Following the Example of the Joyful Saint

I recently finished a biography on St. Philip Neri and so enjoyed reading about the love he had for Jesus and the joy he radiated.  It was so refreshing and inspiring to read about a man that on fire with love for Jesus.  And it got me thinking that it’s been a long time since I felt that I was radiating Jesus’ love through me.

So lately I’ve really been trying to let Jesus’ love fill me up.  And I don’t mean in an intellectual sort of way, but in that my-heart-is-overflowing and my-soul-is-glowing kind of way.  The way I much imagine St. Philip experienced it.  And the only way I’ve come anywhere close to getting present to Jesus’ love is through gratitude.

Jesus has done, and is doing so much for each one of us every second of every day that it is so easy to overlook it, to take it all for granted.  It’s so easy to forget about the burning love He first had for us that drove Him to become man and suffer the Cross.  It’s so easy to miss the extraordinary love that is found in the Eucharist.  It’s so easy to ignore all the aids  He has given to help us make it to Him in Heaven (the other sacraments, the Bible, so many graces, prayer, Mary’s guidance, our guardian angels, the list goes on and on…).   If we were truly aware of all of that each day, it would be impossible to keep our love for Jesus inside!

There was a delightful story in the book that St. Philip was so in love with Jesus, that he often had to divert his attention before Mass so that he wouldn’t go into ecstasies while saying the Mass (his favorite diversion: a book of jokes – I kid you not!)!  Can you imagine being so wildly in love with Jesus that you didn’t have to prepare yourself for Mass, and in fact, had to (umm?) unprepare yourself?

Such things may seem beyond the realm of possibility for us, but Jesus is calling you and me both to sainthood.  He’s calling us to be on fire for love of Him and to share that love with the world.  So it is my prayer that tomorrow before we start our mornings, we can really get present to the unbounded love Jesus has for us, let it fill us up, and then share it with everyone around us.

The Sacrament of the Present Moment

As Lent is a time to refocus on God, many of us have likely been trying to give God more of our attention and to lead holier lives. Lately I’ve been a little frustrated by how hard it is to keep myself centered on God throughout the day.  And I didn’t fully understand why I was having so much trouble until I read this excerpt from Jean-Pierre de Caussade:

“You seek perfection and it lies in everything that happens to you – your sufferings, your actions, your impulses are the mysteries under which God reveals himself to you. But he will never disclose himself in the shape of that exalted image which you so vainly cling.” Ouch. A little blunt, yes, but just the answer I was looking for (don’t you love it when that happens?  God is so good!).

I’ve been losing God because it’s hard for me to really believe that He is present in all I have to do on a given day.  Checking my e-mail, brushing my teeth and taking my vitamins are just a few of the things I’d think the Creator of everything would prefer to skip out on. And yet Caussade’s point is that every single moment is an opportunity to meet God. That no matter what we’re doing (so long as we’re not sinning, of course), we can be in communion with God.

Perhaps we’re missing God in certain areas of our lives because we’ve never looked for Him there. Or maybe we’ve put up walls because we’ve separated aspects of our lives into either the secular or the sacred. But each day we have a chance to tear these walls down. In fact, every second of every day we have a chance treat all moments as sacred – to embrace the “sacrament of the present moment,” as Cassaude puts it.

So maybe this Lent all we have to do to grow closer to God is to recognize that He’s present in absolutely everything that comes our way. May He help us as we try!

Related Posts: Searching for God,  The Struggles of Spiritual Growth,  Including Jesus in Everything

Letting God All The Way In

Have you ever noticed how easily worldly goals usurp higher, heavenly goals? We’ve probably all heard the maxim that God doesn’t require us to be successful, He requires us to be faithful. And yet try as hard as we may to stay faithful, we all too often end up focusing more on being successful. What’s that about?

Worldly concerns are always in front of us, all too often crying out for attention from every side (that we see/read/hear something like 2,000 advertisements every single day springs to mind). We may be preparing for Heaven, but we’re stuck doing that here on earth. So while it’s important to have separate time for just God, there is only a limited amount of time the average person can spend doing that.

And I think therein lies the problem. We create an artificial dichotomy between God and the rest of our lives. It’s no great surprise we focus more on being successful than being faithful because we keep the two separate. Our careers grab our attention 9 hours or more every day, so naturally they’re in the forefront of our minds. The trouble is in finding a way to include God in our careers, so that we serve God by serving our bosses. So that the 9 hours spent at work can also be 9 hours spent with God. So that the dichotomy begins to evaporate.

Most of us, even if unwittingly, have separated God from many aspects of our lives. We need to break down the walls and let God all the way in. To include God in our commute to work, our careers, our chores, our workouts, our shopping trips, our meals, our time spent with friends…our everything. He wants to be let all the way in and we will benefit from letting Him in, so it’s win-win. I’m going to pick one area and focus on letting Him all the way in. What area will you pick?

See also: Including Jesus in Everything and Discerning God’s Will In Your Life