With her contribution in her Residence’s monthly journal, S. Angèle Lépine of Trois Rivières, Canada shares with us the love that is lived there.

 

I am delighted to contribute to the February edition by writing on the theme of “LOVE” in general and also “LOVE, here, at Lokia”, in recognition of all our dedicated employees.

 

Loving the other

 

To love others is to wish them well!

This means to start by being silent, putting aside what occupies us so as to give all our attention to another person whom we welcome wholeheartedly.

To love is like taking a walk with a friend: walking at the same pace … keeping close without controlling, letting oneself be led by the other, pausing for no particular reason … simply being there for the person.

To love is to welcome the other as is, to be open to the person’s ideas, subjects of conversation and projects.

To love is to offer an affectionate presence without asking for anything in return.

To love is admiring the beauty of the other and helping each one to give thanks.

To love is to be able to say: «I congratulate you!   I forgive you!  You make me feel great! »

 

 

 

To love is to listen to the pain of the other and find the word that will bring a smile even through the tears.

To love is at times to choose silence so that the other may find the answer deep down within!

To love is to allow the other to be right and to feel happy about it.

To love may be asking for a service so as to make the other feel useful.

To love the other is even to mend an oversight… without their knowing, in order to spare them a humiliation.

 To love is to take time to teach the other rather than doing it for them.

To love is to fill your eyes with so much kindness that the other can feel a comforting “I love you”.

To love is to reinvent small, kind and affectionate gestures every morning!

To love is to place others in the heart of God so that He may bless the person’s footsteps. 

 

 

Loving, here at Lokia

 

Loving, here at Lokia ,It’s functioning somewhat like a CEO by being close to people, listening to their needs … along with a team, of course.

Loving, here at Lokia , It’s putting your whole heart into every task: cooking, serving in the dining room, dish-washing, doing laundry … all with a smile, despite the constraints of the pandemic!

Loving, here at Lokia , It means inventing new ideas in order to offer a variety of activities so as to maintain life and joy. It means allotting time to the library and to the “coffee break” to help keep up one’s spirits.

Loving, here at Lokia,  It means preparing a liturgy that nourishes the heart, putting one’s name to proclaim the Word or to distribute the Eucharistic bread.

 

Bravo to all our employees!

 

Loving, here at Lokia, It’s putting your whole heart into wiping over and over the same surface, day after day, in order to maintain cleanliness and thus defeat Covid. It also means discovering a thousand ways to repair things.

Loving, here at Lokia,  It means to be welcoming at the reception desk, time and again, answering all questions with much kindness.

Loving, here at Lokia,  It means having a heart of gold and fulfilling one’s task with tender loving care either as caregiver, nurse’s aide or volunteer.

Loving, here at Lokia,  It’s you and me, it’s all of us, with our little gestures of mutual help, one day at a time, with discretion and boundless compassion.

 

 

 

To love, It’s being all heart from head to toe,

and with a smile!
“This love must be brand-new every morning, because love has awakened before you!”

 Angèle Lépine, fj

Trois Rivières

 Canada