Transcription
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Welcome to Metta, a podcast with the Sisters of Life. We invite you to join us for conversation, looking at life through the lens of love. You are loved. You are made in God's image, and your life matters. Let's talk about it.
Welcome back to Let Love Podcast with the Sisters of Life. This is Sister Anne. You stay. This is Sister Veritas, and we're just thrilled again to be with you. It's always the thrill and delight. It does not diminish. It doesn't. It actually just gets better. It does. I know.
Well, and today we're gonna talk about, "Let Love Guide You." What does it mean? I love it. Yeah, I want a guide. Yeah, I want a compass of some sort. Yeah. And to be guided, you know, we all need that. We do. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I mean, even as sisters, our experience of being, you know, guided, guided or not guided, right? We are guided well, spiritually, it was very blessed by very good spiritual fathers, our chaplains, and we pray for you. Thank you. Yes.
But when we open a car, it's a different story because, you know, I think most of the world, information. Yeah. Give me more information. You get your phone, your download, your 18 apps, you're ready to drive. Or you get your, your watch, which of your has real to meter and your compass and your GPS, and like, you're ready to hike. For Sisters of Life, we get in that car, no cell phone, no GPS, no nothing. No nothing. Bare bones. Bare bones. And we're driving Manhattan streets. And actually, I have to say, it's made a believer out of me. My faith has grown. God's providence has so much space. It really does. Actually, yeah.
I mean, I actually remember an experience I had driving with another sister. We were, we were given a commission, okay? To go get greens. Now, I just want to clarify that we're not talking about like money. What a greens, right? It was like Christmas, you know, like evergreen branches. Yeah. So we were told, get the car, go find some evergreen scope, beg, beg, ask for evergreens from somebody, the leftovers, yeah, yeah, to decorate for Christmas. You know, remember getting in the car with this sister, and I knew, and she knew, we both knew that, you know, she's just a little directionally challenged. It's just, know thyself, you know? But she was kind of the one guiding the situation in terms of where we should go. And, okay, you know, and so it was the experience of, okay, turn me here, here. Okay. But it was amazing. It was like, literally, we were blind. No map, no address, we didn't even know what we were looking for, just kind of follow, okay, turn here, turn and find that. It was like this, you know, the moment where you think there should be, you know, music. We pull into this place. It's like this evergreen specialty, no Christmas garden store. Okay, that's crazy. And we go there, just ask, and they, like, it's amazing. I just, but you know, it's, yeah, it's, I mean, knowing that sister and knowing the reality, sounds like it was a profound act of God. Amazing. But the experience actually was that we were guided by God's providence and not by any human resource. Yeah.
Well, and this is it. This is it, I think, right? Life is an adventure. Yeah. Um, you know, whether you're hiking or sailing the seas of life or whatever. What do we lean on? Oh, what do we look to do to help us to find our way? Because also, yeah, there's a lot of decisions. There's a lot of confusion at times. So what's there for us? You can't wait to dive in. Yeah. Let love guide us. Guide you. Hey, man. Let's start with a prayer.
Let's start with a prayer. You gotta stretch this time. I'm ready.
In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Jesus, we thank you for being with us, for giving yourself entirely to us in this moment, for loving us always. That that is never a question. We ask for every grace to welcome your love for us, to be vulnerable to the ways you desire to enter our lives, to share your love with us and the places we need it most, and to let your love guide us in those places. We need the light and the grace of your wisdom, your counsel, your love. Blessed Mother, draw us into the calm, the peace, the clarity of your Immaculate Heart as we say, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Our Lady of Grace, pray for us. Amen.
