Learning to love is a fulfilling art
- Parent Categories: Spirituality
Don't commit adultery
by Ottavio De Bertolis, sj
At the conclusion of these reflections on the sixth commandment, we can therefore say some very simple things. First of all, that sexuality is a very powerful impulse in everyone, and that therefore it must be lived well, because this force must be well channeled: it is therefore not a question of denying or repressing it - that would only make it worse - but of integrating it into a context of fully human life, of deep and emotional relationships that are not false or illusory. In short, the sixth commandment invites us to learn to love, because, despite the fact that we are all "naturally" capable of it, this does not mean that we always succeed well. Ultimately, we must say that love, like any other human reality, needs to be redeemed: and this is, after all, the profound meaning of the sacrament of marriage, which is aimed at freeing the couple from ambiguities or distortions that can always arise in this relationship.
The landing at the monastery
- Parent Categories: Spirituality
Itinerary towards the monastic vocation
of Mother Anna Maria Cánopi osb
Vocation is a mystery of grace: it is not easy to describe its origin and development. I recognize that my monastic vocation has its roots already in childhood, since I have always felt God's gaze on me and I have always felt a strong attraction towards the Lord, towards prayer and the sacred in general.
The nuns who then ran the orphanage in my town welcomed me to pray in their little chapel and perhaps hoped that one day I would join their religious family. The same applies to the nuns of another Institute who served in the hospitals; but I was a teenager and still busy studying; it wasn't time to think about this yet.
I was about twenty years old when my good former primary school teacher, whom I called "godmother", accompanied me to the visiting room of the diocesan seminary to introduce me to a priest who dedicated himself to the training of seminarians and the youth of Catholic Action.
«Listen, please, this young woman – he said to him – She has something inside…», and he left me alone with him. He, seeing my shyness, began to kindly ask me questions about my family, my living environment and the most intimate desires of my heart. At that time, among the various young people who were around me there was one to whom I had become fond because of his mother, a widow, whom he made suffer a lot by leading a reckless life and neglecting his university studies. I loved him, but my intent was only to make him good. Besides, he himself didn't dare make the proposals he usually made to all the girls. In fact, he kept a notebook in which he wrote the names of those he had "conquered", boasting that he had already listed a hundred! After many years, I learned of a secret he had made to a friend who was then surprised that he didn't try to seduce me: "When I thought of conquering her, a voice shouted to me: Don't touch that!". Strange things, but which certainly happen under divine direction. For this reason we can boast of nothing other than the gratuitousness of the salvation brought about by God.
The beach as a setting for a multitude of children
- Parent Categories: Spirituality
by Enrico Ghezzi
In the chapter 15 of the book of Genesis, God promises Abraham a 'very great reward' (v.1). Abraham understands that this is what was dear to him and his wife Sarah: not only the promise of the 'land', but above all, a 'descendant'.
The dialogue between God and Abraham, according to the Yahwist tradition, is always described with spare simplicity, but is not without drama: «Lord God, what will you give me? I am leaving without children... Behold, you have given me no offspring, and one of my servants will be my heir" (vv 2.3). Here, for the first time, the Bible notes Jerusalem, Abraham expresses his anxiety, since God's promises seem unachievable, given the physical conditions of Abraham and his wife Sarah. The Lord, then, is not dismayed by Abraham's uncertainties; he leads him outside, under the sky full of stars, and says to him: "Look into the sky and count the stars, if you can... and he added: 'Such will be your descendants'" (v.5).
Passion for the values that are the foundation of every life
- Parent Categories: Spirituality
of Mother Anna Maria Cánopi osb
Nothing in our life happens by chance. For each of us there is a plan of God which he himself brings to completion by arranging the means and favorable circumstances, requiring on our part docility, free adherence - by faith - to his will.
This explains the fact that my parents - despite the economic difficulties - made me continue my studies, while my brothers and sisters, no less intellectually gifted than me, were soon sent to work. Perhaps there was also the reason for my frail physical constitution. For all the family members, however, it was fine and, without a shadow of jealousy, they were pleased with what I learned for them too.
The years of my studies were experienced by me as a continuous and confident exodus.