Many are the paths of the Lord, the paths of spirituality.
Why think: is the one followed by me, by my group the only one or is it the best? It is necessary not to judge a priori.
There are saints of the style of Padre Nieto, Teresa de Jesús, Pedro de Alcántara and saints of another style: those who give their lives for others day by day and do not attract attention worldwide, not even nationally or regionally. All, yes, consider prayer as a priority, love for God is the essence of their life. That’s where love for others springs up.
Great will to love God and neighbor. Many people say: Fr. Kempis is out of date. Piety today cannot be individualistic. Compliant: it should not be individualistic, but it does begin by being individual. It must be assumed by oneself; and this is personal work. We are not going to condemn Kempis, nor Foucauld. He each FOLLOWS HIS WAY from him. The one appointed by God. And he will undoubtedly have a great influence on the signs of the times in his life. But without falling into the black lagoons of those times.
By the way. I am now reading a spiritual reading of a book to which a superior of the seminary opened my sensitivity in that fourth course of Humanities: “The little flowers of Saint Francis!” If it hadn’t been for him, I might never have understood anything. It would have even seemed to me something similar to “Lazarillo de Tormes”. But then he managed to make me discover the sensitivity of dedication, the spirit of simplicity offered to God. Certainly then it did not permeate as it does now and I stayed in the romantic anecdote. Little by little I have been realizing, since he opened my door to the feeling of religion, of that intimate world of the relationship between man and God.
Everyone reacts in a different way. Sometimes we don’t understand others. Who can understand a Fray Junípero when he does stupid things, they are going to hang him, on top of that he is happy and feels he deserves all punishment? But behind all this beats a deep love of God that overwhelms even those who do not believe.
I hope, friend, that your interior life continues to mature in that depth of generous and dedicated faith.
We must move forward, even if it costs us, on the path of the Lord. The light will come pouring in. It doesn’t need to last a long time. A burst of its light is enough. Like the other day when I was on the mountain. I spent some time in prayer. That was a sunny and good day. The blue sky. Complete loneliness. No noise from mechanical devices. Then I experienced God as Omnipotent. It filled everything. Above time and space. He seemed to encompass in his bosom the past, the present, and the future. My faith was compensated in such a way that I spent several days with this sweet impression of clarity. And that didn’t last long. Sometimes I tell it to the children in the religious formation class. And they realize that we can also enjoy our experience in these areas. It is not a rare or special phenomenon. It is a gentle touch from the Lord; through him we realize that we do not live in darkness.
The important thing is to gradually increase this love for God. Know him more and more in reading and prayer. Overcome our inclinations towards pleasure and comfort; give up on ourselves. More and more total surrender to Him. Like in those young years when we talked about the need to surrender.
Jose Maria Lorenzo Amelibia
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