"Let love guide you." What does it mean? I mean, even to be guided, you know, what does that look like? What does that look like? You know, it reminds me of a story, and I love story time. Yeah. I think you never get too old for it. Never. Right. The best. Well, like, I would love to read one to you, sister. Oh, thanks. Yeah. It's, um, and it's a classic. I would say it's one that our community, the Sisters of Life, really cherish and are so grateful to share with others. And it, it's a true story. And it's about an experience that our founder, Cardinal O'Connor, had when he was serving in the U.S. Navy. And he, he served through Vietnam for many years, actually. And so this is when he was an Admiral. And I'm just gonna read you what happened to him in his own words. So the sisters like to call this, "Listen to My Voice."
So, just a little backstory. In 1968, Cardinal Connor was still in uniform as an Admiral in the Navy, and he was returning from a trip back to Virginia. So he was traveling in a small plane that only had two seats, one for the pilot and one for him. And he had this experience. And this is how he described it. These are his words. "He was a young pilot. He was in front, and I was behind. He was, of course, flying a plane, but all the instruments were in my cockpit as well. We took off towards the evening with no sign of difficulty. We had only a couple of hours to fly, but we had hardly gone more than an hour when suddenly, complete blackness fell. Tremendous turbulence began to shake the airplane. The rains began to beat upon us, and then a total fog enveloped us. It was an extraordinarily eerie feeling, alone in the sky, unable to see anything, with this fog curling right through the plexiglass into the cockpit. Only the glow of the instrument panel made anything visible at all. And then suddenly, perhaps 50, maybe 75 miles from our destination, the warning light began to flash on the instrument panel that we were running low on fuel. Shortly thereafter, a second warning light flashed that we were virtually out of fuel. I called through the intercom system to the pilot. I said, 'Do you see the instrument panel?' He said, 'Yes, but I think we can make it.' It came to me shortly obvious that we couldn't make it. He called by radio to Washington National Airport, just a little bit closer, to ask if they could receive us, but they said no. They were completely banked in by the fog. He called into Dulles. No, nothing could land there because of the fog. He called Baltimore Airport to ask if we could land there. The answer was no. I said to him, 'You will have to radio the international distress signal so that some airfield will take a chance, otherwise we can crash, and not only will both of us be killed, but far worse, we don't know what's below us. We could kill a great number of people.' He said, 'I can't do that.' I said, 'Why can't you do that?' He said, 'It would be a black mark on my record because I took off without enough fuel.' Colonel O'Connor said, 'Black mark on your record?' And much senior to him, I pulled rank and I said, 'You will call out the international distress signal, or there will be far worse than a black mark on your record.' And so he did. And this is the part I will never forget. This is what Colonel Connor says. He says, 'No sooner did he call the international SOS, then a voice came on the radio, SX395, I hear you.' The pilot said, 'We are out of fuel and we have no place to land.' The voice was that of a Chief Warrant Officer in the United States Navy, in a place called the Loxahatchee River Naval Command, also close to Washington. And he simply said, 'Follow my voice. And then minute by minute, lower your right wing, lower your left wing, just follow my voice.' So calm, so steady. Then he said, 'Don't be afraid. He knew he was dealing with a young pilot. Just follow my voice. Just follow my voice.' Suddenly, we looked down. We couldn't have been more than a hundred feet off the ground when we saw the first lights. They were the landing lights of the field, and we glided in to a perfectly. I could never forget that voice, the quality of the voice, the kindness of the voice, the experience of the voice, the calmness of the voice. 'Just follow my voice.' That is what the Lord says. 'Follow me. Follow my voice. Don't worry. Don't be afraid. I will bring you home.'"
Isn't that a beautiful story? It's so powerful, sister. Uh, you're hearing it. It's like, oh, to be so, um, received, but then like guided. I mean, it's just powerful. It's such, it brings to life, I think, yeah, the way that God loves to to guide us, which is with love. Yeah. With the kindness, the tenderness of a father. Yeah. With a voice that's personal. Yeah. With a voice that wants to pierce through and into our darkest moments. Yeah. Our most distressing moments. Yeah. And that, that's precisely where he wants to enter in with this, this are the quality of it. It's so. And it's not a harsh guidance. I gotten. We think of great, you know, school correction or whatever. It's not that. It's this deeply personal for you guidance. Everything has worn you out of love, you know? And it's, it's letting ourselves be guided, you know? There's, I think there's even in this story, this truck, there's a kind of humility to be like, I actually, I don't know. Hmm. Where to go. I don't know what to do. And to receive help, you know, to let, to let yourself be, be kind of, yeah, guided, carried along. Yeah.
