Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read,
whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love,
stay in love, and it will decide everything.
(Pedro Arrupe, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983)
Peregrinatio:
There were early Celtic saints who followed where God was leading by climbing into a small boat called a coracle (without an oar or rudder) trusting themselves to the "currents of divine love." They were confident that God would lead them to their place of resurrection, where their gifts would be fully shared with the world.
On this sacred journey (peregrinatio) God becomes both the destination and the way: the companion and the guiding force. God is the one who calls us forth, and God is the unfolding of our journey. Finally it is God who welcomes us home. (Paintner)
It is Love that will lead each of us to our place of resurrection, as divine winds guide the little coracle of our heart. We choose whether to get into the boat and if we will allow ourselves to be drawn by this Great Love. We are not in control of where God's Love will lead, but we can be certain it is to our place of resurrection.
The following was written by Pedro Arrupe, S.J. after he suffered a debilitating stroke which he endured for the final ten years of his life.
In the Hands of God
More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.
To ponder:
Read the Arrupe prayer at the top of this page again.
What would it mean for you to "fall in love" with God?
How is Love revealed in the practical details and choices you make each day?
What might your "place of resurrection" be? Do you have a sense of where God's Love is leading you?
Christ Before Me (Keith Duke) https://youtu.be/W2hO1JDbczY
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ above me
Christ below me
Christ to left
and Christ to right
Christ within
both day and night
Sources:
Pedro Arrupe, S.J., IgnationSpirituality.com.
Christine Valters Paintner, "The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred," Notre Dame, IL: Sorin Books, 2018, p. 25.
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