How well do we know Him?

"My concern with the Gospels is to see the Face which through all the centuries has looked out from them upon men. The object is not to prove something but to meet someone--that we should know Christ Jesus, know him as one person may know another. As Christians we love him, try to live by his law, would think it a glory to die for him. But how well do we know him?"

-- To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed

Spiritual childhood is necessary to obtain eternal life

"Spiritual childhood is thus a necessary condition to obtain eternal life. What does that mean? Is it necessary to idealize childhood to the point of forgetting its defects and weaknesses? Is it necessary to become childish and lose the wisdom of adulthood? No, certainly not. On the contrary, we must put to work all of the faculties and aptitudes that God has given to us. It does not mean thinking, speaking, feeling and acting like a child. Saint Paul warns us about this: That henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine... But doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him who is the head, Christ (Eph. 4: 14-15). And again: Brethren, do not become children in sense: but in malice be children, and in sense be perfect (1 Cor. 14: 20). No matter how much the freshness of childhood moves us, we must not forget that its unfinished state calls for maturity. The emotional nature of the child is both tyrannical and selfish. The child seeks to control the beloved more than to give himself to the beloved, and thus does not offer a good example.

Our Lord desires something else when He asks us to become children again. The way of childhood, as Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus said, consists essentially "in a disposition of the heart, which makes us humble and small in the arms of God, conscious of our weakness, and confident even unto boldness in His fatherly goodness" (Novissima Verba). In the light of affirmations of the faith, it makes us conscious of reality: it is God alone who permits us to be, to love, to act, above all on the supernatural level. Our spiritual life cannot be an initiative on our part with respect to God: it can only be a placing of ourselves in the hands of Him who is infinitely good, who loves us freely, with a primary and creative love: For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom. 8: 14).

This attitude recognizes a link of total dependence with respect to God, excludes the feeling of pride in oneself, the presumption of reaching a supernatural goal by human means, and the foolish wish of sufficing unto oneself at the time of peril and temptation. It makes us practice "humility, the kind and sincere humility of the heart, total fidelity to our duty of state, whatever it may be, in whatever sphere and at whatever level of the human hierarchy that God has placed us and called on us to work, a disposition to all sacrifices, confident abandonment in the hand and Heart of God, and above all true charity, the real love of God, true tenderness for Jesus Christ, answering to the tenderness that He Himself showed toward us, this charity that is benevolent, patient, always active and putting up with anything, prepared for self-sacrifice, even to give up one's life.... Spiritual childhood is accessible and necessary for everyone. As Saint Augustine observes, not everyone can preach and do great works. But who isn't capable of praying, of humbling oneself and of loving?" (Pius XI, February 11, 1923)."

--By Dom Antoine Marie, osb, Newsletter of 15 January, 1997

Reprinted with the kind permission of the monks at Clairval

Discerning God’s Ways

"We are in the great Jubilee year 2000, celebrating it and living it out. Many say, this is the beginning of the New Millennium and others contend saying that the new Millennium will dawn on 1-1-2001. Any way we are at the threshold or we are in it. It is our privilege to be in this situation.

       Many things have changed long since. We have the new communication systems like fax, phone, cellular phone, E-mail etc. E-mail has now come in also to accelerate the change. It is far easier to type a quick message on the computer than to write a letter, type the address on the envelop, stick the stamp and take it to the post box. The message is instantly received and can be instantly answered in easy dialogue over oceans and continents. The highly complex world of widespread economic inflation, computer technology, instant worldwide communication, constantly changing job markets, ever more prolonged education for developing skills, and of nuclear energy for building or destroying the world in a matter of seconds has resulted in a lot of confusion in our minds and hearts. When making decisions, we feel weak and lonely in mind and heart before the vast, threatening and fast moving computer and cyber world. But God in His wisdom, reassures the one who prays, that He cares for him and leads him to a definite destiny. As a result the praying person experiences a confident expectancy of God’s assistance in the decision about to be made. 

The compensating factor at this instance is the gift of ‘discernment’ from the Holy Spirit. The Greek word ‘dokimazein’ literally signifies ‘to discern’ ‘to prove’ ‘to test’ ‘to check’. It is a word with multiple meanings. We cannot zero in on one single meaning to the word when it is applied in prayer or spiritual life. Moreover, the English word ‘discernment’ that is very often and frequently used in spiritual life cannot fully explain or translate every element that is contained in the Greek word ‘dokimazein’. Discernment can be a realistic possibility only within the theistic vision of the universe. The word “discern” (dokimazein) has its origin in the marketing system of the Greek culture. Transactions in the market were done through the use of gold, silver and bronze coins. One had to test the authenticity of the metal by biting the coin before it was accepted for transaction. We know that the precious metal is always soft in nature. Certainly, if the coin had been a genuine one it would make a tooth mark on it; if it were false it would not. Hence the word “dokimazein” meant testing through biting. 

