"Our Lord showed me a little thing, the size of a hazel-nut" by Julian of Norwich

hazelnutbox_fit 

"Our Lord showed me a little thing, the size of a hazel-nut" by Julian of Norwich

 Monastic Lectionary of the Divine Office, 

A WORD IN SEASON, Reading for the Liturgy

of the Hours. Augustinian Press, 1995

TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SUNDAY

First Reading

 18^th August 2015     

Ephesians 2:1-10

Responsory     Eph 1:4; Co12:13

God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world t to be holy and blameless in his presence.

V. Although you were dead because of your sins, he has brought you to life with Christ, t to be holy ...

Second Reading

From Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

Our Lord showed me a little thing, the size of a hazel-nut, on the palm of my hand, round like a ball. I looked at it thoughtfully and wondered, "What is this?" And the answer came, "It is all that is made." I marvelled that it continued to exist and did not suddenly disintegrate; it was so small. And again my mind supplied the answer, "It exists, both now and forever, because God loves it." In short, everything owes its existence to the love of God.

In this "little thing" I saw three truths. The first is that God made it; the second is that God loves it; and the third is that God sustains it. But what he is who is in truth Maker, Keeper, and Lover I cannot tell, for until I am essentially united with him I can never have full rest or real happiness; in other words, until I am so joined to him that there is absolutely nothing between my God and me. We have got to realize the littleness of creation and to see it for the nothing that it is before we can love and possess God who is uncreated. This is the reason why we have no ease of heart or soul, for we are seeking our rest in trivial things which cannot satisfy, and not seeking to know God, almighty, all-wise, all-good. He is true rest. It is his will that we should know him, and his pleasure that we should rest in him. Nothing less will satisfy us. No soul can rest until it is detached from all creation. When it is deliberately so detached for love of him who is all, then only can it experience spiritual rest.

God showed me too the pleasure it gives him when a simple soul comes to him, openly, sincerely and genuinely. For his goodness enfolds everyone of his creatures and all his blessed works, eternally and surpassingly. For he himself is eternity, and has made us for himself alone, has restored us by his blessed passion, and keeps us in his blessed love. And all because he is goodness. Our lover desires indeed that our soul should cleave to him with all its might, and ever hold on to his goodness. Beyond our power to imagine does this most please God, and speed the soul on its course.

The love of God Most High for our soul is so wonderful that it surpasses all knowledge. No created being can know the greatness, the sweetness, the tenderness of the love that our Maker has for us. By his grace and help therefore let us in spirit stand and gaze, eternally marvelling at the supreme, surpassing, single-minded, incalculable love that God, who is goodness, has for us. Then we can ask reverently of our lover whatever we will. For by nature our will wants God, and the good will of God wants us. We shall never cease wanting and longing until we possess him in fullness and joy. Then we shall have no further wants. Meanwhile his will is that we go on knowing and loving until we are perfected in heaven.

Responsory     1 In 4:9; 3:16

God's love for us was revealed when he sent his only Son into the world, + so that we might have life through him.

V. This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us + so that we ...

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 Julian of Norwich (c. 8 November 1342 – c. 1416) was an English anchoress who is regarded as an important Christian mystic. She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches. Written around 1395, her work, Revelations of Divine Love, is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman.^[1]

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich  

Contemplation: "infused contemplation" is a tautology..."acquired contemplation" is a contradiction

What is Mysticism?
David Knowles. pp. 30-32

• In the field of prayer, its own proper field in the modern use of words, the term contemplation is equivocal. Leaving aside the use of the word for the final part of a set exercise of meditation, there is a long history of controversy, extending over more than three centuries, over the use of the adjectives "perfect", "infused" and "acquired" as applied to contemplation, and the permissibility of using, or restricting the use of, the single word contemplation in respect of each of these three expressions. We need not be detained by the discussion over "perfect" contemplation; it concerns the meaning of the term as used by several Spanish mystical writers, and in particular by St Teresa, and is not of general significance.
• The other two expressions are of more practical interest. The first, "infused contemplation", needs no long treatment. It is, on the view adopted throughout this book, a tautology. Contemplation, in the context of personal prayer, is by definition freely infused knowledge and love. In the brief phrase of St John of the Cross, "contemplation is to receive".3 If this is so, it must follow that "acquired contemplation" is a contradiction in terms. It is, indeed, an unfortunate expression which arose at a time and in a region when the ambiguities of the word contemplation had not been fully explored. In recent years spiritual writers have preferred to use the terms "active" and "infused recollection". But apart from purely verbal discussions, there is a real point of importance at issue, which must be considered briefly.