Objective truth series — Reflection #18

Here is a brief recap of the last four reflections:

·         Reflection 14 – The pursuit of truth and the love of truth as the basis for standing up for the truth, in order to fight false human respect.

·         Reflection 15 – The precious blessing it is to possess the faith in these times of apostasy when so few have the faith, and having the use of reason is also something to be extremely grateful for.

·         Reflection 16 – Finding delight in God bringing us a higher view of truths.

·         Reflection 17 – God uses us, poor instruments that we are, to pass on the truth by standing up for the truth, and to teach the truth to others.

All of the reflections in this Objective Truth Series, especially the last four reflections, can be boiled down to what was quoted in Reflection 15, namely, the Principal and Foundation from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God, Our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.  All other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him fulfill the end for which he is created.  From this it follows that man is to use these things to the extent that they will help him to attain his end.  Likewise, he must rid himself of them in so far as they prevent him from attaining it [viz., his end].  

As was said in the very first reflection, St. Thomas Aquinas says – First, God chooses a soul, then He loves that soul, and then He makes the soul worthy of His Love by giving grace to the soul.  Thus, the saints are truly called the Elect of God and the life’s journey of the saint’s soul is God’s work.  The Principal and Foundation quoted above, is the Blessed Mother’s instruction, giving souls what can be called the cornerstone of the way of salvation.  In this manner the soul learns from the Principal and Foundation to have an eternal perspective of life. 

What do we mean by an eternal perspective?  This means that one takes the Principal and Foundation into consideration when making all his decisions. For example, he would ask himself, “Will this use of a creature, this activity etc. be something that will help me save my soul or not?”  Of course, not all the saints in heaven went on an Ignatian retreat; nevertheless, they made their decisions always with the salvation of their immortal soul in mind.  Hence, they had this eternal perspective in which they made their salvation the most important work of their lives.  They certainly worked out their salvation “with fear and trembling,” as St. Paul admonished the Philippians to do.

For instance, St. Teresa of Avila told her nuns, “We have only one soul and one eternity.” Although she is an example of a saint who did have the influence of the good Jesuits, and her little saying shows that she made her decisions with her eternal salvation in mind, her perspective is not unlike all the other saints in heaven.

Of course, we know from our Catechism that we are supposed “to know, love, and serve God to be happy with Him in heaven.”  However, we do not just automatically act upon this truth from the age of reason. 

This is where God’s school of sanctity must be considered.  What does He do to the soul?  He spends years drawing souls to Himself and helping them sort out/discover that life is a journey, an exile, and that the soul’s true goal is heaven.  Yes, one can study these things in Catechism, but unfortunately these truths do not really sink in, until the Lord causes these truths to penetrate deeply into one’s soul.  The soul seems to discover for the first time that the intimate friendship with the Divine Spouse Jesus Christ is the only true goal of life.

This is a time of true conversion of heart, when Our Lord gives the soul an eternal perspective.  When the soul has finally latched onto the eternal perspective, the soul is much more focused on working for God.   In this conversion the soul now finally understands that nothing else is important but the salvation of the soul.  The world’s “fog” now seems to lift and the soul now sees the real purpose for existence in the most serious light in which it should be taken.

But God does not stop there, for now the serious part, so to speak, of the soul’s journey, has begun.   God patiently works on the soul and the soul continues to sort the distractions of this life from the supernatural realities for which man was created.  With a clearer perspective, the soul now understands better how God intends that man wears himself out in the service of God.  The soul, too, learns more and more how crucial it is to be detached from things of the world.  This process of learning to care more and more about God continues and God draws the soul closer to Him.  All of God’s adopted children are supposed to become spiritually married to Christ, the Bridegroom of the soul.  Therefore, it is perfectly normal in the spiritual life that the soul would become less attached to the world and more intimately attached to God.

Once a soul has an eternal perspective, the soul looks at everything in a whole different way.   The soul can see that the things of this world are so empty and shallow.  The cares of the world are dealt with in a more objective way.  Yes, one certainly has to deal with the concerns of his duty of state; however, these concerns are handled with one’s eternal salvation always in mind.  The soul does not want to displease God in any way—seeing that we are either on the side of Christ or on the side of Satan.  As Christ said, “He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth.” St. Matt. 12:30.  And further, “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the Day of Judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” St. Matt. 12:36-37.

With just these words of Our Lord in mind, it is easy to see that Our Lord wants us to have an eternal perspective.  Clearly, we have to discern carefully what is involved in our decisions and consider well how we must do all things to please God. Our thoughts, words, and deeds must be weighed on the scale of eternity!  Nothing in life is truly neutral and all things must work toward God and His Glory.  As Catholics we cannot become callous and think that our actions do not have eternal consequences.  Keeping an eternal perspective makes all choices simpler and therefore easier.

