Has Your River Run Dry?
The River whose streams gladden the city of God
From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Hilary of Poitiers, bishop (d. c. 368)
The river of God is brimming with water. You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them. There can be no doubt about the river referred to, for the prophet says: There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God; and in the gospel the Lord himself says: Streams of living water welling up to eternal life will flow from the heart of anyone who drinks the water I shall give him. He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. The river of God is brimming with water; that is to say, we are inundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and from that fountain of life the river of God pours into us in a full flood.
We
also have food prepared for us. And who is this food? It is he in whom
we are prepared for life with God, for by receiving his holy body we
receive a place in the communion of his holy body. This is what is meant
by the words of the psalm: You have provided their food, for this is your way of preparing them. For as well as refreshing us now, that food also prepares us for the life to come.We who have been reborn through the sacrament of baptism experience intense joy when we feel within us the first stirrings of the Holy Spirit. We begin to have an insight into the mysteries of faith, we are able to prophesy and to speak with wisdom. We become steadfast in hope and receive the gift of healing. Demons are made subject to our authority. These gifts enter us like a gentle rain, and once having done so, little by little, they bring forth fruit in abundance.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
For those times in the dark night found in spiritual aridity or when Our Lord "hides" in our soul :
“River Run
Dry”
By: Eric Gajewski
From the work, "Fortress of the Soul"
O’ River
sublime
Which within now
I find dry
Where hast
thou gone?
What didst keepeth
my soul aloft with eagle’s wings in peace
Holding my
heart in perfect calm
Throughst the
eye of life’s every storm
Seemingly,
now, hast fled off afar
Yet for Thee
alone I still long
“Hiding”
Thyself as Infant within
No more, do I
hear thy Song, no more now, do I swim
O’ grace, I
pray ye to return, for I feel out of place
Yea, I am weak,
this eagle speaks, when I canst not directly seest Thy Face
But thru no
fault of my own… because this is all just in Selfless Love’s Game
Of hide &
go seek….
O’ River run
dry once overflowing so intimately
Where hast
thou gone?
Who hast
absorbed me whole like the sun overcomes the dawn
Like the
yellow dandelions overtake the vast green lawn
It is only in
thy Waters where as a fish I can spawn
For Thou art
our souls’ only Source and End
O’ Let me swim
in this tributary unto eternity, O’ King, once again
For Your
healing Waters I do miss, thy currents which “free”
I am thy slave
who needeth to dive and hide in Thee in order to be safe
So why don’t
you once again let me ride thy roaring wave
O’ Blessed
Trinity who hast absorbeth me wholly
For Holy is
Thy Name and in this Marriage
It can only be
counted as love all the same
Left now with heart
to bleed and with eyes that can only weep
Which filleth thy chasm, that once, with thy Liquid, ran so
deep
For Thou hast
not left but why do I not feel right?
Therefore, just
one drop I asketh, this is all my heart plead
Yea, it is
here, I shall await patiently, on thy banks to pray
In hopes of
that day when we shall once again meet
And when I see
thy Tide come to over rush my soul once more
I shall assuredly
leap in glee
But until then
my good Friend, it is all in Love’s game
Therefore, I
pray to Thee, my soul unto now Ye keep…
Lovely!
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