Consent to the world as a whole

“Neither happiness not contemplation is possible except on the basis of consent to the world as a whole “ pg 106, Josef Peiper: Happiness and Contemplation. St. Augustine’s Press, South Bend, IN 1998

And this consent is based on the great gift of faith: faith that the world even as it is this moment is redeemable. That all is gift. That Jesus, true God and true man experienced in Gethsemane and on the cross what human suffering is like and yet he trusted. Remember? If it be possible, let this chalice pass from me, yet not my will but thine be done. And our faith tells us that all the suffering Jesus then endured was not at all the end of the story. Jesus rose from the dead.

This is the mystery in which we live. This is the mystery to which we give our consent. We do not deny human suffering, human wickedness. Perhaps we weep over it all as Jesus did over Jerusalem.
We find ways to help alleviate suffering. We are indeed called to works of mercy, in some way or other. But in the end by the gift of faith we give our consent to the world as a whole. And in this consent we are able to live ever more contemplatively.

Living more contemplatively means living ever more attentive to the reality of the Presence of God. We are ever in the Presence of God. In Him we live and move and have our being. Can we of ourselves make ourselves more attentive? I do not think so. But as God gives us the desire, so God gives us the path to follow and bids us come along.

One great way is the gift of Christian Meditation. When we meditate we let go of running our own lives for 20-30 minutes. We just rest in God. And we let God bless us as He wills. And for sure one gift given is the gift of faith in the reality that we are always immersed in God. that God is ever with us.

When we meditate, we are mindful that God is with us, loving us. We let go of all our imaginations, thoughts, worries, feelings. We just sit and repeat a prayer word or phrase as a way to focus. It is a word of faith. It is a time of faith. It is a time of consent. Let us pray.