Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Everyday of the Year

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224. FRATERNAL HARMONY
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Lord, teach me to live in perfect harmony with my neighbor, so that my prayers and offerings will be pleasing to You.


MEDITATION

1. This Sunday could well be called the Sunday of Fraternal Charity, a virtue so necessary to preserve proper relations with our neighbor. “Be ye all of one mind,” says St. Peter in his first Epistle (3,8-15), “having compassion one of another, being lovers of the brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble.” The Apostle speaks to us in a very practical and realistic way. He realizes that with our weakness and frailty we cannot preserve peace if we have no compassion for the faults of others, if we do not know how to be kind to those who displease us, and if we cannot bear blame with humility. Anyone who pretends that in achieving a life of perfect harmony with others, he need never suffer any annoyance or displeasure, and that he need never be contradicted or upset, has very little experience of the reality of life and forgets that, far from being pure spirits, we are limited by matter; he forgets that “we are mortal, frail, and weak, bearing about our bodies like vessels of clay, a source of friction for one another ” (St. Augustine), even as clay jars carried in the same vehicle strike against and jostle each other. By reason of our limitations we have mentalities, tastes, desires, and interests that differ from those of others, and thus we do not always succeed in understanding one another.

It even happens that sometimes, without wishing it and without even the shadow of a bad intention, we work against one another. The remedy for these inevitable failures, when the limitations of our nature are the cause of mutual distress, is that suggested by St. Augustine: “dilatentur spatia caritatis,” let more room be given to charity. In other words, let us enlarge our hearts by greater love, in order that we may better understand and sympathize with one another. Let us likewise practice greater humility, in order to overcome the resentments of our self-love. Even if someone does act against us with ill will, we should know how to forgive him, according to the words of the Apostle: “Not rendering evil for evil, nor railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing.... But if also you suffer anything for justice’ sake, blessed are ye.... Sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts. ”


2. The Gospel (Mt 5,20-24) repeats and intensifies the same instruction. First of all Jesus tells us: “Unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” This is a clear allusion to the new law, the law of love, given to us by Jesus Himself and far surpassing the simple law of justice. We cannot content ourselves, as the Pharisees did, with simply not doing harm to our neighbor; we must practice toward him a positive, fraternal charity. It is not enough “not to kill” in order to escape “the judgment,” the Master teaches, but “whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment.” Another aspect of the new law proposed by Jesus concerns our interior dispositions. It is useless to make an exterior display of goodness if this does not proceed from a good conscience, a sincere heart. It does not suffice to avoid giving outward offense to our neighbor; we must avoid, or rather, repress our inner resentment. The Pharisees, with their materialistic interpretation of the law, had completely lost its spirit; they had forgotten that the eyes of the Lord are always upon us and that He sees our intentions as well as our acts. Anger and resentment that smolder in our heart do not escape Him.

At the same time, Jesus asks great delicacy of us in all our exterior dealings with our neighbor. He demands that we avoid not only offensive acts but even words that might hurt another. Charity and fraternal harmony meant so much to Him that He did not hesitate to tell us: “If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother.” How much Our Lord loves us! St. John Chrysostom remarks very aptly: “He does not take account of His own honor, when He requires us to love our neighbor. ‘Let My worship be interrupted,’ He says, ‘but reestablish your charity.’ ”Indeed, how can our prayers and sacrifices be pleasing to God when something interferes with perfect harmony between ourselves and our neighbor?


COLLOQUY

“O Jesus, as I meditated on Your divine words, I understood how imperfect was my love for my sisters in religion and that I did not love them as You do. Now I know that true charity consists in bearing all my neighbor’s defects, in not being surprised at mistakes, but in being edified at the smallest virtues. Above all else I have learned that charity must not remain shut up in the heart, for ‘No man lighteth a candle and putteth it...under a bushel; but upon a candlestick, that they who come in may see the light.’ This candle, it seems to me, O Lord, represents that charity which enlightens and gladdens not only those who are dearest to me, but likewise all those who are of the household.

“O Lord, how often it is said that the practice of charity is difficult. I should rather say that it seems difficult, for “The yoke of the Lord is sweet and His burden light.’ And when we submit to that yoke we at once feel its sweetness and can exclaim with the Psalmist: ‘I have run in the way of Your commandments since You have dilated my heart.’ O Jesus, ever since its sweet flame consumes me, I run with joy in the way of Your new commandment, and I desire so to run until that glorious day when with Your retinue of virgins I shall follow You through Your boundless realm, singing Your new canticle—the Canticle of Love” (T.C.J. St, 10).

