Trust and Abandonment
By Father Antoine Beshaalany
Trust and Abandonment—Father Antoine Beshaalany
Teaching for the Family of Saint Sharbel
Annaya - October 20, 2002
By Father Antoine Beshaalany
Topic: “Trust and Abandonment”
http://www.ayletmarcharbel.org/content/thqt-ouastslam-alkhoury-anttouan-bshaalany
Introduction:
Man is in need of foundations to lean on when he faces the responsibilities and the dangers of life (Batah in Hebrew), and of a shelter where he can find refuge (Hasah in Hebrew). For anxiety not to paralyze him, and for man to be firm in his faith despite temptation and not to lose hope in reaching his goal, he must have trust. But what does trust mean? And what is abandonment? Whom does man trust, and to whom does he abandon himself?
“Trust”: “Jesus, I trust in You”
1-Trust: What does it mean? It is a feeling of security and safety regarding something or someone. This feeling is born out of knowledge, experience, and a personal relationship.
2- Whom do we trust and why?
Whom do we trust?
We trust that God is Love incarnated as Divine Mercy in Jesus who is present in the Church and in the Mysteries, especially in the Mysteries of the Eucharist and Reconciliation: “The soul that will go to confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. (On one condition) Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My Mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout eternity” (Diary of Saint Faustina, Entry 699, p.278).
Why? “Proclaim that Mercy is the greatest attribute of God” (Entry 301, p.162).
A-Trust in God’s love and mercy allows God the Savior to take the initiative to encounter us. It rejects fear even when we sin. The Lord calls to us: “Be not afraid of your Savior, O sinful soul. I Make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to me. Child, do not run away from your Father…How dear your soul is to Me! I have inscribed your name upon My hand; you are engraved as a deep wound in My wound in My Heart (Entry 1485, p.464). (It is actually 1484, not 1485 – Abouna Rodrigue).
B-Trust in God’s mercy halts His justice and moves His insides with love: “Your trust and love bind my justice, and I can’t punish because you prevent me from doing that;” “Encourage the hearts that you are in contact with, to trust in my infinite mercy.” That is why Saint Jacob of Sarug says: “He taught you to ask for forgiveness when you pray because His justice gets inflamed with love as soon as He hears you asking, and He pours down His mercies on the guilty.”
C-Trust in God’s mercy reveals His fidelity: “My Daughter, fear nothing. I am always with you, even if it seems to you that I am not. Your humility draws Me down from My lofty throne, and I unite Myself closely with you.” (Entry 1109, p. 375)
D-Trust in God’s mercy is a fountain of graces: “Tell (all people), My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.” (Entry 1074, p. 369)
“My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of my goodness? For you (soul) I descend from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace (Entry 1485, p.465).
Our witness of faith is to trust that God is Love and Infinite Divine Mercy, and this witness leads us to live in humility and fidelity, and to abandon ourselves in the hands of the Lord. So, what does it mean to abandon oneself?
Abandonment: “My daughter, I desire that your heart be formed after the model of My merciful Heart. You must be completely imbued with my mercy” (Entry 167, p.127). (It is actually 166, not 167 – Abouna Rodrigue).
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus wrote to her sister Marie of the Sacred Heart (Celine), one year before she died, explaining to her what she called “her dream” or “her little doctrine.” She said: “Oh! If all weak and imperfect souls felt what the smallest of all souls feels, the soul of your little Therese, not a single one would despair of arriving at the top of the mountain of love, since Jesus does not ask for great actions, but only for abandonment and gratefulness.”
So, what does abandonment mean?
1-Clarifying the concept of abandonment: It is necessary to clarify the meaning of this word whose meaning often and easily gets distorted. The word abandonment (“abandon” in French) derives from the word “bandon” which in Old French means free readiness and ability. When it is preceded by the preposition “à” in French, it means “to come under, and to submit to, someone else’s authority.” Therefore, the word abandonment denotes a relinquishing of one’s property or right. However, no one can relinquish his responsibilities or his human dignity. But sometimes man puts himself in God’s hands out of abdication, and not out of completely free abandonment.
So, beware of fake “spiritual childhood,” fake ways of accepting one’s littleness, and fake humility.
One may say: “I acknowledge my weakness and helplessness, but there is nothing I can do about them.” Be careful not to close yourself off and neglect all spiritual effort and combat. Do not fear regaining your strength under the pretext of accepting your poverty. These are signs that the child in you is refusing to grow up.
This is not the spirituality of abandonment that the Christian or Saint Therese embraces. Even though God is the One who accomplishes in us what we say and do and everything else, He doesn’t want us to lessen our contribution to His work. On the contrary, He is the One who helps those who take the initiative and make the effort without pretense.
