‘It is not to be believed that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit can penetrate a person who does not practise virtue ’ (John Tauler).
The indwelling of God in our soul has conditions. The first is that we live in a state of grace and remain vigilant not to lose it, and that we go immediately to the Throne of Grace should we fall, in order to be reconciled with our Father.
John Taulero points out another condition concerning the growth of our spiritual life: we are called to aspire to and practise the virtues.
The theological virtues (faith, hope and charity) come directly from God and tend towards Him; that is to say, faith is directly related to the Lord, for in Him we believe; so is hope, which we place in Him; and likewise love is directed first of all to God, as the first commandment teaches us. Thus, we can examine again and again whether God really has the first place in our spiritual life and whether we learn to love everything else from Him. If we notice that something in our life is not yet fully oriented towards God, as it should be, we are called to perform the necessary acts to focus completely on Him.
It is easy to understand that God can fill us in a special way with His presence when we strive to focus our whole life on Him, thus responding to the gift of the theological virtues. When this happens, our Father finds a soul to whom He can easily give Himself.
The state of grace allows our Father to establish Himself in a person’s soul and to progressively perfect his striving for the virtues through His love.