Mother of the Redeemer Events #11: Confidence in God Retreat 5/8

let's begin with a prayer in the name of the Father and of the son of the Holy Spirit amen God to grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change courage to change the things that I can and wisdom to know the difference living one day at a time enjoying one moment at a time accepting hardship is a pathway to peace taking as Jesus did this sinful world as it is and not as I would have it trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next amen Mother of mercy pray for us st. Joseph made for us st. Therese have been addictive the cross-reference in the name of the Father and of the son the holy spirit Haven well I want to begin this talk on confidence in God with this beautiful lesson on divine providence in the words of the great Cardinal John Henry Newman God has created me to do him some definite service he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another I have my mission I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next I am a link in a chain a bond of connection between persons he has not created me for not I shall do good I shall do his work I shall be an angel of peace a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep his Commandments therefore I will trust him whatever I am I can never be thrown away if I am in sickness my sickness may serve him in confusion my confusion may serve him if I'm in sorrow my sorrow may he does nothing in vain he knows what he is about he may take away my friends he may throw me among strangers make me feel desolate make my spirit sink hide my future from me still he knows what he is about well knocked over the 11th 1998 pope john paul ii canonized Edith Stein at Jewish convert the faith one of the brightest young philosophers of her day who became a Carmelite nun was later martyred by the Nazis precisely because she was a Jew by birth and a Catholic religious by faith and that her canonization the Holy Father praised her in these words the spiritual experience of Edith Stein is an example of extraordinary interior renewal a young woman in search of the truth has become a saint in a martyr through the silent workings of divine grace Theresa Benedicta of the cross who from heaven repeats to us today all the words that mark her life far be it from me the glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ a few days before her arrest and deportation to a Nazi death camp sister Teresa Benedicto was offered a chance to escape and flee the country they knew the Gestapo was coming for she turned it down she said I won't do it why should I be spared is it right that I should gain no advantage from my baptism I cannot share the lot of my brothers and sisters my life in a certain sense is wasted she died in the gas chamber at Auschwitz on August the 9th 1942 shortly before her death staring death in the face looking back on her life she wrote these words what did not lie on my plans lay in god's plans when night comes and retrospect shows that everything was patchwork and much which one had planned left on done when so many things Roush shame and regret then take all as it is bladed in God's hands and offer it up to him and this way we'll be able to rest in him actually to rest and to begin the new day like a new life if I had to cite one attribute one virtue that sets a saint apart from the rest I would say that along with their outstanding charity and humility it is their unfailing confidence in God abandonment the divine promise in my years as submission preacher and confessor I have found that one of the hardest things to do is to move people to trust in God to get them somehow to accept the fact that God really does love them and each one of us more than we can ever imagine I have known people who believe that no one has ever loved them and no one ever could not even God and it is true saying that often very often in life the most difficult act of worship the most heroic act of worship is to trust in God and I found that for many people the hardest thing to meditate on is the joy and even the reality of heaven and it is because so many people have never known true joy in their lives maybe fleeting moments of it but true happiness lasting joy most people I think have never known it there's no doubt in my mind there are millions of people in the face of this earth who have never known a single day of true happiness in their lives and there are many poor souls who just want to die they have a deep longing for death pray for it doesn't come I think of the words of Joel is not man's life water of the Treasury we all know that life on Earth is a test we are told in Scripture that we are gonna be tried like gold in the fire and nowhere in the bible will you find where God promised anyone perfect happiness here on earth God promised that to us only in the life to come only for those who pray only for those who trust in him now there are millions of people lifelong Christians who go through their entire lives without ever really understanding the concept of the reality of divine providence so clearly simply expressed by the Apostle st. Paul in his letter to the Romans in that all-important verse Romans chapter 8 2 verse 28 God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him now if you could just recall that one verse if you can take it to heart you will be at peace come what may in God's will is our peace in the dialogue is st. Catherine of Siena how the father says to st. Catherine I give my protective care to all who want it all who pray for it Jesus Christ is the eternal word of the Father the image of the invisible God came into this world to save us and redeem us by his cross but he also came to show