Holy Spirit – Special Intimacy

This morning at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, three things happened which were extraordinary [and I don’t mean the form of the Mass 🙂 ].

Firstly, I could see Jesus processing in and blessing us with His wounded hands behind the Altar. Secondly, I could see Who I believe to be the image of the Holy Spirit during the Creed. Thirdly, after the dismissal and during our Hail Mary prayer for vocations, I could see the Blessed Virgin Mary. I will cover the second two here.

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life: We state our belief in the Holy Spirit this way when we recite the Creed each Sunday:

“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.”

When I was reciting this part, I remembered many locutions in the past to “romance me.” This essentially means to “love me” in a special way which is appropriate to Divinity. I attribute this call to the Holy Spirit. And I envisioned our Personal God to be youthful, fresh, full of life, full of virtue, attractive and desirous of intimacy to the point that I felt like I was being refreshed in that moment, nearly to the point of sort of floating away – feeling very light and happy. But, I had full control and did not drift away. Thank you dear Lord for this blessing of grace.

Holy Mother of God, Mary Most Holy: After Sunday Mass, we always make two prayers – one to St. Michael the Archangel (to protect us from Satan – I often see from the vantage point of thrusting demons through a hatch into Hell using a very long battle lance – very effective, and they cannot come back in) and also to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Most Holy Mother of God for more vocations. I saw her, too. And, praying to her, she said “touch me,” (something I am averse to doing), but when I did, my heart leapt or skipped a beat, and I felt that something like the weight of sin had been taken from me. I think that because when I do begin to have sinful thoughts, my heart hurts like pressure is being forced on it. But, when I reached out to touch Mother Mary, my heart felt relieved or healed. I had been recollecting prior sinful thoughts and asking God for forgiveness, to which he replied as in a locution, “I have forgiven you.” But, Mother Mary gave me some sort of grace today which I do not recall receiving before.

This all gave me great hope in the Kingdom of God, Who is Love, Who Mercifully Heals.

How is this Possible? Now, one might ask, “How is it that one person in 2.5 billion Christians sees these Persons and Saint? Does that mean he is the only one? Or, how can these Persons and this Saint be present to one and many simultaneously?” Well, we can answer that question by the example of the Prophets. All Christians are called to be like prophets, but do we acknowledge, listen and respond to the Lord? No! Most do not! Most do not love the Lord our God as He asks. We stray, we get distracted, we don’t pray (we don’t speak to God), we put other gods before our Loving God. Who would make friends with you if you don’t think one important enough to talk to or listen to? I also fail in these ways, but I have taken the grace to repent when I do, and I return to be healed and love again and am always forgiven. Also, why do we try to limit the capability of God as if He were only a limited creation? When we do, we show our ignorance and lack of attention to knowing God.

Remember today’s Gospel message. We are all called to be like fertile soil in light of the “seed” which the Lord plants in us, that it might take root and bear much fruit. How do we become that fertile soil? Think about that. Are you the soil on the path, the rocky ground, or amongst thorns? Or are you the rich, fertile soil like that in a flood plain? What floods and is absorbed into your soil? Is it the pollution of sloth, violence, pornography, hatred, calumnious intention, financial wealth, career advancement, or personal power? Or is it the clean life-giving, cool Water of the Lord?

Vision of A Lady Dressed for Matrimony and Understanding Metaphorical Marriage With God

At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass yesterday morning, as the distribution of the Eucharist began during Holy Communion, I looked up, and in my mind’s eye, I saw the beautiful image of a lady dressed for her wedding. She was standing in the sanctuary to the right of the priest, our parochial vicar, who was facing the nave and distributing the Blessed Sacrament. She was also facing the people who went up to receive Jesus.

She was fully covered in a white matrimonial gown which appeared to be made of linen with pearls woven in (there were shiny glimmers here and there). There was no silk, no saffron veil, but all like a finely woven embroidery of linen covering her hair and face and draping over her gown. She was just standing there, her arms covered under her gown and veil.

