This session covered aspects of Julian’s positive and pastoral theology.
“I saw Everlasting certainty powerfully sustained without any fear… at peace and rest… then my mind turned and I was disgusted with myself. I could go on in faith, hope and charity, but feel them so little.”
“God keeps us safe in sorrow and joy. . . and sin is not always the cause . . . but both came from one love.”
It was suggested that where Julian is positive about curiosity, Thomas Aquinas wasn’t (I think this thought does not ring true and needs a lot more work on it to justify it). If one can’t see the Summa as an exercise in curiosity from one of the greatest minds ever to exist in the universe, then I don’t know what to say!
Julian: “Fullness of joy is to see God in everything.”
Marjorie Kempe was a contemporary of Julian and visited her and wrote to her.
In one letter Marjorie laments at the end of a thought about sin: “Alas that I ever did sin. It is full merry in heaven.”
This is insightful because of the way this perspective compares with Julian.
Julian said there are Three Knowledges:
Julian of Norwich (1342-1430) ‘Love was His meaning’
The metaphors flood the imagination as Julian describes the blood flowing/pouring from Christ’s head as He hung on the Cross.
Beads; Herring scales; Rain drops.
What are we to make of this?
Does Julian revel or even enjoy seeing/describing this event?
Julian asks a question after reflection, that is meant to take one by surprise: ‘What is sin?’
Does your mind leap from one thing to another?
Has your mind made yet another leap since you started reading?
Have you often found yourself restless in prayer?
Not quite like going cold-turkey from a busy life, but not far off either!
Is it a triumph when concentration exceeds 20 seconds?
Do the thoughts of what needs doing cruise through your mind like an F1 racing car?
Or do they meandre like a cow slowly chewing the cud?
Julian of Norwich (1342-1430) ‘Love was His meaning’
Julian of Norwich has a shorter and a longer text, written 20 years apart.
These texts cover both the cognitive (ideas) and the visual (pictorial), showing she doesn’t just “paint” a picture, she develops its meaning.
She prayed for three graces:
She gets sick aged 30 and genuinely believes that she will die… When her priest comes in, she sees “the light of the crucifix for all mankind.”
Julian of Norwich (1342-1430) ‘Love was His meaning’
Three encounters:
Pastoral ministry is not “helping people”, but attending to what matters most to people.
