Goodness and Christian Courtesy - Cardinal Bacci

Goodness and Christian Courtesy

1. Christian perfection, when it is genuine and practical, should be reflected externally in our appearance, in our conversation, and in our behaviour. Discourtesy, sharpness of manner, offensive speech, and all that is rude or displeasing, are signs that we are lacking or weak in virtue.

On the other hand, if we have succeeded in conquering all our evil inclinations and in regulating our interior faculties, so that they are subject to right reason and to the divine law, then our virtue will be reflected in our speech and in our actions. It was this spiritual charm that made the Saints fascinating to those who knew them or came in contact with them, making them wish to reform their own lives and to strive towards perfection. St. Francis de Sales said that courtesy is the frame of sanctity; as a picture without a frame is incomplete, so also is virtue if it is not expressed externally by affability and gentleness. In the Gospel, Jesus is not satisfied with interior virtue alone but insists that it should appear outwardly in our actions. “Even let your light shine before men,” He says, “in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Mt. 5:16)

2. St. Francis de Sales was a model of gentleness and Christian courtesy. He had every regard and respect of his neighbour because he saw God in everyone and everyone in God.

He had the ability to listen to everybody with great patience and kindness, without ever showing any sign of tiredness or boredom, even when he was dealing with unpleasant people or when he was busy with far more important matters. He maintained his equilibrium and self-control even after many hours of work and of difficult consultations. He was always prepared , moreover, to listen to the troubles of the poor.

Even when insulted and reviled, he displayed perfect serenity and calm. It was a result of this that, with the help of God, he made innumerable converts.

“Always be as gentle as you can,” he was accustomed to advise, “and remember that you will catch more flies with a spoon of honey than with a barrel of vinegar. If you must err, let it be on the side of gentleness…” “Be humble,” he wrote again, “and you will be gentle. Humility makes the heart kind towards the perfect and the imperfect; towards the former through veneration, towards the latter through compassion.” (Letter 51) How much we have to learn from the serenity and courtesy of this Saint!

3. When Jesus wished to propose Himself as our divine model, He said: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” (Mt. 11:29) He was kind to all, but especially to sinners. He was strict and severe only with hypocrites, whom He described as a race of vipers and as whitened sepulchres, from which we can see how much He detested duplicity. If the hypocrites had only repented and resolved to mend their ways, however, Our Lord would have received them lovingly and pardoned them. Let us learn, therefore, to be simple, meek, and humble of heart and to display that courtesy of manner which is the necessary adornment of true Christian virtue.

Faith and Hope - Cardinal Bacci

Faith and Hope

1. A man without the light of faith is like a blind man groping in the dark. The world which surrounds us is an inconceivable absurdity unless we have faith in a God who creates and orders. Life is an aimless journey if it is not illuminated by faith in a Creator Who will reward us. Everything without us and within us speaks to us of God and directs our steps towards Him, our supreme benefactor, our judge, and our eternal reward. The stars of the heavens and the flowers of the fields tell us of the infinite beauty and goodness of their Creator. In the pages of the Gospel we find a clearer and more penetrating light which invites us to adore and love the divine Redeemer and to believe in Him, Who alone has the words of eternal life and Who alone can satisfy the infinite desires of our hearts.

All this is true. Everything around us and within us leads us to God and invites us to have faith. The virtue of faith, however, is a supernatural gift which we must humbly and perseveringly beg from God. It is, as St. Thomas says, the foundation of the entire spiritual life (Summa Theologiae, III, q. 73, a. 3); without it the spiritual edifice would collapse. How thankful, therefore, we should be to God for having been called to the faith and for having been born in the Catholic Church. There are so many other souls outside Her, who grope in the darkness longing for the truth. We should pray for them that they may reach the port of salvation and may be able to join with us in praising, loving, and serving our Lord Jesus Christ. We should also be well aware that, as pointed out by St. James, faith without good works is dead. (Cf. James 2:17-20) Even the devils believe, as St. Augustine observes (De Caritate, 10), but this does not help their salvation. Besides faith, the love of God and love of our neighbour are necessary. The result of this double charity should be a gradual increase in good works.

2. Christian hope derives from faith. When we believe in the infinitely good and merciful God Who was made man for us and who shed His Precious Blood for our salvation, we experience a great hope and a great confidence. No matter how numerous our sins and our defects, as long as we are sincerely repentant we should continue to hope for the forgiveness of God. Despair, which led Judas to commit suicide, should never be allowed to enter our minds. Like the penitent Magdalen, like the prodigal son, like the lost sheep, and like the good thief, let us trust in Jesus with faith, hope, and sorrow for our sins. Let us remember that He is infinitely good and merciful and ardently desires to pardon us. Together with this hope of God’s forgiveness, we should nurture the hope of gaining Heaven, which the Lord in His infinite goodness has promised not only to innocent souls but also to repentant sinners. In order that this hope may not be in vain, however, we should include in our repentance for our sins a firm purpose of amendment.

3. We should also have great confidence in the continual assistance which God offers us in the temptations, troubles, and trials of life. When we are strongly tempted, we should remember that God will not permit us to be tempted beyond our strength (Cf. 1 Cor. 10:13), and we should pray to Him for help. When pain torments us, when humiliations are hard to bear, when all is dark and we feel abandoned, let us trust in Him, Who is the way, the truth, and the life. He says to us, as He said to Peter floundering in the waves: “O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” (Mt. 14:31) He is always ready to console and comfort us.

Let us remember that the more we hope for, the more we shall obtain.

Others' defects - St Philip Neri

"If we wish to keep peace with our neighbours, we should never remind any one of his natural defects."

