“The love of God begets the love of the soul. God is the first to direct His attention to the soul, and so it fixes itself on Him. He takes care of it, and so it begins to take care of Him.” (St. Bernard)
Everything proceeds from our Father, who created us with love and instilled in our souls a love for Him. Only when she responds to this love does she find the deepest meaning of her existence and awaken to true life. She knows she is loved by her Father, and this love leads her to focus more and more on her Creator. She begins to long for Him and, even more, to yearn for Him existentially. “O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is” (Ps 63:1). God becomes the central theme of her life: “I think of thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the watches of the night” (v. 7).
The soul begins to perceive more and more the solicitous love of God, His wisdom and tenderness: “O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me! Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my thoughts from afar. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways” (Ps 138:1–3).
The solicitous love of our Father awakens her so that she becomes more and more occupied with the affairs of God. As the spirit of piety is activated in the soul, she begins to think more of God than of herself. She wants to please Him and to know the desires of her Father. Love begins to mature, to become greater and stronger. The soul assumes full responsibility for the existence God has granted her, becoming a living sanctuary of the Most Holy Trinity.