Another wonderful consequence of an eternal perspective is that placing all things in God’s Hands becomes more habitual.  How good God is to teach and train a soul to have an eternal perspective!  One stands only in awe at such Paternal care for our poor souls and perhaps something like the following would flow forth:

To praise, to revere, and to serve Him,
Oh, this sounds so scary and grim,
Our souls were created for this,
‘Tis the only view, that brings bliss.

Why an eternal perspective?
And must we be so selective?
The Lord wants us never forget,
That we belong to Him and yet,

He knows we’re so fragile and weak
And that worldly things we do seek
He ‘minds us to think of our end,
And not to make the world our friend.

‘Tis so easy to lose our course,
And to forget that, God’s our source,
Of life, of being, our one true goal,
The only way to save one’s soul.

For every choice one must make,
We must work only for His sake.
To act for Him, ne’er Him oppose,
If we want, eternal repose.

At times a choice, seems so small,
But made badly, could costs it all,
Best to weigh things, on this wise scale,
Than forever the choice bewail,

We pray Mary, our special guide,
That with her Son, we may abide,
And live not like fools, for this world,
And not into hell’s depths be hurled.

Having perspective eternal,
Keeps the soul, from the infernal,
Wonderful outlook, for one’s life,
The soul becomes the Bridegroom’s wife.

For such an outlook, we must pray,
To stick to our goal on life’s way,
And when this view does sink in deep,
With tears of thanks we shall e’re weep.

Objective truth series – Reflection #17

In our last reflection we discussed how delightful it is to see the simplification of the truth when one sees profound connections and acquires a more objective view.  This delightful experience of the soul fills us with wonder at God’s Goodness.  This is God’s marvelous way of working in a soul. “The ways of God are unsearchable”.  Ecclesiastes, 8:1.

Likewise, God in His Goodness often lets us get a view of ourselves in hindsight.  This hindsight view includes things in the spiritual life that He has been teaching us, and habits we have formed which we didn’t notice before, and He has us come to notice.  Thus, He sometimes gives us a glimpse of what He has done in our souls.  We then see how God has a wonderful way of working quietly behind the scenes.  We see His Patience with us and we find ourselves then counting our blessings anew and appreciating God’s mercy to us all the more.

Another amazing thing God does is to use us poor creatures as His instruments in helping other souls.  For example, sometimes, when we are trying to help someone come to understand a Catholic teaching, we find ourselves saying things that we didn’t plan to say.  If we reflect back on the conversation where we were planting the seeds of the Faith, we can sense truly that God was working in us.  Because we can see that we didn’t plan what we were going to say, we are amazed how just the right concepts, facts, and wording came to our minds and in the smooth way our words came out.  We can then say that truly the Holy Ghost inspired it all.  This makes it is easier to be detached from any credit that one could be tempted to take for the work.  We ponder at God’s Goodness again and praise Him for what He is doing through us unworthy creatures.

St. Thomas Aquinas explains that it is a mark of a higher being to work through lower beings.  Some examples of this are God using His angels to control the forces of nature and using the guardian angels to protect us.   Likewise, He uses us to spread the truth and plant seeds in souls.   He strictly doesn’t need us, yet God gives us the dignity to be His instruments though we are so unworthy.

However, Our Lord does not want us to be worried about what we will say when we are confronted by the unreasonable people in the world.   Our Lord has assured us, “And when they shall bring you into the synagogues, and to magistrates and powers, be not solicitous how or what you shall answer, or what you shall say.   For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you must say.”  St. Luke 12:11-12.  And, again, Our Lord says, “But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you.”  St. John 14:26.

So, with astonishment we find that we can help souls in these apostate times of confusion.  We are called to be apostles of Christ.  Indeed, the spiritual works of mercy—to instruct the ignorant, council the doubtful, and even admonish the sinner are crucial in our days.  In these times of so much hatred against Jesus Christ, His Church, and Catholic Morality, we can truly be soldiers of Christ defending Catholic Faith and Morality.  How great God is to let us be His helpers especially when uncompromising priests cannot be found in most places!  He will supply the help we need to accomplish what He wills for sous.

So, with all our hearts for love of God and our neighbor for His sake, let us try with all our might to sow the seeds of our Holy Catholic Faith in our neighbor.  We cannot thank God enough for the precious pearl of the Faith, yet working for Him is one way to show Him gratitude for all He has done, is doing, and will do for us.

And we will most likely find more gratitude growing in our hearts when we realize that, though we are most unworthy, God is using us to pass on the truth.  We could find ourselves saying with heartfelt words something like the following:

I, unworthy, how can it be?
The Holy Faith, to others spread?
 Be I, a tool, for God’s Glory?
 How through me, can poor sheep be fed?

Gardening the soil of souls?
Or be a fisher of men?
To instruct of eternal goals?
Things beyond, the modern mind’s ken?

