Transcription
[Music]
Welcome to Let Love, 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.
Hey, Sister Veritas. Hi, Sister. I need to stay. Hey everyone, this is the Sisters of Life Let Love podcast, and we're back. And we're just so happy to be back and so happy to be talking today about, "Let Love Illumine Your Mind." To bring light to the mind. I want light. Me too. In this attic up here. Me too, because it can get dark and dusty up there. Yeah. And, you know, we're checking in. Open the curtains here. It is fresh air. Yep. And let's break this thing open. Yeah.
But, uh, maybe before we do, maybe, I don't know, this potentially could work as an analogy. I don't know. Sure. But I, I recently, I had an experience recently. Really? What was it? So I, um, so like, you know, I was, I was reading for a long period of time, and it was kind of like over a period of weeks. And like, I really had convinced myself in my mind, yes, then I needed glasses. Wow. You know, like, I never, I've never had any vision problems my whole life, right? But I was, um, I've been had to write this class. This is, you know, just last year. And, and it was, you know, I was reading a lot. And, um, so I was like, oh my gosh, I, that's it. This is it. I, I'm gonna go get the glasses. You're gonna join the club. Join the club. Welcome. Uh, which for those who have not worn glasses for your whole life, it's kind of a scary moment. Like, it's a big deal. I mean, glasses, they totally change your face. Change your face. I mean, I speak to someone who started wearing glasses in fifth grade, okay? It changes your life. See, we're on different ends of the spectrum. No pun intended. But, okay.
So I went in, and this is a great little, you know, ophthalmologist in the Bronx. And, and so I, I go in there. And so, you know, the doctor's like, "Hey, Sister, how you doing?" And, you know, takes a look at my eyes. And, um, and he's like, "So, you know, what seems to be going on?" I'm like, "Well, here's the deal, doctor. Like, you know, I use my eyes a lot." And I mean, I said it with total earnestness. I mean, like, and when stuff starts going wrong with your eyes, you're just like, gosh. And he kind of, I think he tried to stay full of laugh because it's like, "Of course, we use our eyes a lot." Like, right. Every waking moment, right? Um, and so it turns out, I really didn't have too much of a vision problem, right? Um, and he's like, "Well, Sister, you know, I was describing to him my, you know, that when I focus for long periods of time." So he's like, "Well, Sister, have you tried blinking?" And I'm sure, I'm sure I, I do blink, but, but it was actually noticing that, yeah, I have a tendency when you get focused not to blink, right? Very deep concentration. Laser focus. Laser focus. And what that causes, it's like your eyes actually need care. They need a blink every so often, right? To restore the moisture and, and just, you know, get things renewed. Yep. So that was like, one little easy thing. Wow. That I could change. Wow. And free. Free. Totally free. I didn't need anything. But he did say that, you know, I could get like a low-grade prescription. I don't know what if that's real. But he did give me a prescription. And I don't know what happened. But as soon as I went out and handed this piece of paper, again, I just didn't know. Yeah. It's the first experience. First, I had no idea what was going to happen. I gave this piece of paper to the woman at the desk, and all of a sudden, she was giving me glasses to try on frames. And I'd never done this before. I didn't know what was supposed to be happening, right? Right. And so everyone in the waiting room, it just became a group event. Oh, yeah. I'm sure everyone was very eager to help you. It's a big deal. It was great. I was getting tons of feedback. Oh, yeah. Tons of voices chiming in, like, and it got really confusing. And at the, you know, I just kind of reactively said, "Yeah, like, let's go with those frames." And long story short, two takeaways from this whole thing. First, um, every piece and part of us needs a little care and stewardship. And whether it's your eyes, or as we're going to talk about, our minds, it's like, little things can make a huge difference. Definitely. The eyes, blinking. For the mind, we're gonna break that open. Yeah. Number two, um, when we get a lot of voices coming at us, we make bad decisions, right? We make decisions that don't lead to really to fruitfulness, right? To quality purchases, right? And I think the same thing for our minds, um, because in a sense, and we're going to break this open too, it's like, how do I move from this place of of freedom and clarity and peace, even in that place that, yeah, when you've got a lot of, uh, different feeds and, and, and whatnot. Let love illumine your mind.
