“Let God Fulfill Your Deepest Desires” by
Beth DeCristofaro
(Peter
said) My brothers, you are well aware that from early days God made his choice
among you that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel
and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the
Holy Spirit just as he did us. He made no distinction between us and them, for
by faith he purified their hearts. (Acts 15:7-9)
Jesus
said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. (John 15:9-10)
Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. (John 15:9-10)
Piety
May my joy be in you, O Jesus, and may my joy
be complete.
Study
Stubbornness runs in my family. For me I tend
to want my own way, always to be right, to keep things unchanging, to know all
the answers – unless I don’t know them then I can be even more intransigent! Being
fixated on my own desires stunts me. When I replace God’s will for me with what
I want I cannot honor important relationships including my connection to God. After
all, I like my own voice which is so informed, rational, benevolent. Yet when I
am so obstinate, even when fighting for what is right, I can’t hear God’s voice
anymore.
The early Christians were embroiled in
important discussions about their nascent faith community, how faith was to be
understood and lived. Today our nation is embroiled in disputes about important
moral and values matters. Peter broke through the adamant arguments reminding
the community that God “purified” the hearts of Gentiles. Jesus, again and again, reminded his disciples and reminds us that the Word was from God not from him and
that he was one with God. Jesus reminded them that he was bringing them (and
us) into oneness with God. God’s commandment? Love – which includes loving
those who do not agree with us.
Henri Nouwen wrote: “But God is love, only
love, and God’s Spirit is the Spirit of love longing to guide us to the place
where the deepest desires of our heart can be fulfilled. Often we ourselves do
not even know what our deepest desire is. We so easily get entangled in our own
lust and anger, mistakenly assuming that they tell us what we really want. The
Spirit of love says: ‘Don’t be afraid to let go of your need to control your
own life. Let me fulfill the true desire of your heart.’[i]
Action
We can only
listen when we still ourselves in body, in mind, in emotions. Bring to mind a
relationship which is obstructed with human will. Bring this situation, the
other person perhaps, into your prayer and listen, listen for God’s will. Give
over to God any need to control your own life in this matter. God’s peace and
joy – even should the situation continue to be fraught - will fill you when you
hear the answer.
[i]
Nouwen, Henri in Here and Now, quoted
in Give Us This Day: Daily Prayer for
Today’s Catholics, Liturgical Press, May 2019, p. 215.
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