Towards a mature relationship with God - Part 4
TOWARDS
A MATURE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD – PART 4
Mario
D’Couto
How
nice it would be if being good was easy. Sometimes, I think to myself that the
greatest battle is the battle within and rightly so because of our fallen
nature but we have the assistance of Our dear Lord and His Blessed Mother in
our quest to become the person that God our Heavenly Father wants us to be; for
in as much as, we are in the world, we are and should be, not of the world.
There
is a difference between ‘the world’
and ‘being worldly’. The world in itself is not bad and
whatever God created is good (Genesis 1:31). However, ‘being worldly’ is a mindset. When the things of the world become
the centre of our lives, that is not good. Yet, despite our efforts in doing
our best to become the person that God wants us to be, we could fall down, for
even “….
the just man falls 7 times” (Proverbs 24:16). The main focus of this
article is therefore on the virtue of humility.
In
2 Corinthians, St. Paul writes, “And to
keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn, was
given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from
being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should
leave me; but He said to me, ‘My grace is
sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will all
the more gladly boast of my weaknesses that the power of Christ may rest upon
me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:7-10). St. John of the Cross tells us that sometimes, God
leads the ‘amateur’ into the dark night so as to purify him/her of
his/her pride. He writes, “Some of these beginners make little of
their faults and at other times become over – sad when they see themselves fall
into them, thinking themselves to have been saints already; and then they
become angry and impatient with themselves, which is another imperfection.
Often they beseech God, with great yearnings, that He will take from them their
imperfections and faults but they do this that they may find themselves at
peace and may not be troubled by them, rather than for God’s sake; not
realizing that, if He should take their imperfections and faults, they would
probably become prouder and more presumptuous still.” To add to that,
it would not only cause them to become proud, but it would lead them to despise
their fellow brethren which is nothing by hypocrisy.
Speaking
about dealing with one’s weakness and imperfections, Don Lorenzo Scupoli writes
in his book, “The Spiritual Combat and a
Treatise on the Peace of the Soul”, that the cause for such a phenomenon
could be due to the following reasons,
Ø Due to
the devil who strains with satanic vigour to make us become negligent to lead
us from the path of perfection and plunge us anew into the vanities of the
world.
Ø From
ourselves, through our own faults, negligence and earthly attachments.
Ø If not
for all the above reasons, the last reason to be assigned for such dryness may
be the joy of God seeing us fight with all our strength, utilizing all His
grace to best effect.
Scupoli
warns us that even if it were for no fault of us and we still find an aversion
for spiritual things, we should still hold on and never give up as Scupoli
would put it, “However barren and insipid your usual exercises may seem, be resolute
and persevering in your execution of them, drinking cheerfully the bitter cup
the Heavenly Father has resented to you.” Despite the dryness you may
experience or that you may feel, despite putting your best efforts in an
oppressive cloud of spiritual darkness, it is important to not get discouraged.
The devil is too shrewd in getting us into discouragement. When we fall or sin,
he takes our sins and puts it right in front of our face and starts accusing us
that we are never capable of God’s mercy and love. THIS IS A LIE! HE IS A LIAR
AND THE FATHER OF LIES (John 8:44), as has always been the case from the beginning
of time. DON’T LISTEN TO HIM!
At
the same time, Scupoli tells us that when we share our spiritual dryness with
our spiritual director, we should not do it with the intention of removing it.
Rather we should be asking for help on how to bear it patiently. He writes, “Offer
not your Communions, prayers or other devout exercises that you may be free of
your cross but that you may receive strength to exalt that cross forever to the
honour and glory of Jesus crucified.” Remember, even Jesus in the
Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross felt ‘abandoned’
by His Heavenly Father Whose only beloved Son He was and when you feel that
way, say in the bottom of your heart, “Not my will but Your will be done.”
By
uniting patience with prayer in the voluntary immolation of self to God, you
will become truly devout. For true devotion consists in an eager and unswerving
will to follow Christ and to decide and to bear the cross at whatever time, in
whatever way He shall decide, which consists in loving God because He is worthy
of our love even if it means forfeiting the sweetness of God for the sake of
God.
If
the multitudes of those who profess piety would measure advancement in the
spiritual life by this true standard, rather than by the saccharin
effervescences of a purely sensible devotion, they would be deceived neither by
the devil nor by themselves; nor would they be so abominably ungrateful as to
murmur against their Lord and unjustly complain of the gift He bestows upon
them. For such situations in which the virtue of patience may be developed and
strengthened are truly gifts.
To
give a contrasting picture of what we have seen, of those that are proud, St.
John of the Cross writes, “Those souls, on the other hand, being far
from desiring to be the masters of any, are ready to travel and set out on
another road than that which they are actually following, if they be so
commanded, because they never think that they are right in anything whatsoever.
They rejoice when others are praised; they grieve only because they did not
serve in the way God did not intend them to. They have no desire to speak of
the things that they do, because they think so little of them that they are
ashamed to speak of them even to their spiritual masters, since they seem to
them to be things that merit not being spoken of. They are more anxious to
speak of their faults and sins or that these should be recognized rather than
their virtues; and then they incline to talk of their souls with those who
account their actions and their spirituality of little value. This is a
characteristic of the spirit which is simple, pure, genuine and very pleasing
to God. For as the wise spirit of God dwells in these humble souls, He moves
them and inclines them to keep His treasures secretly within and likewise to
cast out from themselves all evil. God gives this grace to the humble, together
with the other virtues, even as He denies it to the proud.
These
souls will give their heart’s blood to anyone that serves God and will help
others to serve Him as much as in them lies. The imperfections into which they
see themselves fall, they bear with humility, meekness of spirit and a loving
fear of God, hoping in Him.”
While
there is more that can be said about maturing one’s relationship with God, I
have tried to bring out the essential aspects of a deep-rooted relationship
with Our Lord and Saviour. I pray and hope that these reflections may bear
fruit in your lives as I see it bearing in mine. May the good Lord bless us and
keep us in His bountiful care, now and always.