Thy Will Be Done
One
Thy Will be Done!
The goal of life is transforming union with Jesus. He is the Living Water, the only thing that can quench my desires. He is the Kingdom. And so, we pray, we ask, we beg, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
If we want the Kingdom, if we want the Living Water, then do the will of God!
But to drink of the River of Living Water in this life, Teresa of Avila says we must take the leap. We have to give ourselves totally and unconditionally to God. We must make “the complete gift of ourselves to God, the surrender of our wills to His, and detachment from creatures.”
What prevents you from doing and accepting the will of God in all things? What stops you from giving yourself unconditionally to God? What attachments do you cling to? Health, success, control, the need for new experiences, financial security, your kids and grandkids, vanity, pleasures, comforts? Come now, there is for everyone and I mean everyone, those things that if they were taken away from us or diminished we would be distraught, depressed and possibly lose our minds because we have placed our faith, hope, and love in them rather than in God and that is precisely the problem. We want our will and not the will of God.
And as St. John of the Cross teaches, “The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of Divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for until the cord be broken, the bird cannot fly.”
I know what my attachments are. Do you know yours?
Two
Total gift – nothing less.
Again, Teresa of Avila writes, “Unless we give our wills entirely to the Lord so that in everything pertaining to us He might do what conforms with His will, we will never be allowed to drink from the fountain of Living Water.”
So, come with me my friends, let’s take the leap of faith and throw ourselves unconditionally into the hands of God, telling him to do with us whatever He wills.
I love the way Josef Pieper expresses this leap of faith, “The Christian who dares to take the leap into this darkness and relinquishes the hold of his anxiously grasping hand, totally abandoning himself to God’s absolute control… for the sake of love’s perfection he walks straight up to dreadfulness; he is not afraid to lose his life for Life’s sake…”
And with St. Nicholas of Flue let us pray,
My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.
Three
Fiat Voluntas Tua
If you drank from all that this life has to offer and you are still thirsty, then say this with Teresa of Avila, “Fiat voluntas tua: Your will, Lord, be done in me in every way and manner that You, my Lord, want. If You want it to be done with trials, strengthen me and let them come; if with persecutions, illnesses, dishonors, and a lack of life's necessities, here I am; I will not turn away, my Father, nor is it right that I turn my back on You. Since Your Son gave You this will of mine in the name of all, there's no reason for any lack on my part. But grant me the favor of Your kingdom that I may do Your will, since He asked for this kingdom for me, and use me as You would Your own possession, in conformity with Your will.”
Four
We are radically incapable of giving ourselves unconditionally to God.
But what is impossible to us is never impossible to God. Jesus can do in us what we could never do, what we don’t even want to do. Jesus can do the will of the Father in us.
When Teresa prays, “But grant me the favor of Your kingdom that I may do Your will,” she is saying, “Father, I’m too weak to do Your will. Give me Jesus. He can do your will in me.”
“O my Friends,” Teresa states emphatically, “what strength lies in this gift! It does nothing less, when accompanied by the necessary determination, than draw the Almighty so that He becomes one with our lowliness, transforms us into Himself, and effects a union of the Creator with the creature. Behold whether or not you are well paid and have a good Master; since He knows how the love of His Father can be obtained, He teaches us how and by what means we must serve Him.”
Five
Mary – Help of Christians
I want to be happy. I want to surrender myself to God unconditionally. I want to do His will in all things. I even say the words Thy Will Be Done, bravely, and I mean them. But then the temptations, the responsibilities, the fears, the sicknesses, the crosses, the brokenness of the world, of the people around me and most of all my own brokenness break upon me like being smashed by a great wave.
That is when I call upon Our Lady!
She said yes to God in the place of the entire human race. I need her to come into my soul and say yes for me and to live God’s will through me. Mary, say yes for me!
That is when she says to me, “Michael I am here. Just make the act of the will, say the words and I will strengthen you. Say them and keep repeating, “Fiat Voluntas Tua, Thy Will Be Done!, Fiat Voluntas Tua, Thy Will Be Done!, Fiat Voluntas Tua, Fiat Voluntas Tua”