To Seek God Above All Else In This Life

I will still share the last remaining sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori, but I want to throw a change up & share some amazing Spiritual Conferences in a book by Blessed Columba Marmion in his book Christ The Ideal Of The Monk.

Those In Ireland, UK, EU, Click This Image To Get A Copy

Those In The United States, Click This Image To Get A Copy

“When we examine the Rule Of St. Benedict, we see very clearly that he presents it only as an abridgement of Christianity, and a means of practising the Christian Life in its fullness and perfection.

We find the great Patriarch declaring from the first line of the Prologue of his Rule, that he only addresses those who wish to return to God under Christ’s leadership.  And in ending the monastic code he declares that he proposes the accomplishment of this rule to whomever, through the help of Christ, hasteneth to the heavenly country: Quisquis ergo and patriam caelestem festinas, hanc…regular descriptam, adjuvante Christo, perfice.

To his mind, the Rule is but a simple and very safe guide for leading to God.  In writing it, St. Benedict does not wish to institute anything beyond or besides the Christian Life, he does not assign to his monks any special work as a particular end to be pursed, the end is, as he says, “to seek God”: Si revera quaerit Deum.  This is what he requires, before all, of those who come to knock at the door of the Monastery to be there received as monks: in this disposition he resumes all the others; it gives, as it were, the key to all his teaching, and determines the mode of life he wishes to see led by his sons.

This is the end that he proposes, and this is why we ought always to have this end before our eyes, to examine it frequently, and above all only to act in view of it. You know that every man, as a free and reasonable creature, acts from some deliberate motive.  Let us imagine ourselves in a great city like London.  At certain hours of the day the streets are thronged with people; it is like a moving army.  It is the ebb and flow of a human sea.  Men are coming and going, elbowing their way, passing to and fro, and all this rapidly- for “time is money”-almost without exchanging any signs among themselves.

Each one of these innumerable beings is independent of the others, and has his own particular end in view.  Quid quaerunt? What are they seeking, these thousands and thousands of men who are hurrying in the City?  Why are they in such haste? Some are in search of pleasure, others pursue honors, these are urged by the fever of ambition, those by the thirst for gold: the greater number are in quest of daily bread.  From time to time, a lady goes to visit the poor; a Sister of Charity seeks Jesus Christ in the person of the sick; unnoticed, a priest passed by, the pyx hidden upon his breast, as he carries the Viaticum to the dying…But out of this immense crowd pursing created things, only a very small number are working for God alone.

And yet the influence of the motive is predominant in the value of our actions.  See these two men who are embarking together for a faroff destination.  Both leave country,friends,family; landing on a foreign shore, they penetrate into the interior of the country; exposed to the same dangers, they cross the same rivers and the same mountains; the sacrifices they impose upon themselves are the same.  But the one is a merchant urged on by the greed of gold, the other is an apostle seeking souls.  And this is why, although the human eye can scarcely discern the difference, an abyss which God alone can measure separates the lives of these two men; this abyss has been created by the motive.

Give a cup of water to a begger, a coin to a poor man; if do so in the name of Jesus Christ, that is to say from a supernatural motive of grace, and because in this poor man you see Christ Who said, “As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to Me.” your action is pleasing to God; and this cup of water, which is nothing, this small coin, will not remain without a reward.  But pour our handfuls of gold into the hand of this man in order to pervert him; on this account alone, your action becomes abominable.

This then, the motive from which we act, the end that we pursue, and that is as it were to direct our whole life, is for us of capital importance.  Never forget this truth: a man is worth that which he seeks, that to which he is attached.  Are you seeking God? Are you tending towards Him with all the fervour of your soul?  However little removed you may be from nothingness by your condition of creature, you raise yourself, because you unit yourself to the infinitely perfect Being.

Are you seeking the creature? gold, pleasures, honors, satisfaction of pride, that is to say yourself under all these forms?  Then, however great you may be in the sight of men, you are just worth as much as this creature, you lower yourself to its level, and the baser it is, the more you debase yourself.

A poor Sister Of Charity, a simple Lay Brother, who seeking God spend their lives in humble and obscure labors in order to accomplish the Divine will, are incomparably greater in the sight of God-Whose judgment alone matters, for He is eternal-than a man who has heaped up riches, or is surrounded with honors, or lives only for pleasure.

Yes, a man is worth what he seeks.  This is why St. Benedict, who shows us the adepts of the cenobitical life as “the most strong race.”  coenobitarum fortissimum genus, requries so supernatural and perfect motive from one who wishes to embrace this career: the motive and ambition of possessing God, si revera Deum quaerit.

But, you may say, what is it to “seek God?” And by what means are we to find Him?  For it is needful to seek in such a way we may find.  To seek God constitutes the whole program; to find God and remain habitually united to Him by the bonds of faith and love, in this lies all perfection.

Let us see what it is to seek God-let us consider the condition of this seeking; we shall next see the fruits that it brings to whomever applies himself to it.  We shall have pointed out at the same time, with the end that we pursue, the path that will lead us to perfection and beatitude.  For if we truly seek God, nothing will prevent us from finding Him, and, in Him, we shall possess all good.”

Closing Advertisement! Learn About Ordo Militaris & Their Current Fundraisers

Click Image To Read The August Circular Letter

Click Image To Donate: 

Click Image To Donate To Help Lebanese Christians

Click Image To Get A Calendar

Click Image To Get A Lepanto Flag!

Please Consider Donating, $19,900 To Go, To Help Get Medical Equipment For Ukraine

Views: 12