Are there other obstacles to living in joy? Yes and no. There is really only one obstacle and it is ourselves. Mother de Lescure says that "if we were truly, deeply penetrated with love for those souls for whom Our Lord died, they could never be an obstacle to our joy. And if our neighbor is a cause of sadness to us, it is an evident proof that we are still self-centered, cowardly, and hypocritical. It is inevitable, says Pere Hugeny, for us not to cause suffering to each other, but what an opportunity that is which we would otherwise not have to perform an act of charity. The little hurts are like the little stones which cause the brook of charity in our hearts to sing; a brook that flows through the sand does not sing...
This image of the singing brook has stayed with me during all these years; I was given this Conference in 1953 as I left St. Louis to go to New Orleans.
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