Reflection #40
On a Life of Retirement
Souls that love God find their paradise in a retired life in which they are removed from intercourse with men. No, to converse with God, withdrawing one's self from creatures, does not bring bitterness or weariness. "His conversation hath no bitterness, nor His company any tediousness, but joy and gladness." (Wisdom 8:16).
Worldly people, with good reason, flee from solitude, because in solitude, where they are not occupied with diversions or worldly affairs, the remorse of conscience makes itself felt more in their hearts; and therefore such persons seek to relieve themselves, or at least to distract their thoughts, by conversing with men; but the more they study to relieve themselves among men and among worldly affairs, the more they meet with thorns and bitter disappointments.
To the lovers of God this does not happen, because in retirement they find a Sweet Companion who consoles them and makes them glad, more than the company of all their friends or relations, or of the highest personages of the earth. St. Bernard used to say: "I am never less alone than when alone, never less alone than when far from men, for then I find God, who speaks to me, and then I see myself, on the other hand, more attentive to His voice and more disposed to unite myself to Him." Our Blessed Savior desired that His disciples, notwithstanding that He had destined them to propagate the Faith by journeying throughout the whole world, should from time to time cease their labors and retire into solitude, to treat with God alone. We know, moreover, that Jesus Christ, even at the time when He was living on earth, was accustomed to send them into different parts of Judea, that they might convert sinners; but after their labors, He did not fail to invite them to retire to some solitary place, saying to them: "Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going, and they had not so much as time to eat." (Matthew 6:31).
If our Lord said even to the Apostles, "rest a little," it is therefore necessary for all apostolic laborers to retire from time to time into solitude to preserve their spirit of recollection and union with God and to obtain strength to labor afterwards with greater vigor for the salvation of souls.
He that labors for his neighbor with but little zeal and with little love for God, having some end in view dictated by self-love, of seeking to gain honor or wealth, does little for gaining souls. Therefore, Our Lord says to His laborers: "Rest a little." Certainly Jesus Christ did not mean by this expression that the Apostles were to go to sleep, but that they should repose in holding communion with God, in praying to Him for the graces necessary for living well, and thus should gain strength to employ themselves afterwards for the salvation of souls. Otherwise, without this repose with God in prayer, there is an absence of the vigor necessary to attend well to one's own progress and to the profit of others.
St. Lawrence Justinian, speaking of retirement, wisely remarks that it is to be always loved, but not always enjoyed: meaning to say that they who are called by God to labor for the conversion of sinners must not remain always in solitude, shut up in a cell, for they would be neglecting their divine vocation, to obey which, when God calls them, they must leave their retirement. Yet they should never cease to love and to sigh for solitude, in which God allows Himself to be more easily found.
O my Jesus, I have loved retirement little, because I have loved Thee little. I have gone seeking pleasures and relaxations from creatures, who have made me lose Thee, the Infinite Good. Alas, that for so many years I have kept my heart dissipated, thinking only of the goods of the earth, and forgetting Thee! Oh take Thou for Thyself this heart of mine, since Thou hast purchased it with Thy Blood! Inflame it with Thy love and make it entirely Thy own.
O Mary, Queen of Heaven, thou canst obtain for me this grace; from thee I hope for it.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
Worldly people, with good reason, flee from solitude, because in solitude, where they are not occupied with diversions or worldly affairs, the remorse of conscience makes itself felt more in their hearts; and therefore such persons seek to relieve themselves, or at least to distract their thoughts, by conversing with men; but the more they study to relieve themselves among men and among worldly affairs, the more they meet with thorns and bitter disappointments.
To the lovers of God this does not happen, because in retirement they find a Sweet Companion who consoles them and makes them glad, more than the company of all their friends or relations, or of the highest personages of the earth. St. Bernard used to say: "I am never less alone than when alone, never less alone than when far from men, for then I find God, who speaks to me, and then I see myself, on the other hand, more attentive to His voice and more disposed to unite myself to Him." Our Blessed Savior desired that His disciples, notwithstanding that He had destined them to propagate the Faith by journeying throughout the whole world, should from time to time cease their labors and retire into solitude, to treat with God alone. We know, moreover, that Jesus Christ, even at the time when He was living on earth, was accustomed to send them into different parts of Judea, that they might convert sinners; but after their labors, He did not fail to invite them to retire to some solitary place, saying to them: "Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going, and they had not so much as time to eat." (Matthew 6:31).
If our Lord said even to the Apostles, "rest a little," it is therefore necessary for all apostolic laborers to retire from time to time into solitude to preserve their spirit of recollection and union with God and to obtain strength to labor afterwards with greater vigor for the salvation of souls.
He that labors for his neighbor with but little zeal and with little love for God, having some end in view dictated by self-love, of seeking to gain honor or wealth, does little for gaining souls. Therefore, Our Lord says to His laborers: "Rest a little." Certainly Jesus Christ did not mean by this expression that the Apostles were to go to sleep, but that they should repose in holding communion with God, in praying to Him for the graces necessary for living well, and thus should gain strength to employ themselves afterwards for the salvation of souls. Otherwise, without this repose with God in prayer, there is an absence of the vigor necessary to attend well to one's own progress and to the profit of others.
St. Lawrence Justinian, speaking of retirement, wisely remarks that it is to be always loved, but not always enjoyed: meaning to say that they who are called by God to labor for the conversion of sinners must not remain always in solitude, shut up in a cell, for they would be neglecting their divine vocation, to obey which, when God calls them, they must leave their retirement. Yet they should never cease to love and to sigh for solitude, in which God allows Himself to be more easily found.
O my Jesus, I have loved retirement little, because I have loved Thee little. I have gone seeking pleasures and relaxations from creatures, who have made me lose Thee, the Infinite Good. Alas, that for so many years I have kept my heart dissipated, thinking only of the goods of the earth, and forgetting Thee! Oh take Thou for Thyself this heart of mine, since Thou hast purchased it with Thy Blood! Inflame it with Thy love and make it entirely Thy own.
O Mary, Queen of Heaven, thou canst obtain for me this grace; from thee I hope for it.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
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