it must be a happy ending...

Dom Lawrence, OSB wishes you all a very blessed, safe new year!...^__^

The liturgical year is ending. In the Filipino language we say “ilang tulog na lang ay bagong taon na naman!” translation: “in a couple of night sleeps, it’s gonna be new year again!” The calendar year is ending too and sooner than we think we are saying “Hello” to 2008. The air is beginning to to get fully excited as we anticipate the coming of the year 2008.

I have lost my memory already and am not certain where we picked the customary of ending the year with a bang. I actually think it is a wise practice to celebrate an ending in joy, not for the end itself but for what it symbolizes- a process and marks a beginning.

Like always, there will be prophets of doom. People have already come out announcing the end of the world is imminent. Even in a simple workplace, when a good manager leaves his post in the office, there will be those who will get disheartened and see the change or the move as an irreplaceable loss or a sure detriment to the company or department. Yet the optimist sees the change as a challenge. Instead of approaching it with sadness, the hopeful realist approaches change with excitement and renowned spirit.

It is normal that all good-byes and all endings come with mixed emotions. It is sad to say “good-bye”!
We want to hold on to all that is familiar to us especially if it is beautiful and good. We all want to see the future with hope, but there is no denying that the fear of the unknown is sometimes overwhelming.

I recall with a tinge of sadness when I left the Philippines in year 2002 to finally join the ranks of the Benedictine monks of Christ in the Desert here in New Mexico, USA.

I remember crying in the whole duration of the send-off party that the faculty members of San Beda College Grade School Department gave me. That day was the saddest day of my life. Imagine, I will be leaving behind my community for almost twenty years of daily encounters with its faculty, students and its office personnel.

Being with them six days a week in seventeen years, I felt a strong and special bond between us. That was indeed very sad. Of course, if I had a choice I would be happier if I stayed with them in the Philippines. They are a family to me.

My departure was a painful breaking away for me and maybe even more for them. But after some years and now, whenever we see each other on my annual home visit to the Philippines, there is such a wealth of experience to share with them. The light and happy exchange of stories is something to look forward to whenever I come home and get a chance to visit them in school.

Good-byes are like that. They hurt when they happen but something good always emerges for those who choose to see it. Some good surfaces for those who believe that happy endings are made. Happy endings take a lot of hardwork and sacrifice.

None of us can say that the death of Jesus on the Cross was a happy occasion. Indeed, it brought a lot of sadness, anguish and distress to all those who loved Him. Yet, if not for His death we will not have the joy of Resurrection. Human life will not have meaning. The darkness of death was just the background for us to see the bright light and bright promise of a new life. Ultimately, it is a happy ending if we choose to believe so. It was Jesus’ death or His good-bye as a human presence that opened the doors for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not just Jesus Christ. It is God! It is Jesus Christ! One thing is certain: it does not limit Christ’s presence to one place, to one room, to one city, to one country.Through the Holy Spirit, God and Jesus are everywhere.

We did not really say good-bye to Jesus in Calvary or Jerusalem. Jesus’ life did not really end. He is with us everywhere and anywhere. Maybe we said good-bye to the historical Jesus but definitely it was not a total good-by. Jesus lives.

To see beyond the sadness of good-byes demand a great deal of faith. Life has happy endings only because we see beyond---the hopeful glorious beginning!

Advance Happy New Year to all of you my dear ones!