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Brookline Carmel Bulletin                         J M J T

November 22, 1959

 

 

Cogitatio Sancta

(Holy Meditation)

 

Seeing God in Events

 

Saint John of the Cross, in his Cautions, urges the religious who would become perfect to “understand that thou hast come to the convent only that all may fashion thee and try thee.  And thus, in order to free thyself from the imperfections and disturbances that may arise from the temperaments and habits of the religious, and to draw profit from every event, thou must think that all who are in the convent are workmen who are to try thee, as indeed they are.  For some have to fashion thee by word, others by deed and others by what they think of thee.”  Although this advice is offered to religious, it is applicable to lay people as well.  We know that nothing happens merely by chance, but that all events are a part of God’s plan.  There are some things which He wills directly, and others which He permits so that good may come from them.  But in either case, we should try to draw as much profit as possible from the situations in which we find ourselves.  The people with whom we have to live and associate will each afford us some opportunity of growing in virtue, in one way or another.  Some, as Saint John of the Cross says, will fashion us by their words, --the compliments they pay us, the encouraging things they say to us, or the criticism (justified or otherwise) that they offer us; some will fashion us by their deeds, or actions – the treatment, agreeable or disagreeable, that they offer us, the way they nag us, or, what is sometimes more irritating, the way they ignore us; some will fashion us by what they think of us – the esteem in which they hold us, or, more often, the contempt they feel for us.  We can accept all this treatment, good and bad, for what it is worth, and learn to profit by it – or we can spend our life rebelling against it and lose any value that it might hold for us.  This does not mean, of course, that we must passively accept everything that happens.  In many cases we can and should do all in our power to correct or improve situations.  But the point is that, whether we are correcting and improving or simply enduring a situation, we should never lose the opportunity of practicing one virtue or another in the process.  When we learn to do this, every event of our lives will prove a means of bringing us closer to God.  If we are really practicing the presence of God, we will know how to refer everything that happens to Him, to discuss it with Him, to seek His direction in making our decision as to how to act.  A sincere prayer for guidance will never go unanswered.

 

Saint Teresa points out that one of the best opportunities that God gives the soul to make progress is suffering.  Moreover, she says, “It is clear that, since God leads those whom He most loves by the way of trials, the more He loves them, the greater will be their trials…To suppose that He would admit to His close friendship pleasure-loving people who are free from all trials is ridiculous.”  (Way of Perfection, ch. 18)  Speaking of contemplatives, she says (ibid, ch. 36), “Understand, then, that these persons have already learned to rate everything at its proper valuation, and pay little attention to things which pass away.  A great wrong, or a great trial, may cause them some momentary distress, but they will hardly have felt it when reason will intervene, and will seem to raise its standard aloft, and drive away their distress by giving them the joy of seeing how God has entrusted them with the opportunity of gaining, in a single day, more lasting favors and graces in His Majesty’s sight than they could gain in ten years by means of trials which they sought of their own accord…Just as other people prize gold and jewels, so these persons prize and desire trials, for they know quite well that trials will make them rich.” 

 

Commenting on the words of the Pater Noster, “Thy will be done,” she asks, “Would you like to see how He treats those who make this prayer from their hearts?  Ask His glorious Son, Who made it thus in the Garden.  Think with what resolution and fullness of desire He prayed; and consider if the will of God was not perfectly fulfilled in Him through the trials, sufferings, insults and persecutions which he gave Him, until at last His life ended with death on a Cross.  So you see what God gave to His best Beloved, and from that you can understand what His will is…He gives (trials) in accordance with the courage which He sees that each of us has and the love we bear for His Majesty…love is the measure of our ability to bear crosses, whether great or small.”  (Way of Perfection, ch. 32)

 

 

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