Villa la Paz Newsletter December 2011

Incarnation: Christian Theol. effectuation of the hypostatic union through the conception of the second person of the Trinity in the womb of the Virgin Mary

hypostasis: Christian Theol. the union of the wholly divine nature and of a wholly human nature in the one person of Jesus Christ (in full hypostatic union)

kenosis: Christian Theol. the voluntary abasement of the second person of the Trinity in becoming man
Webster’s New World Dictionary
Third College Edition

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing came to be.What came to be
4 through Him was life, and this life was the light of the human race,
5 the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-5, 14

She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what He is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can’t take her eyes off Him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is He. She remembers the words of the angel, “His kingdom will never end.” He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And He is absolutely dependent on Mary for His well-being. Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter. She touches the face of the infant-God.
Max Lucrado
God Came Near

What is the true meaning of Christmas? It has different meanings for different persons. For merchants it can be a time of bonanza when their wares fly off the shelves and their bank accounts swell. For parents it usually means agonizing over which gifts to buy their children and worrying if they can afford them. For children Christmas means gifts, especially for a much hoped-for gift that they have been hinting to their parents about. For families it means coming together over meals and parties, reminiscing about past years, absent loved ones and simply enjoying each other’s company. These meanings of Christmas are laudable and understandable but are peripheral to the central meaning of Christmas which can be summed up in one word-love. The love of a God who was so enamored of His created children that He became one of them in a total self-emptying act of surrender. The Creator became created in the womb of a poor teenager in the backwaters of an insignificant country under foreign domination. An astounding occurrence which should fill us with more joy than the gifts, parties and dinners so prevalent during but not centric to Christmas. The implications of the Incarnation are so profound and ethereal that they cannot be fully understood in this life. That the Infinite became finite, the Omnipotent became helpless, the Omniscient reduced to communicating through crying is beyond our comprehension and is the surest proof that we are loved unconditionally with an infinite love. And the love which motivated the Incarnation has been infused into each one of us for the purpose of transmitting it to others, to serve others, to see God incarnate in others.

When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, then the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit, to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all peoples, to make a little music with the heart… and to radiate the Light of Christ, every day in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say. Then the work of Christmas begins.
Howard Thurman

At Christmas we see Jesus as a little babe, helpless and poor. And He came to love and be loved. How can we love Jesus in the world today? By loving Him in my husband, my wife, my children, my brothers and sisters, my parents, my neighbors and the poor. Let us gather around the poor crib in Bethlehem and make a strong resolution that we will love Jesus in all those we meet every day.
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Our children and most of the children of the world are paradigms of the Incarnation. They come into the world poor, helpless and totally dependent on us for their well-being. They manifest an unconditional love and, even in illness, communicate joy and a zest for life. They are the true manifestations of a God who deigned to become one of them.

I want to end this newsletter with a prayer by Blessed Pope John XXIII who himself was born in a large and very poor Italian family. May this prayer guide us during the Christmas Season and in the coming year.

Child of Bethlehem, grant that we may share with all our hearts in this profound mystery of Christmas. Put into our hearts this peace for which we sometimes seek so desperately and which you alone can give us. Help us to know one another better and live as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. Reveal to us also your beauty, holiness and purity. Awaken in our hearts love and gratitude for your infinite goodness. Join us all together in your love, and give us your heavenly peace.

We thank you for sharing your gifts with us and making the care of our children possible. We wish you a Blessed Christmas and Fulfilling New Year. We love you and wish you God’s peace.

Villa la Paz Newsletter September 2011

Trinity: Christian Theol. the union of the three divine persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one Godhead
Webster’s New World Dictionary
Third College Edition

The love of the one and triune God is manifested in the love between brothers and sisters.
John Climaco

To be immersed in the mystery of the Trinity is to be immersed in an eternal and boundless sea of love, for it is in and through an infinite knowledge of Himself and His perfection that the Father begets the Son, the Word of God, and from the mutual love and total selfgiving of the Father and Son to each other proceeds the Holy Spirit who seals the union of the Father and Son by being their substantial and living love. This community of three divine persons, this eternal dance of love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit requires nothing outside of itself since by and of itself it is complete perfection, complete bliss. God only has need of Himself and His infinite perfection. He has no need for anything extrinsic to Himself, no need for creation. But because of this infinite and total love for each other the Trinity desired to share it with others, to bring other cognizant beings into the divine community to exist in the divine dance of love for all eternity. And so, in and through an act of love the universe was created and cognizant beings were engendered in the image and likeness of God. There is then, a unity, an interdependence to the universe since all its elements proceed from the same Source. We were all created for the same purpose, so that God can communicate to us the infinite, endless beatitude which has its source in the fullness of the Infinite Being.

