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When we feel weak and incapable

One of my top five books is Dom Marmion's Union with God, a collection of some of his letters of spiritual direction.

An excerpt:

You must not pay too much attention to the fluctuations which are ever passing over the surface of your soul. Like the sea, it is constantly ruffled, but in its depths it is all God's. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you an abundance of His gift of fortitude, nothing so honours God as to lean on Him in full confidence, just when we feel weak and incapable, 'When I am weak, it is then that I am strong . . . I glory in my infirmities that His strength dwell in me.' May you be filled with Christ's strength, the spouse is never so pleasing to her beloved as when she bears all her weight on the strong arm of her beloved.

And another:

Abandon yourself blindly into the hands of this Heavenly Father Who loves you better and more than you love yourself.

More to come . . .

Behold, there He stands . . .

Another of James Tissot's paintings and another of my favorites. It came to mind as I was pondering returning to Ordinary Time. Yet He still stands behind our wall, speaking to us:

"Behold, there he stands behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows,
looking through the lattice.
My beloved speaks and says to me:
"Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away;
for lo, the winter is past,
the rain is gone.
The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come. . . .
O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the covert of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice." (Song of Songs 2:9b-12a, 14)

Some of the Church fathers see the "cleft in the rock" as the pierced Heart of Jesus. . .

"Believe stubbornly that Jesus loves you."
(letter to St. Therese from Fr. Pichon, 1889)

Let Me love you.

I am a great fan of James Tissot's art (The Passion of Christ illustrated by James Tissot). I find he had a fresh and authentic way of portraying the events in the life of Christ. Tissot named this piece "Our Lord Jesus Christ", but to me it is the best portrayal I have seen of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of His incessant thirst to give His love to us. "I am yours. Let Me love you."

(Look for more of his work in future blog entries.)

Fears and emotional wounds as the context for holiness

from Marc Foley's book on St. Therese of Lisieux, The Context of Holiness (ICS Publications)

"Becoming an adult does not mean that the deep emotional wounds of childhood disappear. Rather, being an adult means choosing to make courageous decisions in the face of powerful emotions." (p.13)

"When she [Therese] was assigned a job [novice mistress] that she thought was too much for her to handle, she felt overwhelmed, incompetent, unqualified, and inadequate . . . However, Therese does not apologize for her fears. She does not berate herself for feeling like a child; rather her fears and insecurities are the context within which she places her trust in God. It is as if Therese is saying to all of us: 'There are many situations in life that trigger the deep-seated fears of childhood. I have come to see that this is a normal part of daily life. I have also come to see that our childhood wounds are not obstacles to our spiritual growth but are in some mysterious manner the path on which we find our way back to God. The deep-seated fears of my life have forced me to abandon my self-sufficiency and to rely upon the grace of God.'" (p. 14)

"Therese did not make it a goal to get beyond the effects of her childhood but to do the will of God in the midst of them. Therese understood that the emotional wounds of her childhood were not obstacles to spiritual growth but the context of growing in holiness." (P. 96)

"Acts of faith are expressed in two ways. The first is our willingness to jump into the darkness, that is, choosing to trust in God's guidance as we venture into the unknown. The second is our willingness to sit in the darkness, which is continuing to do God's will when our emotional resources are depleted and life seems hollow, meaningless, and absurd. Therese was willing to sit in this darkness as long as God willed.
"These are the worst times in our life of faith when viewed from a psychological and emotional perspective. But from a spiritual vantage point, they are potentially the best of times. For when we continue to do God's will without emotional support, our love for God and neighbor grows and is purified." (pp. 136-7)

Christ, the lighted coal

"A friend comes to the rescue in time of need, and if he is aware of the truth of friendship, he directs his friend just as if he were himself and puts his own members at his disposal if he has lost his. ... a friend is a lighted coal, and if placed beside it, it can rekindle a dead one." (Bl. Simon Fidati of Cascia)

Christ is our true Friend, the lighted coal for each one of us, our hope of rekindling.