I NEED TO THINK, TO HAVE LIGHT, I ASK GOD TO GRANT ME ENLIGHTENMENT

In the midst of all the serious political intrigue around him, Eugene never forgets where his source of strength comes from:

.. It was necessary in effect to take pause after my Wednesday morning session. I lie low, I need to think, to have light, I ask God to grant me enlightenment, my need all the greater in that people’s plans seemingly pit themselves against the inspirations of the Holy Spirit…

Letter to Henri Tempier, 31 August 1833, EO VIII n 459

A useful reminder today to pause in the midst of difficulties and to allow God ot enlighten us.

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1 Response to I NEED TO THINK, TO HAVE LIGHT, I ASK GOD TO GRANT ME ENLIGHTENMENT

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    Such powerful words from this man we call our saint. “I lie low, I need to think, to have light, I ask God to grant me enlightenment, my need all the greater in that people’s plans seemingly pit themselves against the inspirations of the Holy Spirit…”

    I remember many years ago, shortly after returning to the Church – I was invited to join a team of what I will call missionaries – for they were most certainly sent by God being a part of a ministry based on Marriage Encounter but which was for single adults. I myself had come back into the light on a weekend such as the one I was planning to take part in as a team member. We met once a week in preparation, gathering in prayer and sharing where we believed the Spirit was leading us, where God was calling us to be. Most members there seemed comfortably aware and knowledgeable about God’s plan for themselves and how they were living out those plans. It was not so with myself as I would confess that I did not know what God’s plan was for me. I wished for the certainty in my life that they seemed to enjoy.

    I read again the words of our beloved founder: “I lie low, I need to think, to have light, I ask God to grant me enlightenment…” One of my greatest obstacles which seems to pit itself against the inspirations of the Holy Spirit might well be my own self. My body is slowly healing and recovering but I try to hurry that along, deciding what I ‘should’ now be able to do, able to accomplish. My fear – that it is only my ‘doing’ that the world desires from me and not my seemingly small and hidden ‘being’. Yes, yes there is God, but …

    Beloved, grant me light, grant me enlightenment, not so as to worry about others, but that I myself might be still and know you, that I might hear your desires whispered on the breath of the Spirit.

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