Consolations seem to come in threes. Why? Because something happened again, around 1:30 a.m. on April 2nd. Lately, I’ve been saying morning prayers at midnight. It hasn’t always been this way — only since the United States had an onslaught of CoVid-19 infections, which was near the beginning of Lent. Lent is a 40-day span before Easter, for Catholics to mourn and do penance in solidarity with Christ’s suffering and Passion.
Back to the consolation…
At midnight, I opened my book of “Christian Prayer” and read morning prayers, which consists of Psalms from the Bible, readings from scripture and hymns. It usually takes about 20 minutes. After that, I read from a book called, “The 24 Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” The book highlights each of the 24 hours before Christ’s death, in great detail. When I finished all prayers and readings, it was a little after 1 a.m. I checked my Facebook page.
There on my phone screen was a notification that Pope Francis was about to celebrate morning Mass at the Vatican. So, I watched. Mostly, I just listened: I put my phone close up to my ear, with the speaker on full blast. I had my eyes closed for most of it, but then there seemed to be a long silent pause. I didn’t know what was happening because my eyes were closed. The translator said something, but it didn’t register because I seemed to have already slipped into a meditative state.
Suddenly, I saw a bright white light with spikes all the way around the edges. In the middle of the light, tiny, brilliantly colored starlit points glowed from the center like a rainbow of twinkling stars radiating outward. I saw this image in a closed-eye vision. Then, it went dark. But, immediately, it reappeared as if for a second time.
I opened my eyes, and looked at my phone. There on the alter rested the Vatican’s monstrance of the Blessed Sacrament. I was stunned. The Lord was showing me something much more beautiful than if I had seen with my eyes open. He was allowing me to see Himself through the eyes of God, and THAT, my friends, is where the truth lies.
The Spirit of Christ is alive and well, even in this crisis, in this time of “…mourning, and weeping and fasting.” We cannot ever doubt the existence of God. Nor, can we doubt, even in this time of tragedy and fear, that there is something going on far greater than we can ever imagine. Look for God and you will find him. As my pastor says, he is already looking for you.
Be blessed!
