Rhythm of Divine Love

Rhythm of Divine Love

There is a rhythm of Divine Love that pulsates through all creation and holds it in being. We are called to enter into and dance to that rhythm.

Only when we give up our self-grasping, self-seeking ideals and forget our small selves, may we become empty enough to allow God enter into our hearts and dance to the Divine rhythm that lives within us so that we may become instruments of his Love.

In the evening of life, we will be judged by how we have loved. When the fever of work is over and we are no longer able to do very much, we can still go on loving, for love does not depend on physical strength or the ability to perform service for others. As the song has it, We can still go on loving in the same old way."

However, the love we Christians practise is not fired by a merely human spark. It is a living flame--a glow of the Holy Spirit, that penetrates and energises all human endeavour and lifts us into a Divine level. I say: lifts,-- for in no way does the Divine, lessen or deprive us of what is human. My human love for you, Beloved is real but the Divine spark enlivens and enhances it. Truth is that the human and the Divine are woven into one tapestry that is totally human and splendidly Divine.

The Divine Weaver of life simply asks us to give to him the ragged threads of our human desires and deeds. We are invited to entrust these threads and tangles of daily living to his hands. My prayer and the whole thrust of my being is to say:

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend myself.
Hold me and handle me,
and make me an instrument of your love.
Form and fashion me into something beautiful.
So, Beloved what I offer you
is no longer my little human love,
but the love of the One
who loves us all with an everlasting love.

Our tainted nature's solitary boast

Our tainted nature's solitary boast

However much we may want to regard Mary as just like ourselves and talk of her as our sister in faith, she is still unique: As William Wordsworth (1770-1850) expressed it:

Our tainted nature’s solitary boast

When the Angel Gabriel was sent from God, one might think of him as it were a Divine laser beam seeking out the one place and the person where the heavenly blessing might rest again. There might be something of the restoration of the Garden of Eden. As at the dawn of Creation, God looked on his own work and said: It is good, so might he now look on his lowly handmaid and might begin the work of a New Creation.

She would be the sweet benediction that would herald all the Divine blessings of the Saviour. The curse placed on the earth-- the dust and the sweat of the Fall would be taken away and the dew of a heavenly blessing would be showered on the earth. Blessed are you among women; Blessed are you the first fruits of the whole Christian harvest.

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792-1822 put it so beautifully:

Sweet benediction in the eternal Curse!
Veiled light of this lampless universe,
Thou moon above the clouds

God’s will no threat to mine

God’s will no threat to mine

For many years, I had thought of the Divine will as some kind of threat to my own will and I was fearful that it might be in conflict with my own personal drive. How foolish!

For the will of God is the driving force that keeps all things in being. At the dawn of creation, when there was nothing but darkness and chaos, the Lord said: Fiat—Let there be… light and life and right order. The Divine command was the laser beam than shone from heaven to bring about the wonder of all creation. Outside that beam of light and love, there is nothing.

God’s will then, is the creative power that drives and energizes and gives meaning to all existence. It is the very element that I need so that my own inspiration and energy may fulfill its own plan and purpose. This realisation has set me free to rejoice in life as it enfolds. The prayer that rises to my lips and heart each morning is that of Mary: Be it done unto me according to your word.

Healing through the Rosary

There has been a long and ancient tradition of Healing through the Rosary. Preachers would hold up the beads and cry out: Here it is the tassel of his robe, the edge of his garment. As you reach out to touch theblessed beads, it is as if your were reaching out to touch the Lord himself.

Jesus knew that power had gone out from him and he asked: Who touched me? It is for each one of us to respond to that question as the Holy Spirit moves us. Ask for healing of your spirit, then of your mind and heart and physical body. I love that story of how Mother Angelica of EWTN was able to throw away her braces and crutches when they holy Italian woman prayed the Rosary with her. It is interesting to note that the healing occured at the Mystery of the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven. The full title of that mystery or feast is the Assumption of Mary body and soul! The whole person,-- the full human being of the Mother of God is in heaven. God cares for us body and soul. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches over me! That's how the song goes.

Over the centuries it has been customary to bless oil for a simple service of healing by lay people. This is not to be confused with the anointing as done by the priest as he administers the Sacrament of the Sick. To receive a small bottle of blessed oil for your personal use, write to :

Fr. Gabriel of the Rosary, Dominican Priory, Tallaght Village, Dublin 24