The Heavens are Shining Down Upon Us!

Last night, we arrived home at 11 PM. As we were walking to my house from the car, my friend Theresa exclaimed, “Look at the stars! The heavens are shining down upon us!”

“The heavens always shine down upon us. It’s just sometimes we don’t see them,” I replied. The words were scarcely out of my mouth when I realized their impact.

No matter what, the stars are always there. Sometimes we don’t see them because it’s cloudy or we are in a city and there are too many lights to be able to look up at the sky and see the stars. However, they are always there! Sometimes they are as clear and bountiful as they can be and we are then overwhelmed by their majesty.

Similarly, sometimes God shows Himself in our lives and sometimes He does not. Sometimes, it is our position in life that keeps us from seeing Him (just as sometimes being in the city keeps us from seeing the stars). Other times, we are forced to believe that He is there, even though His existence seems cloudy. Finally, sometimes He shows Himself in the most unexpected ways and at the most unexpected times and we are then swept up in His majesty and love.

No matter how many times I glance at the nocturnal sky, I am always overcome by them. They make me feel so small, but so special at the same time. There’s really no way of describing it exactly. However, whether I’m lying in bed with my eyes shut or staring at the stars, they are always there. No matter if I am thinking about them or couldn’t care less, they are always there. They do not change and they continue to be a beacon of light in the midst of darkness. How much greater, then, is God who created the heavens and the earth?

Holy Innocents/Holy Family

Today (Dec 28) is the feast of the Holy Innocents and of the Holy Family. I feel as if these two closely tie together, especially in today’s society.

To summarize, we celebrate all the baby boys who died at Herod’s word in Matthew 2:16-18. Herod was scared of the infant Jesus after hearing the Wise Men talk about how He was to be King. As all others, they assumed Christ’s reign would be an earthly one. Hence, out of greed and convenience, Herod had all baby boys two and under murdered, in an attempt to kill Jesus. Luckily, an angel had appeared to St. Joseph in a dream and told him to take Jesus and Mary away from Bethlehem.

The Holy Family is Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Jesus was the perfect child. God made man, He obeyed His parents at all times, even in the smallest and most insignificant of things. Mary was the perfect mother and a role model for all women. Joseph was an incredible foster father and obviously loved Mary and Jesus very much. He was not God and he did not have the privilege of being immaculately conceived. However, he allowed God to work in his life to bring for the salvation of humanity.

In today’s time, we have the “Holy Innocents” because we lack the “Holy Family.” Family values are overlooked and discarded in an attempt to be modern and in the name of human rights. Because women refuse to take Mary as a role model (seriously…who’s going to believe that she’s pregnant and still a virgin? Penalty for such disregard for morality was death back then, so her undertaking was no easy task), we face the deaths of millions of innocent voices lost to earth for eternity. Because men refuse to be responsible fathers, millions of babies die. Because families do not strive for unity, we are losing the definition of marriage and family. We are having a modern “Holy Innocents” where thousands are lost daily to the horrors of abortion.

Thus, to fight for OUR rights and for the rights of those who have no choice, we must ultimately be an example. We must strive to imitate the Holy Family in all aspects of our lives so that we can influence others and try to prevent the continuation of the Holy Innocents. In the end, people don’t want cheap talk. They want you to SHOW them. So SHOW them and love all with every fiber of your being.