Seeing God in All Things - Cardinal Bacci

Seeing God in All Things

1. Very often, when things are not going our way, we become restless and irritable. We want health, and instead we are sick. We long for success and high position, and instead we are forgotten and humiliated. We desire to be holy, and instead God humbles our pride and allows us to fall into sin again and again. We wish that affairs in our immediate surroundings would proceed according to our liking, but in fact everything happens in an entirely different way. What is the remedy for the tension and annoyance which we experience on these occasions? There is only one; we must see God in all the events and circumstances of life and do His will lovingly and generously. Faith, says St. Francis de Sales, is a ray of light from Heaven which makes us see God in all things and all things in God. It was his great disciple, St. Jane Frances de Chantal, who wrote: “To be nothing, to be much, to be small; to command, to obey one person or another; to be humiliated or forgotten; to be poor or rich; to be underworked or overworked; to be alone or to be in company; to receive spiritual consolations or to experience aridity and temptation; to be healthy, or to be sick and obliged to languish for year… to live a long time or to die soon, perhaps immediately; all must be accepted from God. If others have greater graces and gifts, we are happy in God. Our life must be like a great Amen which harmonises with that of the heavenly choirs…”

If we see the love of God in all things, in all happenings, and in all the troubles of life, nothing will upset us or cause us excessive anguish. We know that we are in good hands and that everything is arranged for our good.

2. Sometimes we fail to see God in all the events of life because we lack faith and absolute confidence in the Lord. We must try to increase this faith and live always in the presence of God, and we must regard the honour and glory of this world as worth absolutely nothing without God. “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul?” (Mt. 16:26)

We often attach too much importance to the things of this world, which viewed in the light of eternity are worth very little. When we find ourselves at the point of death and think back over the events of life, how small these things will seem to us! Then we shall marvel at our folly and regret that we worried so much about them, while we allowed ourselves to forget the only being really necessary to us, God Himself. St. Francis de Sales said that when we arrive at the end of life, the affairs with which we have been preoccupied will seem about as important as the sand-castles we built as children, castles which cost us a lot of trouble to build and a great deal of sorrow afterwards when they had been destroyed.

3. Are we in the habit of seeing all things in God and God in all things? Do we accept all things from His holy hands and do His will cheerfully and lovingly?

Do we try to control ourselves when God sends us sorrow as well as joy? If we find we are in need of reform in this matter, we should make good resolutions.

Gospel Reading - Cardinal Bacci

Gospel Reading

1. The Gospel is the books of books, for it contains, not the words of men, but the words of God. In the beginning the Word of God was made man and became the life-giving word during His earthly life. Thus we have the written word in the Sacred Scriptures. When we read the Gospel, we should imagine that Jesus is there before us, so that we can hear the words from His divine lips and feel the breath of His life and the fire of His love.

“In Heaven,” says St. Augustine, “Jesus continues to speak to us on earth through His Gospel.” His words are the bright stars which should guide men – often wandering in the darkness of error or engulfed in the abyss of sin – through the way of virtue and goodness towards Heaven. The more one penetrates the Gospel the more one gets to know Jesus Christ. St. Augustine writes that the Gospel is another way which Jesus has chosen of remaining among us. The same holy Doctor does not hesitate to say that “he who scorns even of these sacred words would be no less guilty than if he let the Blessed Eucharist fall on the ground through negligence.” When we read the sacred pages we begin to understand the infinite goodness of Jesus. We see Him whimper and suffer in the manger at Bethlehem; we see Him humbly working as a poor labourer in the workshop of Nazareth; we see Him pardon Magdalen and the penitent adulteress; we see Him restore life to the dead, sight to the blind, and health to all kinds of sick people; in the supper-room we see Him give us Himself under the veil of the Blessed Eucharist, at the very moment when He was forgotten, denied and betrayed; we see Him in the Praetorium before Pilate, where He was scourged for our sins; we see Him on Calvary dying on a cross for us, forgiving His crucifiers, and promising Heaven to the penitent thief; and finally, we see Him rising from the dead and ascending gloriously into Heaven, where He went to prepare a place for us, should we persevere as His faithful followers. “I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2)

The Saints often read and meditated on the Gospel. It provided spiritual food for their souls. In the life of St. Philip Neri, we read that during his last years he read nothing but the Gospels, especially the Gospel of St. John, which treats profoundly of the love of God. Do you read the Gospels? With what dispositions and with what results do you read it? In modern times, unfortunately, very few read it at all. That is why so many stray so far from the spirit of Jesus, and why they often display a material form of piety, insipid and useless in the practice of the Christian life.

2. It is not enough to read and to meditate on the Gospel. We should do so with the correct dispositions, which are three in number. In the first place we should read the Gospel with the recollection of one who prays. “Prayer must often interrupt reading,” says St. Bonaventure. Now and again while we are reading, we should lift our minds to God and ask Him to enlighten us and to inspire us towards greater fervour.

Heavenly truths cannot be understood or penetrated without the light and grace which comes from on high. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” Jesus said. “No one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6) The Gospel, therefore, cannot be read like any other book. It is the word of supernatural life which cannot be infused into our souls, except by grace, for which we should pray humbly and with fervour. In the second place we should read slowly and reflectively. “Read with the heart and not with the eyes,” writes Bossuet. “Profit by that which you understand, adore that which you don’t.” In the Gospel there is always something which is applicable to ourselves and to the particular circumstances which we find ourselves. The Saints found there their own particular road to sanctity to which they had been called; from our reflective and devout study of the sacred pages we also shall find what Jesus wants in a particular way from us.

3. Finally, we should practice what we learn in the Gospel. If this were not the result of our reading, our efforts would be worth very little. When reading, we should apply to our lives the spirit and the precepts of Jesus. This was the practice of the Saints, whose lives were a continual implementation of the Gospel message. St. Aloysius and many others understood and applied to their own lives the maxim: “Blessed are the clean of heart.” St. Francis and his followers applied another maxim: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” St. Francis de Sales applied to himself in a special way the words: “Blessed are the meek.” As a result, he was noted for his gentleness of character.

We should read the Gospel every day. It should be for us a school of practical spirituality, specially adapted to the needs of our own soul, which will finally lead us to sanctity.

Pretend - C S Lewis

"When you are not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you can do, very often, is to put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will be really feeling friendlier than you were. Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already."

