Gift of Oneself , livre ebook

TAN Books - C.SS.R. Rev. Fr. Joseph Schryvers

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179 pages

English

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The Gift of Oneself will be for many a fresh; new approach to spirituality - an appeal to generous souls to offer themselves to God as a gift that is at once fitting - since He has given us all we are and have - and complete; for we thereby hold back nothing for ourselves. And in return; Almighty God in a special way concerns Himself with the sanctification of our souls and the care of our temporal needs. Jesus will work wonders in a soul so given over to Him; for He is the best of all spiritual directors; and He knows exactly the place in the Mystical Body that a consecrated soul should occupy. This gift of oneself to God is easy; for all we have to do is love Him. In return for the gift of oneself; God responds by giving Himself. What more could we want or need? Those who read this book derive a great feeling of peace and security from it. The Gift of Oneself will be a surprise and a delight to those generous souls who are ready to embark upon a secure and rewarding spiritual life!

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Christian theology

Catholic Church

History of religions

Christianity

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Publié par	TAN Books
Date de parution	01 novembre 2008
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781618903419
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Nihil Obstat: A. Levatois, S.S., D.D. Censor Deputatus Imprimatur: Michael J. Curley, Archbishop of Baltimore
Copyright © 1934 by The Carmelite Nuns, Bettendorf, Iowa.
ISBN 978-0-89555-833-6
Cover illustration: The Blessed Virgin Mary giving herself to God’s service in the Temple in Jerusalem. Illustration Copyright © 2006 by TAN Books. Art by Gabrielle Hall, based on an old engraving.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
TAN BOOKS Charlotte, North Carolina www.TANBooks.com
2006
The translator dedicates this little work To Our Lady.
May the lowly Handmaid of the Lord guide us in the little path of self-forgetfulness! May countless souls learn to address to her the author’s prayer:
“O BLESSED Mother, teach us simplicity! Help us to become children in thy school. Let us know nothing else than this entire surrender of ourselves to God, this simple and spontaneous act of the heart, as we cast ourselves into the arms of Jesus and promise Him our fidelity: To love Jesus, to do His Will, to accept all from His Hands—this, good Mother, shall be our secret, as it was thine.”
Publisher’s Preface
T HE GIFT OF ONESELF is an unusual book, one which the reader should not mistake as being simply a flowery and fanciful expression of pious sentiments. It is far, far more! Its mode of expression is, yes, lyrical, actually poetic—in fact it could well be called “a religious prose-poem”—but its subject matter is based completely on reality, and the principles underlying it are absolutely sound, though the person who accepts its tenets has to be someone of solid faith, for “it pushes the envelope,” as a current expression has it, to the ultimate limit of human understanding of God’s work in man and His work in co-operation with man.
When asked what is so special about this book, the Carmelite Mother Abbess who recommended it for republication said that it gives the reader a feeling of peace and that it especially appeals to women. The lady who retypeset this edition made the same observation and added that it gives one a feeling of being worthwhile, of really counting for something.
The Gift of Oneself is really a profound probing into the life, work and love of the hidden soul who is devoted to the work of God in a life that is modeled after Our Lady’s, in a life of giving one’s all, but remaining unseen—or at least unnoticed and un-noted by the world—and for the most part unappreciated by all save God, who sees into the heart and knows all. The author shows, or rather muses over, the tremendous effects that a holy, dedicated soul can have, effects unknown to the world and for the most part even to the dedicated soul itself, but effects of incredible influence nonetheless to God, to the world and to that soul.
Here is a book that will appeal to all those who love God, who dedicate themselves to Him and to work for Him. The gift of oneself to God is really a form or extension of holy abandonment to Divine Providence. It pushes that abandonment to the limit by the soul’s giving its all to God. Fr. Schryvers shows that, in return, God embraces all the cares and needs of such a loving soul thus abandoned to Him and makes all that soul’s cares and needs His own, to be attended to in a very special manner. And who could ask for a better attendant or steward of one’s affairs than Almighty God Himself, the Divine Steward of everything anyway? The abandoning and loving soul is simply acknowledging and consciously willing the already existing role of God as our best Father, Provider and, yes, Lover.
