Category: Fatima Monterrubio Cruess

10/7/2021

Our Baptismal Anniversary, A Day Worth Celebrating

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Birthdays and anniversaries are often occasions of great joy! Many of us count down to and look forward to these meaningful celebrations of life. We invite friends and family members to share in our joy. What if we celebrated our Baptism, the day of our “rebirth,” in the same way?

Pope Francis has repeatedly issued a challenge to do just that: “…[I]f we celebrate birthdays, why not celebrate — or at least remember — the day of rebirth?” (General Audience, April 11, 2018). More than a simple invitation to learn the date of our Baptism, Pope Francis urges us to allow this observance to “reawaken the memory of Baptism.” He tells us that, “To know the date of our Baptism is to know a blessed day. The danger of not knowing is that we can lose awareness of what the Lord has done in us, the memory of the gift we have received. Thus, we end up considering it only as an event that took place in the past – and not by our own will but by that of our parents – and that it has no impact on the present… As I know my birthday, I should know my Baptism day, because it is a feast day.” (General Audience, January 8, 2014)

My mother has always made a point of reminding my siblings and me of our sacramental anniversaries. Whether it’s making a special dessert or just telling us stories of the festivities and recounting small details from the ceremony, she makes it feel like a feast day. Now, with my own children, I am trying to imitate her example and make a more concerted effort to mark these events in our family’s life and draw out their significance.

Today marks the fourth anniversary of my son’s Baptism. As we celebrate the occasion, I am hoping to put into practice at least a few of the following ideas:

Locate my son’s baptismal garment and candle.
Hunt down actual printed photographs of the liturgy (though I love sharing the digital pictures and videos we have as well!).
Set up a prayer space with the garment, candle, and pictures, gather as a family, share memories of the day, and say a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing.
- The Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers has a prayer for such an occasion. Or you can read one of the readings used during the celebration of Baptism (such as Ex 17:3-7; Ez 36: 24-28; Rom 6: 3-5; Mk 1: 9-11; Jn 19, 31-35) and/or renew baptismal vows as a family.
Bring out our reserve of holy water and bless each family member, taking turns to trace the Sign of the Cross on my son’s forehead.
Enjoy a phone call with my son’s godparents and thank them for their prayers and example.
Celebrate with a special dessert of my son’s choosing.
Tell my son about why we chose his name, John Francisco, and ask for the intercession of his patron saints (John the Baptist and Francisco Marto).

I hope that my son looks forward to his baptismal anniversary every year with as much excitement as he does his birthday. Even more than that, I pray that he may grow to recognize his Baptism as a formative part of his identity.

I encourage you to learn the story of your Baptism if you don’t already know it. Find out the date on which you were baptized, where you were baptized, and who your godparents are. Mark this day on your calendar and decide how you can commemorate this day each year. It may be as simple as going to Mass, spending extra time in prayer, or gathering with friends for a special meal! No matter what you do, resolve to make it a day of gratitude and celebration for the great gift of God’s grace in your life.

Whether we are marking the occasion of our own Baptism or that of a friend or family member, “Let us, then, ask the Lord from our hearts that we may be able to experience ever more, in everyday life, this grace that we have received at Baptism. That in encountering us, our brothers and sisters may encounter true children of God, true brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, true members of the Church” (Pope Francis, General Audience, January 8, 2014).

Author

Fatima Monterrubio Cruess is the Resource Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center

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9/14/2021

Broadening My Vocational Vision

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When you hear the word “vocation” what comes to mind?

In my last year of college, vocation seemed like a puzzle to be solved. I put a lot of pressure on myself to figure out “what should I do with my life.” I met with a spiritual director and weighed several options, agonizing over how I would know which was the right choice. Although my spiritual director and many other people in my life tried to tell me that I didn’t have to figure out the entirety of my life just yet, I wasn’t listening. I had a very narrow view of vocation as something to be discerned once and only once. I thought, if you’ve done it right, you stick with your choice for your whole life. I imagined that God had my life mapped out for me and there was a very definite direction I should take; I just needed to figure out which it was.

Now, 11 years later, I realize just how much God’s grace has been at work in me in so many ways—especially in broadening my understanding of vocation. I’ve come to really appreciate that discerning one’s vocation is not like completing a task at which we can excel or fail. It’s not a question with a single right answer.

In fact, God’s plan for us is none other than to be holy, and to do so in ways specific to us, “to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 19). The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church speaks of this universal and personal call to holiness by saying that “all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord – each in his or her own way – to that perfect holiness by which the Father himself is perfect” (Lumen Gentium, 11). Each and every one of us has this fundamental vocation, the one that underlies every other particular way in which God calls us to holiness. Holiness isn’t lived out in a single grand way possible for only a select few; “We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 14).

In Gaudete et Exsultate, Pope Francis issues a powerful summons: “You too need to see the entirety of your life as a mission” (GE, 23). With this broader view of vocation, I can more readily recognize the multitude of ways in which God has drawn me to himself throughout the course of my life. I can discern how I am being called to holiness in this moment and reflect on how my response in the here and now is part of my greater life’s mission.

