Villa La Paz Newsletter December 2020

Incarnation: Christian Theol. Effectuation of the hypostatic union through the conception of the second person of the Trinity in the womb of the Virgin Mary
Hypostasis: Christian Theol. The union of the wholly divine nature and of a wholly human nature in the one person of Jesus Christ (in full hypostatic union)
Kenosis: Christian Theol. The voluntary abasement of the second person of the Trinity in becoming man
Webster’s New World Dictionary
Third College Edition

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came to be through Him and without Him nothing came to be. What came to be
4 through Him was life, and this life was the light of the human race,
5 the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-5, 14

The experience of the nearness of Jesus and the love of God, our common Father, creates in us a new mindset. We are dependent, we need one another and we really are responsible for one another. This is what the virtue of solidarity is all about, the recognition that our destinies are woven together or they are not woven at all. Human fragility is not to be denied or demonized or hidden away but met with love and compassion and solidarity. As Sister Thea Bowman put it so beautifully, “God’s glory is revealed because we love one another across the barriers and boundaries of race, culture and class.”
Bishop Mark J. Seitz
Bishop of El Paso, Texas

Life’s real and highest goal is to discover this spark of the divine that is in our hearts. When we realize this goal, we discover simultaneously that the divinity within ourselves is one and the same in all-all individuals, all creatures, all of life.
Eknath Easwaran

Perhaps no other word is so evocative of the past year, 2020, as solidarity, the coming together of persons to mutually support, encourage, and in the end, love one another. Never has the world experienced simultaneously a crushing pandemic, overt and dramatically evident racial injustice, and such profound social polarization. At times we are overwhelmed at the seemingly hopeless situation we find ourselves in. We long for peace, stability, signs of hope that the world will right itself, that the darkness will give way to light, the light of mutual love, understanding, compassion. But at times like these we are so distressed and overcome by the darkness that we do not see the glimmers of light that are breaking through. They may be subtle, almost imperceptible, but they are always there if only, with faith and hope, we look for them. One glimmer, one ray of light in the darkness is the solidarity with which our totally giving health care workers struggle through exhausting 12 to 18 hour, or perhaps even 24 hour shifts, placing themselves and their families in harm’s way to care for persons they do not know but nevertheless have come to love. Or the solidarity with which donors and volunteers at food distribution centers try to alleviate the hunger of unemployed families. There are instances of individuals taking food and other sustenance to persons who are quarantined due to illness or exposure to COVID. And there are other examples of love and compassion that augment our faith and hope, helping us to overcome the seemingly dark situation we find ourselves in. The light is all around us, if we but look for it, if we believe that it is, indeed, there. Daryana – Cleft Lip and Palate Marcos – Spina Bifida Maria – Spinal Muscular Atrophy The Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity is the supreme act of solidarity in which God took on our humanity with its weaknesses, sufferings and limitations for no other reason but love. The Creator so loved His creation that He wanted to become a part of it. By assuming a material form God elevated and sanctified all matter and infused it with His divinity.

Now this is not just a pious commonplace. It is not commonplace at all. For what it means is this, among other things: that for whatever reason God chose to make man as he is-limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death-He has had the honesty and the courage to take His own medicine. Whatever game He is playing with His creation, He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man He has not exacted from Himself. He has Himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair and death. When He was a man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.
Dorothy L. Sayers

I believe-if I am to believe Jesus-that God is suffering love. If we are created in God’s image, and if there is so much suffering in the world, then God must also be suffering. How else can we understand the revelation of the cross? Why else would the central Christian logo be a naked, bleeding, suffering divine-human being? The image of Jesus on the cross somehow communicates God’s solidarity with the willing soul. A crucified God is the dramatic symbol of the one suffering that God fully enters into with us-much more than just for us, as many Christians were trained to think.
Father Richard Rohr, OFM

Concerning our children, routine medical care will begin in January, 2021 which means that most of our children, who require care for chronic conditions, have gone untreated. Daryana, whose photograph can be seen on these pages, came to us shortly after birth for cleft lip and palate repair. She is now 8 months old and has to be fed with a gastric tube since she cannot suck due to a very large cleft palate. However, as you can see, she is chunky and happy. We have children with clubbed feet and missing limbs who are also awaiting care. Finally, I want to leave you with the following prayer which expresses our deepest needs and desires:

Jesus, who bade all who carry heavy burdens to come to you, refresh us with your presence and your power. Quiet our understandings and give ease to our hearts by bringing us close to things infinite and eternal. Open to us the mind of God that in His light we may see light. And crown your choice of us to be your servants by making us springs of strength and joy to all whom we serve.
Evelyn Underhill

Thank you for supporting our children. Our fondest wishes for a Blessed and Holy Christmas and a New Year filled with God’s blessings. We love you and wish you God’s peace.