The Divine Lamp

In my previous entry I said I would try and post my notes on Psalm 5 today; as it turns out, I already posted on the Psalm some time back but forgot to list it on my NOTES ON THE PSALMS PAGE (see link under blog header). So, in my quest to reproduce everything ever written on Psalm 1, I’d like to post the following meditation on that Psalm. It was produced by Father Ronald Knox, the famous convert/writer/Biblical Scholar.

Psalm 1. A Caution Against Worldliness.

First Point. The soul must, in its measure, retire into seclusion from the world. Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel, that is, according to the lights and standards, of their imperfect world around him; who has not voluntarily gone out of his way into sinful courses. But we must not be content with this, we must walk in the right way, not standing about irresolutely and parleying with sin, y encouraging occasions, evil imaginations ect. Nor must we even sit down, that is, sink into apathy about spiritual things and fall back into acquiescence with the promptings of our own nature; for ours is a fallen nature, and we have to flee from its indifference towards heaven as if from a spot contaminated by disease. The will must be trained by mortifications and conform itself to the higher law of grace; the mind must be schooled by meditation on the mysteries of the faith, alike in times of happiness and in times of distress, lest we should forget our high calling.

Second Point. Only the mortified life is fruitful. In nature itself, it is not the least tended trees that are the healthiest, the pollarded willow thrives from the very harshness of its treatment. And the mortified life is to be compared to such a tree, rooted in one spot and yet continually growing: it does not depend on accidents of rain and droughts, of happiness, that is, or of misfortune, because it is planted by the waters of God’s grace, flowing like a river, always the same yet always mysteriously fresh. Fed by such nourishment, it will bring forth the fruit of holiness in due season, when God sees fit and in the measure he ordains. This fruit of holiness is the only produce of it which matters in the light of eternity: but even the leaves, that is the outward and unessential part of our lives, our temporal happiness, will be blessed by God’s special favor; and the works we undertake in his honor will be prospered through his Providence, often beyond our knowing.

Third Point. The immortified life is sterile and transient. The mortified life is the seed which falls into the ground and, buried as it is, grows into a flourishing plant. The life of the worldly, for all its appearance of freedom. is like the chaff or dust which the wind scatters about, unstable in principle and barren of fruit. It is the stubble which, as St Paul tells us, will be burned in the fire of judgment. Already, St John warns us God’s fan is in his hand, and he will one day burn the chaff in unquenchable fire. Happy are we if we walk in the way of the just, over which, however perilous it may seem, the providence of God keeps a fatherly watch for our protection; if we turn our backs resolutely on the way of sinners, which leads over uncharted ground to the wilderness, the precipice, or the morass