We must ask with faith

"“Ask, and it shall be given you.” (Matthew 7:7).

When we repeat the words of Christ, “Ask, and it shall be given you,” do we really dwell deeply on their meaning? They were said by Jesus Christ himself, who is truth itself. Christ never did or said anything in vain. So, these words of Christ mean exactly what they say: if we ask God for something, we will receive it. In order to get the significance of the words, let us consider the case in which we ask our fellow man for something. Suppose he tells us that we will receive it. He is speaking as an ordinary human being and we know it. We know in our heart that he may or may not be able to give us what we ask. He has the wish to do so, but he has not the absolute power. The power to give comes from God.

On the other hand, when we ask something of God, we know that he can give it to us. Jesus Christ is God and he has absolute dominion over all things. Moreover, he wants us to ask and he wants to give: “Ask, and it shall be given you.” But, we must ask with faith, believing that we will receive, if it is God’s holy will."

-- Christ our Model by Matthew Aherne, OCarm

Glorify God the Father

"To glorify God the Father, in making Him known, loved and served, such was the object of all the affections of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the motive power of all Its actions, the end of all Its sufferings. Not only at His entrance into the world, but in the accomplishment of each mystery, in each step of His career, our divine Lord repeated constantly: 'Behold me, O my Father, behold me: what wouldst Thou that I should do to glorify Thee? I have engraven this law in the depths of my heart, it shall always be my rule.' He was not troubled about Himself, nor His concerns, nor His own personal glory. 'I seek not my own glory. My glory is nothing.' John, viii. 50-54. Oh! what admirable zeal and what purity of love! In truth, the Heart of Jesus seeks for Itself only contempt, humiliations and shame. He imposes silence on those who praise Him, hides Himself from those who seek to make Him king, whilst He hastens to meet the executioners who, on the day of His passion, bring Him chains and a cross. It was by accepting humiliations, a thorny crown, and an infamous gibbet that He honoured His Father, and that the bleeding royalty of Calvary, which He so ardently desired, will establish the glory of God throughout the world. Then will He exclaim on the last day: 'I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.' Opus consummavi.

Consider, Christians, that it is impossible to love God and not to feel an interest in His glory. Thousands of apostles, missionaries and heroic women, have made the sacrifice of their country, their families, their possessions, their lives even, in order that God should be known, loved and served in childhood, youth and all ages of life. It was because these noble souls knew how to love, because each day they said, with hearts filled with a holy jealousy for the honour and glory of God: 'Our Father, who art in heaven, may Thy name be hallowed, exalted and praised. May Thy kingdom come in all hearts and command all affections. May Thy will be everywhere venerated and loved over the whole earth, as it is in heaven.' Let us examine ourselves and see if these are also our sentiments; if we have not too often preferred our repose and our interests to the greater glory of God; if in our hearts we feel for the evils which oppress the Church and religion, so as to be able to say with the Psalmist: 'The reproaches of them that reproached Thee are fallen upon me.' Psal. lxviii. 10.

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Grant, O Lord! that Thy glory may be the end of all our thoughts, words, and works, and that we may take as our motto these sublime words: 'All for the greater glory of God.' O Jesus, kindle in us this divine zeal, that it may consume us as victims and holocausts entirely sacrificed to the fire of Thy love. Amen."

