Only with God…

We should never forget that only with God can we properly deal with our own weaknesses, and the many temptations and sins around. Only with him can we manage to resist the devil himself. Without him, we are easy prey, a sitting duck. Our earnest desire should be how we can be with God always, our union with him as strong and vibrant as ever.

Let’s not forget that if our first parents, still in their state of original justice and therefore in theory should have been in close union with God, managed to sin, how much more us who are already born with original sin and whose lives here on earth will always be hounded by all forms of evil!

In the case of our first parents, we know that in spite of their very good condition, there was a moment when they failed in the proper exercise of their God-given freedom and chose to listen to the devil rather than to remain faithful to God. And so they fell.

We have to understand that without God, the proper exercise of our freedom would be out on a limb, and it would just be a matter of time before we fall into sin. It is that automatic. We would have no sufficient defenses against our real enemies. We may even think that our enemies are our friends and allies.

We should never forget that our freedom is a very intoxicating endowment God has given us. It should only be exercised with God as its beginning and end. Otherwise, we will only misuse and abuse it and lead us to sin. We should constantly make the effort to choose God instead of what we simply like by ourselves.

We need to see to it that our union with God should, as much as possible, be abiding, completely sealed with no opening, no matter how minuscule, that can allow our weaknesses, the sinful allurements of the world and the devil himself to enter. We have to remember that as St. Paul warned us, we are actually ranged against powerful enemies in this life. (cfr. Eph 6,12)

Only with God can we be keenly aware of the many dangers that lurk within us and around us. Only with him can we resist the temptations and be unaffected by our weaknesses and the sins around.

In other words, we really need to know how to pray always. This means we have to know how to convert everything into prayer, always relating everything to God --our joys and sorrow, our work and rest, our successes and defeats, etc. Yes, everything can and should be a material and occasion to pray.

We should be in constant awareness of God’s presence in us and around us. And our relation with him should be driven by love, by desire to be with him and to do his will. We have to feel the need for him. In fact, he should be our greatest need, without whom we should feel completely empty. Nothing should replace or substitute for him in our mind and heart. We need him more than we need air.

What can show that we are truly with God is that in spite of the drama of life, we will always feel driven to praise him, to do a lot of good, to practice the virtues, to serve others. We would know how to be patient, to be forgiving. There is some kind of excitement and at the same time a deep sense of peace and confidence and joy that the world cannot give.

We would know how to sanctify our work and all the other circumstances of our life, whether they are good or bad as regarded in human and worldly terms. We would know how to flow with the times without getting confused and lost.