The Power of the Heart
Father Pius E Sammut
Discalced Carmelite
"From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise..." says the Psalmist.
"As I was preparing supper, Seth, my little six year-old, came over and asked me an unusual question. 'Mom,' he said, 'in class the teacher was suggesting that when we pray we should either put our hands together or open them wide like when the priest says the Our Father. However, I wonder, how can a child with one arm pray? What can he do with only one hand..."
"How did you tackle that one?" I asked Elisabeth, the mother. I was intrigued! "That's a tough one!"
"Well, amazing Father! God really sends special angels at the right moment! I looked at him and said... 'Well, I suppose, a boy who has only one arm, will put his only hand on his heart. God will definitely hear his prayer.'"
Yes indeed, in life, the heart is everything!
Sister Teresa of Saint Augustine never liked Sister Therese of the Child Jesus. She never accepted the fact that Therese Martin was allowed to join the community as a young teenager of fifteen, and besides she argued that there were already too many Martins in the Monastery. Whatever! She simply disliked her and she made it known. Therese also remarked of her that "... everything seems very disagreeable to me, her ways, her words, her character, everything." It was a reciprocal aversion.
The reaction of Saint Therese? Well, we know it from her own words : "I have always tried to act towards her as if she was my favorite sister! Every time I met her, I would pray for her and offer God her virtues and merits. I would try to do as many favors as possible to her , and when I felt like answering her rudely, would smile sweetly at her and change the subject. Often when temptation was too strong, I just avoided her. Then I would feel like a soldier who had deserted the battlefield. Once this sister came to me very happily and said, "Sister Therese, can you tell me what you find so attractive in me? Whenever we meet, you always give me such a lovely smile!"
The power of love!
Sister Therese was just over twenty four years old when she died. In her last year she was in terrible pain. The sisters once noticed her walking in the garden with great difficulty. They asked her to stop and take a rest. "Oh, no, this walk is giving me new strength," she replied. "Every step I take, I think of a missionary who is dead tired of his work. So I am offering my walk for his needs."
Secrets between lovers!
Do you understand them?
To do normal things in a supernatural way.
To do normal things in an extraordinary way.
This is what living with your heart means...
I wonder, how am I living?