Thursday, July 22, 2021
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 63, a prayer of both longing and fulfillment.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
Psalm 63: 2-4
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
And isn’t our spiritual life exactly like that?
We feel our lives caressed by God,
and yet we long for greater oneness
with Infinite Love.
Mary Magdalen is the embodiment of that longing and embrace. And so the Church applies to her the powerful intimacy of our first reading:
The Bride says:
Song of Songs 3:1-4
On my bed at night I sought him
whom my heart loves–
I sought him but I did not find him.
I will rise then and go about the city;
in the streets and crossings I will seek
Him whom my heart loves.
I sought him but I did not find him.
The watchmen came upon me,
as they made their rounds of the city:
Have you seen him whom my heart loves?
I had hardly left them
when I found him whom my heart loves.
Within each one of us is a sacred mystic who longs for and seeks God’s embrace. Perhaps that mystic hibernates like a little bear hidden under all the distractions of our lives. But if we give ourselves to silence and holy waiting, the sleeping hermit will awake! 😴
We might pray with beautiful Mary Magdalen today to let that seeker in us reach for God Who is also waiting.
Poem: Song of the Soul That Is Glad to Know God by Faith – St. John of the Cross
English version by Antonio T. de Nicolas
Original Language Spanish
Well I know the fountain that runs and flows,
though it is night!
This eternal fountain is hidden deep.
Well I know where it has its spring,
Though it is night!
In this life’s dark night,
Faith has taught where this cold fountain lies,
Though it is night!
Its origin I cannot know, it has none,
And I know all origins come from it,
Though it is night!
And I know there can be nothing more fair,
The heavens and earth drink there,
Though it is night!
And I know it has no bed,
And I know no one can cross its depths,
Though it is night!
Its clarity is never clouded,
And I know all light shines from it,
Though it is night!
I know her streams swell so abundantly,
They water people, heaven and even hell,
Though it is night!
The current born of this fountain
I know to be wide and mighty,
Though it is night!
And from these two another stream flows,
And I know neither comes before,
Though it is night!
I know Three in only one water live,
And each the other feeds,
Though it is night!
This eternal fountain is hiding from sight
Within this living bread to give us life,
Though it is night!
He calls all creatures to this light,
And of this water they drink, though in the dark,
Though it is night!
This living fountain I desire,
I see it here within this living bread,
Though it is night!
Music: I Found My Beloved – John Michael Talbot
So I found my beloved in the mountains
On the lonely and far distant isles
O’er resounding waters
I heard the whispering of love’s breezes
To heal my broken heart
Oh tranquil evening, silent music
And the sounding solitude of the rising dawn
It is there that I hear You
There that I taste of You
In love’s banquet to fill my heart
Chorus:
And I found Your footprints
In the sands by the sea
And like Your maiden
I ran along the way to a secret chamber
And there you gave to me
There you taught me, O so well
And I drank of your sweet spiced wine
The wine of God
And there I gave to You
Keeping nothing for myself
And I promised You forever
To be your bride
(Repeat Chorus)
So I have abandoned
All I ever sought to be
And in dying
My spirit has been released
Lavish Mercy 