The Night Visit

In the presence of the Blessed Sacrament
Prayer seems much easier. The words are clearer.
I come with a heart full but aprehensive, not really knowing
The right words to say. Kneeling before the
Tabernacle a heartfelt conversation
Finds a way to pour forth.

Communication is truest when there is
Reciprocity.  This much I know although
What my ears hear in this moment amounts only to silence.

Before arriving at the church I tell myself that
A long heart-to-heart conversation feels overdue.
Over the years the pages of my breviary have
Grown crumpled at the Invitatory and the morning
And evening canticles.  Yet I recall days when I owned no
Prayer book, only a heart longing to say O’ God
Hear the words of my longing.

It is you for whom I long await O’ Lord.
So I arrive at a dark and empty church. The door locked for the
Night.  I search for the right key in the darkness.  Finding it, I go to the 
Chapel and kneel before a candle lit stone Tabernacle, knowing
That within it lies a presence ready to greet me, and so I pour out
My heart the best I can in a fashion that I have grown to know
Somewhat less in the busyness of my life.

In the solitude I hear the unlocked door open and the sound of footsteps
Growing closer.  Looking up I recognize a familiar deacon who
Enters and offers a holy greeting. 

With the key to the Tabernacle in hand he removes
The monstrance which hold the Blessed Sacrament and places it in the open.

As I gaze upon the presence of God before me words flow easier and
I find the grace to whisper just what I need to say.  Effortlessly the words sound
More like the sentences of a devotion written a half-century past.
I leave with a sense of true reciprocity having occurred in the night visit.

Comments

[Carol]

Oh, just beautiful. And amen.