The word ‘dokimazein’ used in Holy Scripture generally translated signifies ‘to discern on every occasion what is actually the will of God’. It helps us to see through the storms of scientific and political changes, emotions of rationalization and of self-projections. The gift of discernment does not guarantee that a person will make the perfect decision, one that perfectly satisfies one’s hopes and desires for oneself and others. In this task, prayer complements the process of discernment. It would not be a mistake to term discernment as equivalent to Prayer. However, discernment in prayer is an aptitude acquired through experience of recognizing the movements embracing them, if they come from God and rejecting them, if they are from the counter spirit. 

Through the gift of discernment a prudent person is not scandalized at the mystery of other persons, of situations, and of God. For the Lord has created the universe and people so wonderfully that one can never exhaust comprehending through one’s intelligence their complex beauty. The praying person knows well the designs of God and lives courageously and peacefully. He interprets the signs in favor of God’s plan and lives in communion with His design and will." 

-- Discerning God's ways by Fr Rudolf V D'Souza, ocd

**Fr D'Souza is a carmelite in the province of Karnataka-Goa in India.

Perform all actions under the influence of His grace and willingness to please Him

"We have spoken concerning the necessity of regulating one's understanding. It is necessary also to control one's will so that it is not abandoned to its own inclinations, but it is conformed entirely to the will of God.

It must be observed that it is not sufficient to desire, or even to execute what is most pleasing to God. It is also requisite to desire and to perform our action under the influence of His grace, and out of a willingness to please Him.

Here will arise the greatest struggle with our nature, constantly thirsty for its own pleasure. Even in lofty spiritual undertakings, it seeks its own satisfaction, residing there without the least scruple, since there is no apparent evil. The following is the result. We begin acts of religion not from the sole motive of doing the will of God, but for a sensible pleasure that often accompanies such acts.

The illusion is still more subtle as the object of our affection is more commendable in itself. Who would imagine that self-love, criminal as it is, should prompt us to unite ourselves to God? That in our desire to possess Him we should pursue our own interests rather than His glory and the accomplishment of His will, which should be the only motive for those who love Him, seek Him, and profess to keep His laws?

If we desire to avoid such a dangerous obstacle, we must accustom ourselves not to desire or execute anything unless it is through the impulse of the Holy Spirit, combined with a pure intention of honoring Him Who desires to be not only the first Principle, but also the last End of our every word and action, through the observance of the following method.

As soon as an opportunity presents itself to perform such a good action, we must prevent our heart from seizing on it before we have considered God. This will enable us to know whether it coincides with His will, and whether we desire it solely because it is pleasing to Him.

When our will is controlled and directed in this way by the will of God, it is motivated only with the desire to conform entirely to Him, and to further His glory. The same method is to be followed in rejecting whatever is contrary to His will. The first move is to raise our minds to God to know what is displeasing to Him, and then be satisfied that in its rejection we conform to His holy will.

We must remember that it is extremely difficult to discover the deceptions of our fallen nature. It is always fond of making itself, for very questionable motives, the focal point of all things; it flatters by persuading us that in all our actions our only motive is to please God. What we accept or reject, then, is actually done to please ourselves, while we erroneously imagine that we act out of a desire to please, or a dread of displeasing, our Sovereign Lord.

The most effective remedy against evil is purity of heart. Everyone engaged in the spiritual combat must be armed with it, discarding the old man and putting on the new. The remedy is applied in this way. In everything that we undertake, pursue, or reject, we divest ourselves of all human considerations, and do only what is conformable to the will of God.

It may happen that in many things we do, and especially in the interior impulses of the heart, or in swiftly transient exterior actions, we may not always be conscious of the influence of this motive. But at least we should be so disposed that virtually and habitually we act from the viewpoint of pleasing God.

In more prolonged activities this virtual intention is not sufficient. It should be frequently renewed and developed to its full stature in purity and fervor. Without this, we run the great risk of deception by self-love, which always prefers the creature to the Creator and so deceives that, in a short time, we are imperceptibly drawn from our primary intention. Well meaning but vulnerable persons generally set out with no other purpose than to please God. But by degrees they permit themselves, without knowing it, to be lured away by vanity. They for get the Divine will which first influenced them and are completely absorbed in the satisfaction afforded by their actions, and in the advantages and rewards they expect. If it happens that, while they think they are accomplishing, great things, Providence permits them to be interrupted by sickness or some accident, they are immediately dissatisfied, criticizing everyone about them, and sometimes even God Himself. This is clear evidence that the motive, the force behind their actions was bad.

Anyone who acts under the influence of Divine grace and only to please God is indifferent as to his course of action. Or, if he is inclined to some particular activity, he completely submits to Providence the manner and time of doing it. He is perfectly resigned to whatever success attends his undertakings, and his heart desires nothing but the accomplishment of the Divine will.

