salvation. Contrarily, it may become – if we harden our hearts – a time for a curse, disobedience, perdition. In the New Testament, we are told, the word “today” is used forty times, half of them in Luke. In the hymn of Zechariah, the Benedictus, we pray to God “to serve him in holiness and justice in his presence, all the days of our life” (Lk 1:75). Jesus is born “today” (Lk 2:11). “Today” this Sacred Scripture is fulfilled,” Jesus says in the Synagogue (Lk 4:21). Jesus tells us that “the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mk 1:14-15), that is, the Kingdom of heaven is “now,” today. “Today” Jesus encounters the sinner Zacchaeus:  “Zacchaeus, come down (the sycamore tree); hurry, because I am to stay at your house today” (Lk 19:5). One of the disciples of Jesus wished to follow him later not today: he wanted to take care of his father first. Jesus tells him: “Follow me,” that is not tomorrow but today, not later but now! (Mt 8:21-22). From the Cross, Jesus tells the good thief crucified near him: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43).

       Daily we pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Mt 6:11). This petition of the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father “reminds us that all we have comes from God” (St. Thomas Aquinas). We ask God the Father, Our Father every day to give us the bread of grace, the Bread of the Eucharist (Jn 6:51), the bread of God’s Word (Mt 4:4), and the bread or food this day. “Give us”: not only to you and to me, but also to our brothers and sisters, particularly those who have no bread and with whom we have to share our bread. “This petition of the Lord’s Prayer cannot be isolated from the parables of the poor man Lazarus and of the Last Judgment” (CCC, 2831; cf. Lk 16:19-31; Mt 25:31-46).

       Today implies “obedience and abandonment to the plan of God” (Massimo Grilli, 2013). For the Christian, the believer “today” is not just the chronological day, chronos, marked by the calendar but a theological or spiritual day, a Kairos – God’s grace and love. This day, today we listen to God’s voice in our hearts, in our brothers, in his creation. Today we listen to God’s Word, Jesus Christ, God’s Son and our brother and savior. Today, however, is not separated from but linked to yesterday and tomorrow.

       To concentrate on today does not mean to forget yesterday: this day is grounded on our days past. Nor does it mean to forget tomorrow: we are pilgrims on the way to God, and “today is always not yet” (Antonio Machado). “Trust the past in God’s mercy, the present to his love, and the future to his Providence”; as our memory is the present of the past, our hope is the present of the future (St. Augustine). The Eucharist illustrates perfectly the necessary links among yesterday, today and tomorrow: it is memorial of the passion of Christ (yesterday); pledge of future glory (tomorrow), and grace every day (today). Our Christian life is a dynamic tension between the past and the future lived in the present: a journey from the already of the death and resurrection of Christ to the not yet of eternal happiness by living this day faithfully and creatively as God’s creatures and children.

       The poet mystic Kahlil Gibran writes in The Prophet:

Yet the timeless of you is aware of life’s timelessness, and knows;

And knows that yesterday is but to-day’s memory and to-morrow is to-day’s dream.

And let to-day embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing”

       Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata was asked, “What are your plans for the future?” She answered: “I do not have plans for the future; I only care about today, for today is the day I have to love Jesus.” St. Francis of Sales advises us: “Live one day at a time, leaving the rest in God’s care”; “Go along with confidence in divine Providence, worrying only about the present day and leaving your heart in the Lord’s care.” In his Spiritual Diary, Saint John XXIII begins many daily entries with these words: “Only for today…” For the good Pope, “every day is a good day to be born and every day is a good day to die.”

       As Christians we love today, which is God’s gift.  With the example of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are not afraid today, we do our duty today, we put love in everything we do today, we are compassionate today, we are grateful today, we smile today. When we fail, when we do not hear God’s voice and harden our heart – we are sinners -, then it is the day of repentance and of God’s forgiveness.

        Carpe diem the Romans used to say, that is seize the day, live this day the best you can. For Christians and other believers and non-believers, carpe diem implies fidelity to this day, hopeful and loving fidelity.

       Rooted in faith and hoping for heaven, believers march forward with steps of love. Joyful in hope (Rom 12:12), we march “striving towards the goal of resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3:11), “racing towards the finishing-point” (Phil 3:14), we journey today, every day with steps of love towards the embrace of Jesus the Lord.

       Is today very significant in our life? Indeed, it is! A fruitful day – today -, rooted in yesterday, journeys towards tomorrow by the path of passionate and joyful love of God, of neighbor, of needy neighbor, of creation.

Brother, sister, have a good day.Today!