Meditations for Each Day 37 (2): Fourth Colloquy

Fourth Colloquy

Our Obligations to God for the Creation

and Preservation of the World

God Created the World for Us and Gave It

To Us with an Infinite Love

THE origin and end of the world is God, its Author and Creator, Who made it for Himself and for His own glory: "The Lord hath made all things for Himself" (Prov. 16, 4). An creatures bless, glorify and magnify God, each in its own way: "Full of the glory of the Lord is His work" (Ecclus. 42, 1 6 ) . "His work is praise and magnificence" (Ps. 110, 3) - "All the earth is full of his glory" (Isa. 6, 3 ) . All irrational and inanimate creatures do the will of God, following the instincts He has given them, and never swerve from the laws he has prescribed for them: "He hath made a decree, and it shall not pass away" (Ps. 148, 6). "All things serve thee" (Ps. 118, 9 1 ). All creatures serve God for the accomplishment of His designs and the manifestation of His power, His wisdom and His infinite goodness. What power is manifest in creating such a multitude and a variety of beings out of nothing! What divine wisdom has established such a wonderful order, harmony and proportion in nature! What goodness has wrought so many wonders for all men in general and for each in particular, even for ungrateful and perfidious men who do not appreciate them, but use these creatures to wage war against their Creator and to dishonor Him.

Let us adore God, inviting all creatures to bless and praise with us His incomprehensible power, wisdom and goodness. "All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever" (Dan. 3, 57). This they do incessantly and invite us to do so with them. "For all creatures," says St. Augustine, "are so many tongues and voices

which cry out incessantly: 'Love, love Him who made us for you."' 0 my God, how strange it is that inanimate and irrational creatures glorify Thee, while man, a rational creature who is infinitely more indebted, dishonors Thee!

The ineffable goodness with which God created all things in the universe appears not only i n His having created them for our wellbeing and given them to us, but also in His having given them to us with infinite love; so much so, that if every morsel of bread we eat and every drop of water we drink were of infinite value, He would give them to us as lovingly as He does now. Thus it is with everything we use. If we numbered all the creatures in the world, we would count as many obligations to their Creator who gives them to us with infinite love.

0 my God, what shall I do for Thee and what return shall I make for so many manifestations of Thy infinite goodness? Let me at least learn from irrational and inanimate creatures to serve and glorify Thee and to submit to Thy laws and orders, if I do not wish to be numbered among those fools against whom Thy creatures will fight in the day of judgment to avenge the wrongs Thou hast endured from ungrateful men: "The whole world shall fight with him against the unwise" (Wisd. 5, 21).

God Preserves the World for Us

With an Infinite Love

God created the world, not only once, but an infinite number of times, that is, as many times as there have been moments of time in the thousands of years since the world was created. At every successive moment, He has prevented it from falling back into the nothingness from which He drew i t and He continually preserves it, which preservation is a perpetual creation. If anyone could count the moments which have elapsed from the creation of the world until now, he would count so many infinite obligations on our part to the infinite goodness of our adorable Preserver. For each one of us was present to Him from the beginning of the world and throughout eternity before material

creation. He created the world for love of each one of us in particular, and likewise He has preserved it ever since for each one of us with infinite love. Be Thou blessed, 0 Great God, be Thou infinitely blessed! "Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him: and his wonderful works to the children of men" (Ps. 106, 21).

Our Lord, at the Price of his Precious Blood,

Has Purchased for Us the Right to Use

Created Things

It is true that the world and everything in it was made for man. But man, having been condemned to death on account of his rebellion against God, lost his right to their employment when he sinned, so the sinner has no more right to make use of any creature. If the Son of God had not died to free us from our guilt of sin, all creatures, instead of serving our needs, would rise up against us as they will against the wicked on the day of judgment. But Our Lord Jesus Christ, by virtue of His Precious Blood and Redeeming Death, has restored to us the right to use the things of this world for our necessities, although not to the full and copious use man would have enjoyed if he had not sinned. Man is permitted to employ God's creatures as God Himself used them, according to the words of the Holy Ghost: "They that use this world, as if they used it not" (I COR. 7, 31), that is to say, without excess, without being attached to it or taking any undue pleasure in it, but simply according to necessity and insofar as is requisite for the service and glory of God, with thanksgiving to the Creator who made the creatures of the world, and to the Redeemer who acquired for us with His Precious Blood the right to their use which we had lost by our sins.

We would have no right to live a moment, to set foot upon the ground, to breathe the air, to receive light from the sun, warmth from the fire, to be cleansed by water, to be covered by the clothes we wear, to be protected from the inclemency of the weather by the houses in which we live , to rest in our beds, to eat a morsel of food, to drink a drop of water, nor to make use of any creature, if the Son of God had

not shed His Precious Life-Blood to deliver us from the punishment of privation which we merited by our sins. Having employed the being and life God gave us to offend Him, we deserve to be deprived of existence and consequently of all our rights. If we now retain some measure of these rights, it i s because the Son of God purchased them for us by His Death on the Cross. So we have not a moment of time, we do not cat a morsel of food, nor use anything in this world that has not cost the Blood of Jesus Christ. Wherefore, we are infinitely indebted to Him. If we could count all the service and assistance received from creatures at every moment of our life and our continual use of them, we would count so many infinite obligations to Jesus Christ, who purchased that privilege for us at the infinite cost of His Precious Blood.

