Lectio
“However much [the soul] stumbles, it should not fear that it will turn back, because the building has been started on a solid foundation.”
— Teresa of Ávila, The Book of Her Life
Meditatio
The Lord does not easily let go of those He has drawn to His side, and who, by His grace, continue to answer that call. Once we belong to Him, His fidelity toward us does not waver. Though we may stumble often and even turn away from Him from time to time, we can trust that His arms remain open to receive us, and that even our desire to return is already His grace at work in us.
Christ meets us in our stumbling, asking us, as He asked blind Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51). We need not be fearful in our response, for He already knows our hearts. He asks not because our needs are a mystery to Him, but because He wants us to know our hearts and to lay the truth therein bare before Him, even as He is already transforming our wounds for the sake of His glory.
In Baptism we were buried with Christ, and He claimed us and joined us to Himself in resurrection through the Holy Spirit whom He sends to us. Christ is the solid foundation upon which He builds our new life, and He nourishes that life through His Church and Sacraments. Though we may have lapses in faith and judgment, we rest not on our own steadiness but on His, for the Lord is faithful to finish the work He has begun in us, and to which we must consent brick by brick as He builds us up in His glory.
Oratio
Breathe Me Back Home
let me not be shaken
allow me not to stumble
You are my foundation
and I, a building raised from dust
though my heart may wander
You make my false walls crumble
revealing what lies under
Love that heals all wounds
my hope and my salvation
Lord, please keep me humble
You breathed me into creation
breathe me back into You
Contemplatio
You may stumble again today, and the foundation will still be beneath you. Nothing you have done or left undone has moved it. Let the whole weight of your day rest on what holds it. Sit in silence, and consent to His presence.
Related Scripture
“Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.”
— Psalm 37:23-24
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like From Accident To Consent: The Way of a Pilgrim and the Prayer That Precedes All Things (Lectio Divina), which turns on the same question of consent, asking what must happen before grace becomes more than accident and is received as our own yes.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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