V — GOD INVITES ALL

Presence of God. — O Lord, I run at Thy invitation; I come to Thy fountain: give me to drink!

Meditation

1 — Commenting on the invitation of Jesus: “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink” (Jn. 7, 37), St. Teresa of Avila says: “Consider that the Lord invites all. He is Truth and His word is not to be called in doubt. If His invitation were not general, He would not call all... But since He put no limit... I hold it for certain that all who do not halt upon the way will arrive to drink of this living water” (Way 19, 15). It is not therefore out of place for a soul of interior life to aspire to contemplation; rather it is entirely fitting, since the Lord offers it to all, and contemplation is a great means of introducing us into divine intimacy, of making us understand and savor the infinite greatness of God, of enkindling our love for Him and taking from us all thirst for earthly things. If Jesus has offered this living water to all, if this living water is so precious — why should we not desire it?

Yet the Saint teaches us to desire it without presumption, but with humility and full abandonment to the divine will. For God alone is master of His supernatural gifts, and He Himself takes thought to distribute them to our souls in the form, the measure, and the time He wills; “God,” says the Saint, “gives them as He wills, when He wills, and to whom He wills, without doing injury to anyone” (Int. C. IV, 1, 2). We must therefore have no pretension in this regard, as though we could demand from God the favor of contemplation; that would expose us to illusions and disappointments. And, on the other hand, it would be a true sin of pride to meddle in the divine dispositions. But when a soul is truly generous in giving itself to God, God, who never allows Himself to be surpassed in generosity, will not refuse it at least some draught of that living water which He has offered to all.

2 — “God forces no one,” says St. Teresa of Jesus, “but to those who follow Him He gives drink in a thousand ways, so that none may remain without comfort and die of thirst” (Way 20, 2). This makes us understand that there are many forms and many degrees of contemplation. To help us grasp this more clearly, the Saint compares contemplation to “an abundant fountain, from which various streams derive — some small, some great, and others only small pools” (ibid.). The Lord invites all and will give drink to all; but He does not reveal to us to which kind of stream each of us will be called to drink, nor does He tell us at which moment of our life we shall drink, still less has He bound Himself to make us drink from the great stream rather than the small one. There have been Saints who, like Teresa of Jesus, drank in great abundance; and there have been others who, like Teresa of Lisieux, had at their disposal only a few small pools; yet both the one and the other have equally attained holiness. As there are many streams springing from the same source which, though of different capacity, all contain the same quality of water, so there are many forms of contemplation: some are sweet, others arid; some arrive at great clarity and ineffable sweetness; others are obscure, even painful — but they are not on that account less profitable to the soul. Although there is more and less, it is essentially the same life-giving water that immerses the soul in God, that penetrates the divine mystery, that makes known the all of God and the nothingness of creatures, that opens the way to divine intimacy, that leads to holiness.

Yes, God gives “to whom He wills, as He wills, when He wills,” and this concerns the form and the measure of contemplation, as well as the time when it will be granted — all things that depend solely upon God. Yet St. Teresa assures us that God never refuses this life-giving water to one who “seeks it as one ought”; there is therefore also our own part to play, and it consists in disposing ourselves so that God may not find us unworthy of His gifts.

Colloquy

“O tender and compassionate Lord of my soul, Thou hast indeed said: ‘Come to me, all ye who thirst, and I will give you to drink.’

“Oh, how greatly our souls have need of this water! I know, my God, that Thou in Thy goodness wilt give it to us. Thou hast said so Thyself, and Thy words cannot fail. Knowing our weakness, Thou didst truly will to multiply Thine aids for us. But Thou hast not said: ‘let some come by this way and others by that.’ On the contrary, so great was Thy goodness that Thou hast not hindered anyone from coming to drink of this fountain of life. Be Thou forever blessed! With how much reason mightest Thou have forbidden it to me! But since Thou hast not forbidden me to continue to drink when I had begun, and hast not permitted me to be cast into the deep, Thou wilt surely not turn anyone away; nay, Thou criest aloud, calling all souls to come.

“O Lord, speaking to the Samaritan woman Thou didst say that whosoever shall drink of this water shall never thirst again. Oh, how truly does this word correspond to reality, spoken as it is by Thee who art Truth itself! The soul that drinks of this water no longer thirsts for anything earthly, but goes ever more ardently burning with desire of Thee, with desire of those things that bring with them such sweetness as to temper those ardors — for while it destroys the effect of earthly things, it satisfies the soul with heavenly ones. My God, one of the greatest graces Thou canst bestow upon a soul when Thou deign to quench its thirst is to leave it still thirsting. Each time it drinks of this water, it desires, with ever more ardent longing, to drink again...

“And this water is so powerful as to kindle ever more the fire of Thy love. O great God! how wonderful is this not! A fire that in contact with water burns more brightly; a water that enkindles in souls the fire of love!

“O Lord, give me to drink of this water and I shall never thirst again! But, O my Lord, why am I not permitted to plunge myself into this living water and lose my life in it? O Thou who dost promise it to us, grant us the grace, such as we are, to seek it as we ought!” (Cf. T.G. Es. 9, 1; Way 20, 1 and 2; 19, 2-15).