50 — THE MUTUAL GIFT

Presence of God. — O Lord, may I be all for You and You all for me!

Meditation

1 — “God does not give Himself entirely except to those who give themselves entirely to Him” (T.G. Way 28, 12). God respects so much the freedom of man that, though desiring to render him partaker of His divine life, in fact communicates Himself to him only in the measure of his consent; but when this consent is full, He does not hesitate to give Himself entirely. Here then that to the perfect yes of the soul, God responds with the “true and entire yes of His grace” (G.C.F. 3, 24).

To the perfect gift of the will on the part of the soul corresponds the full communication of grace on the part of God; grace is bestowed on it in all its perfection accompanied by the corollary of the infused virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Grace and love necessarily go together and, since the perfect adherence to the will of God is an index of perfect love, it follows that to the soul, which has completely conformed itself to His will, God grants the superabundance of grace.

St. John of the Cross explains still more profoundly this high state: “Being one the will of God and that of the soul in a spontaneous and free consent, the soul possesses God by grace of will, and all that it can have by way of will and grace, since to its yes God has corresponded with the true and entire yes of His grace” (ibid.). The soul has given itself entirely to God and now receives its reward: God gives Himself to it. The soul, says the Saint, “possesses God by grace of will,” that is, possesses Him by force of the perfect communication of grace, which is the response of God to the total gift of the will, perfect communication by means of which God Himself gives Himself to it, participating to it ever more His supernatural being and His divine life and inhabiting in it in a way ever more intimate and profound.

It is the triumph of grace in the soul. This grace, which was communicated to it in germ in baptism and increased little by little through the various stages of the spiritual life, arrives at the state of maturity when the soul has placed itself totally in the hands of God, giving Him all its will. Not in vain has the soul died to itself, has died to live in God and of God, to live of His life, of His love, of His will. “You are dead — says St. Paul — and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3, 3).

2 — With his authority as Doctor of the Church, St. John of the Cross declares: “If the soul does what it can on its part, that is, if it arrives at being empty and dispossessed of all things, it is impossible that God omit to do what is on His part, that is, to communicate Himself to it, at least in secret silence: more impossible indeed than the absurd hypothesis that the ray of the sun does not shine in the serene sky. And as the sun rises early in the morning to enter with its ray into your house, provided you open the window for it, so God will enter into the empty soul and fill it with divine goods” (F. 3, 46).

For a long time the Lord, divine Sun, has shone upon your soul with the luminous ray of His grace; for a long time He has knocked at your door: “Behold, I stand at the gate and knock” (Ap. 3, 20). Every Confession, every Communion, every Holy Mass, every occasion of exercising virtue, every inspiration, every command or invitation of obedience is it not perhaps a new knocking of God at the door of your heart? And you, what do you do? Why do you let Him wait still? Come, awake from torpor and open wide your soul. “Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in” (Ps. 23, 7). Do not be content with having opened the door halfway or even for three quarters, but open it completely; it is necessary to lift up the gates, it is necessary to remove every impediment: your God must enter.

If it costs you to renounce in everything your will, think how beautiful and great it is to let yourself be guided in everything by the will of God; if it weighs on you to renounce self-love and earthly affections, think how joyful it is to possess the love of God; if it is repugnant to you to die to yourself, think how glorious it is to live to God. “No — cries full of enthusiasm St. Teresa of Jesus — is nothing that which we have left! Is nothing that which we do or can do for a God who so communicates Himself with a worm! And since we can hope for so much good even from this life, what are we doing, at what do we stop? What can distract us from seeking this Lord, as the spouse through the streets and through the squares?” (M. VI, 4, 10).

The Lord wishes to communicate Himself to your soul, wishes to give Himself entirely to you, wishes to come to live with you: “If any man hear My voice and open to Me the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with Me” (Ap. 3, 20). Oh, that you may not lose this immense gift through your fault, through your negligence!

Colloquy

“Lord of heaven and of earth!... Is it possible that one can enjoy You so intimately even from this mortal life? Oh, the delights that You reserve for the souls that have given themselves all to You! What tendernesses! What suavities! A single one of them should suffice to liquefy us in You. Be blessed, Lord! It will never be for You if we undergo losses. By what ways, and with what means do You demonstrate Your love to us! With sufferings, with torments, with Your death so hard, with the patience with which every day You bear and pardon injuries. And, as if this did not suffice, You demonstrate it still with the favors that You bestow on the soul that loves You.

“In this life, my Lord, I ask of You but one thing: ‘that You kiss me with the kiss of Your mouth’. But do it in such a way that my will, O Lord of my life, may remain so united to Yours as not to be able to detach itself from It, even if it wished really to distance itself, tired of that union of friendship. No, let there be nothing that can impede me, O God and glory mine, from saying with all truth: better and more delicious than every thing is Your friendship and Your love.

“For the love of God, my soul, awake from sleep and think that God does not always wait the other life to recompense you for your love. The recompense begins from down here...

“My Lord, my Mercy and my Treasure, what other good can one ever desire down here except to be so near to You that no division may be possible any more? Since love permits me to, I will repeat without tiring: ‘My Beloved to me and I to my Beloved’” (T.G. cf. P. 3, 14 and 15; 4, 8-12).