So I think it's so great. And I think it's like, as you even said, a little earlier, like, when something goes wrong with our eyes, it's like our whole world. Like, it affects our whole world. And actually, if, if our minds, if we don't let them be illumined by, by the light of God, it actually, it's going to affect everything we do. Yes. It's going to affect our entire life. So that's why I think this is such an important topic to talk about. And I love the analogy because it's so great, actually. And actually, yeah, Sister, it's, while you're even expanding my mind, you're blowing my mind because in a way, our minds allow us to see. Yeah. And I think especially whether that's on a natural plane or it's in the spiritual life, our minds are so important, uh, to help us to see things truly and rightly and, and understand. So I can't wait. Can't wait. Shall we start with a prayer? Yeah, that'd be great.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we ask that you draw us into your life. We ask, Jesus, that you share your mind with us, that you share your love for the Father, that you share the way that you see others, that you see us, that you see God's will. We ask that you share your knowing and the light of the Holy Spirit that helps us to know and to see and to grow in the wisdom of God. We ask, Blessed Mother, that you draw us into your intercession, your maternal care, the purity of your mind and of your heart, that we might be disciples after you, and that our "yeses" might grow in likeness to yours and bear the life of Christ in the world. We just ask all this as we say, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 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. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Well, what a great topic. Yeah. True. I love "illumine the mind." Yeah. And you think about the mind. I mean, what a powerful force the mind is, right? Like, you think of, I mean, all of human, uh, innovation that we see, you know, like these huge skyscrapers in New York and these bridges and, and, you know, mathematics. And I mean, I'm sure you have tons of examples like this. This is all coming from the human mind, isn't it? Incredible. It is. Well, you think of all the symphonies that came to life. Again, it's like, yeah, who, who thought that up before it came to be? Or languages, how they've developed over time, and all of that as a fruit of thought, of good thinking, of, of stitching all these words together so it can speak to each other. Yeah. So that we can enjoy poetry and literature. Um, every dimension. Economy. Yeah. You know, we've gone from seashells to Wall Street. It's, it is incredible. It's amazing. I mean, the toaster. You know, who thought that up? Who thought that could be? I know. The microwave. The microwave. It's amazing. The airplane, right? Who thought, "Let's fly. Let's launch ourselves into the sky, right?" And that that was possible, right? It's, it's, it's a, it's stunning, actually, just the, yeah, the power, the creativity of the mind. And like our ability for abstract thought, right? Which, which enables us to have all these amazing ideas and put them into to use. It's just, it's a stunning human capacity, actually, that no other living creature has as we have. Wow. And with astounding consequences, for better or for worse, right? Right. You know, in a sense, to conceive something in our thoughts and then in and through the use of our mind to bring it unto completion, right? Um, for good, for better or for worse, right? To the aid of man and humankind, right? Or otherwise, right? I mean, and like we're saying, all these positive examples, but then it's also like, we think of the Holocaust and what happened in the human mind and to make that happen. So it's, it's incredible force for good or for evil. And can be the source of life and creation and creativity or destruction. Amen. And, uh, so like, my thought, how do we harness the power? Harness the power of our minds in a way that God intends? Yeah. Amen.
