Is it Enough?

“Is  it enough?”  These three little words were presented to Gabrielle Bossis on February 3, 1949.  They were words from Jesus that she recorded in her journal possibly during a Lenten season.  I’ve written so many times about Gabrielle Bossis and the book entitled, “He and I” in my various blogs.  It’s one of my most favorite go-to books for the last 30 years.  Each entry recorded has been like a “divine door” to pass through and “listen to see.”

Gabrielle Bossis

Gabrielle was a Frenchwoman born in 1874 in Nantes. At the age of 62, as she was traveling to Canada on the “Ile de France,”  she began to hear that “Inner Voice” which continued up until two weeks before her death on June 9, 1950.  “Gabrielle would learn of her mission which was to record and publish what she heard so that people might know that the life of intimacy with Christ was not reserved for those in cloisters but for every man, woman and child no matter what his state in life might be.”

Is it Enough?

The passage that I read from last night ended with these words in Gabrielle’s journal. I took those words and turned them over and over in my mind and heart.  I asked myself what was Jesus saying to me during my own Lenten journey?

 

I reflected where I was and where I would end up on Easter Sunday.  What would be changed in me through my prayer, penance and almsgiving?  Where would my “resurrection” be?  What was Jesus calling me to do?

I asked myself – “is what I am doing this Lent enough?

Clearly it was not!  Through this particular passage Jesus was speaking loud and clear to me and as I wrote above I was listening to see.

What I Saw

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I saw was Jesus holding His hand out to me!  He was showing me to be happy in trusting Him alone.  He tells Gabrielle – “trust is an aspect of love.”

“Don’t you grasp the fact that if you love Me and believe in My love, you surrender your whole self into My hands like a child who doesn’t even ask, “Where are you taking me”” but sets off joyously, hand in hand with his mother.  How many blessings this happy confidence wins for you My children.”

Those two sentences stopped me dead in my tracks!  I thought back to a time of “lectio divina” in a Third Order Carmelite community that I belonged to at the time.  After reading the assigned scripture, I remember I had viewed myself in a boat alone with Jesus.  It was a beautiful scene – just “He and I!”  In that contemplation, He had me lay down in the boat and as Jesus covered me with a blanket, I was wondering “where are we going?”  So, I stood up – dropped the blanket and looked to see where we were!!!  I wasn’t very trusting, was I!!  Furthermore, I wasn’t “loving.”

Keep Going Blindly

Jesus tells Gabrielle to “delight in knowing nothing about the future for the sole purpose of seizing an opportunity of abandoning it to Me.  I know how to lead the blind by the best paths.  And when this blind person knows that he is My son, won’t he be glad of his infirmity, since it is his power over my heart?  As for Me, I’ll be tempted to thank him for his trust which is like a pledge of his love – a special favor.”

In His Arms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In truly reading to see what Jesus was conveying to my heart in this passage, I needed to go back to one of my favorite images of Him.  I needed to hear His heartbeat and to listen to what He was telling me specifically during this lenten journey of mine and not Gabrielle’s.

In “His Arms,” I understood where He wanted me to be at this present moment and all the days ahead. He was pointing to His Heart and then pointing to mine.  He was telling me to give Him “the first place” and that is “enough!”  He was simply asking for my love to be deeper and to know that I was His and He was mine.  He was telling me to see “His Tenderness – It is Everlasting” as He told Gabrielle. 

How many times did I tell my husband when we first started a family – that Jesus was first, he was second and our children were third.  Jesus always had to be first.

But maybe at this particular time in my life – I may have let “idols” slip in and take that first place.  It could be something very subtle or something very big like an elephant in the middle of the room.  Of course, that elephant could be a cell phone or the computer.  It could even mean being too involved in this and that.  “Are you so busy with the work of the Lord that you forget the Lord of the work?”

It could be a person, place or thing! It could mean eating more than I need to eat or having a second glass of wine.  It could be a million things – a million distractions!

Even though they might be very good, I had to question myself! Do I really need to hear another homily by a particular priest or should my time be better spent with Jesus. To listen solely to Him and what He wants me to hear from His Heart to my own.  Giving myself to Him in the early morning and loving Him sets the day on the right course and then there is no need to “stand up in the boat” for He is at the helm.  I don’t need to know where we are going!  I just need to LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM and TRUST HIM!

First Place

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so happy that Jesus switched gears on me last night –  with time still offered as a “new door and new beginning”  to just LOVE HIM. . .

To “love Him” like I’ve never loved Him before during this Lenten season and all the seasons of my life.

Lately I’ve been saying – “let me live this Lent as if it was my last.”  What if that was to be? If this was my last Lent – and I loved Jesus like I’ve never loved Him before and trusted Him like I’ve never trusted before – surely I would have a resurrection in my own heart on Easter Morning.  I would be filled with “love for Him” but filled with “His Love” in a greater way.

That “love” would be exactly what St. Therese speaks of – “My vocation is Love.”

St. John of the Cross – another great Carmelite and Doctor of the Church – left us with these lasting words to live by:

“In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone”

Jesus continues to speak to not only Gabrielle but to all of us as well:

“My child, give Me the first place and that is enough.  

This assures Me of you, and you feel Me to be greater than all the powers within you.

The first place for Me.  Ask the Spirit to establish this order in you.

It’s the Order of Creation.

It’s the Order of Revelation.

It’s the Order of Love.

 

YOU STILL HAVE TIME – GIVE HIM FIRST PLACE

GIVE HIM YOUR HEART

THIS LENTEN SEASON

 

 

©2024 Anita Guariglia

Quotes from “He and I” – Gabrielle Bossis

February 3, 1949 – Holy Hour

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