This is the Day the Lord has Made

My readings and meditations this day spoke to my heart, as they often seem to do in these days of silence in my house.  Perhaps it’s because I am listening better.  At any rate, these first words are from the book This is the Day the Lord has Made, 365 Daily Meditations by Wilfrid Stinissen.  I’ve read many of Stinissen’s writings; they are extremely thought-provoking, as was the short meditation for today, April 22.  (You might like to get this book, it is short thoughts for each day, an easy way to pray).

Touched by God

According to Augustine, the longing for happiness is our most fundamental impulse.  No one ought to doubt that point.  God has put this longing inside us to make us long for him who is happiness itself.

God is joy, the fullness of bliss.  Those who find God partake in his happiness.  To long for God is written into our very being.  But many aren’t conscious to whom their longing is directed, therefore they seek happiness where it is not to be found.

The more your life is directed toward God --- the deeper you become conscious of God being the beginning and end of everything --- the more you become human.  You will experience that love of God “fits” your essence, does you well, makes you bloom.  God and humankind aren’t rivals, as many humanists claim.  God is our completion and perfection.

Your life is happy and blessed to the extent that it is a deep longing and striving for God, a journey toward God.  To seek and strive for anything else will always end in disappointment.

It is particularly wonderful that the longing for God contains so much pain and so much joy.  When we experience our inability to love and seek God with all our heart, a deep longing for him can awaken within us.  It hurts to long, but, at the same time, it makes us happy that this longing is a sign that we have been touched by God.

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The next two excerpts are about intimate, personal prayers with God.  The first is from Divine Intimacy, Meditation 151:

Intimate Converses With God

The heart of prayer, according to St. Teresa of Jesus, is “nothing but friendly intercourse and frequent solitary converse with Him who we know loves us.”  It makes no difference whether we attain this end by means of meditation, or reading, or even by the slow, pious recitation of a vocal prayer. …. Sometimes, we feel incited to express our gratitude to Him, desiring to return love for love, and we spontaneously begin an intimate conversation with the Lord. … We stop to have a solitary converse with God, returning to the book or reflection when we feel the need of seeking new reasons or of arousing new affections to maintain our colloquy with God.  Here is a genuine colloquy, because not only does the soul speak, God often answers --- not audibly, of course, but by sending it graces of light and love through which the soul will have a better understanding of the divine ways.

We must not believe that in order to treat intimately with God and to show Him our love, it is always necessary to do so by means of words.  On the contrary, we will often prefer to be silent in order to fix our gaze calmly on the Lord, to return Him love in silence.  Our colloquy becomes silent, contemplative, a simple look which penetrates truth, a real exchange of friendship with Him.

The soul will not always be able to continue long in this contemplative look, this silent colloquy; now and again it will need to come back to reflection, to the verbal expression of its thoughts, and --- especially when it is not yet accustomed to this manner of prayer --- it will be well for it to do so rather often, in order to avoid vagueness and distractions.

“Grant, O Lord, that the purpose of my prayer may be to occupy my heart with loving You.  I know that You love me more than I love myself, I shall no longer by concerned for myself, but shall have no thought save for You alone, and You will take care of me.  Whereas I have much to gain from You, You have nothing to gain from me; yet I know that You are with me very willingly; and more desirous of helping me than I am of remaining with You and enjoying Your goodness.  Whence does this come?  Certainly, it arises from this: that I love myself poorly, and You love me well.”

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Finally, there are these excerpts from a large book I read a few pages from this afternoon, Abandonment to Divine Providence, by Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade.  The excerpts below are from a letter he wrote to a nun, counseling her on how to grow in spiritual depth, having real meaningful conversations with God:

You must remember all your life that one of the principal reasons why certain souls do not advance is because the devil throws them into a state of uneasiness, perplexity and anxiety which makes them incapable of applying themselves seriously, quietly and with constancy to the practice of virtue.  The great principle of the interior life is the peace of soul and it must be preserved the moment it is attacked.

Masters of the spiritual life lay down this great principle to distinguish the true inspirations of God from those that emanate from the devil: that the former are always sweet and peaceful inducing to confidence and humility, while the latter are intense, restless and violent, leading to discouragement and mistrust, or else to presumption and self-will.  We must, therefore, constantly reject all that does not show signs of peace, submission, sweetness and confidence.

The conduct of God in the interior of souls he loves and wishes to raise to a perfect and solid virtue somewhat resembles that of a wise and firm mother who, to overcome the obstinacy and self-will of her child, an to make him perfectly submissive and obedient, gives, and takes away again what he likes best, and continues to do so until she has overcome his rebellious spirit.  I have often explained to you before that, in certain circumstances, the most efficacious way of making spiritual progress is the simple one of acquiescing in the will of God.  “I agree to all, Lord, I wish what You wish, I resign myself entirely to Your will.”  This is called desiring nothing and being prepared for everything; nothing for yourself, and everything by resignation.

You are surprised that having heartily made certain sacrifices for God, temptations about them should return, most violently, so as to cause you anxiety.  It is necessary that this should happen, to prevent self-complacency and self-love which would spoil all.  Be satisfied, then, that God has inclined you in the first place by this grace to make these sacrifices for him, and firmly resist the temptations to retract them.  God intends through them to keep you humble.  Without the help of these oft-repeated trials of our misery and feebleness we should flatter ourselves to have had a great share in the victory, and should thus lose all the fruit we might have gained.  In withdrawing from the truth of our own nothingness we go on in vanity and lies which are so opposed to God who is essential truth.

Wow, I wonder what that nun thought when the good father put her in line --- as we all need to be.  We may not be priests or nuns, but all must be trying to live better lives, grow in closeness to God, until the day we meet Him face to face ---- so that after all our difficult efforts of getting to know him, we won’t be looking at a stranger.