Click here for daily readingsToday is my sixty-first birthday. I would love to be able to reminisce about a bucket list of interesting adventures from my sixtieth year, but those twelve months humbled me as I found myself caring for young grandchildren who live with us, accompanying my parents as they faced the struggles of aging, taming my anxieties about young adult children, and walking with my husband through prostate cancer.
For years I dreaded my post-Christmas, dead of Pennsylvania, winter birthday. My mother likes to recall that I was born in a Pittsburgh snowstorm. What can there be to celebrate in the darkest days of winter? The back to back celebrations of All Hallows Eve and All Saints, Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas left me desperate for Ordinary Time. I had no room for one more slice of cake.
I clung to the Feast of Epiphany, which was originally always celebrated on January 6. I could follow my star, be enlightened about faith, and worship the newborn king. But in the 1970’s, Catholic Churches in the United States began moving the feast to the first Sunday after January 1st. I felt robbed.
I spent time looking up saints who had feast days on Jan. 6 and again felt deflated. I felt no connection to Saint André Bessette, a sickly priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, who spent most of his life as doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal. But then, in January 1998, we got the news that a baby girl was born on January 5th in the Pacific coastal plain town of Escuintla, Guatemala. We would be adopting a second child. The proximity of our birthdays reawakened my gratitude for life.
In today’s Gospel we are told that when Jesus saw the crowds “his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” It reminds me of the words of Isaiah: “The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.” (Isa 9:2) The infertility my husband and I suffered was never cured, but the gift of our four children through adoption has granted us a share in that “profound peace” the psalmist speaks of.
Most saint-of-the-day reflections on St. André, the eighth of twelve children born to French Canadians, say nothing of the fact that he was orphaned and adopted at age 12. When I discovered this overlooked fact it was an epiphany. This humble man who did the most menial of jobs for his congregation became known for the thousands of people who came to him for healing. Devoted to St. Joseph, St. André said that all healing came through the foster father of Jesus. St. André died on Jan. 6, 1937, just four years before my parents were born. I was further taken aback when I discovered that, of all things, he is the patron saint of home caregivers.
Lord be our light in the darkness. Saint André Bessette, pray for us!
Hoy cumplo sesenta y un años. Me encantaría poder recordar una lista de aventuras interesantes de mis sesenta años, pero esos doce meses me hicieron sentir humilde al encontrarme cuidando a mis nietos pequeños que viven con nosotros, acompañando a mis padres en sus luchas por la vejez, controlando mis ansiedades por mis hijos adultos jóvenes y acompañando a mi esposo en su lucha contra el cáncer de próstata.
Durante años no me gustaba mi cumpleaños invernal, que caía después de la Navidad, en Pensilvania. A mi madre le gusta recordar que nací en una tormenta de nieve en Pittsburgh. ¿Qué se puede celebrar en los días más oscuros del invierno? Las celebraciones consecutivas de la Víspera de Todos los Santos y el Día de Todos los Santos, el Día de Acción de Gracias, el Adviento y la Navidad me llenaron de ansias por llegar al Tiempo Ordinario. No tenía espacio para un trozo más de pastel.
Me aferré a la Fiesta de la Epifanía, que originalmente se celebraba siempre el 6 de enero. Podía seguir a mi estrella, recibir iluminación sobre la fe y adorar al Rey recién nacido. Pero en la década de 1970, las iglesias católicas de Estados Unidos comenzaron a trasladar la fiesta al primer domingo después del primero de enero. Me sentí toda desanimada.
Pasé tiempo buscando los santos que se celebraban el 6 de enero y, de nuevo, me sentí desanimada. No sentía ninguna conexión con San Andrés Bessette, un sacerdote enfermizo de la Congregación de la Santa Cruz, que pasó la mayor parte de su vida como portero en el Colegio Notre Dame de Montreal. Pero entonces, en enero de 1998, recibimos la noticia del nacimiento de una niña el 5 de enero en Escuintla, un pueblo de la llanura costera del Pacífico, en Guatemala. Íbamos a adoptar a nuestra segunda hija. La proximidad de nuestros cumpleaños reavivó mi gratitud por la vida.
En el Evangelio de hoy se nos dice que Jesús vio una numerosa multitud y “se compadeció de ellos, porque andaban como ovejas sin pastor, y se puso a enseñarles muchas cosas”. Me recuerda las palabras de Isaías: “El pueblo que habitaba en tinieblas vio una gran luz; sobre los que habitaban en tierra de sombras de muerte, la luz resplandeció” (Isaías 9,2). La infertilidad que sufrimos mi esposo y yo nunca se curó, pero el don de nuestros cuatro hijos por adopción nos ha permitido compartir esa “paz” de la que habla el salmista.
La mayoría de las reflexiones sobre san Andrés, el octavo de doce hijos de francocanadienses, no mencionan que quedó huérfano y fue adoptado a los 12 años. Cuando descubrí este hecho pasado por alto, fue una gran revelación. Este hombre humilde, que realizaba los trabajos más serviles para su congregación, se hizo conocido por las miles de personas que acudían a él en busca de sanación. Devoto de san José, san Andrés decía que toda sanación provenía del padre adoptivo de Jesús. San Andrés falleció el 6 de enero del 1937, solo cuatro años antes de que nacieran mis padres. Me quedé aún más sorprendida al descubrir que, entre todas las cosas, es el santo patrón de los cuidadores de seres queridos.
Señor, sé nuestra luz en la oscuridad. ¡San Andrés Bessette, ruega por nosotros!
Beth Casteel, wife of 36 years, mother of four and grandmother of two, writes with a passion for uncovering the stories of ordinary people. She worked as a newspaper reporter and editor and has advanced degrees in communication studies and creative writing. She contributed to Cloud of Witnesses, 25 Stories of Saintly Inspiration and Intercession, and has written essays for both sacred and secular publications. Her work can be seen on substack bethcasteel.substack.com/ and at bethcasteel.com.Feature Image Credit: Couleur, pixabay.com/photos/winter-landscape-trees-frost-snow-4532412/The views and opinions expressed in the Inspiration Daily blog are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Diocesan, the Diocesan staff, or other contributors to this blog.
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