▀ One's Part in Leading Souls to God
St. Teresa writes of " the desires
our Lord gives you of serving Him"
and the difficulties or questions
regarding how one can lead others to God
( as well as leading oneself to God).
"you may say that you have
neither the power
nor the means
to lead souls to God;
Though you would willingly do so,
you do not know how,
as you can neither teach nor preach
as did the Apostles."
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #21 ]
■ By Prayer
"You can do much by prayer"
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #22 ]
■ By Sacrifices
"If we...give our Lord every sacrifice we can,
both interior and exterior,
His Majesty will unite them
with that He offered to His Father
for us
on the Cross
so that they may be worth the value
given them by our love,
however mean the works themselves may be."
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #23 ]
"the soul
has energy for far greater tasks
and
goads ( the body ) on to ( do ) more,
for all it can perform,
appears as nothing.
This must be the reason
of the severe penances
performed by many of the saints,
This caused
- the zeal felt by our Father Elias
for the honour of God,
and
- the desires of St. Dominic,
and St. Francis
to draw souls to praise the Almighty.
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #16 ]
■ By Focusing on
▪ What Work we are able to do
◦ Recognize the temptation to want to do
what is outside of our reach and capability.
This impedes one from doing
what can be done at hand:
"...for all it can perform,
appears as nothing.
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #16 ]
"the devil frequently fills our thoughts
with great schemes,
so that instead of putting our hands
to what work we can do
to serve our Lord,
we may rest satisfied
with wishing to perform impossibilities."
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #21 ]
◦ Do What is at hand
"When we do all we can,
His Majesty will enable us
to do more every day.
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #23 ]
"for our Lord does not care so much for
▪ the importance of our works
as for
▪ the love with which they are done".
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #23 ]
▪ Do For those with whom our life situation
brings us into contact
"and then,
do not try to help the whole world,
but principally your companions"
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #22 ]
"This work will be all the better
because you are the more bound to it.
Do you think it is a trifling matter
that
- your humility and mortification,
- your readiness to serve your sisters,
- your fervent charity towards them,
and
- your love of God,
should be as a fire to enkindle their zeal,
and
that you should constantly incite them
to practise the other virtues?
This would be
a great work
and
one most pleasing to our Lord:
By thus doing all that is in your power,
you would prove to His Majesty
your willingness to do still more
and
He would reward you
as if you had won Him many souls."
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #22 ]
"What an excellent and sincere love
does that nun show
Who sacrifices her own interests
to that of her sisters...
There is more true friendship in this
than in all the tender speeches
that can be uttered...
If you do your best,
God will make you so strong"
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 7: # 7 ]
◦ What If they are very good already
"Do you answer:
'This would not be converting my sisters,
for they are very good already?'
What business is that of yours?
If they were still better,
the praise they render God
would please Him more
and
their prayers would be more helpful
to their neighbours.
[ Interior Castle: mansion 7:
Ch. 4: #22 ]
■ St. Teresa's own experience
in finding God's Will for her
in leading Souls to God
"there came to see me
a Franciscan friar, Father Maldonado...
having the same desires
that I had for the good of souls.
He was able to carry his into effect,
for which I envied him enough.
He had just returned from the Indies.
He began by telling me
of the many millions of souls there
perishing through the want of instruction...
encouraging us to do penance...
I ...cried unto our Lord,
beseeching Him to show me...
- how I might do something
to gain a soul for His service,
and
- how I might do something by prayer
now that I could do nothing else,
I envied very much those
who for the love of our Lord
could employ themselves
in this work for souls,
though they might suffer a thousand deaths.
Thus, when I am reading
in the lives of the saints
how they converted souls...
for this is an attraction
which our Lord has given me"
[ Bk of the Foundations: Ch. 1: # 6 ]
Through prayer and sacrifices,
St. Teresa and the Nuns labored
for the salvation of souls:
"I think He prizes one soul
which of His mercy
we have gained for Him
by our prayer and labour
more than all the service
we may render Him."
[ Bk of the Foundations: Ch. 1: # 6 ]
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Later, St. Teresa spoke of her work
in the Foundations of Monasteries
which she said commenced
not by her own efforts
but through the "Love of God and Faith"
and receptiveness to the Will of God
and Providence:
"Our Lord disposed it all
far better than I thought"
[ Bk of the Foundations: Ch. 2: # 1]
"...I was one night in prayer,
when our Lord...said to me,
'Wait a little, my child,
and thou shalt see great things.'
