Continuing to encourage the young seminarian, Marius Bernard, in his struggle against temptations, Eugene reassures him that if he is true to his spirit of oblation he will be safe. The person who has made a commitment to living “all for God” can be assured that God will be all for him.
It is not so easy to turn away from him whom one loves above all, when one lives by the life of grace, when from morning to evening, one tries to accomplish not only his commandments but his counsels, when one tries to make progress every day in perfection.
Oh! no. It would be quite another thing if we were concerned with those men who live in forgetfulness of their duties, who lead a soft, useless life, who walk without fear of God, who have no love for him, who trouble themselves little about offending him; that would be different, but I repeat, he who like all of you lives only for God and does everything to please him, such a one, I will say it a thousand times, does not pass from this state to that of sin by surprise.
No, my dear child, the Master whom we serve, who is the omnipotent God, does not permit that. He is there, with his grace, and as long as we do not expose ourselves voluntarily to the danger of losing it, he undertakes to preserve it in us…
Letter to Marius Bernard, 16 June 1824, EO VI n. 143
Our members in distress, those who are sick or the aged among us, contribute greatly to the coming of God’s Kingdom. We will be particularly concerned for them and will surround them with all the affection that binds us together as members of the same family. CC&RR Constitution 42
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Corrie Ten Boom
I don’t know if you can call this a spiritual ‘hug’ this morning, it is most certainly a grace. Sitting with it I feel as if I have been embraced and gently reminded of what I know to be true. How I am ‘carried’ throughout my day, indeed how I have been carried throughout all of my days, I did not even have to ask (although there were times I did). Eugene again speaking most certainly to me directly, as perhaps a father might.
My “all for God”, what does that mean? It shifts, changes, grows, deepens. It is not measurable (for its way more than the doing), how can you measure being. I look at how I separate myself from God, and how God with exquisitely infinite tenderness, continues to draw me closer, allowing me to gradually (sometimes very slowly) let go and allow the walls to fall away. God does it through Eugene, through each person who is in my life (without most even knowing it) – some closer than others. Each making a difference.
I questioned ‘the wisdom’, the reason for this particular quote from the Constitution and Rules. How does this fit in. But just now I thought of who touches me and I begin to think of those that I struggle with and how much I really do love them. Compassion is a mysterious thing but there it is. And it struck me how God holds and loves me particularly when I am in ‘distress’. How God simply allows me to be in his embrace when I am tired. How some are easier to love than others.
God is here with his grace. And isn’t this a perfect way to start out the day!