Renewing Our Faith

Renewing our faith is not about converting others it is about learning the theology and dogma that underpin our Catholic beliefs.  

Friday, October 11

Spiritual Exercises Day 3

little tip:  During these days while attending to everyday tasks, keep saying to yourself:  "I came from God, I belong to God, I am destined for God.

Third Truth:  I am destined for God

God is not only my creator and my master, He is also my last end.  A God infinitely wise must have proposed to Himself an end in creating me; a God infinitely perfect could only have created me for His glory; that is to say, to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him.  O my soul! dost thou wish for a proof of this great truth?

Ask thy faith; it will tell thee that God made all for Himself; "The Lord hath made all things for Himself" (Prov, xvi.4).  That He is the beginning and the end of all things:  "I am the beginning and the end."  (Aoc. 1.8)  That the greatest of the commandments is to adore, to love, and to serve God:  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God;"  "Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve."  (Matt. xxii 37,iv.10)





Ask thy reason:  it will tell thee that there must be some proportion between the faculties of man and their object.  Hence there is nothing but the infinite perfection of God which can be the objects of a mind and heart craving with an intense desire to know and to love.

Ask thy heart; it will tell thee that thou art formed for happiness, and that thou requirest happiness without alloy,(meaning nothing mixed into it). happiness without limits, an eternal happiness; that is, that thou requirest nothing less than God Himself.

Ask thy own experience; it will tell thee why it is that, when thou hast been faithful in serving God, peace has dwelt within thy breast; why it is that, when thou hast separated theyself from Him, thou hast felt nothing but disgust, emptiness, and remorse.  Peace of heart is the fruit of order faithfully kept, faithfully observed.  "We were made, O Lord, for Thee, and our heart is restless until it finds peace in Thee."  (St Aug.)

Thus my end is to know God, to love God, to serve God; this, therefore, is all my duty, all my greatness all my happiness.

All my duty.  Yes I must know, love, and serve God. I must understand well this word, O my soul. I must be convinced that it is a real necessity .  It is not necessary that I should possess talents, fortune, pleasures, an honourable position in society; It is not necessary that I should have a long life; it is not necessary that I should exist; but, supposing that I do exist, it is necessary that I should serve God.  An intelligent creature that does not serve God is in the world, is the same as the sun would be if it ceased to shine.

All my greatness.  I am not made for a mortal man;(ie.friend or family) I am not made for myself;  I am not made for an angel.  I am an intelligent and immortal being I am too great to belong to a creature no matter how noble, for it to be my end.  (there are those who put their very existence into horses, dogs, roses!)  My end is like that of the angel; it is Jesus Christ; ist is God Himself.  God exists to know and to love Himself and I onlyexist, or could exist, to know and to love God.

All my happiness. I cannot serve God in time without possessing Him in eternity.  I cannot give myself wholly to God without His giving Himself wholly to me.  "I am thy exceeding great reward"  (Gen.xv.1)  His glory and my happiness are inseparable.  It is, then, a question of my eternal destiny, and I myself am the arbiter of it.  O my soul! picture to thyself on one side Heaven, with its ineffable delights; on the other Hell, with its fires and its despair; one or other will be thy eternal heritage, according as thou shalt have served or offended the Lord on earth.  It is for thee to choose.  "I call heaven and earth to witness this day that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.  Choose, therefore, life.... that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and obey His voice, and adhere to Him, for He is thy life" (Deut. xxx 19,20)

Prayer:
Sorrow for the past; "O God, Thous knowest my foolishness, and my offences are not hidden from Thee" (ps. lxviii.6)
Contempt for creatures. "All those that go far from Thee shall perish;  Thou hast destroyed all those that were disloyal to Thee.  But is is good for me to adhere to  my God."  (Ps. lxxii.27)
Love of God:  "What have I in heaven? and beside Thee what do I desire upon earth?  Thous art the God of my heart, and my portion for ever" (ib 25,26)








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