us what God is really like I have heard it said rightly that if you were the only soul in the world in need of redemption togged still would have become man Jesus Christ would have come into this world to die for you do long that is the infinite value of a single soul and a sight of Almighty God each human person is in the language of Pope John Paul the second unique precious and unrepeatable God wants you to see that he is not a cold impersonal distant force floating somewhere out there in the universe he is not the pantheistic god of the New Agers he is the most loving caring father what's the best nothing but the best for his adopted children God has a plan for your life that is gonna end in eternal glory if only you will cooperate when the graces that God wants to give to you one thing is for sure God's plan for your life is infinitely better than anything you can dream up for yourself you see God desires our happiness far more than we do our own and he knows how best to get it for us his plan is better than anything you can take to the bank I have no doubt there may be some of you here will work hard all your lives and don't have a whole lot to show for it materially financially and we all know people for whom everything your life seems to go wrong life is like an endless series of setbacks and let downs failures and heartaches of all kinds of anxiety and discouragement that wears them down and brings on temptation every day their hearts are weighed down by bitter regrets and memories they just can't let go off and they make it hard to grow in love and union with God in that sense think of your ease to say that often we are the Carpenters of our own crosses it is very easy to trust in God when things in life go well it is far more virtuous far more meritorious to trust in God when they don't to say father not my will that I will be done I had a friend good friend passed away a few years ago but he had lived a hard life and he never seemed to be able to escape from his past there were so many family problems and broken relationships that he just could not reconcile and he spent a good part of his time dwelling on the wounds the hurts of the past and for that reason he was never at peace he could never be at peace within himself and he used to come to me with his time and time again so I gave him a prayer for trust and I told him to say this prayer every day and he didn't he came back one day and told me that it changed his life and I want to share with you what is in my opinion the most beautiful prayer for trust ever written this is the act of trust of st. Claude le Columbia he was the spiritual director of st. Margaret Mary about this oh my god I am so certain that you watch over those who hope in you and that when we rely on you for everything we can lack for nothing that I am determined to live in the future without worry casting all my cares upon you men may strip me of my goods that of my honor illness can take away my strength and the means of serving you I may even lose your grace through sin but I shall never lose hope I shall keep it until the last moment of my life when the efforts of all the Devils in hell to take it from me would be in vain others may hope for happiness from their riches or from their talents they may rely on their purity of life when the severity of their penances the alms they have given or the fervor of their prayers for my part Lord my trust is in my trust what does it take for the divine plan in your life to become a reality takes confidence in God humble prayer full abandonment the divine prophets a key vital essential element in your relationship with God without which it is impossible to grow in the spiritual life confidence is the open door to the Divine Mercy with confession contrition and repentance by our Lord's own command the inscription the image of the Divine Mercy given to the Holy Saint Faustina is yaesu orphan phobia Jesus I trust in you do you realize friends that the Bible is essentially a book about trusted God all right the Bible not written word gives us a gradual unfolding of God's revelation to humanity God's plan for our salvation and God's plan for each one of us each one of us if only we will trust in him what does the Bible have to say about trust and God will too much to mention here but in the Old Testament I think there's one book that stands out among the others is The Book of Psalms for example in the second Psalm there is a beatitude blessed are those who put their trust in the Lord Psalm 18 says the Lord is my rock my fortress my deliverer my god in whom I trust Psalm 20 some trust in chariots or horses but we in the name of the Lord they will collapse and fall but we shall hold in the stand firm this is the famous 23rd psalm yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me Psalm 56 says in God I put my trust I will not fear what can mortal men do to me confidence in God is recurring theme when the writings of the Saints were the great masters of the interior life st. Augusta greatest theologian of the early church said God is not a deceiver that he should appear to support us and then when we lean upon him should pull away trust passed to God's mercy the present to God's love and the future to his province st. Bernard of Clairvaux greatest into the 12th century said all things upon which you set your trust are yours do but expect much of God he'll do much for you expect but little and he will do little st. John of the Cross Carmelite mystic doctor of the church said do not be made sad by the adverse events of this life for you know not the good they bring with them ordained by God for your everlasting joy Saint Alphonsus Liguori said when did the death ever happened in a