1. Willing or unwilling, we belong entirely to God. God created us from nothing, and all that we have is His - soul and body, material and spiritual gifts, and the world in which we live.
God has given us everything, and at any moment He can take away the life which He gave us. It is useless, indeed senseless, to rebel against Him or to try and release ourselves from His absolute dominion. Admittedly, He has given us free will and we can disobey and offend Him, but even if we do so we still belong completely to-God and He has absolute power over us.
He has created us for Himself alone, for He is the final goal of all things. We can never escape from His authority.
Do we rebel and hurl towards God the cry of Satan: "I will not serve"? Even if we do, whether we are in sin or in the depths of hell we still belong to Him. We shall have to bear eternal witness to His infinite love and mercy, as well as to His infinite justice.
We have been created for God's glory, and God is glorified both in His goodness and in His justice. We should meditate deeply on this tremendous concept. How much better it is for us to belong wholly to God in love and in obedience than in the chastisement of His justice. How much better it is to obey and serve Him as our Sovereign Lord, to honour Him as our Father, and to love Him as the Spouse of our souls.
All our thoughts and desires should, therefore, be directed to Him and all our plans and actions should be offered to Him. If we are attached to worldly possessions and persons, if we arc vain and ambitious, and if we yield to our passionate inclinations, our hearts do not belong completely to God. We are guilty of theft if we do not offer our hearts entirely to God, because they are entirely His. Moreover, we do ourselves a grave injury, because we can find nothing but disillusionment in the love of creatures and in the satisfaction of our senses. God alone can fully satisfy our hearts, which were made for Him alone.
2. Let us reflect on the extent to which God is deserving of all our love. He is our Creator, our final end, and our Redeemer Jesus was not satisfied with giving us part of Himself, but He gave us Himself completely. Although as God He was infinite, He could not have given us more.
One drop of His blood or a solitary tear would have sufficed to redeem us from our sins. But He shed His blood to the last drop and gave His life for us. Better still, He willed to remain amongst us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist as our constant spiritual nourishment.
3. What more could He have done in order to merit our love If He has loved us as much as to give us Himself completely, why are we grudging in our relations with Him? Why do we share our hearts between Him and the world, or worse still, between Him and sin 2 There is nothing to prevent us from loving creatures as well as God, but they should be loved in God and for God. They should form a ladder which enables us to climb towards God. Every disproportionate affection, whether in regard to ourselves or to others, is an injury to God. If we really belong entirely to God, we should be at peace. Since virtue is difficult, it is difficult to belong completely to God, but the effort gives us a foretaste of the happiness of Heaven. If we really love God, nothing is difficult, but everything seems simple and pleasant. Perfect union with God will give us the pure joy which the Saints experienced.
God has given us everything, and at any moment He can take away the life which He gave us. It is useless, indeed senseless, to rebel against Him or to try and release ourselves from His absolute dominion. Admittedly, He has given us free will and we can disobey and offend Him, but even if we do so we still belong completely to-God and He has absolute power over us.
He has created us for Himself alone, for He is the final goal of all things. We can never escape from His authority.
Do we rebel and hurl towards God the cry of Satan: "I will not serve"? Even if we do, whether we are in sin or in the depths of hell we still belong to Him. We shall have to bear eternal witness to His infinite love and mercy, as well as to His infinite justice.
We have been created for God's glory, and God is glorified both in His goodness and in His justice. We should meditate deeply on this tremendous concept. How much better it is for us to belong wholly to God in love and in obedience than in the chastisement of His justice. How much better it is to obey and serve Him as our Sovereign Lord, to honour Him as our Father, and to love Him as the Spouse of our souls.
All our thoughts and desires should, therefore, be directed to Him and all our plans and actions should be offered to Him. If we are attached to worldly possessions and persons, if we arc vain and ambitious, and if we yield to our passionate inclinations, our hearts do not belong completely to God. We are guilty of theft if we do not offer our hearts entirely to God, because they are entirely His. Moreover, we do ourselves a grave injury, because we can find nothing but disillusionment in the love of creatures and in the satisfaction of our senses. God alone can fully satisfy our hearts, which were made for Him alone.
2. Let us reflect on the extent to which God is deserving of all our love. He is our Creator, our final end, and our Redeemer Jesus was not satisfied with giving us part of Himself, but He gave us Himself completely. Although as God He was infinite, He could not have given us more.
One drop of His blood or a solitary tear would have sufficed to redeem us from our sins. But He shed His blood to the last drop and gave His life for us. Better still, He willed to remain amongst us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist as our constant spiritual nourishment.
3. What more could He have done in order to merit our love If He has loved us as much as to give us Himself completely, why are we grudging in our relations with Him? Why do we share our hearts between Him and the world, or worse still, between Him and sin 2 There is nothing to prevent us from loving creatures as well as God, but they should be loved in God and for God. They should form a ladder which enables us to climb towards God. Every disproportionate affection, whether in regard to ourselves or to others, is an injury to God. If we really belong entirely to God, we should be at peace. Since virtue is difficult, it is difficult to belong completely to God, but the effort gives us a foretaste of the happiness of Heaven. If we really love God, nothing is difficult, but everything seems simple and pleasant. Perfect union with God will give us the pure joy which the Saints experienced.
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