Eighth Day

" God hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the purpose of His will : unto the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He hath graced us in His beloved Son. In Whom we have redemption in His blood, the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which hath superabounded in us, in all wisdom and prudence."f Such a soul has truly become the child of God, because " whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." And again : « We have not received the spirit of bondage unto fear ; but we have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba! (Father!) For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also ; heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ : yet so, if we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him. "J It was that we might attain to this abyss of glory that God created us in His image and likeness.

X Rom. viii. 14-17.¹

H Behold, " says St. John, u what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called, and should be, the sons of God. . . . We are now the sons of God ; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like to Him ; because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone that hath this hope in him, sanctifieth himself, as He also is holy."²

This is the measure of the sanctity of the children of God — to be holy as God is, to be holy with the holiness of God by living in contact with Him in the depths of the bottomless abyss : then the soul appears, to a certain extent, to resemble God, Who, though He takes delight in all things, yet never takes such delight as in Himself, because He possesses within Himself a supreme good in comparison with which all others are of no account. Thus, every joy which befalls the soul invites it to prefer the joy which it possesses within itself, with which no other can compare.

" Our Father, Who art in heaven."f We must seek Him, and above all, we must dwell in the little heaven He has made for Himself in the centre of our soul. Christ told the Samaritan woman that the Father seeks adorers " who shall adore Him in spirit and in truth/'J Let us be those fervent adorers and rejoice His heart. Let us adore Him in spirit ; that is, with heart and thoughts bent on Him, our \ spirit filled with the knowledge of Him imparted by the light of faith. Let us adore Him in truth by our actions, which make us true by our always doing

X St. John iv. 23.

what will please the Father, Whose children we are. In short, " let us adore in spirit and in truth." Then we shall be the children of God, and shall learn by experience the truth of what Isaias said : " You shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees shall they caress you."* In fact, God appears to occupy Himself solely with overwhelming the soul with caresses and marks of affection, like a mother who fondles her babe and feeds it with her milk. Let us listen to our Father's mysterious appeal : " My son, give Me thy heart."f

Footnotes

1. St. Luke vii. 50. f Eph. i. 5-8. ↩

2. I St. John iii. 1-3. t St. Matt. vi. 9. ↩