Blog by Sr. Anne Lythgoe, OP

With gratitude for the life of Sr. Arleen Kisiel, whose wake services included the following quote from Theresa of Avila. Thanks, Arleen.

What Theresa of Avila said:

Just these two words He spoke changed my life, “Enjoy Me.” What a burden I thought I was to carry— a crucifix, as did He. Love once said to me, “I know a song, would you like to hear it?” And laughter came from every brick in the street and from every pore in the sky. After a night of prayer, He changed my life when He sang, “Enjoy Me.”

Enjoy Me!

What I heard God say:

Enjoy the flaming leaves of Maple trees as they turn the ground into purple red patches on the lawn. That’s Me! Enjoy blue-gray sky with flying wedges of geese heading to their winter home.That’s me! When sunshine breaks through the clouds and sits on your lap as you read in your room, feel that warmth. That’s Me. When you awake to the pure brightness of the bird song. Enjoy Me!

Enjoy the quiet moment when you mute the phone, shut out the world and listen to the sheer silence. That’s Me.

Notice someone at the food pantry distributing food to a hungry mother of three. That’s Me too. Pay attention to the voices that disturb your equilibrium, the disrupters who attack your self-satisfaction. Yes, that’s Me too.

When your sister recognizes your voice on the phone and you talk together as if her dementia never happened. Enjoy Me in her.

When you search for a way to push through your fatigue and grumpiness to listen to someone’s desperate need for your listening ear —and you can hear them. That’s Me.

When you finally have time to work in your studio and not a grain of creative energy shows itself — and finally, after hours of trying, the image comes into focus and you know how to flow. That’s Me too.

There is no place or time, story or saga, test or turmoil that is not held in My hand. I know a song, would you to like hear it?

Enjoy.