31/12/2018
LAS HAM
I would like to start this letter by thanking each and every person who made this amazing reunion possible. God will reward you well.
LAS HAM for me have been a new birth in God and in the Church. The opportunity to see the Pope and hear the beautiful words he addressed to us has made me reflect and pray a lot these days now in Spain. What especially caught my attention was that the Pope began by thanking us for our presence there, in the Vatican. The one who should have been giving THANKS to God for this gift was me, the one who should have been giving THANKS to the Pope for his dedication and his willingness to pray for an hour with us (despite the much work he must have had) was me.
Obviously, from the first minute, the Pope was already giving me a great lesson: to be grateful to God. What we have lived makes me feel and know that I am FORTUNATE.
The second thing that caught my attention the most was that he asked us for forgiveness. I should be the one asking you for forgiveness for not being the Christian you expect me to be and for whom you pray every minute, I have to ask you for forgiveness for not praying every day for the Church and for you personally, I have to ask for forgiveness for not giving the testimony you expect from me and I have to ask for forgiveness for the times I find it hard to defend the Church and Christians. The forgiveness the Pope conveyed to us was full of pain, a very deep pain reflected in something he has not even done. He showed us how he suffers with others and how he makes that suffering so his own until he ends up attributing EVERYTHING that happens in the Church to himself. What an impact.
Joy, nonconformity, and compassion. I will never forget these three beautiful words with so much meaning. I do not want to settle for the organized and comfortable life I have been leading lately. I do not want to and I cannot. I cannot because I call myself a Christian and I want to revolutionize everything and everyone. I want to bring HIM everywhere. I want to dream big!! I want to say yes to you!!
I can only give thanks. Thanks because LAS HAM have opened my eyes. They have taught me what life is. Thanks to all of you who were there. Thanks because there, at the Holy Hour in Santa María La Mayor, I could see the need we humans have to carry our faith in community, in family, ultimately, in life. Thanks for being the three things: community, family, and life. Thanks because I have been able to melt into the eternal embrace that God offers me and in which we all entered this weekend. Thanks, because Mercy has not only entered this house but also my heart, which I had so stony…
God has given me so much, so much, so much that I must respond. I cannot and do not want to stand idly by watching life from the balcony and using all the gifts I have received from Him only for myself. Having been at a meeting with the Pope is a luck and a blessing, but I also know that God was there wanting to convey something to us. That something has to do with saying YES to Him.
He is the way, the truth, and the life. If I say YES to Him I know I will reach happiness, but how hard it is to let go… Therefore, thanks again for tearing away the stone I have for a heart so I can reach a little more each day the resounding YES I want to give HIM.
This weekend I have seen God in Hakuna. I have seen that God is the one who moves hearts, men are only instruments there. I have seen God in every smile and in the eyes of everyone. I have also seen Him in the concert and in the musical. I believe the choir is not aware of the many hearts it has touched and how much it has helped to pray. The concert was pure praying together, praying as a family. The family that prays together stays together. Thanks to all!