Everyone was created and endowed with the same dignity, a dignity conferred by being a son and daughter of God. Everyone has an equal right to the necessities of life, but sadly, for most of the world those necessities, food, health care, an education, decent living accommodations are nonexistent or denied. No matter our titles, no matter our wealth, no matter our physical attributes we will all one day share in the life of the Trinity where finally only love and equality will exist.

Our children and the children of the world mirror the love of the Trinity. In their interaction with one another, in helping each other through the daily trials that life gives them, they become beacons of God’s love for one another. It is heartening to see them gather around a new child and introduce him to the home. This is what is meant by living the life of the Trinity: proffering an unconditional, all encompassing love among equals. They look beyond themselves and their physical ailments to help another. This impulse to succor one another is something that is inborn and natural to children. Perhaps that is why we are told that unless we become as little children we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

We were created in the image of God, which is to say we were created to mirror the love of the Trinity by giving ourselves away, for life to give life, for mercy to give mercy, for compassion to give compassion, for peace to give peace, for love to give love.
Gerard Thomas Straub
Filed under: Reflections
Gerry Straub’s Blog
August 5, 2011

Jesus, you promised that whatever was done for the least was done for you. Give us the grace to be always ready to serve the needs of others and to extend the blessings of your kingdom over all the world, to your praise and glory, Amen.
St. Augustine of Hippo

God of justice, open our eyes to see you in the face of the poor. Open our ears to hear you in the cries of the exploited. Open our mouths to defend you in the public squares as well as in private deeds. Remind us that what we do to the least ones, we do to you, Amen.
U.S. Catholic Bishops

We thank you for your support of our children. We love you and wish you God’s peace.

Villa la Paz Newsletter June 2011

grace: Theol. a) the unmerited love and favor of God toward mankind b) divine influence acting in a person to make the person pure, morally strong, etc. c) the condition of a person brought to God’s favor through this influence d) a special virtue, gift, or help given to a person by God.
Webster’s New World Dictionary
Third College Edition

Who would suppose that you, O infinite, eternal God, have loved me for centuries and even before the centuries began? Even though I did not yet exist, you already loved me, O good God. You called me from nothingness to existence.
St. Maximilian M. Kolbe
Polish priest and martyr 20th century

I think very few of us realize what it means to be loved by an infinite, omniscient, all-powerful Being Who is love itself, a being who out of love created us, maintains us in existence and will take us up to be with Him to enjoy eternal bliss. Personal cares and the world with its wars, poverty, and natural disasters distract us and challenge us to disbelieve in the love of such a person. With our finite minds we try to fathom why an infinite intelligence would allow personal and public suffering. And that is the point. Our minds are finite. They cannot plumb the depths of an infinite intelligence or try to understand its designs. We tend to forget that God brings good out of every evil that He permits. During such times of distress grace is freely given to us to help us realize that through all personal or public trials God is with us. It consoles us with the fact that God Himself took on our human trappings and suffered dearly for us. Grace tells us that suffering can be a gift since it draws us closer to God and makes us more dependent on Him which surely is desirable. In suffering we become grace for one another, consoling, loving, helping, alleviating the hardships of the person suffering. The person suffering is grace to the person caring for him since it allows the caregiver to serve God in the person of the sufferer since if we do it to the least of His little ones, we do it for Him.

