Saturday, March 10, 2012

O soul, most beautiful of creatures, who so earnestly longs to know the place where your Beloved is, that you may seek him and be united to him.  You are yourself thevery tabernacle where he dwells, the secret chamber of his retreat where he is hidden.  Rejoice therefore and exult, because all your good and all your hope is so near you as to be within you. Yes, rather rejoice that you cannot be without it, for lo ;the kingdom of God is within you;.  So says the Bridegroom himself, and his servant St. Paul adds: 'You are the temple of the living God'.  What joy for the soul to learn that God never abandons it even in mortal sin, how much less in a state of grace:  What more can you desire, what more  can you seek outside, seeing that within you you have your riches, your delight, your Beloved whom you seek and desire.
St. John of the Cross from Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 1