Well, I think, I think it's like, just making some distinctions, too. And I think, uh, we're definitely, we're only going to skate on the surface of this topic because I think, I think we're thinking a lot here. Um, yeah, there's, uh, a lot here. But I think, just to make some initial distinctions, that yes, like we have a culture of information, and I think we value information and instant information and the facts and knowing stuff and taking in the news feeds and what's the latest on YouTube and all these beautiful capacities, actually, or the capacity to just think through things, figure them out, uh, manage, uh, things in and through our thoughts. And that is beautiful and has an incredible value. And yet, as a distinction, um, we also have a part of our minds that, um, Saint Augustine speaks of, that is a higher part that's reserved for the contemplation of God and towards the knowing in distinct capacities on the natural plane or in the spiritual plane as we as we seek to to know God himself. And I think I love that you're making that distinction, Sister, um, between kind of like fact-finding, which is important and we need to, but it's also to live, um, in our minds, um, in pursuit of the Lord and that higher power of our minds. And I also think, I just want to say here, too, I think there could be a tendency often, you know, for the, the fact-finding, information seeking, and kind of like, you know, pro, you know, prepping for the MCAT kind of thing, like that kind of knowledge base, which we're very, very good at, um, but then sometimes I think we can, um, in terms of our personal interior worlds, we can kind of leave off, kind of our use of reason and live our interior reality, just kind of living out of our feelings, thinking with our feelings, and not actually with our minds. And I think we're called to to kind of live an integrated life, actually, an integrated mind. And so having both, yes, we need the facts, but we also need to live, as you're saying, with that higher realm of our mind, which is, um, contemplative, which is for the Lord. And there's a great quote, um, from, uh, encyclical letter, *Fides et Ratio*, Faith and Reason, by Pope John Paul II, and I'll just literally read the first sent, it's a long, it's a run-on sentence, but I'm going to read this a sentence. He said, "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth. And God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth, in a word, that's what you're talking about, in a word, to know himself. So that by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves." It's powerful. So this call of the human mind, actually, to be integrated and to be, um, directed to the Lord. Amen. And illumined by Him, by the God who is love. That is so powerful, Sister. Yeah. We desire that oneness, that wholeness of thought, of understanding, of knowledge, in integrity, in a sense, in the way that we see the world. And rather than breaking it into pieces, which actually, in many ways, our culture can do. It can kind of separate us and divide us. And, and yet, God gathers all that together in that oneness of truth that provides that seamless garment, yeah, and allows us to rest in, yeah, not only the truth of a thing before us, but the truth of God and of ourselves. Sister, I think that's really powerful. And actually, I have an image that came to mind as you're speaking that I think to me is such an image of integration of the mind. And it was, um, it was an exhibit we had gone, I was, when I was in Toronto, living there at the convent, there was an exhibit at the museum. And it was an exhibit of something called boxwood miniatures. So it was these, like, kind of rosary beads about the size of a baseball, made out of this very hard wood called boxwood. And what these, it was like from medieval times, and these, um, geniuses of sculptors had, you could open the ball, and inside was a, yes, incredibly intricately carved scene of normally like a gospel scene. Wow. And it, but it was like multi-layer. It was, you've never seen anything like it, like that. We're talking like, almost like microscopic level of detail and, and multi-layer. And you're like, "How is this possible?" And, you know, what's so stunning to me is they did this in the medieval times, and scientists today have tried to replicate it, okay? And they can't, with all our technology, everything. They can't, even with the precision that we have in terms of robots and computers, they cannot do what those medieval artists did. No. Why is that? It's fascinating. It's because, I think, they were trying to do it from a purely scientific level, fact-based. But what those artists had was a contemplative mind. Wow. Which actually gave them wings to do actually what is almost humanly impossible. It's amazing. Um, and to me, that's just such an integrated image of integration. Yes. You know, we fly higher. Yeah. Wow. Sister. Yeah. It's powerful.
Well, and even to bring it down to another level of distinction, which is our thoughts, you know? And I think our thoughts are very much with us at every moment. Uh, it's part of the human experience. And they, for better or for worse, they, they walk along us in and through each day. And they're very powerful. And we're called to a stewardship of such. And I think, as we're speaking about letting love, letting God illumine our minds, we have to allow Him into this area of our thoughts. There's this incredible book, I know I've mentioned it before, it's called *Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives*. Wow. Yes. And it's true. I'm a believer after reading this book. And it's from, written by Elder Thadias or Thaddeus. And just to give you a little nugget from, from really what he learned in and through his entire life, this was the great teaching of his life is on the realm of the thoughts, how powerful they are in day-to-day life. And it's particularly in the spiritual life. But he said this: "Our life depends on the kinds of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility." Wow. Is that something? That's awesome. Then he continues, he says, "The Lord has taken all of our sufferings and cares upon Himself, and He has said that He will provide for our needs. Yet we hold on to our cares so tightly that we create unrest in our hearts and minds, in our families, and all around us." [Music] Isn't that true? I mean, amen. I've definitely said in my life, you know, when you can almost without a person speaking a word, you can, uh, make a good guess at where they might be living in their thoughts. They are powerful. They can create air pollution, right? Right. And yet, uh, just to look, what does our Lord speak to us here, um, about the realm of the mind or of our thoughts? And I know some of my favorite, um, polls in scripture, in Proverbs 3:5, it says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight." So it's telling us, yes, we can come to knowledge on our own efforts, in our own figuring. And yet, ultimately, we want to rely on God's vision, God's wisdom, allow the Holy Spirit to lift us up into His perspective and the eternal and divine perspective. I think that's so important because it's like, when we get stuck in trying to figure things out all the time, it's actually like this little vortex that we just get sucked into, and we never end up getting out. I mean, we can't, but it's like, it's just, it's like a spiral. Yeah. It definitely can be, yeah. Yes, if it's not illumined, in a sense, um, coupled with with the divine perspective. Yeah. It's so helpful to us. Yeah. Um, or even in Isaiah 26:3, it says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusts in Me." Hmm. This is powerful words. Yeah. Yeah. Literally, if I keep my mind on Jesus, yeah, on Jesus Christ, which is God's word to us, which is God's love for us, um, perfect peace. Yeah. That's a, that's a huge promise. It is. It's, I don't know, it's what my heart desires. I think it's what we all desire as human persons, you know, perfect peace. Yeah. Or even Romans 12:1 through 2, um, and he says, particularly in two, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." I love that, Sister. There's a great quote in Wisdom where it says, "Those who trust in Him will understand truth." So, allowing ourselves to be, to be in Him, to be held by Him, and it actually, that illumines our mind. We can understand what we could not understand before. It's powerful stuff, Sister.
