Meditation for the Monday after Pentecost: Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness better than light
Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness better than light. (S. John, ch. 3)
1 . Consider that this light which has come into the world is Jesus Christ, true sun of justice, who has enlightened men, not only by the preaching and by the instructions which he gave on earth, and that he left us in the Gospel, but even more particularly by the interior light of his Holy Spirit, which he communicates to us to make us capable of properly conceiving and understanding the supernatural truths that we are obliged to believe by the faith ; and this interior light is the second of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which we call the gift of understanding, because it opens our minds and facilitates our understanding of things which surpass the force of human reasoning.
Praise and bless the divine goodness for having thus provided for your weakness, and for having prepared you as a torch to enlighten your mind in the darkness of the mysteries which you must believe. Say to him with David: O Lord! give me this understanding, so that I may observe your law, and keep it engraved in my heart .
2 . Consider the great advantages which accrue to the virtuous soul from this gift of understanding; for, by this means, the Holy Spirit unfolds and shows him more openly the greatest mysteries of our faith; he discovers the completely divine excellence of the Christian religion; he makes known to him the beautiful order of all its parts, and even the justice and holiness of the ways of God in the conduct of his Faithful. It is by this gift that the simple, and those who are least versed in the human sciences, become capable of contemplating the highest truths of divine wisdom, and of conceiving very holy thoughts on all kinds of subjects.
May these considerations make you conceive a new esteem for this excellent gift, and a new desire to obtain it. Say with David: O Lord! How happy is the man whom you instruct and to whom you teach your law .
3 . Consider that there are two main ways to obtain in abundance this divine light and this gift of understanding.
The first is to have a lot of faith, and a very simple mind and very submissive to the truths that the Church teaches us; for in divine things, to hear well you must believe well, and as a prophet said, if you do not believe correctly, you will not persevere .
The second is to lower yourself before God by a profound annihilation of yourself,and walk in all your ways in a spirit of humility; for our Lord has declared in the Gospel, thatGod hides his secrets and his truths from the wise and prudent of the age, and he delights to reveal them to the small and humble .
PRACTICES
1° In asking the Holy Spirit, ask again for his gifts, more precious than all treasures.
2° Be humble and small before God, so that his Spirit rests on you.
(Meditation taken from The Crown of the Christian Year )