a prayer for good humor

You've heard me talk before about the worth of good humor.

I have even listed a number of important reasons outlining the impact on our physical, mental, emotional, spiritual self from laughter--regular, honest to God, belly laughing.

I'll never forget the moment a few years ago when I realized that... the physical exercises I was doing in physical therapy.... AND the wise advice I was given in acupuncture by Dr. Li... AND my spiritual director's guidance--were ALL telling me the same thing:

Open up your chest.

Breathe as deep as you can.

Let your heart self be vulnerable, open, and genuine! 

I have also realized that opening myself to laughter does this for me, allowing me to see much (all?!) of life with humor, good spirits, and a new perspective.

But if you don't want to listen to me, then listen to Pope Francis:

“A bit of good humor is very good for us! It will do us much good to pray St. Thomas More’s prayer frequently: I pray it every day, and it helps me.”

~Pope Francis

(speaking to the Roman Curia,

December 2014)

Prayer for Good Humorby St. Thomas More

Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest. 
Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it. 
Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good 
and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil, 
but rather finds the means to put things back in their place. 
Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments, 
nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.” 
Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor. 
Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy, 
and to be able to share it with others.

our most valuable treasure: el Cobre

Today, on the fourth and final day of Pope Francis' visit to Cuba, he celebrated Mass at el Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, the Basilica of Our Lady of Charity.

Almost by "chance," I stumbled on a video of el Papa Francisco praying silently before Our Lady of Charity last night, and I was moved by this simple and profound image.

As I read the words that Pope Francis prayed out loud with those gathered at the Basilica yesterday, I heard echoes of many others who, like him, understand the power and the hope that this particular image of Mother Mary has for the Cuban people. 

I could hear Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict as they, too, knelt before her. I could hear the awe of Thomas Merton as he described his devotion to la Caridad. I envisioned Ernest Hemingway humbly leaving his 1952 Pulitzer prize medal there. And above all, I could hear my parents telling me once more about their love and confidence in la Caridad, whose shrine they visited together on their honeymoon. 

I can't find an English translation of Pope Francis' words -- but I will translate for you two of the paragraphs I've copied below in Spanish, the ones I have highlighted in bold.

The bottom line... for all cubans, La Cachita is nothing less than a tangible reminder of God's love--and God's presence amidst his Cuban children.

With these words, the Pope of Mercy is once more challenging all Cubans, on the island as well as exiles, to search for and ask for the graces of unity and reconciliation through our Catholic faith, and under the mantle of Our beloved Lady of Charity.

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¡Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre,

Patrona de Cuba!

¡Dios te salve, María, llena de gracia!
Tú eres la Hija amada del Padre,
la Madre de Cristo, nuestro Dios,
el Templo vivo del Espíritu Santo.

Llevas en tu nombre, Virgen de la Caridad,
la memoria del Dios que es Amor,
el recuerdo del mandamiento nuevo de Jesús,
la evocación del Espíritu Santo:
amor derramado en nuestros corazones,
fuego de caridadenviado en Pentecostés sobre la Iglesia,
don de la plena libertad de los hijos de Dios.

¡Bendita tú entre las mujeres
y bendito el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús!
Has venido a visitar nuestro pueblo
y has querido quedarte con nosotros
como Madre y Señora de Cuba,
a lo largo de su peregrinar
por los caminos de la historia.

Tu nombre y tu imagen están esculpidos                          Your word and your image are engraved
en la mente y en el corazón de todos los cubanos,          in the mind and the heart of all cubans,
dentro y fuera de la Patria,                                                  within and outside their patria
como signo de esperanza                                                    (homeland), as a symbol of hope
y centro de comunión fraterna.                                  and as the center of our brotherly communion.
¡Santa María, Madre de Dios y Madre nuestra!            Oh holy Mary, Mother of God and our Mother!

Ruega por nosotros ante tu Hijo Jesucristo,
intercede por nosotros con tu corazón maternal,
inundado de la caridad del Espíritu.
Acrecienta nuestra fe,
aviva la esperanza, aumenta y fortalece
en nosotros el amor.

Ampara nuestras familias,
protege a los jóvenes y a los niños,
consuela a los que sufren.
Sé Madre de los fieles
y de los pastores de la Iglesia,
modelo y estrella de la nueva evangelización.

¡Madre de la reconciliación!                                     Mother of reconciliation!
Reúne a tu pueblo disperso por el mundo.            Gather together your (Cuban) people 
Haz de la nación cubana                                          dispersed throughout the world.
un hogar de hermanos y hermanas                         Make the cuban nation
para que este pueblo abra de par en par                a home of brothers and sisters
su mente, su corazón y su vida a Cristo,                so that as a people they may open wide
único Salvador y Redentor,                                      their mind, heart, and life to Christ,
que vive y reina con el Padre                                   our one and only Savior and Redeemer...
y el Espíritu Santo,
por los siglos de los siglos.

Amén.

