US_2603_24_05

US_2603_24_05_25

MEDITATION of the day

Accepting the Kingdom of God

I behold you, O God, Father, Word, and Spirit, and I know you are looking for your creature with sovereign wisdom and eternal goodness; so that it seems that you have no glory or pleasure except in your creature who is yet so vile. Your Spirit is the love by which you try to attract him. And his heart which receives this Spirit is like the bush that Moses saw, burning but not consumed.

With supreme purity, it burns with the desire that God may never be offended, and it is consumed with the desire that God be honored, although it does not seem to be consumed.

Come, come, Holy Spirit! Come, union of the Father, contentment of the Word, glory of the angels. O Spirit of Truth, you are the reward of the saints, the refreshment of souls, light in darkness, wealth of the poor, treasure of those who love, abundance of food for the hungry, comfort of pilgrims, and in a word, the One who contains all treasures.

O Holy Spirit, with everlasting wisdom you gently urge rational creatures who want to receive your gifts, but you do not take away their liberty. You knock at all hearts, but you knock gently, urging each one to prepare to receive these gifts. Softly singing, you are the source of sweet tears. Rejoicing and lamenting, you strive ardently that everyone may be disposed to receive you. May the intellect admire, the will and memory understand your immense goodness, O Holy Spirit, in infusing yourself and all your gifts into the soul! O Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Word, you infuse yourself into the soul so gently that it does not understand you, and, not being understood, your ineffable gift is esteemed by few. Yet besides your goodness, you infuse into the soul the power of the Father, and the wisdom of the Son. The soul, having thus become powerful and wise, is made fit to bear you within itself as a sweet Guest, cherishing you, that is, behaving in such a way that you take pleasure in it and do not leave it.

Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi

Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi († 1607) was a Carmelite nun and mystic in Florence. / Cited in Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year. Translated by the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Boston from the original Italian edition Intimità Divina del P. Gabrielle di S. Maria Maddalena. © Monastero S. Giuseppe – Carmelitane Scalze. Published by Baronius Press. www.baroniuspress.com. Used with permission.