It is by union with his will that one enjoys and possesses God, and it is an illusion to seek for that enjoyment by any other means. The will of God is the universal means. This means does not belong to this or that method, but it has the virtue of sanctifying all methods and special calls.
The past must be left to God’s measureless mercy, the future to his loving providence; and the present must be given wholly to his love through our fidelity to his grace.
Let us understand clearly that we shall not acquire true conformity to the will of God until we are perfectly resolved to serve him according to his will and pleasure, and not according to our own.
If you are docile to the inspirations of God’s spirit, you will take care not to make your advancement depend on the warmth and sensible sweetness of your interior impressions. The divine Spirit will, on the contrary, make you esteem rather his almost imperceptible operations, for the more delicate and profound they are, the more divine they are and so much more removed from the impressions of the senses.
We only know perfectly what experience has taught us through suffering and action. Experience is the school of the Holy Spirit who speaks to the heart words of life, and all that we say to others should come from this source.
The doctrine of pure love can only be learnt by God’s action, not by any effort of our own spirit.
Let us be truly humble and occupied in the correction of our faults, and we shall not think much about those of other people. Let us see Jesus Christ in all our neighbours, and we shall not find it hard to excuse them, to endure and cherish them. Let us turn our quick temper on to the task of glorifying God in ourselves and in those whose confidence he gives us. For the rest, let us charitably endure ourselves as it is our duty to endure others.
It is the secret method of divine wisdom to impoverish the senses while enriching the heart, so that the latter is filled in proportion to the painful emptiness that the former experience.
God instructs the heart not by means of ideas, but by pains and contradictions.
God does not demand their labour; he desires that their goodwill should be united to him that he may lead and direct them, and favour them in proportion to the intensity of that union.
In one word, the soul is active as far as it is concerned with its present duty, but passive and abandoned as regards all the rest, where its only action is to await in peace the divine motion.These perpetual alternations of light and darkness, of consolation and desolation, are as useful, I should say as indispensable, for the growth and ripening of virtue in our souls, as the atmospheric changes are for the growth and ripening of the harvests.
As it is fire and not the philosophy or scientific knowledge of fire that warms us, so it is the will and designs of God that produce sanctity in our souls and not intellectual speculation about this principle and its effects. If we wish to quench our thirst, we must lay aside books which explain thirst, and take a drink.
We must put speculation on one side, and with simplicity drink everything that God’s designs present to us in actions and sufferings. What happens to us each moment by God’s design is for us the holiest, best and most divine thing.
The revelation of the present moment is more useful because it is addressed personally to us.
Perfection does not consist in understanding God’s designs but in submitting to them
Let your own motto be: have patience, and let God do the work. For, when all is said, you can do no other. Yours is merely to say: ‘I adore and resign myself; may your will be done.’
The wisdom of the simple soul consists in contenting itself with its own business, in keeping to the limits of its own path, in not overstepping its bounds.You have ever to love and esteem as best what is present to you, with perfect confidence in God’s action which cannot of itself do you anything but good.
Things often go perfectly and then I return thanks to God for it. But sometimes everything goes wrong and then I bless him for that also and offer it as a sacrifice.
The one thing necessary is always to be found by the soul in the present moment. There is no need to choose between prayer and silence, privacy or conversation, reading or writing, reflection or the abandonment of thought, the frequentation or avoidance of spiritual people, abundance or famine, illness or health, life or death; the one thing necessary is what each moment produces by God’s design.
The present moment is the manifestation of the name of God and the coming of his kingdom
Ask God to help you to acquire the solid virtues that please the divine Lover: self-abnegation, humility, patience, gentleness, obedience, charity and the endurance of your neighbour.
The great principle of the interior life lies in peace of the heart: it must be preserved with such care that the moment it is in danger everything else should be abandoned for its reestablishment.
At frequent intervals repeat interiorly: ‘Lord, have pity upon me; with you all things are possible.’ There is nothing better or more simple than this; nothing more is needed to call forth his powerful help. Hold powerfully to these practices and inclinations. God will do the rest without your perceiving it.
You seem equally ignorant of this great principle, that usually more progress is made by suffering than by acting, and that to take things patiently is to do a great deal, and especially to be patient with oneself.
No comments:
Post a Comment