Good Reading - Cardinal Bacci

Good Reading

1. Books are fashionable nowadays; in fact, a great many are published which are never read. There has been a mania for books ever since the invention of printing fanned the flaming urge to write and to publish. There are good books, useless books, and, unfortunately, bad books, including newspapers, magazines and reviews of all descriptions. Sometimes these are serious publications; but usually they are light, unhealthy, enticing to sin, and even trading in sin. They corrode the soul, undermine morals, destroy the innocence of childhood and of youth, and spread indifference, error and degeneration everywhere. Good publications inspired by the Gospel are necessary to counteract this tide of immorality. It is not enough to disapprove of bad literature. We must not read it, we must keep it out of our homes, and we must see that it does not fall into careless or innocent hands. Moreover, it is necessary to fight back by helping and giving our full support to good literature.

It has been observed that if St. Paul were to return to the world, he would become a journalist, because in these days the press is the most powerful influence for good and the most potent weapon with which to combat evil. It is certain that if St. Paul were to return to the world, he would be an Apostle, as he once was, in the complete sense of the world, and would not be content to exercise only the apostolate of the press. Nevertheless, it is a fact that today the press is the most powerful and most widespread medium of the Apostolate. Since we must all be Apostles, at least in the wide sense of the world, we should oppose bad literature and support worth-while publications as much as we can.

Let us examine ourselves earnestly in the presence of God. Are the books, journals and reviews which we buy and read all good? Do we have in our homes books and papers which could do harm and prove dangerous to those who live with us? Do we support and encourage good publications? Perhaps we have a great deal to review and to correct in this matter. If so, let us promise God that we shall do our best to improve.

2. There are some who by reason of their position or work must read bad books or books which are on the Index. With regard to the latter, it is necessary to ask and to obtain permission from the legitimate ecclesiastical authority.

With regard to bad books in general or to those which are merely worldly, we should observe the following norms which are laid down by authorities on the spiritual life. (1) Read these books only if obliged to do so by reason of position or office, and never from unhealthy curiosity. (2) Before reading ask for the grace of God by at least a short mental or vocal prayer. (3) Take care that these bad publications do not reach the hands of simple people to whom they could be harmful. (4) Finally, read good books also, for the poisonous inoculation of evil and error can penetrate even the best and most upright spirits unless some antidote is employed.

3. More particularly, everybody needs to do some good reading every day in order to further his own spiritual formation. It is so easy to be distracted by worldly affairs and to grow lukewarm in the practice of virtue. Good books are faithful friends which speak to the heart, enlighten the mind, and urge the will to good action. Besides books of meditations, the lives of the Saints can be very edifying. It is necessary to read them thoughtfully, interrupting our reading occasionally in order to reflect and to apply our conclusions to our own lives. The example of the holiness of the Saints will prompt us to say to ourselves like St. Augustine: “If others, why not I?” If the Saints could reach such heights of sanctity and such fervent love of God, why cannot I do the same?

My Life is Christ - Cardinal Bacci

My Life is Christ

1. St. Paul reached such a degree of union with Christ that he could exclaim: “To me to live is Christ.” (Phil. 1:21) Elsewhere he says: “It is now no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20) This is a characteristic of the Saints. They live their own lives no longer, for they live the life of Christ. That is to say, their minds and hearts are always fixed on Jesus. They love the Lord more than all things, and more than themselves. God is the object of all their desires, affections and actions. As a result, the soul is transfigured and is infused with divine life, so that it does nothing which is not activated by grace. In the Saints, then, there is reflected something heavenly which attracts and stimulates one to virtue.

The Saints preached effectively in simple, unadorned language, as in the case of the Curé of Ars. But their most effective sermon was the example of their lives. They could say with St. Paul: “To me to live is Christ.” They could repeat the thought of St. Jerome: “Christ is the breath of my lips.” Like St. John Chrysostom they could say: “My heart is the heart of Christ.” They could say with St. Augustine: “I am only an instrument in the service of Christ,” and with St. Anselm: “My eyes are the eyes of Christ.” When we meditate on these words, which signify the height of sanctity, we feel very small, shabby, and far from the Christian perfection to which we should aspire. Perhaps we are still immersed in sin; or perhaps we are wavering between the things of this world and the things of God; or perhaps, as yet, we have not given up our egoism and complacent mediocrity in order to offer ourselves entirely to God. Real Christianity demands that we renounce ourselves, live the life of Christ, and make every effort to acquire perfection.

2. Through the work of the Incarnation and Redemption, Jesus assumed not only a human body and soul so that He might be loved more and so that He might redeem us, but He also assumed a mystical body, which is composed of all men in the state of grace. The mystical body is the Church, of which Christ is the head. We should all desire to be members of this mystical body. To do so we must live the life of Christ, which is His grace. If we are separated from the life of Christ, we are no longer Christians. We are merely dead and rotten limbs, to use the metaphor of the vine tree and the branches. “I am the vine,” says Jesus, “you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him,” He continues, “he bears much fruit. If anyone does not abide in me,” He adds, “he shall be cast outside as the branch and wither; and they shall gather them up and cast them into fire, and they shall burn.” (Cf. John 15:4-5)

“For the branch,” says St. Augustine, “there can be no half-measures. Either it remains united with the vine, or it is thrown into the fire.” The same holds true for each of us. We must choose either close union with Jesus, or separation and spiritual death. We must decide between a life of fervour in Christ, or a life of tepidity and sin.

3. Am I determined to live the life of Christ by striving to be indissolubly united with Him through divine grace? Am I prepared to say with St. Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:35-39) But in order to bring this about it is necessary for me to fly from every sin and to look for God in all things and in all actions. I must love God with my whole heart and nurture the divine life within me by prayer, recollection and frequent Communion. If I fail to put these resolutions into practice, I shall become a barren branch, fit only for eternal fire.

Filial and Servile Fear - Cardinal Bacci

Filial and Servile Fear

1. We should not be afraid of God, because He is our greatest benefactor and loves us infinitely. When we are lost, He searches for us as a loving father would search for a wandering son. Because they think only of the majesty and justice of God, some people keep themselves at a distance from Him, as Adam did after he had sinned. They forget that the Lord told Adam, the sinner, of the coming of the pardoning Redeemer. (Gen. 3:9) Bossuet truly observes that “after the curse which came upon men through sin there has always remained in their hearts a certain dread of the supernatural which prevents them from approaching God with confidence.” Jansenism increased this fear, emphasising the justice and majesty of God rather than the infinite love of Jesus and the beauty of His teaching.

