Joy Shines
“Restore my joy in your salvation, sustain in me a willing spirit”
“Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise”
Dear friend, these verses 14 and 17 of Psalm 51(50) do not lead to thinking what this Psalm has suggested over the centuries: fear of God’s judgment after death. Being a penitential Psalm (Psalm Miserere), many associate it with feelings of guilt and divine judgment, so contrary to the authenticity of the true God. However, this Psalm from beginning to end combines the wonderful pair: confidence and humility. I invite you to take it and live its verses, putting yourself in the psalmist’s place (King David after having committed a grave sin) and to substitute the word God with Father, as Jesus addressed God. Here are a few verses, as an example:
Have mercy on me, Father God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense. Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.
For I know my offense; my sin is always before me.
Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight.
True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.
Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt.
A clean heart create for me, Father God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.
Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit.
Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit.
Rescue me from death, Father God, my saving Father, that my tongue may praise your healing power.
Dear friend, if Jesus, who truly knows God, calls Him Abba, Dear Father, we already know the true name of God, who, without ceasing to be the Most High and Almighty, is above all, my dear Father. His essence is to love, to have mercy, and to forgive His children who return from life battered and muddy; plunged into darkness and despair. This was the good news of Jesus during his public life.
So, you may ask yourself: Can a person who has fallen into depravity through their actions be rescued and purified? Yes, certainly, if they turn their gaze to the one who can do everything and who is Mercy personified in the Father’s heart. The question is just one: do I truly believe that God is Love and that His only way of being is through the thousand and one faces of love: mercy, forgiveness, care, limitless giving…?
To a greater or lesser extent, we are all ‘prodigal sons’ who return and walk, throughout our earthly life, toward the Father’s House. But purely out of generosity, without any merit on our part, God welcomes us and forgives us. He welcomes the prodigal son who has squandered the entire inheritance just as much as the son who stays with him, working faithfully every day. Likewise, He pays the same to the one who worked eight hours as to the one who only worked one hour. God’s love for us is not based on who we are or what we do, but on who He is. This is hard to understand with our worldly mindset.
Dear friend, to understand this profound destiny that God wants for us, we must humble ourselves and be as simple as children who expect everything from a good father. The sooner you embrace this generosity of God, the Father, and respond to it, moved and convinced, the sooner you will be freed from a dead-end destiny that only leads to despair and the: ‘let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we die’, which is so evident in the world around us.
Pray slowly the following prayer, pausing after each paragraph:
How shall I call You, You who have no name?
Your Son, Jesus, came forth from the depths of Your solitude. He told us that You existed and that your name was Father. This was great news.
In the quiet afternoon of eternity, when You were life and expanding fire, I lived in your mind. You cherished me like a golden dream, and my name was written on the palm of your right hand. I did not deserve this, but You loved me without a reason. You loved me as one does his only child.
From the night of my solitude, I lift my arms to tell You: O Love, most Holy Father, tireless sea of tenderness, cover me with your Presence, for I am cold and sometimes everything frightens me.
It is said that where there is love there is no fear. Why then do these dark currents drag me towards unknown worlds of anxiety, fear, and apprehension?
Beloved Father, have mercy and grant me the gift of peace, the peace found in a sunset.
I know You are the Loving Presence, Surrounding Love, infinite woodland of protection.
You are pardon and understanding, security and certainty, joy and freedom.
I go out on the street and You are with me; I get engrossed in work and You remain at my side; in agony and beyond, You say to me: here I am, I go with you.
Even if I try to escape your circle of love, climb mountains and stairs, even if I were able to fly away all is useless… I cannot avoid your pursuits. You surround me, inundate me, and transfigure me.
I was told that You walked across worlds and centuries in search of my fleeing shadow and that when You found me the sky broke open with songs. With all this good news You have transformed me into a prodigiously free child. Thank you.
Dear Father,
You are my Home and my Native Land. I wish to rest in this home at the end of the battle. You will certainly watch over my sleep. O Father, eternally loving and loved. Amen.
(Prayer E-2 “Father”)
The following final song tells the story of the prodigal son who returns home. I encourage you to follow this beautiful text.
The Miracle
I still can’t assimilate what has happened to me, the most glorious miracle I have lived: that after wasting what wasn’t mine, I haven’t had to pay.
I betrayed the One who forgave me life, I humiliated the One who healed all my wounds, and in my escape, I reaped what I deserved and vanished in my pai. At some point, He found me.
And I woke up in the fold, I don’t know how, among cotton and the shepherd’s care; and before I could speak of my past, His words and His voice pierced through me.
He is so happy that I have returned home, not to think, to rest, that nothing is wrong. And asleep in His lap, I have known I have life, I have an owner, and I am loved.
I have learned the lesson of Divine Love, that transformed me crossing my path and gave my whole life another meaning, another goal, another end.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring for me, but I know that His flame will never go out. Wherever the sun rises, He loves me. I know what Grace and Forgiveness are, His Mercy is my song.
And woke up in the fold, I don’t know how, among cotton and the shepherd’s care; and before I could speak of my past, His words and His voice pierce through me.
He is so happy that I have returned home, not to think, to rest, that nothing is wrong. And asleep in His lap, I have known I have life, I have an owner, and I am loved.
Shalom, Shalom.