Self-care is an excellent new year’s resolution.  Such a commitment might mean a bubble bath, sitting down to a banana split, or sleeping in, but there are of course deeper implications.  When I stay up a few extra minutes before going to bed to do the dishes, even though it will probably cause me more drowsiness in the short term, aren’t I being of service to my future self who will rejoice in having more time in the morning?  When I make the decision to divert income to my retirement plan, instead of spending it on luxury items, aren’t I making a sacrifice for my future self?  And don’t even get me started on making the effort to shop for and prepare healthy foods in order to nourish my future self!  In this new year, let’s ask for the grace to detach from ourselves and practice self-care at the quantum level.  In doing so, we shall learn that caring for our future selves is the most primal and consistent way we can respond to the call to love (Mk 12:29-31).  Ave Crux, Spes Unica.

When I was sixteen years old my grandmother got me an Indiana Pacers sweatshirt for Christmas.  It was so random!  Not only was this an unpopular basketball team, but the style was super outdated and reflected one of the discount stores where she liked to shop.  Nevertheless, even to this day, as I think about untying the ribbon, removing the gift wrap, opening the box, and folding back the tissue paper, my heart inexplicably wells up with gratitude.  Perhaps it’s because my grandmother wasn’t actually giving me a sweatshirt for Christmas, but was instead giving me her time, her intention, her affection, her very self through this article of clothing.  Let’s have the courage to see the giver in the various gifts that get exchanged at our holiday parties this year.  Let’s, in fact, make the whole Christmas season an occasion to contemplate the eternal giver who is constantly gracing us with the gift of life.  Ave Crux, Spes Unica.  

Merry Christmas!

Bathrooms are places of privacy that offer unique opportunities for reflection and insight.  A stall, for instance, can serve as a refuge from the pressures of the workplace.  The single user restroom can be an oasis for someone who needs a moment to cry or think things through.  Even in a household, where all other spaces are held in common, the bathroom is set apart and can thus function as a domestic chapel.  Because it is where we do our business, in fact, the bathroom is the perfect venue to tend to our spiritual lives and sort through our interior business!  The next time, therefore, we lament that we do not have a proper sanctuary for prayer, let’s go to our literal inner room, close the door and spend time with our heavenly father who both made us and speaks to us in secret (Ps 137:15, Mt 6:6).  Ave Crux, Spes Unica.

Christ Speaks:  Listen to my word.  Trust my way.  Walk with me.  You are precious in my sight.  You are the apple of my eye.  You are constantly on my mind.  We experience the same rejections and setbacks together.  We suffer under the same burdens of life together.  We endure the same daily monotonies together.  Let’s therefore be firmly rooted in the common ground of being together.  Let’s be situated in the infinite ocean of mercy together.  Let’s be open to the glorious risk of communion together.  The universe will be drawn up into this drama.  The cosmos will be resurrected.  The garden will be rediscovered.  Listen to my word. Trust my way. Walk with me. We shall renew the face of the earth together. Ave Crux, Spes Unica.

No!  No!  No!  No!  No!  No!  No!  No to falsehood!  No to dishonesty!  No to complacency!  No to self-indulgence!  No to fear!  No to cowardice!  No to hatred!  No to lukewarmness!  No to intimidation!  No to deception!  No to lust!  No to arrogance!  No to greed!  No to the voice that says “You can’t do it.”  No to “You’re not good enough.”  No to invasive ideas that plague our minds.  No to the temptation to run from our pain.  No to addiction.  No to ignorance.  No to shame.  May the grace of this glorious no touch our hearts and take root in our souls.  May this no serve as a starting point for a future filled with possibilities. May this habit of no be a ministry to ourselves, and may we be born anew. Ave Crux, Spes Unica.