Monday Musings – What Does God See When He Looks At Your Soul?

Since we have lost the sense of sin, it is unlikely that many of us have spent sufficient time looking at the true nature of our relationship with God and the actual condition of our souls – an essential self-examination if we desire to be eternally united with our Lord.  

When God looks at your soul what does He see? 

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Listen to Jesus explain this truth to St. Catherine of Siena: 

“Do you know, daughter, who you are and who I am? If you know these two things you have beatitude in your grasp. You are she who is not, and I AM HE WHO IS. Let your soul but become penetrated with this truth, and the Enemy can never lead you astray; you will never be caught in any snare of his, nor ever transgress any commandment of mine; you will have set your feet on the royal road which leads to the fullness of grace, and truth, and light."

Without God we are nothing!

Now listen and ponder the words of St. Peter Julian Eymard as he urges us to render ourselves pleasing in God’s sight:

“The state of grace is necessary in order that God may love us and grant us His grace. Assuredly, God does not love us because of any merit on our own part and He has no reason to love our works in so far as they have their source in us. What are we in His sight? And what good can come from a body and soul stained with sin? A little natural good at the most, but nothing supernatural. What God loves in us is His grace, the reflection of His sanctity in hearts that are pure. That is enough to satisfy His gaze. Does not God love a child after its Baptism? Yet it has no acquired virtues. It is pure, however, and in the state of grace. God sees Himself reflected in the grace which adorns its heart and takes pleasure in the perfume of the fragile flower while He awaits its fruits.

In ourselves, too, God loves above all the state of grace, the state of purity we acquired by being washed in the Blood of Jesus. The state of grace is our beauty. It is the reflection of Jesus Christ in His saints. As the Father sees Himself in His Word, so Jesus sees Himself in their souls. But if the soul is stained with sin, it is impossible for God to be reflected therein. Do you expect Him to be well pleased to look at His divine Son’s executioner? Evil is never lovable., And when we are guilty of sin, God cannot love our state. In His goodness and mercy, He first purifies us, and not till then does He show His love for us; not till then can we bear His gaze. Our first motive, therefore, for guarding the state of grace, is that it makes us loved by God and renders us pleasing in His sight.”

(St Peter Julian Eymard from Holy Communion)

Let us beg God to purify us in order that He will see Himself in our souls. 

Worth Revisiting - What Kind of Soul Am I? - Part 2

Thank you Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for  hosting Catholic bloggers at Worth Revisiting. 

 

It is a privilege for us to share our work with you and your readers. Stop by for a visit now.

 

Monday Musings - Which Kind of Soul Am I? - Part 2 

(Originally posted October 16, 2017)

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[In The Golden Key to Heaven – An Explanation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, St. Anthony Mary Claret discusses three distinct types of souls. Last week we looked at the first type (you can review that post here).  If you did not recognize yourself then, maybe what follows will be a more accurate description. This one might really smart - the Truth does that you know.]

"The second class of men consists of those who have a true will to aspire to perfection, but it is not an all-inclusive, generous will…Let us return to the example of sick persons.

Behold, my soul, another sick man very different from the first one. He desires to regain his health, and to achieve this he is ready to take medications and other remedies. But he is unwilling to take the iron or the caustic medications, or other similar disagreeable remedies. (He will take whatever medicine is prescribed, provided it does not taste bad.) Thus he, too, is unwilling to have all treatments that are necessary. What should be said of this sick man? It is true that he has a good will, but it lacks strength, whole-heartedness, and generosity.

A disposition resembling that of this sick man is that in which we find many spiritual people. They want to acquire perfection, and to obtain it they are ready to take some of the means, but not all. To bear up for many years with interior desolation and grave trials, to suffer humiliation and contempt without having given any occasion for it, and other things distasteful to corrupt nature, seems to these souls too great a burden for their shoulders. What should be said of these souls? One will say that they have some good will, but it is like that of the sick man unwilling to take all treatments that are necessary. What will follow for a will that holds back this way? Note this well, my soul and impress it well in your heart…Realize that:
 

Worth Revisiting - What Kind Of Soul Am I? - Part 1

Thank you Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for  hosting Catholic bloggers at Worth Revisiting. 

 

It is a privilege for us to share our work with you and your readers. Stop by for a visit now. 

