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Devotion is not a passing emotion—it is a fixed, enduring habit of mind, permeating the whole life, and shaping every action. It rests upon a conviction that God is the Sole Source of Holiness, and that our part is to lean upon Him and be absolutely guided and governed by Him; and it necessitates an abiding hold on Him, a perpetual habit of listening for His Voice within the heart, as of readiness to obey the
dictates of that Voice.
- Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), “The Hidden Life of the Soul”
(“ . . . a perpetual habit of listening for His Voice within the heart . . . Listen.)
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DT 4:32-40; PS 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 AND 21
MT 16:24-28
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"You led Your people like a flock." —Psalm 77:21
In today's first eucharistic reading, Moses has led the Israelites through the desert for forty years. The people are now on the verge of entering into the Promised Land. They're so close to reaching their long-awaited goal that they can almost taste it. Before crossing into the land, Moses stops the people on the verge and has them recall what God has done for them. Through a long discourse that comprises the
entire book of Deuteronomy, Moses pauses and reminds his people that it's more important to possess the God of the promises than it is to possess the fruits of the fulfillment of His promises.
Jesus pauses before the final leg of His journey to Jerusalem and Calvary. On the verge of reaching the end of His journey, He calls a time-out and says to His disciples (and to us): "Are you really going to follow Me or not? (see Mt 16:24) Are you looking for what I can give you? Or are you looking to follow Me out of love regardless of what I give you?" (see Mt 16:25-26)
Are you on the verge? Perhaps you're about to accept a new job, move into a new town, start a new school year, get married, etc. Take some time today and pause. Stop. Be still (Ps 46:11). What do you need to change in your life to be a more faithful disciple? Make the change now, while you're on the verge. Then move forward, follow Jesus, and carry your cross into the rest of your life.
Prayer: Father, whether I reach the place of promise or spend my life in dire straits, I will seek You above any temporal blessings. Keep me faithful to Your teaching and never let me be parted from You.
Promise: "You must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God...and that there is no other." —Dt 4:39
Praise: Edith Stein was Jewish, but converted to Catholicism and became the nun, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She acknowledged her heritage and the Nazis put her to death in Auschwitz.
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER I. ON THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCE OF THE STATE OF ABANDONMENT
SECTION I. The Life of God in the Soul
There is a time when the soul lives in God, and a time when God lives in the soul. What is appropriate to one state is inconsistent with the other. When God lives in the soul it ought to abandon itself entirely to His providence. When the soul lives in God it is obliged to procure for itself carefully and very regularly, every means it can devise by which to arrive at the divine union. The whole procedure is
marked out; the readings, the examinations, the resolutions. The guide is always at hand and everything is by rule, even the hours for conversation. When God lives in the soul it has nothing left of self, but only that which the spirit which actuates it imparts to it at each moment. Nothing is provided for the future, no road is marked out, but it is like a child which can be led wherever one pleases, and has only feeling to distinguish what is presented to it. No more books with marked passages
for such a soul; often enough it is even deprived of a regular director, for God allows it no other support than that which He gives it Himself. Its dwelling is in darkness, forgetfulness, abandonment, death and nothingness. It feels keenly its wants and miseries without knowing from whence or when will come its relief. With eyes fixed on Heaven it waits peacefully and without anxiety for someone to come to its assistance. God, who finds no purer disposition in His spouse than this entire
self-renunciation for the sake of living the life of grace according to the divine operation, provides her with necessary books, thoughts, insight into her own soul, advice and counsel, and the examples of the wise. Everything that others discover with great difficulty this soul finds in abandonment, and what they guard with care in order to be able to find it again, this soul receives at the moment there is occasion for it, and afterwards relinquishes so as to admit nothing but exactly what God
desires it to have in order to live by Him alone. The former soul undertakes an infinity of good works for the glory of God, the latter is often cast aside in a corner of the world like a bit of broken crockery, apparently of no use to anyone. There, this soul, forsaken by creatures but in the enjoyment of God by a very real, true, and active love (active although infused in repose), does not attempt anything by its own impulse; it only knows that it has to abandon itself and to remain in the
hands of God to be used by Him as He pleases. Often it is ignorant of its use, but God knows well. The world thinks it is useless, and appearances give colour to this judgment, but nevertheless it is very certain that in mysterious ways and by unknown channels, it spreads abroad an infinite amount of grace on persons who often have no idea of it, and of whom it never thinks. In souls abandoned to God everything is efficacious, everything is a sermon and apostolic. God imparts to their silence,
to their repose, to their detachment, to their words, gestures, etc., a certain virtue which, unknown to them, works in the hearts of those around them; and, as they are guided by the occasional actions of others who are made use of by grace to instruct them without their knowledge, in the same way, they, in their turn, are made use of for the support and guidance of others without any direct acquaintance with them, or understanding to that effect.
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