Conformity to the will of God

[E.E.N.S]

This is a favorite prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola; “Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. Thou hast given me all that I am and all that I possess. I surrender it all to Thee, that Thou mayest dispose of it according to Thy will. Give me but Thy love and Thy grace; these are sufficient for me, and I will have no more to desire.”

In all the vicissitudes of life, such as illness, losses and persecutions, we should be ever mindful to bow with resignation to the will of God, and repose on these words: “God wills it so, and so I will it likewise.” Or: “God will have it so; so be it done.” He that behaves in this manner stores up immense rewards in heaven and always lives in peace. But he who, on the contrary, refuses to bow to the will of God, only re-doubles his afflictions; for he must endure them whether he will it or not; and, moreover, by his impatience he lays up for himself an additional punishment.

Remember, Jesus told us that we must take up our cross and follow in His footsteps; everyone will carry his own cross regardless if they will it or not, but we have three choices; 1) willingly take up our crosses each day with joy and follow in Christ’s footsteps, storing up many treasures in heaven, 2) be repentant and ask for mercy, final perserverence, like the repenetant thief, or 3) do not willingly take up your cross, and follow your own will, like the other thief who also had to carry his cross anyway, but did not have peace in this life, nor will he in the next.

Let’s always strive to help each other to grow in holiness each day…we are the Church Militant, and I would like to be counted among the Church Triumphant someday. The prayer that I opened this thread with is supposed to grant an indulgence of 3 years each time it is read (jeepers, how much time are we going to spend in purgatory if saying such a simple prayer will grant 3 years indulgence?!), and a plenary indulgence is granted monthly if it is said daily with conditions of confession, Communion, visit and prayer for the Pope’s intentions are fulfilled.

 

[GoldenArrow]

I got a little booklet the other day in the mail – a freebie from Roman Catholic Sacramentals, an online Catholic store.

It’s called, “Conformity to the Will of God.” Most of writings are by St. Alphonsus Liguori. He said something that really helped me! I’m finding that one of the best ways to conform to the Will of God is to WANT everything that happens to you. It’s very simple!

For example, you are forced to take a short lunch hour because a client arrives late. Usually such a thing causes the physician frustration, anger, and indignation. BUT … if you WANT this to happen, you can, instead learn patience. You also may learn to plan ahead by keeping microwaveable quick meals on hand at the office in case you run behind, and this teaches you responsiblity. You have to WANT difficulties. When you WANT such things, you eventually don’t get angry or frustrated, but you instead feel resignation and peace. Ligouri says that the reason we should want everything that happens to us is because nothing happens by chance and everything that happens to us in our lives does so under the direction of God’s Providence. There is a reason for every event in our lives, and each event can be an occasion for merit if we react in conformity to God’s will and in harmony with His Grace.

On the other hand, resisting the Divine Will by reacting to difficulties in a negative way can be an occasion for incurring guilt upon ourselves.

If something bad happens, WANT it to be so, for God often takes something that is evil and turns it into good. He often uses “instruments of wrath” for our own sanctification, or for victimhood and sanctification of others.

If something good happens, WANT it to be so. If its God’s will that you win the lottery, then accept it without guilt. Maybe you can start up a charity with the winnings.

It’s a strange way of looking at the world at first, but once you get used to it, it doesn’t matter if it’s 90 degrees outside or 10 degrees outside, you’re happy either way because God has sent you sunshine and snow at His Divine Will.

I also … have started practicing the Divine Will devotion of Servant of God, Louisa Picarretta. (The available writings have either an Imprimatur or Nihil Obstat). Picaretta is, however, advanced stuff, basically a continuation of De Montfort. You can’t do the Divine Will devotion without first trying to conform to the Will of God the old fashioned way. I’d read the old Saints first. This little booklet, “Conformity to the Will of God,” is a great place to start.

I learned about the Divine Will in this order:

1. St. Louis De Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary
2. Story of a Soul by St. Therese Lisieux
3. The beginner series of Louisa Picarretta (her biographies, prayer collection, and Book of Heaven Vol 7 and 8)
4. Concurrently with the rest of Picarretta’s writings, I’m reading the booklet “Conformity to the Will of God,” (mostly from St. Alphonsus Ligiouri) and Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda.

I am combining the “Little Way” of St. Therese with Ligiouri’s Conformity to the Will of God with Picaretta’s living in the Divine Will, and am doing pretty good. Not perfect. Learning more every day. Hopefully in ten years I will be completely in harmony with the Divine Will. LOL!!! I am a dufus, and it will take a LONG time for me to achieve perfection, if ever!

True conformity to the Divine will takes humility, patience, time, prayer, lots of confessoins, and hard work. You have REALLY know yourself, really know your faults, and then really try to fix them. You have to have a firm purpose of amendment in fixing all your sins. I am still in the process of trying to destroy all the skeletons in my closet. My frustration has been that I destroy a skeleton, think that I’m doing really awesome, and then I open the closet door again and find another skeleton that I must destroy! To be conformed to the Will of God completely, you must get rid of all your sins, big and small. It gets easier once you get rid of the big skeletons though. One saint said (can’t remember who) that if you get rid of the General (principal sins) and the officers (minor principle sins), the soldiers (sinful tendencies and bad habits) that depend on them will flee or fall away fairly quickly.

It’s true, but it’s not easy. Hang in there though!

Anyway, God bless you in your difficult quest for perfection, E.E.N.S.

P.S. I also really like that prayer you posted! I have a little prayer booklet of my favorite prayers that I say after Mass, and that one is amongst them. I also LOVE the Golden Arrow Prayer and devotion to the Holy Face, and I recite these after Mass, too.

 

[Spooky7272]

GoldenArrow:

I got a little booklet the other day in the mail – a freebie from Roman Catholic Sacramentals, an online Catholic store.

It’s called, “Conformity to the Will of God.” Most of writings are by St. Alphonsus Liguori. He said something that really helped me! I’m finding that one of the best ways to conform to the Will of God is to WANT everything that happens to you. It’s very simple!

I got that booklet too. I’ve only read the first couple of pages, but definitely plan on reading the whole thing.
Another book I have is called “Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence” published by TAN.
.

 

[GoldenArrow]

I also heard that Heliotropium, also by Tan, is good. I ordered that and it’s on my list to read.

I have a HUGE library of books in my house, and I also have Holy Abandonment. I’ll have to get Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence. Is good, huh? Thanks for the advice!