Our Lord is displeased only when He sees no attempt made to get rid of imperfections which, when deliberate, clog the soul and chain it to the earth. But He often purposely does not give the victory over them in order to increase our opportunities of meriting. Make an act of humility and sorrow after failure, and then never a thought more about it.
He sees what a “tiny little child” you are, and how useless even your greatest efforts are to accomplish the gigantic work of making a saint. But this longing, this stretching out of baby hands for His love, pleases Him beyond measure; and one day He will stoop down and catch you up with infinite tenderness in His divine arms and raise you to heights of sanctity you little dream of now.
COMMENT: We have no notes from the Spiritual Exercises from 1907 for today, so we will take a break from the Spiritual Exercises with a gentle reflection from Fr Doyle on spiritual childhood. One might be forgiven for considering Fr Doyle to be a rather austere character if all one had to go on were his own personal retreat notes which we have been considering here for a few weeks. Yes, he was personally tough, or more accurately, he was tough on himself. However, he always was unfailing gentle on others.
We must correspond to the graces God gives us and to His call. Fr Doyle received many graces, and was called to offer great sacrifices. This is not the path that everyone – or even most people – are called to walk.
Ultimately, we are all children in the spiritual life. Just as a father delights to see his child learn to crawl and walk and mumble some words, so too God is delighted with our feeble efforts to grow and advance and pray, so long as we persevere and try our best. Yes, the day may come when we are expected to display greater personal courage and strength, but we must first inevitably learn to walk, holding God’s hand and trusting in His strength.
Father Doyle reminds us that, yes, God can be demanding, but He deeply loves us, each one of us individually, like a gentle, caring, understanding, forgiving Father. All the more reason we should do ur best, be our best to prove our love for Him.
About two months or so ago I read that this holy priest gave up butter! Since my children often tease me about this I was immediately interested. I had seen his biography being offered in Ignatius Press but never was interested in WW I. But butter was another matter. I appreciate so very much your daily story’s and snippets from his writings I did go to an online bookstore and purchase of his life by Alfred O’ Rahillly. Of course I am 3/4 Irish with my Shannon maiden name. When you began sending his reflections during the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius I was prepared to get another headache. But I have not. I have tried three times to do the Exercises at home now that my children are gone and my former spouse dead, and my great love of Jesuits made me want to try. All I can say is after three efforts I was so exhausted by the prologue and points and references to other parts I figuratively needed to go lay down with a cold cloth on my forehead. I love St. Francis de Sales and the Devout Life. I can only describe my efforts to be a better person this way: I enjoy watching film on French Cooking and look for little crumbs of ways to be a better cook, but I am never going to cook this way. I don’t even want to know people who eat this way. But spiritually yes do I want to read about them and admire their love of God and in some small way come to know God, love God, and serve God in a better way.