Well, and I think for Christian discipleship, this is the type of knowing. You know, and I'm sure many people have asked you, many people ask me, "How did you know? How did you know?" Our Blessed Mother, how did she know to say yes to the Lord, that this was an angel of light, that this was God's invitation? How did Moses know to throw the staff down, that it might, yes, transform into a serpent and reveal God's power in that? And in so many other ways, I mean, if you look throughout salvation history, there's this knowing that is particular to Christian discipleship. And as you were speaking, it comes through this trust in the Lord. It comes through, uh, faith, this disposition and posture of faith, which allows us to touch, it's like direct contact, this higher part of our minds, that allows us to know the touch of God, to know the life of God, to know the love of God, not just as an abstract, but as something personal, as something active, as something transpiring and speaking in our hearts and leading and guiding. It's like we're turning the lights on. Yeah. It really is. And it makes a difference. It makes a difference in how we live, how we speak, how we react and respond. It changes everything. Changes what's happening up here between my ears affects how I live. And, uh, yeah, it's, I think it's a great thing to think about, you know, what, what am I thinking about? What am I, you know, what's, what occupies my mind throughout the day? And noticing the effect that it has on us, you know? Amen.
Well, I think, I don't know, what brings me back and forward in the sense, you know, if blinking helps our eyes to work better when they're hard at work, what are some good tips for mind care? Yeah. You know, starting points, just little things that can help us to let love illumine our minds, like mind care tips. I think for sure, the first one that comes to me is, what am I reading? What am I listening to? What am I watching? Because whatever I put in through my senses, it will form me. And it actually, I mean, scientifically, it actually forms, like, your, your brain synapses and like, it actually has a physical effect on your mind. Um, but also on your, um, a spiritual effect on your mind, too. And so, is it junk? You know, is it just kind of fluff that's kind of a waste of time? Um, is it negativity? You know, or is it of the Lord? Is it actually causing my heart and my soul and my mind to seek Him, to be lifted to Him? That's a great example. I think for all of us, you know, um, I mean, there's a great, I think I mentioned, I forget, I wish I had all the details, but this famous experiment of, um, they were determining the effect of music. And they were using rats as a control experiment. So they had rats in a labyrinth, and they had one control group was silence, one group was classical music, and one group was heavy metal. And they found that the silent rats were fine, they could get out of the labyrinth. The classical music rats, I think, did even better than the silent rats. And the heavy metal rats, they started attacking each other. Wow. Yeah. They got confused. They got really confused and disturbed. But, but it's like, they're not even, these are not even rational creatures, actually. But, but what is going into their brains affects how they act. So all the more so it's human beings, right? Right. Sister, yeah. And I don't know if you have thoughts on that, even if you look at the life of Saint Ignatius, this was a key moment for him in his own conversion, is that he noticed the difference when he was reading, um, I think novels about knights and shining armor versus, uh, scripture and, uh, texts focused on the life of Christ, the lives of the saints. And he noticed it lifted him. He noticed his mind, uh, moved in in a direction that brought him peace and brought new life and new meaning to his life. I think even if I look at my own life, when you made those decisions, when I made those decisions to intentionally read and listen and watch, uh, it, it changes you. Um, it unburdens your heart, you know, in a sense. Even noticing how much information do I need from the news that, you know, to an extent, it can be very helpful, but then there's a point where it just gets to be, it's, it burdens them, right? Actually, right. Um, so that's good mind care. Yeah. And I think it's just connected to another point you said earlier, but what I mean for a personal experience, like what I was listening and reading and stuff during when I was in university, that actually helped me to put my mind and my heart in a place where I could hear God's call to me. Wow. You know, um, and, and respond. And that knowing, you said it's like, and I, I knew it's like Mother Teresa says, "How does a girl know she's called?" She knows. She knows. But, but how? It's like, I, I set the pave the way for that grace by responding to another grace of what I was feeding myself in terms of my mind. It's powerful. Yeah. And that's changed the course of your life. It changed the course of my life. I wouldn't be here right now. Wow. I mean, the stakes are high in caring for our minds. I think, um, the gift and grace that we have in the sacrament of confession, that it can, in a sense, anoint us with that precious blood of Jesus and unburden us. And a lot of times, we can, especially our minds can become so burdened by, you know, past sins or