man had confidence in God and was long he who trusts in himself is lost he trusts in God can do all things st. Francis DeSales doctor the church said do not look forward what may happen tomorrow the same eternal father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow in every day of your life he will either shield you from suffering or he'll give you unfailing strength to bear it so be it peace then and put aside all anxious los santa azul azul said everything is a grace everything is the direct effect of our father's love difficulties contradictions humiliations all the souls miseries her burdens her needs everything because through them she learns humility realizes her weakness everything is a grace because everything is God's gift whatever be the character of life and its unexpected events to the heart that loves all is well to the heart that loves all as well now one thing that seems to be characteristic of modern living is stress high anxiety or a stressed-out society and precisely because I think we tend to be too busy for our own good so many of us lose ourselves in the day-to-day chase after the so-called American Dream it brings with all kinds of unrealistic expectations of material overabundance complete satisfaction perfect happiness and we will do just about anything to get you know I have known people who go through their whole lives they go on for years they will push themselves drive themselves knock themselves out poor small profit small promotion small advantage over a competitor arrival and business of professional life years go by it happens time and time again they don't find the satisfaction they are looking for instead they find anxiety worry pressure disappointment and isn't it true of friends that we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about what other people think about us we're concerned about everybody's opinion but gods there's a great line in the imitation of Christ which is the second most widely read Christian classic after the Bible it says what care I for the vain and worthless opinions of men bill cosby likes to say i don't know the secret to success but i know the secret to failure try to please everybody right you can't do it all right but people try to get ahead be career goals they look for emotional fulfillment all too often and human relationships that let them down the same time rule tells you you got to have it all you got to do it all you're the master of your own destiny it all depends on you you you I think this is an especially big problem for women today with the advent of the women's movement it seems to me and this is just my opinion the women in particular are under tremendous societal pressure to conform to the idea that they cannot and should not find happiness in fulfillment in marriage motherhood and family life you know this is the relentless propaganda the radical feminist movement they give the idea that to be a good wife and a good mother is not enough in fact it means nothing you know if you're a woman with a big family today you got to be countercultural right how often do they hear it you know oh she's only a stay-at-home mom she is just a housewife know when they're out with the kids when they're out with the kids at the mall or the supermarket or Walmart people take these little jabs at them you know these little snide comments one friend of mine was telling me that she was in the in supermarket with kid and there was woman standing beside her kind of looking down at the kids and she said to her oh are they all yours oh you poor thing how many kids have you got hope you're not thinking of heaven anymore ever heard of overpopulation ever heard of birth control you see this is the convoluted thinking of worldly selfish people short-sighted people who don't see children as a gift from God and as a burden an economic liability don't see those kids are intended by God to be your help your comfort your support in the loneliness and hardship of old age for the last 30 years women have been browbeaten to cave into the idea they're only going to find true satisfaction and job career and status and in general it is not working now I understand the financial pressures that many couples are under right but it seems to me there are millions of women who are not happier not more fulfilled by a job and career with a family out on the periphery of life in fact more women are stressed out burned out disillusioned it's bit of a digression but the point is this with all this intense pressure to succeed to be somebody in the side of the world sooner or later too many of us will come face to face with the one thing in life we Americans seem to dread the most the dread and fear the American psyche that dirty word failure you see if you don't have a supernatural outlook on life if your heart is not set on God the things of God failure will bring nothing but frustration frustrated idealism leads to cynicism pessimism depression but failure in God's plan remember this can be merciful how some if it humbles us if it drives us to our knees in prayer if it drives us into the loving arms of God where we might never be otherwise if it helps us to recognize the illusion of worldly desires if it turns our arts back to God God whose ways are not our ways that's why in the orders salvation sometimes it is the case that the worst things that happen to us turn out to be the best things that happen to us all right let's be honest hmm I wonder how many of us would never have come to him how many of us would never have turned our lives around had it not been for some experience of the cross some crushing disappointment in life hmm for those who live the love of Christ those who sincerely seek God there's the