By: Sister Grace Helena, O.C.D.
Life holds the gifts of truth, beauty and goodness wrapped in the mystery of love. This mystery compels the heart to seek out its deeper meaning and purpose in life or, in a moment of intellectual pride, can allow it to be a stumbling block and deterrent from the reality of true love. Adam and Eve, in a moment of weakness, chose to take their eyes off the Lord of Life and turned their gaze upon themselves, supplanting God in their hearts and enthroning their own desires; a choice that brought death to themselves and to every soul born until the end of time. This choice to disobey God changed the course of human history and revealed another layer of the mercy of God in the lives of His children. The Father’s mercy would eventually reveal the second Adam and the new Eve – Jesus Christ and His mother, Mary – to a world thirsting for truth, beauty and goodness.
Love transforms. Saint Paul clearly gives the faithful an antidote to pride and self-love. He helps us to see that our lives can be transformed by the renewal of our thoughts by allowing the grace of the Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts to goodness, truth and beauty. Then our words and actions will follow suit.
At the sunset of life, there is a beauty that emanates from the soul. It is a time of purification and refinement; it is a time of deep conversion and transformation. Our faith helps us to see this time as precious and life-giving to the soul preparing to meet God. How blessed we are to have the arms of Mary around us as we face death, and to have our Lord Jesus Christ pouring grace into our souls to stay strong through the last struggle. Our Father’s mercy is unceasing, ever preserving us, helping us to delight in His will and follow His law that is within our heart.
