"Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself." Pope John Paul ll

St. John Paul ll referred to this spiritual insight as... the law of the gift. In a culture that is consumed with taking, having, and using, this simple recipe for happiness and human flourishing seems virtually impossible and, for many of our contemporaries, so far out of reach as to call forth critiques of idealistic utopianism.

And yet, the truth is that God is simple and he dwells within us... which is why, in his Confessions, St. Augustine is able to say: "God is closer to me than I am to myself."

"Nothing is impossible with God." (Luke 1:37). What may at first seem impossible for man, becomes, with God, the easiest and most possible of all things because it is the very thing he was created for... Love! The giving of oneself... as a gift.

{Image for As A Gift taken from a painting by San Antonio, TX watercolor artist, Anne Brennan Vela, titled: Flower Gift}