Therefore, let everyone examine himself, let him direct all his actions to this most excellent and noble end. If he discovers that he is performing a work of piety in order to avoid punishment, or to gain the rewards of the future life, he should establish as the end of his undertaking the will of God, Who requires that we avoid hell and gain Heaven.

It is not within man's power to realize the efficacy of this motive. The least action, no matter how insignificant, performed for His sake, greatly surpasses actions which, although of greater significance, are done for other motives.

For example, a small alms, given solely in honor of God, is infinitely more agreeable to Him than if, from some other motive, large possessions are abandoned, even if this is done from a desire to gain the kingdom of heaven. And this, in itself, is a highly commendable motive, and worthy of our consideration.

The practice of performing all of our actions solely from the intention of pleasing God may be difficult at first. With the passing of time it will become familiar and even delightful, if we strive to find God in all sincerity of heart, if we continually long for Him, the only and greatest Good, deserving to be sought, valued, and loved by all His creatures. The more attentively we contemplate the greatness and goodness of God, the more frequently and tenderly our affections will turn to that Divine Object. In this way we will more quickly, and with greater facility, obtain the habit of directing all our actions to His glory.

In conclusion, there is a final way of acting in complete accordance with this very excellent and elevated motive. This is fervently to petition our Lord for grace and frequently to consider the infinite benefits He has already given us, and which He continues to bestow every moment from an undeserved and disinterested affection."

-- Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli

The sign of the cross

"I believe that if our signs of the cross were always made as if in the presence of God, rather than as if we were chasing away flies, they would open for us the heart of God. Each sign of the cross brings us nearer to God. For each sign of the cross well made, there is one added degree of eternal glory. Each sign of the cross made with devotion deposits within your heart another degree of love, which you would not have had without it."

-- Fr Almire Pichon, SJ

** Fr Pichon was the spiritual director of St Thérèse and the Martin Family in Lisieux.

Charity gives life to our hearts

"Behold at length, Theotimus, how God, by a progress full of ineffable sweetness, conducts the soul which he makes leave the Egypt of sin, from love to love, as from mansion to mansion, till he has made her enter into the land of promise, I mean into most holy charity, which to say it in one word, is a friendship, and a disinterested love, for by charity we love God for his own sake, by reason of his most sovereignly amiable goodness. But this friendship is a true friendship, being reciprocal, for God has loved eternally all who have loved him, do, or shall love him temporally. It is shown and acknowledged mutually, since God cannot be ignorant of the love we bear him, he himself bestowing it upon us, nor can we be ignorant of his love to us, seeing that he has so published it abroad, and that we acknowledge all the good we have, to be true effects of his benevolence. And in fine we have continual communications with him, who never ceases to speak unto our hearts by inspirations, allurements, and sacred motions; he ceases not to do us good, or to give all sorts of testimonies of his most holy affection, having openly revealed unto us all his secrets, as to his confidential friends. And to crown his holy loving intercourse with us, he has made himself our proper food in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist; and as for us, we have freedom to treat with him at all times when we please in holy prayer, having our whole life, movement and being not only with him, but in him and by him.

Now this friendship is not a simple friendship, but a friendship of dilection, by which we make election of God, to love him with a special love. He is chosen, says the sacred spouse, out of thousands—she says out of thousands, but she means out of all, whence this love is not a love of simple excellence, but an incomparable love; for charity loves God by a certain esteem and preference of his goodness so high and elevated above all other esteems, that other loves either are not true loves in comparison of this, or if they be true loves, this love is infinitely more than love; and therefore, Theotimus, it is not a love which the force of nature either angelic or human can produce, but the Holy Ghost gives it and pours it abroad in our hearts. And as our souls which give life to our bodies, have not their origin from the body but are put in them by the natural providence of God, so charity which gives life to our hearts has not her origin from our hearts, but is poured into them as a heavenly liquor by the supernatural providence of his divine Majesty.

For this reason, and because it has reference to God and tends unto him not according to the natural knowledge we have of his goodness, but according to the supernatural knowledge of faith, we name it supernatural friendship. Whence it, together with faith and hope, makes its abode in the point and summit of the spirit, and, as a queen of majesty, is seated in the will as on her throne, whence she conveys into the soul her delights and sweetnesses, making her thereby all fair, agreeable and amiable to the divine goodness. So that if the soul be a kingdom of which the Holy Ghost is king, charity is the queen set at his right hand in gilded clothing surrounded with variety. if the soul be a queen, spouse to the great king of heaven, charity is her crown, which royally adorns her head; and if the soul with the body be a little world, charity is the sun which beautifies all, heats all, and vivifies all.