“O Lord Jesus Christ, if I had no other reason to love my neighbor—not only he who loves me but even he who does not—I should resolve to do so solely because of the commandment You have given us to love one another as You have loved us. Just as You, infinite beauty, goodness and perfection, love me, full of evil, and do not reject me because of my faults, so do I, for love of You, wish to love all my brethren” (Ven. John of Jesus Mary).

225. LIVING WITH THE TRINITY

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, take me into Your embrace and deign to admit me to intimacy with You.


MEDITATION

1. If we wish the great gift of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity to bear its full fruit of intimate friendship with the three divine Persons, we must become accustomed to living with the Trinity, since it is impossible to have a real bond of friendship with someone if, after offering him the hospitality of our home, we immediately forget him. In order to live with the Trinity, it is not necessary to feel God’s presence within us; this is a grace which He may give or withhold. It is sufficient to be grounded in the faith by which we know with certitude that the three divine Persons are dwelling within us. By relying on this reality which we cannot see, feel, or understand, but which we know with certainty because it has been revealed by God, we can direct ourselves toward a life of true union with the Blessed Trinity.

First, we should consider the three divine Persons present within us, in Their indivisible unity. We already know that everything done by the Trinity “ad extra,” that is, outside the Godhead, is the work of all three divine Persons without distinction; hence, this applies to Their action in our soul. All Three dwell equally in us. They are there simultaneously and They all produce the same effects in us. All Three diffuse grace and love in us; They enlighten us, offer us Their friendship and love us with one and the same love. Still this does not prevent each of Them from being present in our soul with the characteristics proper to His Person: the Father is there as the source and origin of the divinity and of all being; the Word is present as the splendor of the Father, as light; the Holy Spirit, as the fruit of the love of the Father and of the Son. Each divine Person, then, loves us in His own personal way and offers us His special gift. The Father offers us His most sweet paternity; the Son clothes us with His shining light; the Holy Spirit penetrates us with His ardent love. And we, insignificant creatures, should try to realize that we have such great gifts, so that we may fully profit by them.


2. You may have special relations with each of the three divine Persons, relations which correspond to Their particular characteristics. When you think of the Father, you will feel a need to live close to Him like a loving and devoted child, trying to please Him in all things, and desiring to do His will alone. At the same time, especially in moments of difficulty and anguish, you will hasten to take refuge in Him, finding in His omnipotence, His greatness and infinite goodness, a support and a remedy for your insufficiency, littleness and wretchedness.

When you contemplate the Word present in your soul, you will have the desire to allow yourself to be penetrated by His light, to be taught by Him who is the Word of the Father, that He may bring you to a true knowledge of the divine mysteries, and show you how to judge everything as God does. You will feel the need of seeking Him in His Incarnation where you find Him more accessible to your humanity, of taking refuge in His Redemption by which He gives you life, makes Himself your Brother and presents you to the Father as His child.

When you consider the Holy Spirit, the delightful fruit of the love of the Father and the Son, a more ardent desire will arise in you to assist His work of love in your soul; therefore, you will be willing to follow His inspirations with more docility; you will let yourself be guided by Him in all things and, finally, you will allow yourself to be seized by His divine motion, so that He can bring you with Himself into the bosom of the Father and the Son.

In this way you will realize in yourself that very lofty end for which God has created and redeemed us, that is, “that our fellowship may be with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 1,3). This will not be accomplished through your own merits but only through the infinite merits of Christ, who has shared with you His glory as the Son of God, who has made you participate in the love with which the Father loves Him, who has given you His Spirit, and has become your Food in order to nourish your life of union with the Most Holy Trinity in the most direct manner possible.


COLLOQUY

“O my God, Trinity whom I adore! Help me to become wholly forgetful of self, that I may be immovably rooted in Thee, as changeless and calm as though my soul were already in eternity. May nothing disturb my peace or draw me forth from Thee, O my unchanging Lord, but may I, at every moment, penetrate more deeply into the depths of Thy mystery!

“Establish my soul in peace; make it Thy heaven, Thy cherished abode, and the place of Thy rest. Let me never leave Thee alone, but remain ever there, all absorbed in Thee, in living faith, plunged in adoration, and wholly yielded up to Thy creative action!

