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Dear Parents,
A couple of weeks ago, I had the wonderful experience of helping some of our second grade students do their shopping at our Christmas Shop. The students were super excited as they looked for the perfect gift for their loved ones. I was touched by the eager joy of the children as they anticipated the delight which their gifts would bring to a parent, grandparent, or sibling. They were so, so happy to give.
As followers of Christ, we know well the reason for the tremendous joy of giving: our very life, our very existence, is a gift of God. Created in the image and likeness of the God of love, we are "wired" for love. We thirst for love and, at the same time, we have a deep need to give love. Because we are made for love and to love, it is not enough for us to receive love - in order to be fully fulfilled, we must also give love to others through concrete actions.
This human need to be fulfilled by love is at the heart of a true and healthy sense of the popular term, "self-esteem." In all my years of working with children and families, I find that, most often, the children who have a proper sense of self-esteem are those who are secure in their parents' love for them and are provided with many opportunities within their families to demonstrate their love in tangible ways, i.e. through chores and other responsibilities.
In a society which tends to hold up achievements as the measure of one' self-worth, it is easy to replace love with success. Unconsciously, we can begin to teach our children that their "self-esteem", their worthiness, is contingent upon the level of their achievements in school, athletics, etc. Certainly, achievements are important - using our God-given talents well in order to live to our full potential is, fact, an excellent way of showing our love for God. Rightly, we should teach, encourage, and expect our children to do their best in school and all areas of life. However, we must remember - and help our children to know - that, ultimately, our worthiness, our "self-esteem", is grounded in God's unconditional love for us and our proper response to that love.
Advent is the perfect time to reflect on the true source of our "self-esteem": God became man in order to save us not because we are worthy or successful, but because He is Love. Advent presents us with the disturbing paradox that our "self-esteem" is, in fact, essentially connected with our utter helplessness, with our absolute need for redemption.
And so, as we begin this Advent season, I invite all of us to ponder the words of Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle - words that challenge us to acknowledge our weaknesses and dependence on God and thus will free us to accept God's help:
"There is probably no better way to prepare for Christmas than to admit our insufficiency, our weakness, our incapacity to save ourselves. In many ways that is what Advent is all about: preparing a way by recognizing that only God can fulfill us. To admit our insufficiency is not a sign of defeat; to do so is a sign of welcome to the Savior. Jesus is ready - and desires - to come to us. Will we let him in?"
Come, Lord, Jesus!
With prayers for a grace-filled Advent,
Sister Mary Jacinta, O.P.
Principal
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