Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Pay Attention, Get Ready, Pray
“My God and all
things.”
What have the Illuminative
State and the Unitive State
have to do with Catholics in this time of coming trials?
Some readers understand that only those who truly love God
and His Church will be able to withstand the tribulations to come. And, this
fact has always been so in times of trouble for the Church. The great martyrs,
such as St. John Houghton and his companions, mentioned many times on this
blog, were ready for the horrible torments they suffered at Tyburn.
But, the ability to withstand physical pain and endure
martyrdom to receive the palm of victory are not the only reasons for pursuing
the way of perfection now, in these times of uncertainty.
As I have noted many times, the Church realizes a strength
and perfection if Her members are perfected, and experiences weakness and loss,
if Her members do not pursue the love of God in all things.
But, the Illuminative and Unitive States
of the saint do much more than strengthen the Church. These states bring God
into the midst of humankind.
Because in these states, the person is one with God as far
as possible on this earth, there is a unity of God and person in the
Trinity. In other words, God is present
in the person experiencing this transcendent relationship, and that person is
in God in all Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Such a transcendent relationship cannot help but change the
world, as God is Present in, with, and through the person. The person communicates God to all.
This powerful experience of the Divine brings life, God’s
life, to the world in an overflowing of love.
Of course, the problem is that most of the time, the world
does not want this love and purposefully thwarts those who bring the Trinity
into its midst.
Such is the irony of the human condition, that the very
persons who could and do change the world are usually the ones persecuted by
the world.
That God reveals His attributes to the person in these
states means that the person experiences, understands and lives in beauty,
truth, wisdom, peace, and so on.
Such is the witness of the saint.
That some people do not experience this oneness with God,
this spiritual marriage, until right before death does not diminish the
witness. However, as we see in the lives of the saints, those generous souls
who have allowed God to perfect them give us a tremendous witness of love and
grace.
Just think of the cloud
of witnesses, like Theresa, the Little Flower, Gemma Galgani, Edmund
Campion, Oliver Plunkett, Pius X, Fulton J. Sheen and so on--these men and
women who give us a glimpse of life in the Trinity.
There is too much facile theology floating around about
living in the life of the Trinity. That we are given this life in baptism and
confirmation is true, but that those graces can only be released through
purgation of sin and the tendency to sin is also true.
You will know if you are in the presence of one who is in
the Illuminative or Unitive
State. You will know if
you are in the presence of a saint.
Sadly, this does not happen often enough in our day and age,
as there are so many choices and so many distractions for most people.
I have met many people in the Dark Night and even the last
stages of the Dark Night. I saw twice, and touched once, Blessed John Paul II,
but before his long purgation and suffering. I believe we watched him become a
saint.
Some readers may have met saints, even some who have been
martyred. Those Catholics are role
models for all of us.
As to the main thesis of this post, that these states most
likely are necessary for Catholics to withstand the coming persecutions, I
would say that those who went before us were a bit smarter at reading the signs
of the times.
I cannot imagine that the earliest Catholics were caught off
guard concerning trials. And, it is obvious that such saints as Edmund Campion
were trained to face the certain death when leaving the Venerable
English College
in Rome and traveling to England. As
some of you know, St. Philip Neri would stand outside the Venerabile and bless those young priests going to England,
saying, “There go the Flowers of the Martyrs”.
Are you preparing yourself and your children for trials by
pursuing holiness, which is another word for perfection?
Are you too caught up in trivia to make holiness a priority
in your family? Are you all pursuing sports, entertainments, unnecessary
shopping, vacations, and ignoring prayer, formation, penances, frequent
confession and Holy Communion?
Are you acting as if
your children will not need to be different, special, super-Catholics and saints
in the days to come?
Do you think they will face a world like yours and mine
growing up?
Are you forming saints? I see too many families wasting time
on trivia.
Do not lie to yourselves and think holiness just
“happens”. Even St.
Thomas More admitted that he needed his long time in prison to get ready for
death after watching the singing of the Charterhouse monks, going to their
deaths, “like bridegrooms to the wedding.”
Such are the actions of the perfect, those who have gone
through the Illuminative and Unitive
States, and bear witness
joyfully to the vision of the Trinity in the world.
I have met many people lately who are acting as if they have
all the time in the world to pursue holiness. I have met too many people who
are in denial regarding the signs of the times. And, these people are not
young.
I have met too many people who think Catholics can live in America or Europe
with the freedoms experienced by their forefathers.
I have met too many people who are wasting time and may be
swept away, and compromise when the going gets tough.
For the past several weeks, the urgency of allowing God to
make one holy has been a recurring theme on this blog.
God is pouring out His grace and mercy on us now. The time of grace will end. Look the history
of the Church.
Do not think you can
act as you have always acted.
“When the Son of Man
comes, all will be as it was in the days of Noe; in those days before the
flood, they went on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until
the time when Noe entered the ark, and they were taken unawares, when the flood
came and drowned them all; so it will be a the coming of the Son of Man.”
Matthew 24:37-39
Let these ideals be your guide. Be open to suffering
anything in order to become one with God. Be generous is saying yes to graces
God wants to give. Be willing to be
different than all those around you and your families-even other Catholics who
are not paying attention.
Give yourselves to God entirely now. Then, like St. Francis, as quoted by St. John of the Cross,
you will be able to pray, “My God and all
things.”
To be continued….