“O my Christ whom I love! Crucified for love! Would that I might be the bride of Thy heart! Would that I might cover Thee with glory and love Thee...even until I die of love! Yet I realize my weakness and beseech Thee to clothe me with Thyself, to identify my soul with all the movements of Thine own. Immerse me in Thyself; possess me wholly; substitute Thyself for me, that my life may be but a radiance of Thy life. Enter my soul as Adorer, as Restorer, as Savior!

“O eternal Word, Utterance of my God! I long to spend my life in listening to Thee, to become wholly 'teachable, ’ that I may learn all from Thee! Through all darkness, all privations, all helplessness, I yearn to keep my eyes ever upon Thee, and to dwell beneath Thy great light. O my beloved Star! so fascinate me that I may be unable to withdraw myself from Thy rays!

“O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love! Come down into me and reproduce in me, as it were, an incarnation of the Word, that I may be to Him a super-added humanity, wherein He may renew all His mystery! And Thou, O Father, bend down toward Thy poor little creature and overshadow her, beholding in her none other than Thy beloved Son in whom Thou art well pleased.

“O my ‘Three,’ my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity wherein I lose myself! I yield myself to Thee as Thy prey. Immerse Thyself in me that I may be immersed in Thee, until I depart to contemplate in Thy light the abyss of Thy greatness!” (E.T. II).

226. THE GLORY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

PRESENCE OF GOD - O most Holy Trinity, You who have created me for Your glory, grant that I may give You all the glory of which I am capable.


MEDITATION

1. The mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity is the root and center of all the other mysteries of our holy faith: the root from which they all spring and upon which they depend, the center about which they gravitate. For example, the great work of creation and the love-filled work of Redemption are the gifts of the Blessed Trinity, the free, gratuitous outpouring of infinite goodness and love, yet, at the same time, ordered for the glory of the august Trinity. “We have been predestined in Christ,” says St. Paul, “according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things according to the counsel of His will, that we may be unto the praise of His glory” (cf. Eph 1,11.12). The work of Redemption, which bestowed the greatest of divine benefits on us, and which far exceeds the work of Creation, is, as the Apostle says again, “unto the praise of the glory of His grace” (ibid. 1,6), that is, of the infinite goodness of God. If inanimate things, if the heavens and the earth “show forth the glory of God” (Ps 18,1) because they testify to His power, wisdom, and infinite beauty, the works which effected our elevation to the supernatural state sing the glory of the Blessed Trinity because they are the most glorious manifestation of His goodness. This goodness is so great that it has impelled God, not through necessity, but solely through love, to impart to us, His little creatures, something of His own sovereign good, of His divine nature, of His eternal felicity. It also caused Him to reveal to us the mystery of His life in the Trinity and to share this divine life with us. All this was done, not through any merit on our part, nor through any need God had for us in His infinite beatitude, in the felicity and glory which He enjoys in Himself, but solely because of His goodness. Who, then, more than man, should be “the praise of God’s glory,” man, whom He endowed, not only with natural, but also with supernatural beauty, making him like to Himself, and a partaker in His own divine life?


2. By the mere fact that all God’s works are a proof of His omnipotence, His wisdom, and His infinite goodness, they all redound to His glory, just as a work of art always gives honor to the artist who made it, because it is an expression of his genius. But whereas man can direct his works to the glory of another being who is superior to himself, God cannot. He is the Supreme Being, the sovereign Good; therefore, He must necessarily work for His own glory. However, because God is infinitely good, He wishes to glorify Himself by working for the happiness and good of His creatures.

As a matter of fact, God is not content with glorifying Himself by works which, though great and beautiful, are incapable, because inanimate or unknowing, of enjoying their own beauty; but He desires above all to glorify Himself in creatures like angels and men, to whom He has given the power of enjoying His gifts and whom He has destined to share in His eternal happiness. This truth gives us a clearer understanding of the overwhelming goodness of God, who has willed to find His greater glory precisely in those things which turn more to the advantage and honor of His creatures. For example, nothing glorifies the Blessed Trinity more than the Incarnation of the Word and yet, at the same time, nothing is more advantageous or honorable for us.

God, in His infinite goodness, willed that His glory should be identified with our good and our happiness. Should we not, then, try to make our good and our happiness one with His glory, by seeking them in whatever gives the most glory to Him and to His holy Name? All the wonderful gifts showered on us by the Trinity should contribute to the honor of God, and bear fruit for His glory. And, whereas the heavens sing the glory of God all unknowingly, we should sing it from the depths of a being that is informed by knowledge and love. Have we not understood that it is truly right and just that our whole life and all our works should be a hymn of glory to the Blessed Three who, although infinitely happy and glorious in Themselves, wish to be glorified in Their poor little creatures!


