I am so happy to be reading the third volume of Is It Possible to Live This Way?: An Unusual Approach to Christian Existence. However, it is the first of these volumes I will read without my companion Sara, who is in the cloister. It is funny that receiving the book almost immediately brought me to writing her a letter, in which I ask her to receive permission for me to mail this book to her. I think about how we never got around to discussing the section of poverty in volume two. I know she read it and re-read it, but we never talked about it, even though it was transformative, as they say, for us both.Anyway, I am happy to have my lovely wife, who is a companion, along with other companions, with whom I have had a fruitful journey so far. I guess my point here is gratitude for the gift of friendship, which is a gift of the gift, a fruit of the charism we share.
True to form, Don Giussani, in his very first words to the aspiring Memores Domini, to whom these presentations were originally given as part of their formation, says: "Man's awareness is his capacity to order all things towards their destiny, towards their origin and their destiny: this awareness unites things, and thus it is the Creator's tool for completing His work." Just think about that for one minute, not just what it means, but what it implies, and the response is calls forth!
Veni Sancti Spiritus, veni per Mariam.