Make many acts of love, for they set the soul on fire and make it gentle. Whatever thou doest, offer it up to God, and pray it may be for His honor and glory.
  - St. Teresa of Avila -

(Love as an act of will . . . Choose to love this day.)

GN 28:10-22;    PS 91:1-2, 3-4, 14-15;    MT 9:18-26

R. In you, my God, I place my trust.

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
Say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

For he will rescue you from the snare of the fowler,
from the destroying pestilence.
With his pinions he will cover you,
and under his wings you shall take refuge. 

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress. 







 

This is nothing else but an abode of God! 

Jacob recognizes a "thin place," one of those areas where the distinction between heaven and earth is almost transparent. In such a place we experience God's presence, and it changes us forever. The mistake -- the horrible, tragic mistake -- is to imagine that this place where we found God is God's only home. With that thought in mind, we read the tender story of Jesus and the woman suffering hemorrhages. She has interrupted his journey on the way to another healing for the daughter of a temple official, who no doubt thought his daughter more worthy of Jesus' attention than this bleeding outcast. Jesus not only heals both women, he calls the older one "daughter." There is no limit on God's love, nor is there only one place where God lives. 

In thanksgiving for all the holy places and the grace to recognize them, we pray.

- by Paige Byrne Shortal