{"id":3391,"date":"2008-10-15T08:01:43","date_gmt":"2008-10-15T08:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2008\/10\/intent-on-what-lies-before-me\/"},"modified":"2008-10-15T08:01:43","modified_gmt":"2008-10-15T08:01:43","slug":"intent-on-what-lies-before-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2008\/10\/intent-on-what-lies-before-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Intent on what lies before me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1015Santa<\/a><\/span>
\nI really do love praying Matins in the pre-dawn darkness while, in their own way, the crickets, and cicadas, and birds sing their Nocturns outside. This morning, as I read the First Lesson from Philippians 3:7-12, the words were Paul’s but the voice I heard was Teresa’s:<\/em>
\nMastered by Christ<\/strong>
\nNot that I have already won the prize,
\nalready reached fulfilment.
\nI only press on, in hope of winning the mastery,
\nas Christ Jesus has won the mastery over me.
\nWith the Goal in View<\/strong>
\nNo, brethren, I do not claim to have the mastery already,
\nbut this at least I do;
\nforgetting what I have left behind,
\nintent on what lies before me,
\nI press on with the goal in view,
\neager for the prize, God’s heavenly summons in Christ Jesus.
\nThe Same Mind, the Same Rule<\/strong>
\nAll of us who are fully grounded must be of this mind,
\nand God will make it known to you,
\nif you are of a different mind at present.
\nMeanwhile, let us all be of the same mind,
\nall follow the same rule, according to the progress we have made.
\nFollow My Example<\/strong>
\nBe content, brethren, to follow my example,
\nand mark well those who live by the pattern we have given them;
\nI have told you often, and now I tell you again with tears,
\nthat there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ’s cross.
\nPerdition is the end that awaits them,
\ntheir own hungry bellies are the gods they worship,
\ntheir own shameful doings are their pride;
\ntheir minds are set on the things of earth;
\nwhereas we find our true home in heaven.
\nEffective is His Power<\/strong>
\nIt is to heaven that we look expectantly
\nfor the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to save us;
\nhe will form this humbled body of ours anew,
\nmoulding it into the image of his glorified body,
\nso effective is his power to make all things obey him.
\nAs if that were not enough, the Second Nocturn gave me the splendid Psalm 72. There again, the words were King David’s, but the voice was that of “La Madre.”<\/em>
\nThe Companionship of Christ<\/strong>
\nThou art at my side, ever holdest me by my right hand.
\nThine to lead me in a way of thy own choosing,
\nthine to take me up to thyself in glory.
\nWhat else does heaven hold for me, but thyself?
\nWhat crave I on earth but thy companionship?
\nThis frame, this earthly being of mine must come to an end;
\nstill God will be my heart’s stronghold, eternally my inheritance.
\nLost those others may be, who desert thy cause,
\nlost are all those who break their troth with thee;
\nI know no other content but clinging to God,
\nputting my trust in the Lord, my Master.
\nThank you to Fray Javier de Santa Teresa, O.C.D. for the beautiful photo.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I really do love praying Matins in the pre-dawn darkness while, in their own way, the crickets, and cicadas, and birds sing their Nocturns outside. This morning, as I read the First Lesson from Philippians 3:7-12, the words were Paul’s but the voice I heard was Teresa’s: Mastered by Christ Not that I have already <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-saints"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-SH","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}