January 1, 2022

Let’s end transactional relationships in our lives once and for all!  What are we robots!?  Is there not some deeper meaning to our souls than an intellectual rubric that constantly keeps score and secretly tries to leverage relationships so that we might get what we want?  Indeed, let’s make the word “risk” the mantra for this new year:  the risk of putting ourselves out there, the risk of loving without counting the cost, the risk of making sacrifices, the risk of serving others without getting anything in return.  Risk is the language and logic of God and until we have the courage to step outside of our fear-based tendency to manipulate outcomes and use other people to our advantage, we will never discover our true dignity nor realize our authentic human vocations.  May this year be a time when we pause before we give that compliment, apply for that job, assist our neighbor with some task, or buy that new house:  Why am I doing this?  What is my intention?  What does God think about it?  In this way, our twisted and ugly interiors shall slowly be realigned as we begin to experience the purity of heart that allows us to remember what God is like (cf. Mt 5:8-9).  Let’s make 2022 the year when that age-old transaction game gets interrupted by the bold risk of love.  Ave Crux, Spes Unica!