281 part i: sunday meditations for the entire year TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Before Holy Communion 1. “Blessed are the eyes which see” (Lk 10:23). Omy soul, how unhappy you are! You are blind, devoid of light; you stray, you err greatly, because you do not see which way you are to go to a blessed eternity. For so many years you have been running in search of Jesus through the streets and squares of the world, yet He was within you;123 but you, the miserable one, did not see Him. Even having entered His house, the religious community, you do not yet perceive Him present here; you still do not have Him before your eyes. This is made evident by your many imperfections, indeed so many evil deeds, which truly you would not commit if you were aware of the presence of God. Behold, today you approach Him personally, and you will be permitted not only to see His Body and to touch It gently, but also to consume It. Blessed be your eyes [f.76v] if, before you stand in His presence, and He in yours, they would see the many vices with which you abound and the many impurities with which you are fouled! To action, my soul! Swiftly wash yourself in tears, lest you stir up the anger of the Spouse by receiving Him into such a foul room. 2. “what you see” (Lk 10:23). What did the Disciples of Christ behold with their eyes? Your Savior, my soul. Now, if the most fortunate and most desired blessedness consists of seeing Him alone, consider how great is the effort and desire with which you should long for and seek it. Still, since you know that “Nothing defiled can enter into the heavenly kingdom” (cf. Rev 21:27) and gaze at that uncreated Sun shining for all eternity, you have to expiate first the disgrace incurred through your countless vices by a truly serious exercise of penance; and you should be on your guard against the filth of 123 Cf. AC, Bk. X, Ch. 27. Cf. Augustinus, Soliloquia, in: Meditationes, Soliloquia et Manuale, Lugduni-Parisiis 1861, pp. 155-156 (Ch. 31, §§ 1, 4).
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==