“To want” is one of the verbs that Saint Therese uses the most. On one page of her last manuscript we read: “I want to practice love,” “I want to be love to all,” and “I want to emulate Saint Paul.” Later she says: “I want to be a daughter of the Church.” Therese likes the expression “to have a good will,” not in the meaning of having good intentions, for Hell is paved with good intentions, but in the meaning of “having a bold will, a will of high caliber which justifies her trust.” This word best defines the meaning of her abandonment to God.
2- “Draw me after you”: abandonment for Therese means being drawn freely, lovingly and joyfully.
Therese memorized these words from the Song of Songs (1:4): “Draw me after you, but not violently or against my will. Rather, awaken in me the desire to follow in your footsteps, so no one would think that you are forcibly dragging me behind you like a slave or a lifeless wheel.” So, if I went after you and followed you, it is not because you drag me, but because you seduce me”—like Saint Francis De Sales says.
“Draw me after you! Let us run!” (Song of Songs 1:4); “Delicate is the fragrance of your perfume.”
These words fascinated Saint Therese as well, so she said: “I understand, Lord, that the soul, if it is fascinated by the seductive fragrance of your perfumes, it can’t run alone; it brings along behind her all the soul she loves.”
The Lover extends His hand to His beloved. He leads her without taking away her freedom, and she is happy to run faster with him.
Why is it extremely hard for us to abandon ourselves to the work of God in us? Because we don’t accept our weakness, our limitations, our dependence, and our station as creatures. We live a lie, and we fear a merciful God even as He offers to help us become what we are created to be.
It is easier than you think for us to hate our souls. Worse yet is to forget our soul and neglect it. If pride was put to death in us, we would have the utmost grace to love ourselves in humility as we love any member of the suffering members of Christ.
Abandonment is not, then, abdicating the use of my talents, my strengths, and my abilities. It is not forgetting myself. Rather it is discovering my identity as a beloved member in the Body of Christ Jesus. It is a loving attraction like the one between lovers. Thus the abandonment to God becomes, as was revealed to Therese after she exhausted all her dreams, “to love with simplicity where she is” and “as she is.” She is ready to accept everything ordained by God’s will: a long life or a quick death, Carmel-Lisieux or Indochina, health or sickness.
No sorrow can disturb her peace: “How merciful is the Lord. He didn’t send me this ordeal (the sickness that will claim her life) until I was able to bear it. Had I gotten it earlier, it would have thrusted me in the abyss of despair, I think…Now, I no longer have lofty desires, but only to love until I die of love.”
The trust that matured in Therese removed gradually her fears and anxiety. At first, Therese suffered “with sadness”. She simply acknowledged so before Mother Superior, while she thanked her for helping her by being strict with her: “Today, I don’t suffer like that anymore, but I accept with joy and peace: I am truly happy to suffer.”
3- For today only…Abandonment as “daily bread.”
To reach the “furnace of divine love that makes us pleasing to God,” Saint Therese says: “Jesus is pleased to show me the only way… and that way is the abandonment of the little child who falls asleep without fear in the arms of her Father.” On this clearly drawn path, Therese awaits from the Heavenly Father the daily grace, “the daily bread,” as she walks in the footsteps of God.
The refrain of one of her poems at Carmel discloses her way:
“If I think about tomorrow, I fear my fickleness.
I feel sadness and worry rising up in my heart.
But I am willing, my God to accept trial and suffering
Just for today.
To pray for tomorrow, oh no, I cannot!”
It is “the spirituality of the present moment.” The only rule of abandonment to God, according to Father De Caussade, is “to move like a ball so to receive all the inspirations of grace and follow them.”
This abandonment to God that flows out of a direct connection to, and personal knowledge of, the Lord Jesus is, for Therese, nothing but fervent and unwavering love. One of her last poems extrapolates on Saint Augustine’s words: “Abandonment is the delectable fruit of love.” Her poem ends with these two verses:
“I want to always smile
And to fall asleep on your chest.”
In another poem she says:
“Thus in the burning flames
I walk and I melt from love.”
Conclusion: With the Saint of Divine Mercy, Faustina, and the Saint of Divine Love, Therese of the Child Jesus, I close with this prayer: “Today I submit myself completely and with loving consent to Your holy will, O Lord, and to Your most wise decrees, which are always full of clemency and mercy for me, though at times I can neither understand nor fathom them. O my Master, I surrender myself completely to You, who are the rudder of my soul; steer it Yourself according to Your divine wishes. I enclose myself in Your most compassionate Heart, which is a sea of unfathomable mercy” (Entry 1450, p.456).
