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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260624
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SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Nativity of St John the Baptist
DESCRIPTION:A reading by Johannes Tauler on \nTHE NATIVITY OF \nJOHN THE BAPTIST \n◊◊◊ \nWhen the Baptist said: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness\, make \nstraight the way of the Lord\,” he refers to the path of the virtues. This path is very \nstraight. And again he says that he is to prepare the Lord’s paths. Footpaths reach \nthe goal faster than public roads. The shortcut across the fields is indeed rougher \nand may lead one astray; and yet it is more direct than the open road. \nBeloved! Whoever would discover the paths leading to the ground\, he \nwould take the shortest and most direct way\, keeping all his energies to himself so \nas to be very attentive. For these paths are rugged\, dark\, and alien to our nature\, \nand only those who are sufficiently skilled can take them. If they are aware of this\, \nthey will not be put off by hurdles and hindrances or any other human anguish. \nQuite the opposite: Everything will point to the ground\, beckon\, and draw them \nthere. \nIn the same manner we should straighten the paths within ourselves\, the \npaths which lead our spirit to God\, and God to us. These relations also require \nskill\, and their difficulties are of a hidden nature. At this point many give up and \nbegin to run after exterior devotions and activities. They are like people starting \nfor Rome and taking the road to Holland. The more they advance\, the farther they \nget away from their destination. And when they return\, they are old and spent and \nno longer up to the tempestuous work of love. \nBeloved\, when we find ourselves in the tempests of love\, we should not \ndwell on our sins and failings. Our only concern should be that love’s work be \naccomplished. We can be overcome by this tempest even when our hearts appear \ncold\, disinterested and hard. Now more than ever we must adhere to love\, \nclinging to it in perfect faith\, freed and stripped of everything that is not love. \nConstantly long for it\, put your whole trust in it\, cleave to it\, and your experience \nwill be as powerful and overwhelming as is possible in this life. If your faith in love \nis imperfect\, your desire will fade away. Love will be extinguished\, and nothing \nwill come of it all. \nThis may seem very hard to you. The devil will allow you all the marks of a \nspiritual life\, but he will do everything in his power to deprive you of love’s true \nwitness. He will leave you with all kinds of treacherous love which many will \nmistake for the real thing. If they looked deeply into their ground\, they would see \nwhether their love was true or false. The one thing necessary is to give access to \nthe ground in order to be able to enter its depth. There you would find that grace \nwhich would incessantly raise you up. \nBut we often resist that voice until we make ourselves unworthy to ever \nreceive it again. This is due to complacency. If only we would respond to the \nglance of grace\, it would lead us to find such union with God that we would \nexperience in time the joy that will be ours in eternity\, as some have done before \nus. May God grant that we may all experience this…
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-nativity-of-st-john-the-baptist-4/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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