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"God made me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in the next." (or in heaven, as some versions state)
Knowing is first. This is how we differ from the other mammals and all the animal. Therefore, when I read St. Bernard of Clairvaux and some of his commentators, one of the things which comes across very clearly is that he understands the progress of holiness as explained in these few words. Know, love, serve...
God made me to know Him....is the first part of the answer.
All of Bernard's life is the seeking of the knowledge of God. He wants to know God and be know by Him.
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| Cobh |
Then, one progresses to love. That St. Bernard experiences God's Love there is no doubt. He knows God, He loves God. Then, the next step is to serve God.
This is the reflection of the road to perfection.
This is how Bernard taught his monks so long ago.
We cannot merit perfection, but it must be sought.
God said to Bernard, as he shared with his monks, "Those who find me will find me there, in their own hearts, for there is my dwelling."
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| Cobh |
How amazing, and how simple. God is within, Bernard tells us over and over. In his famous sermon on Mary Magdalen, he says that when she was seeking for him, she was looking in the wrong place. All the time, Christ was in her heart.
Here are his words, which I have on this blog on November 23rd as well.
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Here is the quotation from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, from a homily of his at Easter. In all of my words on perfection, this is the most important quotation I can give you, from the Doctor who knows Who Love is, a Person:
"We look for God where He is not to be found, or rather, we do not look for Him where He is chiefly to be found; hence, all the confusion, all the delay, and a lot of marking time. Woman, why are you weeping? You possess Him , the One your are searching for, and you do not know it? You look for Him without, but you have Him within. You stand outside the tomb in tears. Why? Where am I. Why, within you. This is My resting place; I am not dead but alive for evermore. You yourself are My garden. You did well to call me the Gardener. I, too, the Second Adam, am in charge of a garden, the Garden of Paradise. My task is to raise a crop of desires in this garden of your soul. What? You love Me, you possess Me within yourself and you do not know Me? That is why you see Me outside. Well, here I am. I appeared to you outside so that I might bring you inside. It is there inside yourself that you will find Me...Ah, I am not absent. I am not far away as you think. I am close at hand. Tell Me what is nearer to anyone than his own heart? Those who find Me, find Me there in their hearts. That is where I live."
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| Cobh |
Real, true love is simple, not complicated. One wants to be with the Beloved at all times. One waits for Him. One calls out for Him. One expects Him to answer. One lives in faith, in hope, in love. One wants to be like the Beloved. One wants to share with others the Beauty of the Beloved. Love never ends. It grows stronger and more pure by the day. Love longs to be all that one can be for the sake of the Other.
That is what this perfection series is all about-sharing the Beauty of God so that all who read desire Him.
To be continued.....