Charity, then, is a love of friendship, a friendship of dilection, a dilection of preference, but a preference incomparable, sovereign, and supernatural, which is as a sun in the whole soul to enlighten it with its rays, in all the spiritual faculties to perfect them, in all the powers to moderate them, but in the will as on its throne, there to reside and to make it cherish and love its God above all things. O how happy is the soul wherein this holy love is poured abroad, since all good things come together with her!"

-- Treatise on the Love of God by St Francis de Sales

Do not be discouraged - place your confidence in God

"As all our strength for conquering the enemy derives from distrust of self and confidence in God, I think I should give some additional advice, very necessary for obtaining these virtues.

In the first place, everyone must be convinced that neither all natural or acquired abilities, nor all supernatural gifts or perfect knowledge of the Scriptures, nor even whole ages spent in the service of his Creator, can enable him to do the will of God. He cannot perform his duty unless the Hand of the Almighty sustains him as often as any good action is to be done, temptation to be overcome, dangers to be avoided, or crosses to be borne according to the Will of God. This truth must be kept in mind every day, hour, and moment of his life. In this way he will lose all presumption and will never rashly trust in himself.

In order to acquire complete confidence in God, he must firmly believe that He as perfectly capable of conquering a great number of enemies as a few, the strong and experienced as the weak and inexperienced. Consequently, although a soul is overwhelmed by sins, although it has labored in vain to tear away from vice and follow virtue, although it should find its inclination to evil increasing daily instead of diminishing in favor of virtue, yet it must not fail to place its confidence in God; it must not be discouraged or abandon its spiritual works. On the contrary, it must arouse itself to new fervor and redouble its efforts against the enemy.

In this kind of battle, the victory will be won by him who has the courage not to throw down his arms or out aside his confidence in God. His assistance is always present for those who fight His battles, though He may sometimes permit them to be wounded. Persevere to the end. Victory depends on this. There is a swift and effective remedy for the wounds of anyone who fights for God's cause and who places his entire trust in Him. When he least expects it, he will see his enemy at his feet."

-- The Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli

Expect from Him alone succor and victory

"Although distrust of self is absolutely necessary as we have shown it to be in the spiritual combat, nevertheless, if this is all we have to rely on, we will soon be routed, plundered, and subdued by the enemy. Unless we would be put to flight, or remain helpless and vanquished in the hands of our enemies, we must add to it perfect trust in God, and expect from Him alone succor and victory. For as we, who are nothing, can look for nothing from ourselves but falls, and therefore should utterly distrust ourselves; so from our Lord may we assuredly expect complete victory in every conflict. To obtain His help, let us therefore arm ourselves with a lively confidence in Him. And this also may be accomplished in four ways.

First. To ask it with great humility.

Second. To contemplate with an ardent faith the immense power and infinite wisdom of the Supreme Being. To Him nothing is difficult; His goodness is unlimited; His love for those who serve Him is always ready to supply them with the necessities for their spiritual life, and for gaining a complete victory over themselves.

All that He demands is that they turn to Him with complete confidence. Can anything be more reasonable? The amiable Shepherd for thirty-three years or more sought after the lost sheep through thorn-roughened ways, with so much pain that it cost Him the last drop of His Sacred Blood. When this devoted Shepherd see His strayed sheep finally returning to Him with the desire of being guided in the future by Him alone, and with a sincere, though perhaps weak intention of obeying Him, is it possible that He would not look upon it with pity, listen to its cries, and bear it upon His shoulders to the fold? Doubtless he is greatly pleased to see it united again to the flock, and invites the Angels to rejoice with Him on the occasion.

For if He searches so diligently after the drachma in the Gospel, which is a figure of the sinner, if He leaves nothing untouched in order to find it, can He reject those who, like sheep longing to see their Shepherd, return to the fold?

Third. Another means of acquiring this salutary confidence is frequently to recall what we are assured of in the Holy Scriptures, the witnesses of truth, in a thousand different places----that no one who puts his trust in God will be defeated.

Fourth. The final means of acquiring both distrust of self and confidence in God is that before attempting to perform any good action, or to encounter some failing, we should look at our own weakness on the one hand, and on the other contemplate the infinite power, wisdom, and goodness of God. Balancing what we fear from ourselves with what we hope from God, we shall courageously undergo the greatest difficulties and severest trials. Joining these weapons to prayer, as we shall see later, we shall be able to execute the greatest plans and gain decisive victories.

But if we neglect this method, though we may flatter ourselves that we are actuated by a principle of confidence in God, we will usually be deceived. Presumption is so natural to man that, without notice, it insinuates itself into the confidence he imagines he has in God and the distrust he fancies he has of himself. Consequently, in order to destroy all presumption and to sanctify every action and the two virtues opposite to this vice, the consideration of one's own weakness must precede that of the Divine Power. Both of these must precede all undertakings."

