I am reading an amazing book right now called My Sisters the Saints by Colleen Carroll Campbell. It is a memoir about how certain saints aided her life journey. The first saint she writes about is Teresa of Avila and this excerpt is one I need to read daily:
"She came to understand that while God wants us to treat our bodies with respect, excessive focus on perfecting our bodies or indulging their insatiable desires - including the desire to busy ourselves with good works to avoid the discomfort of solitude and silence - distances ourselves from God. The same goes for social status, popularity and professional achievement things that are not evil in themselves but that can wreak spiritual havoc when we value them more than God."
May His gaze upon us from the cross with his arms open wide to wrap us in his ultimate love always be a reminder of what we must value.
