Seeking God’s Help Always

 

May 9, 2023

Opus Dei: Jesus, What should we do?

Hi!  How is each and every one? Thank God it rained last night quite a good lot at least not just a drizzle.  It was enough to cool the super hot day of the day before running through the whole day yesterday.  Thank you, Lord for the blessing.  The earth is also thanking you for quenching its thirst and so do the birds, the plants and trees. Somebody in the house commented it is the first rain in May, is it?  April had several days of rain.

First week of May is over and in six days it will be 2^nd Sunday, Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to each and every one!  I have been intentionally planning a pilgrimage with a friend or two to Our Mother Mary in her shrines.  Somehow I have been successful and I am hoping it continues to the end of the month. Some friends started doing the same. Last Sunday I did a pilgrimage with somebody.  She wanted to go to three shrines of Our Lady praying a Rosary to Our Lady in each shrine and since there are four mysteries, we were able to pray one Rosary while traveling to the next shrine of our Lady. We prayed the Rosary of the day to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception along Lantana Street, Cubao, another rosary to Mary the Queen and the last one to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Following is an excerpt on Seeking God’s Help Always  (From Joseph Tissot, How to profit from your faults pp. 99-102).

“Let us be humble.  Let us admit that if it were not for God’s being a sword and shield for us, we would be immediately pierced through and through by all kinds of sins.  Let us therefore remain close to God through spiritual exercises.  Let this be our primary business, and all the rest secondary” (Letter 764).

Living in the Spirit

“If sometimes self-love and weakness shake you up, never be disturbed; for God allows it in order to be able to shake hands with you, so that you humble yourself and demand his paternal help” (Letter to his niece 308).”When we feel it difficult to keep away from sin, or when we are afraid of being unable to resist these occasions or temptations, we should not doubt whether we have the required amount of trust in God.  No!  Because mistrust of our strength is not a sign of lack of resolution but a true recognition of our misery.

“To doubt our power of resisting temptations is a healthier approach than the overconfident one, provided that we do not expect too much from our own forces but depend on the grace of God. Many souls, having received too much consolation, have promised to perform miracles for God.  But when the moment for action came, they failed.  On the other hand, several who did not have great confidence in their strength and were afraid that they would not be able to live up to their expectations performed miracles.  This great feeling that they were weak pushed them to seek God’s help—to watch, pray, and be humble so as not to fall into temptation.

“It could happen that we feel within us neither the strength nor the courage to resist when faced with temptation.  Nevertheless, God will help us on condition that we want to resist it, and that we hope for his help.  When we ask for his help, we will never be disappointed.  All the more so because there is no need to have always within us the feeling of strength and courage.  It is enough to hope to have it at the opportune moment.  So there is no need to fear any sign of discouragement within oneself.  It is enough to put our hope in God’s help.  It was only when he needed it that Samson felt the supernatural strength given by God.  It is said that when he came across lions and enemies, God’s spirit took hold of him in order to kill them.  And God, who does mothering in vain, does not give us the strength or the courage if it is not needed.  However, he never fails on these occasions.  We must always make use of David’s words:  Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God (Ps 43:5); and of this prayer which he used:  Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent (Ps 71:9)” (Letter to a noble 836).

“Humility is the big secret for maintaining proper devotion.  Be humble, and God will be with you; your good will shall increase, and you shall give yourself to him without disguise and reserve, asking him from the bottom of your heart that, if you have not served him well until now, he in his goodness might forgive you.  Ask him, too, to strengthen your resolution to detach yourself from all the attachments of the world and attach yourself only to the love of God and serve him faithfully and whole-heartedly…  We should not trouble ourselves concerning our offenses, for the divine Spirit is often more liberal in his gifts to those who were the most niggardly toward him in their hearts and affections” (Letter to a lady 882).

“I hope our Lord will always hold out his hand to you and that you will never trip.  If you stumble against a stone and fall, it will only help you to be better on your guard, and to make you cry out more for the help of this gentle heavenly Father.  I pray to him to keep you always under his holy protection.  Amen” (Letter to a lady 186).

“Even if we were to be the most perfect persons in the world, we should never know and recognize it, but consider ourselves always imperfect.  Our examination must never lead us to question whether we are imperfect—for that we must never doubt.  It follows that we must never be astonished at finding ourselves imperfect, since we should never see ourselves any different in this life.  We should not be saddened by it, because there is no cure for it.  On the other hand, in humbling ourselves we make reparation for our defects, and change slowly.  Indeed, our imperfections have been left with us for this exercise.  Hence, we could not be excused if we did not try to change, although we will continue to have defects—we won’t manage to change completely—because it is not as easy to avoid imperfections as it is to avoid sins” (Letter to a novice 45).

You know that in my wish to share the blog to as many relatives, friends and acquaintances in my directory, I asked a student friend after our pilgrimage last Friday to help me form a group in Viber and in Facebook as suggested by another friend.  It is a fulfilling experience learning how to use technology for sharing something good. The interaction in the group is equally a wonderful situation of sharing experiences and understanding each one’s personal circumstances and considerations.

See you in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may you find love and laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care; ‘til He brings us together again.”

Affectionately,

Guadalupinky