Teaching for the Family of Saint Sharbel
Annaya - October 20, 2002
By Father Antoine Beshaalany
Topic: “Trust and Abandonment”
http://www.ayletmarcharbel.org/content/thqt-ouastslam-alkhoury-anttouan-bshaalany
Introduction:
Man is in need of foundations to lean on when he faces the responsibilities and the dangers of life (Batah in Hebrew), and of a shelter where he can find refuge (Hasah in Hebrew). For anxiety not to paralyze him, and for man to be firm in his faith despite temptation and not to lose hope in reaching his goal, he must have trust. But what does trust mean? And what is abandonment? Whom does man trust, and to whom does he abandon himself?
“Trust”: “Jesus, I trust in You”
1-Trust: What does it mean? It is a feeling of security and safety regarding something or someone. This feeling is born out of knowledge, experience, and a personal relationship.
2- Whom do we trust and why?
Whom do we trust?
We trust that God is Love incarnated as Divine Mercy in Jesus who is present in the Church and in the Mysteries, especially in the Mysteries of the Eucharist and Reconciliation: “The soul that will go to confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. (On one condition) Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My Mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout eternity” (Diary of Saint Faustina, Entry 699, p.278).
Why? “Proclaim that Mercy is the greatest attribute of God” (Entry 301, p.162).
A-Trust in God’s love and mercy allows God the Savior to take the initiative to encounter us. It rejects fear even when we sin. The Lord calls to us: “Be not afraid of your Savior, O sinful soul. I Make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to me. Child, do not run away from your Father…How dear your soul is to Me! I have inscribed your name upon My hand; you are engraved as a deep wound in My wound in My Heart (Entry 1485, p.464). (It is actually 1484, not 1485 – Abouna Rodrigue).
B-Trust in God’s mercy halts His justice and moves His insides with love: “Your trust and love bind my justice, and I can’t punish because you prevent me from doing that;” “Encourage the hearts that you are in contact with, to trust in my infinite mercy.” That is why Saint Jacob of Sarug says: “He taught you to ask for forgiveness when you pray because His justice gets inflamed with love as soon as He hears you asking, and He pours down His mercies on the guilty.”
C-Trust in God’s mercy reveals His fidelity: “My Daughter, fear nothing. I am always with you, even if it seems to you that I am not. Your humility draws Me down from My lofty throne, and I unite Myself closely with you.” (Entry 1109, p. 375)
D-Trust in God’s mercy is a fountain of graces: “Tell (all people), My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.” (Entry 1074, p. 369)
“My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of my goodness? For you (soul) I descend from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace (Entry 1485, p.465).
Our witness of faith is to trust that God is Love and Infinite Divine Mercy, and this witness leads us to live in humility and fidelity, and to abandon ourselves in the hands of the Lord. So, what does it mean to abandon oneself?
Abandonment: “My daughter, I desire that your heart be formed after the model of My merciful Heart. You must be completely imbued with my mercy” (Entry 167, p.127). (It is actually 166, not 167 – Abouna Rodrigue).
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus wrote to her sister Marie of the Sacred Heart (Celine), one year before she died, explaining to her what she called “her dream” or “her little doctrine.” She said: “Oh! If all weak and imperfect souls felt what the smallest of all souls feels, the soul of your little Therese, not a single one would despair of arriving at the top of the mountain of love, since Jesus does not ask for great actions, but only for abandonment and gratefulness.”
So, what does abandonment mean?
1-Clarifying the concept of abandonment: It is necessary to clarify the meaning of this word whose meaning often and easily gets distorted. The word abandonment (“abandon” in French) derives from the word “bandon” which in Old French means free readiness and ability. When it is preceded by the preposition “à” in French, it means “to come under, and to submit to, someone else’s authority.” Therefore, the word abandonment denotes a relinquishing of one’s property or right. However, no one can relinquish his responsibilities or his human dignity. But sometimes man puts himself in God’s hands out of abdication, and not out of completely free abandonment.
So, beware of fake “spiritual childhood,” fake ways of accepting one’s littleness, and fake humility.
One may say: “I acknowledge my weakness and helplessness, but there is nothing I can do about them.” Be careful not to close yourself off and neglect all spiritual effort and combat. Do not fear regaining your strength under the pretext of accepting your poverty. These are signs that the child in you is refusing to grow up.
This is not the spirituality of abandonment that the Christian or Saint Therese embraces. Even though God is the One who accomplishes in us what we say and do and everything else, He doesn’t want us to lessen our contribution to His work. On the contrary, He is the One who helps those who take the initiative and make the effort without pretense.