Let us beg God to engrave these truths upon our hearts, Let us acknowledge our indebtedness and return thanks to Jesus Christ. Let us think of them frequently and raise our hearts to Him from Whom we receive so many favors every moment. Let us resolve to spend all our time in the honor and service of our most amiable Saviour Who purchased every moment of life so dearly for us. Let us declare to Him that we will never employ anything created except for His glory and in the way He used it while on earth. Let us ask Him to give us this grace for love of Himself.

Ejaculatory prayer: "Let all thy works, 0 Lord, praise thee." Confiteantur tibi, Domine, omnia opera tua (Ps. 144, 10). 55-

Fifth Colloquy

The Divine Claims upon Our Allegiance

Because of Our Creation

The Claims of God to Our Allegiance

AS A result Of Our creation, God assumes certain all-important claims to our allegiance. He is our origin; He is our last end; he is our centre and our element; He is our supreme good, our monarch and our absolute sovereign; He is our ruler, our protector and our defender; He is our judge.

Let us adore and praise God in all these divine aspects. Let us rejoice that He is so great, that He possesses countless perfections, and has so much power over all His creatures who are dependent upon Him in so many varied ways. Let us also rejoice that we belong to Him by so many claims to our allegiance and that He vouchsafes to exercise all these rights in our regard. It is a marvelous advantage, a great glory and a singular honor for us to have an origin so noble, an end so exalted, a centre so divine, a supreme good so bountiful and provident, a prototype so perfect, a king so powerful, a ruler and protector so prudent and strong, a judge so just and equitable, and a God so great, so admirable and so good.

These Divine Claims Are Always Effectual

All these claims which God wishes to extend to us are not vain, idle or ineffectual. He exercises them continually over us and over all creatures. He produces wondrous effects through them and would operate even more lavishly if we did not prevent Him.

As our origin, He not only gave us being at the moment of our creation, but He imparts it to us continually and produces us incessantly and more incomparably than the fountain produces its gushing waters, the tree its foliage and the sun its rays. Wherefore, we arc more dependent upon God than the rivers upon their source, the leaves upon the tree trunk, or the rays upon the sun.

As our end, centre, element and supreme good, He calls and attracts us to Himself continually, saying: "Come to me all you who labour and are burdened: and I will refresh you" (Matt. It, 28). I f there is a secret virtue in the centre of a stone, in the element of the fish and in the sphere of fire , which so strongly attracts them, how much stronger is the virtue of our true centre, our true element and our real sphere, which is God? How is it, then, that we allow ourselves to be so little attracted to Him? Certainly, we must believe that we offer very great resistance and that there must be a terrible weight of sin within us to resist such powerful attraction. 0 my Sovereign End, m y Divine Centre, attract me, draw me completely to Thee, and do not allow me to oppose Thy power i n any way.

The Recognition of These Divine Claims

Is the Means of Happiness

Moreover, as our last end, our centre, our element, our sphere and supreme good, God alone i s capable of giving us true peace, perfect rest, and of filling and satiating the immense capacity of our soul: Anima rationalis ita facta est capax majestatis tuae, quod a te solo et a nullo alio impleri possit, says St. Augustine. When our soul renounces everything earthly to give itself entirely to its Creator, He fills it with ineffable repose, with a peace surpassing all understanding and the reward of infinite blessings.

As prototype, He gives us the model and example of admirable perfection and sanctity, saying: "Be holy because I am holy" (Lev. 11, 44) - "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt- 5, 48) - "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 6 , 36). "Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear chil-

dren" (Eph. 5, 1). Furthermore, He Himself imprints His divine image upon souls who give themselves entirely to Him. 0 my God, I surrender myself to Thee; engrave in my soul a perfect image of Thy sanctity and Thy divine perfections.

As king, ruler and protector, God rules us by the holiest laws, and He is ceaselessly vigilant in governing and protecting us.

As judge, He continually exercises His justice and His judgment in the world, giving to everyone according to his works, punishing some and rewarding others.

Let us adore and bless God in all the effects He has produced and will produce in creatures by His claims upon man. Let us thank Him for the blessings He has produced in us or would have produced if we had not prevented Him. Let us ask pardon for our resistance. Let us give ourselves to Him, that He may exercise all His divine powers over us as He pleases and make them as fruitful i n us as He desires.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever." Deus cordis mei, et pars mea Deus in aeternum (Ps. 72,26).

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Sixth Colloquy

The Rights of God Over Man as a Result

of Creation

The Rights of God Because He is Our Principle,

Our End and Our Sovereign Good

BY REASON of the preceding aspects, God has many claims upon us which we should study in order not to violate them. If we are so careful to study and maintain our petty rights over our dependents, how much greater reason have we to consider the great and important rights God has over us, that we may fulfil the obligations towards Him that those rights entail. Therefore, let us see what they are.