Some writers compare our souls with the divine majesty and justice in order to stress our unworthiness, but they forget that Jesus is “meek and humble of heart,” that He forgave the penitent Magdalen, the adulteress, and the good thief, and had kind words for the lost sheep and the prodigal son. They never think of the wonderful words of the beloved disciple: “God is love.” (1 John 4:16)

This false fear of God dries up our piety, and lessens our trust in His mercy. It can lead to moroseness, to scrupulosity, and to discouragement.

We should avoid this excessive fear which separates us from God. Even though we are sinful and unworthy, we should remember that God is our loving Father, Who is always ready to help us and to grant us forgiveness. We should recall, moreover, that out of love for us He did not spare His own Son, (Cf. Rom. 8:32) but gave Him to us for our redemption. If Jesus shed His blood and died for us, how can we doubt His love?

2. It is true that the fear of God is recommended many times in Sacred Scripture, but it is filial fear which is intended, not servile fear.

Servile fear keeps us apart from God. But filial fear is akin to love and brings us closer to Him. We should desire never to offend God because we love Him, not because we fear Him. When one loves another with all one’s heart, it is nearly impossible to offend him. In this sense “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” (Prov. 1:7) and therefore of sanctity. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit which produces in us a complete and loving submission to God, our Father, and keeps us far from sin because it is displeasing to Him.

This filial fear is pleasing to God, for “he fulfils the desire of those who fear him, he hears their cry and saves them.” (Ps. 144:19)

“Love therefore,” writes St. Paul, “is the fulfilment of the law.” (Rom. 13:10) We should certainly fear God, but above all we should love Him. If we love Him, we shall be glad to keep His commandments and we shall have great spiritual peace and contentment.

3. “O Jesus, My King, my friend and the love of my soul, take possession of it. I consecrate it entirely to You. Your majesty inspires fear, but to a far greater degree Your goodness inspires love. You are my King and You shall always be my only love. If I have any fear, it will be the fear of displeasing You. O Mary, my Queen, obtain for me the grace to be faithful to my beloved King.” (St. Alphonsus de Ligouri)

The Redemption - Cardinal Bacci

The Redemption

1. The Incarnation of God was sufficient to have saved us. It would have been enough for God made man to have offered Himself to God for our redemption in a single act of love. Every act of Jesus, the God-man, had infinite value and was therefore sufficient to be offered to the Father as an infinite satisfaction for all our sins.

But if Jesus had desired to show more clearly his great love for us, He could have offered His sufferings as a child in the cold cave at Bethlehem, when He lay whimpering on a wretched straw bed. He could have offered the sorrow of his exile in Egypt, He could have offered a single drop of His Precious Blood during the ceremony of circumcision. He could have offered the difficulties and privations of His simple working life at Nazareth, or the fatiguing exertions of His apostolic journeys. All these would have been more than enough to have made amends to the divine Father for all the sins of humanity, to have ransomed us from the devil, and to have restored to us God’s grace and love. But in God everything is infinite. His love has no limit. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart,” He has commanded men, “and with thy whole soul and with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind, and thy neighbour as thyself.” He Himself did infinitely more than this, however. Jesus was not satisfied merely to love us, His brothers by adoption, as He loved Himself, but He wished to love us “more than He loved Himself. Greater love than this no one has,” He said, “that one lay down his life for his friends.” (1 John 15:13) This was what He Himself did. Sinful though we are, He called us friends. “You are my friends.” (John 15:14) Out of love for us He gave Himself entirely. He perspired blood in the Garden of Gethsemane; He was betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, and abandoned by the Apostles; He was bound like a criminal, insulted, scourged, crowned with thorns, condemned to death, and burdened with a cross; finally, when He arrived at Calvary, He was nailed to the gibbet, where He shed His Precious Blood and gave His life for our redemption. Such was the extent of Jesus’ infinite love for us.

“Calvary,” writes St. Francis de Sales, “is the school of love.” The Saints were moved to tears by the strange spectacle of God-made-man dying on the cross for men. What is our reaction?

2. Do I ever think of all that I have cost Jesus? Do I ever meditate on His infinite love for me? If I could constantly bear in mind the work of Redemption and the passion of Jesus Christ, I should certainly never offend God and I should be on fire with love for Him. Moreover, if in time of temptation I were to pray earnestly before the image of Christ crucified, I should certainly succeed in my resistance by asking the suffering Lord for His divine assistance.

If by some misfortune, however, I should fall into sin, it should suffice to kiss the crucifix in order to revive my confidence in Christ, to rouse myself to sorrow, to obtain pardon, and to begin a new life. That should be the fruit of the Redemption for me.

3. In conclusion, let us say this prayer of St. Alphonsus de’ Ligouri: “My soul, look at this crucified Man… see how the arms extend to embrace you, how the head bows forward to give you the kiss of peace. See how His side is open to receive you. What have you to say? Such a good and loving God deserves to be loved. O my Jesus! Adorable Jesus! O Love of my soul! How can I ever forget You? How can I ever love anything apart from You? O suffering Jesus, may the memory of You ever remain in my heart.”

The Incarnation - Cardinal Bacci

The Incarnation

1. By means of the Incarnation God comes to man so that man may return to God. God created man by an act of love to display and to diffuse His infinite goodness. But this relationship of love was disrupted by sin. Love became fear on the part of man, and it became justice on the part of God.

The love of God is infinite, however, and cannot decrease. No sooner had man fallen than God promised our first parents that He Himself would come to save them. As soon as man had lost the white robe of grace, the Lord mercifully promised that He would come to restore it. But how? He could have sent an angel to lead erring man back to the fold and to teach him the way of virtue which leads to Heaven. That would have been a great act of love and mercy. But an angel is a finite being, whereas the love of God has no limit. For this reason He was not satisfied to send an angel.

