Embracing Mary, Christ's Gift from the Cross

      “Let us ask the Lord to grant us one very special grace: To love Our Lady, especially through all the work we do for Jesus, with Jesus, and to Jesus. We must ask Him to deepen our love for Mary, making it more personal and intimate. We want to: Love her as He loved her. Be a cause of joy to her as He was. Keep close to her as He did. Share everything with her, even the cross, as He did when she stood near the cross on Calvary. We must love her unconditionally, trust her fully, abandon ourselves to her totally and without reserve. Nothing is impossible to those who call Mary their mother. During the day, let us often raise our hearts to her to ask her how we can love God as she loved Him, that we, too, can love Him with her heart."                                                                                                                           Saint Teresa of Calcutta

     As I read this request of Mother Teresa’s, a smile came to my face. 

Awakened to Love

      “The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide Himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, while from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears; ‘This is the way; walk in it,’ when you would turn to the right or to the left. And you shall consider unclean your silver-plated idols and your gold-covered images; you shall throw them away like filthy rags to which you say, ‘Begone!’”                  Isaiah 30: 20-22

     My heart and soul are still so full of gratitude for the great grace of “awakening” my dear Lord has granted to me. He has convicted me of the sheer madness to choose anything other than Him. 

Rejuvenating the Weary Soul

      My soul was lifted within me, and I felt buoyed with hope, as I read St. John of the Cross’ words. He was describing the effects on the soul that inordinate attachments inflict upon it and their consequences.