March 2004

Life is so generous a giver…

by Fra Giovanni

…but we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or hard; remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power.

Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand which brings it to you. In everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, the angel’s hand is there, the fit is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence. Our joys, too, be not content with them as joys. They too conceal diviner gifts. So at this time I greet you, not quite as the world sends greetings but with profound esteem and the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows ßee away.