Apr. 25: The Gift of Human Beings

Though she achieved success as an actress, including as a co-star with Elvis Presley, Dolores Hart left Hollywood to become a Benedictine nun at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, in 1962.  She had followed her spiritual calling, but it wasn’t until many years later that a debilitating disease took her relationship with God to a deeper level.

In 1997, Mother Dolores was left wheelchair bound due to a mysterious illness that went undiagnosed for some time.  Finally, New York City doctor Norman Latov diagnosed her with peripheral neuropathy.  He found a treatment that eased her symptoms and restored her ability to walk.

That suffering taught Mother Dolores an important lesson.  She said on Christopher Closeup, “You have to become dependent on the gift of human beings, and you discover that God is an incarnate reality.  In the beginning, God was always a pie-in-the-sky reality.  Now I had to realize that Jesus was there through the people who were assisting me, caring for me, and doing the things that were bringing me through.”

God sent me to heal you.  (Tobit 12:14)

Lord, grant me the blessing of people who love me.