-- The Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli

Adore, O my soul, adore in silence

"Loves in Jesus, then, with Him and in Him; adore, praise abandon yourself to the movement of His Sacred Heart, as Jesus abandons Himself. Repeat with Him: Father, my Father, holy Father, just Father, behold me; I am Thine, I give myself entirely to Thee; I desire naught but Thee, nothing else, but all of that...

And Thou, O Jesus, my God, fulfill Thy sublime, incomparable prayer, the prayer which Thou alone could have the divine audacity so to express:

'Father, this soul whom Thou hast given Me, whom Thou dost sanctify, at this instant, in the Truth that I am, I will that where I am, in Thy bosom, she may be with Me; and that thus she may see My glory, that glory which Thou didst give Me unceasingly when Thou dost engender Me.

'This glory I give to her as the Life eternal that I am in Thee, that she may share, together with all who are hers, in Our oneness; that the Love with which Thou hast loved Me, the Spirit uniting and consummating Us, may be in her; and that I Myself may be in her what I am in Thee, the object of Thy complacency.'

This is already far beyond my comprehension. But these thoughts immerse me in the Three, and I adore within me the living, true, eternal God.

Adore, O my soul, adore in silence. Leave yourself and all things. How good, were it only for a few moments, to have escaped each morning, from this world where one is forever dying, to drink one's fill of the life that never ends!

Adore and be still; and never will your silence be more fruitful. It re-echoes the silence of God the Father generating His Son, His Word, consubstantial with Himself, in the Love which binds them together, Father and Son; while simultaneously, it encompasses you in Their ineffable unity."

-- Pledge of Glory: Meditations on the Eucharist and the Trinity by Dom Eugene Vandeur 

Jesus is drawing you into sharing His affections as Son for the Father

"Commune, my soul, through Jesus Hostia, with the infinite complacency of this Father in the Son whom He contemplates, in His Word, His Thought, all His Glory; in whom He admires His own image and the splendor of His adorable perfections, the spotless mirror of His being, issue of His love.

You are, at this moment, the heaven of infinite delight for the Father and the Son. As at the Jordan, as on Thabor, nay, more appropriately than there, since you live in Jesus, the Father repeats over His Son: This day I have begotten thee. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Beyond doubt, He repeats these words over you whom Jesus causes to participate in this paternal affection.

To this limitless love of the Father for His Son, the Son makes a similar return of love, eternal and infinite like unto His Father's. O, what a love is this! What an embrace, what a caress and kiss! This mutual love of each for the other is the Holy Spirit Himself. What a consummation, then, in the unity of this Spirit!

At this moment, Jesus is drawing you into sharing His affections as Son for the Father. He communicates them to you; He causes you to love God as He Himself loves Him. His heart becomes your heart, aspiring to this caress, this embrace.

Christian soul, do you not feel the fire of love devouring the heart of the Son of God, enveloping you with its own flames?"

-- Pledge of Glory: Meditations on the Eucharist and the Trinity by Dom Eugene Vandeur

The grace of the moment is a very beautiful thing

"The grace of the moment is a very beautiful thing. It comes with each duty, or pleasure, or fresh effort of any kind, and it is exactly proportionate to the purpose for which it is given. We shall often find, for instance, that, at the end of a long piece of work, we suddenly begin to go very much faster and with an ease which is quite new. We could not imagine ourselves beginning any set project at that pace, it would seem fantastic for the start, and still less could we maintain it through all the weary middle. This is quite simply the grace of the end, that unconscious crescendo which carries us to a successful conclusion and is a matter of both supernatural and psychological tension, of pleasure at the achievement of a satisfactory effort - a last spurt so to speak.

So it is for most things in life, and one would love to thing that one might have the grace to die to a Crescendo Fortissimo, as befits one going to meet Eternal Love, and not a Rellentando, as is sometimes the fate, one fears, of those who have habitually wasted their grace during life. It is worth thinking of, perhaps.

We get grace for each fresh thing, fresh turn of events, trial, duty, pleasure, effort; but instead of acting upon it at once, how often we try, by our plans and our home-made rules, and unconscious self-will, to construct, as it were, a reservoir, with pipes all over the place, to hold it. It is never of any avail for, as a matter of fact, we can neither store our actual grace nor postpone it; it is given us now, for the thing we have to do to-day, at this very hour. All we can do, if we do not use it, is to lose it. It is not applicable to anything else, for that other thing, when it comes, will require its own special grace, which again will vary with a precise and delicate variability straight from God. We must quite simply use our grace: that is the only thing to do if we want to live continually at full pitch spiritually. To take the grace of the moment for the moment's work, and - as far as possible, even in the perfectly ordinary Christian life - let the work be primarily the work of God. We have to live, of course, and most of us have to work for our living; but God knows that a great deal better than we do, and He is not likely to make the achievement of the one clash with the achievement of the other.

