Joy Unspeakable And Full Of Glory

“What a piercing beam of light does to a diamond in the dark, so does the indwelling Lord do to a soul entirely purified from all selfishness. Just as one jewel differs from another, so also do those at the contemplative summit vary in the splendors they receive from God. St. John of the Cross tells us that he often describes ‘the most that God communicates’, that is, even in the same stage of growth the Lord does not give everything to everyone. To some He gives more, to others less, to some in one way, to others in another…. Sublime though the spiritual marriage is, growth within it is normal. We never reach a point on earth at which we can say ‘enough’. Just as fire in wood can grow hotter, with fiery flames shooting out from it, so also can our love deepen and flare out….So little of this is describable that we would never succeed in fully explaining what takes place in the soul that has reached its happy state. If this saint would never succeed, surely we cannot. We may remark, however, that the New Testament also declared that the divine favors are beyond human wording. Saint Peter tells his Christians that they have already experienced a joy in the Lord so deep and glorious that it cannot be described.” The Scripture St. John is referring to is 1 Peter 1:8, “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing , you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” —–An excerpt from the book,
“Fire Within” by Thomas Dubay, S.M.

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