The color in red…

What does red signify to us, aside from being the symbol of February which is the month of hearts?

Well, I can strike three things:
First, red is the color of fire. Second, Red is the color of bravery and third, red is the color of boldness. At tis time in the history of our Faith, we are being asked more than ever to have more courage to stand up for our faith.

Everytime we leave the Church after Mass, I guess we will meet people in our families or offices, who may tell us that the Church , our Mother, is a liar. We might meet people who will tell us that we do not have to believe in what the Church teaches., nor respect what It says. These people might tell us that it is alright to be cold and indifferent to what the Church tells us to do. These are the people whom we must stand up against. I believe that no Christian should ever withdraw from a good fight. When there is a fight that needs to be won for the sake of Faith, it must be fought. Faith is always fought by warm-blooded Christians.

Red is the color of fire. Let us realize that fire is fearless. It is the people who see the fire that are afraid. But fire is never afraid. It is always bold and daring.

If the color of Christianity is red, it is because we are being asked to stand up for our Christian faith. Perhaps we will not be asked to lay down our blood for our Lord, or be killed for the Lord.
Indeed, red is the color of commitment, of bravery, of fire.

Red is also the color of love. People who love associate love with the color red, not because of Valentine’s Day or Cupid with his arrow. Red is the color of love because the perfect symbol of love is Christ crucified on the Cross. The perfect color of love is the red of the blood on the Cross.
Perhaps, we are being called to love and that is why our blood is red. We are being called to sacrifice ourselves, to lay down our lives for others.

People who are not willing to make a sacrifice for others are lying when they tell you they love you. Because the litmus test of love is our capacity to sacrifice.

Animals cannot love the way humans do because animals cannot make sacrifices.

Only human beings like me, like you, like anyone else in this troubled and competitive world can make sacrifices for others and the greater the sacrifice, the more human we become. And the more human we become, the more we praise God. And the more we praise God, the more we please Him. And the more we please Him, the more we receive blessings and graces from His merciful love and kindness.

Red is also the color of unity.
This is very striking and it indeed struck me while I was driving the busy Cerillos Road of downtown Sta Fe a week ago when I picked up another monk brother in Albuquerque airport terminal.
When we see green, everybody wants to move and go. When we see yellow, everybody gets consciously careful. But when we see red, everybody stops.

It is only in stopping that we can appreciate the people behind us, beside us and in front of us. When we stop at an intersection because of a red light, sometimes we find out that we actually know the driver next to our car. But if we are always on the go, looking out for ourselves and being careful, we are not able to appreciate the presence of one another.

Some of us spend a lot of time moving. Some of us are so careful and too cautious, that we only live for ourselves. Let us then just learn to stop. Let us be at ease with doing nothing, so we can appreciate one another, look at one another and relish each other’s presence.
Red is the color of love and it is our color. Red asks us to stop. In stopping, we learn to appreciate one another.
In stopping, we are able to look into our hearts and the hearts of others, and discover the Spirit at work there. Have a blessed month of love to everybody!