The Saints love God so much that they are willing to do whatever it takes to retain possession of their soul so that they can give it to God.
I was reading some of a book, which was written by the Venerable Fulton Sheen called “Life of Christ”. In this book, Sheen, who was an archbishop, wrote the following at page 322:
“It is by endurance that you will secure possession of your souls (Luke 21:18). The possession of a soul means the undisturbed mastery of oneself, which is the secret of inner peace, as distinguished from a thousand agitations which make it fearful, unhappy, and disappointed. Only when a soul is possessed can anything else be enjoyed. Our Lord here meant patience in adversity, trial, and persecution. At the end of three hours on the Cross, He would so possess His soul that He would render it back to the Heavenly Father.”
And I have been reflecting on that idea of possession today. You see, my greatest failing is my lack of self-possession. I do not have what you would call a poker-face. Rather, every emotion, every stress, every worry, every concern is written as clearly across my face as if it were written on a piece of paper.
When I am stressed I express that stress. When I am angry, I express that too. And when I am worried, that worry is written all over me. And that means that many many times in my life I am frantic and out of control.
But I have been reading those words today and they have struck me to my core. You see, there was Christ hanging in AGONY on the Cross. And during that entire experience of AGONY – physical, spiritual and emotional agony – Christ, who is God and capable and entitled to do ANYTHING, retained possession of Himself to such a degree that He was able to Willingly GIVE HIS SOUL TO GOD.
And that is the thing that I have been thinking about today. This ability to GIVE my soul to God. You see, it makes such clear sense to me today to understand that to give my soul to God, I must first be in possession of it. And to possess my own soul, I must first control my reactions to things. You see, if I am not in possession of my reactions then I am not in possession of my soul, because I lose control of my self in the reactions that I have to things in my life.
Saint Teresa of Avila wrote, “The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love.”
And I have been reflecting on that today as well. For it occurs to me that I shall never be able to retain possession of myself and my soul unless I can love God enough to do it for His sake and not mine.
And that is the difference between me and the Saints. You see, the Saints love God so much that they are willing to do whatever it takes to retain possession of their soul so that they can give it to God. And they do this through sacrifice and suffering.
And when I think about that today, it occurs to me that my love for God is so limited that I am not even able to retain possession of my own soul for a long enough moment in time to be able to offer Him anything at all.
And today, I pray for the Grace to possess my own soul. That is my prayer today…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
Comments