“To want” is one of the verbs that Saint Therese uses the most. On one page of her last manuscript we read: “I want to practice love,” “I want to be love to all,” and “I want to emulate Saint Paul.” Later she says: “I want to be a daughter of the Church.” Therese likes the expression “to have a good will,” not in the meaning of having good intentions, for Hell is paved with good intentions, but in the meaning of “having a bold will, a will of high caliber which justifies her trust.” This word best defines the meaning of her abandonment to God.
2- “Draw me after you”: abandonment for Therese means being drawn freely, lovingly and joyfully.
Therese memorized these words from the Song of Songs (1:4): “Draw me after you, but not violently or against my will. Rather, awaken in me the desire to follow in your footsteps, so no one would think that you are forcibly dragging me behind you like a slave or a lifeless wheel.” So, if I went after you and followed you, it is not because you drag me, but because you seduce me”—like Saint Francis De Sales says.
“Draw me after you! Let us run!” (Song of Songs 1:4); “Delicate is the fragrance of your perfume.”
These words fascinated Saint Therese as well, so she said: “I understand, Lord, that the soul, if it is fascinated by the seductive fragrance of your perfumes, it can’t run alone; it brings along behind her all the soul she loves.”
The Lover extends His hand to His beloved. He leads her without taking away her freedom, and she is happy to run faster with him.
Why is it extremely hard for us to abandon ourselves to the work of God in us? Because we don’t accept our weakness, our limitations, our dependence, and our station as creatures. We live a lie, and we fear a merciful God even as He offers to help us become what we are created to be.
It is easier than you think for us to hate our souls. Worse yet is to forget our soul and neglect it. If pride was put to death in us, we would have the utmost grace to love ourselves in humility as we love any member of the suffering members of Christ.
Abandonment is not, then, abdicating the use of my talents, my strengths, and my abilities. It is not forgetting myself. Rather it is discovering my identity as a beloved member in the Body of Christ Jesus. It is a loving attraction like the one between lovers. Thus the abandonment to God becomes, as was revealed to Therese after she exhausted all her dreams, “to love with simplicity where she is” and “as she is.” She is ready to accept everything ordained by God’s will: a long life or a quick death, Carmel-Lisieux or Indochina, health or sickness.
No sorrow can disturb her peace: “How merciful is the Lord. He didn’t send me this ordeal (the sickness that will claim her life) until I was able to bear it. Had I gotten it earlier, it would have thrusted me in the abyss of despair, I think…Now, I no longer have lofty desires, but only to love until I die of love.”
The trust that matured in Therese removed gradually her fears and anxiety. At first, Therese suffered “with sadness”. She simply acknowledged so before Mother Superior, while she thanked her for helping her by being strict with her: “Today, I don’t suffer like that anymore, but I accept with joy and peace: I am truly happy to suffer.”
3- For today only…Abandonment as “daily bread.”
To reach the “furnace of divine love that makes us pleasing to God,” Saint Therese says: “Jesus is pleased to show me the only way… and that way is the abandonment of the little child who falls asleep without fear in the arms of her Father.” On this clearly drawn path, Therese awaits from the Heavenly Father the daily grace, “the daily bread,” as she walks in the footsteps of God.
The refrain of one of her poems at Carmel discloses her way:
“If I think about tomorrow, I fear my fickleness.
I feel sadness and worry rising up in my heart.
But I am willing, my God to accept trial and suffering
Just for today.
To pray for tomorrow, oh no, I cannot!”
It is “the spirituality of the present moment.” The only rule of abandonment to God, according to Father De Caussade, is “to move like a ball so to receive all the inspirations of grace and follow them.”
This abandonment to God that flows out of a direct connection to, and personal knowledge of, the Lord Jesus is, for Therese, nothing but fervent and unwavering love. One of her last poems extrapolates on Saint Augustine’s words: “Abandonment is the delectable fruit of love.” Her poem ends with these two verses:
“I want to always smile
And to fall asleep on your chest.”
In another poem she says:
“Thus in the burning flames
I walk and I melt from love.”
Conclusion: With the Saint of Divine Mercy, Faustina, and the Saint of Divine Love, Therese of the Child Jesus, I close with this prayer: “Today I submit myself completely and with loving consent to Your holy will, O Lord, and to Your most wise decrees, which are always full of clemency and mercy for me, though at times I can neither understand nor fathom them. O my Master, I surrender myself completely to You, who are the rudder of my soul; steer it Yourself according to Your divine wishes. I enclose myself in Your most compassionate Heart, which is a sea of unfathomable mercy” (Entry 1450, p.456).