Now I understand vocation as more than a single call. It is, rather, living our lives in a constant awareness of and responsiveness to the promptings of the Lord, who draws us to himself. Vocation is not inward looking; it draws us outward to God and neighbor. This redirected gaze allows us to recognize and receive with gratitude the gifts we are given so that we can more freely and truly make a gift of ourselves. Such self-emptying love is what it means to be Christ-like, to be holy. It forces us to reframe our questions. Instead of asking, “What do I want to be?” or “What do I want to do with my life?” (as I kept asking myself in college), we can prayerfully discern “How is God calling me to make a gift of myself?” This certainly applies to my state in life, whether I am called to give of myself in marriage or religious life. But I also respond to this call to self-gift by carrying out my work with integrity and skill in the service of my brothers and sisters, by patiently teaching my little ones how to follow Jesus, by refusing to gossip, and by saying a kind word to the person I encounter on the street (to list a few examples from Gaudete et Exsultate 14- 16).

My life’s journey has taken a lot more turns than I could have anticipated those many years ago. Yet the Lord has made use of each step, big and small, to draw me ever closer to himself.

Click here for more resources on Vocational Discernment.

Author

Fatima Monterrubio Cruess is the Resource Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

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4/6/2021

The Challenge of Easter Joy

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We may be well-acquainted with Lenten practices and devotions such as giving something up, abstaining from meat, or praying the Stations of the Cross. It can be more difficult, however, to name ways to observe the Easter season.

Yet in the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer at every Mass during the Easter season, we hear:

“It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, at all times to acclaim you, O Lord, but in this time above all to laud you yet more gloriously, when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed… Therefore, overcome with paschal joy, every land, every people exults in your praise and even the heavenly Powers, with the angelic hosts, sing together the unending hymn of your glory…”[1]

What is “paschal joy” and how do we praise the Lord “more gloriously” in the Easter season?

It is unreasonable to expect anyone to will themselves to be happy at any given moment, much less for an entire season. But joy is not the same as happiness, nor is it the absence of sadness. Joy is a fruit of charity. It flows out of love; it results from a participation in goodness. We feel joy in the presence of someone or something we love; we rejoice in the well-being of our loved ones.

If our Lenten observance is focused on charity—particularly acts of charity such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—then joy flows naturally from them. The disciplines that turn our gaze outward to God and neighbor, the sacrifices we make, are all a participation in goodness, an act of love. Paschal (Easter) joy, then, can be seen as the fruit of our Lenten journey.

Our Lenten efforts are not meant to be temporary measures. They are intended to effect lasting change in us, to conform us more profoundly to our Lord who died but has been raised. What can we do then, so that we don’t simply drop our Lenten observance now that Easter has arrived? How can we instead allow these observances to take root in such a way that they enable us to celebrate the Easter season more fully and joyfully?

Consider one or more of the following suggestions to cultivate paschal joy and fill each of the fifty days of the season with festivities and devotions:

Pray the Regina Caeli and fill your prayers with hearty Alleluias.
Meditate on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.
Bless the home, family table, or traditional foods with newly blessed holy water.[2]
Grow or give flowers to adorn a yard or home.
Pray the Via Lucis, a devotion modeled after the Stations of the Cross, which is a meditation on the various appearances of Jesus from his Resurrection to his Ascension (Mt 28; Mk 16; Lk 24; Jn 20-21).[3]
Learn about the devotions surrounding Divine Mercy, such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy or the liturgical celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday on the Sunday following Easter.[4]
Take up some spiritual reading. The diary of St. Faustina Kowalska offers an opportunity to reflect on Divine Mercy as the source of our redemption and joy.
Prepare for Pentecost by taking part in the Novena to the Holy Spirit.[5] There isn’t necessarily a formal structure to follow; simply take to heart Jesus’ exhortation to the Apostles to spend these days in prayer in expectation of the descent of the Holy Spirit[6].
Take a cue from the Paschal Candle, which is lit for all liturgical celebrations and kept near the ambo throughout Easter Time, by lighting a candle (perhaps even your baptismal candle) and reflecting on how you have received the light of Christ.
Send out Easter cards or write a simple note to the newly baptized members of your parish.
Research Easter customs from your family’s country (or countries) of origin.
Visit a cemetery or the burial site of loved ones and offer a prayer of faith looking forward to the resurrection of the dead.
Keep a journal of the joys and blessings—big and small—that fill these days and respond by giving thanks.

Click here for more resources to accompany you this Easter season.

[1] Preface I-V of Easter, Roman Missal, Third Typical Edition.

[2] Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 150, no. 152.

[3] Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 153.

[4] Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 154.

[5] Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 155.

[6] Cf John Paul II, General Audience, Wednesday, 30 May 1979

Author

Fatima Monterrubio Cruess is the Resource Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

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Our Baptismal Anniversary, A Day Worth Celebrating

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Broadening My Vocational Vision

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The Challenge of Easter Joy

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Our Baptismal Anniversary, A Day Worth Celebrating

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The Challenge of Easter Joy

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About

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Resources

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