Opening Prayer
I ponder the analogy of the bride who loves the ring more than the bridegroom. I realize that to love your gifts—be they riches, honors, or pleasures—more than you is a kind of spiritual adultery, turning the pledge of love into a distraction from the Giver.
Lord, teach me to love you, the Giver, more than the gifts you provide. Let your blessings be a pledge that binds me to you, rather than a snare that turns my heart away from Thy face.
Amen.
Matthew 13:44-46
44The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 45Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. 46Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it.
St. Augustine
St. Augustine evaluates the Christian life as a holy desire to see God. He uses the analogy of a “pouch”: if it is too small, you must stretch the opening. God “makes us wait in hope” specifically to stretch our soul. The Gospel “Pearl” requires the “pouch” to be emptied of all else. Augustine uses another analogy in the form of “honey” from “vinegar”—if you are filled with the “vinegar” of worldly love, there is no place for the “honey” of God. We often think God is ignoring us, but as Augustine notes, “By making us wait… He makes us capable of holding more.” The spiritual paper cuts of delayed answers to prayer are the hard scrubbing needed to clean the container. We must pour out what is evil before we can be filled with “something beyond words”.
To be filled with the “honey” of the Divine, we must practically “pour out the vinegar” of worldly longings through daily acts of internal cleansing and detachment from petty desires.
“Longing “stretches” the soul. By making us wait in hope, God expands our desire so that we may become capable of holding more of Him.”
— St. Augustine
Mary and the Magisterium
St. Augustine compares the soul to a “pouch” that must be stretched to hold more. To be filled with God (the honey), we must first pour out the world (the vinegar). Mary’s soul was the “stretched pouch” par excellence. She emptied herself of earthly longings, undergoing the “hard scrubbing” of sacrifice, so that she could be “filled with Something beyond words”—the Divine Presence itself.
- Am I "stretching myself out to Him", or am I settling for a "narrow" soul?
- What "vinegar" must I "pour out" today to make room for God’s "honey"?
Closing Prayer
Lord, my soul is small and narrow. Empty me and open me wide.
Amen.