COLLOQUY

“O Most Holy Trinity, I adore You, I bless You and glorify You in all Your mysteries, uniting myself to all the mutual love and praise of Your divine Persons. I offer You all the glory You have in Yourself, rendering You infinite thanks together with the whole Church: ‘Gratias agimus tibi, propter magnam gloriam tuam.’ We give You thanks, because of Your great glory. O my God and my Father, how I rejoice to see that Your Son and Your Holy Spirit love You and praise You from all eternity and for all eternity with a love and praise worthy of Your greatness! O only-begotten Son of God, my soul exults when it sees the infinite love and glory You receive from Your Father and from Your Holy Spirit! O Holy Spirit, my heart rejoices at the thought of the love and the praises unceasingly given You by the Father and the Son! O Most Holy Trinity, how great is my joy, my exultation, my gladness, to know that You possess indescribable glory, inconceivable beatitude, and an infinite number of incomparable treasures and splendors!

“How joyful I am too, knowing that You, Most Holy Trinity, already infinitely glorious in Yourself, do not look with disdain upon the glory which this wretched creature can give You, but rather, that You have created me precisely for Your glory! Therefore, I consecrate and sacrifice myself entirely to You. If I possessed all creation, the lives of all the angels and of all men, if millions of worlds were in my power, I would be ready to sacrifice them all for Your honor. O my God, exercise Your infinite power and goodness to take me and possess me entirely, so that I may be consecrated to You forever, O my God, and may immolate myself totally for Your glory” (St. John Eudes).

227. THE DIVINE PERFECTIONS

PRESENCE OF GOD - Grant, O Lord, that I may understand something of Your infinite perfections.


MEDITATION

1, Jesus has said, “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5,48), thus turning our attention to God’s infinite perfection. Here on earth, we can see some pale reflection of this infinite plenitude through the consideration of the limited perfections that we find in creatures, but we cannot know it in itself, for the human mind is incapable of embracing and comprehending the infinite. Our ideas tell us something about God and His infinite perfections, but they cannot show Him to us as He really is. “God,” says St. Paul, “inhabiteth light inaccessible” (1 Jm 6,16): light which infinitely exceeds the capacity of the human intellect, light too bright and dazzling to be gazed at directly by the eye of our mind, even as the sun, which in the full power of its summer brilliance so far exceeds the capacity of our sense of sight that no human eye can look at it fixedly.


Yet on several occasions when Jesus spoke about the divine perfections, He invited us to raise our eyes to these heights. He taught us that although we can understand very little about them, this little will not be useless, but rather, of great value. In fact, the more a soul advances in the knowledge of God, the more it understands that what it knows about Him is nothing compared with what He is in reality. Far beyond its ideas—however lofty and beautiful they may be—there is an infinite ocean of splendor, beauty, goodness, and love which no human intellect can ever fathom. This awareness of God’s immensity, which infinitely surpasses the capacity of our mind, is a great grace. St. John of the Cross says: “One of the greatest favors God can bestow on a soul in this life is to give it to understand clearly and to sense manifestly that He cannot be entirely known or sensed” (SC 7,9). This is a precious grace, because it infuses into the soul an ever deepening realization of God’s immensity and infinite transcendence; and, by contrast, it also gives it a greater understanding of its own nothingness and the extreme limitation of any human perfection.


2. Only in heaven shall we be permitted to see the divinity “face to face,” without the intermediary of ideas. As St. Paul says, “ We see now through a glass in a dark manner.... Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known” (1 Cor 13,12). This partial knowledge of God, which is all we can have on earth, reaches us through the “glass” of creatures; they give us, it is true, a reflection of His infinite perfections—His goodness, wisdom, justice, and beauty—but a reflection which is very imperfect and limited. For example, there is no man so learned that he knows everything that exists; no man is so good that he does not sometimes fail in goodness because of his frailty; no man is so just that he is not sometimes unjust through too great severity. Only by stripping the perfections that we find in creatures of the defects and limitations that are always found therein, shall we be able to form a vague idea of the divine perfections. God is good : He is always good, infinitely good. “One is good, God” (Mt 19,17), said Jesus, meaning that He alone possesses goodness pre-eminently; rather, He is goodness itself, unlimited goodness which never diminishes or fails.

