Thursday, August 17, 2017
When we get to the point in our
spiritual journeys where we realize that God is love and that He is calling us
to deeper love, not only for Him but also for one another, we also become aware
of how much we are “un-love,” of how we miss so many opportunities to live out
that love in our lives, and how often we lose touch with love in our thoughts
and actions, in what we do and in what we fail to do.
I often remember something Thomas
Merton wrote one time, that he realized that if he entered the monastery he
would be given 100,000 opportunities to act in charity and that if he were
lucky, he just might be able to grab onto a couple of them. That’s how I feel
at times, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you could say the same thing yourself.
And precisely because we
reflect so much on God’s love, we become more and more aware of how we fall
short of that love, and sometimes our failures can be humiliating and devastating
to us. And yet this is not a time to be discouraged; every failure is another
opportunity to learn and to grow.
And is there a remedy for our
lack of love? Mother Theresa would have told you and me to pray more, to spend
more time in silent prayer, especially before the Eucharist, and to allow God’s
never-ceasing love to continue to do its work in us, to soften what is so often
all too brittle, to smooth over what is so often too harsh.
Pray more. Don’t worry. Let go
of the past. Be gentle with yourself. Receive God’s love, and let it gentle
you.
God bless you!
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