-- Month of the Sacred Heart by Abbé Berlioux

Sanctity made easy

"I believe that if those souls that tend towards sanctity were instructed as to the conduct they ought to follow, they would be spared a good deal of trouble. I speak as much of people in the world as of others. If they could realise the merit concealed in the actions of each moment of the day: I mean in each of the daily duties of their state of life, and if they could be persuaded that sanctity is founded on that to which they give no heed as being altogether irrelevant, they would indeed be happy. If, besides, they understood that to attain the utmost height of perfection, the safest and surest way is to accept the crosses sent them by Providence at every moment, that the true philosopher’s stone is submission to the will of God which changes into divine gold all their occupations, troubles, and sufferings, what consolation would be theirs! What courage would they not derive from the thought that to acquire the friendship of God, and to arrive at eternal glory, they had but to do what they were doing, but to suffer what they were suffering, and that what they wasted and counted as nothing would suffice to enable them to arrive at eminent sanctity: far more so than extraordinary states and wonderful works. O my God! how much I long to be the missionary of Your holy will, and to teach all men that there is nothing more easy, more attainable, more within reach, and in the power of everyone, than sanctity. How I wish that I could make them understand that just as the good and the bad thief had the same things to do and to suffer; so also two persons, one of whom is worldly and the other leading an interior and wholly spiritual life have, neither of them, anything different to do or to suffer; but that one is sanctified and attains eternal happiness by submission to Your holy will in those very things by which the other is damned because he does them to please himself, or endures them with reluctance and rebellion. This proves that it is only the heart that is different. Oh! all you that read this, it will cost you no more than to do what you are doing, to suffer what you are suffering, only act and suffer in a holy manner. It is the heart that must be changed. When I say heart, I mean will. Sanctity, then, consists in willing all that God wills for us. Yes! sanctity of heart is a simple “fiat,” a conformity of will with the will of God.

What could be more easy, and who could refuse to love a will so kind and so good? Let us love it then, and this love alone will make everything in us divine."

-- Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade, SJ

Our little world and the will of God

"The little world of each of us with its persons and places, its sunshine and shadows, its joys and its pain, is the one and only Holy of Holies, in which is tabernacled the will of God, the chosen temple in which alone he accepts our worship. 'I shall dwell in their midst' (Deut 3:12) was his promise, and he is present in every happening."


-- From the writings of Mother Aloysius of the Blessed Sacrament, ocd


**Photo © 2010 Roy Tennant, freelargephotos.com

The highest perfection: conformity with the will of God

"The highest perfection consists not in interior favours or in great rapture, but in bringing of our wills so closely into conformity with the will of God that as soon as we realize that He wills anything, we desire it ourselves with all our might."

-- St Teresa of Avila

** Painting by Greg Olsen

Memorial of St Columban

"Saint Columban (540-615) was born in Ireland sometime between the year 540 and 550. He became a monk at Bangor and was sent as a missionary to Gaul with twelve other monks in 585. He built his first monastery at Annegray in 590 followed by two more at Luxeuil and Fontaines. Soon his followers spread to France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The strict rule he imposed on these monasteries was observed in Gaul until the rule of Saint Benedict replaced it He so angered King Theodoric II of Burgundy over Columban's denunciation of the king's practice of keeping concubines that the king banished all Irish monks from his realm. Columban decided to flee the area and crossed the Alps to Italy and was welcomed in Milan by King Agilulf of the Lombards. He founded a monastery at Bobbio near Milan which became one of the great monasteries of its time as a center of culture, learning and spirituality. He died there in 615 leaving behind a collection of spiritual writings including his Monastic Rule, sermons, poetry and treatises against Arianism. Below is one of his spiritual instructions.

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Brethren, let us follow that vocation by which we are called from life to the fountain of life. He is the fountain, not only of living water but of eternal life. He is the fountain of light and spiritual illumination; for from him come all these things: wisdom, life and eternal light. The author of life is the fountain of life; the creator of light is the fountain of spiritual illumination. Therefore, let us seek the fountain of light and life and the living water by despising what we see, by leaving the world and by dwelling in the highest heavens. Let us seek these things, and like rational and shrewd fish may we drink the living water which wells up to eternal life.

Merciful God, good Lord, I wish that you would unite me to that fountain, that there I may drink of the living spring of the water of life with those others who thirst after you. There in that heavenly region may I ever dwell, delighted with abundant sweetness, and say: "How sweet is the fountain of living water which never fails, the water welling up to eternal life."

