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"Life, Love, & Light" with Veronica Mary Rolf
In the FIRST SEASON of "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts, we delve into the wisdom of the beloved medieval mystic, JULIAN OF NORWICH, to discover how her "Revelations of Divine Love" may inspire, encourage, and guide us on our own spiritual path. The first episode is entitled "Sheltering in Place" and introduces Julian of Norwich, an enclosed anchorite who received sixteen Revelations of Divine Love and heard Christ tell her: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and thou shalt see thyself that all manner of thing shall be well." The season includes twenty-five episodes with Guided Meditations following each episode. In the SECOND SEASON, we meet a fascinating variety of Old and New Testament BIBLICAL MYSTICS. We discover men and women who faced major challenges and crises in their lives, made some really big mistakes, were forgiven, received mystical revelations, and then dared to act on those revelations. Their stories may become powerful inspirations in our own time of crisis, fear, and uncertainty. In the THIRD SEASON, we discuss THE MYSTICAL PATH and consider what is involved in following such a path – not only through the practice of contemplative prayer – but in every aspect of our daily lives. We explore the three stages of the mystical path and discuss how to deal with distractions, dullness, and agitation in order to focus on silence, stillness, and surrender, toward a deeper union with God. In the Guided Meditations, we practice becoming aware of thoughts, emotions, and memories that arise, without becoming attached to them. In the FOURTH SEASON, we delve into the all-important but rarely discussed topic of Resurrection, based on my recent award winning book, "LIVING RESURRECTED LIVES: WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT MATTERS," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD. In the first episode -- entitled "What is Resurrection?" -- we consider ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Hebrew ideas about the afterlife: what it was, what it was not. Then we examine biblical references to life after death in the psalms, prophets, apocalyptic literature, and the Book of Wisdom. Following episodes examine the four biblical accounts of Christ's resurrection to discover the bedrock of Christian belief in bodily resurrection. We also consider how we may begin living resurrected lives even now, as sons and daughters of the resurrection. At this time of great disharmony, fear, crisis, and suffering in our world, one thing remains certain: The love of God is everlasting. PLEASE SHARE these "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts. They are available on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, and all the major directories as well as on https://lifelovelight.buzzsprout.com/. Podcaster VERONICA MARY ROLF is a medieval scholar, retreat leader, and master teacher of dramatic arts. She is the author of "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters" (Cascade Books, 2020), co-authored with Eva Natanya, PhD, which won a 2021 Catholic Media Association Book Award for Spirituality, and "Suddenly There is God: The Story of Our Lives in Sacred Scripture" (Cascade Books, 2019), which won a 2020 Catholic Media Association Book Award for Scripture. She is also the author of "An Explorer's Guide to Julian of Norwich" (IVP Academic, 2018) and "Julian's Gospel: Illuminating the Life and Revelations of Julian of Norwich" (Orbis Books, 2013), which have won numerous awards, including a First Place Catholic Media Association Book Award and the Nautilus Gold Medal for Spirituality. Veronica blogs on two websites: www.VeronicaMaryRolf.com and www.JuliansVoice.com.
"Life, Love, & Light" with Veronica Mary Rolf
Night of the Soul
In this Good Friday episode of our "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts, we consider the dark "night of the soul" that every mystic must endure on the Path of Illumination. We relate this dark night to the passion of Jesus Christ. We reflect on the words of the beloved medieval mystic, Julian of Norwich, as she describes her visions of Christ's sufferings -- the most graphic account of the passion in all medieval literature. We hear Julian speak of Christ's "precious plenty of his dearworthy blood" that flows from his body and is "ready to wash all creatures of sin who are of good will, have been, and shall be." She describes the drying and the dying of his body as well as his intense "thirst." Julian reveals that Christ's pain became her pain as she suffered with him on the cross. And she understands that Christ took on the pain of all human beings who ever lived and that in his "failing" all creation failed "out of "sorrow for his pains."
At one point, the suffering that Julian sees is so excruciating that she is tempted to look away from the cross. She longs to fly up to heaven. But she realizes that only in the cross of Christ is there safety and salvation. She makes the courageous decision not to turn away from the dark night of the cross, but to endure it as long as necessary and to choose Jesus to be her heaven. Julian understands that the love of Christ for souls is so strong that he willfully chose his cross “with great desire, and patiently suffered it with great joy." This is an astounding insight that cuts through and completely transforms Julian’s personal pain at watching Christ suffer. She is convinced that any soul that is “touched by grace” to meditate on the cross shall see all pains “turned into everlasting joy by virtue of Christ’s passion.”
Julian’s Revelations on the passion give us clear insight into how we may endure our own darkest nights of soul (and body) on the mystical path. We may choose, like Julian, not to avoid or escape the suffering, however painful and long it may be, but to take it into our daily meditation practice and release the thoughts and emotions bound up with our suffering. We may wish to become more intimately united to Christ in his suffering as he is with ours. And we may pray never, ever to turn away and abandon him at the foot of his cross. Or our own.
PLEASE SHARE these podcasts with family and friends who may be enduring their own dark night of the soul, their own time of great trial, and who would be greatly reassured by Julian's Revelations. Many blessings of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday to all!