“Consider also the innumerable benefits which you have hitherto received from His paternal hand, and let His bounty in the past inspire you to trust the future to Him with renewed hope.” (Venerable Louis of Grenada in “The Sinner’s Guide” at page 404).
I have spent so much of my life worried about things. I have worried that I would miss out on opportunities. I have worried that my physical or mental health were in danger. I have worried that I would be too late or too early to get things done. I have worried about my children, my siblings, my spouse and my parents. I have worried about the future and the past as well.
Most importantly, I have worried about my relationship with God.
I have swung like a pendulum between fear of God – as He is perfectly justified in casting me into Hell eternally – and worry about my indifference to him.
And like a child I have not really ever thought about the future or the facts or the reality…
And I have recently read an extract from Venerable Louis of Grenada in “The Sinner’s Guide” at page 404. “Like a child who fears no danger in his father's protecting arms, we must cast ourselves into the arms of our Heavenly Father, confident that those Hands which sustain the heavens are all powerful to supply our necessities, to uphold us in temptation, and to turn all things to our profit. And why should we not have confidence in God? Is He not the most powerful as well as the most tender of fathers? ... Do not dwell upon your unworthiness or your failings, but raise your eyes to God and consider the infinite goodness and mercy with which He deigns to apply a remedy to all our miseries. Reflect upon the truth of His words, for He has promised to help and comfort all who humbly and confidently invoke His sacred name. Consider also the innumerable benefits which you have hitherto received from His paternal hand, and let His bounty in the past inspire you to trust the future to Him with renewed hope. Above all, consider the merits and sufferings of Christ, which are our principal title to God's grace and mercy, and which form the treasure whence the Church supplies the necessities of her children. It was from a confidence inspired by such motives that the saints drew that strength which rendered them as firm as Mount Sion, and established them in the holy city whence they never could be moved. (Cf. Ps.124:1).”
And I have been thinking about what that means, because it is clear that God is holding me in His arms, and in holding me there, He is able to protect me. And this means that I have no reason to fear and nothing to worry about.
And when I thank God for this, because it is a sign of the Father’s love for me. And though I am unworthy of it, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be held safe in that ETERNAL arms…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
Comments