“I Believe in Love” is a wonderful book, which I’m now reading for the second time.

Written by Father Jean C.J. d’Elbée, who was deeply influenced by the teachings of St. Thérèse of Liseux, this wonderful volume brings her ‘teachings on God’s love and the confidence in Him that it should inspire in your soul.’

Removing Obstacles

Here are some truly comforting words from Father d’Elbée:

‘I should like to ask you urgently, from now on, that you never let your past sins be an obstacle between you and Jesus. It is a ruse of the Devil to keep putting our sins before our eyes in order to make them like a screen between the Savior and us.’

Maybe you’re like me. You feel you’re getting close to God, then remember stuff from your past and believe He will always hold it against you. Things you've done which you can’t imagine He’s never going to forgive.

I’ve read the above passage over and over again, to remind me that the Devil, not the Lord, is the one giving me doubts in God’s love for me.  I have to believe in His love and tell Satan ‘to get thee behind me.’

Having Confidence

The whole purpose of "I Believe in Love" is to give us confidence in God’s infinite mercy - mercy which is real if we believe in it.

Father d’Elbée includes this quote from St. Thérèse:

“The good God would not inspire unattainable desires: I can, then, in spite of my littleness, aspire to sanctity.”

God doesn’t give us the desire to be holy, only to make it impossible for us to achieve it. However, He recognizes that the path to sanctity isn't easy and applauds every effort we make to stay on that route.

As Father d’Elbée writes, when we stray from that path, we should “find happiness in expiation” for our weaknesses - not be discouraged by them.

P.S. In case you're interested, I did achieve my 'heroic moment' this morning. (Baby steps...!)

This morning I failed to achieve my ‘heroic moment’ by two minutes. But our younger parish priest is away for a couple of days and his temporary replacement is pretty old. I wondered whether he would get up in time for the 6:30 a.m. Mass and if I should maybe shoot for the 8 a.m. instead?

Hey, Get Up  - It’s Lent!

I decided this was lazy thinking, and got out of bed.  It’s Lent – it’s supposed to hurt a bit!

Father O. did indeed begin Mass a little late. He skipped the opening Angelus and humbly admitted that Father D. had called him from the Carolinas to wake him up.

Being an old man, Father O. is slower and more deliberate than our sprightlier parish priest and at first I found this annoying.

Then I remembered that I’m meant to be undergoing spiritual renewal. This involves, among other things, being patient and tolerant – stuff I should be anyway, but need constant reminding about.

Opening the Ears

Father O.’s slower diction is making me pay better attention to the words of the Mass. It’s not a bad thing to be jolted out of one’s routine sometimes.

And Father O. is such a lovely person: he has a wonderful sense of humor as well as humility. His face may show his age, but you can still see an impishness there. I imagine he was a handful as a youngster!

Prophetic Homily

Anyway, Mass began late and the school kids (yes, amazingly, there are school kids at the 6:30 a.m. Mass!) have to get out by 7 a.m. This means they can grab a bite of the breakfast laid out for them in the lobby before they scuttle off to class.

Father O. likes to give long homilies. But I detected the hand of our parish priest in the very short sermon we received this morning. I’m sure Father D. reminded him to keep it short and sweet.

But the message came through more loudly and clearly because of its brevity.

We are all prophets.

We’re called to be prophets in the workplace, among our family and friends -wherever we may be. This doesn’t mean speechifying and preaching wherever we go. We just need to set a Christian example for others.

Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? But we all know how tough it is.

Wish me luck today trying to put it into practice!

Have you ever wondered what the word 'grace' means? The saints mention the graces they receive from God but what are they talking about? And is grace the same for everybody?

One thing is certain - grace comes from God. And as Lent progresses I'm discovering at least one definition: developing a better understanding of God's incredible love for us, and how that influences how we should live. 

Where does this 'better understanding' come from? God talks to us through different channels, and we have to listen in order to get those 'aha' moments from Him.
 
One source He uses is people. Ever had someone say something that 'suddenly' resonates with you? Every Monday one of the ladies in my volunteer group gives me one of their insights. Yesterday I was reminded that I have faith because of the Holy Spirit working within me. How much better does it get than that?! What a powerful ally - the greatest ally I could have in the battle between Good and Evil.

Because I'm attending Mass daily for Lent, I'm always getting little 'aha' moments in Church. God reminds me through the readings and the Gospel, as well as Father's sermons, that He is all merciful, even before being just. He sent His Son to save sinners. He didn't do it as a hoax, He's not pretending to care - it won't turn out that He was lulling us into a false sense of security. He desperately wants us to love Him, and it's never too late to start doing it! The parable of the Prodigal Son clearly teaches this.

