Recently I've been practicing lectio at Mass, praying with the readings before Mass begins. If possible, I spend some time with these before leaving my house, and again when I get to Church. And then, I have the most amazing opportunity. I shudder to think of the times I've taken it for granted. I can actually be in the physical presence of Christ Himself, and more than that: I can receive Him. I think I would faint were I to really grasp the fullness of this Truth. I believe it is by the grace of God that He has gently veiled this unutterable Reality.
Once in awhile, however, Our Lord gives us a glimmer of what's actually happening. "Mass gave me such a joyful feeling," one of you wrote recently. "I have not had that feeling at Mass in a very long time. I felt an incredible sense of God's mercy flowing into me. It made me feel such sorrow for my sins. It was not a sad sorrow, like 'woe is me, I am so sinful.' It was more like a sorrow wrapped in the joy of God's mercy. If that makes sense."
I think what my friend said makes more than sense. "Sorrow wrapped in the joy of God's mercy" is Godly sense, the kind of sense that He alone provides. We find this kind of sense flowing throughout the Scriptures. It is a knowledge of truth, I think, that reaches well beyond our mere five senses. We can't come up with this on our own; it is part of our gift of faith.
In the world, we are constantly bombarded with nonsense and partial truths and horrid, unspeakable distortions. In order to keep perspective in this upside down environment, we need the truth of God always before our eyes. This, as we well know, takes effort. It takes tremendous effort. When so many around us are telling us that dark is in fact light, we can be tempted to question our own perceptions. That is why I'm thankful for the Body and Blood of Christ that feeds us. And I am thankful for scripture, nuggets of truth that we can carry in our hearts throughout the day, seeing the world through this, our "grillwork."
Only God's sense is the sense that makes sense. I strive to keep it before me. It is the sensible thing to do.
"The natural man does not accept what is taught by the Spirit of God. For him, that is absurdity. He cannot come to know such teaching because it must be appraised in a spiritual way." (1 Corinthians 2:14)
"The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as it venerates the Body of the Lord, since from the table both of the Word of God and of the Body of Christ it unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the Bread of Life." (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation)
