No Limit

Jul 22

We are concluding our annual International Meeting of Major Superiors here in Annecy, France. Each year, the Superior General, his General Council, and the Provincials from around the world gather for prayer, renewal, and discernment about the life and mission of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.

You can imagine the first morning of our meetings. Many of us had just crossed multiple time zones. We were jet-lagged, a bit dazed, and facing an opening day full of prayer and discussion. Naturally, one of my first stops was the coffee machine. As I stood there waiting for my coffee, I noticed a large sticker on the front of the machine that read, "No Limit."

In my sleep-deprived state, the thought that the coffee machine had "no limit" was humorous since I came to the machine specifically facing my limitations.

Those two words, “No Limit,” lingered with me during the following meetings. My daily experience is one of many limits. There are limits on time, energy, personnel, resources, and my own wisdom, patience, gentleness, and compassion.

I’ve spent significant energy trying to escape, ignore, and overcome my limits. I search for inexhaustible energy, endless patience, and infinite wisdom. But those words don’t describe me, and they never will.

St. Francis de Sales would not ask us to become limitless. He would invite us to become humble. Humility doesn’t admonish our limitations; it blesses them.

Our limits are sacred when we shift our gaze from the one who is limited to the One limitless. "No Limit" belongs to God. It was never about me in the first place. It was always about the Limitless One.

May God be Praised!