Of the conformity and union which we must have with God, through perfect love
As one of the main effects of love, according to Saint Denis, is to ensure that those who love each other have among themselves only one and only one will; it follows that the more we love God, the more we will conform to his will; and that, reciprocally, the more intimate the conformity, the more perfect the love will be. To better develop this maxim, it is necessary to elevate ourselves in thought to Heaven, and to consider there that the continual occupation of the blessed is to love God, to conform in everything to his adorable designs, and to to have no other will than his own. Having established this, we must now examine what the will of God is, and seek what he sovereignly loves, so that, knowing by this means what the will is, and what the love of the blessed is, we may know at the same time what will and what love we must have for ourselves. The will and supreme love of God are the will of his own glory, and the love of his supremely perfect and supremely lovable being: now the will and love of the blessed are the same thing as the will and love of the blessed. love of God ; so that their love is an uninterrupted act, by which they continually strive, with all their strength, for God to be what he is: for him to be as good, as perfect, as happy, and as worthy of honor and praise that he is: and as they see in him everything they want to be there, from there is born in them an inconceivable joy, to see the one they love so full of perfections, and so filled with all kinds of goods.
This, to speak according to the limited scope of human understanding, is the perpetual exercise of the love of the blessed in Heaven, and what is their conformity and their union with the divine will: this, therefore, is what we We must try to imitate according to our strength, so that this will is accomplished on earth, as it is accomplished in Heaven.
But, so that everyone can achieve this more easily, we will show in a few words what the practice of this exercise consists of. When you are in prayer, raise your understanding to the consideration of the infinite being of God, his eternity, his wisdom, his omnipotence, his beauty, his glory and his happiness; and at the same time form acts of will, by which you rejoice in yourself that God is what he is: that he is God, that he only comes from himself the immensity of his being and the infinite goods he possesses; that not having need of anything, all things need him; because by himself he is omnipotent, and completely filled with goodness, holiness and glory: let us reason in the same way about all the other perfections which are in him without number and without limits. Saint Thomas (2. 2. q. 28. art. 5. ad. 3. and art. 2) and all theologians say that this is the greatest and most perfect act of love of God that the we are capable of producing; and it is also the most sublime exercise of conformity to the divine will that we can ever practice. For there is no more excellent love of God than that which God has for himself, which is the love of his own glory and of his supremely perfect being; nor a will holier than his: consequently, the more the way in which we love God resembles the way in which he loves himself, the more perfection there will be in our love, in our union and our conformity to the will Divine.
How much this exercise is particularly recommended to us in Holy Scripture.
The care that the Holy Spirit takes to frequently recommend this exercise to us can serve to make us further aware of its merit and excellence, and at the same time make it easier for us. the practice.
The holy Prophet King said, that when he considered the immensity of the glory of God, and how worthy it is that everyone should rejoice in the infinite advantages which he possesses, the joy which he felt in his soul, welled up again even on his body: My heart and my flesh , he says again (Ps. 83, 3), have been delighted with joy in the living God : and elsewhere, marking even more precisely the superabundance of this joy: My soul , says -he (Ps. 34, 9-10), will be overjoyed in the Lord, and will delight in his Savior: all my bones will say: Lord, who is like you? Also the Church, which is led by the Holy Spirit, knowing how sublime this kind of love is, invites us at the beginning of its services to love it in this way: it uses these words to lead us there. of David (Ps. 94, 1 et seq.):Come, let us abandon ourselves to joy in the Lord; let us sing hymns to God our Savior; let us present ourselves before his face, acknowledging the benefits we have received from him, and sing songs in his praise; for the Lord is the great God and the great King above all other gods; because the sea belongs to him; it is he who made it, and the earth was formed by his hands . It is again for this same reason and with the same view that at the end of each psalm the Church always adds this doxology: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; and may it be now, and always, for ever and ever, as it was from all eternity . This is properly what is called entering into the joy of his Lord (Matt. 25, 21), to participate in this way in the infinite joy of God, and to rejoice with him in his glory, his power, his wisdom, and all the other attributes he possesses.
It is therefore necessary for each of us to ardently desire to accomplish the will of God, and to procure his greatest glory in everything that depends on us; and that from then on imitating Jesus Christ (Joan. 8, 29), who always did the things that were pleasing to his Father , he forms a determined resolution to carry himself with joy to everything that he recognizes to be of the will and of the glory of God: For he who says that he knows God (I Joan. 2, 4-5) and yet does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and there is no truth in him; but the love of God is truly perfect in him who observes what the divine word commands . Thus, to have a true love of God, and complete conformity to his will, it is not enough to consider the infinite goods that God possesses, to make them a subject of joy, and to wish that all creatures would have them. love and glorify him, we must also dedicate ourselves to the accomplishment of the divine will; since we cannot say, with truth, that we desire the greater glory of God, if we do not contribute to it with all our power. It is in this kind of love that the soul exercises itself, when in prayer it conceives a true desire, and a firm resolution to accomplish the will of God, in the things it proposes to do. then, and in all those which could subsequently be offered: this exercise is the one which must be the most ordinary for us in all our prayers.
( Abridged from the practice of Christian perfection )
taken from the excellent Catholic blog : le-petit-sacristain.blogspot.com