Rector's Page

From the August issue of The Carillon . . .

My Dear Friends in Christ,

During these warm summer days, with near drought conditions throughout the Island and a less hectic pace of parish ministry, I had the opportunity to do some spiritual reading and reflection that I put off for many months. As I entered into these welcomed spiritual respites, I thought about the dryness of the earth and how it often mirrors a spiritual dryness we go through. As God’s created earth needs water, so does our life need the wellspring of God. Two queries come to mind.

The first being, how thirsty for the Lord are we? We all know of at least a few people who after speaking with them sparks in us a greater desire to know and love our Lord more. Interestingly enough, they did not try to be pious; they were simply living out their Christian faith. We witnessed something special and more then ordinary in them. We wonder what it is and if it is something we can also acquire.

Another question that we can ask ourselves is, how can I become more passionate in my relationship with God? A.W. Tozer, Evangelical minister who has authored more than 40 books, has an answer. He says, in The Pursuit of God that, “Some people have a knack for making me hungry to know God. I know a few people who when I'm done talking with them make me want to know and love Him more. I treasure those people. They don't try to be religious. They don't attempt to be spiritual. They simply are themselves and in the process radiate the presence of God. Many of them have trekked through dark valleys yet they still carry a hopeful, persistent, passion and love about them. To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart.

St. Bernard stated this holy paradox in a musical quatrain that will be instantly understood by every worshiping soul: We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread, And long to feast upon Thee still: We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking”. Would it not be grand for us to have that same burning desire for the Lord?

Tozer notes that when you come near the holy men and women you "feel the heat of their desire after God." Let us capture in our own lives, that burning desire to follow the Lord with our whole heart, mind and spirit. Let us be the warmth of His grace for others who may have grown cold over the years in their relationship with God.
I pray today that we radiate such passion, fervor and love of God. May that warmth flow through the core of your being. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

May Our Lord’s blessings enrich your life,
Fr. Richard+