Union with God

The fifth step, and the goal of all we have discussed, is Union with God. Prayer is mandatory in all states of the conversion process, but is critically important if we are to be perfected in charity and united with God. Without intense, and personal, prayer we cannot foster or sustain the perfection of our interior lives.

These are many forms of prayer, and our Catholic faith is enhanced by a diversity of prayers. There are prayers of petition, thanksgiving, and praise; prayers of adoration and glory; prayers for intercession and healing; prayers for forgiveness and mercy; and prayers for humility and transformation. In addition to these there are novenas for the intercession of saints, and litanies of praise. All of these, and more, serve us not only in times of need, but to bring us into a new perspective, to bring us into a closer union with God.

Fr. Dubay, who authored the book, “Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer”, presided at my ordination retreat. In one of his talks he described introducing deep meditative prayer into his prison ministry. At first only a few inmates attended. Then, as word got around, and seeing the change in those inmates, others came. Over a period of time the prison was transformed. Fr. Dubay described it as more like a monastery than a prison. Day and night you could hear prayers and hymns. And many of the inmates achieved high levels of sanctity. If deep prayer can transform a prison into a monastery, then how much more can it transform the prisons of our own making? It's all a matter of trust, faith, and supernatural grace, and all of these are available to those who ask in prayer.

To examine what 'Union with God' entails, we will look briefly at the Life of Mary. “Theologians teach us that the Blessed Virgin Mary began her spiritual life with grace much more abundant and perfect than that which the greatest saints have attained. They, also. tell us that God's promise to send a Savior included the promise of a peerless virgin.” 1 And, as the Roman Breviary confirms, “And behold, the Virgin whose coming was foretold approaches, white as snow, more beautiful than the sun, full of grace, and blessed above all women.”2

St. John of the Cross tells us that there are two essential conditions for achieving Divine Union, and both are found in Mary. And the two conditions are opposite sides of the same coin. “The first condition … is that there is nothing in the soul's will which is contrary to the Divine Will.”3 Mary, who was invariably guided by the Holy Spirit, had no attachments that challenged or superseded her desire to please God. There was nothing that occupied her heart more than her love of God.

“The second condition is that the soul will be moved in all, and through all, only by the Will of God.”4 Mary was so seized by Divine Love that she could only act under the inspiration and motivation of the Holy Spirit.

To seek Divine Union, it is necessary to put our attachments in perspective and in their proper place, abolish all inappropriate attachments, and allow Our Good Lord to move and direct the entirety of our lives. How wonderful it would be if all the world was similarly inspired.

In the Gospel of John, just before His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus prayed for courage and endurance, but primarily He prayed for us. It's truly astonishing, that facing the cruelest of deaths, He prayed for us. Listen to His prayer.

From the Gospel of John, “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, so that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one, as We are One, I in them and You in Me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that You sent Me, and that You Loved them even as You loved Me … I made known to them Your Name and I will make It known, that the Love with which You Loved Me may be in them and I in them.”5