We have two young men in our home at the present time. David came to us when he was 20 years old. Four years before, while working in construction, he fell from the second story and fell on a rock fracturing his vertebrae and severing his spinal cord. He is now paralyzed from the waist down and has no control of his bladder or bowels. He suffers from recurrent urinary tract infections and recently developed a huge abscess of his buttocks and pelvis. Through all of this David remains grateful, cheerful and optimistic as the photograph demonstrates. He hopes to study computer science and be productive in the future. Juan is a 19 year old who at the age of 12 developed spasticity of his legs which gradually progressed to total paralysis. He also lost control of bladder and bowel function. He was found by a social worker sleeping in a small motortaxi and suffering from a huge bed sore involving the lower back and buttocks. He had received no care or attempts to diagnose his ailment. He has the same mien as David, completely open, accepting and grateful for his care. I sometime wonder what my attitude would be if I went from being completely independent to being totally dependent on others as these two young men are. Like them all of our children are grace to us. They transmit the unmerited love and favor of God who cares for them through our efforts. They are gifts that teach us to persevere in adverse circumstances and to trust in the designs of Divine Providence.

We were created in the image of God, which is to say we were created to mirror the love of the Trinity by giving ourselves away, for life to give life, for mercy to give mercy, for compassion to give compassion, for peace to give peace, for love to give love.
Gerard Thomas Straub
Posted in reflections

Lord, open our eyes that we may see you in our brothers and sisters. Lord, open our ears that we may hear the cries of the hungry, the cold, the frightened, the oppressed. Lord, open our hearts that we may love each other as you love us. Renew in us your spirit. Lord, free us and make us one. Amen
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

We thank you for making the care of our children possible. We love you and wish you God’s peace.

Villa la Paz Newsletter March 2011

Theosis: Participating in and partaking of God’s divinity.
Union with God Website Frimmin.com

Theosis is translated as “deification” or “to become one with the Divine.”
Paul Skorden www.theosis.com

By His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every person. He worked with human hands; He thought with a human mind; acted by human choice; and loved with a human heart.
The Church in the Modern World, 22
Document of the Second Vatican Council

We all exist solely for this—to be the human place God has chosen for His presence, His manifestation, His epiphany.
Thomas Merton

Perhaps the most pernicious concept in our culture today is individualism, looking out for only oneself, in many instances to the detriment of others. Theosis, on the other hand, is a doctrine that speaks of the unity, dignity and worth of every person. In becoming man, in taking on the material trappings of human existence and by using the substance of the created universe to enflesh Himself, God united and glorified the universe and, in a most special way, the human race. By His indwelling in us, all men are tabernacles and manifest His divine presence, and nowhere is this truer than in the poor, the oppressed, the so-called nothings of this world. God fully identified with and continues to identify with the poor and marginalized. He was born in destitution and remained so throughout His life. He chose as His closest friends and confidants poor, ignorant, rude fisherman as well as persons considered to be great sinners by the Jewish people of His time. He had little traffic with the wealthy and important and then only to ask them to sell their goods and follow Him. Theosis, then, enjoins us to see the other as deified and divinized by the indwelling of the Spirit of God, and as such, of infinite value and dignity. He said very plainly that what we do for the least of His little ones we do to Him, again implying His full identification with and divinization of each person. The only way this world will achieve its long-desired peace is for it to embrace the concept of theosis, to understand that we proceed from our Father God who created all of us equal in dignity and worth, that He dwelt among us to foster our unity and that He continues to dwell among us to this day.

The divinized Christian is a living Eucharist, a vessel presenting God’s Spirit to the world, constantly welling up within them. He is transforming this world by living within us and we are His hands, feet and mouths. Instead of asking why God allows so much suffering on earth, we should ask ourselves why we allow it.
John Zuc

Dearest Lord, may I see You today and every day in the person of Your sick, and while nursing them minister unto You. Though you hide yourself behind the unattractive disguise of the irritable, the exacting, the unreasonable, may I still recognize you, and say, “Jesus, my patient, How sweet it is to serve you.”
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

The children on these pages, our children, are our pathways to the divine. In serving them we serve Him and in so doing enter into the life of the Trinity. God also made it very clear that unless we become as children we will not enter into our heavenly reward. Let us, then, love, nurture and cherish our children. They teach us by their innocence and unconditional love how to become one with the Divine. We thank you for making their care possible. We love you and wish you God’s peace.

