Glory to Jesus Christ. I'm Mother Natalia, a Byzantine Catholic nun from Christ the Bradgore Monastery, and this is Pines with Aquinas.

I want to start today with a story. That's not exactly a fun story for me to tell.

So a few months ago,

back in August I think. I was with a friend and this friend, I don't know him super well. We're kind of at the

early stages of friendship. But I just I realized at the end of the day that in this

interaction with him, multiple interactions, I had teased him a lot and I teased him because I love him and this is how I've experienced

love in my life right so I grew up in a family with brothers and a dad and when someone's

teasing you, it means they love you. And, you know, I've told people that teasing is one of my love

languages and... told people that teasing is one of my love languages. And, but after this day, at the end of the day,

there was just like something kind of weighing on my heart and something about the

way this friend had reacted that I was like does he know that I love him does he

know that that's why I was teasing him? And I just was really convicted after

after praying about it for a few days that I needed to reach out because I was like, the problem

with teasing, I'm not opposed to teasing, okay, let me start by saying that, but the problem

with it, the danger can be when we're teasing someone and we don't really know their heart and I realized that

being at the early stages in friendship I don't actually know this guy's heart.

I don't know if the things that I'm teasing him about are real things.

And I don't know if I'm touching tender places that he's just going to be like ashamed of or something like that.

And I certainly don't want to, that has the reverse impact that I'm hoping it will right

someone would feel less loved as opposed to more loved and and I reached out to

him and and he responded and And he

confirmed exactly what I had been afraid of.

...