Let us overflow with respect and love for one another

[Speaking of war]

"Moreover, in the hearts of those whom it unites, camaraderie arouses and nourishes two very strong feelings: a sense of empathy, accompanied by an instinct of devotion.

Without realizing it comrades who suffer from the same burden empathize with one another. Precisely because empathy is a form of charity, it generates spontaneous reflexes of devotion - sometimes even heroic devotion - that lead comrades to rescue one another. Moreover, since war is the harshest collective ordeal, it gives rise to the most ardent and enduring camaraderie. Comrades love one another strongly because they suffer intensely. Absorbed in distress, differences apparent in civilian life disappear. There remain only human beings, equally hurt in their innermost sensitivities and equally exposed to the same serious threats, as together they strive for the same goal. Their union grows deeper in this communion with the same ordeal.

We are now living through such months of ordeal! Therefore, let us overflow with this strong spirit of true camaraderie, which teaches us to respect one another, to love one another, and to help one another for the rest of our lives."

-- Fr Jaques of Jesus, ocd

Cited in Père Jacques: Resplendent in Victory by Francis Murphy, SJ

Your heart communicates directly with the Heart of Christ in the blissful adoration of simple regard

"We cannot see Christ and remain as we are. We cannot exchange a look with Christ and not be overcome with a total conversion.

This is what I would like to help you to do: to lead you to Christ so that you might, in the silence of retreat, exchange that glance with Christ; a true, living, and real contact that is not the fruit of the imagination, but rather reaches the heart of things as they are. Christ is a living being who is here, there, and everywhere. To see Christ, we must become poor. Riches drag down the soul. One has to become small in stature, that is, detached from the goods of this world, for such riches foster earthly desires. As you are well aware, Saint john of the Cross warns: ”Whether one is attached to earth by a silken thread or a old cable, the result is the same: one cannot soar to the heights.” One attachment, however small, that violates obedience, poverty, or chastity, and draws us away from God, may be nothing by worldly standards. Nonetheless, that attachment comes between God and ourselves and impedes our ascent toward sanctity.

Christ is all in all. Through him, all is made; through him all comes to us. Therefore, we must see Christ. I stress this point; we must truly see Christ. I sometimes think that we should define the term Christian as “Someone who has seen Christ.” There are only a few genuine Christians, because only a few souls have seen Christ. Countless baptized persons, including even ordained priests and professed religious, remain lukewarm in spirit. Such tepid souls do not pulsate with life nor are they enthusiastic enough to give their life for Christ. They have never seen Christ. Their knowledge of the Lord is verbal, not vital. However, we must strive to love Christ passionately and prepare to see him face to face when we die. The soul that neither misses Christ now nor longs to see him at life’s end does not honestly love him. To make such a claim would be a lie. When we love someone, we long to see that person, even at the risk of death. All the more so, given him limitless love, we want to long to see Christ face to face.

Let us now turn our attention to Saint John of the Cross. In his splendid writings, he explains how the person who loves God gradually pierces the veil that keeps us from seeing the Lord. Eventually, the moment comes, when that veil is totally sundered and the person goes forth to our beloved God.

When I speak of seeing Christ, I mean the mysterious, misty vision of faith, which is the fruit of the prayer of simple regard and not the result of any activity on our part. I mean the experience of being “swept up” by Christ himself. When we have diligently devoted ourselves to charity, obedience, service, and self-control, and when Christ has seen the constancy of our commitment, then he himself comes to us. On that day, we become enveloped in the divine being and ecstatically discover the presence of God himself. We know that the Lord is there. He speaks to us, but not in words. The human heart communicates directly with the heart of Christ in the blissful adoration of simple regard. This heartfelt vision of Christ compels the soul so to love Christ and so to make him loved that nothing else on earth can inspire greater love than the Lord. Wealth then is as nothing and poverty is prized precisely because is allows us greater intimacy with Christ. No other comfort, no other countenance and no other solace suffices. Christ alone provides satisfaction.

How glorious is this intimacy with Christ!"

-- Listen to the Silence: A Retreat with Père Jaques edited by Francis J Murphy

Let us seek to realize that we truly can be in contact with God

"Only with deepest humility can we recognize how far we are from our goal. Only those souls who have attained a lofty level of holiness can truly acknowledge how far they still are from their total fulfillment. For example, the Curé of Ars considered himself more wretched than the notorious sinners to whom he ministered. He realized that many of these fallen souls, had they received the same graces that he had received, would perhaps surpass him in holiness. Only with humility can we recognize the torpor of our love.