Villa la Paz Newsletter December 2010

Incarnation: 1a) endowment with a human body; appearance in human form b) Christian Theol. effectuation of the hypostatic union though the conception of the second person of the Trinity in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

Webster’s New World Directory
Third College Edition

It was a most powerful demonstration of humility when God Almighty entered incarnate into the affairs of men, living among us, as one of us. He did this in the person of Jesus Christ and not with the great fanfare exhibited by the world. He was born quietly in a stable. The world and its rulers did not notice. His childhood and adolescence were passed in obscurity. Little is known of his hidden years.

Eunice M. Lasche
The Wheat of God
(Magnificat Institute Press)

The primary motive of God’s Incarnation is God’s goodness, not human sinfulness. The Incarnation is a dynamic expression of God’s overflowing love and mercy as well as a revelation of God’s poverty and humility. Through the Incarnation we find redemption and completion, making it the heart of all reality.

Gerard Thomas Straub
Posted in Reflections

The Incarnation was a defining moment in history in which the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, took on all of the physical and emotional attributes of man, like us in all things but sin. It was an event so glorious, so incomprehensible, that its full implications cannot be grasped. The infinite became finite, the all-powerful became helpless and dependent. The Eternal First Principle was born in a cave attended to by an adolescent girl and a sleepy carpenter. His first earthly court consisted of poor shepherds and lowing animals, His throne a feeding trough for cattle. The circumstances of His birth, truly meditated, are discomforting because they point to poverty and humility as God’s preferred options for entering our world. They point to hidenness and obscurity, to a complete lack of self- centeredness and desire for recognition. They point to a total self-emptying. These are the implication and ideals of the Incarnation and none of them, by the standards of our society, are desirable. We covet wealth, recognition, the applause of others and standing out in society. Given these tendencies how then do we approach the ideals of the Incarnation? How do we continue Christ’s redemptive work by embracing those ideals which He manifested in His acceptance of our human condition? We do so by embracing a poverty of spirit by which we admit our total dependence on God. All that we have, our attributes, talents, gifts have been given freely to be used in stewardship for the benefit of others. To admit to our poverty of spirit, to the fact that nothing of ours is due to our own efforts, enables us to see and regard the needs of others in our family, community and world. Poverty of spirit is a gift that enables us to embrace others in love, to see that we are all equal in the eyes of our heavenly Father, to appreciate the dignity of every human being no matter their social class, degree of education, religious beliefs or race.

No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even for God for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God.

Oscar Romero
Martyred Arhbishop of El Salvador

The most radical and elevating affirmation of the value of every human being was made by the Son of God in His becoming man in the womb of a woman.

Pope John Paul II

Our children, as the poor everywhere, will celebrate a genuine Christmas. They, as the Incarnate God, were born in obscurity and are totally dependent on others for their needs. Being empty of worldly things they can be filled with His goodness, peace and love. Thank you for making their care possible. We wish you a most glorious celebration of God’s Incarnation. We love you and wish you His peace.

Villa la Paz Newsletter September 2010

epiphany: 1) an appearance or manifestation of a god or other supernatural being 2) a moment of sudden intuitive understanding; flash of insight

Webster’s New World Dictionary
Third College Edition

Lord, catch me off guard today. Surprise me with some moment of beauty or pain so that at least for the moment I may be startled into seeing that you are here in all your splendor.

Frederick Buechner

One of the hardest lessons we have to learn in this life, and one that many persons never learn, is to see the divine, the celestial, the pure in the common, the near at hand-to see that heaven lies about us here in this world.