There is, however, one dishonesty into which it is never permissible to fall under any circumstances: and that is to use God's grace for our own ends. That is a theft which is unworthy of us and which, in the long run, will surely never bring with it anything but pain."

-- Catch Us Those Little Foxes by A Carmelite Nun

Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love

"The Catechism of the Catholic Church gets our attention in the same sense when it speaks of modesty: "Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity. Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

"There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements.... Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies. The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person."(2521-2524). In an instruction on December 8, 1995, the Pontifical Council for the Family speaks up against certain tendencies to immodesty in contemporary society: "Even if they are socially acceptable, there are ways of speaking and dressing which are morally incorrect and which represent a vulgarization of sexuality, reducing it to an object to be consumed. Parents should teach their children the value of Christian modesty, of sober dressing, of the necessary liberty concerning fashions, which are all characteristics of a mature masculine or feminine personality" (97)."

-- From the spiritual letter of December 18, 1996, by Dom Antoine Marie, osb. Reproduced with permission through the kindness of Fr Jacques Marie, osb.

** Dom Antoine is a benedictine priest at Saint Joseph de Clairval Abbey in Flavigny. 

God dwells within me and I am in God

"Thus did Jesus speak. And who is Jesus but He who declares Himself to the God when, in the face of Jews who would stone Him on that very account, He replies:  I and the Father are one.

The One who at this moment lives in my breast, then, is He, a God; He is my God. A God dwells within me and I am in God. Can it be possible? Is it true? Yes, quite possible; my faith reiterates it to me unto satiety. There is nothing truer than that truth.

This God who is within me, I can and must call my God by every claim, a God who is my very own. It is this thought, the thought of a God, of my God in me which, at this moment, wrenches me free of myself and submerges me in Him.

O my God! What can I say to Thee now, how can I express at once greater respect, fear and love than by this cry of my soul: My God!

I forget myself entirely, to the extent that a creature may lose self-consciousness, so as to think of my God, believe in Him, cling to Him alone, at this most sacred instant of my day when, aware of Thy presence in me I can only say to Thee: My God! ... My God!

Far from me then, at this hour, be all other thought and care, every worry, grief and even joy; away, my heart, with pleasant memories, legitimate enjoyments, permissible satisfactions; let the silence of all things invade my being; may my interior faculties be still and recollect themselves.

I am in God; God is in me. My God! Yes, I believe that Thou art here, in the innermost depths of my being. My God! 

I possess our Lord Jesus Christ within me. His flesh sustains me; His blood slakes my thirst; His soul is profoundly united to mine. His humanity fuses with my humanity somewhat as a wax taper runs down and melts into another taper. But this sacred humanity is that of the Word, the Word that was in the beginning; it is that of God, the God whom I adore devoutly, the hidden God."

-- Pledge of Glory: Eucharistic Meditations based on the Prayer of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity by Dom Eugene Vandeur

I must wipe the tablet clean of everything

"Although God is Almighty, He can only work in a heart when He finds readiness or makes it. He works differently in men than in stones. For this we may take the following illustration: if we bake in one oven three loaves of barley-bread, of rye-bread, and of wheat, we shall find the same heat of the oven affects them differently; when one is well-baked, another will be still raw, and another yet more raw. That is not due to the heat, but to the variety of the materials. Similarly God works in all hearts not alike but in proportion as He finds them prepared and susceptible. If the heart is to be ready for the highest, it must he vacant of all other things. If I wish to write on a white tablet, whatever else is written on the tablet, however noble its purport, is a hindrance to me. If I am to write, I must wipe the tablet clean of everything, and the tablet is most suitable for my purpose when it is blank. Similarly, if God is to write on my heart, everything else must come out of it till it is really sanctified. Only so can God work His highest will, and so the sanctified heart has no outward object at all."

 -- From a sermon by Meister Eckhart

Perform all actions well in order to please God

"Many believe that they never do real penance for their sins unless they perform some form of corporal austerity. We know, however, that he does much penance for his sins who diligently strives to perform all his actions well in order to please God, for this is of great perfection and merit."


-- St Francis de Sales


** Photo by Ilona Wellman

Life unfolds as an ongoing process

"A spiritual biography attempts to lay bare the outline of the growing awareness of God's 'working' in a human life. It is the history of the struggle to accept oneself out of God's hand and hence also the history of blockages, fears, and repressions. In many ways, after all, we hold all sorts of things at bay in the hope of saving ourselves by the skin of our teeth: We want to understand and control, plan and organize our life. We resist the 'uncertainty' of the unmerited  miracle of a life when we dare entrust ourselves to the mystery of the creative hand of God. Having been created after God's image, life unfolds as an ongoing process in which we progressively grow towards complete likeness with this image. In that way we become the persons we essentially are. For God to see, after all, is the same as to create and love. A spiritual biography, accordingly, describes the growing consciousness which God's mysterious 'working' brings into light. This is the story of the indescribable miracle which occurs in a person 'in life as it is.'"

