Dear Parishioners and Visitors,
Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
How optimistic or pessimistic are we? What is our attitude toward life and others? Because we are one, unless we suffer from some psychiatric issues, we can only have a prevailing mood in our lives. We can either allow pessimism to control and shadow all our behaviors, moods, and relationships, and then we have a hard time discovering the good around us, or we can allow a positive and grace filled attitude to reign in our lives, and then our eyes are open to discover God's presence and gifts.
Each person's life is salt-and-peppered with all kinds of events. Those events at times leave a lasting impression on us. Nobody can claim that their lives are free from painful and tragic events. How we deal with those events, however, is where we can make a difference in our life. If we allow those events to leave lasting consequences on our attitude, if we allow those events to pockmark us in a permanent way filling our hearts with grudges and feelings of unworthiness, if we cannot let go of the past, Christian optimism will never be present in our lives.
During this Lenten season, we are all invited to reflect on our deepest attitudes, to discover within ourselves the hurts and grudges we have been carrying all along. We are all invited to recognize the reconciliation which Christ offers to us, the healing touch of a God who loves us beyond all telling.
As we rediscover the deep meaning of our baptism as a process of union with Christ, let us be willing to address the negativity and pessimism in our lives and approach the One who can reconcile us with God and with ourselves. Let us listen to the words of the apostle Paul who reminds us that 'the old things have passed away' and 'new things have come.'
And remember that Christian optimism is not a Pollyannaish optimism, but it is an optimism born of the fact that we have been redeemed by the blood of the Cross; and through baptism Christ has called us into a new life and given us a final destiny and purpose to share eternal life with him in heaven.
-fr. Alberto Rodriguez, O.P
