How God Tells Us He Loves Us, Part 2

Charlene Rack shares a story of the flip side of God's loving Providence.

My article from last month (which I didn’t refer to as “Part One,” because God had not yet enlightened me about Part Two) spoke of loving encounters with the Holy Trinity, and how we experience those wonderful moments when God “speaks,” showering us with love. But now that God has intervened, I feel obligated to make clear the other side of being a loving Father … the merciful responsibility of discipline.

All parents know that loving and raising good children, teaching them self-discipline, is not all cherubs and valentines. It’s hard work, saying the same things day after day with your little ones, while imagining your kids will never learn to pick up their toys or put their shoes in the closet. Then they grow older, and go off to school. It’s more challenging then. We must pray for wisdom and guidance, with both parents united as one in the plan of raising faithful, disciplined citizens. We often have to say “no” in an atmosphere of lots of other parents around us saying “yes.”

As adult Christians, we can see this struggle in our own lives, as God works to form and perfect us in a broken world filled with sin and spiritual danger.

“So be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Jesus sincerely calls us to godly perfection. The word “disciple” (from the word “discipline,) means: “to bring to a state of order and obedience by teaching and example.” This is exactly what the Holy Trinity provides to all of God’s disciples, and if we don’t follow Him, we will suffer the consequences.

So, how do we encounter this ongoing sign of God’s loving discipline? It comes to us in many forms. Sometimes, it’s a simple matter of reaping what we sow. We do something that we shouldn’t do, hoping to get away with it, but end up paying the consequences. We suffer and learn from such situations. Some people seem to learn best this way. However, it can come with painful after-affects, so probably not the easiest route to holy discipline.

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Occasionally, God might blatantly intervene in your day, making His presence known. For example, recently, with my cluttered schedule, I was overdue for Confession. I had it on my reminders app for two months, but still kept forgetting. On a recent evening, while cleaning up after dinner, I realized that, once again, I’d missed our local parish’s opportunity for Confession. I sighed heavily, and refreshed my reminder for the following week. The next morning, The Holy Spirit woke me up from a deep sleep at 6:30 AM, with a clear message to go to a nearby morning Mass.

I tried to argue, but the “reply” was explicit. I had to get up, drive to 7:00 Mass, and go to Confession after Mass. I didn’t even know if they had Friday-morning confessions, but I dragged myself out of bed and went. It was a lovely Mass, with a visiting priest celebrating, and I thought, “He’s not going to hear confessions,” but ... he did!

Afterward, as I followed through on the penance I was given, I finished with a sincere and grateful thank you to the Holy Spirit. Quite out of character, I had made it to that early Mass, on an empty stomach, and had the blessing of going to Confession ... because God made it clear to me that I really needed to go. That’s an example of some specialized, holy discipline right there, and I’ll be telling that story for the rest of my life, but always sheepishly. I’m not proud of being so high-maintenance.

Other ways that we follow Christ and become perfect is by accepting His will, even when it becomes difficult and we don’t understand. Just by echoing these words of Christ, you will advance greatly on the path of self-discipline:

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

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Occasionally, God might blatantly intervene in your day, making His presence known. #CatholicMom

As disciples of Christ, there are habits we can adopt so that God’s desire stays with us always:

Participate in or receive the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church as often as possible (I sheepishly recommend.)
Read books by or about the saints, and call upon their intercession.
Cultivate a habit of daily prayer, pray a Rosary with your family. As I like to say, “Pray early, pray late, pray often, don’t wait!”
Practice acts of mercy and charity. As St. Peter tells the Christian communities in 1 Peter 4:8, charity “covers” a lot of sins. That’s an awesome promise from the Church’s first Pope!
Accept God’s discipline as loving intervention, and in His love, God will do the work of making you perfect.

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