Nothing Will Disturb Me

My God, you who are charity and love itself,
    help me to love myself  in you, for you ,and by you,
    and my neighbor for your sake.
May I possess you as my sole treasure and my one glory,
    far dearer than all creatures.
Grant that I may rejoice in your perfect love for me,
    and in the eternal love borne for you
    by all the angels and saints who see you face to face.

Grant that my neighbors may be able to bear the burdens
    as I wish to bear mine.
Let them care for nothing but you,
    and only for those things that will lead them to you.
Above all else, help me always to remember
    that I have only one soul, and that I have only one short life
    that must be lived by me alone,
    that I have only one death to die,
    and that there is only one glory that is eternal.

If I do this as you have promised,
    there will be many things I will not care about at all.

Nothing will disturb me.

St. Teresa of Avila

Love is Patient, Love is Kind

Love is patient, love is kind.

— 1 Corinthians 13:4

Certainly patience is a virtue. Patience is a mark of good character.

But why precisely, must love be patient?

Love is patient, of course because God is love,

and how patient God is with you and me!

I think about all the missteps in my life,

the habits that have built up walls between me and God

and between me and others whom God has sent into my life.

I think about the times I have listened

to every other voice out there but God's.

But God still loves, unfailingly.

And the love that is poured out for me -

quite concretely in the loving, patient sacrifice of Jesus -

where is it to go? To others, in love. Patient, forgiving, merciful love.

Loving God, you are so patient with me.

Help me love others as you love me.

Amy Welborn

Give and gifts will be given to you …

Give and gifts will be given to you …

shaken down, and overflowing …

Luke 6:38

It's an odd thing in our culture that the most generous

among us are so often those with the least.

Maybe they already know that what they have is gift.

They know that they are not entitled to it,

so they are willing to share it with those around them.

Affluence seems to cloud this knowledge:

The more we have, the more we seem to have a

sense of entitlement. "I've worked hard to get where I am"

is a sentiment we affluent tend to have,

as though working hard enough were enough.

But each of us who has "made it" has to have had some break,

some opportunities that others didn't have

or couldn't take advantage of for reasons beyond themselves.

No one is truly self-made. Indeed, we have already been

showered with gifts "shaken down and overflowing."

I pray that all of us can someday see that everything we have

is gift and give to others out of the great abundance God promises.

Aileen O'Donoghue

O Loving God, give me the grace to share generously today

with those less fortunate than I. Amen.