Wednesday of the First week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day
Julian of Norwich (1342-after 1416), recluse
Revelations of divine love, ch. 43
"Very early before dawn, Jesus... went off to a deserted place, where he prayed"
Prayer unites the soul to God, for though the soul may be always like God in nature and in substance restored by grace, it is often unlike him in condition, through sin on our part. Then prayer is a witness that the soul wills as God wills, and it eases the conscience and fits us for grace. And so he teaches us to pray and to have firm trust that we shall have it; for he beholds us in love, and wants to make us partners in his good will and work. And so he moves us to pray for what it pleases him to do... as if he were to say: How could you please me more than by entreating me, urgently, wisely and sincerely, to do the thing that I want to have done? And so the soul by prayer is made of one accord with God.
But when our courteous Lord of his special grace shows himself to our soul, we have what we desire, and then for that time we do not see what more we should pray for, but all our intention and all our powers are wholly directed to contemplating him. And as I see it, this is an exalted and imperceptible prayer; for the whole reason why we pray is to be united into the vision and contemplation of him to whom we pray, wonderfully rejoicing with reverent fear, and with so much sweetness and delight in him that we cannot pray all except as he moves us at the time. And well I know that the more the soul sees of God the more she desires him by grace. But when we do not him then we feel the need and reason to pray, because we are failing and unfit for Jesus.
| Wednesday, January 15, 2014 Weekday |
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