If God continually inhabits my soul, should I not dwell within my soul to keep Him company?
What will become of all my duties which are not formal prayers? What will become of my class preparation and my classes if I am teaching, or my administrative duties if I am charged with them, my sweeping, my peeling of vegetables if I am entrusted with household tasks, my bandaging if I am a nurse...?
It is all very simple. God does not ask me to make continual acts of prayer, but to be always in the state of prayer.
To make acts of prayer only, would mean to perform one exercise after another in which my sole occupation would be to think of God. There can be no question of that; I would fail in the duties of my state.
When I am at prayer, I must exert myself to occupy my thoughts with God. At other times my essential duty is not to think of God, but to execute my work as well as possible for the glory of God. That is living in the state of prayer, in the state of elevation toward God. I am united to Him, not by my memory but by my will. And if to do well what I am doing, I must force myself not to think of God, I need not hesitate.
At prayer, I must think of God as perfectly as possible for it is the thought of God that excites love of God.
Outside of prayer, it is not important to think of God but to act for God. To do this I must make the good intention and not be disturbed if, seeking God alone in everything, I do not think of Him for some time. As I become more accustomed to the invisible world, the thought of God will become more familiar to me. Patience and perfect peace!
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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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