John Burroughs

The Infinite manifested in the finite, the mundane, the common place, the everyday. We are so caught up in the whirlwind of our lives that we fail to see that we are surrounded by manifestations of God. Epiphanies are all around us. We simply have to stop and meditate on their meaning. Can we see an epiphany in the eyes of a child, in our family and friends, in creation? Yes, if we stop and ponder their significance to us and to those who come into contact with them. The eyes of a child mirror innocence and unconditional love which are two attributes of our Creator. Friends and family offer us warmth, security, understanding and love which our Creator desires that we experience and indeed those gifts come from Him and are bestowed on us through them. Creation, in all its diversity and magnificence, sings to us of the infinite wisdom and munificence of the Divine Artist. These are all epiphanies that are easy to grasp and contemplate. However there are other epiphanies we find hard to realize even though they are manifestations of God, every bit as much as those that we encounter in the pleasant experiences in our lives. These other epiphanies manifest God’s humility, His desire for our love, His desire for social justice. They are the poor, the homeless, the imprisoned, the addicted and all those who are marginalized in society. They were created in the image and likeness of God but because of circumstances, in most instances beyond their control, they find themselves in miserable situations that alienate them from the rest of society. We can intuit to the presence of God in the pleasant aspects of the created order but find it difficult or impossible to do so in those who suffer from the injustices of our individualistic and consumerist society. Nevertheless, we have been enjoined by our God to care for and protect the weak and vulnerable for in the very clear words He said that what we do for the least of His little ones we do for Him. The dignity of a person does not derive from his economic status, education or place in society but from the fact that he is a child of God, a God who loves all of His children equally with an infinite and unconditional love. If all were to realize that fact we would live in a utopian world without greed, violence, hatred and all the other negative attributes we suffer from.

The gracious gift of likeness to God was not given to a mere section of humanity… it is a perfection that finds its way in equal measure to every member of the human race.

St. Gregory of Nyssa

If you are looking for Jesus, you’ll find Him in the midst of those who are being crucified, rejected, alienated, and oppressed. He is in the dark corners of your neighborhood waiting for you to help Him.

Gerard Thomas Straub
Thoughts of a Blind Beggar;
Reflections from a Journey to God
(Orbis Books)

The children on these pages and indeed all children are the epitome of God’s manifestation in our midst. They are His opinion that the world should go on. We must care for them, nurture them and ensure their future. They are the least of God’s little ones and what we do for them we do for Him.

Finally, I want to dedicate this newsletter to a very special person, Mr. Frank Megna. Frank began volunteering in our home in 2006 at the age of 75. He came once a year and would stay for 4 months. The children called him Tio Frank (Uncle Frank) and even though he spoke no Spanish he did speak the language of love. Every one loved him, the children, the employees of the home and even the local shopkeepers who came to know him. He was kind and generous to a fault and spread joy whereever he went. He passed to his Father on July 12 of this year. We will dearly miss him.

We thank you for making our efforts for out children possible. We are very grateful for your support. We love you and wish you God’s peace and blessings.

Villa la Paz Newsletter June 2010

Sacrament: Christianity; any of certain rites instituted by Jesus and believed to be a means of grace; something regarded as having a sacred character or mysterious meaning.
Sacramental: relating to a sacrament, being or resembling a sacrament

Webster’s New World Dictionary Third College Edition

When God took on flesh in Jesus Christ, the uncreated and the created, the eternal and the temporal, the divine and the human became united. This unity means that all that is mortal now points to the immortal, all that is finite points to the infinite. In and through Jesus all creation has become like a splendid veil, through which the face of God is revealed to us. This is called the sacramental quality of the created order. All that is is sacred because all that is speaks of God’s redeeming love. Seas and winds, mountains and trees, sun, moon, and stars and all the animals and people have become sacred windows offering us glimpses of God.

Divine Meditation
Henri Nouwen Society
Daily meditation for September 22, 2009

The whole world, including every aspect of humanity, is sacred and a gateway to God.