We should reflect, then, how we err when we become attached to any creature. However beautiful, good, or wise it may be, its goodness, beauty, and wisdom are nothing in comparison with the perfections of God. St. John of the Cross goes even further when he says: “ All the beauty of creatures, compared with the infinite beauty of God, is the height of deformity.... All the goodness of the creatures of the world, in comparison with the infinite goodness of God, may be described as wickedness.... Therefore, the soul that sets its heart on the good things of the world is supremely evil in the eyes of God. And, as deformity cannot attain to beauty and as wickedness comprehends not goodness, even so, such a soul cannot be united to God who is supreme goodness and beauty” (cf. AS J, 4,4). Thus we can understand that if we wish to unite ourselves to God, we cannot allow our heart to be held by the beauty or good qualities of any creature and that we must place our affection and our hope in God alone, without fear of being deceived.


COLLOQUY

“When shall we reach You, O fount of wisdom, indefectible light, inextinguishable brilliance, and see You, no longer as in a mirror and darkly, but face to face? Then our desires will be satisfied, since we shall no longer be able to desire anything but You, O Lord, the supreme good. In You, we shall see and love and praise; in Your glory we hall see Your light, for near to You is the fountain of life, an d in Your light we shall see the light.

“What light? An immense, incorporeal, incorruptible light; an indefectible, inextinguishable, inaccessible light; an uncreated, true, divine light, which enlightens the angels and gladdens the eternal youth of the saints; light which is the source of all light and life, which is You, O Lord, my God! You are the light in whose light we shall see the light, that is, You in Yourself, in the splendor of Your face, when we shall see You face to face.

“To see You is all the compensation, all the reward, and all the joy we wait for. This is eternal life, that we know You, the only true God.... Then shall we have what we seek, when we shall see You the only true God, the true, living, omnipotent, simple, invisible, unlimited, incomprehensible God.

“O Lord, my God, do not permit me to be distracted any more from You, but take me away from exterior things and make me interiorly recollected. Give Yourself to me, so that I may give You my heart forever. I have sought Your face, O Lord, and I shall seek it, the face of the Lord of Hosts, in which consists the eternal glory of the blessed, in whose sight consists eternal life and the eternal glory of the saints ” (St. Augustine).

“Make me understand, O Lord, that beauty and all other gifts of creatures are but dust; that their charm and attractiveness are only smoke and wind, and that I must esteem them for what they are, so as not to fall into vanity. In all these things help me to direct my heart to You, joyfully and cheerfully, remembering that You are, and have in Yourself, all beauties and graces in a most infinite degree; You are infinitely high above all created things, for, as David says, ‘They are all like a garment which shall grow old and pass away, and You alone remain immutable forever’” (cf. AS III, 21,2).

228. THE DIVINE ESSENCE

PRESENCE OF GOD - O my God, purify and enlighten my mind so that I shall be able to contemplate You.


MEDITATION

1. To the question: “Who is God?” the catechism answers: “God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, the Creator of heaven and earth.” In the first place it says that God is the Supreme Being; this is His foremost perfection, the one which distinguishes Him radically from creatures. “I am who am,” God said to Moses, and added: “ This is My name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (Ex 3,14.15). This name by which God called Himself expresses His very essence, and tells us that He is Being itself, the eternally subsistent Being, who had no beginning and will have no end, the self-existing Being, who finds the cause of His Being in Himself. St. John Damascene says: “God possesses Being itself as a kind of sea of substance, infinite and shoreless.” God revealed Himself to St. Catherine of Siena under this aspect, when He said to her: “I am He who is, and you are she who is not.” All creatures are nothing! “My substance is as nothing before Thee,” says the Psalmist, “I am withered like grass. But Thou, O Lord, endurest forever” (Ps 38,6 — 101,12.13).

The creature receives his being from God, while God is the cause of His own Being. A creature exists only so long as God maintains it in existence; God, however, is His own existence, because He possesses Being by His very nature, and does not receive it from anyone. A creature is always a limited being in every respect—vitality, strength, ability; God, on the contrary, is the infinite Being, who knows no limits, who has all power and virtue. A creature bears within himself the seeds of death and destruction; in God all is life; He is Life: “I am...the life” (Jn 14,6), said Jesus. Only God, the infinite Being, eternal Life, can communicate life, can give existence. Would it be too much, then, for us to consecrate our whole life and being to His service and glory? If we are living for God, we are living for life; if we live for ourselves, we are living for nothing, for death.


