V/ My eyes are turned to you, O Lord.
R/ You are the joy and gladness of my youth.
V/ Grant me the Wisdom that sits by your throne.
R/ That I may dwell as a child in your presence.
Let us pray
Lord, in your all-providential plan, you have led me to this moment to rediscover myself in your Word and Wisdom. Now assist me to make this time of meditation and prayer enriching, transforming, and liberating for my well-being and others.
DIVINE INDWELLING
By Vivien Foster, OCDS
SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YR A
Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:7-18; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21
Today’s Gospel is one of the most overtly Trinitarian that has been handed down to us. In this passage, we hear Jesus speaking of his relationship with the Father and with the Spirit. This relationship is described in the most intimate terms as an indwelling (or living within): “I am in my Father”.
Not only that, but Jesus goes even much further by indicating that his disciples (by which he means those who love him and keep his commandments) will also be drawn into the inner life of the Trinity. Indeed, it is our intimate indwelling in Christ, as his disciples, that makes possible our indwelling of the Trinity in which he already indwells. “I am in my Father, and you in me and I in you.” It is through this intimate relationship with Christ that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth), of whom Christ says: “he abides with you and he will be in you”.
This Divine Indwelling is an awe-inspiring claim. It is one we often struggle to assimilate fully, let alone live by. Despite the centrality of this teaching, we do not reflect sufficiently on its radical implications for the life of prayer. Yet the Carmelite saints lived utterly spellbound by this foundational truth, and in their writings, we can find much to enlighten us on this mysterious subject.
For Teresa of Jesus’s Interior Castle is essentially an imaginative meditation on this very theme. In the midst of the castle, she explains, is a royal chamber, where the Divine King dwells in shining light, and where “very secret exchanges take place between God and the soul” (Interior Castle 1.1).
At the beginning of his Spiritual Canticle, John of the Cross can scarcely contain himself when he reflects on how the Divine presence in the soul simplifies the spiritual life, by bringing God entirely within our reach. His uplifting words are well worth quoting in full.
“Oh, then, soul, most beautiful among all creatures, so anxious to know the dwelling place of your Beloved that you may go in search of Him and be united with Him. Now we are telling you, that you yourself are his dwelling and his secret inner room and hiding place. There is reason for you to be elated and joyful, in seeing that all your good and hope is so close as to be within you, or better, that you cannot be without Him.’” (Canticle, 1.7)
In modern times, Elizabeth of the Trinity stands out among Carmelite saints for her passionate witness to the Divine Indwelling. This fascination began when, as an adolescent, she learnt that her very name ‘Elizabeth’, meant ‘House of God’ in Hebrew. With this discovery came the insight that living out the meaning of her name would become the central focus of her life. For Elizabeth, the spiritual life is as much about our dwelling in God as about God dwelling in us. As she attests in the opening passages of her retreat, Heaven in Faith, “the Trinity, this is our dwelling, our ‘home’, the Father’s house that we must never leave” (Heaven in Faith 1.2). Quoting her spiritual mentor, Ruysbroeck, she goes on to say, “‘No longer ask for the Master among those on earth or in Heaven, for He is your soul, and your soul is He’” (Heaven in Faith 2.6).
The Carmelite approach to prayer is, above all, a simple and radical response to the recognition of the Divine Indwelling. If we truly believe that God inhabits us, then we can do no better than to turn our attention inward, to reverently acknowledge and lovingly accompany so great a Guest. Indeed, to do anything less would – in Teresian terms – be as ill-advised as abandoning a visiting Monarch in our living room! As Elizabeth of the Trinity says in her famous Prayer to the Holy Trinity, “I ask that I may never leave you there [within my soul] alone”.
Christ’s extraordinary invitation to dwell in Him, and through Him to become taken up into the intimate life of the Trinity itself, is a prospect that exceeds all human hope and defies all human comprehension. Yet the Carmelite saints focused their entire lives on exploring this mystery and living this reality. May we too nurture a passionate and single-minded pursuit of the Divine Indwelling!
Prayer
Lord, I entreat you to make my soul your heaven, your cherished dwelling, and the place of your repose. I ask that I may never leave you there alone, but that you keep me there wholly attentive, wholly alert in my faith, wholly adoring, and wholly given up to your creative action. Amen.
– Adapted from extract of the Prayer to the Holy Trinity by St Elizabeth of the Trinity OCD,
Ponder questions
- Have you ever stopped to grasp the magnitude of the Divine Indwelling?
- How can the reality of the indwelling Trinity enrich your approach to prayer?
Practice from Insight
During your prayer time this week, search for a metaphor that can help to bring the Divine Indwelling to life for you and keep you mindful of this awesome spiritual reality throughout your day. You might want to imagine your heart as a desert hermitage where you can retreat at any time to be in solitude with God, or a private chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is permanently reserved. Or you may want to visualize yourself carrying the Divine life within you as the Blessed Virgin Mary carried the Christ child during her pregnancy, or any other image that comes to mind for you.
Memory Phrase
God is the centre of the soul
~ St John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love 1.12.