Blessed Guerric of Igny (c.1080-1157)
Cistercian abbot
4th Sermon for Advent (SC 166, p.134)
"The voice of one crying out in the desert"
Brethren, before anything else we ought to reflect on the grace of solitude, the blessedness of the desert, which from the beginning of this time of salvation, has deserved to be consecrated to the peacefulness of the saints. Indeed, the desert was made holy for us by the voice of John, he who cried out in the desert, who preached there and administered the baptism of repentance. Even before him, the greatest of the prophets had always made a friend of solitude as being something that assisted the Spirit. However, an incomparably greater grace of holiness became attached to this place when Jesus followed John there. Before preaching to the repentant in his turn, Jesus considered he ought to prepare a place in which to receive them; he went into the desert for forty days so as to consecrate a new life in this renewed location… and this, not so much for his own sake as for those who would dwell in the desert afterwards.
So then, if you have decided on the desert, remain there and wait for him who will save you from your feebleness of spirit and the tempest… The Lord will satisfy there you who have followed him even more wonderfully than he satisfied the crowd who followed him into it (Lk 4:42) … At that very moment you imagine him to have long forsaken you, even then, mindful of his goodness, he will come to console you and will say: “I remember you, moved with pity for your youth and your first love, when you followed me in the desert,” (Jer 2:2). The Lord will turn your desert into a paradise of delights, while you will proclaim (like the prophet) that the glory of Lebanon has been given to him, the beauty of Carmel and Sharon (Is Is 35:2)… Then, from the fullness of your heart your hymn of praise will rise: “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his wondrous deeds to the children of men! He has satisfied the longing soul and filled the hungry soul with good things,” (Ps 107 [106]:8).
Daily Marriage Tip for January 2, 2019:
Little gestures go a long way: buying your spouse’s favorite treat, complimenting him or her, and so on. These are all simple ways of re-affirming your love and strengthening your bond with each other.