This morning I received a poem in an e-mail from our friend Pierre. The poem was written in French by a religious sister, Sr. Odette Prévost, who died in Algiers on November 10, 1995 under the bullets of a terrorist as she was heading to mass. You can read more about her here (in French). She was a Little Sister of the Sacred Heart of Charles de Foucault. Here is the poem:

Live this day today

Live this day today,
God gives it to you, it is yours.
Live it in Him.

Tomorrow belongs to God,
It does not belong to you.
Don’t carry tomorrow’s worry 
today.
Tomorrow belongs to God,
Give it back to Him.

The present moment is 
a frail footbridge.
If you load it with yesterday’s regrets,
with tomorrow’s uncertainty,
the footbridge gives way 
and you lose your footing

The past?  God pardons it.
The future?  God gives it.
Live this day today
in communion with Him

And if there is cause for worry
for a loved one
look at it in the light 
of the risen Christ

© Sister Odette Prévost
little sister of Jesus (Charles de Foucault)
assassinated in Algeria on 10 November 1995

or again in the original French:

Vis le jour d’aujourd’hui

Vis le jour d’aujourd’hui,
Dieu te le donne, il est à toi.
Vis le en Lui.

Le jour de demain est à Dieu
Il ne t’appartient pas.
Ne porte pas sur demain
le souci d’aujourd’hui.
Demain est à Dieu,
remets le lui.

Le moment présent est 
une frêle passerelle.
Si tu le charges des regrets d’hier,
de l’inquiétude de demain,
la passerelle cède
et tu perds pied.

Le passé ? Dieu le pardonne.
L’avenir ? Dieu le donne.
Vis le jour d’aujourd’hui
en communion avec Lui.

Et s’il y a lieu de t’inquiéter 
pour un être aimé,
regarde-le dans la lumière 
du Christ ressuscité.

© Sœur Odette Prévost
petite sœur de Jésus (Charles de Foucault)
assassinée en Algérie le 10 novembre 1995

As her short bio data says it so well, her life was not taken away from her, for she had already profoundly and consciously given it .

A big thank you to Pierre for this morning gift.

Photo: Sr. Odette Prévost