Some loving words to anoint our spirits!

Attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ (1907-1991)
Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read,
whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

Love after Love
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here.  Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine.  Give bread.  Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit.  Feast on your life.
  ~ Derek Walcott ~

And God said:
I myself will dream a dream
within you.
Good dreams come from me
you know.
My dreams seem impossible,
Not too practical,
Not for the cautious   
woman or man,
A little risky sometimes,
A trifle brash perhaps.
Some of my friends prefer
To rest more comfortably,
In sounder sleep,
With visionless eyes.

But for those who share my dreams,
I ask a little patience,
A little humor,
Some small courage,
And a listening heart.
I will do the rest.
Then they will risk,
And wonder at their daring
Run, and marvel at their speed;
Build, and stand in awe at the beauty
of their building.

You will meet me often as you work:
In your companions,
who share your risk;
In your friends,
who believe in you enough
to lend their own dreams,
Their own hands, 
Their own hearts,
To your building;
In the people who will find
your doorway,
Stay awhile, and walk away
Knowing they, too, can find a dream . . .
There will be sun-filled days,
And sometimes it will rain.
A little variety!
Both come from me.

So come now,
Be content.
It is my dream you dream:
My house you build;
My caring you witness;
My love you share;
And this is
the heart of the matter.  
Sister Charity, RGS -

Image by Doris Klein, CSA