By every quality of His Infinite Perfection, God has the right to be acknowledged, adored, praised and glorified by us as God, to whom we must sacrifice ourselves and all things.

As our origin, our last end and our supreme good, He is entitled to possess us entirely, as wholly His own, made only for Him and infinitely dependent upon Him.

As He is the origin and end of our being and life, God maintains a right to be the origin and end of all our thoughts, words and actions and of all the customs and functions of our life, that is, we should think, say or do nothing except through Him or for Him, by his command and for His glory.

As the origin who produces us continually and always bears us in His Hand and in His Heart, so that, should He cease to sustain us, we would at that very instant fall back into nothingness, He has the right to exact that, as we always necessarily live in Him, according to the words of St. Paul: " I n Him we live, and move, and are" (Acts 17, 28), we should voluntarily abide in Him by means of love in charity: "God

is charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God" (I John 4, 16).

0 my God, let me always abide in Thy love and in love of my neighbor so as to be always i n Thee.

Other Rights of God Over Us in Virtue

Of his Allegiance

As our origin God imparts to us a being and life that are a participation in His being and life , as St. Paul tells us, "We are also his offspring" (Acts 17, 28). He has the right to exact that we lead a life conformable to His, that is, a life all holy and divine, so as not to degenerate from the nobility of our fountainhead, and dishonor the source and origin whence we have sprung.

As our end, Centre, element and divine sphere, God has the right to expect that we should aspire unceasingly to Him, and seek our rest and contentment in Him alone.

As our supreme good, He is entitled to be loved above all things and to have entire possession of our hearts and all our affections.

0 my God, in Thee are true good, honor and content and out of Thee, there is no good. Grant that I may love Thee with whole heart! Mayest Thou be henceforth the sole object of all my desires and affections.

Rights of God Over Us in Consequence

Of his Other Claims

As our prototype, God possesses the right to require us always to walk before Him and in His presence, continually and fixedly watching our Divine Exemplar so as to pattern our life and model our behaviour and actions on the perfection of His life and the sanctity of His principles and actions.

As king, He has the right to legislate and to reign over us.

As ruler, He possesses the right to direct our every act.

As protector, He has the right to our acknowledgment of the truth that He alone can assist and defend us, and that we should have recourse to Him in all our needs, both corporal and spiritual.

As judge, He has the right to watch over all our actions, examine them, demand an account of even every idle word and reward or punish us according to our merits.

Such are God's rights over us in consequence of these aspects of His divine claims to our allegiance.

0 my God, I adore and glorify Thee in all Thy just and lawful rights over all creatures and over me in particular. I rejoice with all my heart and testify that if Thou didst not possess them, I would give them to Thee. How frequently I have prevented Thy enjoyment of those rights over me! I humbly ask Thy pardon. Henceforth, I will endeavor to avoid opposing Thy divine rights any more and to fulfil, with the aid of Thy grace the obligations they entail.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"My God and my All." Deus meus et omnia.

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Seventh Colloquy

Man's Obligations to God by Reason of the Preceding Rights

Man's Obligations to God

AFTER considering and studying God's divine claims and His rights over us as a result of creation, i t is easy to see our consequent obligations.

1. As He is our origin, we should abide in Him, live a life worthy of our origin, continually refer to His authority all that we arc and all that we do, sacrificing ourselves unceasingly to Him so that He may possess us entirely. "Look unto the rock whence you arc hewn" (Isa. 51, 10

2. Since He is our end, centre and supreme good, we should continually aspire and long for Him, choose and seek Him always and in all things, never desiring any rest or content save in Him alone.

3. Since He is our prototype, we should constantly study His life and perfections in order to imitate them and form in ourselves a living image of our adorable exemplar: "Look and make i t according to the pattern, that was shown thee on the mount" (Exod. 25, 40).

4. Since He is our king, ruler and protector, we owe Him honor, obedience and confidence

5. Since He is our sovereign possessing more power over us than the potter over his clay, as holy job says: "Multiply my wounds even without cause" (Job 9, 17), we should abandon ourselves wholly to Him.

6. As He is our sovereign judge, we should submit to His power to judge us. We should adore, bless and glorify Him in all the judgments, known and unknown, manifest and secret, that He daily exercises over all creatures and especially over us. Above all, we should adore and praise Him in the judgment He exercises every moment over

the souls that appear before His tribunal and in the judgment that He will exercise over us at the hour of death and in the day of judgment. Lastly, we should fear His justice, remembering that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10, 30- We should resolve to live as persons who will shortly have to appear before His dread tribunal, to render an account of each idle word.

Such are our obligations. Let us humble ourselves for neglecting them in the past. Let us plead for mercy, begging our Lord Jesus Christ, who came upon earth to satisfy for our sins, to repair our faults. Let us resolve to live henceforth in accordance with these obligations, invoking the aid of divine grace for that purpose.