We are continuing our discussion of JOY here at “Tea, Talk & Tattered Pages” and the summer novel we are reading together is “The Awakening of Miss Prim.” Today I want to talk about Joy in God’s Word.
I recently borrowed a huge Haydock Douay-Rheims Bible from my church library. Bound in red and gold, it probably weighs about 10 pounds, and is the antithesis of an e-book. But there’s something very satisfying about opening its massive pages and running my fingers over the words.
On average, each of its 1,657 pages (plus historical index, table of references, Bible dictionary) is half Scripture, and half footnotes making references to the ancient writers like Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Anselm, Jerome, Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, and Aquinas.
Although I have numerous copies of the Bible in my home, and I can look up quick references online (I use this link: The Douay-Rheims Bible), there is a deeper joy in opening this huge tome on my lap, and absorbing His Word spiritually, mentally and even physically (holding my hands over the printed letters.)
Last Sunday, for the feast of Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, I was reading a little 1933 booklet entitled “Pentecost: A Novena of Meditations on the Holy Ghost” by Rev. Joseph McDonnell, S.J. The old traditional writing is so beautiful:
“Behold the Creating Spirit at the dawn of the world’s existence brooding over the face of the abyss, and evolving order and unity out of primal chaos. Beg of the Holy Ghost so to rule and order everything within you, that in Him, in the language of St. Paul, ‘you may live and move and have your being.’” (page 30)
As I sit with this huge Bible on my lap, and my cup of steaming tea by my side, I rejoice in these beautiful words and let them soak into my soul. Imagine the peace and joy that would come if the Holy Spirit ruled and ordered everything within us, and if in Him, we lived and moved and had our being! The tornadoes of life around us would storm, but the inner peace and joy in our souls, occupied by the Holy Spirit, would keep us safe.
This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday, and the Epistle reading has been my favorite since childhood:
“O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him? For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)
These words wash over me like ocean waves…their poetry, their beauty, their immensity and their depth. As the sound and the panorama of the ocean calms and rejoices my mind and body, so do these words soothe my soul. His Wisdom and Knowledge are not only immense, but infinite. Who are we to challenge and question His Will? No, rather, let us rest in His Hand, knowing that He knows all, can do all, and loves us all. Trust in His Will; trust in His Plan.
My other favorite Scripture also has the word “depth” in it, maybe there is a theme here?
“That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts; that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)
Filled unto all the fulness of God…that in Him I may live and move and have my being…these words stir the depths of my soul.
Some religions try to “empty” the soul by meditation, I’d rather “fill unto all the fulness of God”. He is All, I am nothing. But in Him, I can do all things.
Returning to Fr. McDonnell’s 1933 booklet, he explains Piety, one of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost:
“It inspires us with the filial spirit, whereby we love and reverence and honor God as a most tender and most loving Father, filling us with childlike trust and confidence in Him and driving far from us distrust and diffidence and doubt as to His goodness or His mercy. From this spring joy and gladness in His service, and the energy and fervor they engender. This Gift, moreover, teaches us to lean on God, and drives away the lonely homeless feeling that sometimes takes possession of the hearts of those who have but lately turned from the world to God. It makes us feel at home with God and happy in His Presence.” (page 17)
As I read about each of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, I realize I need each one of them! I hunger for them. But today, I ask for the gift of Piety.
“O Holy Spirit! Take entire possession of my soul and make it Thine for evermore. Let the balm and sweetness of this heavenly Gift of Piety so wean away my heart from earthly things that henceforth I may find my only happiness in Thee.” (page 18)
This is how I am finding Joy in the Scriptures today. What are *your* favorite Bible verses, and why?