The Reality of God's Presence in Our Work - Part 2
Last time we said we'd identify what for most of us will likely be the biggest roadblock to our knowing and understanding the profound reality of God's Presence in each of us. Being aware of this potential roadblock will prove a critical first step to our being able to engage with His Presence, especially during our busy work days. It's likely no surprise that this roadblock is ourselves. We're not only wrapped up in what we're doing during a typical work day, we're wrapped up in ourselves. Let's continue now with the thoughts of Archbishop James Leen to help us understand how we can overcome this roadblock. Note especially his reference to the first Christians.
“A too sedulous analysis of self rarely discloses God. It is a vice in method to aim at discovering the Lord of light in the darkness of ourselves, instead of aiming at discovering ourselves in the brightness that envelops the Lord of glory. The early Christians never made this mistake. Their spiritual gaze, from the very start, was educated to fix itself on God. Their regard was outward and upward before it was turned inward and earthward. The dogma of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their souls was the mental food on which they nourished themselves and developed their spirituality. Their minds were fully penetrated with this most consoling and elevating truth of the Faith; they had received it directly from the lips of the apostles, or from men of the apostolic age, and they proclaimed it proudly before their judges and executioners. This truth was their strength before the tribunals and their consolation in their torments. … Example after example could be cited to show how deeply penetrated with this doctrine of the divine indwelling was the early Christian conscience. This was because they studied Holy Scripture so assiduously. The Sacred Books abound in statements that bear witness to this dogma of Faith. In the epistles of Saint Paul, especially, references are frequent to the ‘Donation,’ or the ‘Mission’ of the Divine Persons to souls in the state of grace. In this he but follows the tradition handed down by the Evangelists. On the eve of His departure from the scenes of His mortal life, our Savior, seeking to comfort His apostles, promised He would send them the Paraclete, to supply for His loss. ‘I tell you the truth,’ He said, ‘it is expedient to you that I go, for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you. … If any man love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him.’
“According to St. Paul’s teaching, the Holy Spirit dwells in us to communicate to us the aptitude of loving God with the love of friendship. He abides there to encourage us to preserve the fair treasure of grace. He makes of our spirit a temple, a holy sanctuary, which cannot be violated without incurring the anger of God. He is given to us on earth as the pledge of the glory that is held out to us. He is in us as the principle of our glorious resurrection. It would be useless to multiply quotations from Scripture and from the writings of the great Christian teachers. From the testimony of the Sacred Writers and from the statements of the saints, it is impossible not to draw the conclusion that no doubt can be entertained as to a special, real, and substantial presence of God in the souls of those who are in grace.”
A couple of quick comments:
As a plan for each day, this one should work uniquely for each of us in its own way, in accordance with our indiivdual capabilities and tempermant. Combined with our earlier suggestions regarding order in our work day, we've got a sure foundation and solid framework to bolster our awareness of God's Presence. At the end of the day, as they say, how we happen to feel on any given day and whether or not we love our job both pale in significance.
“A too sedulous analysis of self rarely discloses God. It is a vice in method to aim at discovering the Lord of light in the darkness of ourselves, instead of aiming at discovering ourselves in the brightness that envelops the Lord of glory. The early Christians never made this mistake. Their spiritual gaze, from the very start, was educated to fix itself on God. Their regard was outward and upward before it was turned inward and earthward. The dogma of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their souls was the mental food on which they nourished themselves and developed their spirituality. Their minds were fully penetrated with this most consoling and elevating truth of the Faith; they had received it directly from the lips of the apostles, or from men of the apostolic age, and they proclaimed it proudly before their judges and executioners. This truth was their strength before the tribunals and their consolation in their torments. … Example after example could be cited to show how deeply penetrated with this doctrine of the divine indwelling was the early Christian conscience. This was because they studied Holy Scripture so assiduously. The Sacred Books abound in statements that bear witness to this dogma of Faith. In the epistles of Saint Paul, especially, references are frequent to the ‘Donation,’ or the ‘Mission’ of the Divine Persons to souls in the state of grace. In this he but follows the tradition handed down by the Evangelists. On the eve of His departure from the scenes of His mortal life, our Savior, seeking to comfort His apostles, promised He would send them the Paraclete, to supply for His loss. ‘I tell you the truth,’ He said, ‘it is expedient to you that I go, for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you. … If any man love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him.’
“According to St. Paul’s teaching, the Holy Spirit dwells in us to communicate to us the aptitude of loving God with the love of friendship. He abides there to encourage us to preserve the fair treasure of grace. He makes of our spirit a temple, a holy sanctuary, which cannot be violated without incurring the anger of God. He is given to us on earth as the pledge of the glory that is held out to us. He is in us as the principle of our glorious resurrection. It would be useless to multiply quotations from Scripture and from the writings of the great Christian teachers. From the testimony of the Sacred Writers and from the statements of the saints, it is impossible not to draw the conclusion that no doubt can be entertained as to a special, real, and substantial presence of God in the souls of those who are in grace.”
A couple of quick comments:
- We live in an age of rampant Narcicism. Can you imagine a starker contrast to our own age than Archbishop Leen's description of the early Christians: Their regard was outward and upward before it was turned inward and earthward.
- We desperately need that connection with the Holy Spirit that our forefathers naturally established. It's critical to us getting over ourselves, as well as being the only way to thoroughly unite our spiritual life with our work life.
As a plan for each day, this one should work uniquely for each of us in its own way, in accordance with our indiivdual capabilities and tempermant. Combined with our earlier suggestions regarding order in our work day, we've got a sure foundation and solid framework to bolster our awareness of God's Presence. At the end of the day, as they say, how we happen to feel on any given day and whether or not we love our job both pale in significance.
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