St. Francis de Sales says: “Praise be to Jesus.”

“Recently, you are in the process of training your puppy to stay in her boundaries with an invisible fence. If Annie* gets too close to the border, she is given a warning signal and knows to back away. In the spiritual life, you are given an invisible fence as well. The purpose of this invisible fence is to keep you within the boundaries of righteousness. The spiritual fence is Holy Love. The warnings that you are close to exceeding the boundaries of Holy Love must arise from your own conscience.”

“This is why it is so important that consciences be formed in Holy Love. If this is not so, the boundaries of Holy Love are transgressed and the soul commits sin. The conscience must be formed within the parameters of Holy Love or else the soul does not receive the necessary warnings that he is out of bounds.”

“Annie experiences a physical sound or warning to back away from danger. The soul receives a spiritual warning that he is out of bounds with Holy Love, but these days, many do not have ‘spiritual ears'. Many hearts do not cooperate with Holy Love or with their own salvation. Their invisible fence fails them and they go off into every type of danger.”

“Just as Annie must be trained, the human heart must be trained to watch for any transgression against Holy Love. This training requires practice and a desire to succeed. The invisible fence for Annie remains in place now. The invisible fence of Holy Love must be reinstated every morning upon arising.”

*Annie is the golden retriever puppy.