The Gift of Life

Last night I went to, or better, I participated in the Easter Vigil, a process, event, moment, I had been looking forward to for a very long time. I could even say that I had been looking forward to it since my Freshmen Year at Seattle University.
Why would I look forward to this Easter Vigil in particular? Well, I know there is an Easter Vigil every single year, but since my Freshmen Year I felt called to fully participate in this one in particular. I longed for this Vigil. During that time, God prepared me for this Easter Vigil because God knew that Victoria Hanohano-Hong would come in to my life, and ask me to be her "sponsor" (God Mother/Madrina). Ever since my Freshmen year, I wanted to be a sponsor for someone special, but at that time I did not know who would "elect" me to be their sponsor. But deep down inside, I knew I would be chosen and I desired this very much. Why would I desire this? Well, as I saw sponsors who demonstrated their faith so well, and sponsors who supported the "Elect" I wanted to support someone who had chosen to join the church. I wanted to help someone who loved the church so much that they wanted to marry the church. This desire was so grand, but I could not share this with anyone because I felt guilty for desiring this. My mother has many God Children, and each one of them is very special to her. Yet, she never asked to be someone's God Mother, instead she was chosen. And I knew that I had to be chosen, and could not simply ask someone to let me be their "Sponsor."
Last year, I was an RA in Chardin Hall. Victoria was one of my residents and we talked about living in Chardin, about school, and about our faith. Victoria told me how she sought to understand her faith more. She had her own faith journey, and was called to God by God in a unique way. One day after we went to the Novena of Grace, she told me she was interested in becoming a Catholic and asked me if I would consider being her Sponsor. I was overwhelmed with joy because I knew how important this was for Victoria. Instead of thinking about how I could help my "God child", I began to think of the beautiful journey towards God through Christ that Victoria had chosen to embark on. I felt blessed to be able to be her sail boat on this journey. I knew that I could keep her afloat, but I recognized that Jesus was the wind that guided her and kept her safe from danger.
Although, I felt called to be a sponsor because I believed that I could help my "God Child" in reality I was being helped by Victoria. This process helped me see the wonderfulness of God. Throughout the months it has felt that God has been helping Victoria grow into whom she wanted to be. I have not helped her in the ways I thought I would, but rather in a different way. It's like when a child is in a Mother's womb. The mother supports her child by eating healthy and maintaining a balance in her life. The mother puts her trust in God, and knows that her child will be healthy and safe when the time comes to give birth. Well to me, last night felt like giving birth, metaphorically of course. During the readings, it was like if I was listening to and reading stories to Victoria, while she was still in the womb. I was listening to understand what God wanted from me, and I was reading to Victoria to let her know that I loved her and that I could not wait for her to be born into a life with Christ. Then during baptism, it was as if my water broke. Victoria was ready to come into this union with the Church, with God, and with Christ. As we moved into the lighting of her candle, and she was robed in white. I felt I was giving "luz" in Spanish this literally means giving light, but it also means giving birth. Then, we moved to the laying of hands and just like when a child is born everyone wanted to hold Victoria. We invoked the Holy Spirit and asked her to descend onto Victoria. All together we sung to the Holy Spirit. As we did this Victoria was cleansed with the oil, I was able rub this into her. Then I helped her open her eyes by rubbing her eyes with handkercheif. Her eyes were open and once again people were filled with joy, and gave the sign of peace to one another. We shared hugs and were filled with Agape Love. As we made it back to our seats, we prepared for the Holy Eucharist. Victoria's First Communion, was like her first time being breast fed. She was being nurtured and filled by her loving God through Christ who poured out his love. Christ had given his body up for us and now Victoria was able to consume and be part of the Body of Christ. With these nutrients she will now be able to grow strong. And when we were sent out, I felt like I was being sent out from the hospital with a very mature, understanding, seeking, and loving child.
I have been blessed to have been chosen by Victoria to be her sail boat and to have her as my God Child. She is so wonderful and look forward to seeing her grow into an even more wise adult throughout the years.

Quotes

Today during the Ignatian Leadership Honor Society breakfast with Fr. Sundborg and Dr. Jake Diaz, Stephanie shared a very beautiful quote that I think said "When love holds a scale it breaks." If I misquoted this I apologize. At first, from my perspective I was felt confused and thought I didn't understand it. I thought that perhaps what was being said was that love is to heavy or to grand for a scale to hold. As in, no matter what, a scale could not measure love. Then Fr. Sundborg asked Stephanie what she thought, and she described the scale as one that measures things. Then I thought that perhaps this quote could also be a reflection of how people feel in relationships. When you truly love someone you don't have to compare her/him to other people, you love that person for who she/he is. So, then I realized that perhaps that is why quotes are so powerful. Each quote can be interpreted uniquely. One person can come up with hundreds of interpretations for one quote and together many people can come up with thousands of ways of looking at one quote. Therefore, now when I look at a quote I will just have to remember to grasp as many nspiring insights as possible.