by Fr. Jacques Philippe

Treatises on spirituality speak of the stages of the spiritual life. They list three, seven, twelve, or whatever number the particular author prefers. There is much to be learned from these accounts, whether it is the seven mansions of the soul depicted by St. Teresa of Avila or the twelve degrees of humility of the Rule of St. Benedict.

But experience has taught me a different approach. I often say jokingly that the ladder of perfection has only one step: the step we take today.

Without concerning ourselves about the past or the future, we can decide to believe today, place all our trust in God today, love God and neighbor today.

Whether our good resolutions produce success or failure, next day we can begin again, not relying on our strength but only on God’s faithfulness.

This attitude is fundamental in the spiritual life. St. Paul describes it: “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus … Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”  It is a basic note of monastic spirituality.

St. Anthony of Egypt (the Father of Monasticism, who died at the age of 105 and who, when he was 100, used to say, “I haven’t yet begun to be converted!”) would repeat St. Paul’s words unceasingly.

His biographer, St. Athanasius, adds: “He also remembered the words of Elijah: ‘The Lord liveth before whom I stand today.’

St. Anthony pointed out that when Elijah said ‘today’ he took no account of the past. And so, as though he were still at the beginning, every day he strove to live as he wished to appear before God: pure of heart and ready to obey God’s will and no other.”

The same attitude has been practiced by all the saints, St. Thérèse of Lisieux being a shining example. She wrote: “To love thee, O Jesus, I have but today.”

“We must live in the present moment. This is the only moment within our hands, the only one that can make us happy. The past exists no more; let us leave it to the Divine Mercy. And, though it does not yet exist, let us entrust the future to God’s loving Providence and live happily in the present.” -Fr. Narciso Irala, S.J., Achieving Peace of Heart http://amzn.to/2soEBXz (afflink)

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by Father Lasance, Peace, Not as the World Gives

Nothing happens in this world but by the direction or permission of God. “Nothing,” says St. Augustine, “occurs by chance in the whole course of our life. God overrules all.”

“Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God” (Ecclus. xi. 14).

It may, perhaps be said that this holds good in sickness and in death, in cold and in heat, and in all the events of inanimate nature, but not in what depends upon the free will of man.

You say, “if someone speaks evil of me, defrauds me, persecutes and ill-treats me, is that the will of God? How can I see God’s will in that? Does He not forbid such actions? Consequently I can ascribe them only to the evil designs, to the wickedness or to the ignorance of men.”

But, I answer, God Himself speaks clearly and distinctly on this point. On His own Holy Word, we must believe that even what appears to be left to the caprice of men must be attributed to God’s permission.

The Jews imputed their captivity to other causes than the dispensation of Providence. The prophet Jeremias says: “Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not? Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Most High?” (Jeremias iii. 37).

Therefore, when we are robbed of our good name, despoiled of our wealth, abused or otherwise wronged, we must ascribe it to the will of God. It is His hand that is visiting us; all is the work of His providence.

But, again, you object, “All such actions are sinful. How can God will them? How can He take part therein? God’s essence being holiness itself, He can have nothing in common with sin.”

I answer: In every evil deed two things must be clearly demonstrated; namely, the action itself, or the exterior movement; and the straying of the will from the Divine Law.

Does your neighbor strike you, or calumniate you? You must, on the one hand, distinguish the motion of the arm or of the tongue; and, on the other, the evil intention that directs the movement.

The movement itself is not sinful; therefore God can be the Author of it. And this He really is, for no creature has life or motion of itself; all receive it from God, who works in them and by them.

The evil intention, on the contrary, is entirely the work of the human will, and it alone makes the sin. In this God takes no part. He permits the evil act in order not to do violence to the free will of men.

Accordingly, God shares in the deeds of men only insofar as He contributes to the exterior movement. The bad intention underlying the act proceeds from our will; and in this God has no part.

You have abused your honor, your riches—God wills that you should lose the one or the other; but He takes no part in the sin of either the robber or the calumniator.

