Christina generated an atmosphere of welcome and encouragement around herself that touched millions of people all over the world through her pioneering YouTube videos and her live performances, after which she greeted everyone who wanted to meet her with an open heart and open arms.
Today, in a world dominated more and more by fear and danger, we remember how Christina lived "with love." She knew that love is a risk, that it inevitably renders us vulnerable in front of the "other," but she believed it was a risk worth taking because she lived within the embrace of a Love who had given everything for her. Within that embrace, she found the strength to love her family, her friends, her "frands," and those she was meeting for the first time. She welcomed strangers with open arms right up until the last moment of her life.
We need to seek some measure of Christina's courage — her attention to the beauty and inherent dignity of every human person created in the image of God — as the deep clouds of obscurity, darkness, and violence grow more ominous all around us. When we remember Christina, hope is stirred within us that even the most terrible violence cannot be the "last word" in human existence. Love is stronger. Love will not be swallowed by forgetfulness. Love endures forever.
