Trust
has come up a good bit on this blog of late, and its necessity in a vibrant
spiritual life.
Today it leads us to the core of the
matter.
"The Universal Prayer"
attributed to Pope Clement XI asks for all the graces and assistance necessary
to grow in holiness. The heart of the prayer is striking—but not easy to
pray.
I want whatever you want
because you want it,
the way you want it,
as long as you want it.
Such
a prayer requires a huge amount of trust—a limitless trust, really. One can't
pray this without turning everything over to God, and accepting His will
unconditionally.
This is not to say that we are to roll over and passively accept anything and
everything that happens to us. That would be Quietism:
the heresy that equates accepting God's will with total passivity. Often when a problem enters our lives, what He wants is for us to do our
darndest to solve it. Embracing His will frequently means accepting the challenge of struggling
to overcome a difficulty.
There are negative situations over which we have no control. Then embracing His will means to accept that situation as best as possible, carry that cross, offer it up. This approach is similar to that of the "Serenity Prayer":
There are negative situations over which we have no control. Then embracing His will means to accept that situation as best as possible, carry that cross, offer it up. This approach is similar to that of the "Serenity Prayer":
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
We don't have to like everything that happens to us; we’re certainly not
supposed to want suffering. God doesn't want suffering. What He
wants is our good, and for us to be free. There is a difference between His
perfect will and His permissive will.[1]
That’s why praying Pope Clement’s prayer requires trust.
God knows we question this. Jesus
says, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a
serpent, or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11-12). The
only problem is that sometimes it sure looks
like a serpent or a scorpion. That’s why He also
says: “I know my plans for you, and they are plans
for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
If we come to believe that God is holding
back countless sufferings from us, filtering them through His loving hand, and
only allowing those that will somehow bring us a greater good, then we can rest
in His will. If we can trust that what He wants for us is good, then we can
want that good too, even if it comes in a nasty shape. We trust that He’s a good judge of value; He knows which
goods are greater.
We can want what He wants when we
know that what He wants is our good.
When we're experiencing great suffering,
however, it is nearly impossible to believe this. With His grace and help, we can
strive to take the longer view, the eternal view—although we’ll never be able
to reach the pinnacle of His viewpoint. If nothing else, we can cling to Him in
the midst of the horrible mystery, knowing that God the Son suffered too, and
God the Father gave up His Son for love of us.
Theologians and saints have said that the essence of holiness is conforming one's will to the will of God.
Only a great love can do so. But love is
of the heart, so it's no surprise that love for God is at the heart of
holiness.
If Pope Clement’s prayer seems too
impossible to pray sincerely, ask for the love and the trust to pray it. Then
pray, "Lord, I want to want whatever you want...". If you
can't even pray that, ask for the desire to pray it.
A life lived with that attitude is one of
peace and even joy. Because our fulfillment is union with God.
[1]For
a more extensive handling of this topic, see my earlier posts: “Qualifying Gift”
and “Trusting in God”.
To see "The
Universal Prayer" in full (though a different translation), click here.