old latin maxim only are in bonum everything for the good you see if you're sincerely seeking God if you're someone who loves God it's trying to live in the state grace think about this what do you think can happen to you that God has not foreseen and permitted only for the sake of a greater good your good and the good of others st. Augusta said God does not make evil but God sees to it that evil should not become the worst he said suffering is not a punishment for damnation it's a medicine for salvation God could have no way permit the kind of evil out of which he could not bring good it's hard to believe sometimes we've got God's word on it since God has a plan ever heard the old saying want to make God laugh but my god laugh tell him your plans huh not to the hardly loves all is well come what may hmm see this is where faith is put to the test right here see come what may in life's darkest hours whatever it might be the tragic loss of loved one the unforeseen sickness the debilitating disease having to live with chronic pain the financial loss the layoff that comes out of nowhere the stock that goes out the bottom that drops out to the accident in traffic the broken heart the failed marriage the bitter pain of divorce the loneliness that hangs overhead like a dark cloud the rejection the humiliation the injustice as we suffer from others the loss of one's home and possessions fire flood hurricane tornado or whatever even in this God has planned omnia and bonum attrition for machines to say there's a great distinction to be made between prayer and worship some of us don't get hmm prayer is the expression of the human will to Almighty God but worship true worship is accepting God's will no matter how it presents itself you want to be a saint remember this we're called to be Saints all's nothing less than that right a saint is someone not only accepts the cross braces the cross a saint is someone who actually loves God's will and embraces God's will and truly wills what God wills even if what God wills for us is suffering this Authority Bishop Sheen in the order of divinity there's nothing accidental there is never a collision of blind forces hurting us at random there is instead meaning of a divine will in a human will that as a perfect trusted ultimate good is meant for it although it may not understand how or why until eternity every human being is in point of fact like a baby in the arms of a loving mother is sometimes administers medicine God sends us all the happenings of everyday life and so many invitations to holiness in his service the baby cries the Eagle takes protests but the state of the arms of God is content because she knows God knows exactly what is best for her thus the bitter in the sweet the joys and the sorrows of each moment are viewed as the raw material of sanctity now too many of us base our entire lives on false premise terrible misunderstanding of God's role in our lives you see we tend to have everything planned out for ourselves everything in life we think is very carefully fully scripted what we're going to go what we're going to do what were you going to be how it's gonna be usually with no reference to God right no reference to divine providence no prayer no spiritual discernment and at same time you see we look on God as the one who is supposed to make our plans succeed in our dreams come true when things go right we take the credit when things go wrong thank God right but our minds are way too tiny to understand God's mysterious plans okay so don't lose sight of the big picture here you see there's only one real ticket to success confidence and God conformity to the divine will as Christians we should have it drilled into our heads that success means of getting to heaven failure is the loss of your soul hell that is the ultimate failure my friend Bishop David Rickon of Green Bay always says remember that your resume will be forgotten two minutes after they pant you into the ground hmm that's how long the world is going to remember you hmm isn't it true that kids when they're growing up are always asked the same question by adults why do you want to be when you grow up what do you want to be that's not the best question to ask right there's a much better question than that the question that should be asked of kids is what does God want you to be kids are rarely ever asked that question you know when I was a teenager I had my whole life planned out for me I had the whole thing mapped out I had a blueprint for success I was gonna make a career out of the service I was gonna put my 20 years in and retire young with a nice pension and I thought well maybe I'd find a nice wife and have a nice family and I get a nice little job somewhere with Sunshine's have a nice comfortable little life for myself as you can see my plan fell through it didn't happen and you know what every day I thank God that it didn't happen it was merciful but certainly merciful for some poor woman think of all that God spared some poor woman when I didn't get married no hmm you see God had other plans you know some people asked me how do you know when you have really a true vocation of the priesthood that said it's kind of like this it starts out like a crazy idea but it's a crazy idea that won't go away hmm but the point is this remember this our finite minds are way too small to seek God's hidden hand in the things he permits to happen think about this just as the son of god was hidden in the swaddling clothes of the baby bethlehem just as the reality of calvary made present again is hidden in the mystery the offering of the mass just as the physical reality of Christ's presence body blood soul and divinity is hidden under the appearance of bread and