“Whoever receives the faith is also called to share it. The light of the Lord, which shines into our darkness, is the light for the world. We owe this to all our fellow human beings.” (St. John Paul II)
So spoke Pope John Paul II, calling on all people to proclaim the Gospel. In doing so, he fulfilled his mission as Pope.
Nothing is closer to our heavenly Father’s heart than this. For this purpose, He sent His Son.
“People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered—love them anyway. When you do good, they’ll accuse you of selfish and ulterior motives—do good anyway. If you are successful, you will gain false friends and real enemies—be successful anyway. The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow—do good anyway. What you have built up over years of work can be destroyed overnight—build anyway. Your help is truly needed, but people may attack you when you help them—help them anyway.” (Mother Teresa)
Clearly, St. Mother Teresa both discovered and practiced in her life the way God our Heavenly Father loves people, for He causes the sun to rise on the good and the evil alike.
“The Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.” (Prov. 3:26)
Without a doubt, there are dangerous snares along our path of following Christ. And there are quite a few that the Lord allows in order to test us. The repeated exhortation to be vigilant is not given in vain, for there are many temptations that seek to lead us astray from the straight path.
Vigilance should not be confused with mistrust. Vigilance recognizes evil and teaches us how to deal with it, while mistrust sees evil everywhere and feels constantly threatened. Vigilance is also incompatible with a certain naivety that fails to properly assess the surrounding situation and feels emotionally secure simply because it does not even perceive the dangers that threaten it.
“People should be close to me and share in my wisdom.” (Inner Word)
This is what our gracious Father has planned for us: a life of intimacy, natural love, and security. At the same time, it is a call to take our place in the Kingdom of God—the place our Father intended for us.
Under the circumstances of this world separated from God, under the oppression of Satan—who begrudges humanity this closeness to God and the wisdom that comes with it and fights against it—this also means struggle. God allows us to face this struggle, and on this path we can demonstrate our love and faithfulness to Him, thus responding to His love. In union with His Son, victory is certain. Yet this struggle is intended only for the time we spend on earth.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Prov. 3:5–6)
Once again, the Book of Proverbs warns us not to rely primarily on our own abilities. This also applies to wisdom, the great natural gift that the Lord bestows upon us. However, it should not be the guiding principle of our lives. That would indeed be foolish, for it is a limited, created gift and requires the supernatural light of God to discern things in their depth. This is why the Lord invites us to trust in Him with “all our heart.” God is the true rock upon which our lives are built—the One who never wavers. If we take this to heart, our natural abilities will be used by God and take their rightful place. The proper order will be established.
“Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” (Prov. 3:7)
How foolish to pride oneself on one’s gifts and thereby elevate oneself above others. What have we not received from our Father? Even if we have contributed through diligence and study, everything has still been given to us by God.
It is a simple realization, yet crucial to the fundamental attitude of our lives: if we attribute everything to God and express this accordingly, divine wisdom will take root in our souls. The honor and praise of God come first for us. We will therefore be careful not to put ourselves in the spotlight or view ourselves with vanity.
The fear of God at work within us—as a gift of the Spirit—will ensure that we do not seek to rob our heavenly Father of His glory before others. This can happen easily, and we may not even realize it. Yet whenever it happens and we fail to establish, at least inwardly, a grateful connection with God, we obscure the truth instead of giving glory to the One to whom it is due.
“He who listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of evil.” (Proverbs 1:33).
Our Father makes it easy for us to gain wisdom and live in the security we long for. It has always been this way, even in the days of a carefree life in Paradise. As long as humanity listened to God, life was in perfect unity with our loving heavenly Father before the Fall. But then disaster struck. Disobedience and listening to the devil’s tempting voices brought it about.
Now, we humans no longer live in Paradise and must suffer the consequences of its loss. Yet our Father has not abandoned us to this calamity. He Himself came to us in His Son to free us from the chains of guilt.
And even today, the same is true. We are called to listen to our Father and follow His instructions: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov. 2:6)
“Don’t think so much about who is for or against you, rather give all your care, that God be with you in everything you do.” (Thomas à Kempis)
Time and again, spiritual teachers remind us that we shouldn’t concern ourselves so much with other people—especially with thinking about their attitudes toward us. Otherwise, we very easily fall into all kinds of assumptions and are not immune to lending an ear to speculation or even rumors. In this way, they find their way into us.
“Lord, my God, my heart shall belong to you alone. You are my peace and my life; you are my salvation. I will seek only you, be seized by you alone, and irrevocably belong to you.” (St. Peter Claver)
This is the prayer of consecration of the great saint who served the souls of African slaves with unshakable fidelity and endured their unimaginable physical suffering (Bible commentary from September 9).
Filled with deep piety, he carried out his heroic service until the end of his fruitful life.
Through this prayer, we can begin to understand how deeply his heart was focused on our Father. When our hearts belong to God, we desire nothing more than to do His will completely. Our Father drew his heart to Himself and filled St. Peter Claver entirely with Himself, just as the saint had asked. St. Peter Claver, so to speak, gave our Father free and loving disposal over his life because God was his peace and his salvation. He sought Him and allowed himself to be seized by Him.
“Learn to live in such a way that your death will be sweet. Keep your heart free and trained up towards God in heaven—you have no lasting citizenship here.” (Thomas à Kempis)
A sweet hour of death—what a wonderful prospect! This can mean nothing other than looking forward to death, or rather, looking forward to returning home to the heavenly Father.
And indeed: When we realize that we are hastening toward our Father every day, who guides and accompanies us on our journey through this earthly life, our hearts can be set ablaze and our longing to live with our Father in eternity grows stronger.
Of course, we still have our mission to fulfill. We do this best when we keep our eyes fixed on our Father, just as the Son of God always did the Father’s will.
