A Reply to Love

from the foot of the cross

 

I remember receiving the complete works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for Christmas when I was in my early teen years. I devoured his poetry, and one of my favorite poems at that time was “The Builders”, which includes these stanzas: 

 

My Mom has taught me more than anyone about spiritual motherhood. She is a woman who has really given her life to the Lord. She (and my Dad) taught me that God is the most important person in our lives and relationship with Him is the one thing necessary. So I was genuinely surprised when I told her I was discerning religious life and she was less than happy.

I’ve always wondered about why things are the way they are and why people do the things they do. I think that’s what made me study philosophy in college. Unsurprisingly, this penchant for pondering has followed me into the convent.

This song came from a conversation I had with the Lord on the feast of St. Francis. It can be hard sometimes to understand why the Lord asks us and those we love to make sacrifices, why the cross is always so prominent in the Christian life. As I was praying about the sacrifice my family has been asked to make in accepting my vocation, this song came to me.


Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine. You've probably heard of or maybe even prayed this sweet prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but have you ever followed its consequences to realize what it's actually saying?

Today, June 8, is an important day for me. Today, my friend Meaghan will make her first promises (like first vows) along with other applicants at Madonna House, a lay apostolate in Combermere, Canada . I met Meaghan when she was visiting our community and became friends with her when she came to join us as a postulant.

Little flame, flick'ring near the altar;
your amber glow shows me the way.
If ever you seem to fall or falter
you burst up again as if to say:
"His love cannot be quenched here either,
so stay awhile, my child, and pray."

Pentecost has always been a special time for me, though wrapped in mystery. I remember as a little girl in the Lutheran church learning, to my great surprise, that it was the second great Christian celebration in the liturgical year, trumping Christmas! How could that be possible? I couldn’t really grasp at that point how Easter even trumped Christmas