No Will of Our Own
By Dcn. Wayland Moncrief
Epiphany Sunday
Recently, it was mentioned by a very sincere person, who is investigating becoming a member of the Catholic Church,
that she didn't know how to coordinate her own will with God's Will. At moments of crisis, we all face critical
decisions, moments that may require a change of direction, such as considering a new job, moving to a new community,
getting married, joining a religious community, facing the death of a loved one, or the decisions we all face in old age.
That she was seeking to know God's Will, that we seek to know God's Will, testifies to our love and faith.
God gives us the intelligence, reasoning, and prudence needed for such times. These are gifts from God and we need
to use them wisely. However, these gifts are only tools, they are not the essence of our being, and they are not what
is most important.
Coordinating our will with God's Will is not really the issue. In the Beatitudes, Jesus
says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.” This is one of those biblical verses that requires some insight.
We would naturally think that those who are rich in spirit would be the ones who are welcomed into the Kingdom. But Jesus
says. “No”, It is the poor in spirit that will be blessed.
St Augustine once described how he came to understand this verse. He was visiting a convent and observed the love,
devotion, and obedience with which the nuns carried our their daily tasks. He was so impressed by their humility that
he said they were so poor in spirit that they had no spirit of their own. What Jesus is telling us is this: those who
are poor in ego, poor in audacity, and poor in pride, they are the ones who will be blessed.
Hopefully, it is the desire of every Christian, every Jew, and every person of faith to live fully and completely in
God's Will; having no will of our own, but rather being humble, pliable, servants of Our Lord. For it is the humble who
will be exalted, and we have many examples of those who lived humbly and fully in God's Will.
Louisa Piccarreta, recently declared Servant of God, and known as the "Little Daughter of the Divine Will” was such a
soul. Luisa was born in Italy. At the age of seventeen she experienced a "mystical union" with Jesus similar to that
experienced by Theresa of Avila. Thereafter, Luisa was bedridden, but she humbly accepted her condition as her 'Yes' to
God. For the remaining 54 years until her death, Luisa consumed no food. She was nourished and sustained totally by
her daily reception of the Holy Eucharist.
Louisa piccaretta
Artist: Unknown 1
Through her encounters with Christ, Louisa wrote thirty-four volumes on the
Kingdom of the Divine Will, including the book, the Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion, in which Jesus explained how He
made reparation for our sins. Luisa's books contain profound theological insights that could not have been written by
any human intellegence, much less by a person with a third grade education. Louisa sought God's Will, and lived in God's
Will. Her writings are currently unavailable while she is being considered for sainthood.
St. Faustina
Artist: Unknown 2
And there's the soul of St. Faustina. At the insistence of her spiritual director, she recorded her mystical
encounters with Christ. Faustina's diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul correlates beautifully with Jesus' teaching on the
Kingdom of the Divine Will and contains eloquent insights into God's Love and His Mercy. Like Louisa's volumes, it is
obvious these could not have been written by a poor Polish nun with a very limited education. God chose her, the humble,
the unqualified, the one who was described as, “nothing special”, to show the world that this work was His. St.
Faustina loved our Lord completely and sought to live in His Will in all things, And, through her love and devotion, a
cloistered nun, Our Lord extended His Mercy to the whole world.
And, for those who recently saw our movie, “The Reluctant Saint”, St. Joseph of Cupertino was such as soul. Due to
extreme poverty he was born in a stable, and he was considered by almost everyone to be a simpleton – a moron. From his
childhood he experienced ecstatic visions of Jesus and Mary, which brought him only further condemnation. Through
considerable pressure on the Bishop his mother arranged for him to enter the Franciscan order. There Joseph was very
content to clean out the stables and care for the animals. But, because of his great love, because of his humility, and
fidelity to his duties, God chose to elevate him above his peers, both spiritually and literally. His bishop saw in him
this great love and made him a priest. And, as he celebrated his first mass, God exalted him as he levitated above the
altar. Rumors of this angered some Franciscan officials who denounced the occurance as demonic, and Joseph faced
inquisitions. He was described by the prideful as 'disruptive', and was transferred from one friary to another.
However, God remained with Joseph and exalted him even further. He was beatified in 1753 and made a saint ten years
later.
St. Joseph of Cupertino
Artist: Unknown 3
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany. In the broader sense, we all experience epiphanies: personal
moments of understanding and conversion, moments where the light goes on and we see things in new and marvelous ways.
These moments, as Isaiah says, cause “our heart to throb and overflow.”
However, the Epiphany we celebrate today is more universal. It is about divine revelation, and divine manifestations,
that reveal the nature of God, the nature of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and Their Love for us. And, on this Sunday, we
hear Isaiah's words about the Lord's Light shining in the darkness, the journey of the Magi, and angels appearing to the
shepherds.
The Magi are another example of souls who sought God's Will to an extraordinary degree. They were originally a tribe
of Medes and part of the Persian Empire. After a failed revolt, the Magi abandoned all ambitions for power and became a
tribe of priests. They became to Persia almost exactly what the Levites were to Israel. They were men of holiness and
wisdom, skilled in philosophy, medicine, and the natural sciences.
It may seem very odd to us for these men to make such a journey, traveling many months and over 1000 miles on camel-back
to greet the coming of a king, a king predicted in the stars. Many would think this sheer folly, but all, regardless of
their belief, have to acknowledge the faith involved for them to make such an arduous journey.
But, their journey is not as isolated as it may seem. It is entirely possibly that the Magi heard of the coming of
the Messiah from the Lost Tribes of Israel, who did not return from the Babylonian exile. But the revelation of the
coming of the Messiah was much more wide spread. Ancient historians have said “there was in the world a strange feeling
of expectation of the coming of a king. Even the Roman historians knew about
this.” And, another historian, Suetonius, who lived shortly after Jesus' time on
earth, reported that in the Orient an “old and established belief, that it was fated at that
time for men coming from Judea to rule the world.” It was their
knowledge and faith that led the Magi to the Christ. They acted on their knowledge of the stars, and understood that
something miraculous was about to occur. Without doubt, their journey was directed by the Holy Spirit, as God prepared
the entire world for the promised Messiah.
For those who have faith, for those who have eyes to see, God is truly at work in the world today. Jesus
said, “[How is it that] you know how to judge the appearance of the sky, but you cannot judge the
signs of the times. God is with us, leading us, and preparing us,
for His Kingdom. Just as He led the saints, just as He led the Magi, so He leads us by the revelation of truth and
the bright star of faith.
And, our part is to set aside all compromise, to have no will of our own, but seek His Divine Will in all things.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Only then, when we have no will of
our own, will we truly sing as Isaiah describes, with hearts that overflow with joy.
Let us pray: O Holy Magi,
- Pray for us that we will have the grace to eagerly respond to divine inspiration.
- Pray for us that we may not be discouraged by the difficulties we face on our road to salvation.
- Pray for us that we may have a true spirit of poverty, and a Christ-like charity for all.
- Pray for us that we may abandon ourselves and seek to live fully in Our Lord's Divine Will.
- Amen. Baruch Hashem!