Patient endurance should characterize our conduct towards those to whom God has given command over us. We should neither judge their intentions nor harbor aversion against them. We should rest satisfied that, however hostile or inimical they may be toward us, they are only instruments of salvation in the hands of an All-good, All-wise, All-powerful God.

He will give them no more power over us than is for our good. Creatures can do us no harm, unless power is given them from on high. All enlightened souls have been firmly convinced of this truth.

The history of Job presents a beautiful illustration of it. Job is bereft of his children and stripped of all his wealth; from the pinnacle of human happiness he falls to the depths of earthly misery, and what does he say? ‘The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord.”

“Behold,” says St. Augustine, “how this holy man understood the great mystery of God’s providence! He did not say: ‘The Lord hath given me children and riches, and the devil hath taken them from me.’ But he said: ‘The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken. As it has pleased the Lord, and not as it has pleased the devil, also is it done.’

Not less striking is the example of the Egyptian Joseph. His brothers, actuated by hatred and envy, sold him; but he ascribed all to God’s providence.

“God,” he said, ‘sent me before you into Egypt for your preservation, that you may be preserved upon the earth, and may have food to live. . . . Not by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God” (Gen. xiv, 5-8).

Tobias, that faithful servant of God, was made blind while engaged in acts of charity. As we read in the Book of Tobias: ‘This trial the Lord permitted to happen to him, that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, as also of holy Job.

For whereas he had always feared God from his infancy, and kept his commandments, he repined not against God because the evil of blindness had befallen him. But continued immovable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life.

For as the kings insulted over holy Job: so his relations and kinsmen mocked at his life, saying: Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedst the dead?

But Tobias rebuked them, saying: “Speak not so: For we are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to those that never change their faith from Him.”

David, pursued and insulted by Semei, sees the hand of Providence in the insolent behavior of his unruly subject. Twice did he restrain his indignant servant who wished to avenge him, with the words, “Let him alone and let him curse: for the Lord bath bid him curse David” II Kings xvi. Io).

And Jesus Christ Himself, the Holy of Holies, Our Lord and Savior, who came down from heaven to teach us by His word and example, did He not say to Peter, who with inconsiderate zeal urged Him to avert His sufferings and deliver Himself from the hands of His enemies: “The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John xviii. ii).

Jesus attributed the ignominy and pain of His bitter torments, not to their immediate authors, not to the Jews that accused Him, not to Judas who betrayed Him, not to Pilate who condemned Him, not to the executioners who, with most horrible treatment, dragged Him to death, not to the devil, the instigator of the shocking deed: but only to God, in whom He saw, not a cruel Judge, but a loving Father.

We must not attribute our losses, our misfortunes, our sufferings, our humiliations, to the evil spirit or to man; but to their true author, God.

Let us not venture to say: “This one or that one is the cause of my misfortune, my ruin.” No, our trials are not the work of man. They are God’s own work.

This will redound to our greater tranquility, for all that God, the best of fathers, does is full of infinite wisdom; all is subservient to His highest and holiest purposes.

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REQUIESCANT IN PACE

What is heavenly joy? The most concise definition of it we can look to find is contained in the Church’s familiar prayer for her dead: “Eternal rest give to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.”

Eternal rest is the negative side of it, perpetual light the positive. Of this latter St. Paul has written, quoting the prophet Isaias: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him” (r Cor. ii. 9).

Now, if heaven meant nothing more than eternal rest; that is, lasting and conscious deliverance from all the ills of this weary pilgrimage, would it not even then be worth all that we are called on to pay down for it?

But it means so much more than this; and if even on this earth the good can for a little space so flood our soul with joy, if an enchanting scene or a strain of exquisite music, or the sense of love returned can so melt our hearts as to make us forgetful of all life’s troubles, how will it be, think you, when the Lord of heaven and earth, the Source of all love and all beauty, lays Himself out to make His creatures happy?

May we not be sure that He knows how to do it? Oh, in very truth: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seem to die, and their departure was taken for misery, and their going away from us, for utter destruction; but they are in peace, and though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.

“Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded; because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace He hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust He hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them.