wine in the Holy Eucharist so is the Divine Will hidden in the ordinary things the ordinary events that touch our lives and friends if you don't understand that you don't understand the mercy of God hmm the only captured friar for the salon is Casey while I'm not related to him unfortunately you know used to say that most people will never find out what God can do with their lives because they never allow the divine artist to go to work he said the biggest mistake we make in life is to set limits on God's power and God's goodness let me ask you this hmm do you think that a small child a little kid with crayons and the finger paints and Manila paper could create a greater work of art than did the great masters Michelangelo DaVinci Rembrandt do you think that an infant a little baby could compose a greater contraire toes and did Mozart Beethoven Chopin do you think that you but I Harmon hammer and chisel in your hands could make a more magnificent statue than did Michelangelo or Bernini no God is the divine artist as long as we allow him to work in us long as we trusted him listen to the words of Padre Pio say Pele kept repeating the spiritual daughter he was giving spiritual direction to his great and great suffer great turmoil he said the soul that is destined to reign with Jesus Christ and eternal glory must be remodeled by the blows of hammer and chisel why are these blows - the divine artist prepares this stone that is to say the chosen soul dear sister these folks of the chisel are the shadows fears and temptations spiritual torment and agitation with a bit of desolation and even a physical pain thank the infinite mercy of the Eternal Father then for treating your soul in this way for it is destined to be saved hmm did you ever see a large intricate tapestry from the reverse side hmm if you look at a tapestry from the reverse side it looks like a mess a mess of stitches go on every which way and you can't even tell what that image is supposed to be until you look at it from the front until you see it from the artist point of view you see that's the way it's going to be for us in the next life it's only then some of us will see the masterpiece being created by the divine artists in our lives hmm now y'all remember after the terrorist attack on New York the 911 seems like all of a sudden there was this great spiritual reawakening in America everybody was turning back to God people rushed back to the churches the churches were full 4 to 3 weeks afterward everywhere there were signs and posters and bumper stickers united we stand and god we trust god bless america everything was God God God all of a sudden is all over time past shock wore off soap operas came back on game shows talk shows sitcoms were back on with business as usual and all that talk about God God We Trust faded into the background churches were half empty again people had their emotional uplift they're shot in the arm it was all over right and now there is a movement to get the national motto and god we trust' off of the money see the ACLU is up to their old tricks again man I think sometimes maybe we should take the words In God We Trust off of the money you know why because the truth of the matter is we don't trust in God we trusted the money god almighty buck the triune God of the modern world is money sex and power god help us we're not kidding anybody right now the Bible shows us clearly that one of the things that is always most displeasing to God is lack of trust I could trust on the part of chosen Souls individuals and nations alive you want to be displeasing to God show him that you don't trust it think of the Israelites in the desert the Israelites have seen God's awesome power time and time again to bring them at a bondage in Egypt they have seen the God of Abraham smacked down the Egyptians with 10 plagues they had seen God part the red scenes round the Pharaohs army they have seen manna from heaven water from the rock still still they complained they grumbled they murmured against the Lord they wanted to turn back they longed for the fleshpots of Egypt symbolic of sin God made them wander in the desert for forty years until that faithless generation had passed away you see lack of crust is dangerous it will tame your relationship with God listen to our Lord's word to st. Faustina my heart is sorrowful Jesus said because even chosen Souls do not understand the greatness of my mercy their relationship with me is in certain ways filled with mistrust how much that wounds my heart remember my passion that if you do not believe my words at least believe my wounds why are you afraid why do you tremble when you are united with me most dear to me is the soul that believes in my goodness and has complete trust in me I my confidence have planted and give it all that it asks but I believe invent one of the reasons why there is so much unhappiness pessimism discontent despair in emotional instability in the world all around us today is that millions of people still see no meaning no purpose in their lives precisely because most of them do not know God hmm the famous psychologist Carl Jung used to say that in 30% of his patients he found no discernible neurosis but they were people who felt that their lives had no meaning they were people had no faith hmm are you aware of the fact that thirty four thousand Americans commit suicide every year and many more than that attempt to suicide by the rate of suicide among our young people for example has risen 300% in the last 15 years why I believe the answer couldn't be more clear because our young people are not being taught the faith they are not being taught to know and love God their lives have no meaning no purpose you see what you see as