Grace

Sometimes God grants me the grace to see and understand the people and events of my life; I sometimes document that here.  But I don’t think I’m number one on His hit parade list; He grants graces --- often huge amounts --- to others, who also sometimes document their blessings. 

I sometimes read what the others wrote and their blessings just flow off from their words, like water.  And it feels so refreshing to me, like a thirst quenched.  Yesterday was such a night, as I read these meditations from the authors of Divine Intimacy (#143) and The Better Part (#236).  The topic of each meditation was grace, grace defined and then grace shown in action by the author of grace.

The Divine Intimacy meditations define the grace which starts and feeds our spiritual growth, the Living Water we so need:

“Jesus stated on several occasions that He was the fountain of living water for all who believed in Him.  Standing erect in the midst of the crowd, He said in a loud voice: If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink.  He that believeth in Me … within him shall flow rivers of living water (Jn 7:37-8).  The thirst of which Jesus was speaking is the thirst for truth, for justice, the thirst for peace and true happiness, and above all the thirst for God, the keen, ardent desire for Him.  This water of which Jesus declares that He is the source is the life-giving water of grace.  By making us sharers in the divine nature, it permits us to into intimate relations with God; it permits us to live with the Trinity dwelling in our soul; in a word, it opens the door to divine intimacy.

(Divine Intimacy) means a profound “sense” of the divinity, by means of which the soul becomes aware --- not by reasoning or demonstration, but more by way of experience --- that God is so different from creatures, so unique, so great, that He truly deserves all the love of the heart.  This new way of loving God, this new experience of God and divine things is really living water which quenches the soul’s thirst.  It is the living water of prayer, which, as a result of divine action, has now become deeper, more intimate, more contemplative; it is the living water of contemplation.  This contemplation is a gift of God.”

A Prayer of St. Augustine:

“O Truth, light of my soul, do not permit the darkness to frighten me.  You have allowed me to walk in it, and now I am obscurity.  But even from the darkness, yes, even from there, I have loved You … Let me drink at Your spring and live.

As the heart pants after the fountain, so does my soul sigh for You, Lord!  My soul thirsts for You, O God, the living source.  O fount of life, vein of living water, when shall I reach the waters of Your sweetness in this desert land, dry and full of rocks, and see Your power and glory, and quench my thirst with the waters of Your mercy?  I thirst, O Lord, I thirst for You, living fountain.

O fire that ever burns and is never consumed, enkindle me!  O Light that shineth ever and is never veiled, illumine me!  Oh! If I could only burn with Your flame, O sacred fire!  How gently You burn; how secretly You shine; how wonderful it is to be enkindled by You!

I give You thanks, who illumine me and deliver me, for You have enlightened me and I have known You.  Late have I known You, O ancient Truth; late have I known You, O eternal Truth!  You were I the light and I was in darkness, and I did not know You, for I had no light without You, and without You there is no light!”

Oh how St. Augustine stated so perfectly my own yearnings for grace.

In the Better Part I read the meditations about Grace in action; it was a meditation on today’s Gospel where Jesus and His grace open the hearts of the men on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35).  He was the grace which opened their eyes to the meaning of Scripture, and the meaning of His words and life.  The meditations begin with the Gospel’s conclusion, when Jesus stayed for dinner with the men:

Now while He was with them at table, He took the bread and said the blessing; then He broke it and handed it to them.  And then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; but He had vanished from their sight.  Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as He talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?’

“If we truly wish to follow Christ, He will lead us as no one ever could; if we attentively listen to Him, He will stir up our hearts with a wisdom this world can never give.”

And the meditation conceives what Jesus’ grace would say to our hearts:

Jesus:  I know when you are downcast and sad.  I know when the shadow of the cross and Good Friday make you turn away from Jerusalem and head back to your old ways.  I know, and I care, more than you can imagine.  I am always drawing near to You.  I speak in the quiet voice of your conscience, where only you can hear me.  Sometimes I speak to you through the words of a friend or a verse from the Bible.  Whenever you hear my voice, and you know when you do, you have only to welcome it, to make your prayer the same as these two disciples who pressed me to stay with them.  Will I ever deny such a request, I who came all the way down from heaven just because I couldn’t stand being far away from you?  This is why I came; this is why I died; this is why I rose again --- to stay with you.

And our hearts yearn to reply:

“I have chosen to follow you, Lord, and no one else.  I know it’s only because You called me, but I have made the choice.  You are the Lord.  You are the fount of wisdom, forgiveness, love, and life that fills the world with whatever goodness it has.  Make me a channel of Your grace, a riverbed for Your flowing fountain.

Dear Lord, it’s a mystery to me, this passing life, so busy but so out of focus.  Help me to know in each moment what I should do and how I should be.  I have only this life to live, and I want to live it well.

Stay with me, Lord.  How I need a friend who knows me through and through and doesn’t judge me!  How I need a coach who knows my strengths and weaknesses and who knows how to profit from the former and shore up the latter!  I feel such a burning desire to do something worthwhile, to do more --- You put that desire in my heart.  Now show me what to do with it.”

Lord, I want, I NEED Your grace.