Meditation for December 14, Joy in God

I can know, and know with a certitude sufficient to give me perfect peace, that I am in the state of grace and that God dwells in my soul, but can I arrive at the enjoyment of God present within me?

Two meanings may be given to the phrase: "Enjoy God within me."

It may mean to experience God's presence in a sensible way as though palpable. This is possible only with a particular grace from God which is not in the order of ordinary graces; it is an exceptional favor which belongs to the so-called mystical graces.

This gift does not imply great holiness in the recipient. It simply manifests a divine attention and it is perfectly possible that a person of great virtue may never receive it.

To enjoy God may mean not, as in the preceding sense, to ex­perience God's presence sensibly and so penetratingly that it finally absorbs the entire being - but much more simply, to know how sweet is the Lord, thanks to a faith which completely embraces its object. When we ask in the Office of the Holy Ghost for the grace to appreciate with rectitude the divine realities, we allude to the enjoyment of virtue and holy things recta sapere. And when in the Pentecost hymn we invoke the Holy Spirit as the Divine Consoler we seek the consolation emanating from a lively faith.

"O God, living in my soul, increase my faith in Your Divine presence. I do not ask to experience Your sweetness here below; it is enough to know that You are within me. Grant that I may live more fully what You have revealed to me, that my faith may increase each day and bring me into more intimate union with You."

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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)