Well, I love that, sister, cuz and I think it's deeply true. I mean, as I sit here in this moment, it's like, yeah, I've never lived this moment of life before, and I desire to be led. So it's like, and how can I let myself be guided by this voice, this presence of love? It's too, like, even in the dynamics of this story, it's one in the present moment, one moment at a time, you know, right wing, left wing. It's just slowing myself down so that I might perceive that lead of love. Yeah. That's there for me. Yeah. Ever, always, always, always, always. Yeah. And I love keeping that before me. I think it helps so immensely. There is never a moment that love is not seeking, yeah, to call my name. Yeah. She say, "Hey, over here." That still small voice. I know Elijah, yeah, speaks of this. It's not in the storm. It's not. He's quieting myself so I can hear that little voice of love. It's really true.
And in hearing that, also to note, he's guiding us always to a good, actually. He's guiding us. There's a reason. There's a purpose, you know? And that's why someone is guided, something because there's an end which we're looking for. And that, I mean, this is, it's love, you know, ultimately is our destiny and our identity. And, and like you're saying, every moment he's wanting us to guide, wanting to guide us to that love. What it makes me think with just a transforming moment for this pilot. So here's this pilot, and I know this is the kind of mindset I can get going on. He's like, in his mind, he's just thinking about the black mark on his record already. He's kind of just talking to himself. It's like that monologue, you're just talking to yourself about, oh, yeah, I know that life, right? I'm just talking to myself. As soon as this changes into a dialogue, all of a sudden, this pilot is speaking to, right? This officer, the United States Navy. He knows he's talking to a young pilot. Again, the voice of God, the Father, is a beautiful parallel here. We turn it into this dialogue, and where does that dialogue result in but coming home? Yeah. Right? Landing in communion, their connection, rest, which is ultimately the Father's heart. Yeah. Wouldn't dive into that later, but transforming that monologue to the dialogue, which actually leads us to the communion, the home, the rest, yeah, the nourishment that we need wherever we are in the journey. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
I think that's so powerful and important, sister. And, and to, and to note, like you're saying, it's always is seeking to guide us. It's always there. That, that still small voice is always there. And it's, I think sometimes we can get, you know, I kinda thought you're saying, stuck in ourselves or just, you know, disillusioned or worried about things. And, and we kind of lose that sort of supernatural hearing of his promptings, you know? And, mm-hmm. It's like, how do we, how do we kind of tune back into that or recover that, that sixth sense, you know, just of his, his sweet and gentle and kind guiding presence, you know? Absolutely. Yeah.
