First reflections

As I walk around this city, I am reminded that I am not necessarily on vacation here. There are many good things to see and do here, but I feel reminded that I am here for a reason beyond simply being an extended-stay tourist. There are many poor in Antigua; those who I've seen, and many more, I suspect, that I haven't seen. I see the poor in material, but I know the spiritual poverty is great among those who visit here. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati would spend what he had to help the poor with what they needed. He didn't stop there, however. Rather, he would also spend time with them, getting to know them and feeding their emotional, if not also spiritual needs. I'm not sure if I can do that yet here, but I know that I have to be more open to helping the poor around me with what I have, that is, with what God has given me. Fr. Larry Richards has said that if you want to be a saint, all you have to do is desire to be one. He has also said (and only slightly contradicting himself) that all you have to do to become a saint is to pray and love (I suppose one flows from the other, however). I pray today that the Lord will give me the desire I lack by removing all within me that prevents that desire from increasing in me. I pray for the grace to pray with abandonment and to love with abandonment, not because I desire to be with God, - which, of course, I do - but because to do so is, in some sense, to already be with God. This is something that I think Bl. Pier Giorgio knew and it is something that I can learn from following his example. Through his intercession, I ask for the grace to follow his example and to live the Beatitudes as he did, both here and when I return home. May my life overflow with God's love. Thanks for your continued prayers.