Cold Snap at Agnus Dei

Wind and chill, bless the Lord! Cold snaps at Agnus Dei Hermitage. The hermit must accomplish some errands before and after noon Mass. Then there is the appointment with the Tribunal regarding annulment procedings. Time to pull out the wool jacket, hat and gloves.

Today the hermit is pondering some lines from Ps. 73, particularly: Apart from You I want nothing on earth; and, To be near God is my happiness.

When relationships and all of life are filtered through these lines, holy indifference and spiritual detachment dwell within, with God in the soul. God is my possession for ever.

The hermit continues formation in not reacting to situations, to moods of self or others, to physical pain or emotional upheavals. The soul merely enwrapts in wool coat and hat and gloves and ventures forth into the wind and chill. Bless the Lord!

The lingering mosquitoes will call it quits soon, given the turn in temperatures. Time for negativities within to call it quits, also. The freedom persists, and the hermit faces challenges, mostly from others, in not reacting, not taking on the external disruptions, the anticipations of what might be intentions or agendas of others.

The hermit has prayed much for purity of intention, as of late. To simply be near God, to know God is my happiness, makes matters clear-cut. It is easy enough to love, and to love detrimentals in life, also. The hermit recalls Caryll Houselander's explanation of how we are able to love the ugly in others, to see Jesus in others who are not nice, not loving, not kind, as some people simply are not! Jesus is in these souls all the same, maybe more willingly so, as He frequented the houses of sinners!

He is in these souls (and my soul!), suffering in and with them in their miseries and failings. So, too, must we see Jesus in them suffering, and be willing to love the suffering Jesus in these souls, and thus love them with love of Jesus, loving Jesus.

Purity of intention makes quite a difference within the soul. Intentions are tricky matters, and purity is of God, and bequeathed by God through the graces the Immaculata imparts from her Son. The Holy Spirit is purity, and purity is breathed upon us when we ask. We must believe in purity, believe that we receive, and work with love. Love is pure, love that is of God. It is a pure love that crushes pride.

God: what else? Nothing but God: I have made the Lord God my refuge.