Have you ever felt fulfilled, at peace with everyone, full of joy and love, even if perhaps you weren't doing anything out of the ordinary? Maybe you were at church, or perhaps you were taking care of a parent, a child, a brother, sister, or friend; maybe you were doing your daily work, or perhaps you were hiking in nature with your loved ones.
Simply by fulfilling the commandment of love (towards God and, through Him, towards your neighbor), the soul felt rich.
And not only that. When you do good, the soul feels protected like a child, it feels it is under Someone's care. In those days, even the body no longer torments you: you no longer feel heavy, sick, or tired; neither hunger nor thirst bother you anymore, but your entire being feels the need to do good and to love.
And who stops us from making gestures of love? Aren't they free? Aren't they accessible to everyone? Who doesn't allow us to tear down the wall of pride placed before us and to look at others as beings with a soul; to appreciate the beauty within them, regardless of social position, education, or opinions? Don't we share the same planet, the same country, or even the same house? For how often do we find ourselves seeing those in our own family as bad and unclean?
We are weak people... but, digging deep within ourselves, we find a special beauty ‒ the most mysterious and precious place in the world which, if it is clean, receives God Himself.
And how can one not love such holy places, regardless of whether they are masked by the flesh and bones of the poor, of ordinary people, of the sick, or... of saints?
R.N.