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"This is our most valuable treasure (Cobre), this is our greatest wealth and the best legacy we can give: to learn like Mary to leave home and set out on the path of visitation.  And to learn to pray with Mary, for her prayer is one of remembrance and gratitude; it is the canticle of the People of God on their pilgrimage through history.  It is the living reminder that God passes through our midst... he has come the aid of his servant, even as promised to our forebears and their children for ever."

~Pope Francis at the Sanctuary of 

Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre,  

Our Lady of Charity of el Cobre

5 things you don't know about #elPapaenCuba

This is not my usual blog post. The truth is that I’m having a difficult time not reacting to news reports on Pope Francis’ historic visit to Cuba.

I hope to write something more personal later about how and what this Pope’s visit means to me as an exiled Cuban-American.

But for now, I want to point out five things that you will probably not hear explained or noted regarding #elPapaenCuba from the media—including the U.S. Catholic media, which has seemed unfortunately as focused on politics as non-religious, secular media outlets.

But I digress.

#1,       You’ve seen the photos of Pope Francis meeting with 89-year-old Fidel Castro. Did you know that in addition to a copy of the encyclical Laudato Si and one of Evangelii gaudium, Pope Francis presented Fidel with a gift of two CDs of reflections, homilies and songs by Jesuit Father Armando Llorente. 

Fr. Llorente, who died in 2010, was a former teacher and mentor of Fidel at Havana’s Catholic prep school, Belen College. 

It is not a coincidence that the Pope of mercy chose this particular gift for Fidel.  Prior to his death as an exile in Miami, Father Llorente publically asked for Fidel’s repentance and conversion.

#2,       Pope Francis became today the first Pope to ever visit the city of Holguín, Cuba. I’ve been reading some bizarre speculations about why he stopped at this particular city.  

For the Miami Herald, for example, the explanation for Pope Francis’ stop in Holguín could be that the city has two large churches and a faithful Catholic community—or more likely,  “so the pontiff can scout Bishop Emilio Aranguren, one of several possible successors to Cuba’s Cardinal Jaime Ortega.”

Even CRUX—who touts itself as “covering all things Catholic” kept the Pope’s actions generic, noting how Pope Francis blessed  “Cuba’s fourth-largest city from the Hill ofthe Cross, a pilgrimage site overlooking the city.”

But the Hill of the Cross is not just a pilgrimage site. A cross marks Holguín as the place where Christopher Columbus first touched land in 1492 on this side of the world, declaring, "Ésta es la tierra más hermosa que ojos humanos hayan visto jamás," this the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen.

I think it’s safe to say that Pope Francis, our first Pope from the Americas, is aware that Holguín is the place where the Gospel first arrived to our western hemisphere.

#3       One after another, media outlets have been contrasting for days Pope Francis and his meetings with the Castro brothers, with his failure to arrange a meeting with Cuban faithful labeled as “dissidents” by the state. Here’s one by the WashingtonPost.

Finally, today, the AP wire acknowledged what no one apparently wants to note about Cuba’s controlling police-state:

“Two well-known Cuban dissidents say the Vatican invited them to attend the pope's vespers service at the Cathedral of Havana but Cuban security agents detained them and temporarily held them so they could not go.”

#4       Weekly mass attendance. This is what media sources continually cite to describe Cuba as nominally Catholic.  Sigh.

Seriously, why are we still pretending that any person in Cuba is allowed the freedom to worship her Catholic faith?

In truth, the heart of the Catholic Church in Cuba today rests with the laity who run a virtually underground church of over 2,600 “mission houses”—a movement hounded by the government.

This is why Pope Francis pointed out:

“I know the efforts and the sacrifices being made by the Church in Cuba to bring Christ’s word and presence to all, even in the most remote areas.  Here I would mention especially the “mission houses” which, given the shortage of churches and priests, provide for many people a place for prayer, for listening to the word of God, for catechesis and community life.  They are small signs of God’s presence in our neighborhoods and a daily aid in our effort to respond to the plea of the apostle Paul: “I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”  (cf. Eph 4:1-3).

                                                                 ~Homily at Mass in Holguín, 21 September 2015

#5       We live in a world of sound bites that thrives on controversy—and division.  I shouldn’t be surprised that Cubans are continually pitted one against the other:  those who stayed after Fidel Castro took power versus those who left; Cubans on the island versus the ones in exile. Yet nothing is that simple. After all, "hope is a path made of memory and discernment." 

Acknowledging a unity forged by our love for Our Lady of Charity, one that surpasses mere facts and statistics, Pope Francis dedicated his opening remarks at the Habana airport to everyone he will not meet during his time on the Caribbean island—and to all Cubans dispersed throughout the world. 

Our Lady of Charity of el Cobre, patroness of Cuba…  “has accompanied the history of the Cuban people, sustaining the hope which preserves people’s dignity in the most difficult situations and championing the promotion of all that gives dignity to the human person.”

~Welcome ceremony, 20 September 2015

Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, pray for us!