Kathryn Lopez
1. Today is the feast day of St. Anselm; from the Liturgy of the Hours by him today:
My soul, have you found what you are looking for? You were looking for God, and you have discovered that he is the supreme being, and that you could not possibly imagine anything more perfect. You have discovered that this supreme being is life itself, light, wisdom, goodness, eternal blessedness and blessed eternity. He is everywhere, and he is timeless.
Lord my God, you gave me life and restored it when I lost it. Tell my soul that so longs for you what else you are besides what it has already understood, so that it may see you clearly. It stands on tiptoe to see more, but apart from what it has seen already, it sees nothing but darkness. Of course it does not really see darkness, because there is no darkness in you, but it sees that it can see no further because of the darkness in itself.
Surely, Lord, inaccessible light is your dwelling place, for no one apart from yourself can enter into it and fully comprehend you. If I fail to see this light it is simply because it is too bright for me. Still, it is by this light that I do see all that I can, even as weak eyes, unable to look straight at the sun, see all that they can by the sun’s light.
The light in which you dwell, Lord, is beyond my understanding. It is so brilliant that I cannot bear it, I cannot turn my mind’s eye toward it for any length of time. I am dazzled by its brightness, amazed by its grandeur, overwhelmed by its immensity, bewildered by its abundance.
O supreme and inaccessible light, O complete and blessed truth, how far you are from me, even though I am so near to you! How remote you are from my sight, even though I am present to yours! You are everywhere in your entirety, and yet I do not see you; in you I move and have my being, and yet I cannot approach you; you are within me and around me, and yet I do not perceive you.
O God, let me know you and love you so that I may find my joy in you; and if I cannot do so fully in this life, let me at least make some progress every day, until at last that knowledge, love and joy come to me in all their plenitude. While I am here on earth let me learn to know you better, so that in heaven I may know you fully; let my love for you grow deeper here, so that there I may love you fully. On earth then I shall have great joy in hope, and in heaven complete joy in the fulfilment of my hope.
O Lord, through your Son you command us, no, you counsel us to ask, and you promise that you will hear us so that our joy may be complete. Lord, I am making the request that you urge us to make through your Wonder-Counsellor. Give me then what you promise to give through your Truth. You, O God, are faithful; grant that I may receive my request, so that my joy may be complete.
Meanwhile, let this hope of mine be in my thoughts and on my tongue; let my heart be filled with it, my voice speak of it; let my soul hunger for it, my body thirst for it, my whole being yearn for it, until I enter into the joy of the Lord, who is Three in One, blessed for ever. Amen.
2. For the kids:
As a young boy in Aosta, Anselm thought of being a priest. More about Saint Anselm. http://t.co/0jL1eyHiGf pic.twitter.com/VBX9u5ABQ2
— LoyolaPress (@loyolapress) April 21, 2015
3. Our Response to Jesus’ Giving Himself to Us Always
4.
Window in Canterbury Cathedral of the sainted Archbishop Anselm whose feast is today. https://t.co/fL3LUZPG3G
— Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) April 21, 2015
5.
From our Rome bureau: #PopeFrancis and his devotion to #Mary. http://t.co/xE8DBeQv0E pic.twitter.com/MoW1FP33U7
— Catholic News Svc (@CatholicNewsSvc) April 17, 2015
6.
http://t.co/KqO4gco4jS » ‘Obsession’ with authenticity hides Turin Shroud’s real meaning, says expert http://t.co/XVIqAkuYC8
— Xander Lucie-Smith (@ALucieSmith) April 21, 2015
7. Fr. Landry preaching on mercy with priests.
8.
Admonish the Sinner – A Reflection on the First Spiritual Work of Mercy. http://t.co/iwaVy7XoXW via @sharethis
— Charles Pope (@MsgrPope) April 21, 2015
9. The Liturgy of the Hours today also has a reading from St. Augustine, who is always enriching. Here is some of it:
There is not one who does not love something, but the question is, what to love. The psalms do not tell us not to love, but to choose the object of our love. But how can we choose unless we are first chosen? We cannot love unless someone has loved us first. Listen to the apostle John: We love him, because he first loved us. The source of man’s love for God can only be found in the fact that God loved him first. He has given us himself as the object of our love, and he has also given us its source. What this source is you may learn more clearly from the apostle Paul who tells us: The love of God has been poured into our hearts. This love is not something we generate ourselves; it comes to us through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Since we have such an assurance, then, let us love God with the love he has given us. As John tells us more fully: God is love, and whoever dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. It is not enough to say: Love is from God. Which of us would dare to pronounce the words of Scripture: God is love? He alone could say it who knew what it was to have God dwelling within him. God offers us a short route to the possession of himself. He cries out: Love me and you will have me for you would be unable to love me if you did not possess me already.
10.
St Anselm: O God, while I am here on earth let me learn to know you better, so that in heaven I may know you fully.
— James Kubicki, S.J. (@frjkubickisj) April 21, 2015
PLUS: I write a little about Pope Francis’ opening document on the upcoming year of mercy here. More links for today on National Review.
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