Presence of God

Grant, O Jesus, that I may have for souls sen¬ timents like those ofYour own divine Heart.

Meditation

I. Efficacious collaboration always demands a certain unity ofpurpose and method between the promoter of a work and his collaborators. This unity must be all the more profund if the work to be accomplished is not material, but spiritual. An apostle, working with God for the good ofsouls, must live in intimate spiritual union with Him, so as to enter as far as possible into His views and plans for the salvation of the world.

Only by penetrating to the depths ofthe mystery of God’s love for mankind can the apostle cooperate in the actual diffusion of love and grace. He must keep in close contact with God by means of the theological virtues, and must try to grasp the profound inspirations of His love. By faith we know that God brought men into existence through the promptings of His infinite goodness. He willed to extend the goodness outside Himself, to communicate to others something of His own goodness, happiness, and life. Grace, the creation of His love, makes man participate in His divine nature. When man cut himself off from God by sin, and became unworthy of His gift, God did not renounce His loving plan; and in order to restore to man what he had culpably lost, He sacrificed His only-begotten Son “ who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven ” (Credo).

The apostle must thoroughly understand that God’s action on souls is entirely the action of love : it is the action of the Father who goes in search of the prodigal son, of the shepherd who seeks the sheep that has gone astray; it is the action of a God who offers His friendship to men to make them happy, to be able to welcome them into His Home, to admit them to His intimacy, to make them blessed with His eternal beatitude. An apostle should try to put his own heart into contact with the Heart of God, that it may be filled with God’s love and share in His charity toward men. The apostle should, as it were, have the mind of God, the mind of Christ, that is, he should cultivate deep sentiments of love for the brethren, a pale reflection of the love of God for men.

II. Not only at prayer, but in the very exercise of the apostolate, the apostle should strive to keep in contact with God and with the mystery of His love for men, in which he should humbly collaborate. He will seek this contact by an intense practice of faith, which will give him a deeper under¬ standing of the mystery of the Redemption and enable him to recognize the fulfillment of this mystery in the various circumstances of his life and in every event of time. This spirit of faith will help him to make his humble activity a part of the great action of God. In this way, even while making use of human means or when occupied with material affairs, the apostle will live in a supernatural atmosphere. He will never lose sight of the goal of his activity, but will always be very keenly aware that he is collaborating with Christ for the salvation of souls.

To faith, an apostle must unite ardent charity, for contact with God and response to His love are realized by means of love. Charity, by the power of intuition proper to it, will permit the apostle to penetrate more deeply into the mystery of the Redemption and to savor the sweet reality of the infinite Love manifested therein; it will urge him to live in close communion with this Love, whose collaborator and instrument he should be. Then his example and words will testify to the truth savored and experienced in his intimate contact with God, the truth that is not only believed in theory, but lived in practice. Then the apostle can say with St. John : “ We have known, and have believed the charity which God hath to us” (1Jo. 4, 16), and again : “ That. . . which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. . . we bear witness. . . [we] declare unto you ” (1Jo. 1, 3).

By faith and love the apostle will attain to an ever increasing spiritual affinity with the mystery of the Redemption and with Jesus, who accomplished it; he will be able to make the sentiments ofJesus his own, according to the words of St. Paul : “ For let this mind be in you, which was also in ChristJesus ” (Phil 2,5). Having the “ mind of Christ, ” which means loving and willing in unison with the divine Heart, sharing its immense love for God and souls, is the secret of every apostolate.

Colloquy

“ O Jesus, Son of God, if I think how You died to save souls, how can I fail to want to die for them also? And if I think of men trampling upon Your Blood, how can I tolerate such an insult to You, my Lord? How can I say I love You and long for Your love, if when I see Your picture thrown in the mud, I do not try to pick it up? Why then, do I not devote myself entirely to prayer, and wear myself out trying to make Your Name known and honored, so that by converting souls, I may gather the fruits of Your Blood?

“ My God, even if I knew I would never enjoy Your presence, I would, nevertheless, be willing to die for each sinful soul, in order to honor You; in this way, I would undergo as many deaths as there are sinners in the world, so that they might obtain grace now and glory hereafter. But I would do it all the more willingly if I knew that I would attain glory with them! ” (St. Bonaventure).

“ Lord, I have but one thing to do during the night of this life, this single night which will come but once, and that is to love You with all the strength of my heart and to save souls for You that You may be loved.

“ O Jesus, at the sight of Your precious Blood falling to the ground, with no one caring to treasure it as it falls, my heart is torn with grief. I resolve to remain continuously in spirit at the foot of the Cross, that I may receive the divine dew ofsalvation and pour it forth upon souls.

“ Your cry, ‘ I thirst! ’ resounds incessantly in my heart, kindling within it new fires of zeal.... O my Beloved, to give You to drink is my constant desire; I am consumed with an insatiable thirst for souls, and I long at any cost to snatch them from the everlasting flames of hell.... To obtain this, I wish to employ all the spiritual means I can think of, but knowing that of myself I can do nothing, I offer You, O my Savior, Your own infinite merits together with all the treasures of Holy Church ” (T.C.J. L, 74 - St, 5).