Christ-Focus in Spiritual Growth

The practice of virtue is like riding bicycle: if you stop moving forward, you fall down. It is a fragile state that can be weakened or even shattered by a lapse into worldliness, materialism, resentment, lust, unforgiveness, selfishness, self-pity, or any of a thousand other forms of failure. Whenever this happens, the less mature soul is usually inclined to strive to “get a grip” by exerting more effort or trying some new thing. But such antidotes will never neutralize the inner poison. Though the soul may feel driven to try to stumble frantically along to the heights of holiness, it must instead, listen quietly for the Shepherd’s voice calling out through the fog of confusion and distraction.

When Jesus’ presence seems hopelessly lost, it is all too easy to forget his promise – “I will show myself to him” (Jn 14:21) – and his prayer: “Father, I want to those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory” (17:24). Striving to recapture the experience of Jesus’ companionship, the soul tries to reinflame unaided the dying embers of love; it hardly thinks of Jesus’ reminder, “He who loves me…I will love” (14:21). It seeks the lost spiritual joy but forgets Jesus’ plea “that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (15:11). It strives after its evaporated peace, but the memory of Jesus’ peace-promise has also evaporated: “My peace I give you…Do not let your heart be troubled” (14:27).

But all this misplaced striving can only result in frustration. Effort is the wrong antidote to what ails us; Jesus himself is what we need. He is our chair lift to the top of every mountain we may encounter!

God usually speaks to us in whispers, although sometimes he does shout – especially through catastrophes – to get our attention in momentous matters. Some rebellious souls don’t respond in compliance but shout back in defiance and anger. Most often, though, God’s voice is simply ignored – especially when it comes through those sporadic grace-whispers. It happens so easily, as there are so many other voices competing with God’s and luring us into the fripperies of life.

But consider what might happen if we learned to pay attention to these inspirations of grace. For example, perhaps just such a grace-whisper is offered through our reading of the following simple statistic: in any assembly of adults (children and teens excluded), one out of every thirteen persons will be dead within one year.

This statistic may stimulate us to reflection. Which of us will be in eternity a year from now, giving an account of our stewardship to God? What am I doing to prepare for the fact that I might be among the eight percent of adults? Now, many persons will allow such a spark of insight to pass by – a spurt of grace that may never impact them again, though they may casually recall it later. But if we are learning to be more responsive to grace, this statistic can have some practical impact on us. We might make some changes in how we use our time, and resolve to devote more of it to Scripture reading, prayer, or a volunteer charity activity. We might decide to do what we can to set our relationships right, forgiving someone who has hurt us, apologizing for hurting another, and so on.

“Since we live by the Spirit,” writes Paul, “let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25). That phrase, “keep in step with the Spirit,” is threatening to some people; they wrongly think that consistent response to the Spirit’s promptings is a pressured form of spirituality. But this misconstrues the whole creature-Creator relationship! It is not a burdensome ordeal to move lockstep with the Lord by consistently responding to his grace nudges. The last thing God would want to do is suppress our happy freedom by putting us in a spiritual straitjacket. It is only the abuse of that freedom that we are called to guard against. Real freedom is not license, but freedom to serve God and each other in love (see 1 Peter 2:16 and Galatians 5:13).

Hence, there is no constraint or pressure or compulsion for the person who is always happy to hear the voice of God and eager to acknowledge it. Each inspiration of grace, each grace-whisper, is a monologue that is meant to draw us into a loving dialogue with him. A friend-to-friend love tryst is not a pressured situation but a delight; the same goes for being faithful in responding to God and walking with him hand-in-hand. As a matter of fact, the more faithful we are in responding to God’s graces, the easier and more delightful the habit becomes.

Timing is vital here. In a Christ-focused person the loving response is immediate. There is no grace opportunity that won’t take “now” for an answer!

The importance of timing is impressively illustrated in the results of a research study by Mercedes-Benz car company. It revealed the amazing fact that nine out of ten car crashes would be avoided if drivers could hit the brakes one second sooner! (Some people have suggested hand brakes on the steering wheel to save that second that costs thousands of lives every year.) In other areas of life too, it is not only time that is important, but timing.

Every moment of time given to us in this life is precious, but some moments are more critical than others. The timely eruptions of grace are like geysers – not continuous but sporadic. By God’s special providence they are uniquely chosen moments in our life when our soul is God-kissed. The prologue of John’s Gospel exults in these many gifts: “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another” (Jn 1:16).

This excerpt is from the book The Art of Loving God by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications, 1995. This and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.