My soul longs, yea, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh sing for joy to God, the living God.
Scripture for reflection: Psalm 63: 1-3,8
O God, you are my God, I seek you. My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water… because your steadfast love is better than life…my soul clings to you…
St. Bernard of
Clairvaux tells us: Unless we use the utmost vigilance in attending to
these gift-laden visits of the Holy Spirit, we shall neither desire him when He
seems absent, nor respond to Him when present. If He withdraws from us to
simulate us to a more eager search for him, how shall we seek for Him if we do
not perceive His absence? Or when He comes to animate us, how shall we give Him
the welcome due His majesty if His visit passes unnoticed? The man who is indifferent
to His absence will be led astray by other influences; the man who is blind to
His coming cannot offer thanks for the visit…. The psalmist says, “Seek his
face always” (PS. 104:4). Nor, I think, will a soul cease to seek him even when
it has found him. It is not with steps of the feet that God is sought but with
the heart’s desire; and when the soul happily finds him its desire is not
quenched but kindled. Does the consummation of joy bring about the consuming of
desire? Rather, it is oil poured upon the flames. So it is. Joy will be
fulfilled, but there will be no end to desire and therefore no end to the
search. Think, if you can, of this eagerness to see God as not caused by his
absence, for he is always present; and think of the desire for God as without
fear of failure, for grace is abundantly present. (Taken from The Fulfillment of All Desire, by Ralph
Martin, Emmaus Road Publishing, 2006).
Prayer of St
Bernard of Clairvaux:
Oh little while, little while! How long a little while!
Dear Lord, you say it is for a little while that we do not see you. The word of
my Lord may not be doubted, but it is a long while, far too long. Yet both are
true: it is a little while compared to what we deserve, but a long while to
what we desire. You have each meaning expressed by the prophet Habbakuk: “If he
delays, wait for him. For he will come, and will not delay” (Hab. 2:3). How is
it that he will not delay if he does delay, unless it is that he comes sooner
than we deserve but not as soon as we desire? (Ibid)
My thoughts: Today
is St. Bernard’s feast day. He is a doctor of the Church and one of the most
brilliant writers to come along in Church history, famous for his discourses on
the Song of Songs. St. Bernard is telling us here, in no uncertain terms, that
unless we maintain a sense of longing for God, we will never care whether or not He is
actively present in our lives. It is just like our feelings for our
beloved. When we are in love with someone, we feel his absence. We feel
incomplete and empty. When he returns, we are overjoyed at the feeling of
completeness. If it doesn’t matter to us if he is with us or not, and if we
don’t even notice when he is gone, I doubt he adds much to our lives. It is
the same with our relationship with God. We must always long for Him, and even
when we feel His presence and experience His blessings in our lives, we will
never stop longing for Him. I have eaten and loved chocolate cake all my life.
Just because I have experienced its deliciousness and tasted its sweetness
doesn’t mean I don’t still long for it, especially because I know how good it
is. And, if I haven’t had it in awhile, I long for it even more. Sometimes we
feel as though God is far away and has maybe even abandoned us. That is all the
more reason to continue our desire for Him, to pray for the sweetness of His
presence to return. Our prayer will be answered; St. Bernard assures us, and
when it is answered, “how sweet it is!” Our longing for God can never end until
we are with Him in heaven. Let us always pray that we never tire of praying for
His Spirit to abide in us and provide us with amazing grace. St. Bernard of
Clairvaux, pray for us.
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