We can see, furthermore, another explanation of the great mystery of the Incarnation. God infinitely loved man, who was the work of His omnipotence. Precisely because He loved him, He wished to be loved by him in return. But because the spirit of Man is united to matter he does not see God except through the works of His creation. He sees Him, as it were, “through a mirror in an obscure manner,” (1 Cor. 13:12) and not face to face. He does not love God, therefore, as he would if he could see Him in all His beauty. He would need to see Him and to know Him better before he could love Him more. So God made Himself small by becoming man. “Human wisdom often asks,” writes Bossuet, “why God came on earth.” To this I reply: “He came to be loved by men.” “God was great,” writes St. Bernard, “so great as to demand to be adored. Now He has become small so that He may be better loved.” God became, like us, a child. “The goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared,” (Titus 3:4) says St. Paul. But Jesus was not satisfied merely to become like us, to enlighten us with His doctrine, and to enrich us with the abundance of His graces and gifts. He also gave Himself completely to us by dying on the Cross and remaining with us in the Blessed Sacrament. How could we fail to return such love?

2. The Incarnation, which is the coming of God among men that He might be loved more, requires that man in return love God and be obedient to His commandments.

Since the infinite God could do no more for us than give us His entire self, it is only right that we should be prepared to make any sacrifice in order to prove our love for Him. The mystery of the Incarnation not only demands our love; it also requires that this love should induce us to lead better lives. Jesus, God made man, should be the model which will encourage us to obey His laws and to follow His example.

3. We conclude with this lovely prayer of St. Alphonsus de’ Ligouri:
“All-powerful Son of God, You became man that You might be loved by men. Dear Jesus, for whom do you search upon this earth? You have come to search for me, poor lost sheep, that I may not stray far from You and that I may love You. Jesus, my treasure, my love, my all, accept this gift which I make of myself. I wish only to love loving You, and to die in Your love. Amen.”

The Creation - Cardinal Bacci

The Creation

1. God is infinitely perfect in Himself and has therefore no need of creatures for His eternal happiness. He knows Himself fully; and this act of knowing is not transient, but substantial and eternal. It is the perfect image of His own Essence, the Word which expresses His Divine Infinity.

Knowing Himself in the infinite depths of His truth, beauty, and goodness, God naturally loves Himself. This love, also substantial and eternal, is the Holy Spirit, Who proceeds not only from the Father, but also from the Word, since God loves Himself because He knows Himself perfectly. The happiness of God, as St. Gregory Nazianzen writes, is not a solitary state of beatitude. He has within Himself the Word, His consubstantial Son, in Whom is reflected the perfection of His nature, and to Whom He repeats from eternity: “You are my son; this day I have begotten you.” (Ps. 2:7) Moreover, in an act equally substantial and infinite, He pours forth His love, the Holy Spirit. Because He is infinitely happy and perfect in Himself, God wished to manifest His perfection and to communicate His happiness to others. According to St. Thomas, the only reason why God has created is to manifest His glory and to share His happiness. Creation is, therefore, an act of love. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee.” (Jer. 31:3) “God,” says St. Irenaeus, “did not create man because He had need of him, but because He wished to have creatures on whom He could shower His gifts.” That is why Sacred Scripture tells us that “the Lord has made everything for His own ends.” (Prov. 16:4)

Turning over these reflections in our minds, we should make an act of profound humility before God and acknowledge that we are nothing without Him. We should express our deep gratitude to God for our very existence and for all the other gifts which He has enriched us.

Finally, we should pay Him the tribute of our love, which should be expressed in a practical manner, as well as verbally, by complete and constant fidelity to His commandments.

2. Dante describes the Creation beautifully as “Eternal Love expanded into new loves.” Heaven and earth, angels and men, and all created beings are nothing more than an expansion of this Eternal Love into new loves. Love unites and fills everything. Everywhere in Heaven and on earth, there is love, there is need of love. But whom shall we love? The creatures who surround us? Yes. We may and should love them. They are rays of the light and beauty of God. We should love them because they reflect the power and glory of God. But we must not become attached to them. We must not try to find in them happiness and peace of mind. They cannot give us contentment because our hearts are made for something greater. God made creatures for Himself, as St. Augustine says, and therefore our hearts will not rest until they rest in Him.

3. Creatures should form a ladder by which we climb to God. God should be the first thought, aim, and love of our lives. If we were to substitute creatures for God, our journey to Heaven would be impeded. Worse still, they could drag us into sin and towards eternal damnation.

The Heart of Judas - Cardinal Bacci

The Heart of Judas

1. The human heart is a mystery, the depths of which it is difficult to sound. We do not even understand ourselves. The heart of man can soar to the loftiest heights of goodness or descend to unimaginable depths of evil. Examples of the sublime heights to which men can rise are provided by the lives of the Saints, who loved God so much that they were on fire with charity and wished to abide forever in Him. “It is now no longer I that live,” said St. Paul, “but Christ lives in me.” (1 Gal. 2:20)

The heart of Judas is a particularly deep mystery. We read in the Gospel that Jesus called together His disciples in the supper room to celebrate His last Pasch with them. Among them was Judas. Jesus loved men so much that He wished to remain with them really and truly for all time, even after His approaching death. “Having love his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1) When the meal was over, Jesus took bread and, lifting up His eyes to Heaven, He said: “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then He took the chalice, blessed it, and turning towards the Apostles said these words: “All of you drink of this; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is being shed for many.” Then He added: “Do this in remembrance of me.” In this way Jesus instituted the Blessed Eucharist, which St. Thomas describes as Christ’s greatest miracle. (De fest Corp. Christi, Bk. V) Furthermore, He raised His disciples, including Judas, to the sublime dignity of the priesthood, and bestowed on them the power to do what He had just done. One might say that the infinite generosity of Jesus Christ was exhausted at that moment. He could not give anything more because at that moment he had given us Himself.

It was in this solemn moment, in which He received Jesus into his soul and was at the same time raised to the dignity of the priesthood, that Judas finally decided to carry out his plan to sell his Master for thirty pieces of silver and to hand Him over to those who wished to kill him. How sin can degrade a human being!

2. How did Judas fall to such a level? Certainly it did not happen in an instant. His dominant passion was probably small in the beginning but, when it was not repressed in time, grew daily and finally came to exercise absolute control over his heart. It was avarice, that vilest and most material of passions, which caused him to fall.

Judas had been appointed bursar and administrator of the small offering which the faithful made to the Apostles. He became attached to this money and may have begun to steal small sums which grew bigger with time, until greed prompted him to sell Jesus for thirty miserable pieces of silver. He carried out his plan at the very moment when Jesus bestowed on him the highest dignity.