2. God is Being, the infinitely perfect Being who possesses all perfections, without defects and without limits. God is the infinitely good, beautiful, wise, just, merciful, omnipotent Being. All these perfections are not accidental qualities in Him, as they are in man, who may be more or less beautiful, good or wise, without ceasing to be a man. In God, however, these perfections are essential; that is, they belong to the very nature of the divine Being, or rather, they are one same thing with it. In order to speak of the divine perfections, we are obliged to enumerate them one after another, whereas, in reality, they are but one infinite perfection : goodness is identified with beauty; goodness and beauty, with wisdom; and these three, with justice; justice is identified with mercy, and so on. There is no multiplicity in God, but only one absolute unity. We need many words to speak of God, but God is not many things; He is the One Being, par excellence: One in the Trinity of His Persons, One in the multiplicity of His perfections, One in the variety of His works, One in His thought, will, and love.

Therefore, you who have been created to the image and likeness of God ought to tend to unity. Your spiritual life is weak because it lacks unity. Examine your heart and see what a multiplicity of affections and preoccupations fill it : yes, you love God, but, together with Him, you also cherish your pride, comfort, and interests. You love God, but, at the same time, you love some creature with a disordered affection, that is, in a way and in a measure that does not please God. You are attached to these people, to these things—objects, money, occupations—which give you satisfaction. ..and all these affections, these attachments weigh upon you, drive you in a thousand different directions, dispersing your strength and preventing you from seeking the one thing necessary: “to love God and serve Him only” (Imit. I, 1,3). The more you lack profound unity—unity of affections, desires, and intentions—the weaker you will be and the more greatly will they endanger your interior life, for, as Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation” (Ek 11,17). Look, then, at God, the sovereign Unity, and beseech Him to help you to have unity in yourself.


COLLOQUY

“O eternal God, I rejoice that You are He who is, and that nothing can exist without You. I beg You, illumine the eye of my soul, that it may know the Being which You possess by Your essence, and the non-being, which I have by my nature, so that my whole life may gravitate around the axis of these two firm and immutable truths. O eternal God, who said, “I am who am,” I rejoice at the eminence of that Name, so much Your own that it cannot be applied to anyone but You. O venerable, ineffable Name, hidden from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and made known to Moses as a testimony of love! O my God, reveal the inestimable riches of that Name to me, so that I will revere You, adore, love and serve You as You deserve. O my soul, if God alone is He who is, containing all the perfections of Being, why do you not join yourself to Him, so that your being will find nobility and strength in His? Why do you give yourself to creatures, which lack substance and being, since they cannot give you what you want, not having it in themselves? Henceforth, O my God, I will regard everything as worthless, waste and harm, nothing and vanity, that I may unite myself to You, to love and serve You for all eternity ” (Ven. Louis Du Pont).

“O Lord, my days are vanished like smoke. ..and I am smitten as grass.... But Thou, O Lord, endurest forever: and Thy memorial to all generations.... In the beginning, O Lord, Thou foundedst the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou remainest; and all of them shall grow old like a garment. And as a vesture Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed. But Thou art always the selfsame and Thy years shall not fail.... All creatures have received life from Thee, all expect of Thee that Thou give them food in season.... But if Thou turnest away Thy face, they shall be troubled; Thou shalt take away their breath, and they shall fail, and shall return to their dust, but Thou remainest forever.

“I will extol Thee, O God, my King, and I will bless Thy Name forever!... Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and of His greatness there is no end” (Ps 101 - 103 — 144).

229. DIVINE SIMPLICITY

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Lord, Thou who art infinite simplicity, simplify my mind and my heart, that I may serve Thee in simplicity of spirit.


MEDITATION

1. God is the unique simple Being because He is one in His essence and in all His perfections. When St. Thomas speaks of God’s simplicity, he presents it as the absence of all that is composite. In God there are not quantitative parts as there are in us who are composed of body and soul. God is simple because in Him there is no matter; He is pure spirit. Angels are also pure spirits; but angels are composite beings because their essence is like ours, distinct from their existence. The angelic essence does not exist by itself but has only the capacity to exist; in fact, no angel, as likewise no man, can exist if God does not call him to life. In God, on the contrary, there is supreme simplicity, infinitely superior to that of the angels: in Him essence and existence are identical. His essence exists of itself; He is the eternally subsistent Being.

Neither do the innumerable perfections of God create in Him any multiplicity: God is not composed of goodness, beauty, wisdom, justice, but He is, at the same time, the infinitely good, beautiful, wise, and just Being. There is no distinction in Him between substance and quality, because all is substance; His infinite perfections are His very substance. God contains in one, unique and most simple perfection, the perfection of His divine Being, all the multiple perfections we find divided among creatures in addition to thousands and thousands of others, somewhat as a million dollars contains the value of many dollars. God’s simplicity is not, then, poverty, but infinite riches, infinite perfections which we ourselves ought to reflect.