I think it's a great question. And I hear it often, to be honest. And I think we most successfully tap in when we actually, each of us, so all of everyone listening, there is a particular way that God is going to be speaking to you. And there is a way that your heart is going to relate, and your love is going to seek him, that is totally unique. And so, in a sense, I turn that question. I often will say, gosh, how do you notice God speaking to you? I know that's one of the most delightful aspects of of my own life. One of my things I enjoy the most is hearing the unique ways. I'm like, gosh, I love the way the Lord loves you. Yeah. I love the way he talks to you because it's so unique. It's so unique. And it's all these like, little love, like this is a love language between you and God. Yeah. You know, I don't like all these little instances. And I mean, we can each have many kind of ways that we can hear him. But like, but I mean, tangible, like an example is, I remember getting on a plane, and I'm from Canada. I've mentioned that. But I, I love this drink called Clamato juice. My purgatory, one man's treasure. But it's like clam tomato juice. So there's clam juice and tomato juice. And it's, what I remember getting on a plane, and I must say, I think obviously it was a Canadian airline, and realizing they served Clamato juice with Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper, which is the way it's supposed to. You are kidding. It's so delicious. And it was like this experience of, oh my gosh. [Laughter] I mean, this is, you know, rather dramatic example, maybe not dramatic, but a little. But it's like, he loves me so much to Clamato. And, you know, if he, if they had given it to you, it wouldn't have been received in the same way. And in fact, it might have caused you to be ill, distressed. Yeah. Well, how beautiful. But it's just an example, just an intangible way he spoke to me, you know. I'm sure you have many yourself. Absolutely. Absolutely. Even I remember, gosh, well, it is, it's it's powerful, actually. I remember we were kind of selling my childhood home, and I knew it was gonna be the last time, probably, you know, I could go back, potentially. But it, the last time that I would be there. And the Lord, it was unbelievable. I'd one day, it was the most gorgeous weather, like perfect 10. I went for a little trip out on the lake, and two eagles, I'm not even kidding you. Wow. Started soaring overhead. And eagles have always been this sign of God for me. And again, everything from the weather to then, I accidentally drained the battery on my car, but then I had to run over to the strange neighbors. But, but even that feeling, the love of my community that I had grown up in. And it was just amazing. I mean, one of the most perfect days ever. It's amazing. And you have to learn to look for it, right? Right. Listen for it. Yeah. It's like that example of like, tangible, you know, ways. It's like experiencing hearing him. And then there's like the less tangible ones too, that are like that little kind of noting or that little kind of like prompting of in their heart, like, huh? Yes. You know, just go over here and talk to this person or whatever it is. Like, but I'm sure. Well, I think as we move in inside, yes, exteriorly, the Lord loves to love us. And then interiorly, in a sense, I love thinking about for all of our exterior senses, we also have interior spiritual senses, right? So we can hear the voice of the Lord speak to our hearts. Some people have that experience, and that's kind of the way that they hear the Lord. Others, its images. Will kind of they can see the things that the Lord may present. And I'm not talking about like visions. This is actually normative in a sense of our interior world. We can perceive the Lord's voice. We can perceive images or things you might be presenting. You know, taste, you know, tasting the sweetness of the Lord. You can, in your heart, the sweetness of the Lord. But that, that is actually something real and to be attentive to that. And how is the Lord speaking to you? Is it when it comes to prayer? Is it lectio divina? You know, is that word of God that is alive that wants to plow our hearts? It can cut right through. Or praying the Rosary with Our Lady and allowing her presence to to bring to life God's love in a way that is motherly and tender, and it's, it's expansive. And it's, I, for each person, it's like learning to learn that love language. Yeah. Between you and God. Yeah. Which is so personal. It's so precise. What I love to, like, it's, and it's like good timing. So it's like everything from, like, yeah, praying with scripture to a prompting of the Holy Spirit to, like, seeing this on a branch, and it's like, oh my gosh, God taught me to hearing like a Mozart's, you know, Mozart symphony. It's like, like, he, everything is like, yes, if we kind of open ourselves, it's like, oh my gosh, she's speaking to me. Yes. And, and it's amazing because it's actually in that love, those little, like, touches of love, that's how he guides us. It's amazing. Amen.