Prayer is our primary duty. Prayer is the reason why God has placed us on earth. We learn truly to prayer, when we are in the presence and company of Christ. Therefore, we must contemplate Christ for long periods of a time and seek him out persistently. Consider those closest to Christ. Saint John the Apostle grasped what was indispensable for a clear understanding of his master. John never tired of probing and querying Christ. We can see how John thus gained richer insights and fuller explanations, precisely because he went to the bother of approaching and asking Christ to clarify each day's lesson. I picture John, walking close behind Christ, as he made his way about the Holy Land. Thus, John came to gain a wealth of intimate knowledge, which the other apostles did not acquire. Herein lies the explanation for the special character of the fourth Gospel. While the other apostles traveled across the then known world on their missionary journeys, John's unique apostolate was to remain close to the Virgin Mary, whom Christ had entrusted to him. Thus were these two great souls conjoined in love and prayer!

In silent solitude, let us seek to realize that we truly can be in contact with God. It is God whom we should aim to encounter in prayer. It is God who is both the breath and the fulfillment of our life." -- Ven Jacques of Jesus, ocd

-- Listen to the Silence: A Retreat with Père Jacques translated and edited by Francis J Murphy

Our embrace of God will be in accordance with our embrace of his will...

"Here then (...) is the fruit of Christ's prayer. Because he contemplates as any other human being and because His prayer is a constant heart-to-heart communication with God - or more precisely, a dwelling in God - it is a total and immensely heroic obedience. He has one care only: to obey God. He is rooted in obedience as faithfully as he is rooted in prayer.

We follow the opposite path. Christ started out from contemplation to come to the perfection of obedience. We must start out from the perfection of obedience to arrive at contemplation. This is the reverse route we must follow. In the depths of our being, our prayer is worth what our obedience is worth. Our embrace of God will be in accordance with our embrace of his will...

Let us consider, then, what constituted this profound prayer in the soul of Christ. Let us contemplate the great mysteries of the Beatific Vision and the Hypostatic Union. Let us go to work courageously to welcome God within us, so that we can know the immense nourishment to be derived from constant, deep prayer. We will reach out for this prayer with humility and obedience. To understand happiness for the presence of God and to have a foretaste of heaven here below, let us take the necessary steps, while repeating the words found in our Office: 'Taste and see the goodness of the Lord' [Ps 34:9]. May we experience the truth of his words and may we likewise know the road that leads to him."

-- Fr Jaques of Jesus, ocd
Cited in Père Jacques: Resplendent in Victory by Francis Murphy, SJ

Though Fr Jacques was addressing discalced nuns, his counsel of obedience applies to all. Obedience to whom, you may ask. Obedience to parents, obedience to superiors (ie, spiritual directors), obedience to the Magisterium of the Church. We may disagree with something, perhaps due to a lack of understanding or ignorance, but humble submission in a spirit of faith will bring us closer to Christ, help us grow in virtue. Moral theologians teach that unless we're asked to do something that is obviously a sin (ie, against Church teaching), we should be obedient to the best of our abilities. Look at Christ, already a grown man and God in the flesh, and He obeyed His Mother when she asked Him for help when the newly wed couple at Cana ran out of wine. And Denis the Carthusian said: "If you are doubtful whether a command is contrary to the law of God you should follow the command of your director because even if it is against the law of God, the one who obeys does not sin." It's not easy to be obedient, but we must try to be so, and ask for the virtue of obedience.

In difficult times, trust in God

"This is how God works:

when the soul believes

it no longer has anything to give,

He then also asks for everything!

saying: "This soul will she

hold on to end?"

... And when he sees that it remains faithful

against all odds,

it continues to serve Him, to love,

it accepts all undismayed,

then there it is, if I may say so,

the consolation of God!"

«C'est ainsi que Dieu agit:

quand l'âme croit

ne plus avoir rien à donner,

Il demande encore cela, puis cela, tout !

se disant: «Cette âme tiendra-t-elle

jusqu'au bout?»

...Et quand il voit qu'elle demeure fidèle

envers et contre tout,

qu'elle continue à Le servir, à l'aimer,

qu'elle accepte tout sans se laisser abattre,

alors, c'est là, si je puis m'exprimer ainsi,

la consolation de Dieu!»