O God, you are yourself that fountain ever and again to be desired, ever and again to be consumed. Lord Christ, always give us this water to be for us the source of the living water which wells up to eternal life. I ask you for your great benefits. Who does not know it? You, King of glory, know how to give great gifts, and you have promised them; there is nothing greater than you, and you bestowed yourself upon us; you gave yourself for us.

Therefore, we ask that we may know what we love, since we ask nothing other than that you give us yourself. For you are our all: our life, our light, our salvation, our food and our drink, our God. Inspire our hearts, I ask you, Jesus, with that breath of your Spirit; wound our souls with your love, so that the soul of each and every one of us may say in truth: Show me my soul's desire, for I am wounded by your love.

These are the wounds I wish for, Lord. Blessed is the soul so wounded by love. Such a soul seeks the fountain of eternal life and drinks from it, although it continues to thirst and its thirst grows ever greater even as it drinks. Therefore, the more the soul loves, the more it desires to love, and the greater its suffering, the greater its healing. In this same way may our God and Lord Jesus Christ, the good and saving physician, wound the depths of our souls with a healing wound - the same Jesus Christ who reigns in unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen."

-- From the Liturgy of the Hours

This stained glass window of St Columban is in the Basilica of Bobbio. The photography is by Giorgio Zanetti.

Cast yourself into His arms like a child

"...Without a doubt, we must resolve again and again to unite ourselves to God in order that we may keep such resolutions. But in your fervors, I do not want you to desire temptations or occasions for mortification. Since, by the grace of God they will not be lacking to you, there is no need to occupy your heart in desiring them. Instead you should occupy your heart in preparing and readying itself to receive them - not when you wish, but when God wishes to give them to you...

But as for the complaint that you are miserable and unfortunate, my dear daughter, one must guard against this in every way. For beside the fact that such words are dishonorable for a servant of God, they come from a heart that is too dispirited and arise not so much from impatience as from anger.

Look here, my dear daughter, make a particular exercise of gentleness and acquiescence in the will of God, not only concerning extraordinary things, but chiefly in these little daily irritations. Prepare yourself for in in the morning, after dinner, in saying grace before supper, after supper, and in the evening; and make it your standard practice for a time. But do these exercises with a tranquil and joyous spirit; and if distractions arise, humble yourself and start again.

It is a good thing to aspire in a general way to the highest perfection of the Christian life, but we do not need to know its nature in detail, except insofar as it concerns our improvement and advancement in daily affairs. From day to day, refer the progress of your general wish for perfection to the Providence of God; in this matter, cast yourself into His arms like a child who, in order to grow, eats from day to day what his father gives to him, confident that his father will give to him in proportion to his appetite and his necessity.

Regarding your temptations to envy, practice what I advise in my book concerning these [Introduction to the Devout Life, part 2, chapters 45 & 52]. Because Holy Communion is profitable to you, receive it with spiritual fervor and a clear conscience. Live always joyously even amid your temptations. Do not do any other penance for the time being, and resolve yourselve in a spirit of gentleness to bear lovingly with your neighbor, to visit the sick, and to have good courage..."

-- From a letter from St Francis de Sales to Madame de la Fléchère (February 1609)

Memorial of St Maximilian Mary Kolbe

Today we celebrate the memorial of St Maximiliam Mary Kolbe, who gave his life to spare the life of another prisoner in Auschwitz. To learn more about this martyr of the Church, visit this site.

"I rejoice greatly, dear brother, at the outstanding zeal that drives you to promote the glory of God. It is sad to see how in our times the disease called “indifferentism” is spreading in all its forms, not just among those in the world but also among the members of religious orders. But indeed, since God is worthy of infinite glory, it is our first and most pressing duty to give him such glory as we, in our weakness, can manage – even that we would never, poor exiled creatures that we are, be able to render him such glory as he truly deserves.

