We can never go too far in our self-giving: ours is poor coin to pay God back what we owe him in justice. This consideration will lead us to get rid of any false compassion for ourselves when the fulfilment of our duties requires sacrifice.
We must learn to pass over even the obvious and undeniable defects of the people we are with each day, so that we do not keep our distance from them or lose our respect for them because of their mistakes or bad manners. Let us learn from Our Lord, who could not entirely excuse the sin of those who crucified him, but extenuated its malice by pleading their ignorance. When we cannot excuse a sin, let us at least make it worthy of compassion by attributing the most favourable cause we can to it, such as ignorance or weakness - St Francis de Sales
This is beautifully described and faithfully practiced in the hesychastic tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Greek word “hesychia” means rest, and hesychastic prayer leads us to rest in God. It is described as a descending with the mind into the heart, in order to stand there in the presence of God. Therefore it is also called the prayer of the heart. The most commonly used words are those of the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner,” but sometimes shorter sentences are used, or just the name “Jesus.” Centering prayer, as introduced by Basil Pennington, and the Maranatha (Come, Lord Jesus) prayer, described by John Main, are variations of this form of prayer
When Jesus says: “Make your home in me as I make mine in you,” he offers us an intimate place that we can truly call “home.” Home is that place or space where we do not have to be afraid but can let go of our defenses and be free, free from worries, free from tensions, free from pressures. Home is where we can laugh and cry, embrace and dance, sleep long and dream quietly, eat, read, play, watch the fire, listen to music, and be with a friend. Home is where we can rest and be healed. The word “home” gathers a wide range of feelings and emotions up into one image, the image of a house where it is good to be: the house of love
Comments