Faith is “Believing in Something Which You Cannot See” - $32503

Faith is “Believing in Something Which You Cannot See”
“Knowing
God, although it is Night.”
“God’s
streams are so overfull that they fill the whole range of creation—from the
highest skies to all the earth and even, in a daring phrase, to the lands of
hell.”
Two
“streams” proceed, and they are, we can appropriately interpret, the Son and
the Spirit.
Two
wonderful aspects of this triune spring are the way it runs through all of reality, and the way it is the
source of indomitable hope.
I know
that its streams are so brimming
they
water the lands of hell, the heavens, and earth,
although
it is night.
I know
well the stream that flows from this spring
is
mighty in compass and power,
although
it is night.
I know
the stream proceeding from these two,
that
neither of them in fact precedes it,
although
it is night.
So,
through living faith, St. John knows wonderful secrets about the life of the
eternal Trinity. He confesses our dogmatic faith that each of the three is
coeternal: even though the Son and the Spirit proceed or come forth from the
Father, they are not less than the Father; they are coeternal and
consubstantial—“neither of them in fact precedes” the Father. This eternal
Trinity touches the earth it has created. And more: God’s streams are so
overfull that they fill the whole range of creation—from the highest skies to
all the earth and even, in a daring phrase, to “the lands of hell.”
“Indeed,
the faith that knows illuminating truths “although it is night,” can even more
confidently declare that it is happy and overjoyed because it is night.”
“God the
Father’s love runs throughout all of reality in what theologians call the
“missions” of the Son and the Spirit, such that this eternal spring courses
through everything. And thus, we who cannot fathom the divine plan concerning
the tumults of the day or the pains of our lives can choose to believe that God
is bringing all things to perfection. And we can do this precisely “because it
is night.” The darkness of faith yields the light of hope, all of it suffused
with the power of divine love.
*Clips
of Words of Saint John and from his poem “Song of the Soul” Visit:
prayerscircle.com