We should meditate on this terrible tragedy while there is still time for us to save ourselves from sinking to the same level of degradation. This could easily happen if we neglect to resist temptation at once and to pray fervently for Divine help the moment we are tempted.

3. Even after his betrayal, Judas still had time to make amends. It would have sufficed if he had gone to Jesus and asked Him for forgiveness. He would certainly have received the kiss of peace. He was overcome by despair, however, and decided that his sin was too great to be forgiven. So, throwing away his money, the reward of his betrayal, he took a rope and “hanged himself with a halter.” (Matt. 27:5) If we should ever have the misfortune to fall into sin, we should remember that the mercy of God is infinite. It is enough to go to Him and to ask for pardon and for the grace not to offend Him any more under any circumstances. We should then resolve to love Him with all the power of our poor hearts, to atone for our sins, and to serve Him faithfully for the rest of our lives.

I Am Not Able - Cardinal Bacci

I Am Not Able

1. Often, when the violence of our passions threatens to overcome all our powers of resistance, we are tempted to say: “Lord, I am not able; I cannot go any further. Why are You not helping me? Why have you abandoned me?” This is a trick of the devil to make us give up the fight, to make us believe that God has deserted us and that we must inevitably give in to temptation.

This is the last stratagem of the devil when he sees that he cannot persuade us in any other manner. But the Lord addresses to us the reproof which he addressed to St. Peter who, while walking on the water, doubted for an instant, and then felt himself going under. “O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” (Mt. 14:31) In such a situation, we must strengthen our faith, our love, and our dedication to Jesus Christ. Then the Lord will extend His helping hand to us as He did to Peter. He will give us the spiritual tranquility which only grace and Christian fortitude can offer.

Let us recall how this has happened in the temptations of our past life. When we were strong and generous with Jesus, we implored His help with faith and perseverance and emerged victorious from the fray. Then we experienced the heavenly joy which only God can give. Why can we not always do the same? We must never say: “I am not able!” We are poor and weak, but with the grace of God we can overcome all obstacles. As St. Paul says, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)

2. Whenever we feel called upon to make some sacrifice for Jesus or to form some good resolution, how often do we cry: “I am not able!” It may be a question of praying more fervently, of performing some mortification, or of helping our neighbour spiritually or materially. Or perhaps it is a matter of saying a few words of apology or of encouragement to our neighbour, whom we have previously treated with coldness and selfishness. Or it may be something entirely more generous which is demanded; it may be that God is inviting us to renounce ourselves completely and to dedicate ourselves to Him. Naturally this requires sacrifice, and great generosity of heart. But we say to Jesus when He calls us: “I cannot, it is too difficult!” And yet the Lord says: “You shall make and keep yourselves holy, because I am holy.” (Lev. 11:44; 19:2) “You therefore, are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48) We must not refuse God, Who became man for us and shed His blood for our redemption.

3. When the crosses sent to us by God have seemed too heavy, we have often uttered these words of refusal in a mood of weariness or even in a spirit of revolt. If only we had taken our sorrow to the foot of the Crucifix! Then we should not have had the audacity to have spoken these selfish and unchristian words.

We would have remembered that Jesus, the innocent Lamb, suffered for love of us, and we could not then have told Him that our cross was too heavy. We would have embraced it with resignation and walked towards Heaven in the footsteps of Christ.

Holy Indifference - Cardinal Bacci

Holy Indifference

1. That is not indifference towards what is good or towards God. That kind of indifference is the apathy and negligence which distracts us from striving to reach our final end by advancing in sanctity.

The holy indifference which we should all have, or endeavour to have, is described by St. Ignatius in his book on the Spiritual Exercises. It is a virtue which renders us indifferent towards all creatures because we see them only as means which will help or hinder us on the path to sanctity. Therefore we must be indifferent towards sickness and health.

“Grant to me, O Lord,” we should pray, “that which pleases You most. Perhaps you know that health could be a grave danger to me, that it could lead me into offending You, or that at least it could make me too attached to the things of this world. If this is so, send me whatever illness You will. I will accept them from Your hands as a gift of Your mercy and goodness and I will try to sanctify myself by means of them. Nature rebels at this thought; yet I must not listen to the prompting of nature, but to the inspirations of grace.

On the other hand, You may see that my good health would add to Your glory, and help me to grow in sanctity and to be useful in the Apostolate. Grant health to me if it is Your will to do so. I will accept it from Your hands and I will use it solely for Your glory.”

A man who is capable of such high spirituality will not be shaken by the fury of human passion, but will remain always calm and attentive to the demands of grace. He will surrender himself completely to the will of God in all the circumstances of his life.

2. We may wonder whether we are to have a long or a short life. Nature would choose the first alternative, because the will to live and the fear of death are among the strongest of our basic instincts. To obtain a long life we are prepared to promise God that we shall dedicate it to His glory, and spend it in doing good works. But if God sees that a long life would prove to be an occasion of sin for us, and that we should become too deeply attached to this world and forgetful of Heaven, then we should be resigned to, and indeed content with, a short life.

How many young people like St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Dominic Savio, and St. Maria Goretti, have reached the peak of sanctity while still in the flower of their youth! If this were the will of God for us, surely we should welcome the advent of an early death?

There is another question which often bothers those who look into the future. Shall I be rich or poor? It is natural to desire wealth and to want to avoid poverty. Yet Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor; and woe to the rich!” It is clear then that wealth is likely to be a greater spiritual danger than poverty, for it can cause us to become more attached to worldly possessions. We can save our souls whether we are rich or poor as long as we make right use of whatever we have. So let the will of God be done.

3. The last question which we must ask ourselves is the most difficult. Should we choose honour or humiliation? It is very hard in this case to say to God: “Thy will be done.” Yet say it we must. If honour, high position, and success redound to the glory of God and to our spiritual advantage, then let us accept them with humble gratitude. But if Divine Providence ordains that it is better for us to be humiliated and forgotten, we must accept this with cheerful resignation. “Do with me what You will, O Lord,” we should pray.
“Grant me whatever pleases You, sickness or health, poverty or riches, honour or disgrace.” We must always accept the will of God simply because we love Him and wish to serve Him more faithfully. Let us perform all our actions for His glory, for our eternal salvation, and for the salvation of all mankind.