In these times, where all’s up-side-down,
 Each day a new battle to fight,
And lies are spreading all aroun’,
People confused, on left and right.

God’s wants to use us, as His tools,
To teach, by examples, and words,
Even though, most may, think us fools,
‘Cause we are not part, of their herds.

 Of those poor folks, trained not to think,
But simply go on the “easy" path
Causing their hearts, to further sink,
Deserving more of, Divine Wrath.

Just as a sign, of higher one,
Through lower beings, does his works,
So it is the Lord, gets jobs done,
With us, insignificant clerks.

Grateful are we, instruments poor,
That He blesses, the deeds we do.
He provides the souls, at our door,
Though He need not, by us work through.

Amazing movement, doth He then,
That He helps souls, through words of ours,
Like lush spring rain, in the soul’s glen,
He draws forth, precious soul-flowers.

Only God with, power Supreme,
Could bring such worth, from us poor men,
As flowing forth, from wisdom’s stream,
Yet from a, lowly creature’s pen.

We thank the Goodness, of Our Guide,
Who sets us, sowers in His field,
E’er inspiring us, at our side,
Yet, He, brings forth, the fruitful yield.

God Simplifies the Truth and

We Can Delight in It

Objective truth series reflection #16

In our most recent reflections, we have considered how we use our reason to come to conclusions and acquire knowledge of the truth.   God fills us with the hunger and thirst for more truth.  Furthermore, He gives us satisfaction when we use our reason.  This satisfaction makes it easier to fulfill our moral obligation to use our reason.

Yet the term satisfaction does not seem to go far enough in describing a further benefit that God bestows on us.  This benefit is, namely, that He simplifies the truth and then we can take delight in seeing the truth simplified.

Our use of reason is a remarkable thing.  As was explained in Reflection #14, we gather information and have a sort of mental discussion about the facts.  We then draw conclusions and acquire knowledge of the truth.  Over time, as we ponder truths, these truths sink more deeply into us.  They get absorbed slowly like successive drops of water into a sponge.  In this way, the truths become more and more a part of us and are like second nature.  Hence, we acquire a greater love of these truths which have become part of us.

Also, gradually, as we draw more and more conclusions, we can see connections and relationships between things which we never realized were connected before.  We come to see a bigger picture.  Hence, we acquire a more objective view.

In this way, we become more like God and the angels because they see things all at once.  Yet, for us, because we come to know things by reasoning in steps, when we get a more objective view, we have a pleasing enjoyment in our newfound knowledge.

To illustrate this, let us consider what it is like to be in a hot air balloon.  When the balloon is still on the ground before it lifts, everything around us looks large and complex.  As the balloon lifts and pulls away from the earth, the objects from this vertical position appear to be sinking lower and lower. They also look like they are shrinking and getting stunted. From our angle peering over the side of the balloon basket, everything becomes smaller and smaller and things takes on a fore-shortened appearance.

As the flight upwards continues, the objects and the landscapes below now look like a patchwork quilt.  They become less distinct and defined as they diminish in size, but the relationships between things becomes clearer.  Hence, our view becomes simpler.  We have a sense of amazement and delight in seeing how many things are brought together in a simple and orderly fashion.

As a consequence of this astounding simplification, the soul sees the wonder of God’s Providence in creating man to be the type of creature able to use reason and come to know things objectively.  The more objective a man’s view is, the more he appreciates the omniscience and omnipotence of God.  Hence, the result is delight, as well as an increase in the love of God.  Even though words cannot express our delight fully, our hearts still ache to capture it in words – such as the following:

Use of reason for man is this,

His highest, most powerful tool,

By use of it brings man much bliss,

Without it, he becomes a fool.

So, when facts are pondered, one finds,
They draw one, to a proper end,
Bringing him to truths, of all kinds,
Showing reason—a precious friend!

O’er time with practice of using,
The intellect e’er, more and more,
Connections ‘tween things start fusing,
Making things simpler than afore.

Just as an air-balloon lifting,
May make things around look askew,
The mind as it were things sifting,
Brings on a more objective view.

The soul has this, to now enjoy,
Of seeing things, in a new way,
And thankful is man, to employ,
His reasoning, from day to day.

How great God is, to give us such,
A wonderful gift, of our soul,
Which should remind us, oh so much,
That heaven is our, one true goal.

This would make us, ever exclaim,
Keep lifting me, O Lord I pray,
I do aspire to, have the aim,
To seek heaven, every day.

Though unworthy, I know I be
To ask now, such a bold request,
I want to dwell, e’er with Thee,
To become, Thy eternal guest.

Oh, grant Lord, my lowly prayer,
And make me, more like Thee,
To see the truth, that looks so fair,
When with, objective view, I see.

Gratitude can, have no bound,
For such a grand gift, bestowed,
Of seeing links, which so astound,
And to Thee, all my love, is owed!