|
I read an article recently in which the author challenges us to become saints. Nothing new, of course, the Church wants us all to
aspire to saintliness. Many do. But many of us just can’t seem to make the commitment it takes to reach that extraordinary level
of spirituality.
Have you ever been at prayer and told Our Lord how much you love him; that you will do anything for Him. All you want is the
grace to know and do His will. And you mean it with all your heart. In the midst of your most ardent profession of love have
you ever heard, with your mind’s ear, a still, wee voice whispering, "You love me! You will do anything for me – except
give to me that one little secret gift of love that means everything to me."
And maybe at that moment we hear the psalmist’s plea, "If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart." I don’t
necessarily mean a voice as we hear the words of a person speaking to us but rather an intuited nudge that comes from a keen
and nimble conscience. The trouble is that the wee voice is so fragile! It is so easy to turn it off, to drown it out. We can silence
it with just a mental shake of the head. Of course, if we do that often enough we will still that inner voice for good. Then we will
no longer be troubled by the bothersome murmur of our inner spiritual guide.
The giving of that secret "something" that our inward monitor is referring to
may not be sinful; certainly not mortally sinful.
Rather I think the inner voice is chiding us about some little "addiction" we may have that distracts us from Jesus: Too much TV
maybe, or movies, or card playing or bingo or slot machines. Perhaps too much socializing. It could be any number of habits
that lead us away from Jesus and tie us to the world of things.
The perfect model of someone who did not allow earthly things to distract him from Our Lord is Padre Pio. I am aware, of
course, that we can’t be another "Padre Pio," but he is a good example of someone from our own time to
whom we can relate;
someone who did surrender his mind, body and his imagination, all his daily activities to Jesus. I know that kind of submission
to God’s will would be impossible for us without a host of special graces.
Often some worldly obligation comes between us and Our Lord every hour of the day.
Still Padre Pio is a guide for us. God gave him to our 20th century as a
reminder that we live in a "passing world with our hearts
set on the world that will never end" (Lenten Preface II).
A much more important guide, of course is Our Blessed Mother. The Church
sets aside August 15th each year to celebrate the
Assumption of Mary into heaven. She was pristine. Untouched by sin, even Original Sin. She was
immaculately conceived by
God in her mother’s womb. Never, not for a moment, was she ever under the influence of Satan. When she closed her
eyes in
death her body did not undergo corruption. She was escorted by the Angels, body and soul, to the open arms of her Divine
Son.
Her appearances in our century alone are numerous. Our Blessed Mother’s concern for the safety and salvation of her spiritual
children is time-honored by the Church. Her messages to us can be summed up in three words: "Pray, pray, pray." How
reckless; how foolhardy it would be to disregard her pleas.
And we have, of course, the most important and powerful guide of all, Jesus Our Lord. He is the pilot supreme who points the
way and is The Way. I am thinking, of course, of our devotion to the Sacred Heart. I have said it before, let me say it again, it
is truly a most powerful devotion. If we are to keep alive within us that "wee voice," there is no better way. Our Lord is so
anxious for us to make a consecration to His Sacred Heart! To make it a part of our
spirituality!
(If you do not have our little booklet, "Personal Consecration to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus" or if you would like additional
copies, please check the appropriate box on the bottom of page 4. There is no charge. It is a "private revelation" and must be
read and regarded as such.)
The "consecration" is presented in such an easy and inviting way. You will catch yourself smiling at Our Lord’s gentle and loving
invitation. Can you imagine the King of Love and Mercy gently and humbly urging us to come close to Him; to become one of
His saints; to become one with Him now and always!
Jesus asks us to make a "pact" with Him. And we must "have no fear that we would be the loser by it." Even if we start, if we
make a pact, and then fail to continue, that is OK. He wants us to know that "it is not a pact which will bind us under sin of any
sort."
What does it take to make this consecration? The Graces we need will be given to us. Faith, of course. And the trust of a little
child. St. Theresa, the Little Flower, said we will come to know the security that a little one feels
when it is held snugly in the
loving and protecting arms of its mother or father. In the words of Jean Pierre de Caussade, a renowned spiritual director, we
will be seeking "Abandonment to Divine Providence."
We will find ourselves becoming poor in strength; poor in independence; poor in self-reliance. And as we become poor in
strength, we will become
Rich in weakness,
Rich in dependence on the Lord,
Rich not in self-reliance, but reliance on
Christ.
When we finally release to Jesus that secret gift of Love that means so much to Him we will understand with St. Paul that it is in
"weakness that power reaches perfection" – then we can assure the psalmist that if today we hear His voice, we will harden not
our hearts.
God love you,
Fr. Robert McQueeney
Spiritual Director
Fr. Robert McQueeney, 1919 - 2002
Spiritual Director
The Padre Pio Foundation of America, 1982-2002
|