Because God’s glory shines through most brightly in the salvation of the souls that Christ redeemed with his own blood, let it be the chief concern of the apostolic life to bring salvation and an increase in holiness to as many souls as possible. Let me briefly outline the best way to achieve this end – both for the glory of God and for the sanctification of the greatest number. God, who is infinite knowledge and infinite wisdom, knows perfectly what is to be done to give him glory, and in the clearest way possible makes his will known to us through his vice-gerents on Earth.

It is obedience and obedience alone that shows us God’s will with certainty. Of course our superiors may err, but it cannot happen that we, holding fast to our obedience, should be led into error by this. There is only one exception: if the superior commands something that would obviously involve breaking God’s law, however slightly. In that case the superior could not be acting as a faithful interpreter of God’s will.

God himself is the one infinite, wise, holy, and merciful Lord, our Creator and our Father, the beginning and the end, wisdom, power, and love – God is all these. Anything that is apart from God has value only in so far as it is brought back to him, the Founder of all things, the Redeemer of mankind, the final end of all creation. Thus he himself makes his holy will known to us through his vice-gerents on Earth and draws us to himself, and through us – for so he has willed – draws other souls too, and unites them to himself with an ever more perfect love.

See then, brother, the tremendous honour of the position that God in his kindness has placed us in. Through obedience we transcend our own limitations and align ourselves with God’s will, which, with infinite wisdom and prudence, guides us to do what is best. Moreover, as we become filled with the divine will, which no created thing can resist, so we become stronger than all others.

This is the path of wisdom and prudence, this is the one way by which we can come to give God the highest glory. After all, if there had been another, better way, Christ would certainly have shown it to us, by word and by example. But in fact sacred Scripture wraps up his entire long life in Nazareth with the words and he was obedient to them and it shows the rest of his life to have been passed in similar obedience – almost as an instruction to us – by showing how he came down to Earth to do the Father’s will.

Brethren, let us love him above all, our most loving heavenly Father, and let our obedience be a sign of this perfect love, especially when we have to sacrifice our own wills in the process. And as for a book from which to learn how to grow in the love of God, there is no better book than Jesus Christ crucified.

All this we will achieve more easily through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin, to whom the most kind God has given the task of dispensing his mercies. There is no doubt that the will of Mary should be the will of God for us. When we dedicate ourselves to him, we become tools in her hands just as she became a tool in his. Let us let her direct us and lead us by the hand. Let us be calm and serene under her guidance: she will foresee all things for us, provide all things, swiftly fulfil our needs both bodily and spiritual, and keep away from us all difficulty and suffering."

-- From a letter by St Maximiliam Mary Kolbe

Pray that His will become yours and you will do everything

"It is by prayer that we enter into the Divine Plan. Prayer itself is a part of the Divine Government. In His almighty power and wisdom God ordained from the beginning that the men He would create would be like Himself with spiritual powers of intelligence and will. Then He made them His children by grace, desiring that they become capable of assisting Him in governing all creation. He gave Adam mastery over Paradise and thus over the whole world of created nature... so that Adam would be like his Father. God wanted His sons and daughters to take their place in mature government, and become in turn lords of the world.

We govern with God the more we become like Him. We become like Him by doing His will to the extent that it is our will. When His will and ours is one we take on the power of God Himself. The work of making the Divine will ours is the work of faith and prayer. The first devotion of all devotions is to the will of God. We meditate on the works of God in creation and in history in order to see what God has done, and our reflections fill us with images of what He must be like. We mediate on Scripture, especially the Gospel, to understand His work in the redemption and what He requires of us in order to partake of that redemption. We praise Him for His works and for His grace; we adore Him and bless Him in prayer and we then petition Him for what we need... but all our needs can be summed up in one which is the grace of all graces: the grace to do His will, for by that we are doing everything."

-- The Pathways of Prayer: Communion with God by Sr Immaculata, ocd

N.B. A reader asked if Sr Immaculata is in my community. She isn't, but I think most of us cloistered nuns know about her excellent small book.