Opening Prayer
Almighty Father, You are the Most Excellent and Most Strong, a Being who is never new and never old, yet You possess the power to renew all things by Your Word. We wonder at Your nature, for You are always working while always at rest, gathering Your creation into Yourself even though You lack nothing. You are the Source of all being, life, and virtue, and though Your essence remains incomprehensible, You have revealed Your goodness to us through the marvelous deepness of Your divine secrets.
Through the intercession of St. Augustine, we pray that You would enlighten our understanding to realize that You have made us for Yourself and that our souls will find no peace until they return to You. Forgive us for the times we have sought You in outward things while You were waiting to be found in the secret place of Your presence. Clear away the mist of our worldly anxieties so that we may behold Your immutability and eventually arrive at the unspeakable sweetness of Your eternal contemplation.
Amen.
Matthew 10:26-32
26Therefore fear them not. For nothing is covered that shall not be revealed: nor hid, that shall not be known. 27That which I tell you in the dark, speak ye in the light: and that which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops. 28And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father. 30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31Fear not therefore: better are you than many sparrows. 32Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.
St. Augustine
St. Augustine presents God through a series of beautiful paradoxes: “unchangeable, yet changing all things.” This theological depth is the foundation of our Sacramental life. In the Mystical Body, we encounter the “Most Omnipotent” yet “Most Merciful” Lord. The Eucharist itself is a “sublime humility of God”, where the “Most High” makes Himself present under the simplest appearances. We recognize that while God “needs nothing,” He “seeks” us, nourishing us through His Divine Grace. To belong to the One Body in Christ is to participate in this marvelous mystery, where we are “nourished and perfected” by the God who “forgives debts” and “loses nothing.”
St. Augustine’s reflection in his Confessions highlights the limitation of human language when addressing the Infinite. He acknowledges that while we must speak of God to lift our souls, no one can ever say enough to do Him justice. God is “always working, yet always at rest,” a mystery that invites us into perpetual adoration.
“Most high, most excellent, most mighty, most omnipotent; most merciful and most just; most hidden and most near… constant, yet incomprehensible; unchangeable, yet changing all things.”— St. Augustine
Mary and the Magisterium
Mary’s relationship with the Blessed Trinity reveals how a creature interacts with this mystery. As the “Treasure of the Lord,” she is the channel through which the “incomprehensible sweetness” of God is dispensed. The Magisterium, through the Servant Leader, helps the faithful navigate these mysteries of Divine Revelation. The Bishop leads the flock in the Sacraments, ensuring that our worship of the “Most Mighty” God is preserved from error. Mary, the Mother of God, perfectly mirrored this “holy Joy,” teaching us to submit our limited reason to the Divine Will in an act of “unquestioning obedience.”
- Have I praised God today for who He is, rather than just what He does?
- What attributes of God do I see in Him most clearly in my life right now?
Closing Prayer
You’re magnificent, Lord, and nothing I can say about you could possibly do you justice. Nevertheless, let even my feeble praise bring you glory in some small way as it lifts my soul closer to you.
Amen.