Disconcerting about this book for men may be the consistent references to the soul as feminine in relationship to God. This is typical of Catholic spiritual writing. For the human soul stands in respect to God as a woman courted by a suitor—in this case, however, it is the Divine Suitor who is knocking at the gate and seeking entrance to the soul. * One cannot overcome this analogy, which permeates Catholic spirituality. This fact, however, does not mean that he-men must suddenly become women or feminized in their relationship to God. One’s lover is, or should be, after all, his best friend, the person closest and dearest to him, to whom he can deny nothing. Here one should think of the relationship of a husband and father to his wife and children. He is admonished by St. Paul to love his wife as he does himself. * And their children … well, most parents would willingly die rather than see their children harmed. The love of the husband and wife is summed up in their children, expressing part of Scripture’s meaning in the statement, “They two shall be in one flesh.” ( Matthew 19:5). As the husband and father gives himself to his wife and children, who need his care and support, so a man can give himself to God—who also needs, in a certain sense, our care and support, for He has made us coworkers with Him in the vineyard of the Faith. Each one of us has his proper job and role to fulfill in life. A man’s orientation to God is going to partake of his masculinity, but he—as a soul—still stands in the relationship of a shy person being courted by a Divine Lover.
The Gift of Oneself is a book to be reread several times—with pencil in hand. On first reading, one will probably miss much of what will later become vital to him or her in this unusual book. But with each additional perusal, the reader will experience the truths expressed here seeping through the crust of his mind, which is probably all too accustomed more to logic than to poetry. For often there is truth in poetry, simply and uniquely expressed, that volumes of logic set in prose will never reach. Such is the writing in this book.
Some of the greatest achievements in history have been accomplished by souls who have placed themselves at God’s disposal. Consider St. Ignatius. He and his little band of original young Jesuits were at Venice, undecided whether to go to Jerusalem or Rome to headquarter and still without having elected a leader. St. Ignatius knew that they must choose a leader and they must seek God’s will on where to set up. St. Ignatius was elected their Father General and they concluded that Rome was where God wanted them to be. On those two decisions hinged an effect upon the world we shall only be able to comprehend in eternity. Of those who have studied the history of the Jesuits, some have surmised that, had they not been suppressed from 1773 to 1814, they would have reconverted Europe—this one-time small band of undecided men, who at Venice were uncertain where they should go or who should lead them, but who honestly turned it all over to God. They subsequently became the educators of the world, and their effect has been felt by all, through those whom they have influenced. And all of these results stem from St. Ignatius, the former rough-and-ready soldier turned unlikely convert and student, who gave himself to God as a gift of himself. Grand, incredible results indeed from one who turned himself over to God!
But what of the hidden soul, the wife and mother, the young woman who yearns to give her all to God in a religious order or by a consecrated life of celibacy in the world? Do they not also count for something? Indeed! For everything! The prayers and tears and abiding love of St. Monica gave the world one of the greatest Doctors of the Church—St. Augustine, who wrote on all philosophy and Catholic theology and who has shed his light down through every century since.
But closer perhaps to the heart of the hidden soul is St. Therese the Little Flower. When she died at age 24 in 1897, the nuns in her very convent asked themselves what they could possibly find to say about Sister Therese in the circular sent to the other Carmelite houses announcing her death. Yet, barely 30 years later Pius XI would call her “the greatest Saint of modern times” and name her Co-patroness of the Missions in 1927, along with St. Francis Xavier (one of the original Jesuits). See what God can do with us when we give ourselves to Him!
Most of us will never be a St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, St. Therese or St. Monica for impact on the world. Their cases are recalled only to show what can happen from “the gift of oneself.” God can use us for great things, though we will probably never be aware of the results. The life, the prayers, the love of a hidden but dedicated soul, for example, may be the cause of the salvation of another person—or of many other people! Yet the world may never know it. St. John Masias, (1585-1645), one of God’s lesser known Saints, is reputed to have liberated from Purgatory over a million souls! Do you see, Dear Reader, what power is contained in the gift of oneself, in the life and prayer and love of a dedicated though hidden soul?
We may think ourselves insignificant compared to others, but this book shows that in the spiritual realm, a President may not be as great or as powerful as a housewife. At prayer, and to move God to grant favors, each person counts as only one, and can contribute to God’s plan as much as or more than the greatest, most prominent person in the world … or he can contribute nothing whatsoever, often depending on whether or not that soul is willing to make the gift of himself or herself to God!
It is really up to us whether we shall really be something in God’s overall plan, whether we shall turn ourselves over to Him by giving ourselves back to Him completely, with all we have and all we are or ever will be, so that He can use us to carry out His work in the best possible way that we can be effective. As the author points out, only He knows what that way should be for each of us. We need to beg Him to direct us to where He wants us to be.
The gift of oneself causes us to place all we have and all we are at God’s disposal, who in turn will transform our otherwise paltry efforts and existence into something truly worthwhile for time and for eternity. Realizing this, suddenly one’s vocation in l