Recently I have been reading Living Love: A Modern edition of Treatise on the Love of God by St. Francis De Sales, edited by Bernard Bangley.
It occurs to me that I have ALWAYS been aware and assured of the love of God. As a small child, I had a great sense of my guardian angel's protection. I could feel the Lord's nearness as I went about my day. As I grew, and sin dulled my senses, my mind retained the memory of God's nearness. There have been moments of such radiant transcendence in my life that questioning the actual existence of God has been impossible. Sure I took time to be my own god and follow my own desires, but never did I completely lose the feeling of being loved by THE God.
As I reflect on this gift of the awareness of God, it occurs to me that many, many souls out in the world do not have this gift in equal measure to mine. How sad it must be for them as they navigate the world without a sense of the eternal. How lucky am I, that I can speak to St. Theresa of Avila as I read her books, or St. Jose Maria Escriva as I ponder his words. As I begin reading a saint's words, I ask them to help me get from their writings what I need to further deepen my relationship with Jesus. And so, the following has spoken loudly to me from St. Frances de Sales:
"It is entirely reasonable to avoid theft, swearing, killing, and adultery. It is in accord with human understanding to pray, to love, and honor parents. But to give away all our possessions and love poverty, to repudiate harsh criticism and expressions of contempt, to welcome humility, persecution, and martyrdom is NOT NATURAL. To live this mortal life in this material world contrary to all the opinions and maxims of the world is to swim against the tide. This is simply not possible unless God draws us to it."
In other words, to go beyond just being merely good, to being saintly, is something that only God can draw us to and give us the grace to endure. God gives us His love that we may love him back, never with the same fervor and pureness of His love, but with all the meager power of our human hearts.
"Love yields the profoundest obedience"- De Sales
How beautiful these words! We are God's children and as love compelled us to obey our earthly parents, how much more are we driven to obey the parent of us all? We freely give God back the ability that he first gave us to resist Him and lovingly lay our free will at His feet and promise to do His will. He doesn't want us to resist him, but he leaves us free to do so. When we submit in obedient love to God, how this must please Him!! And paradoxically, He gave us the GRACE to be able to do so.
Lord help me fall helplessly in love with you and to do your holy will!
Prayer Warrior, I echo your prayer, and I tremble at the possibilities. God asks an aweful lot of those who love Him. So I pray for courage and all the gifts the Holy Spirit that I need to do God's will.
ReplyDeleteI'm half listening to TV commentators 'explaining' to the American people why Santorum is out of touch and continously says the wrong things- things that scare people and make him un-electable. The common verdict is that Santorum plans to impose his faith onto others; that he is judgemental of other faiths...blah, blah, blah...
How ironic that the commentators are totally clueless about what Santorum is saying; how they themselves impose their limited view of the Catholic church, onto the statements they are critisizing. We may all use English, but we definitely do not speak the same language.
Today's world is bereft of faith. People don't want Christian morality foisted on them, but don't realize that their atheistic and radical relativism is as much a religion as is the Christian way of thought. Yet they feel it no problem at all to foist their morality on us. I am hoping that the young especially can see the sheer hypocrisy of this position. Why isn't the plight of the modern day martyrs in the Middle East, Africa and China on the nightly news? Because there is no $ behind this. Instead, Planned parenthood and other politically connected groups get their points across again and again, by bribing their way. (even if it is legal by calling it lobbying!) Pray Sisters. Our God Will Prevail!!
DeleteHow funny that as children we instinctly know God. And sad to say as we grow older we often don't grow in that love for Him. Instead we grow to worship other things and fail to grow in love of the one who is the creator of all things. This is why we need to be praying for each other. Yes, we have our guardian angels and the saints in heaven, but we can not forget to pry for our youth! And, in times like these - as pointed out by InHisService - they need lots of prayers. JMJ we love you save souls.
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