This inspired in me the thought of a real Wedding Banquet, and the holiness of what we should be thinking when we approach the sanctuary during Holy Communion. The image was brief, but I saw her. Who was she? Was she a vision of Holy Mother Church?

Hear how St. Isaiah the Prophet writes of God’s love for the Church as His bride:

For your Maker is your husband,
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
    the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the Lord has called you
    like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,
    says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
    but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment
    I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
    says the Lord, your Redeemer. [Isaiah 54:5-8]

Hear how St. John the Baptist speaks of the Lord as Bridegroom to His Church:

He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. [John 3:29]

Who is the bride here? We assume it is the Church after the imagery of Isaiah (and other prophets), and that the bride is not necessarily happy since it is only the friend of the bridegroom who is said to be happy. Hear also how St. Paul joins in to teach the reality:

For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. [Ephesians 5:29-32]

And with St. Paul, we see atheists Lord’s role as Bridegroom confirmed and understand more fully the Lord’s intentions to care for the Church as His Bride.

I think the image, then, was a reminder to us about the Lord’s intentions for the Faithful – that He give us a most Holy spouse in Himself, and that we be treated such that we may become healthy enough to respond to His call to be like a holy spouse in that divine metaphorical matrimony and marriage, the actual application and eternal living out of which remains veiled in mystical secrecy…and misunderstandings as a result.

Now, I think that many people, including devout religious, misunderstand this mystery of the metaphorical bridal imagery. I have misunderstood it, too. I’m sure that there are people who go after the religious, celibate life seeking something like a human marriage with the human person of Jesus Christ – an imagined, “perfect husband” who is found and intimately experienced in the heart and mind. However, those who follow this line of thought may easily be led into a fallacy, the fallacy of a real human marriage. This is not a human marriage – it cannot be; for how can a temporary institution be applied to an eternal state of being where that human institution, and elements of it, is no longer in effect? For as Jesus the Lord Himself revealed regarding the human institution,

…You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. [Matthew 22:29-30]

How do the angels of God live, and can their lives be spousal as we understand the word? We assume that we know about angels, but we do not know in fact since we are not angels and do not experience the life of angels. So, let us clearly state now that our relationship with God is metaphorically marital and monogamous, not really marital and monogamous in the sense of a real human marriage, and is somewhat like the little-understood lives and relationships of angels with God.

We can continue to build our understanding of metaphorical marriage with the Lord, and entrench our understanding of a requirement for metaphorical monogamy with God in the command which comes from God Himself,

…you shall have no other gods before me. [Exodus 20:3]

Also, as the Lord commissioned Moses to teach to the Chosen People, Israel, a teaching which the Lord Jesus validated, we can understand a commanded metaphorical monogamy, not only between our current generation and the Lord, but also between our future generations and the Lord since we are to teach our children to also love God in a metaphorically monogamous way:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead,  and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [Deuteronomy 6:4-9]

And, in summary, the vision of a lady dressed for Matrimony reminds us of the Lord’s faithful intentions for the Bride, the Church, in a metaphorical marriage with Him, and also the expectation that the Bride is or will become prepared to fulfill that honor, with a mind set for monogamy and, with that monogamy, the loving and dedicated care of the Lord.

Prayer of Intimacy With the Lord

Lord, yes, I want to love You as you desire me to love You. Prepare my heart for You. I trust You. I do will it. Make me Holy for You. For, You desire that I be holy as You are holy. Make me Holy for You. I do will it. And then love me, that I may overflow with an abundance of true love for You. Feed me with Your Essence in the Eucharist that I may be sustained in loving You and my neighbors, but You most of all, that I may love You chastely as You deserve. Come in to my soul and give Me Your Life, that we may be one together, that every breath I take is fed by the Breath of Your Spirit, that every beat of my heart beats with Your Divine Heart, that I may bear the Fruit of our chaste Union. Amen.