Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: love

Being Beloved Children of God (Part 2)

The Prodigal Son. Saint Paul says, in his turn, that all paternity comes down from heaven, from the Father of Lights [3]. God is the supreme archetype of paternity—his total, complete, gratuitous giving of self. It is that paternity we want to understand, and to understand ourselves as sons in relation to that paternity. The… Read More ›

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We must cast out fear

Now one of the things we must cast out first of all is fear. Fear narrows the little entrance of our heart. It shrinks up our capacity to love. It freezes up our power to give ourselves. If we were terrified of God as an inexorable judge, we would not confidently await His mercy, or… Read More ›

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The Meaning of Our Memories

Memory is one of the most powerful functions of the human mind. It is also one of life’s most determining ones. What goes on in memory has a great deal to do with what goes on in us all our lives. Memory is a wild horse, unbridled, riderless, maverick. It takes us often where we… Read More ›

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Fighting the Good Fight

Let us charge into the good fight with joy and love without being afraid of our enemies. Though unseen themselves, they can look at the face of our soul, and if they see it altered by fear, they take up arms against us all the more fiercely. For the cunning creatures have observed that we… Read More ›

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Gratitude takes nothing for granted

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted,… Read More ›

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“Steady” and “static” are not synonyms

Division of opinion, too often the fault line of human relationships, is, when we embrace it openly, what invigorates thinking and stirs new thought. It is the ground of new beginnings, the beginning of new insight, the foundation of new respect for the other. If anything sharpens the dull edge of a relationship it is… Read More ›

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Spur us onward

Within the finite heart O Lord dwells the infinite, often hidden behind walls of fear and mistrust. As we stand, or kneel, or prostrate ourselves, trusting in your benevolence, our hearts expand, slowly becoming true to the image you have made us. We are backed Lord into many corners, trapped by our own cunning, the… Read More ›

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Failure

Failure is not usually a once in a lifetime experience. It is a weight that has to be carried, unpleasant as that may feel. Faces presented to the world often hide an inner world that is filled with chaos, fear and pain. It is not the complete picture of course for any human, for along… Read More ›

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The heart

It is all about the heart in the end; the longing, seeking, our fears and hopes, are in truth centered in the heart, which in spite of its narcissism is called to grow into infinity. Hidden in darkness grace does it’s silent work not allowing rest such is the hearts gnawing, an unending arid region… Read More ›

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Angel of Life

My beauty is my openness, for I am without form, for how can compassion love and empathy be constrained. I am the one who calls you to embrace all that you are, your darkness is your pathway into deeper mystery, your path of light a dark one, placing one foot in front of the other,… Read More ›

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