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Mar 25, 2017 1101 David Torkington
Evangelize

It’s All in the Trying

The Curé d’Ars said that, “All that we do, without offering it to God, is wasted.” He is of course right, but it must be emphasized that the Morning Offering is not a magic formula. It does not automatically transform the forthcoming day. That is why something further is required. My mother told me that after she had made her Morning Offering she would spend a few minutes reviewing the day ahead and making a few resolutions that would enable her to try and consecrate every moment of the day to loving God directly in prayer, and indirectly to loving our neighbors through all that we say and do.

It might be to do humdrum tasks that we keep putting off, like changing the sheets on the bed, putting air into the car tires, defrosting the freezer, or something that is more important. There is always that friend or relative who is sick or in need, who we should phone, or write to, or even visit. Alternatively, perhaps we should make a resolution to apologize to a family member, a friend, or someone at work, for the way we behaved towards them.

It is very difficult to stand up for someone who has been abused by authority at work, or elsewhere, or to speak the truth when no one wants to hear it, or to make a stand for what we know is right. Nevertheless, these are some of the more important things that could occupy our minds as part of Morning Prayer.

Perhaps we could end with the most important resolution of all, which is to try and make the forthcoming day one in which we try as best as we can to enable God’s love to draw us up; not just into the life of Christ, but into His priestly action. It is only there that we will be able to love God as we should, by offering Him all that we are and all that we do. But most of all by offering Him the way that we have tried to serve Him in and through the neighbor in need. In this way, every day is a day in which we spend every single moment trying to observe the New Commandments, firstly by loving God, and then in loving Him, loving our neighbor in need.

One of the most important truths of the spiritual life that we neglect at our peril is that we will not ultimately be judged by the wonderful feelings that we have experienced in prayer. We will not be asked how many ecstasies we have had, how many miracles we have worked, or how many people we have healed, but, rather, how have we served God in the neighbor in need. If we have done this—even if we have failed in so much else—we will be invited to share in His glory, because He will say to us, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:31-46).

But if we fail to do this, then we will be condemned to hear other frightening words, “Depart from me, for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. For in truth I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25:31-46).

The Morning Offering and its implementation then is not just a nice pious practice for those who have the time to do it, but something on which our ultimate destination depends. It is the place where the whole of the forthcoming day is dedicated to loving God through a continual process of prayer, self-sacrifice, and the service of others. In this way, all that is said, done, and suffered, all that is enjoyed and celebrated, is offered in, through, and with Jesus to our common Father.

This is the new worship in spirit and in truth that Jesus promised to the Samaritan woman. We are called to take part in the priestly action of Jesus every moment of every day. We can be encouraged by the words of one of the Desert Fathers, who insisted that we will ultimately be judged, not so much on what we have achieved, but on how best we have tried. In the word of the Jewish philosopher Simone Weil, “A person is no more than the quality of their endeavor” and that is how God will judge us if nobody else does.

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David Torkington

David Torkington (www.DavidTorkington.com) is a Spiritual Theologian, Author and Speaker, who specializes in Prayer, Christian Spirituality and Mystical Theology. He was educated at the Franciscan Study Centre, England, and the National Catholic Radio and Television Centre, Hatch End, London, where he was later appointed to the post of Dean of Studies. He was extra mural lecturer in Mystical Theology at the Dominican University in Rome (The Angelicum). In addition to giving Retreats and lecturing all over Europe, he undertook five prolonged lecture tours to Africa, mainly Equatorial Africa, speaking on Prayer and Spirituality to Religious, Monks, Diocesan Priests and lay people. His personal spirituality is predominantly Franciscan, his Mystical Theology Carmelite, all welded together with a solid blend of Benedictine moderation. He has sold over 300,000 books in more than twelve different languages. His most successful book is "Wisdom from the Western Isles," the popular "Peter Calvay Trilogy" (Hermit, Prophet, Mystic) re-edited in one volume in which he teaches the reader how to pray, from the very beginning to what Saint Teresa of Avila calls the Mystical Marriage. He is at present working on his latest book, "Wisdom from the Christian Mystics" which will be followed by his autobiography "Injured Innocence." When not writing, he spends time on his boat on the peaceful Beaulieu river in the New Forest, Hampshire, and exploring the Jurassic coast, Dorset. He is a member of The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, London. The three books mentioned in the article are “Wisdom from the Western Isles, Wisdom from Franciscan Italy” and “Wisdom from the Christian Mystics.” All are available from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com or from any bookshop.

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