Consider how rich God is in innumerable perfections and how He possesses them all in the same degree. Consider, on the other hand, how poor you are in virtues and if you have any at all, how limited they are, how mixed with faults! Moreover, for one virtue which you possess in some slight degree, how many others you lack! God is simple; you, on the contrary, are complicated! Contemplate the divine simplicity and try to imitate it by means of true simplicity of soul.


2. In God, being is not distinct from acting; there is no difference between potency and act. He is pure act, the act of an infinite intellect which always subsists and embraces all truth; at the same time, He is the act of a will which always subsists and desires the good. There is no admixture of error in God’s eternal thought; there are no deviations toward evil in the eternal will of God. In God, there is no succession of thoughts, but only one single, eternal, immutable, subsistent thought which comprehends all truth. In God, there are not separate acts of the will which follow one another, but one single act, perfect and immutable, always willing the good with a most pure intention, and if it permits evil, it does so only with a view to a greater good.

If we wish to approach in some way to divine simplicity, we must avoid every form of duplicity. We must avoid duplicity of mind by a passionate search for the truth, loving and accepting the truth even when it exacts sacrifice, or if by revealing our defects and errors it is not to our credit. We must also cultivate the most candid sincerity, fleeing from every form of falsehood. Jesus said: “Let your speech be yes, yes, no, no” (Mt 5,37). Even before this simplicity appears in our words it should shine in our thought and mind, for “If thy eye be evil, thy whole body shall be darksome” (ibid. 6,23). Our thought is the eye which directs our acts; if our thoughts are simple, upright, and sincere, all our acts will be so too.

We will avoid duplicity of the will by rectitude of intention: this will lead us to act solely to please God. Then even in the multiplicity of our acts, there will be simplicity and profound unity. Then we will not halt between two sides: between love of self and love of God, between creatures and the Creator, but we will walk on one road only, the straight road of duty, of God’s will and good pleasure.


COLLOQUY

“O most high God, in Your one and simple Being You are all the virtues and grandeurs of Your attributes; for You are omnipotent, wise, good, merciful, just, strong, and loving, and You possess other infinite attributes and virtues of which we have no knowledge. You are all these things in Your simple Being.

“O wondrous excellence of God! O abyss of delights, which are the more abundant in proportion as Your riches are all contained in the infinite simplicity and unity of Your sole Being, so that each one is known and experienced in such a way that the perfect knowledge and absorption of the other is not impeded thereby, but rather each grace and virtue that exists in You is light for some other of Your grandeurs, so that through Your purity, O divine Wisdom, many things are seen in You when one thing is seen” (J.C. LF, 3,2.17).

“O divine Essence, bottomless and boundless abyss of wonders! O unfathomable ocean of greatness, O Unity of my God, O Simplicity, O Eternity without beginning and without end, to whom everything is continually present! O Immensity, which fills all things and contains all things! O Infinity, which embraces all imaginable perfections, O Immutability, O Immortality, O inaccessible Splendor! O incomprehensible Truth, O abyss of Knowledge and Wisdom, O Truth of my God.... O divine Power, creating and sustaining all things! O divine Providence, governing all! O Justice, O Goodness, O Mercy, O Beauty, O Glory, O Fidelity!... O great God, in You I adore all the grandeurs and perfections which I have been contemplating, as well as all the innumerable and inconceivable others which are, and will remain, unknown to me. I adore You, praise You, glorify and love You for all that You are. Oh! how my heart rejoices to see You so great, and so overflowing with every kind of treasure and splendor! Certainly, if I possessed all these grandeurs and You had none of them, I would want to strip myself of them at once and give them to You” (St. John Eudes).

230. THE IMMUTABILITY AND ETERNITY OF GOD

PRESENCE OF GOD - O God, grant that my life on earth may be a continual preparation for the eternity which awaits me.


MEDITATION


1. All created things are subject to change, to variation, to progress, to decline, and finally to death. An ignorant, helpless child who requires so much help, and who would perish if no one took care of him, gradually grows and develops, becomes first a sturdy youth, then a strong, mature man, capable of great undertakings. But then, beneath the weight of years, his vigor decreases, gives way to the weakness of old age, and is eventually extinguished by death. This is the path followed by every creature; every life has its dawn, its noontide, its sunset.

