What is your Confidence in?

"Our confidence in God must be founded on His infinite goodness and on the merits of the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, with this condition on our part: that we should preserve and recognize in ourselves an entire and firm resolution to belong wholly to God, and to abandon ourselves in all things, and without any reserve, to His Providence. Observe that I do not say that we must feel this resolution to belong wholly to God, but only that we must have it and recognize it in ourselves; we must not concern ourselves with what we feel or do not feel, since the greater part of our feelings and satisfactions are only the movements of self-love. Neither must it be supposed that in all this practice of abandonment and indifference, we shall never have desires contrary to the will of God, or that nature will never shrink with repugnance from the dispositions of His good pleasure, for these will often occur. The virtues of abandonment and indifference reside in the higher region of our soul; the lower region, generally speaking, has nothing to do with them. We must remain at peace, and paying no attention whatever to what that lower nature desires, we must embrace the divine will and unite ourselves to it—whatsoever this may entail. There are very few persons who reach this height of perfect self-renunciation; nevertheless, we must all aim at it, each according to his little measure."
— St. Francis de Sales, The Art of Loving God, p. 22-23

Live Intentionally!

"It is necessary to have an absolutely sure intention in all our actions, so that the generous fulfillment of our daily duties may be directed toward the highest supernatural ideal. Thus, our life, apart from moments of prayer, will be a prayerful life. It is clear that the habit of giving an upward glance to God at the moment of action is a great assistance in aiding us to behave always with a pure intention and in freeing us from our natural impulses and fancies, so, that, retaining our self-mastery, or rather, God becoming the sole Master, all our movements become dependent upon the Holy Spirit. We see in the Gospel that whenever our Lord was about to undertake some important step, He always paused for a moment to raise His eyes to Heaven, and only after this moment of recollection did He take up the work He had to do. 'He lifted up His eyes to Heaven' is a phrase that recurs with significant frequency. And doubtless, when there was no outward sign of this prayer, there was the inward offering. The ideal is the same for us. The constant subjection of self to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is made easier from the fact of His presence in the soul, where He is asked explicitly to preside over all our doings . . .  We shall not submit wholeheartedly to the invisible Guest unless He is kept in close proximity to us."

— Raoul Plus, S.J.,How to Pray Always, p. 37-8  

Oh, why? Oh, why?

"Let us pass on now to the other question—namely, what you can do to strengthen your resolutions and make them succeed? There is no better mean than to put them into practice. But you say that you are still so weak that, although you often make strong resolutions not to fall into the particular imperfection of which you want to cure yourself, no sooner does the occasion present itself than down you go. Shall I tell you why we are still so weak? It is because we will not abstain from food that does not agree with us. It is as if a person who wished to be free from pains in the stomach were to ask a physician what he should do. The doctor replies, 'Do not eat such and such food, because it brings you pain'; and yet the person will not abstain from it. We do the same. For example, we should like to love reproof, and yet we obstinately cling to our own opinions. That is foolishness. You will never be strong enough to bear reproof courageously while you are nourishing yourself with the food of self-esteem. I wish to keep my soul recollected, and yet I will not restrain all sorts of idle thoughts: the two things are incompatible. Ah! How much I wish that I could be steadfast and regular in my religious exercises; at the same time I wish not to find them so trying—in fact, I want to find the work done for me. That cannot be in this life, for we shall always have to labor."

— St. Francis de Sales, The Art of Loving God, p. 97

We are loved!

"We might say the whole mystery of our redemption in Christ, by his incarnation, his death and his resurrection, consists of this marvelous exchange: in the heart of Christ, God has loved us humanly, so as to render our human hearts capable of loving divinely. God became man so that man might become God—might love as only God is capable of loving, with the purity, intensity, power, tenderness, and inexhaustible patience that belong to the divine love. It is an extraordinary source of hope and a great consolation to know that, by virtue of God’s grace working in us (if we remain open to it by persevering in faith, prayer, and the sacraments), the Holy Spirit will transform and expand our hearts to the point of one day making them capable of loving as God loves."

