Merry Thursday by Parris
“For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?
He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places” Ps. 18:31
Saint Augustine loved to speak on Christ being his holy joy. His taste changed when Christ stepped in. When he becomes our rock, Augustine says, “we are passing lightly through the thorny and shady incumbrance of this world.” Matthew Henry says the rock is “A fountain emitting continual supplies of grace and goodness”. Watch out for the pitfalls when our joy is misplaced on earthly things and expectation from man. Augustine says, “A joy is not granted to the godless, but to those who worship you without looking for reward, because you yourself are their joy. This is the happy life and this alone: to rejoice in you, about you and because of you.” This is the life of happiness, and it is not to be found anywhere else. Christ becomes an endless fountain that forever sustains us throughout our lives. When we misplace Christ as our compass we tend to veer off the course. Listen to Augustine as he anchors himself back on Christ, “Most high, most excellent, most powerful, most omnipotent ; most piteous and most just; most hidden and most near; most beautiful and most strong, stable, yet contained by none; unchangeable, yet changing all things; never new, never old; making all things new, yet bringing old age upon the proud without their knowing it (Job 9:5); always working, yet ever at rest; gathering, yet needing nothing; sustaining, pervading, and protecting ; creating, nourishing, and developing; seeking, and yet possessing all things. You love, yet do not burn; are jealous, yet free from care; You repent, yet do not suffer; are angry, yet serene; You change Your ways, leaving Your plans unchanged; You recover what You find, without ever having lost it; You are never in want, while You rejoice in gain; never covetous, though requiring interest.’ That You may owe, more than enough is given to You; yet who has anything that is not Yours? You pay debts while owing nothing; and when You forgive debts, You lose nothing. Yet, O my God, my life, my HOLY JOY!”