“The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds (Wis. I-7). Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them. . . . These, seeing it, shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit:—These are they whom he had some time in derision, and for a parable of reproach.

“We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor. Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints (Wis. v. /-5). “

HEAVEN, OUR HOME

Naturally enough, the Thessalonians were anxious to learn from the apostle St. Paul what was the Christian teaching about the next world. Where were their beloved dead gone?

The day returned after night, the spring followed winter, the cherry blossom and the apple bloom came back year by year, the skylark and the nightingale were heard when the snow was gone, and the olive and vine put forth their wealth of tender leaves, but alas! the long procession of their dear dead marched slowly to the tomb never to return.

In their anxiety they turned to their Father in God. And he answers them in clear and definite words: “We will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope.

“For if we believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again, even so them who have slept in Jesus will God bring with Him. Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.”

Look up and realize that in the land very far off there is peace—a peace which comes from the harmony of order, life, and energy. See its symbol, not in the sluggish waters of a pool or a canal, but in the force of the majestic river.

See it, not in the pathless arid desert, or on the rocky height, but in the beautiful valley where flowers fill the air with sweetness and fruit is ripening.

See it, not in the harp unstrung and put to rest, but in the energy and harmony of a perfect orchestra pouring forth a flood of glorious music.

Contemplate life with no shadow of death, health with no token of decay, strength with no sign of weakness, the eternal life, angelic, seraphic, godlike in a multitude of peace ever abiding

—Bernard Vaughan, S.J.: Loaves and Fishes.

Foolish, indeed, are we, not to reflect oftener on the eternal home awaiting us, whose joys will never pall and whose transcendent bliss is everlasting.

When we find it hard to bear “the whips and scorns of time,” let us encourage ourselves with the thought that the longest life is but brief, that no matter how storm-tossed our barque, we have but to keep courageously on our course, confident that He who launched our frail skiff on the seething waters, will guide it safely to the Eternal Shore, where, with gracious words of welcome on His dear lips, He will receive us into His Father’s Home.

Then joy and rest shall be ours for evermore. God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, and death shall be no more, nor mourning nor crying nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things have passed away.

“From our homes will come the leaders of our country and of the world. A sound economic and social life and enduring world peace will be built from the materials our families supply. You must make every effort to develop the quality of your home life. If you cherish spiritual values, you will bind together domestic ties, for, as a parent, you play a leading part in rebuilding the ideals of a nation through its home and civic life. To a large degree, you form human character.” – Fr. Lawrence G. Lovasik, The Catholic Family Handbook, Painting by Richard Sohn (1834 – 1912, German)

We should get used to extracting from ordinary day-to-day life whatever can increase our joy, rest, and legitimate satisfaction, and whatever can fill us with optimism. There is a thrill of joy and satisfaction in the thought that we are the objects of God’s love and can ourselves sincerely love Him…

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by Father Lasance, Peace Not as the World Gives

TRUST IN GOD

Great indeed and very comforting are the promises made to prayer. “Ask, and you shall receive.” It would seem from this that one has only to ask in the name of Christ and he is sure of getting what he wants; yet, common sense tells us that cannot be the meaning intended.

If it were, we Christians should ask for all the good things of life and get them, the hard and bitter things being left to those who had no faith; for, when any affliction threatened us, we should at once pray it away.

It is evident, surely, that prayer is not meant to be simply an escape from suffering. Mark, now, that little clause: “that your joy may be full”; for therein lies the explanation of Our Savior’s words.

What joy is He thinking of? Eternal joy, of course. He binds Himself, therefore, to give us whatever will help us on our road to heaven.

He will indeed hear and answer all our prayers; but if we make foolish petitions, He will answer them in His own wise and fatherly way by giving us something better.

If we let our children have everything they cried for we should soon see them in their graves; and if God were to grant us everything we ask of Him, we should never rise to a better life.

GOD HATH CARE OF YOU

LET US ABANDON OURSELVES WHOLLY TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE!

