December 18, 2008
Dear Jesus:
Thank You for all your blessings, for our family, and for all the love that You pour upon us. This was a beautiful weekend. Rafi is home!!! He arrived five days ago. I'm at peace now because all my "pollitos" are home. Mother hen is happy. Even though Chabeli and Alex are in the middle of finals, we got to spend quality time together as a family.
Last Saturday, we went to deliver food and toys to needy migrant families, and that gave us a great sense of satisfaction. We started doing this when the kids were little to teach them that Christmas was not just about receiving, Christmas is the season for giving and sharing with those less fortunate. This year, they couldn't come with us, but Rafael and I continued the tradition. I know that these small acts of kindness will prepare our hearts for your birth more than anything else.
Since I did all my Christmas shopping early, I have been able to concentrate on the spiritual aspect of the Advent season. It's not that I have stayed away from the stores altogether, but the shopping has been mostly personal. We are leaving to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe on Christmas Day so I still have a few things that I need to get.
Tonight, there will be a reconciliation service at St. Louis that I'm going to try to get to so You can be born in a clean heart. Jesus, please help me to stay in the right path. Help me not to get overwhelmed over menial things. Let this be a different Christmas.
I love You, Jesus!!!
December 18, 2017
Dear Jesus:
Yesterday, Father Jose Luis celebrated 40 years of priesthood. I went to the lunch with my mom. He has been such a special gift for our community, and more specifically, for our family. We met him when we were part of "Encuentros Juveniles" (Youth Encounters). When we got married, he celebrated our wedding. Shortly thereafter, he was assigned to Corpus Christi Catholic Church. It was a match made in heaven. He has done so much for that church and for that neighborhood in the thirty years that he has been the pastor. When our children were born, we took them to Corpus Christi to be baptized. He baptized Rafi, and almost baptized Chabeli. I say "almost" because there was some confusion on the time so she ended up being baptized by another priest. But her remembrance cards say that she was baptized by Father Jose Luis. He is also responsible for Rafi's third name. When we told him that we were naming Rafael Gabriel, he said that we couldn't leave out the third archangel. So he always reminds us that we gave him two names but he gave him his third name. And Rafi is very proud to have three names: Rafael Gabriel Miguel. Little did I know at the time what a blessing that would turn out to be. Rafi has needed the help of all three archangels throughout his life.
When our kids were little, we wanted to teach them that not everyone lived like we did. I called Father Jose Luis, and I asked him if we could adopt a family from his parish that we could help out during Christmas. Sure enough, he gave us the name and address of a family in need. They had three children. We bought them food and toys, and took the kids with us to deliver the goods. Of course, the first question from my kids was: "why won't Santa Claus bring toys to the poor children?" Ahhh, how do I respond? I honestly can't remember what I told them but whatever it was, they believed me. When we arrived to our assigned house, the only one home was the mother. She told us that she had sent the kids away with her husband because they still believed in Santa (luckily, my kids didn't hear her). She invited us to sit down. The house hardly had any furniture, so we sat at the small kitchen table. She started telling us that her husband worked in construction, but he felt from a ladder and broke his back. He had been unemployed for a few months and they were having a very hard time making ends meet. It broke our heart. We felt that the little bit we were doing was not going to help them much. But she assured us that her children would now have a special Christmas because of us. We left with our hearts in our throats.
I realized then what a special assignment You had given to Father Jose Luis. It takes a special kind of priest to serve these needy families. And he is definitely a special kind of priest. In the thirty years that he has been serving Corpus Christi, he has completely changed the neighborhood. Yes, there are still a lot of families with great needs, but he has managed to move a lot of hearts to help out. He created a group "Friends of Corpus Christi" who are regular supporters of his parish. Thanks to that, many families that otherwise would not have food and toys for their children at this time of the year, are being able to celebrate Christmas. But the most important part is that those that are giving, are celebrating a different kind of Christmas because we are learning that is better to give than to receive.
Jesus, please continue to bless Father Jose Luis and his vocation. May we have more priests like him who imitate You and who teach us by example what it means to be a Christian.
I love You, Jesus!!!
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