otherwise, or, you know, how do we, we can't save ourselves, but as we can bring that to Jesus and receive His mercy and healing and forgiveness, I think it can really lighten the mind, unburden it. I believe it. Another one I'm going to throw in here is a practice that we definitely have in the convent, but actually, I think will, it can be life-changing, is to always, uh, assume a habit of mind of assuming the best intentions of the other person, whatever setting you're in, but assuming that they're, they're intending my good, you know, they're loving me. And it actually takes out a lot of pain and runaway imagination and hurt. And if you just assume the best intentions of the other. So I just, that's, that's helpful. That's powerful, Sister. Yeah. And well, I think too, generally speaking, intentionality, that we are responsible for our thoughts and we can choose whether or not we're going to think of, um, pleasant things, peaceful things, godly things. And being aware of what we're thinking of and then making that choice, you know, in a sense, stewarding our thoughts is a great way to care for our minds. Um, I think too, at the end of each day, yeah, the examen. Huge connected point. But to take that time to go over our day with the Lord. And part of that examen is, what, what were my thoughts? What was I thinking? Jesus, bringing it all to Him. And it really airs out. It really, like, yeah, opens the windows, lets in the light, and, and changes us. Examen. Try it. Try going every day with Jesus. Well, I think there's this beautiful quote from Saint Edith Stein as to the power of the examen. And she says, "And when night comes, and when you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed, just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God's hands, and leave it with Him." Yeah. That's it. I want to type that out and put it, yes, open my door. It's huge. And that is the power of God's love, and the reality of God's love is that we can turn it all over to Him as it is and begin anew. I love that, Sister. I think it's so powerful. And I love all these tips for, like, mind care, how to live actively, proactively, yeah, and keeping our minds, uh, you know, putting on the mind of Christ.
Now, just quickly, like, what, what are tips if we get into a tailspin? We find ourselves in a swirling vortex of doom. Yeah. I call it the, the hamster wheel of exasperation, right? Um, what do you, what helps you, Sister? I mean, for sure, I think talking. Talking it out, you know, with Jesus, articulating it. But also sometimes I need to talk it out with somebody else because it's like, you're just inside of yourself, and you're like, "I just need to articulate this out loud to someone I trust, someone who understands, knows Jesus, knows the heart, and they can help reflect back to me and say, you know what? Yeah, that that thought is not from God, it's from the devil." You know? But it's, we need it. We need each other to help us to be reinforced in a place of truth. Yeah. So I think it's huge. That's huge, Sister. Yeah. Um, I think another thing I love to do is, if I find, if I find myself weary and exhausted, that's the first department I go to. I check into my thoughts. And if I'm on a hamster wheel about a concern or an anxiety or a, you know, a stressful point of the day or whatever it might be, or maybe something happened earlier in the day and I'm still stuck on it, stop the tape. Insert something else. And that might be, "Jesus, I trust in You. Jesus, I turn this over to You." So, in a sense, stop the tape, but then insert something that is going to help to bring, help you to bring that to a place where it can actually be engaged and transformed. And that's, that's the Lord. And I think within that, even sometimes if you're feeling scatterbrained, you know, kind of separated by your thoughts, is just saying the name of Jesus, or finding a word like Abba, or Father, or Jesus, or "Lord, have mercy," um, can really focus and open the mind to that illumination, to be illumined by love. I love that, Sister. It kind of connects to that reading the word of God, you know, reading it, reading a passage, reading a sentence from scripture, sometimes even saying it out loud, you know, because just to stop the, yeah, stop the hamster wheel. This beautiful, Sister. Yeah. Just, yeah, making the sign of the cross. Just something to help. Something tangible. Something tangible. My favorite is the present moment. Is that the, the best medicine for the mind is the present moment with God. So not to live in the past, not to live in the future, yeah, but the discipline, and it's hard at times, of gathering your mind to be present to God who's alive and loving you right now, right now. And you touch eternity, yeah, in the present moment. And pulling that grace down. Yeah. That's so important, Sister. And actually, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux talks about that. She's like, "When I find myself troubled, I realize it's because I've been dwelling in the past or the future and not living in the present." Wow. So that's really powerful. Yeah. And can I have connected to that is gratitude? Just simple gratitude. I think gratitude's like the secret weapon for a lot of things. You just throw a little "Thank You" to Jesus, and it just disarms the enemy, you know, and disarms the tailspin. It's beautiful, Sister. Yeah. Wow.
