Opening Prayer
I reflect on your grace as sunlight that shines upon every window. I realize that while your light is constant, it only enters my house to the degree that my blinds are open to receive it; one window is open wide, while another admits only a glimmer through a crevice.
Help me to be “well-disposed” and to open the crevices of my soul, that I may receive an abundance of your splendor. Grant that I may not shut myself off from the sun of Thy grace, but rather open my heart to be filled with Thy divine brightness.
Amen.
Matthew 11:20-24
20Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein were done the most of his miracles, for that they had not done penance. 21Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you. 23And thou Capharnaum, shalt thou be exalted up to heaven? thou shalt go down even unto hell. For if in Sodom had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, perhaps it had remained unto this day. 24But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
St. Bernardine of Siena
St. Bernardine of Siena uses the analogy of “windows with blinds”. The sunlight (Grace) shines equally, but the “brightness that enters the house” depends on “how much each window is open”. Bernardine evaluates our “disposition”: God gives quite a lot to those well disposed and only a little to the poorly disposed. We often complain that God is “absent”, yet as Bernardine notes, “even to those who shut themselves off, God would be willing to give his grace, if only they would open themselves”. We must “identify the obstacles” that are currently blocking the sun.
Bernardine says some souls are completely open, while others are shut tight with only “tiny crevices” allowing light through. To receive the fullness of grace, we must consciously “open ourselves”, removing the obstacles and shuttered habits that keep the sunlight of the Holy Spirit from warming our souls.
“More or less brightness enters the house according to whether each window is more or less open. So it is with those who wish for grace from God. They will receive grace according to how they are disposed to receive it.”
— St. Bernardine of Siena
Mary and the Magisterium
St. Bernadine of Siena compares God’s grace to sunlight and our souls to windows. More or less brightness enters the house according to whether each window is more or less open. Mary was the “fully open window”, perfectly disposed to receive the maximum possible splendor of divine grace. She had no “crevices” of pride or closed blinds of sin; her total fiat allowed the light of the Holy Spirit to fill her without resistance.
- Am I "poorly disposed" to receive grace because I am clinging to my "blinds"?
- How can I "open myself more fully" to the light of the Holy Spirit today?
Closing Prayer
Holy Spirit, shine on me. Let my heart be so open that Your light will fill me completely.
Amen.
