Silent Insight

But the LORD said to Samuel…”for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

- 1 Samuel 16:7

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Daily Catholic Meditations For Faith, Listening, and Peace (www.SilentInsight.com)

Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God

We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability --- and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.

Your ideas mature gradually --- let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don't try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

- By Pierre Teilhard De Chardin SJ

Source: Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits (Paperback) by Michael G. Harter (Editor)

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One day he got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, "Let us cross to the other side of the lake." So they set sail, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A squall blew over the lake, and they were taking in water and were in danger. They came and woke him saying, "Master, master, we are perishing!" He awakened, rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a calm. Then he asked them, "Where is your faith?" But they were filled with awe and amazed and said to one another, "Who then is this, who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?"

- Luke 8:22-25

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Daily Catholic Meditations For Faith, Listening, and Peace (www.SilentInsight.com)

Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways. The brother in lowly circumstances should take pride in his high standing, and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away "like the flower of the field." For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him

- James 1:1-12

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Daily Catholic Meditations For Faith, Listening, and Peace (www.SilentInsight.com)

St. Ignatius learned about discerning God’s influence from the influence of others during his recovery of a battle wound in 1521. He would dream of doing knightly deeds but afterwards would feel sad and listless. On the other hand, he would dream of imitating the saints and would feel joyful and alive. It was through these daydreams that Ignatius came to see how God draws us toward a new way of life. Consider the primary thoughts that occupy you mind daily and how you feel afterwards.

In May 2002, America magazine published an article by William A. Barry, S.J. titled “How Do I Know It’s God.” See the full article for more on the life of St. Ignatius and how he came to the Rules for Discernment of Spirits in his Spiritual Exercises.

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Daily Catholic Meditations For Faith, Listening, and Peace (www.SilentInsight.com)