402nd Meditation
“O my God, if my tongue is not able to say at every opportunity that I love You, at least I want my heart to repeat it to You as many times as I take a breath” (St. John Mary Vianney).
The Holy Curé of Ars was a soul inflamed with love, who wanted to correspond fully to the love of the Lord, a true example for all priests! His heart burned for God. What he would have wanted most of all was to enter a contemplative monastery in order to express all his love for the Lord. But God had other plans for him. Thus the Curé of Ars spent countless hours in the confessional, serving the Lord and the salvation of souls.
In any case, he clearly showed us the fire that burned in his heart. With the same force can the Holy Spirit make Himself present in each one of us, enkindling in our hearts a love so overflowing that we want nothing more than to live in this love.
If we consider the love our Father has for us, we should not be surprised that He can infect us with this love. When the Father makes His dwelling place in a soul and it willingly lets Him in, then His love begins to melt all the ice that may have formed around the heart.
“To burn is better than to know,” exclaimed St. Bernard of Clairvaux. We can ask our Father to grant us a burning heart, from which words as wonderful and fiery as those uttered by the Holy Curé of Ars also come forth. Let us listen to another prayer of his which shows how love for God had taken hold of him:
“I love You, O infinitely lovable God, and I prefer to die loving You rather than to live for a single moment without loving You.”