February 25, 2026
Celebrating Life
Celebration is not a party on special occasions, but an ongoing awareness that every moment is special and asks to be lifted up and recognized as a blessing from on high. There is Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and the many feast days of the Saints. There are countless birthdays, anniversaries, and memorial days. And then there are days to welcome and to say farewell, to receive guests and to visit friends, to start a project and to finish it, to sew and to reap, to open a season and to close it. But even these moments do not exhaust the full meaning of celebration. Celebration lifts up, not only the happy moments, but the sad moments as well. Since ecstatic joy embraces all of life, it does not shy away from the painful moments of failure, departure, and death. In the house of love even death is celebrated, not because death is desirable or attractive, but because in the face of death life can be proclaimed as victorious.
“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.”
- Luke 15: 22 - 24
Reflection Question: In what ways do I resist celebrating the difficult or sorrowful moments of life, and how might God invite me to see their meaning?
