Thought for the Day – 4 May – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)
“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5
LVIII: … The Offering of Self to God
(Part Two)
“We may indeed offer ourselves to God while still attached to creatures but, it must be with the hope that His goodness will set us free and that, we may consecrate ourselves entirely to His service.
Therefore, let all our offerings be pure and untainted, destined to the honour of God alone.
Let us be oblivious of the good things of both Heaven and earth, having nothing in mind but the accomplishment of the Will of God and adoring His Divine Providence.
Let us sacrifice every affection of our souls to Him and, forgetting earthly things, let us say:
“Behold, O my God and Creator,
the offering I make of my entire being.
I submit my will entirely to Thine;
dispose of me as Thou wouldst in life
and in death, in time or eternity.”
If we make this prayer from the depths of our hearts, our sincerity will be tested in time of adversity and we shall prove ourselves to be citizens of Heaven, not of earth.
We shall be children of God and He will be ours; for He dwells constantly with those who, renouncing themselves and all other creatures, offer themselves as holocausts to His Divine Majesty.
Here then, you find a powerful means of vanquishing your enemies; for if, in uniting yourself to God, you become all His and He all yours, what power or what enemy can ever harm you?!
And when you would offer fasting, prayers, acts of patience, or good deeds, think first of the oblation of works, prayers and fasts offered by Christ to His Father and place all confidence in their Infinite merit. But, if we desire to offer to this Father of Mercy, the sufferings of His Son in satisfaction for our sins, we may do so in the following manner:
First, we must call to mind, either in general or particular, the chief disorders of our past lives and, convinced of our inadequacy
to appease the Divine wrath of our Sovereign Judge, or satisfy His
offended justice, we must have recourse to the Life and Passion of
our Saviour.
We must remember that when He prayed, fasted, laboured and shed His Precious Blood, He offered all His acts and sufferings to reconcile us with His Almighty Father, saying, as it were:
“Behold, O Eternal Father, according to Thy Will,
how I comply with Thy decrees in atoning for the sins of …. .
May it please Thy Divine Majesty to grant pardon to him
and graciously to receive him into the number of Thy elect.”
Everyone ought to join his prayers with those of Jesus Christ and implore the Eternal Father, to have mercy on him through the merits of the Passion and Death of His Son.
This may be done every time we meditate on the Life or Passion of Our Lord, not only in considering the individual Mysteries but also, the
various circumstances of each of the Mysteries.
This mode of oblation, may apply, whether our prayers be offered for self or for others.”
PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/05/03/thought-for-the-day-3-may-the-offering-of-self-to-god-part-one/
Dom Lorenzo Scupoli
AnaStpaul 