The Grandeur of God: Selections from Two Thousand Years of Catholic Spiritual Writing

Contents

A Note to the Reader xvii

1. Jesus Christ Is Lord 3

2. Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of God 5

3. Halcyon Days 6

4. Honor Christ with Golden Hearts 8

5. Christ in the Poor 10

6. Love Your Neighbor 12

7. Late Have I Loved You 14

8. St. Patrick’s Breastplate 16 9. Two Kinds of Mercy 17 10. Believing in the Invisible 18

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Contents

11. The Cross Is the Glory of Christ 20 12. If There Had Been No Cross 22 13. We Stand in Need of His Mercy 24 14. How the Soul Shows Its Powers according to the Powers of the Body 26 15. The Creator’s Power 27 16. To the Trinity Be Praise! 28 17. Prayer of St. Francis 29 18. Canticle of the Sun 31 19. How Wonderful This Banquet 34 20. Friendship 36 21. God’s Goodness Ref lected in His Creatures 37 22. Inferno 38

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Contents

23. Paradiso 40 24. A Cloud of Unknowing 42 25. The Hazelnut 44 26. The Soul’s Three Powers 46 27. Look for Jesus, Not Yourself 48 28. Make Room for Christ 50 29. The Gift of Christ’s Body 52 30. Not Counting the Cost 54 31. Thy Love and Thy Grace 55 32. Love into Practice 56 33. The Five Points 57 34. Be Cordial to Others 59 35. Win Others by Example 61 ix

Contents

36. Rush to the Father’s Arms 63 37. When Prayer Is Dry 65 38. Apply Your Mind to God Alone 67 39. True Longevity 69 40. On the Eucharist 70 41. Guardian Angels 71 42. The Simplicity of a Dove 73 43. God Will Love Us on Account of the Poor 75 44. Grace Follows after Sorrow 77 45. The Little Things 78 46. Peace of Heart That Surpasses Every Treasure 79 47. Give Yourself to the Present 81

Contents

48. Lead, Kindly Light 82 49. God Has Created Me to Do Him Some Definite Service 84 50. Learning from the Poor 86 51. As Kingfishers Catch Fire 87 52. God’s Glory in Work 89 53. God’s Grandeur 90 54. Pied Beauty 92 55. Prayer of Abandonment 93 56. Pray as You Can 95 57. How to Pray 97 58. Be Not Afraid to Tell Jesus 99 59. Love the One You Dislike 100

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Contents

60. My Vocation Is Love 102 61. A Dazzling Darkness 104 62. God in the Tip of My Pen 106 63. Losing Hold 107 64. That I May See 108 65. Trust in the Slow Work of God 109 66. Pilgrim Soul 111 67. Do Not Listen to These Temptations 112 68. The Ways God Is Present 114 69. Love When We Do Not Find Love 116 70. My First Impulse toward Catholicism 118 71. The Long Loneliness 120 72. It’s Hard to Love in a Two-Room Apartment 121 73. Why We Stand before the Cross 123 xii

Contents

74. I Have Experienced God 125 75. Love Is a Kind of Dying 126 76. The Hand of God 128 77. More than Ever 130 78. Love Will Decide Everything 131 79. The Secret of True Happiness 132 80. Keep Your Lamp Burning 134 81. Love Each Other 135 82. Something Beautiful for God 136 83. The Current Is God 137 84. Letter to Jesus 138 85. Finding Ourselves 140 86. Seeing Christ Everywhere 141 87. A Bishop Will Die 143 xiii

Contents

88. Peace 145 89. Quick to Learn, Slow to Condemn 146 90. Witnesses of Hope 147 91. What Faith Demands 148 92. The Law Written in the Heart 149 93. Forgiveness and Justice 150 94. Finding a Second Childhood 152 95. To Love Deeply 154 96. Child of God 156 97. To Wait Open-Endedly 157 98. If You Really Want to Know God 158 99. Dare to Love 159 100. Final Words 160 xiv

Contents

Authors 163

Sources 171

Index of Authors 179

xv

1 Jesus Christ Is Lord (Philippians 2:1–11)

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f then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any

compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ◆ St. Paul (ca. 10–ca. 67)

2 Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of God (Romans 8:38–39)

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. ◆ St. Paul (ca. 10–ca. 67)

3 Halcyon Days

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he halcyon is a seabird that nests by the shore, laying its eggs in the sand, and bringing forth its

young in the middle of winter when the sea beats against the land in violent and frequent storms. But during the seven days while the halcyon broods—for it takes but seven days to hatch its young—all winds sink to rest, and the sea grows calm. And as it then is in need of food for its young ones, the most bountiful God grants this little creature another seven days of calm: that it may feed its young. Since all sailors know of this, they give this time the name of the halcyon days.

These things are ordered by the Providence of God

for the creatures that are without reason, that you may be led to seek of God the things you need for your salvation.

And when for this small bird he holds back the great and fearful sea, and bids it be calm in winter, what will he not do for you made in his own image? And if he should so tenderly cherish the halcyon, how much more will he not give you, when you call upon him with all your heart? ◆ St. Basil the Great (ca. 330–79)

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Jacket design by Rick Franklin Illustration by Kathryn Seckman

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St. Thérèse of Lisieux ◆ St. Catherine of Siena ◆ Matteo Ricci

Thérèse of Lisieux.

St. Hildegard of Bingen ◆ St. Francis of Assisi ◆ St. Thomas Aquinas

Teresa of Ávila, Mother Teresa, and

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Durepos

Romero, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,

St. Thérèse of Lisieux ◆ St. Catherine of Siena ◆ Matteo Ricci

of Norwich, Thomas Merton, Oscar

St. Hildegard of Bingen ◆ St. Francis of Assisi ◆ St. Thomas Aquinas

of Loyola, John of the Cross, Julian

Peter Canisius ◆ Robert Bellarmine ◆ Dante Alighieri

Day, Hildegard of Bingen, Ignatius

with the grandeur of God.”

st. Paul ◆ St. Andrew of Crete ◆ St. Bernard of Clairvaux

tions from Thomas Aquinas, Dorothy

“The world is charged

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God Selections from Two Thousand Years of Catholic Spiritual Writing edited by Joseph Durepos

Peter Canisius ◆ Robert Bellarmine ◆ Dante Alighieri

Nouwen. ◆ Also included are selec-

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st. Paul ◆ St. Andrew of Crete ◆ St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, and Henri

The Grandeur of

Julian of Norwich ◆ St. Teresa of ávila ◆ St. John of the Cross

writings from Pope John Paul II,

◆ St. Basil the Great ◆ St. John Chrysostom ◆ St. Augustine ◆ ◆ St. Ignatius of Loyola ◆ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ◆

St. Cyril of Alexandria ◆ St. Patrick ◆ mother teresa ◆ St. columbanus

ning with St. Paul and ending with

Th e G r a n deur of G od

nized chronologically, begin-

Julian of Norwich ◆ St. Teresa of ávila ◆ St. John of the Cross

he Grandeur of God is orga-

christianity/inspiration

St. Cyril of Alexandria ◆ St. Patrick ◆ mother teresa ◆ St. columbanus

T

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◆ St. Basil the Great ◆ St. John Chrysostom ◆ St. Augustine ◆ ◆ St. Ignatius of Loyola ◆ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ◆

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$12.95 U.S.

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◆ he Grandeur of God collects many of the richest and most beau-

tiful selections from the history of Catholic spiritual writing—passages saturated with the truth famously expressed by the great Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” ◆ These readings resonate with the sacramental Catholic vision that sees God in all things. The book is a starting point on a journey into the vast storehouse of Catholic writing.

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