Peace Through the Will of God
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return. If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe. I shall not talk with you any longer, because the prince of this world is on his way. He has no power over me, but the world must be brought to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father told me.’
Jesus wants to give us peace. We receive it the same way he did, by loving and doing the will of the Father.
We will only have peace if we do the will of God!
If we lack peace, it might be a sign we are not aligned with the will of God.
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God did not leave us to wonder what His will was.
He revealed His will for us in general, meaning how he designed us, through the Commandments and the teachings of Jesus found in Scripture and Tradition that is summarized in the CCC, especially in part II and III. If you want to know the will of God for your life in general – read the Catechism.
Pope Benedict says: The first and essential thing is a listening heart, so that God, not we, may reign. The Kingdom of God comes by way of a listening heart. That is the path. And that is what we must pray for again and again. Benedict, Jesus of Nazareth Part 1, p. 145-146
There is absolutely no other way to allow Jesus to live through you than by beginning with a listening heart. If you spend time asking God what to do and listening patiently in silence. One way or another He will show you. Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
But, if you do not spend time, and I mean at least 30-60 minutes each day, asking and listening patiently in silence, then you chose to go it alone – tell me how that works for you.
We seek to know God and His will through
· Prayer, Meditation, Listening and Reflection
Time in solitude and silence each day to
· Develop an intimate friendship with God
· Talking to Him – vocal prayer
· Listening to Him – meditation
Rosary: Mary disposes us to know and do the will of God
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God’s will for us in particular is known by the duties and responsibilities of our state in life as a –
· Husband, Wife
· Parent
· Student
· Work outside of the Home
· Work inside of the Home
· Son or Daughter of elderly parents
o What other commitments have you made?
o Are you sure these other commitments are God’s will?
Our state in life comes with responsibilities that are the will of God for us. How are we doing in these?
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The surest way to know the will of God is through the things we cannot control or change – we could call it “Obedience to Events.”
If something is beyond your responsibility, your control or your ability to change it, then God in His Providence has allowed it. And we can still be at peace because God makes all things work for good for those who love him. This is where we are called to surrender to the will of God. Surrender does not mean to give up. Surrender to God simply means this:
A. You do what is within your power;
B. Let God do what He wants through all the people and events that are beyond your power or your zone of responsibility.
If we want peace of soul, we must not only do the will of God, we must learn to surrender, to accept what we did not choose, do not like and cannot change, trusting that God works all things for good for those who love him.
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Very often we do not do the will of God because of fear.
St. Catherine of Siena tells us disordered fear comes from being afraid of losing something in this world.
We have placed our hope for happiness in fragile things of this world which vanish like the wind, what Catherine calls the unreality of all worldly things which finally reduce our soul to nothing.
If we seek our happiness in union with God by doing and accepting His will, then nothing can take our happiness away because we always have God.
A prayer of St. Teresa of Jesus wonderfully expresses this:
Let nothing trouble you / Let nothing frighten you
Everything passes / God never changes
Patience / Obtains all
Whoever has God / Wants for nothing
God alone is enough.