-- Père Jacques of Jesus, ocd

Believe without reservation and trust in His mercy

You cannot make an act more pleasing to God than to absolutely believe, without reserve, in His kindness, in His love, that you trust in His mercy. That is what glorifies Him the most! Trust in His Court, in His good Heart.

Vous ne pouvez pas faire d'acte plus agréable à Dieu que de croire absolument, sans réserve, à sa bonté, à son amour, que de vous confier en sa miséricorde. C'est cela qui le glorifie le plus ! Confiez-vous à Son Cour, à Son bon Coeur.

-- Père Jacques of Jesus, ocd

N.B. Not on the Eucharist, but still a wonderful thought by Père Jacques that would make a nice holy card.

The Eucharist - mystery of love

O my Christ,

Communion,

Is the mystery of Your love,

Is life for souls,

Is the sure salvation for those who

Understand and receive It.

Therefore place in my mind,

Fervent and clear thoughts,

Put on my lips ardent and

Enlightening words,

That I may illumine all these souls,

That I may enkindle in them

Love for Your divine Sacrament;

And that in them, your work

Of transformation may be fulfilled.

-- Père Jaques of Jesus, ocd

You truly carry Christ within you

"There is so much I still have to say to you about Christ, especially about his Incarnation for us in the Eucharist. The Word Incarnate is always there for us in the Eucharist. This overpowering mystery allows the unworthy hands of the priest to hold the same body of Christ that the Virgin Mary held in her arms and pressed to her heart. Yet it is the same Christ! The priest takes Christ in his hands and gives him to others! When you receive him, you are like the Virgin Mary during the months she carried her child. You truly carry Christ within you and want to be absorbed in profound thanksgiving. You carry him living within you! How necessary is silence so that the Holy Spirity can reveal to us the grandeur of this mystery."

-- Fr Jaques of Jesus, ocd

Cited in Père Jacques: Resplendent in Victory by Francis Murphy, SJ

Replenish your spirit in silence and solitude

“The one, authentic Carmel consists of a quiet, uninterrupted conversation with God. That is the true Carmel that our Carmelite forebears sought. We can neither find nor embrace God, just as we cannot sit at his feet in order to gaze lovingly upon him, if we are immersed in noise and activity. We cannot hear the voice of God, who speaks without words, except in silence.

Consider the example of our spiritual father, Elijah. Note these eagerness with which he returned from his apostolic activities to his beloved cave at Carmel. It was solitude that he sought in order to replenish his spirit through silent intimacy with God.

Likewise, consider Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. The need for silence and solitude burned within her.

We, too, submitted to that deep spiritual impulse on the day God touched our life, perhaps after receiving Communion or during an hour of deep prayer. At that moment we felt, understood, and lived the truth that God is not a word, but rather a living being, who envelops us. He made us aware in the depths of our souls that this first living personal contact was with the very being of God.

Do you remember the instructions of our holy father Saint John of the Cross, when he depicted Carmel using the symbol of a mountain? At the summit, he put the goal of our life; he mapped our the withdrawal from the world that we must undertake to arrive at this point of all-embracing union with God. In the middle was a steep path; on each side, he sketched the easier routes, which were makeshift and incomplete. Then, between them, with a quick stroke, he drew an exacting road on which one hears the refrain 'Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing but God alone.'

A person doe not withdraw to Carmel because of weariness, or to know tranquility, or to live a mediocre life, or to flee the cares of keeping a home and family, or to have a more comfortable existence. One comes here because she is athirst for God, because she desires to find God and to reveal God to the whole world.” -- Ven Jacques of Jesus, ocd

-- Listen to the Silence: A Retreat with Père Jaques edited by Francis J Murphy

You truly carry Christ within you

"There is so much I still have to say to you about Christ, especially about his Incarnation for us in the Eucharist. The Word Incarnate is always there for us in the Eucharist. This overpowering mystery allows the unworthy hands of the priest to hold the same body of Christ that the virgin Mary held in her arms and pressed at her heart. Yet it is the same Christ! The priest takes Christ in his hands and gives him to others!

When you receive him, you are like the virgin Mary during the months she carried her child. You truly carry Christ within you and want to be absorbed in profound thanksgiving. You carry him living within you! How necessary is silence so that the Holy Spirit can reveal to us the grandeur of this mystery." -- Servant of God Père Jacques de Jesus (Bunel), discalced carmelite