On this memorial of St. Teresa of Avila, I'm struck by this remark of hers: It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found--not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be incomparably the greater. Alas, I don't know the source, so can't check her context.As I get older, I become more and more convinced that people are generally not good at distinguishing "occasions of sin" from "occasions of grace." Too often, we flee from (or condemn in others) what looks scary, mistaking it for sinful territory. Nowhere do we do this more than in matters of love. But we are commanded, before all else, to love.A friend of mine wisely says: "God not only loves the sinner, he might even love the sin." I think he means something much like whatTeresa is getting at. In risking what we might think is sinful, especially if we are trying to love as well as we can,sometimes we find a deeper grace born of courage, trust in God, and the discovery that, in the end, what's asked of us is just that we try.For as Teresa also said: "The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too."