There is perhaps no maxim which helps more than this to obtain the peace of heart and evenness of mind that belongs to a Christian life. There is perhaps no maxim which, if this is practiced with the simplicity and generosity of heart that it requires, renders the follower of Jesus Christ more dear to our heavenly Father.

For, it implies perfect confidence in Him and in Him alone, complete detachment from all that appears delightful, powerful, and illustrious on earth, and a tender love, reserved for God alone.

It implies a most lively faith, which believes as certain that all things in the world, both great and small, rest alike in the hand of our heavenly Father, and that nothing is done by them unless as disposed by Him for the accomplishment of His adorable designs.

It implies also a belief in the infinite goodness, mercy, bounty, and generosity of our heavenly Father, who disposes all things for the good of them that trust in Him, and whose gifts and favors and care and graces are bestowed in proportion to the confidence of His well-beloved children.

The sure way by which the Christian may know if he is wanting in the full confidence that he is commanded to have in the provident care of his heavenly Father is to examine whether he feels any disquietude about the good and evil things of this world: whether he is always perfectly tranquil and calm, and prepared for whatever may happen; or is subject to anxiety, taking human measures with painful uneasiness as to their result, and, like a man of little faith, hoping and fearing excessively, and continually wavering. —Antonio Rosmini: Maxims of Christian Perfection.

Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to Him: and His wonderful works to the children of men.

They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in the great waters:

These have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.

He said the word, and there arose a storm of wind: and the waves thereof were lifted up.

They mount up to the heavens, and they go down to the depths: their soul pined away with evils.

They were troubled, and reeled like a drunken man; and all their wisdom was swallowed up.

And they cried to the Lord in their affliction: and He brought them out of their distresses.

And He turned the storm into a breeze: and its waves were still.

And they rejoiced because they were still: and He brought them to the haven which they wished for.

Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to Him, and His wonderful works to the children of men.

—Ps. cvi. 21-31.

REQUIESCANT IN PACE

What is heavenly joy? The most concise definition of it we can look to find is contained in the Church’s familiar prayer for her dead: “Eternal rest give to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.”

Eternal rest is the negative side of it, perpetual light the positive. Of this latter St. Paul has written, quoting the prophet Isaias: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him” (r Cor. ii. 9).

Now, if heaven meant nothing more than eternal rest; that is, lasting and conscious deliverance from all the ills of this weary pilgrimage, would it not even then be worth all that we are called on to pay down for it?

But it means so much more than this; and if even on this earth the good can for a little space so flood our soul with joy, if an enchanting scene or a strain of exquisite music, or the sense of love returned can so melt our hearts as to make us forgetful of all life’s troubles, how will it be, think you, when the Lord of heaven and earth, the Source of all love and all beauty, lays Himself out to make His creatures happy?

May we not be sure that He knows how to do it? Oh, in very truth: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man what things God bath prepared for them that love Him.”

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seem to die, and their departure was taken for misery, and their going away from us, for utter destruction; but they are in peace, and though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.

Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded; because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace He bath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust He hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them. The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds (Wis. iii. r-7).

Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them. . . . These, seeing it, shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit:-These are they whom he had some time in derision, and for a parable of reproach.

We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor. Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints. (Wis. V. 1-5)

We cannot serve the flesh and the spirit; the two masters. What we are seeking to do is more important than what we seek to avoid. The positive aspects of the Kingdom are good works, piety, prayer and sanctity. Description of Heaven (the Kingdom) which is our goal. Our real life is the eternal life. Everything we do on earth is a merit or a demerit for that end. Discussion of peace. True love of self brings us to true love of God. What is true charity? The tranquility of order. Evil can never put men at rest. The peace of Heaven can exist on earth…

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by Father Lasance, Peace Not as the World Gives

PEACE WITH GOD

Reflect that as Our Savior, the night before His passion, bequeathed His peace to His disciples, saying: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you,” so also after His resurrection, on three occasions He wished them His peace, saying: “Peace be to you.”

But what kind of peace is this that He so much inculcates and so earnestly desires to impart to us? Not the peace which the world pretends to give, which is false and deceitful like itself, they say, “Peace, peace, and there is no peace” (Ezech. xiii. 1o), but “the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding” (Philipp. iv. 7).

