Yesterday we celebrated the feast days of St Paulinus of Nola, St. John Fisher, and my husband's favorite saint, Thomas More. It was truly a feast for the mind and soul to ponder each of these sterling, pure hearted lives. But something that St. Paulinus wrote to his long distant friend, St. Augustine, struck me especially:
"...despite being far apart, we are present to each other...because we are members of one body, we have one head, we are steeped in one grace........."
Steeped in one grace. What a beautiful image. By ourselves we are fallen, dried up "leaves" as it were - shadows of what we truly are.
But when grace is poured over us, it's shocking heat and cleansing rush bring all that is rich, all that is beautiful, all that is kind, good, brave and true out of our dry lives. We become steeped in grace.
And we can then each be given to others in our various flavors, so to speak.
like strong tea when we need to be brave like Cardinal Fisher, like serene tea when we need to see what love and happiness Thomas More had in his children, wife and home by the river. Tea is bracing, restorative, soothing, and even the ritual of making it is serene.
May we all be steeped in grace. May others see our patience and courage at being steeped for just the right amount of time, and may others drink deeply of our strength, tenderness, love of home, love of our Church, our laughter, our soothing words.
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