Thanksgiving Letter from our Pastor
A THANKSGIVING ENCOUNTER WITH LIFE AS MIRACLE
I was seated behind the young driver of an SUV. With youthful overconfidence, he was zipping through a curvy stretch of a mountainous road in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The scenery was breathtaking. Not missing any chance to practice my Spanish, I struck up a conversation with the driver. After I told him I had recently joined the Franciscan Order, the young man asked me if I believed in miracles. I said yes, but then I added that our ordinary human lives were miraculous. Every time we breathe, see, walk, hear, speak and touch – all that and more – are real miracles, free gifts lavished on us by God. And yet, most of the time, we take those gifts for granted. We grow too accustomed to being incredibly blessed.
As I was struggling to convey that with my then rather limited Spanish vocabulary, it began to rain. All of the sudden, the speeding vehicle we were in skidded into the lane of oncoming traffic. Nearly at that same moment, I saw a very large, heavy utility truck right in front of us. A head-on collision seemed inevitable. In a split second, I thought to myself: This is the end of my life. Then at the last moment, the driver of the large truck swerved toward the edge of the precipice, barely avoiding tumbling down hundreds of feet. The two trucks did collide sideways and ended up completely wrecked, but nobody suffered any physical harm.
When I got out of the SUV, I was overwhelmed by profound gratitude and a visceral conviction – not so much in my head but deep in my gut - that, every moment of my life was, indeed, a gratuitous gift from God – a true miracle. Over the years, I’ve continued to reflect back on that incident, to plumb its depth, and to continue to learn from it. I wonder: was it just pure luck with nothing more in it for me? Or was that an encounter, catching a glimpse of the Benevolent Mystery at the heart of the universe? Everything else in my life points me to embrace the latter. My Thanksgiving in the highlands of southern Mexico 25 years ago has taught me a greater sense of gratitude for the very fact of being alive. It has also strengthened my faith in our Christian belief that, whether in prosperity or misfortune, health or sickness, life or death, we are held in the palm of God’s loving hand.
As we gather in a few days for Thanksgiving, we, once again, count our blessings. I’m grateful to God for our parish and school as well as for the privilege of walking with you on the journey of faith in the footsteps of Jesus. Doing that does not inoculate us against the misfortunes of life and accidents of history. The Christian hope is not the same as a Pollyannaish, happy-go-lucky optimism. Sometimes, even the most intimate relationships disappoint and fail. Even the most cherished institutions may leave us disillusioned. The state of world affairs can fill us with dread. Even more so now than ever, we need to pause, to raise our hearts and minds to God, to thank our divine Creator for holding each one of us and the world itself in the palm of God's divine hand. Indeed, every moment of our lives is a true miracle – a gratuitous gift of our extravagant God who continues “to make all things new” and draw all things to a benevolent, heavenly fulfillment beyond our wildest imagination when “God will be all in all”. May the early glimpses of it fill us with joy and peace, charity for all.
Peace and all good,
Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM
I was seated behind the young driver of an SUV. With youthful overconfidence, he was zipping through a curvy stretch of a mountainous road in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The scenery was breathtaking. Not missing any chance to practice my Spanish, I struck up a conversation with the driver. After I told him I had recently joined the Franciscan Order, the young man asked me if I believed in miracles. I said yes, but then I added that our ordinary human lives were miraculous. Every time we breathe, see, walk, hear, speak and touch – all that and more – are real miracles, free gifts lavished on us by God. And yet, most of the time, we take those gifts for granted. We grow too accustomed to being incredibly blessed.
As I was struggling to convey that with my then rather limited Spanish vocabulary, it began to rain. All of the sudden, the speeding vehicle we were in skidded into the lane of oncoming traffic. Nearly at that same moment, I saw a very large, heavy utility truck right in front of us. A head-on collision seemed inevitable. In a split second, I thought to myself: This is the end of my life. Then at the last moment, the driver of the large truck swerved toward the edge of the precipice, barely avoiding tumbling down hundreds of feet. The two trucks did collide sideways and ended up completely wrecked, but nobody suffered any physical harm.
When I got out of the SUV, I was overwhelmed by profound gratitude and a visceral conviction – not so much in my head but deep in my gut - that, every moment of my life was, indeed, a gratuitous gift from God – a true miracle. Over the years, I’ve continued to reflect back on that incident, to plumb its depth, and to continue to learn from it. I wonder: was it just pure luck with nothing more in it for me? Or was that an encounter, catching a glimpse of the Benevolent Mystery at the heart of the universe? Everything else in my life points me to embrace the latter. My Thanksgiving in the highlands of southern Mexico 25 years ago has taught me a greater sense of gratitude for the very fact of being alive. It has also strengthened my faith in our Christian belief that, whether in prosperity or misfortune, health or sickness, life or death, we are held in the palm of God’s loving hand.
As we gather in a few days for Thanksgiving, we, once again, count our blessings. I’m grateful to God for our parish and school as well as for the privilege of walking with you on the journey of faith in the footsteps of Jesus. Doing that does not inoculate us against the misfortunes of life and accidents of history. The Christian hope is not the same as a Pollyannaish, happy-go-lucky optimism. Sometimes, even the most intimate relationships disappoint and fail. Even the most cherished institutions may leave us disillusioned. The state of world affairs can fill us with dread. Even more so now than ever, we need to pause, to raise our hearts and minds to God, to thank our divine Creator for holding each one of us and the world itself in the palm of God's divine hand. Indeed, every moment of our lives is a true miracle – a gratuitous gift of our extravagant God who continues “to make all things new” and draw all things to a benevolent, heavenly fulfillment beyond our wildest imagination when “God will be all in all”. May the early glimpses of it fill us with joy and peace, charity for all.
Peace and all good,
Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM