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Hence, before every endeavour, more especially if the subject be
Divinity, must we begin with prayer: not as though we would pull down to ourselves that Power which is nigh both everywhere and nowhere,
but that, by these remembrances and invocations of God, we may commend and unite ourselves thereunto."
- Dionysius the Areopagite {around 500 a.d.}, The Divine Names
(This simple practice of remembering to pray before undertaking
something can help one be mindful of God all throughout the day.
Practice this remembrance today and see the difference it makes.) |
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Heb 11:32-40; Ps 31:20-24; Mk 5:1-20 R. (25) Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord. How great is the goodness, O LORD,
which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you,
you show in the sight of the children of men.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plottings of men;
You screen them within your abode
from the strife of tongues.
Blessed be the LORD whose wondrous mercy
he has shown me in a fortified city.
Once I said in my anguish,
"I am cut off from your sight";
Yet you heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried out to you.
Love the LORD, all you his faithful ones!
The LORD keeps those who are constant,
but more than requites those who act proudly.
USCCB lectionary
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What more shall I say? I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.
The 11th chapter of Hebrews is often called the "faith" chapter of the Christian Bible. It includes the familiar words: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." The rest of the chapter is a magnificent litany of faith heroes: Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, David - up to and including Jesus. We cannot know these people personally, and yet we do know them. We know that they answered God's call even though they had doubts. We know they believed God's promises and kept faith and hope alive even in the worst possible circumstances. Their stories continue to inspire, teach, guide and challenge us in our faith. We give thanks, O God, for the witness and inspiration of your faithful servants.
- by Jeanne Lischer
My Daily Bread
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The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, by St. John of Rusybroeck (1293-1381)
When we have thus become seeing, we can behold in joy the eternal coming of our Bridegroom; and that is the second point of which we would speak. What is this coming of our Bridegroom which is eternal? It is the new birth and a new enlightenment without interruption; for the ground from which the Light shines forth, and which is the Light itself, is life-giving and fruitful, and therefore the manifestation of the Eternal Light is renewed without ceasing in the hiddenness of the spirit. Behold, every creaturely work, and every exercise of virtue, must here cease; for here God works alone in the high nobility of the spirit. And here there is nothing but an eternal seeing and staring at that Light, by that Light, and in that Light. And the coming of the Bridegroom is so swift that He is perpetually coming, and yet dwelling within with unfathomable riches; and ever coming anew, in His Person, without interruption, with such new brightness that it seems as though he had never come before. For His coming consists, beyond time, in an eternal Now, which is ever received with new longings and new joy. Behold, the delight and the joy which this Bridegroom brings with Him in His coming are boundless and without measure, for they are Himself. And this is why the eyes with which the spirit sees and gazes at its Bridegroom, have opened so wide that they can never close again. For the spirit continues for ever to see and to stare at the secret manifestation of God. And the grasp of the spirit is opened so wide for the coming in of the Bridegroom, that the spirit itself becomes that Breadth Which it grasps. And so God is grasped and beheld through God; wherein rests all our blessedness. This is the second point: in which we receive, without interruption, the eternal coming of our Bridegroom in our spirit.
- Third Book, Chapter 2: How the eternal birth of God is renewed without interruption in the nobility of the spirit. Paperback (kindle edition available)
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