Ending the Third Chapter with No Regrets

“Forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal.” Phil 3:13-14

Three days after my youngest child was born, I found out that the bank I worked for had been sold. The bank that purchased it offered me a job, but I had to relocate to North Carolina where they had the headquarters. I was not willing to do that since I had three small children and all my family was in Miami. Therefore, I decided to venture out on my own. That was almost thirty years ago. 

This week, I closed my accounting office. It’s the end of what I consider the third major chapter of my life. The first one was my childhood and teenage years. During that chapter, I was a student. The second chapter was the start of my marriage, the early years of motherhood, and the beginning of my career. In the third chapter, I saw my kids fly from the nest to become independent adults. During this chapter, my accounting practice also grew tremendously. Now, I’m ready to start the fourth and final chapter, which I hope brings lots of time to spend with my husband traveling while visiting our kids and grandkids who are spread out between North Carolina and New York. I also hope it opens the door to do something worthwhile with whatever time I have left here on earth. 

Last year, I read a book titled “The Fourth Quarter of your Life: Embracing What Matters Most” by Allen Hunt and Matthew Kelly. It made me stop and reflect. How do I want to spend the final chapter of my life? Do I want to spend it accumulating more or do I want to spend it enjoying what I have already accumulated? The answer was easy, but turning the page has been more difficult than I anticipated. It was almost like the evil one wanted to keep me from retiring.

What began thirty years ago with just one client, has grown exponentially. Last year, I prepared over 600 tax returns. I had a solid practice, and I decided to sell it. And that’s when the fun began. Every unimaginable obstacle got on my way, and everything that I had planned crumbled. But God always has a better plan. When all the doors closed in my face, He opened a wider and much better door.

It’s been bittersweet saying goodbye to clients that have been with me for three decades. Many times, I was more than their accountant. They would come to my office, drink a cafecito, and we would talk about more than numbers. Sometimes, I felt like I was their psychiatrist because they would spill all their troubles. And I was happy to lend an ear, even if I couldn’t resolve all their issues. 

I thought I would be fully finished by now, but God wanted me to savor the end of the third chapter just a little bit longer. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m starting the fourth one, but I’m not jumping from one to the next. I’m waltzing slowly into the last chapter, while still savoring the final pages of the previous one. And I have no regrets.

Copyright © 2024 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.

Remember Who You Are

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

I love the movie “The Lion King.” It has so many great lessons. One of those lessons is when Mufasa, the father lion king, tells his son Simba, “remember who you are.”

On Saturday, I was blessed to attend the priesthood ordination of Father Michael Martinez, and on Sunday, I attended his first mass. Father Mike is two years younger than Rafi, my oldest. But they used to hang around with the same group of friends, and thus, I got to know him a little bit during the Belen years. It’s pretty amazing to see him now as a priest. And even more amazing, to hear him talk. His first homily left me speechless. 

His first mass coincided with the feast of Corpus Christi. How appropriate to celebrate this feast on his first Eucharistic miracle. Yes, a miracle. Every time that bread and wine is transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, a miracle takes place. And Father Mike got to perform his first miracle on Sunday.

Even though I’m what is known as a “cradle Catholic,” it was not until recently that I began to take the Eucharist seriously. Yes, I believed in the Real Presence, but I took it for granted. I never stopped to think about the Miracle that takes place in every altar around the world at the moment of Consecration. My eyes were opened when I attended an exhibit about all the Eucharistic Miracles that have taken place through the centuries. The exhibition was put together by soon to be Saint Carlo Acutis. Reading about those 107 miracles made me realize that I was not seriously paying attention to the Miracle that I was witnessing every Sunday. Carlo Acutis included 107 miracles in his exhibition, but the Vatican has approved more than 150 such cases.

Father Mike talked during his homily about another miracle that takes place when we receive the Eucharist. Not only are we receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, we actually become the Body and Blood of Christ. I had never thought of it this way. But it makes sense. Just like Mary carried Christ in Her Body, when we receive the Eucharist, we are carrying Christ in our body. And we are called to take Him out of the Church and share Him with the world.

Father Mike has been serving at a church in Cuba, and he will be returning there now as a priest. His ordination was streamed live to that church in Cuba. Thankfully, there were no electricity outages, something very common in Cuba, so the people were able to watch the entire mass. Not only watch it, they participated. And when the Eucharist was being consecrated in Miami, the Miracle was also taking place in Cuba. This is another aspect of the Eucharist that Father Mike emphasized in his first homily. The Eucharist unites us with the entire world because we are one body. The miracle takes place in every altar around the entire world when a mass is celebrated.

Father Mike’s parents gave him a special gift for his ordination: a chalice and a paten. He used them for the very first time at his first mass: the paten to turn the bread into the Body of Christ and the chalice to turn the wine into His Blood. The paten was engraved with the following verse picked by his mother: “Do whatever He tells you,” John 2:5. This is what Mama Mary tells the servants at the Wedding Feast of Cana. And this is what Father Mike’s mom is telling him on his ordination day: “Do whatever He tells you.” She knows that the way to the Heart of Christ is through obedience, thus she’s telling Father Mike, to listen to God’s voice and obey Him. We can learn from this too. These words are like a bright beacon pointing the way to our happiness. Surrendering our lives to God is the only way to true happiness. During the ordination, Father Mike prostrated himself on the floor with his arms wide open, like a cross. This was a sign of surrender. He is giving all of himself to God, and through this surrender, he will find true happiness.

His father engraved the chalice with the following verse: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” Matthew 3:17. When I heard this, I got goosebumps because I knew there was a double meaning to this message. One meaning was coming directly from God who is very pleased with his son Mike who has just given his life to the service of the Church and for the greater glory of God. But I also knew that the message was also coming directly from the father’s heart. Father Mike’s biological father passed away when Mike was five-years-old. His mom remarried when Mike was a teenager. Since I also had a step-father, those words touched my heart. It is one thing to be loved by your own father, but to feel that love from a step-father is pretty special. And to witness that special bond between Mike and his step-father made me take out my tissues. 

At the end of the mass, Father Mike gave a gift to his parents. He gave his father the stole that he used when he performed his first confession. At that point, he spoke about the fact that he has two fathers, one in heaven and one on earth. When he presented the stole to his earthly father, and they hugged, there was not a dry eye in that church. And to his mother, he gave the handkerchief that was used to clean the chrism oil from his hands. The idea is that the day she dies, she will be buried with that handkerchief so that when she gets to heaven, she will present it to God and tell Him, “God, I gave you my greatest treasure, my son.” Tissues once again.

Father Mike wrote a beautiful poem that encompasses what we are called to do as Christians.

Just like the Lion King, this weekend made me “remember who I am.” It helped me to remember and be proud of my Catholic roots. Yes, I am proud to be part of a Church that can be traced back all the way to Jesus Christ, because He established it when He gave the keys to Peter. And I am so thankful that Jesus has stayed with us in the Eucharist. Thank You, Jesus, for the gift of the Eucharist. Thank You for allowing us to witness the miracle of seeing a simple piece of bread turn into your Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity during every mass.

Jesus, please keep Father Mike safe as he returns to Cuba to bring your Word and the Eucharist to a country that is so hungry, not just for food, but for You. We thank You for calling him to shepherd your flock, and we pray for him and his vocation. Our young people need more priests like Father Mike, priests that are so in love with You that they are willing to sacrifice their entire lives in order to follow You. Father Mike, go set the world on fire, and always remember to keep your hands open. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

Copyright © 2024 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.