We've skipped a stone over an ocean, yes. And yet, even just calling ourselves to awareness that this is a powerful place that God wants to be with us, God wants to lead us and light our way. And, and He doesn't want us to to suffer, you know, the, the terrible plague of of thoughts that are debilitating. Right? They can, they can paralyze us. They can be painful and terrible. Even that bad thoughts can be a real plague. Yeah. And they can really bring us down and cause great suffering. Yeah. And I think, yeah, Sister, Jim, any thoughts before we go? Yeah. Before we go, I would say, um, to notice, as you were speaking about the times that I, I find myself like sad or anxious or disturbed in some way, um, to, to stop with Jesus and say, "Jesus, help me look at what I'm thinking about." Because I think, uh, Saint Francis de Sales talks about this too, but that kind of those worldly, kind of quote-unquote worldly ponderings or, you know, getting in a tailspin or trying to figure everything out, can actually lead us away from the Lord. And He wants to, He wants to bring His light there. He wants to bring His love there. And so, just to stop and say, acknowledge reality, try to name the thoughts, and then invite Jesus in, you know, the God who is love. I love that, Sister. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have anything before we go? I think hearkening, just to our first point, um, in the sense that God does not want us to live in darkness. And the mind, I think the enemy wants to create tangles, tumbleweeds, and darkness, especially in our minds. We have an enormous power there. And to be aware of that, that inviting Jesus in, and, um, and asking in a special way for an inflow of God's wisdom, for the life of the Spirit, for the gift of knowledge, understanding, wisdom, uh, to have courage to, in a sense, surrender the figuring out, the, the, and not in an irresponsible way, but just to give God some room upstairs to, to shuffle over, just a little bit, and to ask for the grace to trust that God knows better, God is wiser, God's knowledge is more perfect, God's understanding. And as He wants to bring these gifts into our lives, will actually allow me to see the truth, the beauty, the goodness that God is holding out for me in the moment. And so that, because our wills will not move towards what we don't perceive as as good. And so our, our minds, we have to be sharp in in opening up the windows and the doors to that inflow of the life of the Spirit, so that we can perceive with light. Yeah. And, and then move ourselves towards it in this beautiful knowing that, that God wants to bestow on His disciples. Wow. That's beautiful, Sister. So just a thought. I love that. But wow, Sister, I feel like we hardly just hardly began, but it was definitely scratching the surface, but it was great. But had some fun, and, uh, hopefully a few helpful nuggets. I hope so. We try to live the day. Yeah. Well, Sister, would you close us with a prayer? I would love to.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Lord, we thank You so much for this time. We thank You for the gift of knowledge that You are giving and desire to give to us. Lord, we ask You to flood our minds with Your light. You who are the light, You who are love. Lord, we ask You to cast out any shadows that are lingering in our minds, doubts, worries, fears that we've been holding on to, and replace them with Your presence. We entrust ourselves and all those whom we love, all the needs and intentions of our hearts to You and to our Blessed Mother. And we 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 will be forever. Amen. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen.
God bless and keep all of you. 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 sistersoflife.org.