Pater!
The grace of this Lent is a progressive passage into the mystery of the baptized soul’s relationship with the Father. This relationship is nourished by the prayer of the psalms, for the psalter is the very sacrament of the First-Born Son’s ineffable conversation with the Father. By taking up the psalter, I enter into the prayer of the Son, a prayer that is, at once, filial and priestly. By taking up the psalter, I open my heart to all the sentiments of His Heart, formed by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary; exultant in the piteous condescension of His Father towards the children of men; afflicted in His bitter Passion by every suffering of which human nature is passible.
The Father loves me,
loves me as a son in the Son,
so that I may love the Father,
love Him as a son in the Son.
The Father speaks to me,
speaks to me as a son in the Son,
so that I may speak to the Father,
speak to Him as a son in the Son.
The Father embraces me,
embraces me as a son within the Son
so that I may cleave to the Father,
cleave to the Father as a son in the Son.
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Very beautiful, Father!
Your opening sentence, Father Kirby, pulls me into the great depths of a mystery a lifetime cannot fully grasp. It is the Mystery of Love and Creation, of purification and adoption. Thank you for this beautiful reflection and poem.
I continue to pray each new day for you and your monastery and also for your vocation for the sanctification of priests. We missed you last week at our talk at Sts. Peter & Paul Parish but Brother Benjamin was an excellent prodigy and teacher! I am sorry you were ill. –Andrea