IF we only know the role and
importance of God’s will in
our life, I believe we would do all to look for it, know it as
thoroughly as possible, love it and follow it to the hilt, regardless
of what it costs or takes.
After all, it’s in God’s will where everything in our life
and in the whole of creation starts, and also ends. If we can be
allowed to say so, God’s will is the very core of God himself where we
can find all goodness, truth and beauty.
When we express what is supposed to be our greatest human
desire, which as the Catechism teaches is the longing to see God’s
face, we actually are hungering to know and do God’s will. That’s
because more than a face, God is a will, since he is pure spirit more
than a body which just the same he can always assume to adapt himself
to us. That’s part of his will.
The task of looking, knowing and loving the divine will
has to be made more known by us, because we tend to simply have a
superficial knowledge of God, restricting him to some sentimental
considerations or to some images we form of him in our mind. Hardly
would we get to know what he wants us to do in any given moment, if we
are mainly guided by sentimental considerations and visual or
conceptual images of him.
Getting to know and do God’s will is what actually would
comprise the very substance of our relationship with him. That’s
simply because that is what love is all about, what it entails, which
is the very essence of God, as St. John affirmed (Deus caritas est).
Love is deeds and not just sweet words or feelings. Real love is deeds
done to correspond to God’s will for us.
We need to develop the proper attitude toward God’s will.
We should first be aware that there’s such thing as God’s will, and
not just God’s image. We should cultivate the desire to know, love and
obey it until we can make as our own Christ’s very attitude toward his
Father’s will, “Not my will, but yours be done,” and Mary’s words, “Be
it done to me according to your word.”
God’s will can be known in many ways. He already has given
us the 10 commandments, which explicitly articulate his will for us,
though not yet in a perfect way. What perfects the 10 Commandments or
the Old Law is the New Law or the New Commandment as spoken by Christ
himself, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Of course, this New Law contains a lot of mysteries even
if we have many ideas of how this New Law can be carried out. It has
mysteries because it involves nothing less than our total
identification with Christ who, being God, will always remain
mysterious to us even if he has given himself completely to us.
We just have to learn to go along this divine adventure
that involves us in God’s mysterious ways even if on our part we try
our best to know his will all the way to the littlest detail. Such is
our human and temporal condition until we identify ourselves
completely with Christ which can happen only in heaven when we see him
“face to face.”
In the meantime, let’s realize that God’s will is known by
studying the doctrine of our faith. What can also help is to be
familiar with the living testimonies of saints who had managed to
know, love and obey God’s will.
We can also know God’s will, at least in some generic way,
by performing, as best as we can, all the duties and responsibilities
as well as the rights inherent to our conditions or status in life,
whether we are single or married, student or professional, etc.
We should also realize that God’s will can be known by
having a running conversation with God all day long. We have to
realize that God’s will is always manifested in any and every
situation we can find ourselves in.
That’s because he is always intervening in our life. It’s
a matter therefore of discerning it by having presence of God all
throughout the day, if not, a conversation where we can ask him
directly what he wants us to do in any given moment.
His will is known by what any situation ethically demands
from us, and also by what the others have a right to expect from us or
what we owe to them.
our life, I believe we would do all to look for it, know it as
thoroughly as possible, love it and follow it to the hilt, regardless
of what it costs or takes.
After all, it’s in God’s will where everything in our life
and in the whole of creation starts, and also ends. If we can be
allowed to say so, God’s will is the very core of God himself where we
can find all goodness, truth and beauty.
When we express what is supposed to be our greatest human
desire, which as the Catechism teaches is the longing to see God’s
face, we actually are hungering to know and do God’s will. That’s
because more than a face, God is a will, since he is pure spirit more
than a body which just the same he can always assume to adapt himself
to us. That’s part of his will.
The task of looking, knowing and loving the divine will
has to be made more known by us, because we tend to simply have a
superficial knowledge of God, restricting him to some sentimental
considerations or to some images we form of him in our mind. Hardly
would we get to know what he wants us to do in any given moment, if we
are mainly guided by sentimental considerations and visual or
conceptual images of him.
Getting to know and do God’s will is what actually would
comprise the very substance of our relationship with him. That’s
simply because that is what love is all about, what it entails, which
is the very essence of God, as St. John affirmed (Deus caritas est).
Love is deeds and not just sweet words or feelings. Real love is deeds
done to correspond to God’s will for us.
We need to develop the proper attitude toward God’s will.
We should first be aware that there’s such thing as God’s will, and
not just God’s image. We should cultivate the desire to know, love and
obey it until we can make as our own Christ’s very attitude toward his
Father’s will, “Not my will, but yours be done,” and Mary’s words, “Be
it done to me according to your word.”
God’s will can be known in many ways. He already has given
us the 10 commandments, which explicitly articulate his will for us,
though not yet in a perfect way. What perfects the 10 Commandments or
the Old Law is the New Law or the New Commandment as spoken by Christ
himself, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Of course, this New Law contains a lot of mysteries even
if we have many ideas of how this New Law can be carried out. It has
mysteries because it involves nothing less than our total
identification with Christ who, being God, will always remain
mysterious to us even if he has given himself completely to us.
We just have to learn to go along this divine adventure
that involves us in God’s mysterious ways even if on our part we try
our best to know his will all the way to the littlest detail. Such is
our human and temporal condition until we identify ourselves
completely with Christ which can happen only in heaven when we see him
“face to face.”
In the meantime, let’s realize that God’s will is known by
studying the doctrine of our faith. What can also help is to be
familiar with the living testimonies of saints who had managed to
know, love and obey God’s will.
We can also know God’s will, at least in some generic way,
by performing, as best as we can, all the duties and responsibilities
as well as the rights inherent to our conditions or status in life,
whether we are single or married, student or professional, etc.
We should also realize that God’s will can be known by
having a running conversation with God all day long. We have to
realize that God’s will is always manifested in any and every
situation we can find ourselves in.
That’s because he is always intervening in our life. It’s
a matter therefore of discerning it by having presence of God all
throughout the day, if not, a conversation where we can ask him
directly what he wants us to do in any given moment.
His will is known by what any situation ethically demands
from us, and also by what the others have a right to expect from us or
what we owe to them.
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