'Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life.' (St Leo the Great) This is a great consolation. Indeed, this thought has re-centered my feelings and experiences of this Christmas day when I visited few of my close relatives. They are aging. All of them suffer from some kind of illness. This experience of decline has made me said and inwardly inert. Yet, St Leo's encouragement, though it does not change the bare facts of life, changes my perspective.
I suddenly understand the importance of prayer. When we pray, this is en extension of today's birthday of life, Christmas. This attention, we are encouraged to believe, will embrace as a lasting help our beloved ones.
25.12.2015
