“¡Viva, Cristo Rey!” (Long live Christ the King!)
I can almost hear him—sounding out these words with a full voice and a heart beating with conviction. Today we celebrate the feast of the brave Blessed Miguel Pro, just days after celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King this past Sunday.
I am often in awe of the great martyrs of the Church. I wonder how they could withstand all of the sufferings they underwent and remain faithful.
Then I remember, as with the life of Padre Pro, and the many Saints and martyrs who have gone before him and are now resting in beatitude, crowned with life (Revelation 2:10), it begins with all of the little moments. The inconveniences, the small discomforts, the lack of certain foods or extra comforts—all of these things form part of the bigger picture.
Sister, what if we were to take a step back, sit down, and look at our lives for a moment? Would we see our lives as a tapestry? Every moment interwoven with another, seemingly insignificant, yet when we take a look from the other side—from the Lord’s perspective—the beauty is astounding. The interwoven moments where time and eternity interpenetrate, where little victories produce endurance and form character, where fidelity in small matters wins for you the opportunity to do greater things. Do we see them?
Each and every moment of your life, sister, is important. It is not wasted unless you deem it to be so. The diaper changing, the rolling out of bed in a bout of depression, the exercising, the working 9-to-5, the tongue-biting, the kind word, the showing up . . . it all matters. How we respond and live our day-to-day life will determine how we will respond and live in moments of deep hurt, betrayal, life-shattering news, and even death.
We don’t have to wonder today how we might respond tomorrow. We begin today to live well, to say yes bravely to the little mishaps of the day, and there we meet the Lord Who lovingly awaits us, eager to open our eyes to the tapestry that is our lives.