From The Friars eLetter: His love; it is His free gift to you

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Letters of hope and consolation #20 As we approach the last of these letters I am left wondering how I can summarize all that it is we have been discussing. We have talked about prayer, forgiveness, God’s love, listening for God’s voice and so many other things. Yet perhaps it comes down to this simple conclusion; Jesus Christ is your deepest source of hope and consolation. The world will promise you much and even if you conquered the world it would still not be enough. You would still be restless and you would still be yearning for something greater than this world. Why? Is it because the world is bad? Absolutely not! The world is very good. In fact that is part of the problem. The world is good, but not good enough to satisfy your soul. Your soul is like an ocean and there is nothing in this world that can fill that sacred space except Him who “summons the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth” (Amos 9:6). My prayer for you is that each day you will discover more deeply the love that you already have in Jesus Christ. Though you don’t realize this now you lack nothing because of Him and with the apostle Paul you can proclaim, “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). There is nothing you did to deserve His love; it is His free gift to you, just as there is nothing in life that can take His love away from you, since His love reaches down from heaven into your little world. Hence, the love that you have been experiencing is the beginning of eternal life. If I can encourage you to do anything else it would be to run toward that love that lasts forever since it really is your only hope and consolation in this world. God bless you, Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We need your help! To make a donation click here