Aug
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St. Alphonsus de Liguori
August 1, 2008 |
Today is the feast day for St. Alphonsus, a doctor of the Church who lived in the 18th Century. He was an Italian bishop who founded the Redemptorists. But he is probably best known for two works he wrote - Twelve Steps to Holiness and Salvation and Uniformity with God’s Will.
It’s the second work that struck a chord with me. Uniformity with God’s Will is a short pamphlet (30 or so pages) but it packs a punch.
To me, one of the most poignant points is in the first chapter, when St. Alphonsus sets the stage for what is to come in his treatise by distinguishing between conformity and uniformity -
“If we would completely rejoice the heart of God, let us strive in all things to conform ourselves to his divine will. Let us not only strive to conform ourselves, but also to unite ourselves to whatever dispositions God makes of us. Conformity signifies that we join our wills to the will of God. Uniformity means more - it means that we make one will of God’s will and ours, so that we will only what God wills; that God’s will alone, is our will. This is the summit of perfection and to it we should always aspire: this should be the goal of all our works, desires, meditations and prayers.”
Conformity v. Uniformity - the next stage in our spiritual development. If we conform our will to God’s will, we are doing just fine in this secular society of ours. But, if we uniform our will to God’s will, it means that we are accepting God’s will as our own. As St. Alphonsus so eloquently stated, that is “the summit of perfection.”
It’s a tall order, especially if we are not quite sure exactly what God’s will is for us. It’s also tough for folks like me who tend to decide on a course of action and then ask for God’s blessing. But, if we all discerned, accepted and acted upon God’s will for us, totally accepting his will as our own, just think about the possibilities for our world. If everyone would do God’s will for us as individuals, heck, we might actually accomplish the task of building our Father’s kingdom here on earth.
So, are you conforming, uniforming, or ignoring God’s will for you? A good question to query this weekend.
