"There are few persons, perhaps none, who thoroughly understand how much we obstruct God when He desires to work in us, and all that he would do for us if we did not hinder Him."
- St. Ignatius of Loyola
"O my Jesus, how very easy it is to become holy; all that is needed is a bit of good will. If Jesus sees this little bit of good will in the soul, He hurries to give Himself to the soul, and nothing can stop Him, neither shortcomings nor falls-- absolutely nothing. Jesus is anxious to help that soul, and if it is faithful to this grace from God, it can very soon attain the highest holiness possible for a creature here on earth. God is very generous and does not deny His grace to anyone. Indeed He gives more than what we ask of Him. Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit-- that is the shortest route."
- St. Faustina
On this showing it seems that all we have to do is nothing, and we'll be saints in short order. Good thing I've already picked the picture for my holy card!
All right, the quotes don't actually drive me mad. They're just extraordinary. St. Ignatius and St. Faustina hardly sat back and waited for God to make them holy; they were full of zeal and self-denial and hard work and endurance in suffering. But then they wrote as if all they'd truly accomplished was getting out of God's way. I hardly begin to understand what they meant, but one day I hope I will.
No comments:
Post a Comment