The Bible, writings of the saints and other holy people, TV programs like "Touched by an Angel" - these are other methods God uses to give us the grace to understand His love.

But receiving grace is also receiving a responsibility. Once God gives us the grace to understand His love for us, we've received the blueprint for how to live. 

And once we obtain this blueprint, we can't pretend not to have it. We can't escape our responsiblity to live the Christian life. But we need to remember that through His grace God gives us the tools to get to Heaven.
  

Yesterday was rough.  A friend called to say her horse was in trouble and could I come and help?

The Rescue Attempt

Her mare had fallen down next to the fence, catching her legs in the post and rails. She’d been there for a while, and was very tired.

I helped with removing the rails and freeing her legs and the vet arrived in time to assist with moving the exhausted horse to a position where she could get up safely.

Age and Stress Take Their Toll

But she was thirty years old, in terrible pain from colic, and stressed by the experience of being forced to lie down for so long.

Colic in horses (forgive me if you already know this) is serious. Horses cannot vomit, so if anything goes wrong in their stomachs or intestines (all 100 plus feet of them) we owners have to take immediate action.

After trying all she could to make the horse comfortable, the vet said there was nothing more to be done. Her digestive system had given up, and the mare was dehydrated. She was not going to get better.

A Sad Farewell

Watching as she was peacefully put to sleep brought tears to my eyes. I mourned for the horse, for my friend who’d owned her for twenty-five years - and for myself.

I was reliving the death of my own mare four years earlier. She was at a boarding barn where, I later discovered, the owner and manager had little interest in horses other than their own. My talented girl was unhappy - and colicked.

A Sixth Sense

Something told me, while I sat at home, that Kelly was not O.K. and I rushed to the barn in a severe thunder storm. She began to colic as I arrived. It was as if she'd been waiting for me, so we could be together at the end. 

At least, like my friend, I was able to put her out of her misery and say goodbye.

The Toughest Part: Putting It All in Perspective

It took me a long time to forgive those whom I considered responsible for her death. It was hard to accept that it was simply her time and I shouldn’t lay blame on anyone.

God needed me to let go. Have I mentioned that I’m a little obsessive about horses? (!) I guess He was telling me to start distancing myself from false gods.

However, He graciously allows me to help others through my horses, and for that I am grateful. I take it as a sign that He is not totally against my hobby – He just warns me not to get too attached to earthly creatures!

The Final Reminder

He made that abundantly clear last night. My friend’s horse had just died from colic, and now He gave my husband’s horse colic, too.

As much as I prayed “Thy will be done” I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also ask if God would save the horse.

He did. But I must be careful and heed His warning that I can’t take the horses with me when I leave this earth, and must keep my sights on higher things.

 

It's Lent, so I promised God that I would go to Mass every day.

Heroism Ain't Easy!

I hate getting up early, so part of my Lenten sacrifice is getting up at a (for me) horrendous hour every morning. Well, I thought I was doing well by getting up about ten minutes after the alarm went off - that is, until this morning's sermon.

Father Dan was talking about 'heroic moments' and an example of such being getting out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off, rather than snoozing.

It will be truly heroic if I manage to do this, so wish me luck!

Love From a New Angle

Father countered this with a beautiful message: the proof of God's love for us is the fact that we're still alive. If He stopped loving us and thinking about us we'd no longer be breathing.

It's a wonderful thought to carry around with us! God cares 24/7 about us and is continually asking us to love Him back.

He wants us to go to Heaven, and prove through little acts of heroism that we want to go there, too.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and I was thrilled when one of the ladies I mentioned in my volunteer group showed up at the same Mass. It felt extra special to share the event with her.

It was another push to make me turn this into a special Lenten season....

6:30 a.m. weekday Mass here I come!

Many wonderful people have come into my life over the years. Yet it's taken me decades to understand that they didn't arrive by accident. It was always part of God's plan to introduce me to the right persons at the right time.

My parish priest gave a sermon three years ago in which he told us to do something for the community - it didn't have to be earth-shattering. When I answered that call, I had no idea that volunteering once a week for three hours would prove to be the single most vital boost to my spiritual life besides the Mass.

The ladies I work with are fun-loving, intelligent and normal, with one important additional quality. They are committed Christians.

So much of my growth in faith is a direct result of spending time with this fantastic group. I'm learning to rethink my outlook on life and understand better what it means to be a Christian.

Thank you for the fun, the weekly inspiration and introduction to such wonderful Christian books!