My Novena Begins

In the Catholic Church, we have these weird things like novenas and octaves. For example, Christmas and Easter are considered such high holy days that the celebration cannot be limited to a 24 hour period, so we celebrate them as an octave. Each day of the octave, including the actual day of celebration and the next 7 days after (for a total of 8 days), is given the same honor as the main date of celebration. December 26, for the Catholic Church, is as much Christmas Day (at least liturgically speaking) as December 25. And so is December 30. The Wednesday after Easter is as much "Easter Sunday" as...well...Easter Sunday.

A novena traditionally has been used as a means of preparation. We normally celebrate novenas the 9 days prior to a special event. At Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, we celebrated the Christmas Novena during Advent, which were 9 days of special prayers and "para-liturgy" with music, scriptures, and spiritual reflections in preparation for Christmas. Carmelite convents often celebrate a novena the 9 days prior to the feast of St. Theresa of Avila, the great mystic and reformer of the Carmelite order.

Today, September 21, the novena in preparation of my birthday begins. September 21-29, I celebrate in preparation of the fact that I was born on September 30. Then September 30-October 7 is the Octave of My Birth. This may seem a little bit narcissistic and self-aggrandizing...ok, it seems a lot narcissistic and self-aggrandizing, but let me explain.

I did not have to be born.

First, God did not have to see fit in his infinite wisdom that I exist at all. I could not have done anything prior to my birth that made me deserve this special gift of God that is life. I can guarantee that I have not done anything since I was born to deserve it (and sometimes I think I've done things that should have forfeited it). God created me out of the pure gift of His Love. That's it. Bottom line. End of story. I am alive because God loves me. So my celebration is not so much about me as it is a way for me to call to mind the incredible gift of my God's love.

Second, Roe Vs. Wade was adjudicated in January of 1973. I was born in September of 1973. That means that my mother could have chosen to abort me. I don't believe for a second that the thought ever even crossed her mind. Well, maybe for one second when my 10 and a half pound carcass came squeezing through, she may have thought, "Why the hell did I let this happen?" But I doubt it. But the fact remains that she was legally allowed to make that choice, and she didn't. That, too, was a gift of love. Having seen my own wife go through pregnancy has given me a new appreciation for what a gift of love a mother gives during those 9 months, and the years following. So I celebrate my mother's love.

Third, everything in my life is a gift. So I spend the Novena preparing for and Octave of My Birth remembering the gifts I have been given, life, Lesley, my kids, my home, my next breath, by giving gifts. I try each day of the Octave to give something to someone. I make a conscious effort to find an opportunity to make some small contribution to another person's life. It can be something as insignificant as springing for a diet coke. Each day, I try to stay mindfully aware of the opportunities I have to give to another. "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give" (Matthew 10:8b).

So here it is: The Novena in Preparation of My Birth has begun.

I love the gift of my life.