The year has come and gone so quickly. I look back at my calendar and wonder how I survived the whirlwind of events that have transpired. I look forward to the rest of the year and still so much has to be done.
Today is October 1st: the feast day of my patron saint and the beginning of the month of the Holy rosary intersect. I attened the 7pm mass with nothing but extreme longing and desire in my heart- some I understood and others I have been trying to understand for the past few weeks. Regardless, I brought them all today at the foot of the cross as I walked up to receive the Holy Eucharist. I received Him joyfully knowing that Mother Mary and St. Therese were watching over me.
I walked towards the adoration chapel and knelt down.
I started to take in the quietness around me:
the gentleness that was on Mary's face;
the playfulness in baby Jesus/Sto. Nino;
the rays that extended down from the Divine Mercy;
the grandeur and simplicity of the Holy Eucharist, of Christ before me.
Then: Embraced with Mercy. Kissed with grace. Covered by love, with love, for his love.
“For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition & of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
- St. Therese of Lisieux
Names started to flash in my head along with faces. I stopped worrying over my own needs. I looked towards the poverty of His Spirit in the world and in the community. I prayed for the hearts of others. I prayed for the salvation of souls. I prayed for the conversion of fellow sinners. I haven't prayed with so much passion in a long time.
My life needs to reflect His greatness. To accept and embrace the hope He brings. To be that vessel of hope to others, a vessel that runs on love- love for Him and love for others. It means allowing everything about me to sing of that love. Even the broken parts of me. Especially the broken parts of me.
I shall approach the rest of this year with continuous prayer and sacrifice. Like St. Therese I will find strength in these, and have them be my invincible arms. To hope that they move the hearts of others towards no one else but Christ. And like Mother Mary I will strive to shine like a moon, reflecting the burning passion of love- the Son.
And just as it struck midnight, my counterpart handed me a gift- my very own Marian Devotions book. One tiny prayer answered, a simple joy given. And it's only been day 1.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
- Psalm138:8