-- Encountering God in the abyss: Titus Brandsma's spiritual journey by Constant Dölle

** Photo from pixdaus

The Eucharist: the focal point of the works of God

"Who can tell the countless marvels worked in a soul by Holy Communion with Jesus Hostia! The Eucharist, sacrifice and sacrament, is the focal point of the works of God, one in Essence, three in Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; it is there to become the divine instrument of glorifying that same God, the Trinity whom we adore. Hence, when, by way of the Host, Jesus deigns to descend into us, invading our whole being, it is above all to restore us completely to the unity of the Blessed Trinity, our Beginning and our End. There is no other holiness.


First of all, Jesus Hostia, the Man-God comes to teach the soul how to adore this Trinity. He thereupon establishes her in that peace, as stable as it is profound, which enables her to remain under the creative action of Him who fulfills there in ever greater and better measure, the eternal, gratuitous plan of her predestination.


That she may yield herself fully to this action, the soul, filled with the strength of the Host, submerges herself in Jesus Crucified with all the power of her love. She consecrates and vows to Him all that she is and has. She begs to become identified with Him, henceforth to be naught but a radiation of the very perfections of her God. 


The Jesus Hostia draws her toward the contemplation of the Word, His adorable Person. In her docility to hearken to the living Utterance which is Himself, responsive to the impulse of divinizing grace, the soul lives and reposes peacefully under the brightness of the Light of Light, even were it to lead her through the most crucifying trials of the spiritual life.


Carried away to such heights in God, yielding, through the Host, to the transforming influences of the Holy Spirit, she calls upon His aid, beseeching Him to deign to make of her being, as it were, an additional humanity, another Christ, so to speak, renewing in this creature all the mystery of His life, of the states and graces of Jesus.


Thus the soul becomes, through the Host, a daughter of the Heavenly Father. In still greater measure than at baptism, He leans over her, recognizing in her more and more His beloved child; He delivers her over entirely to the power of grace which develops unceasingly within her mystery of divine adoption.


The soul has become God's prey. He does with her whatever His love demands. Jesus Hostia has vanquished her completely. She remains, as it were, buried in Him; therein consists the triumph of the Eucharist. God is all in all to that soul; she feels as if poised on the threshold of that vision which will one day fulfill her likeness to the God who had created her only for Himself. No longer has she any other expectation.


To the Trinity the soul has been lifted up through the Host."


-- Pledge of Glory: Eucharistic Meditations based on the Prayer of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity by Dom Eugene Vandeur

Learning to let God act

"[T]he most important thing in our lives is not so much what we can do as leaving room for what God can do. The great secret of all spiritual fruitfulness and growth is learning to let God act. ‘Apart from me, you can do nothing,’ Jesus tells us. God’s love is infinitely more powerful than anything we can do by our own wisdom or our own strength. Yet one of the most essential conditions for God’s grace to act in our lives is saying yes to what we are and to the situations in which we ding ourselves.

That is because God is ‘realistic.’ His grace does not operate on our imaginings, ideals, or dreams. It works on reality, the specific, concrete elements of our lives. Even if the fabric of our everyday lives doesn’t look very glorious to us, only there can we be touched by God’s grace. The person he wants to touch and to transform with his love, is not the person we’d have liked to be or ought to be. It’s the person we are. God doesn’t love ‘ideal persons’ or ‘virtual beings.’ He loves actual, real people. He is not interested in saintly figures in stained glass windows, but in us sinners. A great deal of time can be wasted in the spiritual life complaining that we are not like this or not like that, lamenting this defect or that limitation, imagining all the good we could do if, instead of being the way we are, we were less defective, more gifted with this or that quality or virtue, and so on. Here is a waste of time and energy that merely impedes the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

What often blocks the action of God’s grace in our lives is less our sins or failings, than it is our failure to accept our own weaknesses – all those rejections, conscious or not, of what we really are or of our real situation. To ‘set grace free’ in our lives, and paving the way for deep and spectacular changes, it sometimes would be enough to say simply ‘yes’ – a ‘yes’ inspired by trust in God to aspects of our lives we’ve been rejecting. We refuse to admit that we have this defect, that weak point, were marked by this event, fell into that sin. And so we block the Holy Spirit’s action, since he can only affect our reality to the extent we accept it ourselves. The Holy Spirit never acts unless we freely cooperate. We must accept ourselves just as we are, if the Holy Spirit is to change us for the better.

We need to accept our limitations, but without ever resigning ourselves to mediocrity. We need to desire to change, but without ever refusing, even subconsciously, to recognize our limitations or accept ourselves.