— Fr. Jacques Philippe, Interior Freedom, p. 67-8

Why do we follow Jesus?

"Jesus has many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few cross-bearers. Many desire His consolation, but few His tribulation. Many will sit down with Him at table, but few will share His fast. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few will suffer for Him. Many will follow Him to the breaking of the bread, but few will drink the bitter cup of His Passion. Many revere His miracles, but few follow the shame of His cross. Many love Jesus when all goes well with them, and praise Him when He does them a favor; but if Jesus conceals Himself and leaves them for a little while, they fall to complaining or become depressed. They who love Jesus purely for Himself and not for their own sake bless Him in all trouble and anguish as well as in time of consolation. Even if He never sent them consolation, they would still praise Him and give thanks. Oh how powerful is the pure love of Jesus, when not mixed with self-interest or self-love!"

— Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, p. 88-89

Are you looking for peace?

"The Spirit of God is a spirit of peace, and he speaks and acts in peace and gentleness, never in tumult and agitation. What’s more, the motions of the Spirit are delicate touches that don’t make a great noise and can penetrate our spiritual consciousness only if we have within ourselves a sort of calm zone of silence and peace. If our inner world is noisy and agitated, the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit will find it very difficult to be heard. If we want to recognize and follow the Spirit’s motions, it is of the greatest importance to maintain a peaceful heart in all circumstances."

— Fr. Jacques Philippe, In the School of the Holy Spirit, p. 37

Restoration of a life….

I saw her in the day room of the Lodestar Day Resource Center. Her appearance was not that of someone who looked like they should be in the day room. Her clothes were clean, her hair hidden under a cute cap, her lips were adorned with lipstick. As I smiled at her, she returned a smile and a question, “Are you the chaplain?” “Yes.” “Can we talk?”

I invited Jan into my office. “Do you think God can show up in the middle of a mental health breakdown?” “Yes.” We talked about how her life, physically, emotionally, relationally, socially had collapsed around her leaving her homeless. Apparently, her family had stolen her wealth, leaving her homeless. “Through tears she said, “The greatest heartache I have is that my family turned my daughter against me and I have not seen her for three years.” She shared with me that she did not have any background in any religious faith. “I was not raised to believe in God. My mother was an atheist. When I had my breakdown, God visited me. I want to learn more about God.” 

I talked to Jan about a verse in the Bible that says God will give back the years the locusts ate (Joel 2:25). I shared with her how I had seen God do this for people. I prayed with her a prayer of faith that God would restore her life. I invited her to join our twice weekly Bible studies. She came twice a week for several weeks to eagerly learn more about God. 

One Monday morning Jan showed up and announced that she would be moving into an apartment with a patio in about 10 days. A week later she appeared for Bible Study and announced that not only did the apartment have a patio, it had a backyard so she could have a dog! I reminded her that God gives more than we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)! 

A few days after moving into her apartment, Jan called me excitedly to report that her daughter and her were now talking and seeing each other. 

We continued to touch base over the next days. I asked Jan what she needed for her apartment. “I need a dresser.” I contacted John Thurston, Chairman of the Chaplaincy Board who is a very active volunteer with the Kiwanis Thrift Store in Carefree, AZ. John located a beautiful dresser. But how to get it to Jan’s house? I contacted John Humphrey, a Chaplaincy Volunteer who had been leading Bible Studies that Jan had been attending, as I knew he had a pick-up truck. In a few days the dresser was delivered. While John was delivering Jan’s dresser he met her daughter. Her daughter asked John many questions about the Christian faith and said she wanted to be baptized. John invited Jan and her daughter to his church. While Jan has moved into her apartment, she returned this week for John’s Bible Study with the clients of the Human Service Campus. 

Ronald Friesen © 2018

Chaplain for the Homeless