“Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will and being exactly what He wants us to be” (St. Therese of the Child Jesus).
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SPIRITUAL GROWTH
“You must endure the dark hours and trials so that your trust may fully depend on me” (Inner Word).
This is one of the most difficult lessons we must learn on our way to eternity, but it is also one of the most important and fruitful. Our Father never actively desires evil or suffering. Why would He? However, evil entered the world as a consequence of man’s sin, bringing suffering and death with it, as our faith teaches us. We lost paradisiacal innocence, and now humanity lives under this shadow.
DO NOT WEARY THE SOUL
“Avoid irrelevant things that hinder, paralyze, sap strength and determination, and weary the soul” (Inner Word).
Today’s phrase does not refer to legitimate recreation and rest, but rather to the distractions in our lives. We easily stray from what is essential and get lost in trivialities. In an age when media and cell phones dominate people’s lives excessively, we may no longer even notice the distraction. We may have become accustomed to this scattered, hectic pace of life and even feel comfortable with it.
BEAR FRUIT EVERY DAY
“If man knew how much he could gain in a single day, his heart would be filled with joy as soon as he woke up, knowing that a new day had dawned in which he could praise God and multiply his reward to His glory, and he would be encouraged and strengthened throughout the day for whatever he had to do or endure” (St. Mechthild of Hackeborn).
UNSPEAKABLE JOY
“No one can look so deeply into the heart of his friend, and see the affection he feels for him, as my chosen ones can look into the innermost depths of my heart to discover there, with inexpressible joy, my affection for them.” (Jesus to St. Mechthild of Hackeborn)
ONE NEVER LOVES ENOUGH
“One finds that one never loves enough. Yes, it’s true: one never loves enough!” (Charles de Foucauld).
This is true because love is infinite and can only be found in its perfection in God.
CHRIST LIVES IN ME
“Bring everything to me so that I may take possession of it and proclaim myself through you” (Inner word).
In following the Lord, everything in us must be transformed. As the Apostle of the Gentiles teaches us, we are to become “new men,” “spiritual persons” (cf. 1 Cor 3:1). This means the Holy Spirit takes the reins, and we follow His instructions docilely, allowing our thoughts and actions to be transformed by His influence. Then, rather than being primarily determined by natural impulses, we learn to understand and be governed by God’s perspective with the grace of our Heavenly Father.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE HEART
“Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti (Thou desirest truth in the inward being)” (Ps 51:6).
We know the words of the prophet Jeremiah about the twisted heart: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the mind and try the heart, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings’” (Jer 17:9).
THE FEAR OF GOD FREES US FROM THE FEAR OF MEN
“We must fear God so that we do not fear men” (St. John Chrysostom).
The fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom (Prv 1:7), leads us to carefully avoid anything that could offend our beloved Father out of love for Him.
A NEW DIRECTION
“There is not a single instant in our life in which we cannot set out on a new course.” (St. Charles de Foucauld)
Speaking of the rebellion of the Israelites in the desert, Scripture offers the exhortation: “O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:7c–8a).