A threefold peace; namely, a peace of the soul with God, a peace with every neighbor, and a peace with oneself.

And first, whosoever desires any degree of happiness, either here or hereafter, must take care to keep an inviolable peace with God, by ever flying willful sin, which is at enmity with God. For how can there be any good for them that are at war with God.

‘Who hath ever resisted Him and hath had peace?” (Job. ix. 4).

“The wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest, and the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire: there is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord God” (Is. lvii. 20, 21).

PEACE WITH OUR NEIGHBOR

Reflect that the Christian cannot maintain his peace with God if he does not also “follow peace with all men” (Heb. xi. 14); “and as much as lies in him, keep peace with all men” (Rom. xii. i8).

“For as no man can love God that does not love his neighbor” (1 John iv.), so no man can be at peace with God that breaks peace with his neighbor.

It is, then, another branch both of the duty and of the happiness of a Christian to be at peace with every man, at least as far as lies in his power; to renounce all animosity and rancor, all discord and contention, all malice and envy, and whatsoever else is opposite to fraternal charity, and to learn to bear, and to forbear, which are the two great means of keeping peace with our neighbors…

When on our part we forbear giving them any offense or provocation, either by word or deed, and at the same time bear with Christian meekness and charity all the offenses or provocations we receive at their hands, and strive to overcome them by rendering good for evil.

Oh, how much happier is such a soul than one that is always at war with one neighbor or another, and always in a storm at home in his own interior!

PEACE WITH ONESELF

Another necessary branch of the Christian’s peace is, to be at peace within himself, by striving to banish from his own interior whatsoever may disturb the tranquility of his soul. This inward peace, when it is perfect, is a certain foretaste of heaven; it is a kind of heaven; it is a kind of heaven upon earth.

In such souls God is pleased to dwell, of whom the Royal Prophet sings (Ps. lxxv.), that “His place is in peace, and His abode in Sion.”

To come at this happy peace (besides taking care to keep peace with God by a clean conscience, and with every neighbor by concord and charity), we must have our passions mortified, our affections well-ordered and regulated, and our desires restrained; we must banish all hurry and over eagerness; all sadness and melancholy; all scrupulous fears, anxious cares, and uneasiness about the things of this world; and, above all things and in all things, we must conform ourselves to the holy will of God.

Practice these lessons, my soul, and thou wilt be at peace, at least as far as the condition of thy mortal pilgrimage will allow of.

Conclude ever to aim at this threefold peace, with thy God, with thy neighbor, and with thyself; pray daily for it; and whatsoever fear, affection, or desire, or any other thing whatsoever offers to disturb thy heart, shut the door against it as an enemy, as a messenger of Satan, who comes to rob thee of thy treasure, the peace of thy soul.

PEACE WITH JESUS IN THE SACRAMENT OF HIS LOVE

Sweet Jesus! by this Sacrament of Love

All gross affections from my heart remove;

Let but Thy loving kindness linger there,

Preserved by grace and perfected by prayer;

And let me to my neighbor strive to be

As mild and gentle as Thou art with me.

Take Thou the guidance of my whole career,

That to displease Thee be my only fear;

Give me that peace the world can never give,

And in Thy loving presence let me live.

Ah! show me always, Lord, Thy holy will

And to each troubled thought say, “Peace, be still.”

“The one who knows how to profit by his own errors is the one who makes a success of life. To be discouraged over your mistakes is foolish. To disregard them is equally unwise. To face them fearlessly and try to learn from them how to avoid a mistake next time is part of wisdom.” – Fr. Edward F. Garesche, Catholic Book of Character and Success, 1912, Painting by John George Brown

We should get used to extracting from ordinary day-to-day life whatever can increase our joy, rest, and legitimate satisfaction, and whatever can fill us with optimism. There is a thrill of joy and satisfaction in the thought that we are the objects of God’s love and can ourselves sincerely love Him…

Do you need some good reading suggestions? Visit…

My Book List

Book List for Catholic Men

Book List for the Youth

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