Only in God, the uncreated, eternal Being, is there “no change, nor shadow of alteration” (Jas 1,17). God does not change and cannot change, because He is infinite and eternal. Being infinite, He possesses being and every perfection without limit; in Him there is no limit, no beginning or end. Our souls, although created, will not die with our bodies; therefore, they are immortal, but not eternal, for they had a beginning; this, however, is not true in regard to God, who always was and always will be. Every perfection in man is subject to further development and progress; God, on the contrary, possesses every perfection in the highest degree, that is, in an absolutely infinite degree, to which nothing can be added.

Man, precisely because he is limited, is very much subject to change and variation : his ideas, his mind, his opinions, tastes, desires, and his will, all change. The very thing we had so ardently desired, soon wearies us, and no longer satisfies us; that very idea which seemed so beautiful and clear, corresponding so well to truth, soon appears to us so imperfect and inexact that we regret we cherished and defended it so much. The very good we wanted so eagerly and enthusiastically, sometimes leaves us cold and indifferent, perhaps even disgusted. In God there is nothing of all this: “For I am the Lord, and I change not” (Mal 3,6). His mind does not change because His infinite wisdom is immutable, embracing at once all truth, and only truth. His will does not change because it is an infinite will for good, always and indefectibly willing good, the greatest, absolute, infinite good. How much we need to unite our inconstant and changeable will to the immutable will of God! The more we try to will only what God wills, to love only what He loves, the more will our will be freed from its inconstancy and become fixed in good.


2. St. Augustine says: “God was in the past, is in the present, and will be in the future. He was because He never was not; He will be because He will never cease to exist; He is because He always exists.” This is a beautiful commentary on the simple catechism answer: “God always was and always will be; He is the Eternal.” God’s eternity is the possession of a full, perfect, interminable life, without any change : a full perfect life which subsists by itself, subsists with infinite power, vigor, and perfection; an interminable life which has no beginning and no end; a life without any change, that is, one which is not susceptible to any succession, mutation, or progress. In other words, God possesses the fullness of His infinite life “tota simul,” all at the same time, without beginning and in an eternal now.

The immutability and eternity of God are not, then, something materially static and motionless, like fixed matter, which indicates negation rather than affirmation of life. Rather, they are the characteristics of the greatest vitality; they are the fullness of an infinite, most perfect life in which there is no possibility of change or variation, because it has in itself all possible perfection.

We, as limited, changeable, mortal beings, live in time, and are subject to the succession of time; yet we are not created for time, but for eternity. God has destined us to share some day His divine immutability and eternity, although in a relative, not absolute, manner. Therefore, let us live with our eyes fixed on eternity, “sub lumine aeternitatis,” under the light of eternity, not allowing ourselves to be captivated and delayed by anything that is passing and contingent.

The passing moment should be lived in view of the eternity which awaits us. Let us not waste our time gathering treasures that “the rust and moth consume” (Mt 6,19), but let us lay up treasures which will remain in eternity; let us accumulate grace and love, which will be the measure of our eternal glory. Furthermore, in adhering to God alone, the immutable and eternal One, the soul finds that stability, peace, and security which it would seek in vain in changeable, transitory creatures.


COLLOQUY

“O God, You are always the same and Your years have no end. Your years neither go nor come. Ours, on the contrary, flow on that they may reach the end. Your years stand firm because they are lasting. Your years are as one day, O Lord, and not a day to be renewed little by little, but an immutable day, a today without a yesterday or a tomorrow.

“My years pass in groanings, while You, O Lord, my comfort, my Father, are eternal. I am dispersed and scattered in the succession of time, and my thoughts are broken in a continual and tumultuous movement. It is the same with the interior of my soul, until, having been purified by the flame of Your love, I shall cast myself irrevocably in You.

“O my God, I give You thanks for having willed that the day of this life should be brief and uncertain. What length of time is long if it has an end? I cannot call back yesterday; today is closely followed by tomorrow. In this short space of time, grant that I may live a good life, in order to be able to go to that place beyond which there is no passing. Even as I am speaking, I am on my way to it. As my words run on, flying from my lips, so do my acts, my honors, my happiness, my unhappiness. Everything passes! Pa But it is not thus with You who are immutably eternal. O God, he who understands exalts You, and he who does not understand, exalts You likewise. Oh! how high You are! yet, in the humble of heart is Your home. You raise up the fallen, and those whose crown you are, do not fall” (St. Augustine).