Lenten Devotional (27) and My Mother's American Citizenship
Seeing the sweet realization of her naturalization was worth the long miles
Laying down our lives is a distinctly Christian commitment. Only Christians can truly say they follow a Lord who died for them. The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is the model of Christian existence. The Christian faith is sacrificial. The saint looks at his brother and says, “You are a follower of the crucified Lord and my duty is to lay down my life for you.”
“This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
Now, at this point, it is tempting to list ten examples of sacrifice, but one would naturally feel like once he completes the list, his sacrificial disposition ends. Laying down our lives for one another is not always calculated; it is generally an act of service at a time when we least expect it.
True love sees an opportunity to lay down our lives and seizes it with wonder at the Lord of Glory, who gave his body on a tree. In communion with one another, sacrifice becomes the language of love. As C.S. Lewis describes: “When God becomes a Man and lives as a creature among His own creatures in Palestine, then indeed His life is one of supreme self-sacrifice and leads to Calvary.”
Prayer: Our Father, there will be specific opportunities to serve my neighbor in these uncertain times. May you grant me health and willingness to sacrifice my time and energy in the name of our Crucified Lord. Amen.
Notations
John Frame argues in his Systematic Theology that God is a totalitarian God (28) since he is the ultimate Lord and the only one with the right to be Lord.
A section from my recent homily at a wedding:
You are crossing into a new society; you are crossing into a formation of a new household, but every crossing needs to be christened by the vows of love sprinkled by the blood of the Lord of Marriage, Jesus Christ. This is a Christian wedding, which means that this ceremony only makes sense through the lens of a world created by Jesus Christ. He is the one who accompanied you from birth to this very moment. Therefore, the vows you will repeat and confirm are not rooted in mystical syncretism but in the presupposition that only the Trinitarian God can give meaning to this event called marriage.
In discussions about the centrality of creeds in the life of the Church, I was reminded of this three-minute summary of the Nicene Creed.
Nuntium
I was not expecting to return from a long trip to Pennsylvania and D.C. and suddenly hop on a car and drive seven hours to and seven hours from in less than a day for an event in Central Florida, but this one merited my attention.
My mother began her application for a Green Card and Citizenship almost seven years ago and was crowned with her citizenship yesterday morning. The process usually takes longer, but once she passes her exam, the date for the citizenship ceremony is set for two days later. I looked for a quick flight but was met with $500 for an inconvenient trip, without counting a hotel for an evening. So, I made arrangements and, thanks be to God, got on the road with my oldest son and pressed on for a surprise occasion.
When we arrived at the event, she immediately burst into tears. She hadn’t seen my son for a few years, and he looked much taller than she last remembered. The ceremony was peak America filled with heartfelt vows and meaning. Though there were about 200 people there, and only a few sang the National Anthem, I enjoyed my solo. When it comes to ‘Merica, I am all in!
My mom sacrificed so that I could return to the U.S. in 1998, and now, it was an honor to help and watch her process unfold for all these years. Seeing the sweet realization of her naturalization was worth the long miles. In a time where illegal invasion is treated with normalcy, as part of the American experience, I can point to my mom as an example of someone who treated her transition with utmost respect for the system.
Lenten Blessings,
Uriesou Brito