Well, and then it's it's very human. Mm-hmm. It's not like we have to wait for the lightning bolt. It's that it's it's very Ignatian. So St. Ignatius was, was in a sense of spiritual genius, and the Lord really gave him eyes and a heart to perceive and receive a spirituality that, yes, you can see God in all things. To lean in to see a God in all things. And I think when you begin to awaken to that and pray for the grace to notice, it's one of my favorite graces to pray for, actually, is, Lord, help me to notice your love today. Because I think humans, I know for certainly, maybe I'm the only one, but it can be easy to just notice what's wrong. Just to notice what's going wrong. What's, you know, yeah. But if I, in seeking to notice God, how are you active in this moment? Where are you in this moment? I love that, sister. I think that's key. Noticing. And actually, and then noticing and experiencing of that personal lot. That's the other thing. It's like, God's love is not, it's not, it has never been, and ever will be in general or impartial. Actually, it's deeply personal. He loves you like that. You, you, and everything in your life. And like all his little kind of like touches of love, they are for you, actually. It's not impartial. And I think noticing that, actually, and kind of like you're saying, gaining that awareness and that vision, actually puts us in a posture of letting ourselves be guided by that love. And it's not a rigid thing or a strict thing. It's actually like almost like letting, you know, tubing down a river. Yeah. You know, like getting in the inner tube, and it's like, right? Like, and like being in God and letting him guide you in that. And letting him carry you in that. And that, I feel like that's it. It was just a great image for that. Um, yeah, one when I think about floating down the river in an inner tube, it puts me at ease immediately. So nice. It's a place of calm and rest. Yeah. Insecurity. Yeah. Even though I'm, yeah, yeah. And then I'm going somewhere and I'm being carried, and I don't have to figure it out. I'm, I'm letting myself be guided in this, you know? And, and, and I think it was, I was struck by what you're saying about Ignatian spirituality, but knowing the difference between the voice of God and the way he touches my heart, works with my heart, you know, speaks to me, and the difference with the enemy, you know, the evil one, which is a very different experience, you know? And it's, yeah.
Well, and that's good too, to name, actually. Like the enemy, anything that smacks of accusation, blame, discouragement, you know, the doom and gloom, judgment, even that judgment that puts your face in the ground, yeah, that is not of the Lord. Know that. And only Jesus gets to judge. Versus the voice of the Lord, which even when he corrects, he will heal in a sense of wounded your heart with hope. And you'll actually, it's like, it's like the delight and the gratitude that flows forth from being corrected by a loving father. It's a voice of hope. It's, it's a voice of gentleness, kindness, encouragement, light. Anything that moves your heart in peace and in free, that's the voice of the Lord. Yeah. Yeah.
I think that's an important point too. His freedom. Because remember, a priest in homily once, seeing, he said, could have been a general sense, but he said, the devil always speaks in shuts, you know, are absolutes, you know? So it's kind of sometimes if you can feel like a quote-unquote prompting to do something, but like, you should do this, or else. You should do this, or you know, or else everything will be ruined. You know? But it's like, we can kind of sometimes experience that. Actually, God doesn't talk like that. There's a difference. God always, it's an invitation. It's a proposal. He never imposes. He proposes. There's always an invitation and an appeal to our freedom. There's always a room for our free will. And actually, and we talked about in a previous episode, but there's room in God's plan for failure. Yeah. Actually. And, and we can, we can taste the difference of that invitation of freedom and love and personal attention and kind of like, so I think there's a difference between, you know, tasting that freedom, that invitation of freedom, what your reverences are, our free will, our humanity, actually. That's an important point. It reverses our humanity. And it also reverences our, yeah, like we can, we really do have free will, actually. And, and there's always hope. Whereas the voice of the enemy, there's kind of, it can be a sense of compulsion. Mm-hmm. There also can be an ear reverence or a disregard for our humanity, you know? Because the devil hates humanity. It's our humanity because it reminds him. Well, and it's a sister, I think it's so important what you say, innocence, learning to notice the difference within my heart, within my mind, you know, what are those, in every department of my life, what are those emotional patterns that, you know, sometimes they steer me towards the doom and gloom, and allowing the Lord to catch and lift that, oriented towards truth, thought patterns, being very watchful over our thought patterns, our will. Yeah. Because our will follows what precedes it, perceives to be good. And, yeah, what's, but our my goods labeled correctly. Mm-hmm. You know, it's like I have my own labeling system. But well, am I willing to let the Lord in and, and name my gosh, what are the goods I should be steering towards? And then, yeah.
