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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231222
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UID:11406-1703203200-1703289599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:RAISE YOUR HEADS\, \nBECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR \nFrom the writings of St Rafael Arnaiz6 \n◊◊◊ \nThere are many ways to wait for the God who is to be born among human beings. \nThere are many ways that the world celebrates the event of God’s coming… \nChristmastime in La Trapa… Joy in the liturgy\, hope in the songs we sing in church\, \nhymns that speak of love and gentleness of heart. Thinking\, in the silence of the temple\, \nabout Mary’s humility\, Joseph’s chastity… God’s love. The harmonious blend of angels’ \nmelodies and shepherds’ ballads… Christmas in La Trapa… Frankincense and myrrh \noffered up by souls who quietly live their lives in the divine service… the gold of \nsacrifices. No loud cheers or external expressions or music or drums…The parties\, the \njoy\, the music\, the drumbeat… he carries all that in his heart\, which loves Jesus so \nmuch\, in a joyful silence… an inner song… a quiet\, silent love. \nDuring this time\, he meditates upon the great mysteries of his faith… and \nvery\, very deep within his soul\, he delights in the consolations that the Child \nJesus offers him through sacred Scripture… In peace and quiet\, he meditates \nupon the psalms\, the hymns\, and the whole liturgical arsenal that the church \nprovides for this season. He contemplates with amazement how the young \nwoman is with child and shall bear a son\, and shall name him Emmanuel\, and \nhow the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain. \nYou don’t need to make noise to love God. You won’t mind solitude\, \nsilence\, austerity\, penance\, or any amount of suffering if you know that the \nwilderness and the dry land shall be glad\, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; \nlike the crocus it shall blossom abundantly\, and rejoice with joy and singing… \nEverything balances out in this world… In the perfect harmony of creation\, \nevery person and thing follows the path that God has laid out before them. \nWhat a joy it is to know we are rooted in His will… Wherever we might go\, \nwherever we are\, so long as we don’t separate our heart from Jesus’ heart\, what \ndo we have to fear?… The world is very small\, and God is so great that it cannot \ncontain Him… But no matter\, God has made Himself small in order to save \nhumanity… To God\, the whole world is a vast temple… and the Son has come \ndown into it\, and it is in this world that He does the will of His Father… \nNow that Christmas is approaching\, and perhaps my struggles on this \nfront are harder\, God is calling me to account. Without letting anyone else \noverhear\, He is saying to me very softly\, “What does it matter?” \n… And then I \ncome to see the poverty of this world\, the brevity of this life… we must make \ngood use of it… We must not waste time…thinking about our past joys that will \nnever come back again. And then the soul comes to understand and \ncontemplate the only truth… and that is Christ. Christ\, who transforms the \nworld into a great big stable! Christ\, with Joseph and Mary… Christ\, made \nhuman for love of humanity… Christ\, born among the animals and hay\, with no \nshelter or clothing\, in great solitude… And faced with the thought of an \nincarnate God\, faced with the grandeur of His boundlessness\, the soul \nstretches…and the voice of Christ sweetly draws me in\, speaks to me of love\, and \nmakes me forget all my cares. \nToday\, at prayer\, a little monk was thinking about this. Looking around \nhim\, he could not help but close his eyes as he realized that nothing in this world \nwill remain… Leaving behind his feelings and sorrows\, he lifted his eyes to \nheaven and heard his soul cry out clearly… “Brother!…Brother!…Love \nChrist…As for everything else…what does it matter?” \n… “The Lord is now near; \ncome\, let us adore him. \n  \nSaint Rafael Arnaiz. The Collected Words. MW 61. Trans. Catherine Addington. Collegeville\, MN: Cistercian \nPublications\, 2022. 502-506.13 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-145/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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