Gerard Thomas Straub
Posted in reflections

The created order as sacrament; the face of God revealed in a cloud, a butterfly, a breeze, the eyes of a child. Incalculable gifts that we seldom realize or appreciate. Or perhaps we do not wish to realize the sacramental nature of the created order. It is pleasant and inspiring to witness a magnificent sunset, to look out over the vast ocean, to appreciate a beautiful flower and acknowledge the Artist who created them, to see them as a glimpse of the Divine. However, it takes a leap of faith to see the face of God in a person who is suffering, in the homeless who asks for a handout, in the irascrible, in the addicted. These are situations which we find disagreeable and unpleasant. We wish to avoid them if at all possible and to realize them as pathways to God obligates us to attend to them, to see past their outward circumstances and accept them as glimpses of heaven. It is a seeming paradox and difficult to understand and accept. Nonetheless it is quite clear from Scripture that the poor, the marginalized, the suffering are the preferred of God and as such lead us to God and give us glimpses of His preferential love and mercy. His identification with them enjoins us to look beyond their unpleasant aspect and see them as tabernacles in which the Triune God dwells. Indeed we are all tabernacles of the indwelling Divinity and each of us is a gateway to heaven for those with whom we come into contact with. The gospels reiterate time and again that the kingdom of heaven is among us if only we love one another and are willing to serve one another. Poverty, war, hatred, racism and all the other destructive forces that exist in our world would cease to exist if the gospel message “Love one another as I have loved you,” were heeded. A simple message but one so hard to put into practice. However, seeing one another as sacraments enables us to enter into direct communion with God and should make God’s message of love an intrinsic part of our innermost being, as natural to us as breathing.

The children on these pages, and indeed children everywhere, are sacraments through which the Divine is mirrored. Like their Creator they manifest an unconditional love and speak of God’s hope for the world. We must treasure our children, nurture them and embrace them as God’s manifestation among us.

We learn to see the face of Christ – the face of Christ that is also the face of a suffering human being, the face of the crucified, the face of the poor, the face of the saint, and the face of every person – and we love each other with the criteria with which we will be judged: I was hungry and you gave me to eat.

Oscar Romero
Martyred Archbishop of El Salvador

Jesus embraced, touched and loved the poor, the outcasts, the rejected. He called them “blessed.” For Jesus the poor and lowly are sacraments because they offer a direct way to encounter God.

Gerard Thomas Straub
When Did I See You Hungry, page 155
[St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2002]

Thank you for your love and support of our children. We love you and wish you God’s peace.

Villa la Paz Newsletter March 2010

Agape: Christian Theol.
a) God’s love for man, divine love
b) spontaneous, altruistic love
Webster’s New World Dictionary Third College Edition

Long before any human being saw us, we were seen by God’s loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we are heard by our God who is all ears for us. Long before any person speaks to us in this world we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love.
Henri Nouwen

As finite beings, the idea of agape, love as goodwill, love that cannot be conquered, a love that is totally unconditional, is a difficult concept to grasp and at times difficult to put into practice. Human love is never perfect and is a pale reflection of its source, the Eternal Love that existed before the world was created. We do, of course, love our parents, our spouses, our children, our friends, but there are nuances to our love such that a careless remark, a deep hurt perpetrated by a loved one, a child who disappoints because he lacks certain desirable attributes, can chip away at the edges of our love and leave it less intense, less complete than it was before. This never happens with the agape of the Eternal. We are loved by the Eternal God not for our looks, intelligence, accomplishments, talents but for being us, as we are, warts and all. We sin, we fail Him, we turn our backs on Him but still we are loved as intensely and unconditionally as we were before time began. It is an unfailing, complete, all encompassing love that will never be lessened or extinguished. However, all of us at times, question the existence of this perfect and unquenchable love. Our belief in this love wavers when we experience illness, loss of employment or other personal tragedies or when we see the death and destruction wrought by natural disasters that seem so prevalent and devastating these days. How can someone who loves with a perfect love permit such occurrences? That is when our faith must come to the fore. Our faith tells us that evil and suffering are permitted, not desired, so that a greater good can be brought from them. In responding to another’s suffering and needs our attention is drawn away from ourselves and to the other. We forget about ourselves and our needs in an effort to help and we come together with others to form a common good, an endeavor to succor the needs of those suffering. Serving others who are in distress thus brings us closer to God and redeems us. In serving them we serve Him and become a beacon of his love to the world. With personal suffering our self-assurance, our complaisance, our feelings of complete control over our lives are called into question and we realize our dependence on God, which also brings us closer to Him. I must admit that my own faith wavers when presented with a suffering child. Little Davis was admitted to our home with chronic diarrhea and severe malnutrition. His brother was with us on two previous occasions for the same reason. His mother, although she loves him, is woefully ignorant and extremely poor. I could not help contrast his circumstances with those of my nieces and nephews and the children of my acquaintances who are well nourished, healthy and advantaged. I grasped and pleaded for an explanation as to why Davis was so unfortunate. Seven days after his admission, while I was staring at him, he looked up at me and smiled. I felt a tremendous relief for when a sick, malnourished child smiles one can be sure that recovery is on the way. I was then struck by the fact that Davis’ suffering allowed myself and our nurses to care for him, to switch our concerns from ourselves to him and to serve God through him. God permits but does not desire evil, to being from evil a greater good, for He is love. That is what my faith assures me.

