At the end of March we began our reflections for this ‘Corona-time’ with a passage from the Revelations of Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth century anchoress who lived through the plague. Strangely enough, I had the good fortune to spend three full days in Norwich in October last year. I remember listening to the history of the city as we drove past a park where many of the plague victims had been buried. It was hard to imagine half a city being wiped out like that. It was hard to reconcile the joy that permeates Julian’s writings with the reality of her times.
Now here we are, in a world suffering a pandemic of unimaginable magnitude. It seems to me that Julian is the perfect companion for us as we pray our way through this time. She knows the fear, and she trusts in the Love that is ALL. We continue to meet each day in the Trinity Prayer Room at 12pm to pray for you and your intentions, and our world.
Take a moment to settle and become quiet. Wait in stillness upon the God who dwells within….
I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. Jn 15:11
Within this triple phrase, “It is a source of endless joy, bliss, and delight to me,” God revealed to me three more states of bliss. Joy stood for the Father’s pleasure; bliss for the Son’s honour; and delight for the Holy Spirit. The Father is pleased; the Son is honoured; and the Holy Spirit is happy forevermore.
The Joy that Permeates the Passion
With this I received a new way of contemplating his blessed passion. I saw the joy that permeates his passion and makes him take delight in it. All the aspects of his passion that I had witnessed led to this final phase. Our gracious Lord first showed me his bleeding head, next the discolouration of his face, then the deep slashes in his body from the scourging and the copious blood that flowed from them, followed by the profound drying of all the moisture in his flesh, and finally the joy and bliss of the passion.
God wants us to rejoice with him in our liberation. He wants us to take deep comfort in this and be strengthened by it. With his grace, he wants our souls to be completely and joyfully engaged. For we are his bliss, and he delights in us and wishes for us to delight in him, with his grace. All that he does for us, and has done, and ever shall do, does not cost him a thing and has never been a burden to him, nor ever will be. He paid one fixed price during that time, which began with his sweet incarnation and lasted until his blessed rising on Easter morning. With the completion of this deed, the debt was paid, we are liberated, and Christ endlessly rejoices.
Sweet Jesus, let us pay attention to the delight the blessed trinity takes in our liberation! Let us be equally delighted! Let us strive, with his grace, to find as much joy in our liberation as Christ has, for as long as we are here on earth!
Reflection: How are you being liberated in this Easter season? How are you rejoicing with God in this liberation? Take some time now to rest in the delight God has for you. Even just for today, live as the bliss of God!!
We pray:
God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for only in you I have all.
You have restored us by your precious passion.
And you keep us in your blessed love.
God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for only in you I have all.
Thanks be to God!
Adapted from, Julian of Norwich The Showings – A Contemporary Translation, Mirabai Starr, Ch 23, pp56,57 and prayers from An Office for the Lady Julian, issued by the Julian Centre, Norwich.
mkv
Photo above: Easter Monday Sunset, St Mary’s Towers