MY MASTERPIECE OF LOVE

The Inner Voice of Love

Henry Nowen

“A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom”

 December 1987-June 1988 was most difficult time of his life. He wondered if he would be able to hold onto his life.  “Everything came crashing down. I had come face to face with my nothingness. I became a member of L’Arche, a community of men and women with mental disabilities. 

I experienced myself as a useless, unloved and despicable person.  When people hugged me I felt endless depth of human misery and that there was nothing worth living for. I felt homeless, devoid of faith, and God had abandoned me. The anguish paralyzed me.  I could no longer sleep.  I cried uncontrollable for hours.  All had become darkness. Within me there was one long scream coming from a place I didn’t know existed, a place full of demons. 

Going to L’Arche and living with vulnerable people I gradually let go of many of my inner guards and opened my heart more fully to others. It was a totally new experience for me and it brought immense joy and peace. A door in my interior life had been opened. 

This deeply satisfying friendship became the road to my anguish. I discovered the enormous space that had been opened for me. It could not be filled by the one who had opened it.  I became possessive, needy and dependent and when the friendship had to be interrupted, I fell apart. 

Intellectually I knew that no human ability could fulfill the deepest longing of my heart. I knew that only God could give me what I desired.  I knew that I had been set on a road where nobody could walk with me but Jesus.  But all this knowledge didn’t help me in my pain. I knew I had to leave my community and surrender myself to people who would be able to lead me to a new freedom. 

In the first weeks it seemed as if my anguish only got worse. I was able day by day to take very small steps towards life. I could easily have become bitter, resentful, depressed and sinful. That this did not happen is the struggle expressed in this book.

A MEDITATION ON THE INNER VOICE OF LOVE 

We are Three Divine Persons. We are in an Eternal Relationship in Love.  We invite you into this Relationship during your walk in the world of temporary. It is not very hard to do. All We ask is that you set aside some time to be with us each day.  We will do the rest.  We read your heart’s desire.  Thus, We find Our Ways to strike up a relationship in Love with you that is both totally satisfying and extremely interesting.  We help you identify Our Voice within you. That is not hard for Us to do.  It requires some effort for you to be still and let us do what We wish within you. 

Each of Us has Our Own Distinct Divine Personality. You may or may not recognize these differences.  However, they are quite real.  Just as you are different from any other person in your world and others may not be able to distinguish those differences, We are different from you and from each other.  If that were not so, We would not identify ourselves as Three Divine Persons in Love. 

With that said, let us give hints at Our Differences.

I teach you so many things about Life in My Love. You are like a sponge. You take in as much of My Waters of Salvation as you possibly can. That is the nature of Our Relationship in Love. You are such a willing student. You show up daily. You come before Me. You ready yourself to listen. You open your heart to Me. You make yourself vulnerable to My Love.

I do come to you in the silence of your heart. I do in you what I do in all My vulnerable friends. I love you in the ways that most fit the uniqueness of your personality. I teach you in ways most appropriate to you. I teach nothing new. All I do is make the words in scripture come to life in you. I know you are no scriptural scholar. I know you are no theologian. I speak to those lovers of Me differently than I speak in you.

You are virgin territory so to speak. You belong to Me experientially. Scripture interests you. However you do not read it. You know you should. However, you just do not have time to do so. You pray a lot. You come to Me Eucharistically daily. You surrender you to Me. Why? It feels good to do so. Yet, you know there is more.

I see you exposed to My Love. I thus teach you scripture experientially and internally by the ways We relate verbally. This is not so unusual. Many of My friends are not scriptural scholars or theologians. They are like you. They love Me. They come to Me daily. They hunger and thirst for more of Me. Thus I give them what they crave. I give them more and more of Me. I do this gently. I do this lovingly. I do this experientially. I come to all that they might have My New Life internally and experientially.

I am Jesus the Messiah. I am Lord of your life. I am the Joy of your heart. I am the Wisdom of your mind. I am the Peace of your soul. You know Me experientially. You need nothing more. Others need scripture to become fully alive in My Love. Many need music, art, etc.,  as their ways of experiencing Me internally. All need My True Presence in the Eucharist as their means of becoming more fully aware of the Gift of My Timeless Love in them.

I nourish My friends physically. I change them from within by My True Presence in them. I make them more in My Image and likeness gently, incrementally and daily in their life space in temporary. I interact with the very context of their psyche. I enable them to discern My Presence in their world by making My Figure stand out for them in the confusing maze of their experiential ground in each moment they dwell in temporary. I weave the Tapestry of Life Eternal for them each time they freely choose to receive My True Presence in the Eucharist.

An artist works on an empty canvas. In time with each stroke of the brush the masterpiece He/she views in his mind comes to life on that empty canvas. A sculptor does not see a block of marble. He/She envisions the masterpiece he wishes to create and then creates what he envisions with each stroke of his hammer on chisel. A composer uses blank paper to create the musical score he/she hears in his/her head. I do the same with the free will assent of each friend. Each "Yes" facilitates the creation of the person I have in My
Mind.

 Pause

 You are at Mass. I am alive on this altar.Say the Our Father. Ready yourself to receive My Heartbeat of Life Eternal in you. Ready yourself to be created anew in My Love at this very moment in temporary. Come. Receive My True Presence in the Eucharist. Let Me recreate you My Way physically, mentally and spiritually.

Pause

I do in you what I say in scripture. I make you Mine. What you receive is the Living Scripture about which theologians write volumes. No words can create what you receive. I alone create you anew in My Love physically, mentally and spiritually.

Rejoice! I am the Word Incarnate. What is written on your heart through these daily Eucharistic interactions is My Masterpiece of Love.

Jesus

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