Pilgrim's Prayer (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, October 13, 2020, eve of feast day of Saint Kateri (above). Image from here.)

Pilgrim's Prayer

(a meditation on the Beatitudes,

Matthew 5:1-12)*

 

       Nothing is hidden from His sight. 

       He walks over tiny blades of grass 

       as easily as over cedars.

       He passes over grains of sand 

       as well as mountains. 

       Wherever you can step, 

       He has passed, 

       and in order to find Him 

       wherever you may be, 

       you have but to pursue Him 

       incessantly.**

By shattered step,               

                       heaven.

By sorrowed step, 

                       comfort.

By humble step,                     

                       inheritance.

By noble step,

                       fulfillment.

By generous step,

                       support.

By circling step,                 

                        vision.

By harmonious step,            

                       adoption.

By battered step,

                       heaven,

                 heart

           inconceivable

                 born.

                Amen.

*Many scripture scholars view "Blessed are" better translated as " "You're in the right place if" (Father Gregory Boyle, Tatoos on the Heart). A spiritual ladder for communion with God is another layer, each Beatitude/rung giving footing for the next. "Climbing the ladder of the Beatitudes is a daily task in which we often fail. Everytime you fall off, all you need to do is start again. While climbing, it helps to know the Beatitudes by heart and think about them often. Recite them as a prayer. Breathe them in and breathe them out. Recite them with your heart. Let them question you. Let them renew and reshape your life" (Jim Forest, Climbing the Ladder of the Beatitudes, here).

**Father J.P. Caussade (Self Abandonment to Divine Providence, book I chap. II; quote is adapted).