Intimacy with Jesus - Cardinal Bacci

Intimacy with Jesus

1. In his memoirs written while in exile, Napoleon says: “Many have desired and endeavoured to be obeyed, revered and honoured by all; only Jesus Christ has demanded this, because He is God.”

“As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you,” we read in the Gospel of St. John. “Abide in my love.” (John 15:9) Jesus therefore asks each of us not only to love Him but to remain intimately united with Him in love. He has a perfect right to demand this, because as God He is our Creator, and as God-Man He is our Redeemer, Who out of love for us has given Himself entirely.

2. The union of love which should exist between Jesus and us is modelled on the mysterious union between Him and His heavenly Father. (1) This intimacy between us and Jesus should be first of all in the mind. Our thoughts will be good when we think like God, and with the mind of Jesus, Who is “the true light that enlightens every man who comes into the world.” (John 1:9) If we stray away from that light, darkness overwhelms us even as it pervaded the earth during the agony of Jesus Christ. Our intelligence is a ray of light which comes from God; we should take care not to allow this ray to be separated from its divine source. This heavenly ray always shone on the faces of the saints, because they were clean of heart and close to God. That is how we should all be. (2) In the second place, we should be united intimately with Jesus in our sentiments. “Have this mind in you which was also in Jesus Christ,” (Phil. 2:5) says St. Paul. Our love must not be abstract or partial, but must be all-absorbing. Jesus calls us friends, and friendship unites two hearts as one. We must give ourselves completely to Jesus without reserving anything for ourselves. True holiness is found when God and man are united like two faithful, constant friends. (3) In the third place, there must be intimacy in action. It is not possible for a man who truly loves God to do anything which would offend Him. Jesus compares the love which we should have for Him with the love which He has for His Heavenly Father, so we should model our lives continuously on the life of Jesus. Jesus must work in us, as He did in St. Paul and in all the Saints.

St. Francis de Sales writes that Jesus should always be in our minds, in our hearts, in our eyes, and on our tongue. We should be living images of Jesus; and we must therefore live and act for Him, with Him, and in Him.

3. Do not imagine that this intimate union of the human heart with that of Jesus is the privilege and vocation of a few, that is, something reserved for priests, religious, mystics, and saints. Do we think that this privilege is only for saints? But we must all be saints. “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) “You therefore are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48) This does not mean that we all have the same vocation and that we should all be priests or religious. Sanctity is nothing other than this intimate, loving, and active union with Jesus. It must be practised in different ways in accordance with the positions which men occupy. For one it will be the sanctity of the workman, for another the sanctity of the student or of the clerk, of the professor or of the statesman, because the duties of each differ. But all must renounce their evil inclinations and their personal egoism. They must also, as the Gospel insists, renounce themselves in order to have the life of Jesus. They must love God above all things and also more than themselves, and they must love their neighbour as themselves. The goal is certainly hard and difficult; but if at present we are not able to reach it, we must at least have the strong and active desire to strive for it.

The Problem of Evil - Cardinal Bacci

The Problem of Evil

1. In his second letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul speaks of the Anti-Christ, “the man of sin… the son of perdition, who opposes and is exalted above all that is called God…” “Already,” he says, “the mystery of iniquity is at work.” (Cf. 2 Thess. 2:3-7) From the beginning of the Church’s history until the present time it has always been the same.

There always have been and always will be men who do evil not from human weakness, but from motives of malice so diabolical as to present something of a mystery to us. These can be called Anti-Christ because they seem to be incarnations of the devil, the spirit of iniquity. They delight in spreading error, in corrupting minds, and in persecuting the Church. They are steeped in all kinds of baseness and nothing pleases them better than to succeed in inducing the young and the innocent to follow them in their sinful ways. For this purpose they employ all the advantages which modern technical progress has to offer – the press, the cinema, the radio, and television. In short, they use God’s gifts in their commercialisation of sin in order to draw souls away from Him.

The realisation of this terrifying fact provokes two questions. (1) How can such evil be permitted by God, Who made man for Himself and redeemed him with the Blood of His only-begotten Son? (2) What steps can we take to control this alarming and universal deluge of evil?

2. St. Augustine answers the first question by pointing out that the infinite and good God created us without any assistance from ourselves, but does not will to save us without our cooperation since He has endowed us with the gift of liberty. Moreover, He prefers to draw good from evil rather than to prevent the evil itself. We must answer the second question ourselves, remembering that we have a serious obligation to combat evil in ourselves and in our fellow-men. What have we done up to now and what do we propose to do in the future?

3. According to St. Augustine, great good can come from the evil which God permits. In the first place, God displays His infinite goodness and mercy. Even though He permits us to offend Him out of respect for our human liberty, He is always ready to forgive us, even as He forgave the penitent thief. In the second place, by permitting evil God gives the good an opportunity of practicing virtue, especially the virtue of patience. If there were no persecutors, there would be no martyrs and the Church would be deprived of the glory which makes her most like her founder, Jesus Christ. Finally, each of us has a particular duty to fulfil in resisting the onslaught of evil. As followers and soldiers of Christ, we cannot remain passive. The invasion by the forces of evil demands a counter-attack by the forces of good in defense of the faith and of the Church. As Christians, we are the sons of martyrs. We must not refuse, therefore, to make our lives a continuous martyrdom for the triumph of goodness in ourselves and in others. The faithful exercise of virtue and of the apostolate is often a form of martyrdom.

Patience - Cardinal Bacci

Patience

1. Patience may be external or internal. Both are necessary aspects of the same virtue. External patience consists in refraining from outbursts of anger and from sarcastic comments – in short, from all words and actions which might give offence to others. It is easy to be patient when our affairs are running smoothly and everybody is being nice to us. It is quite another matter when we come up against difficulties or find that we are being slighted or insulted. It is hard to remain silent when our pride has been wounded, and it requires the virtue of a saint to be able to smile at our tormentors. It took St. Francis de Sales years of spiritual conflict before he achieved this kind of perfection.