The secret actually is very simple. It is to understand that we can only transform reality fruitfully if we accept it first. This also means having the humility to recognize that we cannot change ourselves by our own efforts, but that all progress in the spiritual life, every victory over ourselves, is a gift of God’s grace. We will not receive the grace to change unless we desire to; but to receive the grace that will transform us, we must ‘receive’ ourselves – to accept ourselves as we really are."

-- Interior Freedom by Fr Jacques Philippe

Any special drawing in devotion is a great gift from God

"A spiritual man may be defined to be one who has received a second life from God, a life which he lives privately with God, and which is itself a kind of Divine law to his outward life, standing in the relation of supremacy to it, and at the same time leaving free play to circumstances. This second life is heavenly. Its vitality is from Heaven. Its powers are Heavenly. It is conversant with heavenly things, and deals with earthly things only to transmute them into Heavenly things by the alchemy of grace. In nothing is this individual attraction of grace more observable than in a man's devotions; and, because of the relation in which devotion stands to virtue, in nothing is it more important. With some men it is the same all through life; with others it changes with the seasons and circumstances of life. Sometimes a man sees it plainly himself; at other times others can see it, while it remains invisible to himself; sometimes it is hidden altogether, yet not necessarily absent because it is hidden. In some souls it is so strong that it molds their entire life; with others it is so weak that their devotion seems to have no rule beyond that seemingly external rule, which is more mysterious and excellent than men believe, the Calendar of the Church.


-o-


Any special drawing in devotion is a great gift from God. It is one of the most powerful of all the secret influences of the spiritual life. It is therefore of great importance to a man not to mistake or overlook such a Heavenly attraction. Such a mistake is like a man's missing his vocation. Every man, doubtless, has a vocation: so every spiritual man has a devotional attraction, or a succession of them. For a spiritual man is one who dwells inwardly in the supernatural world, amid God's mysteries and revealed grandeurs. He is not a mere tourist who is struck by the sublime or the picturesque of theology, and admires the scenery as a whole, and has not such a familiarity with it as to enable him to break it up into separate landscapes, nor time to brood tranquilly over any of them so as to have a rational predilection for them. He dwells in the world of theology. He is like one whose fixed abode is in grand scenery. He sees it in the morning light and in the sunset's glow. He knows how it looks when the misty calm of summer noon is wafting fragrance over wood and water . He is familiar with it in the vicissitudes of storm and calm. When the distant mountains are hidden by summer's impenetrable rampart of green leaves before his window, he feels that they are there, and that winter's leafless woods will let them in upon his sight. He knows how the faces of the mountains change, according as the light strikes them in the front or from behind, and how a stranger, who has seen them in the morning, would in the evening, spite of all landmarks, be doubtful of their identity. He cannot help having preferences. Predilections are almost a necessity to him. Or at least he must honor, like a true poet, each coming season with an admiration which seems, if it only seems, to do injustice to the season that is past, like the souls who in devotion follow the Calendar of the Church, and honor most the feast under whose shadow they are sitting. So it must be to those to whom the supernatural world is a genuine home. Their life is a life of loves, and therefore of predilections also."


-- Bethlehem by Fr Frederick William Faber 

Spiritual journey: the stages of spiritual growth

"...[T]he purgative stage or way includes the initial phases of the spiritual life, including coming to conversion, turning away from sin, bringing one's life into conformity with the moral law, initiating the habit of prayer and the practices of piety, and maintaining a relatively stable life in the Church. (The first three mansions of Teresa [of Avila] deal with issues connected with the purgative stage.)

The illuminative stage is one of continuing growth. It is characterized by deeper prayer, growth in the virtues, deepening love of neighbor, greater moral stability, more complete surrender to the lordship of Christ, greater detachment from all that is not God, and increasing desire for full union. It is accompanied by various kinds of trials and purifications and sometimes be great consolations and blessings, including what are commonly referred to as 'mystical phenomena.' (Teresa's fourth, fifth, and sixth mansions deal with issues connected with this stage.)

The unitive stage is one of deep, habitual union with God, characterized by deep joy, profound humility, freedom from fears of suffering or trials, great desire to serve God, and apostolic fruitfulness. The experience of the presence of God is almost continual; great insight into the things of God is experienced; and while not without suffering, suffering now becomes primarily the grace of sharing in the redeeming suffering of Christ rather than the suffering of purification. This deep, habitual union is variously described as a 'spiritual marriage' or 'transforming union.' (Teresa describes the unitive stage in the seventh mansion.)

This three-stage division is a useful way of broadly characterizing the different aspects of the spiritual journey...

...[I]t's important to bear in mind that in practice no one's life perfectly matches any of the stages described... [D]ifferent aspects of these stages can be present in one's life simultaneously, although the direction of our lives, if we are making progress, should increasingly mirror the characteristics the saints point out as indicators of spiritual progress. As Catherine [of Siena] puts it, 'These are three stages for which many have the capacity, and all three can be present in one and the same person.'"

-- The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin