Grace unexplainable to those who will not believe

"This simple truth, that the sole purpose of man's life on earth is to do the will of God, contains in it riches and resources enough for a lifetime. Once you have learned to live with it uppermost in mind, to see each day and each day's activities in its light, it becomes more than a source of eternal salvation; it becomes a source of joy and happiness here on earth.

The notion that the human will, when united with the divine will, can play a part in Christ's work of redeeming all mankind is overpowering. The wonder of God's grace transforming worthless human actions into efficient means for spreading the kingdom of God here on earth astounds the mind and humbles it to the utmost, yet brings a peace and joy unknown to those who have never experienced it, unexplainable to those who will not believe."

From Walter J. Ciszek's book He Leadeth me

Living my life for God

Father Yves talked on Sunday about faith and quotes Sister Ann Shields who hosts a radio program Food For the Journey.

Sr. Ann says to pray to the Holy Spirit by saying:
"Holy Spirit show me where I am putting my interests over yours."

Father Yves says:
She believes there is a major disconnect in the lives of many Catholics: a separation between God’s word and its application to our personal/daily lives. Through teaching, stories and inspirational challenges, Sister Ann is able to reach listeners from North Africa on Catholic radio stations and as far away as China and Pakistan via the internet.

An author, Sister Ruth Burrows, from England, wrote this about faith:
“Faith is not a thing of the mind, it is not an intellectual certainty or a felt conviction of the heart. It is a sustained decision to take God with utter seriousness as the God of my life. It is to live out each hour in a practical, concrete affirmation that God is Father and he is “in heaven.” It is a decision to shift the center of our lives from ourselves to him, to forego self- interest and make his interests, his will, our sole concern …”

Fr. Yves full homily is here (thanks to Maureen Ward for taping this):

The peace of abandonment to God's will--on a prison train to the labor camps

"...I thought again of that text: "The children of this world are wiser than the children of light." It seemed a peculiar thing to keep running through my mind, and yet a strange and exciting challenge for a priest-apostle on a prison train heading for the labor camps. The challenge seemed plain. Could my sacrifice, could my total dedication, could my stamina in doing the will of God be less than that of the children of this world? They knew that in order to survive a long sentence a man had to face and conquer one day at a time. Had I not resolved to see each day, one day at a time, as a gift of God within whose confines I was to accomplish his will? The prisoners survived by taking life as it came, rolling with the punches, hoping only to survive each day as it happened, one day at a time. Surely my motivation ought to help me see beyond that. Each day to me should be more than an obstacle to be gotten over, a span of time to be endured, a sequence of hours to be survived. For me, each day came forth from the hand of God newly created and alive with opportunities to do his will. For me, each day was a series of moments and incidents to be offered back to God, to be consecrated and returned in total dedication to his will. That was what my priesthood demanded of me, as it demanded of every Christian.

The children of this world were dedicated to surviving this life by whatever method possible. I, too, must be totally dedicated, but with an added dimension. I must not seek to avoid hardships or to soften their impact. I must see in them the will of God and through them work out my salvation. Otherwise, I would be acting rather as a child of this world than a child of light. I would be acting not out of faith but as a fatalist. I would have survived a series of moments, a succession of days, but I would have made nothing of them nor of myself. I resolved again, therefore, to accept each day and every moment as from God's hands, and to offer it back to him as best I could. I would not merely passively survive, like the children of this world, but with his help and his grace I would actively participate—and I would survive. I never doubted that, because I did not fear non-survival. Death would simply be a call to return to the God I served each day. My life was to do the will of God, as the prayer our Savior taught us put it quite simply, "On earth as in heaven." His will would determine how long I would spend on earth.

In such thoughts and prayers, peace returned. It was the peace, once again, that total abandonment to God's will brings. Only this time I was not in the quiet confines of a solitary cell in Lubianka, I was in the corner of a rough, jolting, profane prison car. My situation had not improved, but my disposition in the acceptance of God's will had returned. Along with it had come peace and a renewed confidence—not in my own ability to survive, but a total trust and confidence in God's ability to sustain me and provide me with whatever strength I needed to meet the challenges he would send me. What greater peace and confidence could I require? I even looked forward to laboring again in his vineyard..."

From Walter J. Ciszek's book He Leadeth me

He Leadeth me: the series

From Walter J. Ciszek's book He Leadeth me (updated September 8, 2012)

Faith in him alone June 16, 2012

Seeking and finding God June 22, 2012

In Russia June 24, 2012

What Hell must be like  June 28, 2012

Prayer June 30, 2012

Humility is truth July 12, 2012

Abandon self to the Father's will July 15, 2012

The purest act of Faith  July 22, 2012

The peace of abandonment to God's will--on a prison train to the labor camps August 6, 2012

Grace unexplainable to those who will not believe  September 8, 2012

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Painting by Akiane Kramarik Prince of Peace

Seeking and finding God's will

"...To predict what God's will is going to be, to rationalize about 'what his will must be, is at once a work of human folly and yet the subtlest of all temptations. The plain and simple truth is that his will is what he actually wills to send us each day, in the way of circumstances, places, people, and problems. The trick is to learn to see that—not just in theory, or not just occasionally in a flash of insight granted by God's grace, but every day. Each of us has no need to wonder about what God's will must be for us; his will for us is clearly revealed in every situation of every day, if only we could learn to view all things as he sees them and sends them to us.

The temptation is to overlook these things as God's will. The temptation is to look beyond these things, precisely because they are so constant, so petty, so humdrum and routine, and to seek to discover instead some other and nobler "will of God" in the abstract that better fits our notion of what his will should be. And that was our temptation at Teplaya-Gora, just as it is the tempta-tion faced by everyone who suddenly discovers that life is not what he expected it to be. The answer lies in understanding that it is these things—and these things alone, here and now, at this moment—that truly constitute the-will of God. The challenge lies in learning to accept this truth and act upon it, every moment of every day.

The trouble is that like all great truths it seems too simple. It is there before our noses all the time, while we look elsewhere for more subtle answers. It bears the hallmark of all divine truths, simplicity, and yet it is precisely because it seems so simple that we are prone to overlook it or ignore it in our daily lives..."

From Walter J. Ciszek's book He Leadeth me