In my last post, I shared with you a wonderful way how we can know we are correctly hearing God’s voice – Jesus will always repeat Himself. “La Vittoria’ turned out to be a very important communication from the Lord as noted in two events that followed the next week: 1) My daughter Victoria called to inform me her vet believes her 3 year old horse, Forest, has uveitis which can lead to blindness. Oh how my heart broke for her! Thank you for your prayers for miraculous protection and healing – “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Matthew 19:26).
2) There are hundreds of churches in Rome. One day I was walking past a very ordinary looking church on Via XX Settembre, but the name was not ordinary, Santa Marie della Vittoria. Indeed, the word Vittoria immediately captured my attention. So I walked inside and was immediately overwhelmed by dozens of gilded, stucco Bernini angels in full relief flying around the perimeter of the absolutely magnificent frescoed ceiling. It was breath taking (see my picture taken while recumbent on a pew)! However it wasn’t until I walked to the front of the church and saw Bernini’s famous 11.5’ marble sculpture, The Ecstasy of St. Therese of Avila (1652), that I understood the 2nd reason the Lord impressed the “Vittoria” message upon my heart.
While gazing at the most beautiful sculpture I had ever seen, I realized it perfectly communicated how we attain victory from fear – where peace passes all understanding – and finally grasp complete contentment in life. St. Therese’s life (1515-1582), communicated the answer most powerfully, and most truthfully of all: falling in love with Jesus to a depth greater than human love. The sculpture depicts an angel piercing St. Therese’s heart with, which she described, a golden dart whose point contained fire. To be pierced with God’s (purifying and empowering) love caused St. Therese “to become wholly inflamed with a great love of God, the sweetness of which leaves the soul content with nothing less than God Himself;” thus the “secret” to an all encompassing victorious life. Hence whenever I seem to be defeated by life’s trials and heartaches, I pause and reflect on the real problem I am facing – my realization and embrace of the depths of God’s love for me. When I return to the intimacy of His Presence and listen quietly and carefully to His words of truth and love for me, all fears subside. It is then that I can rise above everything that would weigh me down, and live a life of victorious peace. Truly, “life” can only be found and sustained through the words He speaks, and repeats, to us (Matthew 4:4).
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