 

Monday Musings - Which Kind of Soul Am I? – Part I

(Originally posted on October 9, 2017)

 

[Saint Anthony Mary Claret lived in the nineteenth century, was Archbishop of Santiago Cuba, a great writer and preacher. He founded three religious orders and had the gift of prophecy and the discernment of hearts. 

He wrote The Golden Key to Heaven – An Explanation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Now is the time to rediscover this dust-covered spiritual classic. It is from this book that we will seek an answer to the question posed above. Be prepared for a challenging and soul searching ride.]

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“The first class…consists of those who want to aspire to perfection and follow Jesus Christ, but only in speech and not in their heart. If you would know about this class of souls, come with me to a sick man’s house. See there a man half consumed with the heat of a fever. His ailment is getting worse by the moment and he is near death.

A physician comes to him in this condition. After examining him the physician says, 'The sickness is very dangerous, but if the patient will make use of the medications I will prescribe, he can still recover his health.'

Now this is just what the sick man does not like. 'With all my heart I want to recover,' he says, 'but do not oblige me to take medications; for by no means can I nor will I take them.  Now tell me, does this sick man have a true desire to get well?

From this man who is sick in his body, let us pass on the house of someone sick in his soul. See a person stretched out, as it were, in the abandoned throes of habitual lukewarmness. He is told that his ailment can still be remedied, that it requires no more than that he resolve to make his prayers with fervor, that he conduct himself in a spirit of love and with the pure intention of pleasing God, that he walk in God’s presence, uniting himself to Him frequently by means of holy affection, that he zealously mortify himself, that every day he offer God this sacrifice, which is so acceptable to Him; that by doing this, the road that leads to sanctity is still open to him.

But oh! This is just what the man does not want. 'With all my heart I want to gain perfection,' he says, 'but to put these means of reaching it into practice is something too hard and difficult for me.'

Now tell me, does this soul have a serious will to attain perfection?”

 

[An Act of Repentance]…Have still a little patience with me, O Jesus! With all my heart I detest and hate all my negligence, and the abuse I have made of all the graces and means which in Thy kindness Thou hast given me. Until now I have spent my life without having any care for the glory of Thy Holy Name, or for the salvation of my soul. Thou, by a feat of Thy Mercy, have this day enlightened me to know my sinfulness. Again, I detest it, I hate it, and I earnestly resolve to endeavor henceforth to be upright and perfect, as Thou are asking me to be…

 

(to e continued...)

Monday Musings - Your Horse or Your Soul?

Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. wrote The Way to God in 1947 at a time when the Catholic Church had not yet lost sight of its primary purpose - the salvation of souls. As will be clear from the following excerpt, however,  not all Catholics back then made the salvation of their souls a personal priority.  

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“Some people, who do not pray much and who do not make their work prayer by living in the state of grace and doing everything with a good intention, spend hours and hours every day on other things but only a few minutes on their souls.

It reminds me of a priest who asked a man who was caring for his horse how much time he spent every day caring for the animal. He said, ‘About two hours.’ The priest asked him how much time he spent every day caring for his soul. 

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He said, ‘A few minutes.’ Whereupon the good priest answered, ‘Since that is the case, if I belonged to you I would rather be your horse than your soul.’ 

Some of those odd stories are really thought provoking.”

(From The Way to God by Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

Some observers would suggest that even far fewer contemporary Catholics pay any attention to their souls. Rarely is the need to do so discussed in Church - God being so merciful, you know.

May Father's "odd story" prompt us to pay more attention to our eternal souls today than to our horses and other possessions. Remember, none of us are promised a tomorrow.

Monday Musings - The Key To Happiness

The key is not worldly power, possessions and prestige. It is interior:

Monday Musings - Where Is Your Soul Planted?

St. Catherine of Siena reminds us that it is not enough to be "a good person" or a "spiritual person". We must be "trees of love" free from deadly sin:

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“All of you are trees of love: You cannot live without love because I made you for love. The soul who lives virtuously sets her tree's root in the valley of true humility. But those who live wickedly have set their root in the mountain of pride, and because it is badly planted it produces fruit not of life but of death. Their fruits are their actions, and they are all poisoned by a multitude of different sins. If they do produce one or another fruit of good action, it is spoiled because the root from which it comes is rotten. In other words, if a soul is living in deadly sin, no good that she does has any value for eternal life because it is not done in grace.”