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Living Chalice, living Host

Mark Dohle

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Living Chalice, living Host

I am a living torrent of grace, which is the love of God flowing through Me.
When you come to possess Me, through the power of the Holy Spirit,
My love flows through you. You become My living vessel; you become
My hands; you become My gaze; you speak My words. This is what it means
to be My living chalices and living hosts. This love is manifested concretely,
tangibly, through your tenderness.

The Love Crucified Community.
The Simple Path to Union with God (p. 279). Kindle Edition.


I have always struggled to become more tender. The softer emotions are a struggle for me, but as I age, I do find some deep changes going on that are beyond my doing. This morning at Vigils, we had a reading from St. Albert. In the short piece, he repeated the phrase from Jesus: “Open to me.” At first, I found the repetition a little irritating. However, after Vigils, as I was walking around the cloister, that phrase found a place in my heart that still repeats that plea. God’s nature is love, yet we have to open up to it.

While the growth in freedom is slow, we have to desire it, and it is not an easy path. No matter the path we choose, there will always be difficulties. It is just to follow Christ is to open one’s heart, no matter how slowly, to the deepening understanding of the mercy and compassion shown in Christ Jesus. That knowledge allows us to, if necessary, continually begin again, and not to be weary. Sometimes it is our sins that lead to sanctification. Our failures can be learning experiences; they force us to learn of our need for grace.

We are called to greater simplicity in our interior lives, and over time, to let go of all that is unnecessary in our journey to union with God. I am still at the beginning, and will be for all eternity, such is the fathomless mystery of our relationship with God.

It is Christ Jesus in His humanity that shows us the depth of the love of the Father, and in and through Him we live in the Father’s love as he does.

So be of good cheer, yes, you and I will fall, but grace is there to go higher up and deeper in. The only enemy is what we do with ourselves and our refusal to trust. Trust is a choice, and it calls forth the death of a self that is wounded, shattered, self-centered, and fearful.

Open to me, little one
for you are my child,
I hold you in the palm of my hand,
my love is beyond understanding
powerful, fiery, and stronger
than death.Br.-MD