Last week, Bishop Barron commented on the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, saying that the oil in their lamps was prayer, study, and the Eucharist, habits and fortifications built up over a lifetime, which cannot be shared at the last minute with others. As this terrible storm (Hurricane Ida) approached the Louisiana coast yesterday, I was reminded of his words.
Padre Pio once said, "I shudder to think of the harm done to souls by a lack of spiritual reading." A friend of mine recently locked into Father Mike Schmidt's Bible in a Year broadcast available through Ascension Press. For 20 minutes a day, she blocks out everything else, puts in her earbuds, and just enjoys Fr. Schmidt's commentary. Sometimes she deliberately goes a day or more without listening just so she does not have to stop the broadcast after the daily segment. It reminds me of watching episodes of Downton Abby a few years ago. The feeling of agh! when the episode ends makes you anticipate the next episode all week. Her plan is that when the year's cycle comes to an end, she will begin it all over again -- now that she understands the Bible, she really wants to dig into it more deeply.
As someone who has read and studied the Bible for over 44 years now, I am so happy that she had caught the fever. The more you read, the more you understand; the more you understand, the richer the Word becomes, ministering daily, monthly, yearly to your spirit like water in a dry and thirsty land.
Recently, when I was grieving for a couple of weeks because we may have to leave this house I love so much and move to a smaller place, the words from Jeremiah 29:11 suddenly came into my spirit: For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future, and not to harm you. I realized then that God has always led me into green pastures and beside still waters, that He has always given me good things, and that I needed to trust Him to continue doing the same in the future.
It is passages like this that come to me when I most need them that provide oil to my lamp and keep it burning. There are so many events in my life where the Word of God came as a living word, sharper than a two-edged sword, and brought me peace and courage. One time, when I was out walking, a strange dog came at me aggressively. Immediately, I heard, "Stand still, and you will see the deliverance of God." I immediately calmed down, stood very still, and the dog backed off. A minor incident, but the greater ones are too long to talk about here.
When faced with a Category 4 hurricane, I grieve for those who have no reserve peace and backup assurance from Scripture to help them face the catastrophe. I would give them some of my oil if I could, but when there is no carved-out space, no meditative rumination on the word within us, someone else's lamp oil sounds like hollow platitudes. It just doesn't keep our lamps burning.
For those who just cannot get into Scripture (it's almost impossible without the Holy Spirit), almost any spiritual reading will break the hard ground of our hearts. Almost anything! I think in my earliest days, I started reading Corrie TenBoom books, and I asked myself, "How do I get from where I am today to where she is today?" I would never venture to say that I have come to her level of trust in God, but reading her stories started me on the way, and I am most grateful for that journey!
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