Praying brings Therese into communion with her mother, her father and her sisters. For part of her experience in prayer is condltíoned by the presence of beloved persons: the presence of human love is a sort of token for the hidden presence of God. How otherwise can a child be trained in prayer, in realizing the hidden presence, except by the sacrament of visible, tangible love? Therese is taken into their prayer and nestles there.
~ from TWO SISTERS IN IHE SPIRIT by Hans Urs von Balthasar
The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. Whatever befalls the earth befalls all who dwell on earth. We did not weave the web of life; we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
