XXV — SPIRIT OF FAITH

Presence of God. — Grant me, O Lord, that spirit of faith which allows me to remain in contact with you, in the midst of every occupation and circumstance of my day.

Meditation

1 — - There are two principal obstacles that prevent us from remaining in contact with God in the midst of daily occupations. First of all, our human manner of seeing, too human, which makes us consider persons and events from an almost exclusively earthly, material point of view; secondly, the opacity of creatures, the painful, disconcerting, and even bad aspect of many situations. As long as we remain in prayer at the Lord’s feet, it is easy for us to think that we can find Him in every creature and in every encounter; but when we find ourselves in contact with certain persons, with certain difficulties, this thought of faith vanishes and we lose ourselves in human reasonings that make us lose sight of God and his action in the world. The great remedy is to cultivate a deep spirit of faith.

Faith not only makes us know God in himself as Trinity, but also lets us see Him in all creatures, in all circumstances of life, since He is present everywhere with his providential action. As God knows creatures in relation to himself, so faith shows them to us dependent on Him and thus makes us see and judge them somewhat as God himself sees and judges them. Faith tells us that in the world nothing happens, absolutely nothing, that is not subject to divine governance. It is true: God cannot will evil, therefore He does not will sin nor even the consequences that derive from it - such as injustices, quarrels, wars, etc. - but simply permits it in order to leave his creatures free; and yet He intervenes in every situation - even those caused by sin - to bring everything back into his divine plan ordered to his glory, to the salvation and sanctification of souls. My spirit of faith must be so concrete as to make me well convinced that no event, neither in my private life nor in the social life of peoples, escapes God’s governance, a governance so wise and transforming that it knows how to draw good even from evil. Therefore I can see nothing apart from God, and in any person, in any situation, I can find Him again.

2 — The soul of faith does not meet God only in prayer, but, seeing Him in all things, encounters Him in all things and can therefore remain in contact with Him even amid affairs. The spirit of faith makes it pass beyond the opacity of creatures and human events, so that beyond them it always finds God. Secondary causes become transparent for it, allowing it at once to discern the First Cause, God, everywhere present and operative. To know how to recognize and meet the Lord in every creature - even in those that jar us, offend us, make us suffer - in every event - even in the most unpleasant, painful, disconcerting ones - is a great secret of the interior life. Then the world becomes an open book that on every page bears written in great letters one single word: God; before God, before his will, his permission, his plans, everything passes into second place, and one understands how foolish it is to fix the gaze on creatures when these are - so to speak - only the screen that conceals the Creator. But so deep a spirit of faith requires from us assiduous exercise.

In my encounters with neighbor - and how many persons I meet in my day! - I can accustom myself to greeting the Lord present in every creature; in the duties of my state, in the orders of my superiors, I can see the expression of God’s will; in all circumstances great or small, even most minute, that cause me annoyance, discomfort, suffering, additional labor, or change of plans, I must learn to see so many means God uses to make me practice virtue: patience, generosity, charity. The hours of prayer must serve me to regard in this supernatural light all the details of my life, so that through them I may always find the Lord: infinite love and omnipotence.

Colloquy

“My God, your divine presence is everywhere; it contains all, surpasses all, guides all, penetrates all, is sufficient for all, disposes all, and rules over all things with infinite love and omnipotence. Before your divine presence all the rest is nothing; it is so great and so powerful that, in reality, it absorbs and makes every other thing disappear; that is, all becomes nothing in your presence.

“O Lord, grant that at last I may come to rise to You from creatures, without losing myself in vain reflections and distinctions about creatures, but with simplicity and in spirit of faith, with living and unshakable faith. You are everywhere with your goodness, with your individual and infinite love, and with your omnipresence. This truth simplifies everything; in it all is essentially and substantially one; this truth surpasses, penetrates, and absorbs all the rest, all creation. My God, You are in everything, what a treasure! O Lord, grant that I may move in this truth as in my center and in a refuge of rest, where nothing can distract me from You, if I remain well hidden there” (cf. Bl. M. Teresa Soubiran).

Give me, O Lord, so clear and penetrating a gaze of faith that, beyond creatures and human circumstances, I may always see your hand that guides and directs all, that continually invites me to follow You, to adhere to You. Grant that, more than creatures, I may see You, who are the Creator present and operative in everything; grant that I may know how to recognize You in every neighbor, that I may know how to find You again in every event of my life. Grant that creatures may not hold my gaze and my heart; but that, while I occupy myself with them according to my duties, I may tend more to You than to them, live more with You than with them. O Lord, You are the first and great reality, the one and absolute reality in which all has life and movement! Grant that little earthly realities, which draw their being from You, may not rise so much before my gaze as to prevent me from seeing You, from finding You again, from uniting myself to You through all things.