Let us remember these great truths: (1) There is nothing, however small or apparently indifferent, which has not been ordained or permitted by God- even to the fall of a leaf. (2) God is sufficiently wise, good, powerful and merciful to turn those events which are apparently the most calamitous to the good and advantage of those who know how to adore and accept with humility all that His divine and adorable will permits.
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J.

There is nothing so steady and relentless, so committed and enduring, so firm and unwavering as God’s love for us. Over and over again, in story after story, Jesus tells us that the defining characteristic of God is not anger but love. Yet we stumble around in a fog of misplaced guilt and wrong attachments. As children of God we are called to be people of love, people who accepts God’s love and people who transmit God’s love.
Gerard Thomas Straub

Thank you for your love and support of our children. We love you and wish you God’s peace.

Celebración de la Fiesta de San Francisco de Asís

Estimados Amigos,

Los días primero y segundo de Octubre celebraremos la fiesta de nuestro patrón San Francisco de Asís.

Ojalá que puedan asistir.

Anthony Lazzara
Hogar San Francisco de Asís
Chaclacayo

Villa la Paz Newsletter September 2009

Theophany: a manifestation of God.
Webster’s New World Dictionary Third College Edition

It is God whom human beings know in every creature.
Hildegard of Bingen

The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything.
Julian of Norwich

God is humble. He is humility itself. We know of Him only through His creation, His Word that became flesh and dwelt among us and His Spirit that dwells in us. His omniscience and omnipotence are never perceived directly by us but are disguised in His works and revealed word. Every creature speaks of the Divine Artist. Some are lovely and pleasing such as a flower, a sunset, a piece of art or a comely child. Others can be displeasing and arouse negative feelings such as the homeless, the addicted, the incorrigible. If we are truly attuned to the Divine Presence in everyone and everything our response to the pleasing and displeasing should be the same: one of admiration, acceptance and solicitude. Our reaction to a well educated and well respected individual should be no different than our reaction to a homeless person, a beggar and the other marginalized persons who cross our path since all are manifestations of a Universal Father. Every person and all of creation are interconnected and intertwined to form a unity of one with the Creator. To knowingly disdain someone or something is to disdain Him who created us, and indeed, all of His creation. The universality of creation demands a positive response to those in need and to our world, a response that entails a respectful and solicitous attitude. If you are searching for God you will find him in the poor, the hungry, the sick, the dirty and, indeed, in our own brokenness. His love is unconditional and embraces all of creation.

Children are perhaps the quintessential manifestations of God’s presence. Born helpless into a sometimes cold and indifferent world their utter dependence for sustenance reminds us of God’s own birth two thousand years ago and again bespeaks of His humility. As such our home is a microcosm, a mini-universe which demonstrates His presence and unconditional love among us. Each child comes wi an imprint of the Divine. That is what sustains me this work.

Jesus of Nazareth lies hidden and helpless in all of humanity’s most vulnerable children, those for whom there is no room at the table. May we know the grace or our loving God in them and rebuild our troubled world for them to enjoy as God’s beloved daughters and sons.
Father Donald H. Dunson No Room at the Table [Orbis Books, 2003]

I believe that there are no gospel words that have made a deeper impression on me and have changed my life more than ‘As you did it to one of the least of these brethren, you did it to me.’
Charles de Foucauld

The following simple prayer by St. Joan of Arc will help us in our quest to make this a just and more equitable world, to serve God in His distressing disguise.

Lord, let me be a rock on which others can lean in their times of hardship. When all seem bleak send me signs of your presence, signs as simple as rainbows and smiles.

My sincere gratitude to all of you for being a beacon of God’s love to our children. We love you and wish you His peace.

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