Chewing on Some "Meat" On This 12th Sunday After Pentecost

We'll be chewing on some meat on this 12th Sunday after Pentecost. It's the sort of "meat" St. Paul talked about.

If you recall, he once distinguished between milk and meat when it came to what he would teach or preach. Milk for those new to the Faith; meat for those who already had a deeper understanding and practice of their Faith.

Our great spiritual writers sometimes give us milk, sometimes meat. Today we consider a passage that can be considered meat. It will explain to us, in great detail, how it is that we do God's Will.

It's one thing to pray "Thy Will be done," which we say each day when we pray the Our Father; but what exactly do we do after saying these words? In other words, how do we do God's Will? That's what we'll learn now. Chew on this:

“The ordinary mark of true love is that the lover espouses the interests of the beloved. These interests he makes his own. What is an object of desire to the beloved becomes such to the lover. The latter seeks it as ardently as if it were an object of longing for himself – though it is with a view to placing it within reach of the beloved. The happiness of the beloved becomes the object of the lover, so that he pursues, with ardor, all that makes for or contributes to that happiness; what the beloved wills that, too, the lover wills. So it is between God and the soul. The soul loves God when it wills what God wills and pursues the objects of that Divine will. God, in regard to His creature, desires and wills that creature’s happiness and the perfection which is a means to that happiness. In this is involved the willing of all that makes for the creature’s perfection. The perfection of the soul is proportioned to its likeness to God. Hence, when the soul is so disposed towards God that it shows itself prompt to embrace what the divine will determines in its regard, it loves God. In this promptitude it manifests the sign of pure love which, for the lover, consists in making the object of the will of the beloved the object of his own will. Love of God lies in making God’s interests and objective the soul’s own interests and objective. It is an identification of the soul’s desires with the desires of God. It is making God another self. To seek the object of God’s will is in final and ultimate analysis to seek God Himself, since God cannot seek but Himself. Hence great promptitude in embracing and fulfilling God’s will is the indication of a great love of God. To act for the sole motive of contenting God by our actions is to act in the spirit of love of God. This love of God is not dependent on feeling or emotion but on the firmness of the act of the will and its freedom from admixture of any other motives but the motive of the fulfillment of God’s will.” (Fr. Edward Leen, C.S.Sp.)

 

I was introduced to Father Leen by a friend a number of years ago. He's a meat guy. When I'm going to read his work, I know what to expect. 

As for understanding his writing, it's not beyond the capability of most of us. But to really benefit, you don't read Father Leen while watching TV.

While there's much in this passage, let's note two particular points:

First, doing God's Will and loving God are intimately connected. We don't love God if we're not determined to do His Will. When we desire to do His Will we love Him. If we believe we love Him, we must, of necessity, find within us the overwhelming desire to do His Will.

Second, a point we've seen many other times: Our love of God "is not dependent on feeling or emotion but on the firmness of the act of the will." We could say the same of love of our spouse, our friends as well. The warm and fuzzy feelings that may accompany love at times are not of the essence of love. It is what we do that indicates and expresses our love. 

Perhaps a clearer instance is love of neighbor. We're commanded to love our neighbor. "Neighbor" isn't just the folks next door or on the block. It includes everyone - including our enemies. We can love our neighbor without having warm and fuzzy feelings for them.

All clear now, right? The thing about reading Father Leen carefully and thinking about what he says is that he's one of those whose depth may very well spur some deeper thinking of our own. Perfect for a Sunday.

Happy Sunday!