|
The Voice of Christ
My child, always commit your cause to Me. I will
dispose of it rightly in good time. Await My ordering
of it and it will be to your advantage.
The Disciple
Lord, I willingly commit all things to You, for my
anxiety can profit me little. But I would that I were
not so concerned about the future, and instead
offered myself without hesitation to Your good
pleasure.
The Voice of Christ
My child, it often happens that a man seeks ardently
after something he desires and then when he has
attained it he begins to think that it is not at all
desirable; for affections do not remain fixed on the
same thing, but rather flit from one to another. It
is no very small matter, therefore, for a man to
forsake himself even in things that are very small.
A man's true progress consists in denying himself,
and the man who has denied himself is truly free and
secure. The old enemy, however, setting himself
against all good, never ceases to tempt them, but day
and night plots dangerous snares to cast the unwary
into the net of deceit. "Watch ye and pray," says the
Lord, "that ye enter not into temptation."(1)
|
|
|
The Disciple
Lord, what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man
that You visit him? What has man deserved that You should give him
Your grace? What cause have I, Lord, to complain if You desert me,
or what objection can I have if You do not do what I ask? This I
may think and say in all truth: "Lord, I am nothing, of myself I
have nothing that is good; I am lacking in all things, and I am
ever tending toward nothing. And unless I have Your help and am
inwardly strengthened by You, I become quite lukewarm and lax."
But You, Lord, are always the same. You remain forever, always
good, just, and holy; doing all things rightly, justly, and
holily, disposing them wisely. I, however, who am more ready to go
backward than forward, do not remain always in one state, for I
change with the seasons. Yet my condition quickly improves when it
pleases You and when You reach forth Your helping hand. For You
alone, without human aid, can help me and strengthen me so greatly
that my heart shall no more change but be converted and rest
solely in You. Hence, if I knew well how to cast aside all earthly
consolation, either to attain devotion or because of the necessity
which, in the absence of human solace, compels me to seek You
alone, then I could deservedly hope for Your grace and rejoice in
the gift of new consolation.Thanks be to You from Whom all
things come, whenever it is well with me. In Your sight I am
vanity and nothingness, a weak, unstable man. In what, therefore,
can I glory, and how can I wish to be highly regarded? Is it
because I am nothing? This, too, is utterly vain. Indeed, the
greatest vanity is the evil plague of empty self-glory, because it
draws one away from true glory and robs one of heavenly grace. For
when a man is pleased with himself he displeases You, when he
pants after human praise he is deprived of true virtue. But it
is true glory and holy exultation to glory in You and not in self,
to rejoice in Your name rather than in one's own virtue, and not
to delight in any creature except for Your sake.
Let Your name, not mine, be praised. Let Your work, not mine, be
magnified. Let Your holy name be blessed, but let no human praise
be given to me. You are my glory. You are the joy of my heart. In
You I will glory and rejoice all the day, and for myself I will
glory in nothing but my infirmities.
Let the Jews seek the glory that comes from another. I will
seek that which comes from God alone. All human glory, all
temporal honor, all worldly position is truly vanity and
foolishness compared to Your everlasting glory. O my Truth, my
Mercy, my God, O Blessed Trinity, to You alone be praise and
honor, power and glory, throughout all the endless ages of ages.
|