Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The higher reasons for celebrating a birthday

Most of us enjoy celebrating birthdays. I know I do.

But it’s rare to sit down and mediate on the higher reasons for the birthday celebration.

File:Birthday candles.jpg

Well, there are higher reasons to celebrate a birthday. They are based on the fact that a birthday is the day that the person came into the world.  The world is a richer place with the addition of this new person.

In principle, every new person is a grace, a favor of God. Human society grows richer in consequence. And every human being is a colossal. Why?

Because each person will be judged by a colossal God, and will have a colossal reward or punishment in the afterlife.

This thought should help us to appreciate the great value of each human life.

Yes, it’s true that we all carry the burden of original sin with us. And, yes, it’s true that we are inferior to the angels. And, finally, it’s true that we inherit the inclination to certain vices from our ancestors.

Yet each person that is born enriches the world, which is God’s great work, in a meaningful and sensible manner.

When we celebrate a birthday, we celebrate the arrival of a new person to this world. We celebrate a “new actor on the world stage.”

We celebrate that new person’s aptitudes to see and love God in a completely unique and special manner. We celebrate the virtues that that new person is called to practice, and the wealth of soul that is his or hers alone. We even celebrate the new person’s merit and struggle in overcoming original and actual sin in all of its negative consequences, and the glory this means for God and mankind.

Ultimately, we celebrate a new and wonderful plan of God.  How marvelous!

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Picture by: Ed g2s

Shared by the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

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