TEMPERANCE OF THE SOUL

TEMPERANCE OF THE SOUL 

The soul is the keeper of all our works—an archive library of one’s journey through life. Of all that passes through and accumulates, spiritual love is the sentiment that creates its lining; the substance that dwells within aspires to a higher level, which the Lord captivates, and nourishes one’s heart to express itself in growing compassion. For compassion is a giving of oneself, to complement an inner calling of spiritual awareness to another: a freedom of love, a gesture to encourage and to administer to the needs of others. The melting heart registers its works through the soul, and reaches inward for direction and guidance; for the Lord’s house within our self is the spark which ignites mercy, compassionate giving, and inspires the heart for action. 

Of those we meet on our journey, we inhale the ripples of their presence and formulate a sense of need. For all those we meet, all have needs; most important is the need of hope, of love, of support, of caring; one must fill the void of hopelessness and restore the avenue of faith, penetrating the emptiness of those lost and inflicted. 

Within the soul, the Holy Spirit is continuously refining and prompting love to propel a stream of compassion to purify the heart and mind; for the thinker of the mind is unprepared, and expresses in terms of logic. The heart and soul are the expressers of fragrance and inner strength—the heart is the sensor; prayer, the builder; the Holy Spirit, the intercessor; the soul, the foundation. All work together, creating a reservoir of internal compassion. 

The richness of prayer enhances our level of compassion, giving way to new avenues of internal happiness. No prayer to the soul, is like no food to the body. One must be fed to live, to grow. So too, spiritual nourishment is the binder, from the heart to the soul. Like the farmer in the garden separating weeds from the plant, creating space to grow. A prayer in compassion, seeking wisdom and guidance, creates a separation from self desire to an intimate embrace with our Lord. It is this intimate embrace which formulates a dialogue and multiplies gestures of compassion. To have a compassionate heart in oneself and not administer or utilize its gifts, is a shortcoming to the soul. For gifts are gifts, to be re-given in thanksgiving. For what good is a treasure stored away, and not shared with anyone? What good is a talent or skill, showed to no one? What good is an orchestra, without the conductor to flow the musical melodies? For it is truth, found in the soul, that inspires goodness and caring, conditioning compassion to a crescendo. 

And of all this, the Eucharist is the anointer of compassionate love. This inner dwelling of love is a continuous churning of the Lord’s Presence: consoling, mellowing, building, maturing our faith, bringing the soul to a higher dimension. This new depth of understanding flourishes into the realm of passion for, here, this ultimate gift is a purification of compassionate love to its purest form. For this gift of passion has come forth from the Cross filling the soul with a sweet desire and will to serve the Lord. For this firmament of burning desire is the substance that heals the wounds of Christ. Meditating on the Lord’s passion and death, compassionating with this depth of desire is a grace which in turn becomes a passion, reverent and holy. For this is Christ’s Mercy of anointing mist, which falls upon our soul. This is the fragrance of the heavenly rose garden that allows us to take the Lord down from the Cross, taking out one nail at a time and gently nesting our Lord into the arms of His Mother. For here, in each soul, is the stain of this great sorrow, yet, unrecognized, unaddressed, by so many: the hammer and nails, piercing pain, all the blows, the stinging thorns, the rejections, torments, inflictions; for here in these moments, embracing this sorrowful passion, is our own personal wake with our Lord. This is the time for true personal sorrow. This is the time, when the frozen Tears on our Lord’s Face begin to melt—as compassionate love turns into passion. This is personal: this sorrowful reunion of inner passion with you, our Lord, and our Blessed Mother, is compassion, is mercy, is grace. This interaction of prayer, of meditation of the Eucharist, is a healing process from the Cross, to each soul. In each self, there is a journey yet to be made: a journey from here to there—a soul that sparkles casting out a shooting arc, going home, falling into the arms and heart of our Lord Jesus. 

Oh, how I desire You. Oh, how I long for You. Take me by the hand and raise me up to Thy Presence for I am Yours. Wrap me in Your cloak of compassion, for the tears of my soul have fallen upon Your Wounds—tears of compassion, tears of mercy, tears of burning passion. I am Yours.

Robert J Varrick

rjvarrick@gmail.com