the meaning of life the purpose in life is going to dominate everything that you do in the way that you do it there is an old story from Middle Ages about a man who came upon three stone cutters at work he walked up with the first stone cutter and said what are you doing stone cutter said can't you see what's it look like I'm doing I'm chipping away at this rock he went for the second stone cutter and said what are you doing second one said can't you see doing my job I got a family to support try to make a living he went to the third stone cutter and said what are you doing the third stone cutter said can't you see we're building a great Cathedral for the honor and glory of God it will stand as the center of worship for the people this place for centuries to come the Holy Sacrifice of the bands is gonna be offered here every day the Lord Jesus Christ is going to abide here in the front of his mercy in the tabernacle so you see your outlook on life is going to affect everything you do in the way that you do it we can all see that the more the world becomes de-christianized the more it becomes dehumanized the more it becomes a world without hope a world in despair matters why escapism is the order of the day hmm you know people try to find all kinds of ways to escape from reality by giving free rein to all kinds of addictions diction's to drugs alcohol sex pornography gambling overeating spending money to excess compulsive shopping and all the line or by wasting time the kind of mindless entertainment that you find in the television or the movies the Internet of course it does not satisfy it can never satisfy the deepest longings of the human spirit it does not bring hope something that is essential to confidence in God isn't the virtue of hope the Bible calls them the virtue of Hope the anchor of the soul in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 19 it says fold fast in the hope that lies before us this we have as an anchor of the soul Shore and firm that's why I hope has always been associated with a symbol of the anchor the virtue of Hope was so important to the early Christians that they found 66 different anchors carved into the walls of the catacombs Saint Peter said we have been born again we're living hope in Jesus Christ living Hall sure hope not a false hope up a false confidence that his presumption when I talked about the mercy of God we've also got to talk about the biggest obstacle to it which is presumption it is rampant today in a society that has lost its sense of sin among people who live have bitterly in mortal sin you see we try to rationalize we say I hope God will understand I hope God will see things my way I'm a nice person I'm a good person I hope God will only see the good that I have done but I'm not gonna change you see all that is a false hope an empty hope it will perish with you when you die the Bible says the hope of the wicked shall perish and that is why the last thing in the world the devil wants you to do is to go to confession because confession is the greatest experience of a mercy of God the greatest source of inner peace friends without the gospel Jesus Christ this world does not have a single solitary raivo remember the Communists in Russia how they tried to build a society without God an atheistic state they made all kinds of promises empty promises they promised a worker's paradise equality of the masses endless prosperity redistribution of wealth worldly power it was all alive it was all a diabolical lie the Soviet Union became a nation and despair what was it like what was it like living in their cities at the time the norm was to have like four families living in the same flat each family one burner on the stove one bathroom for eight couples it was a hopeless situation the whole rotten system collapsed that's what's going to happen to this country by the way if we embrace socialism all right well john xxiii said there's a bit of a digression we stood out at a time left right well john xxiii said when a nation embraces socialism two things are inevitable also prosperity will also freedom my brothers and sisters we need the mercy of God I think that as time goes on and we get older we see more and more how much we need the mercy of God isn't it true we make so many good resolutions and we don't keep them you have so many good intentions so little seems to come of them we talk God we tell ourselves that we're gonna do more we're gonna do better you're gonna pray more give more love more it doesn't happen sometimes we fall over and again sometimes God permits it to keep us in humility it is a world things ayat II a country is under attack the church is under attack the family is under attack marriage is under attack our souls are under constant attack this poor fallen human nature of ours what can we do but trusted God you know the enemies of the church have got all the worldly power on their side yeah they've got the government's they've got the arms and the ammunition they have got the money they've got the movies they got most of the media they got the celebrities they got the news and entertainment media they got the courts they got the universities god help us they've even got some of our seminaries and all we have Scott and if God is for us who can be against us make the bus like of Almighty God the Father and the son of the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you forever

Channel: franciscanfriars

Views: 11,351

Rating: 4.769784 out of 5

Keywords: Bill, Casey, Conference, confidence, Fathers, Mercy, God, hardened, hearts, Heart, Homily, love, Maria, mother, the, redeemer

Id: 6QvXVSNhfXs

Length: 46min 40sec (2800 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 03 2012