Albert Haase, OFM

Hope cannot be bought or taught. It can only be received and awakened.

Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a decision, an act of the will, a resolution, a firm choice to free ourselves from the continued influence and control of the adversary.

We often think of love as the tenderness, warmth, deep affection, or devotion for another expressed in innumerable physical ways: a hammering heart, a racing pulse, butterflies in the stomach, a soulful glow, a gleeful glance across the room, wanting to lean in and touch the other, getting tongue-tangled, or obsessively checking for text messages from the beloved. The story of the taming of Gubbio’s wolf, however, suggests the nature of love that leads to peace is something very different.

Like Saint Francis, we too must clear an interior space and empty ourselves for peace to blossom within our lives and the lives of others.

The need to be in control can be such a slippery slope on the spiritual journey: When do we take charge and act? When do we hold back and trust? So many of us live delusional lives and think we’re in charge not only of our lives but also of our holiness and soul training. And that is the very reason why frustration reigns supreme: We resist letting go and trusting in the fingers of the potter. We refuse to surrender. And yet, training the soul to become God’s instrument occurs only in the radical act of trust.

To serve the Lord and Divine Master is to recognize the gratuity of grace that is never exhausted and never expires: everything in my life is a grace, gift, and blessing.