I love that. I love the reality of a God. There's no dead ends. No. When we're rolling with Jesus Christ. So in a sense, failure, well, what's that? The only failure is is failing to receive the love of God into my life in any particular moment. Failure is, is gosh, shutting the door to a God who, Jesus, what do you want? He wants you. He wants me as I am. And gathering that up in his love and transforming it. There is no problem. It's the things we think are problems, we should ask Jesus and ask if he thinks it's a problem. Yeah. Because in in the face of his love, mm-hmm, it's, um, it's got nothing. Yeah. It's, it only stands to be consumed, transformed, and and made to radiate with new life and love in and through the life of Christ. So it is to be guided. Yeah. That we're free. We need guidance, and we want it. Mm-hmm. Please. Why? Because ultimately, who are we? God's children. Yeah. Beloved sons and daughters of the Father. Love. Sons and daughters. Yeah. And innocence, that's our identity. And to live forth from that, which means we're living forth from the love of our Father. Yeah. Which is always and forever. Yeah. And learning to receive, acknowledge that reality. You notice it. Mm-hmm. Daring to believe in that more than they do the glue condemnation. Mm-hmm. Any definition that anyone wants to put on us. Yeah. Other than the fact that I am a loved. I'm a sinner, but I'm a loved sinner. Yeah. Yeah. And, yeah.
I love that, sister. To let him guide us. And that, and it's like, it's amazing too, because he'll guide us actually not just in that, but it's like that radiating, you know, because he guides us actually to to to be that love for those we encounter, you know, to be transformed into that love. And it's like that transformative transformation into a posture of self-gift, actually. And that's what he's always guiding us to, to to first receive him, this gift of him, and to give ourselves away in gift, believing that we are, believing that we are, what did it last him dare? Yeah. Yeah. Whoa.
Well, sister, before we go. Yeah. What do you think? Wow. Well, I would just say, maybe just ask the Lord, Lord, how do you speak to my heart? Like, Lord, help me even to understand it, to know how you speak to my heart. Well, to name it. There's a power and be able to name something. Mm-hmm. I think that's a, yeah, just intra-articular to love it. Yeah. It's fun to like, reveal. Yeah. His language of love. Mm-hmm. What I, I think in letting love guide you, this is what I would, a little challenge, just to name the three things that guide your decisions the most. Mm. Wow. And, you know, is it, well, I'll let you name that. What guides you? Whose voice guides? Mm-hmm. And in naming those three things, simply asking yourself, first of all, you know, is there room for the Lord? And then, and then to just ponder the reality that, you know, God is, is love. He is wisdom. He is for you. He is about you, your happiness, and your joy more than anything, even more than yourself. And in a sense, how can I give more space to that? Just one way, perhaps, or one or two ways throughout your day that you can pause and just give that an invitation, a welcome. Like, alright, God, come on in to this place that, you know, maybe you turn to other things, but just give them a chance. Mm-hmm. That's awesome.
Well, my goodness, it's a gift to be with you, sister. Gift to be with you, sister. Well, you want to close this up and a praise? I would love to.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Jesus, we thank you and praise you so much for this time, for this conversation. We praise you for all the ways that you guide us and your love, Lord. You've, you've never ceased guiding us to your heart. We ask you, Lord, to open our eyes to your presence, to your personal, particular love for each of us. Where do we pray for that grace? And also, just the trust to let ourselves be guided by you, especially when times are difficult, or knowing that you are always about a good for us personally. We entrust our families, our friends, well, all those in our lives who have asked for prayer, I'm all our intentions to you. And we pray and give you glory as we pray, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us. Amen.
God bless all of you. Praying for you. And may you know the joy of Jesus deep in your heart. Amen. See you next time.
This was Let Love Podcast for the Sisters of Life, a religious community of women consecrated for the protection of the sacredness of human life. Be assured of our prayers and learn more at Sisters of Life dot org.
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