[ Bk of the Foundations: Ch. 1: # 7]
"I had great longings
to help any soul whatever
to draw nearer unto God.
[ Bk of the Foundations: Ch. 2: # 2]
"But the means
for satisfying these longings
I did not seek myself;
on the contrary,
I thought it foolish to do so...
so helpless as I am,
saw clearly she could do nothing...
The Love of God and Faith
make that possible
which is not possible
according to natural reason"
[ Bk of the Foundations: Ch. 2: # 3]
■ St. Therese's own experience
in finding God's Will for her
in leading Souls to God
"The vocation of a Priest!
With what love, my Jesus,
would I bear Thee in my hand,
when my words brought Thee
down from Heaven!
With what love would I give Thee to souls!
And yet, while longing to be a Priest,
I admire and envy the humility
of St. Francis of Assisi,
and am drawn to imitate him by refusing
the sublime dignity of the Priesthood.
How reconcile these opposite tendencies?
Like the Prophets and Doctors,
I would be a light unto souls,
I would travel to every land
to preach Thy name, O my Beloved, and
raise on heathen soil
the glorious standard of Thy Cross.
One mission alone
would not satisfy my longings.
I would spread the Gospel
to the ends of the earth...
I would be a Missionary...
from the beginning of the world
till the consummation of time.
Above all, I thirst for the Martyr's crown.
But this too is folly,
since I do not sigh for one torment;
I need them all to slake my thirst.
Like Thee, O Adorable Spouse,
I would be scourged,...crucified!
I would be flayed like St. Bartholomew,
plunged into boiling oil like St. John, or,
like St. Ignatius of Antioch, ground by the
...wild beasts into a bread worthy of God.
With St. Agnes and St. Cecilia
I would offer my neck to the sword
of the executioner, and
like Joan of Arc I would murmur
the name of Jesus at the stake.
...I long to undergo them all...
O Jesus...
To such folly as this
what answer wilt Thou make?
Is there on the face of this earth
a soul more feeble than mine?
These aspirations becoming
a true martyrdom,
I opened, one day, the Epistles of St. Paul
to seek relief in my sufferings.
My eyes fell on the 12th and 13th
chapters of the First Epistle
to the Corinthians.
I read
◦ that all cannot become
Apostles, Prophets, and Doctors;
◦ that the Church is composed
of different members;
◦ that the eye cannot also be the hand.
The answer was clear,
but it did not fulfill my desires,
or give to me the peace I sought.
...
Without being discouraged I read on,
and found comfort in this counsel:
"Be zealous for the better gifts.
And I show unto you
a yet more excellent way."
▪ By Love, "to embrace all vocations"
"The Apostle then explains
how all perfect gifts
are nothing without Love,
that Charity is the most excellent way
of going surely to God.
At last I had found rest."
▪ Finding her portion
in the Mystical Body of Christ
"Meditating on the Mystical Body
of Holy Church,
I could not recognise myself among any
of its members
as described by St. Paul,
or
was it not rather that I wished
to recognise myself in all?
Charity provided me with the key
to my vocation.
I understood
- that...the Church is a body
composed of different members,
and
- that it is love alone
which gives life to its members...
- that love embraces all vocations,
- that it is all things, and
- that it reaches out through all the ages,
and to the uttermost limits
of the earth,
because it is eternal...
I cried out: "O Jesus, my Love,
at last I have found my vocation.
My vocation is love!
...
I ask not for riches or glory,
not even the glory of Heaven—
that belongs by right to my brothers,
the Angels and Saints,
To love Thee, Jesus,
is now my only desire.
Great deeds are not for me;
I cannot preach the Gospel
or shed my blood.
No matter! My brothers work in my stead,
and I...love Thee for all who are in strife.
But how shall I show my love,
since love proves itself by deeds?
...
The only way I have of proving my love
is to strew flowers before Thee
—that is to say,
I will let no tiny sacrifice pass,
no look, no word.
I wish to profit by the smallest actions,
and to do them for Love.
I wish to suffer for Love's sake..."
[ Story of a Soul
Autobiography of St Therese of Lisieux
Chapter 11 - A Canticle Of Love ]
|
