On Doing the Will of God

The following comes from the Mark Mallet site:

In reality, holiness consists of one thing only: complete loyalty to God’s will…. You are seeking for secret ways of belonging to God, but there is only one: making use of whatever he offers you…. The great and firm foundation of the spiritual life is the offering of ourselves to God and being subject to His will in all things…. God truly helps us however much we may feel we have lost His support.  

—Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence

A Quote from Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade

“If the work of our sanctification presents us with difficulties that appear insurmountable, it is because we do not look at it in the right way. In reality, holiness consists in one thing alone, namely, fidelity to God's plan. And this fidelity is equally within everyone's capacity in both its active and passive exercise.” 

                -Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Pope Francis: Heart full of desire for possessions is 'empty of God'

(CNA) Crowds filled a rainy St. Peter’s Square today to hear Pope Francis’ Angelus message, which focused on the importance of seeking God above all else, especially earthly goods.

“A heart occupied by the desire to posses is full of this desire to possess (things), but empty of God,” said the Pope on Sunday, March 2.

“In a heart possessed by riches, there is not much space for faith. Everything is occupied by riches: there is no place for faith. If instead one allows God his rightful place, that is, first, then his love also leads to sharing the wealth, putting riches at the service of charitable and development projects, as evidenced by many examples, even recent ones, in the history of the Church.”

The Pontiff explained that for a Christian, wealth can never become a goal in itself. “We cannot serve two masters: God and wealth.”

“This is why Jesus repeated warned the rich, because the risk of placing their security in the goods of this world is strong for them. And security - definitive security - is in God,” he stressed.

A follower of Christ is part of the wider community of the Church, and therefore called to serve others, including by the use of his material possessions, the Pope explained.

“As long as everyone tries to accumulate for themselves, there will never be justice. If, however, trusting in the providence of God, we seek his kingdom together, then no one will lack what is necessary to live with dignity.”

In fact, he continued, “the providence of God passes through our service to others.” When people share their goods, and put them in the service of others, “the providence of God becomes a gesture of solidarity.”

But when a person who “accumulates only for himself,” is “called by God, he will not be able to bring his riches, because, as you know, the burial shroud does not have pockets!”

“It is better to share, because we bring to Heaven only that which we have shared with others,” he stressed.

Pope Francis led the crowds in the Angelus prayer and then asked for prayers for Ukraine, that “all the members of the country strive to overcome misunderstandings and build the future of the nation together.”

Ukraine has experienced several months of political unrest and violence. Recently, Russian troops have entered parts of the country, prompting deep concern from the international community.

Today the Pope asked “the international community that it might support any initiative in favor of dialogue and harmony.”

He then reminded everyone that as Lent begins this this week, Christians are called to “combat evil with the weapons of prayer, fasting, and mercy.”

“Humanity needs justice, reconciliation, (and) peace, and may only have them when it returns to God whole-heartedly,” the Pontiff said. “And we all need God’s forgiveness. We enter into Lent in a spirit of adoration of God, and fraternal solidarity with those who, in these times, are tested by poverty and violent conflict.”

Pope Francis concluded his Angelus by greeting the many pilgrim groups and wishing everyone a “good Sunday and good lunch.”

An Act of Hope and Confidence in God by St. Claude De La Colombiere

My God, I believe most firmly that Thou watchest over all who hope in Thee, and that we can want for nothing when we rely upon Thee in all things; therefore I am resolved for the future to have no anxieties, and to cast all my cares upon Thee.

People may deprive me of worldly goods and of honors; sickness may take from me my strength and the means of serving Thee; I may even lose Thy grace by sin; but my trust shall never leave me. I will preserve it to the last moment of my life, and the powers of hell shall seek in vain to wrestle it from me.

Let others seek happiness in their wealth, in their talents; let them trust to the purity of their lives, the severity of their mortifications, to the number of their good works, the fervor of their prayers; as for me, O my God, in my very confidence lies all my hope. “For Thou, O Lord, singularly has settled me in hope.” This confidence can never be in vain. “No one has hoped in the Lord and has been confounded.”

I am assured, therefore, of my eternal happiness, for I firmly hope for it, and all my hope is in Thee. “In Thee, O Lord, I have hoped; let me never be confounded.”

I know, alas! I know but too well that I am frail and changable; I know the power of temptation against the strongest virtue. I have seen stars fall from heaven, and pillars of firmament totter; but these things alarm me not. While I hope in Thee I am sheltered from all misfortune, and I am sure that my trust shall endure, for I rely upon Thee to sustain this unfailing hope.

Finally, I know that my confidence cannot exceed Thy bounty, and that I shall never receive less than I have hoped for from Thee. Therefore I hope that Thou wilt sustain me against my evil inclinations; that Thou wilt protect me against the most furious assults of the evil one, and that Thou wilt cause my weakness to triumph over my most powerful enemies. I hope that Thou wilt never cease to love me, and that I shall love Thee unceasingly. “In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded.”

The Human Person: Such Value, Dignity, Beauty

The following comes from Bishop Paul Etienne:

Recently I was speaking with someone who was having a difficult moment. The basic issue at hand was a proper understanding of her own beauty, which means being able to see herself as God sees her.
Life can be difficult, and our many experiences, particularly as young people, begin to form the way we think about our self.  When enough bad experiences add up, depending upon our personality and chemistry, we can begin to think very negatively of our self, and even of others, God, and the world.

One of the critical challenges of our time is to recover a proper understanding of the human person, namely as being created by God and for God.  Today’s feast of St. Peter Chrysologus provides one of his many beautiful writings which speaks to this particular need.  I offer portions of his thought here:

Why then, man, are you so worthless in your own eyes and yet so precious to God?  Why render yourself such dishonor when you are honored by him?  Why do you ask how you were created and do not seek to know why you were made?  Was not this entire visible universe made for your dwelling?  It was for you that the light dispelled the overshadowing gloom; for your sake was the night regulated and the day measured, and for you were the heavens embellished with the varying brilliance of the sun, the moon and the stars.

The earth was adorned with flowers, groves and fruit; and the constant marvelous variety of lovely living things was created in the air, the fields, and the seas for you, lest sad solitude destroy the joy of God’s new creation.  And the Creator still works to devise things that can add to your glory.  He has made you in his image that you might in your person make the invisible Creator present on earth; he has mad you his legate, so that the vast empire of the world might have the Lord’s representative.  Then in his mercy God assumed what he made in you; he wanted now to be truly manifest in man, just as he had wished to be revealed in man as in an image.  Now he would be in reality what he had submitted to be in symbol. 

And so Christ is born that by his birth he might restore our nature.  He became a child, was fed, and grew that he might inaugurate the one perfect age to remain for ever as he had created it.  He supports man that man may no longer fall.  And the creature he had formed of earth he now makes heavenly; and what he had endowed with a human soul he now vivifies to become a heavenly spirit.

Let us pray that those most in need of a proper awareness of God’s love for them come to such understanding.  Let us pray that our culture and time come to a renewed understanding and appreciation for the dignity and sanctity of the human person.
Let us strive today to treat self and others with proper respect, compassion and love.
+pde