How far can we claim to have succeeded in acquiring this virtue? We should always remember that temperamental explosions are unworthy of a rational being. The only proper course when we have been offended is to state our case clearly and calmly, though generally speaking it is more heroic to remain silent. Impatience is futile because it cannot remedy the situation, and often harmful because it upsets us and only produces bitterness. Acts of impatience, moreover, are a source of bad example to others. “The quick-tempered man,” says Sacred Scripture, “makes a fool of himself.” (Prov. 14:17) “The patient man,” it adds, “shows much good sense, but the quick-tempered man displays folly at its height.” (Id. 14:19)

If we live in the presence of God, we shall learn to be calm and self-controlled in all circumstances.

2. An outward show of patience will hardly avail us much in God’s eyes unless it is accompanied by interior patience, which consists in the possession of complete mastery over all our faculties. We should be able to control our feelings as well as our actions. This is a difficult virtue, but it is the duty of every sincere Christian to try and acquire it. Only the grace of God and constant effort will enable us to succeed, but when we have at last mastered our unruly and selfish impulses we shall have arrived at a state of peace and perfection. “By your patience you will win your souls.” (Luke 21:19)

3. If we are patient from the motive of the love of God, we can gain merit in His sight. There are three grades of perfection in this virtue. (1) The first is the acceptance, with Christian resignation, of every kind of misfortune, offering it in expiation of our sins. (2) The second consists in a cheerful and willing acceptance of these misfortunes because they come from God. (3) The third stage is reached when we actually desire them out of our love for Jesus Christ.

Which grade have we attained? If we wish to please God, it is essential that we should have made the first grade at least. “A patient man is better than a warrior, and he who rules his temper, than he who takes a city.” (Prov. 16:32)

Perseverance - Cardinal Bacci

Perseverance

1. “He who has persevered to the end,” Jesus tells us, “will be saved.” (Mt. 10:22; 24:13) Elsewhere He says that “no one, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Cf. Luke 9:62) It is necessary, therefore, to persevere in goodness if we wish to be saved.

It is easy to begin, but it is difficult to continue. In a moment of fervour, perhaps, you promised to be holy. Maybe some misfortune came your way, such as the loss of someone very dear to you, and you were moved to meditate upon the vanity of earthly things and promised to dedicate yourself entirely to God. In that moment you experienced the truth of the words of Ecclesiastes, summarised in the “Imitation of Christ:” “Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity, but to love God and serve Him alone.” (Bk. 1, Ch. 1:4)

Unfortunately, your good resolutions wore away with time. You may have been swept away once more by the deceptive pleasures of this world. Or perhaps your charity grew cold and in your tepidity you gave in to the violent onslaught of temptation.

Christian perseverance has three main enemies. (1) Firstly, there is time, which slowly consumes this virtue. You must conquer time by resolving to begin the battle anew every morning of your life. (2) Then there is the devil, who goes about, as St. Peter warns us, like a lion in search of his prey. (Cf. 1 Peter 5:8) You must resist him by the strength of your faith. (3) Finally, there is spiritual sloth which easily invades the soul. You must take your cue from St. Paul’s exhortation: “My beloved brethren, be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58)

2. Perseverance may be a difficult virtue, but nothing is really difficult to a man of strong resolution. When the sister of St. Thomas Aquinas asked him how to become holy, he replied that it needed only one thing – a firm act of the will, for God will certainly supply the necessary grace. Think of how much work and sacrifice is required to achieve worldly success. Cicero wrote that it required constant and tireless labour in order to become a great orator. (Cf. De Orat., 1:39) St. Paul cited the examples of athletes who are prepared to make such great sacrifices in order to train themselves to win. If they are prepared to do so much to gain a perishable crown, he comments, we should be prepared to do much more to gain an imperishable one. (Cf. 1 Cor. 9:25)

3. The grace of God is the principal weapon upon which we must depend in order to gain our victory. We should pray for it humbly and perseveringly. There will be victors and losers in the battle for Heaven as well as in earthly contests. We must make sure that we are on the winning side. For this purpose we should combine fervent and constant prayer with generous cooperation with the grace of God.

The Interior Life - Cardinal Bacci

The Interior Life

1. Human life is threefold. First, there is the physical life, that is, the life of the body animated by the soul. Then there is the intellectual life, through which the soul searches for truth and controls the powers of the body. Finally, there is the supernatural life, which leads us towards Christian perfection and unites us to God, the source of goodness and happiness.

These three levels of life are all good in themselves, but form a hierarchy in which the primacy is held by the spiritual life. Physical life is a gift from God, but must remain subordinate to the spiritual life. If it were given precedence over reason and over the natural and divine law, our proper scale of values would be upset and we should fall prey to a host of sinful inclinations. The same applies to the intellectual life. God endowed us with intelligence to enable us to know the truth, explore the secrets of the universe, and use them for our own welfare. If the intellect fails to ascend to the knowledge of God from its knowledge of worldly objects and ceases to be inspired by a high regard for virtue, its achievements can lead eventually to death and destruction.

The supernatural life, which is nourished by divine grace, perfects man. All our physical powers and spiritual faculties should be dominated by this life, which Jesus Christ came into the world to bring to us. We can have this life if we obey His commands, control our passions, pray fervently, resign ourselves to His will, and perform all our actions for love of Him.

2. The daily struggle for existence gradually wears down both the physical and the intellectual life. The same can happen to the supernatural life. The long process of self-denial, acceptance of crosses, and efforts to achieve perfection, can be very difficult and very tiring. Often we feel weary and discouraged, but on these occasions we must recall the words of Jesus. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt. 11:28)

3. Let us go to Jesus when we are worn out by conflict and have no strength left. Let us go to Him when we feel that we can walk no farther along the stony path to perfection. He will help us and restore our courage; He will grant us an increase of grace, which is the source of the spiritual life.

It is essential, however, that we should have a spirit of recollection. If we are dissipated, we shall be unable to hear the voice of God. We must speak with God and open our hearts to Him; we must tell Him that we love Him and wish to learn to love Him more and to conform more completely to His designs for us. Then we shall find peace and contentment in the interior life such as the world can neither know nor communicate.