Means of Advancing in Gods Love
Dear Loving God, help us to love you more. Help us to be simple like a child in doing what pleases You in every moment of our life. Alleluia.In the book "The 12 steps to holiness and salvation" written by St. Alphonsus Ligouri, following guidelines are given as the five means of advancing in God's Love. Everything given below in this extract is directly copied from the same book except the italicized words.
1. Ardent desire for this perfect Love
Because I would take little or no pains in striving to obtain that for which I have little or no desire. If I cannot have or develop the desire to Love God, I shall at least take efforts to ask the God to help me.
2. Renouncing all love that does not refer to God
The pure Love of God consumes in heart all that is not God, to turn everything into love, for all that man does for God is love. St. Paul in Phil 3:8 says: "I count all things but as dung that I may gain Christ". St. Francis de Sales says: If a house is on fire, they throw everything out the window. As soon as a heart is inflamed with the love of God it seeks to divest itself of everything earthly so as to love nothing but God.
3. No self-love
To deny oneself by gladly embracing what is opposed to self-love, and refusing oneself what self-love demands. St. Francis de Sales says that our self-love wants to have a share in everything even in things the most holy. For this reason, we must love even virtue without attachment. For example, it is necessary to love prayer and solitude. But when obedience and charity prevent us from devoting ourselves to prayer and solitude we should not be disquieted, but accept resignedly everything that happens by the will of God to thwart our inclinations.
Self-love does its own will (even in spiritual activities). St. Alphonsus Ligouri says: Mortification, meditation, receiving Holy Communion, acts of fraternal charity are all certainly pleasing to God-but only when they are in accordance with His will. When they do not accord with God's will, He not only finds no pleasure in them, but He even rejects then utterly and punishes them
4. Frequent meditation of the sufferings of our Savior Jesus Christ
This has always been a favorite devotion with the saints. We must not reflect on the sufferings of Jesus Christ (just) for the sake of the consolation and sweetness it affords, but only to inflame our hearts with love for our suffering Savior and to learn from Him what He desires us to do.
5. (Consistent, sincere and daily) prayer
1 Thess. 5:17 Pray without ceasing. I
believe Worship and Praising prayer is more involving than just the
asking prayer. Prayer to God is not necessary to be formal all the
times. I felt no compelling reason to pray regularly. I also had no
interest in doing so. Until I was guided to read this book by our St.
Alphonsus Ligouri - A Short Treatise on Prayer. Here are some excerpts from this book.
We are weak, but God is strong; by seeking His aid we obtain a participation of His power, and with His strength, according to the apostle, we can do all things: ‘I can do all things in Him who strengthened me.’--Phil 4:13.
We are weak, but God is strong; by seeking His aid we obtain a participation of His power, and with His strength, according to the apostle, we can do all things: ‘I can do all things in Him who strengthened me.’--Phil 4:13.
Hence, says St Chrysostom, he that
falls is without excuse; had he continued to pray, he would not have
yielded to the enemy.--St Chrysostom, Serm. De Moysi.
If we do not
pray, we shall certainly be without excuse; for the grace of prayer is
given to all; it is in our power to pray whenever we wish. ‘With me,’
says David, ‘is prayer to the God of my life; I will say to God, thou
art my support.’--Ps. 41:9-10.
‘A person may say, I am unable to fast
or to give alms; but if he be told to pray, he cannot say I am unable
to pray;’ because there is nothing more easy than to pray. But to
procure the divine aid, we must never cease to pray, we must continually
do violence to heaven, that violence which is dear and agreeable to
God.
To relate the prayer to the situation of love between a husband and a wife, my wife oftentimes, at least once every day, just wants me to sit with her and talk something. It does not matter what I speak. She just wants my presence with her. As a token of my love to her, she just wants me to do some amount of talking every day. Otherwise, she says that she feels distant from me.
Alleluia
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