Abandonment; or, Absolute Surrender to Divine ProvidenceCaussade, Jean Pierre de
Religion
Abandonment; or, Absolute Surrender to Divine Providence
Caussade, Jean Pierre de
Mysticism -- Catholic Church; Spiritual life -- Catholic Church
The Divine Action is everywhere and always Present, though only
Visible to the Eye of Faith.
All creatures are living in the hand of God; the senses perceive
only the action of the creature, but faith sees the divine action
in all things. Faith realizes that Jesus Christ lives in all things
and works through all ages; that the least moment and the smallest
atom contain a portion of this hidden life, this mysterious action.
The instrumentality of creatures is a veil which covers the profound
mysteries of the divine action. The apparition of Jesus to His Apostles
after His resurrection surprised them: He presented Himself to them
under forms which disguised Him, and as soon as He manifested Himself
He disappeared. This same Jesus, who is ever living and laboring for
us, still surprises souls whose faith is not sufficiently lively to
discern Him.
There is no moment when God is not present with us under the appearance
of some obligation or some duty. All that is effected within us,
about us, and through us involves and hides His divine action: it is
veritably present, though in an invisible manner; therefore we do not
discern it, and only recognize its workings when it has ceased to
act. Could we pierce the veil which obscures it, and were we vigilant
and attentive, God would unceasingly reveal Himself to us, and we
would recognize His action in all that befell us. At every event we
would exclaim, _Dominus est!_--It is the Lord! and we should feel
each circumstance of our life an especial gift from Him. We should
regard creatures as feeble instruments in the hands of an all-powerful
workman; we should easily recognize that we lacked nothing, and that
God’s watchful care supplied the needs of every moment. Had we faith,
we should be grateful to all creatures; we should cherish them, and
in our hearts thank them that in the hand of God they have been so
serviceable to us and so favorable to the work of our perfection.
If we lived an uninterrupted life of faith we should be in continual
communion with God, we should speak with Him face to face. Just as the
air transmits our words and thoughts, so would all that we are called
to do and suffer transmit to us the words and thoughts of God; all
that came to us would be but the embodiment of His word; it would be
exteriorly manifested in all things; we should find everything holy and
profitable. The glory of God makes this the state of the blessed in
heaven, and faith would make it ours on earth; there would be only the
difference of means.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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