Yesterday we surely marveled at St. Konrad, whose life became so fruitful and who carried out his undoubtedly demanding service as porter for forty‑one years, until three days before the end of his life. Through him, pilgrims to Altötting were able to experience a profound closeness to God. Brother Konrad himself shared with us something of his “secret of love,” which united him so intimately with God.
It is one thing to gratefully admire such a life and to praise the Lord for it. It is another to thank the saint himself for having listened so well to our heavenly Father and for having served Him and humanity! It is also helpful to ask him to pray for our own path of following Christ. Yet we can take another step.
How can we make the lives of the saints fruitful for ourselves?
Surely it is a matter of finding the source from which Brother Konrad was so richly gifted, so that streams of living water flowed from him into this world. The saint expresses in his gentle and simple way how we should live:
“Let us strive earnestly to lead an interior life hidden in God. For it is so good to be with the dear God. Even in my many tasks I am all the more intimately united with Him. I speak there quite confidentially, like a child with its father.”
We never lose time when we set it aside for familiar communion with God, seeking and nurturing a personal relationship with the Lord. As Brother Konrad tells us, a wonderful way to find a simple, trusting relationship with God the Father is to speak with Him like a child. Everyone can do this, even without possessing great knowledge of God. We are truly His children, and it is a grace to be able and allowed to address God as His children. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to say, “Abba, dear Father.” This can remain even into old age, for we never cease to be His children, even as other forms of loving relationship with God arise and take shape in our lives—friendship, spousal love, cooperation in the Kingdom of God. All these relationships draw from the same inner source that makes service fruitful: intimacy with God.
This growing and thus increasingly natural intimacy deepens, day by day, our recognition of God’s love. It becomes a source of joy and also the inner anchor that can withstand all storms. On the so‑called mystical path—that is, the path of the inner experience of God—spiritual teachers speak of an “inner tasting of God.” Here begins that depth of encounter with God which is a kind of foretaste of future heavenly glory.
All of this takes place in hiddenness. As we heard from Brother Konrad, this inner life also permeates all the work entrusted to us. Such work can be woven into the intimate familiarity of our relationship with God, for we carry it out on His behalf and therefore it does not separate us from Him.
St. Teresa of Ávila, a great master of the interior path, points—regarding the “inner life”—to the importance of the practice of prayer, which she calls the “great conversation with God,” and which is an excellent way to enter into and remain in lasting communion with Him. Teresa recommends meditation and meditative reading as forms of prayer—especially at the beginning of the interior path. Through them one can penetrate to the heart of prayer, which, according to the saint, means the “cultivation of loving friendship,” in which the soul “often converses inwardly with the One whom she knows loves her.” When, in such meditations, feelings of gratitude and a longing for God’s love awaken and grow stronger, one should simply speak with the Lord from the heart and express to Him one’s longing for Him. Sometimes it also happens that, when touched by God’s love, a deep regret arises that one has spent so much time uselessly instead of seeking God and cultivating communion with Him. The Spirit may then lead us to ask the Lord for forgiveness and admonish us to improve in this regard, to avoid this or that.
Conversation with God becomes ever more natural and thus more intimate. God will always answer. It is a dialogue and not merely a monologue on our part. This does not mean that one hears God’s words as if spoken or perceives them inwardly! Yet through the inflowing of His grace, the gift of His light, we understand God’s way ever more clearly and are moved to walk His paths faithfully.
One cannot praise the interior and hidden life enough, nor recommend it strongly enough to every person to seek it. Even though the path of holy Brother Konrad was unique and gave us precisely the message that God wished to give the world through him, the invitation goes out to everyone to seek God and to walk an inner path of trust with Him. If we do this, then God will also send His message to people through us, even if we ourselves may hardly notice it.
Reflection on today’s reading: https://en.elijamission.net/everything-must-serve-the-kingdom-of-god/
Reflection on today’s Gospel: https://en.elijamission.net/god-is-waiting-for-us-2/