This brief essay presents a five-part contemplative and pastoral interpretation based on the Prologue to the Zohar, focusing on its implications for the life and spirituality of Hebrew Catholics. Drawing from mystical Judaism, Marian devotion, Luisa Piccarreta's Divine Will spirituality, and Catholic pastoral theology, this essay explores how the mystical symbols and insights of the Zohar may be lived in practical and transformative ways within the Body of Christ.
The Zohar, the foundational text of Jewish mysticism, begins with the evocative imagery of the rose and the layered petals of divine revelation. For the Hebrew Catholic, who walks the spiritual path of both Jewish memory and Catholic fulfillment, the mystical depths of the Zohar offer fertile ground for reflection, formation, and contemplative living in the Divine Will. This essay draws together five layers of pastoral and mystical reflection on the Zohar Prologue, correlating them with Divine Will spirituality, Marian contemplation, the teachings of Pope Francis on mercy and love, and the writings of Luisa Piccarreta.
The Zohar opens with a meditation on the rose that blossoms among thorns, an image traditionally identified with Israel and the Shekhinah — the divine presence in exile. This opening symbol provides an immediate resonance for Hebrew Catholics, who experience themselves as both within the thorny history of Jewish exile and as a mystical rose blooming in the heart of the Catholic Church.
From a pastoral standpoint, this image encourages spiritual direction and community formation that honors Jewish roots while nurturing a Catholic flowering. It invites the Hebrew Catholic to see their unique vocation not as marginal or confused, but as a visible flowering of divine mystery within the universal Church.
"As a rose among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters" (Song of Songs 2:2), is reinterpreted by the Zohar as the community of Israel (Zohar I:1a).
The contemplative Marian dimension is vital in deepening the mystical reading of the Zohar. Our Lady is not only the rose but the one who bears within her the total flowering of God's Will. In Divine Will spirituality, especially as articulated by Luisa Piccarreta, Mary is the creature who most perfectly lived in the Divine Will (outside the Incarnational Circle of Yeshua, Our Lady and Joseph), becoming the New Garden, the true Tabernacle.
In pastoral application, Hebrew Catholics are encouraged to unite their lives with Our Lady’s Fiat, seeing in her both the embodiment of Israel’s longing and the Church’s perfection. This calls for a spirituality of interior silence, attentiveness, and surrender — qualities modeled in Mary’s contemplative pondering of the Word (see Luke 2:19).
See Luisa Piccarreta, The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will (San Giovanni Rotondo: Centro del Volontariato della Divina Volontà, 1996).
Pope Francis has insisted that the heart of pastoral ministry is love and mercy. This emphasis mirrors the mystical yearning of the Zohar, where divine radiance is seen as compassionate overflow. For Hebrew Catholics, the intersection of mystical longing and pastoral presence is especially poignant.
Spiritual leaders must accompany with tenderness, help souls interpret their unique journey, and model the embrace of the Merciful Father. The rose cannot bloom without warmth. The petals of the Hebrew Catholic identity must be unfurled in a Church that sees, welcomes, and blesses.
See Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013), nos. 24, 127.
Luisa Piccarreta's image of the "mystical bucket" offers a powerful metaphor for contemplative co-creation in the Divine Will. Just as a soul lowers the bucket into the well of Divine Life, so too does it draw up grace not only for itself but for all creation.
In light of the Zohar's imagery of the supernal river and creative speech, this becomes a key insight for the Hebrew Catholic: we are not passive recipients of tradition but active participants in its renewal. Each act done in the Divine Will becomes a word of creative blessing spoken into the cosmos.
see Luisa Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Vol. 11 (April 10, 1916).
The Zohar's question in Prologue 7–10 — "Who created these?" (mi bara eleh) — invites a shift from creation as event to creation as ongoing identity. In Divine Will spirituality, every act of love, offered in union with God, becomes part of the eternal creative act.
Pastorally, this means helping souls to see themselves not merely as individuals seeking salvation, but as letters in a living Torah, unrolling within the heart of God. The Hebrew Catholic, standing at the crossroads of Testaments, may be especially poised to embody this "new scroll," drawing from both the covenant of Sinai and the covenant of the Eucharist.
Zohar I:2a; see also Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (New York: Schocken, 1995), pp. 157–162.
Conclusion: A Living Rose in the Heart of the Church
The Zohar, when read in the light of Divine Will and Christian mystery, becomes not merely a mystical text but a pastoral guide. For the Hebrew Catholic, it affirms identity, vocation, and co-creative participation in God's redemptive plan.
In Our Lady Miriam haKedosha, the rose of Nazareth, and in the Messiah, the Word made flesh, the petals of Jewish mysticism and Catholic fulfillment unite. Through the Divine Will, each soul may learn to bloom in its own time, pouring forth fragrance into the garden of the world.
References
Piccarreta, Luisa. The Book of Heaven. San Giovanni Rotondo: Centro del Volontariato della Divina Volontà.
Piccarreta, Luisa. The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. San Giovanni Rotondo: Centro del Volontariato della Divina Volontà, 1996.
Pope Francis. Evangelii Gaudium. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013.
Scholem, Gershom. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism. New York: Schocken, 1995.
Zohar. Sefer ha-Zohar [The Book of Radiance], Prologue 1–10.
Personal reflections from the blog "Marian Zohar" (https://marianzohar.blogspot.com/).