Response of the Heart
from St. Benedict (480-550 AD)
Then let us arise! Scripture invites us in the words, "It is full time now for you to wake from sleep" (Romans 13:11). With our eyes open to the light that transfigures, our ears filled with the thunder of His voice, let us listen to the powerful voice of God, urging us day by day, "Oh, that today you would hearken to His voice! Harden not your hearts" (Psalm 95:8). And again, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 2:7).
And what does He say? "Come, O children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord"(Psalm 34:11). "Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you" (John 12:35). Moreover the Lord, in seeking among the crowd for someone to work for Him, says "Who is there who desires life?" (Psalm 34:12).
If you hear Him and answer, "I do", God says to you, "Do you desire true life, eternal life?"then: "Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it" (Psalm 34:13-14). And when you have done this I will set my eyes upon you, I will give ear to your prayers, and "Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24).
The Lord waits for us to respond day by day to His holy counsels by our actions. In fact the days of this life are given us as a respite to correct our errors, as the Apostle Paul says: "Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4). And in His loving-kindness the Lord says, "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked... and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23).
If justice leads us to propose some mild constraint in order to correct vices and preserve love, do not at once fly in dismay from the path of salvation, which one cannot enter except through a narrow gate. For as you advance gradually in a holy life and in faith, your heart is enlarged and you run the way of God's commandments in an ineffable sweetness of love.
Then let us arise! Scripture invites us in the words, "It is full time now for you to wake from sleep" (Romans 13:11). With our eyes open to the light that transfigures, our ears filled with the thunder of His voice, let us listen to the powerful voice of God, urging us day by day, "Oh, that today you would hearken to His voice! Harden not your hearts" (Psalm 95:8). And again, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 2:7).
And what does He say? "Come, O children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord"(Psalm 34:11). "Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you" (John 12:35). Moreover the Lord, in seeking among the crowd for someone to work for Him, says "Who is there who desires life?" (Psalm 34:12).
If you hear Him and answer, "I do", God says to you, "Do you desire true life, eternal life?"then: "Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it" (Psalm 34:13-14). And when you have done this I will set my eyes upon you, I will give ear to your prayers, and "Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24).
The Lord waits for us to respond day by day to His holy counsels by our actions. In fact the days of this life are given us as a respite to correct our errors, as the Apostle Paul says: "Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4). And in His loving-kindness the Lord says, "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked... and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23).
If justice leads us to propose some mild constraint in order to correct vices and preserve love, do not at once fly in dismay from the path of salvation, which one cannot enter except through a narrow gate. For as you advance gradually in a holy life and in faith, your heart is enlarged and you run the way of God's commandments in an ineffable sweetness of love.
