Ever want to make every mess in life perfect, but you just don’t have the energy to accomplish that titanic task?
Saint Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists, bishop, and Doctor of the Church, has just the solution: Accept reality, since all that happens, happens by the most perfect will of God, which is exquisitely effective in bringing about everlasting life.
This acceptance requires no advanced degree, no money, no travel, and almost no effort. It is simply an assent of the will toward appreciation of Divine Providence, enabling the soul to see what is beyond its control.
Control of the Soul
Strangely enough, when the limits of the soul are recognized, life suddenly becomes more open. Contraction results in expansion, because energy is focused on what is immediately possible, not what is theoretically so.
Vague hopes and vain fears are replaced by real options for exercising Christian virtue, which is, after all, how we gain admittance to Heaven—not through speculation or wishing to be in another position we imagine would be better suited for us.
Saint Alphonsus would recommend praying and working diligently throughout the day for the love of God, all the while accepting whatever results occur, also for the love of God. This practice can then be repeated as long as the gift of life remains.
One of the classics by Saint Alphonsus is The True Spouse of Jesus Christ. Despite its name, this tome is not only tremendously beneficial to religious sisters, but religious brothers, priests, and laity. In its chapter on purity of intention, the first of the marks by which one can know if he is doing the will of God is said to be:
"…if, when your undertaking has not been successful, you are not disturbed, but remain as tranquil as if you had attained your object. This will certainly be the case when you have acted only for God; because when you see that He has not wished your efforts to be crowned with success, neither will you wish it; for you know that He demands an account, not of the success or failure of your undertaking, but of the purity of your intention."
This extremely important topic is covered in other places of The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, and is distilled into a bite-sized blockbuster booklet called Uniformity with God’s Will.
Winning Even Among Sinning
Many spiritual writers state that God does not cause unjust things to happen to us, but does allow them.
What distinguishes Saint Alphonsus (and other saints) is the more precise teaching that God does not allow certain things to happen, but, in His infinite wisdom, ordains them.
The allowance, as Saint Thérèse of Lisieux wrote, is when God permits his creatures to do His will.
This is highly palatable when people act virtuously toward us, but what about when they act viciously?
Saint Alphonsus explains that when someone offends us unjustly, God does not will the guilt of his sin, but does, in a general way, concur in the sinner’s material action, so that He does will the effects of the sin upon us.
Those alarmed by this need look no further than the Son of God Himself.
In one sense, all sinners killed Him, yet in Matthew 26:39, He prays in His agony,
“Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass away from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
It was God the Father’s will that salvation would come from the death of His Son.
This makes it easier to see that virtue consists not only in the performance of good works, but in the endurance of bad works from others and bad situations in nature.
Depending on the circumstances, we may be able—and even duty-bound—to end the bad works of others or remedy material challenges. However, there are other times when the only option is patient, prayerful endurance of a cross as God’s will for our eternal good.
Saint Alphonsus said that if we accept the will of God in all things, we will be among the happiest of people here below, and enjoy a preview of the eternal happiness of Heaven.
Therefore, the soul who wishes for control has the power to get that this very hour—by accepting everything as coming from Almighty God, who wills our sanctification in an infinitely greater way than we could do it ourselves.