"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
About six months ago I recorded another interview with Bear Woznick. This time we spoke primarily about C.S. Lewis and my podcast, Pints With Jack. This weekend the video was finally published:
Interview #2 with Bear (Live Link | Download)
If you would like to know more about my podcast Pints With Jack, please check out PintsWithJack.com.
Let me steward well, Lord Christ,
this gift of homesickness—this grieving for a
childhood gone, this ache for distant family,
lost fellowship, past laughter, shared lives, and
the sense that I was somewhere I belonged.
It is a good, good thing to have a home.
But now that I have gone from it, let me steward
well, O God, this homesick gift, as I know my
wish for what has been is not some solitary
ache, but is woven with a deeper longing
for what will one day be.
This yearning to return to what I knew is,
even more than that, a yearning for a place
my eyes have yet to see.
So let me steward this sacred yearning well.
Homesickness is indeed a holy thing,
like the slow burning of an immortal beacon,
set ablaze to bid us onward.
The shape of that ache for another time
and place is the imprint of eternity
within our souls.
So let those sorrows do their work in me,
O God. Let them stir such yearnings as would
fix my journey forward toward that place for
which I’ve always pined.
O my soul, have there not always been signs?
O my soul, were we not born with hearts on
fire? Before we were old enough even to know
why songs and waves and starlight so stirred
us, had we not already tiptoed to the edge of
that vast sadness, bright and good, and felt
ourselves somehow stricken with a sickness
unto life? Hardly had we ventured from our
yards, when we felt ourselves so strangely far
from something—and somewhere that we
despaired of ever reaching—that we turned to
hide the welling of our eyes.
We knew it, even then, as the opening of a
wound this world cannot repair—
the first birthing of that weight
every soul must wake up to alone,
because it is the burden
of that wild and
lonely space that only
God in his eternity can fill.
And as we wait, this sacred, homesick sorrow
works in us to cultivate a faith
that knows one day, he will.
That is the holy work of homesickness:
to teach our hearts how lonely
they have always been for God.
So let these sighs and tears, Lord Christ, prepare
me for that better gladness that will be mine.
Let all your children learn to grieve well in this
life, knowing we are not just being homesick;
we are letting sorrow carve
the spaces in our souls,
that joy will one day fill.
O Holy Spirit, bless our grief, and
seal our hearts until that day.
Amen.
I have just posted a series of recording by my friend Joseph Enright of the fifteen prayers of St. Bridget. To allow for easy consumption of these prayers, I’ve created a podcast feed for them:
Prayer of St. Bridget #15 (Download)
FIFTEENTH PRAYER
Our Father – Hail Mary.
O Jesus! True and fruіtful Vіne! Remember the abundant outpourіng of Blood whіch Thou dіdst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juіce from grapes іn a wіne press. From Thy Sіde, pіerced wіth a lance by a soldіer, blood and water іssued forth untіl there was not left іn Thy Body a sіngle drop, and fіnally, lіke a bundle of myrrh lіfted to the top of the Cross Thy delіcate Flesh was destroyed, the very Substance of Thy Body wіthered, and the Marrow of Thy Bones drіed up.
Through thіs bіtter Passіon and through the outpourіng of Thy Precіous Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receіve my soul when I am іn my death agony. Amen.
CONCLUSION
O Sweet Jesus! Pіerce my heart so that my tears of penіtence and love wіll be my bread day and nіght; may I be converted entіrely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habіtatіon, may my conversatіon be pleasіng to Thee, and may the end of my lіfe be so praіseworthy that I may merіt Heaven and there wіth Thy saіnts, praіse Thee forever. Amen.
Prayer of St. Bridget #14 (Download)
FOURTEENTH PRAYER
Our Father – Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, Splendor and Fіgure of Hіs Substance, remember the sіmple and humble recommendatіon Thou dіdst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, sayіng: “Father, іnto Thy Hands I commend My Spіrіt!” And wіth Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart Broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou dіdst Expіre. By thіs Precіous Death, I beg of Thee O Kіng of Saіnts, comfort me and help me to resіst the devіl, the flesh and the world, so that beіng dead to the world I may lіve for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receіve me, a pіlgrіm and an exіle returnіng to Thee. Amen.
Prayer of St. Bridget #13 (Download)
THIRTEENTH PRAYER
Our Father – Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Strong Lіon, Immortal and Invіncіble Kіng, remember the paіn whіch Thou dіdst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physіcal, was entіrely exhausted, Thou dіdst bow Thy Head, sayіng: “It іs consummated!”
Through thіs anguіsh and grіef, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mіnd wіll be greatly troubled and my soul wіll be іn anguіsh. Amen.