• La Civiltà Cattolica
  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Contact us
  • Login
  • Register
SUBSCRIBE
LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA
Advertisement
  • Home
  • Church Life
    • Faith
    • Mission
    • People
    • Pope Francis
    • Spirituality
  • Church Thought
    • Doctrine
    • Scripture
    • Theology
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Editions
  • Authors
  • Donate

No products in the cart.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Church Life
    • Faith
    • Mission
    • People
    • Pope Francis
    • Spirituality
  • Church Thought
    • Doctrine
    • Scripture
    • Theology
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Editions
  • Authors
  • Donate

No products in the cart.

No Result
View All Result
LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA
No Result
View All Result
     
Home 1802

To Seek and Find the Will of God

Giandomenico Mucci, SJbyGiandomenico Mucci, SJ
February 15, 2018
in 1802, Church Life, Edition, Faith, February 2018, Vol. 2 no. 2, Issues, People, Spirituality, TOUCHING JESUS: ART AND ABSENCE
0
To Seek and Find the Will of God
0
SHARES
44
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

St. Ignatius of Loyola describes the task assigned to those who preach and receive the Spiritual Exercises thus: “To seek and to find the divine will in the orientation of your life for the sake of the salvation of your soul.”[1] After disposing yourself to desire the purification of your heart, in doing the exercises you must fight to realize this supreme aim. This is the goal of the Christian life itself.

What does it mean to seek and to find the will of God? In God there is a will which is his very essence. To desire the will of God is, therefore, to desire God himself. And since the holiness of God consists in the fact that he himself desires or loves, to desire the divine will means participating in the holiness of God.[2] To be a saint means to feel and to act in conformity with the will of God. “Thy will be done” (Matt 6:10). Christian spirituality has always transmitted this desire of Jesus, and the asceticism that this inspires and recommends hinges on this fundamental stance. As a biblical formula, this expression continuously resounds upon the lips of the faithful. But do we truly understand it in all its fullness?

Modern civilization, that great promoter of critical unrest and questioning, certainly does not favor a convinced recitation of this formula. Can the will of God be reconciled with human autonomy? If we already possess in our conscience a norm of conduct and in our intellect a criterion of truth, why would we need the will of God, a criterion exterior to us, to regulate ourselves according to truth and morality? Is invoking this will not a form of irrational fanaticism? And that is not all.

To speak to people today about the divine will means evoking ideas of authority and providence that modern culture does not accept without a fight. In any talk of authority one suspects authoritarianism, and in talk of a governing and protective providence over human existence many see the rancid dregs of the philosophies of a pre-established harmony and a betrayal of historicist philosophies. If then from the concept of divine will one passes to the connected concept of abandoning oneself to this will, other difficulties arise. Does this not foster a spiritual childishness? Does this not compromise the greatest achievement of modernity, the freedom of the human person who constructs an earthly destiny without recourse to the supernatural? Have we not been warned by psychology that often one projects onto the fatherhood of God the deformed image of the earthly father? And is not the current sociocultural environment characterized by the absence of the figure of the father?

This article is reserved for paid subscribers. Please subscribe to continue reading this article
Subscribe

Welcome to
La Civiltà Cattolica !
This article is reserved for paid subscribers
Please login or subscribe to continue reading this article
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE
What is La Civiltà Cattolica?

Tags: Blaise Pascaldivine willJean-Pierre de CaussadeSt Ignatius of Loyolawill of God
Previous Post

The Development and Contributions of Religious NGOs in China

Next Post

Dialogue and Proclamation in Catholic Universities

Giandomenico Mucci, SJ

Giandomenico Mucci, SJ

Emeritus editor, La Civiltà Cattolica

Related Posts

Does Populism Exist in the Church?
Church Life

Does Populism Exist in the Church?

byÁlvaro Lobo Arranz, SJ
March 31, 2023
Candida, Other Women and Jesuits in 17th-century China
Biography

Candida, Other Women and Jesuits in 17th-century China

byFederico Lombardi, SJ
March 29, 2023
The famous Mae Klong Railway Market, Samut Songkhram, Thailand.
Church Life

The Real Obstacles to Ecological Transition

byGaël Giraud, SJand1 others
March 27, 2023
Mass in the Shrine of Guadalupe for the opening of the ecclesial Assembly (Photo: Vatican Media).
Church Life

The Latin American Church’s Synodal Conversion: Walking together from blindness to light

byDaniel De Ycaza, SJand1 others
March 24, 2023
What Form Will Future Christianity Take?
Church Life

What Form Will Future Christianity Take?

byJosé Frazão Correia, SJ
March 22, 2023
Next Post
Catholic Universities

Dialogue and Proclamation in Catholic Universities

Subscription Offers

Premium Content

Aggiornamento of the Chinese Catholic Church

China and the Catholic Church

October 13, 2022
Lay People as Teachers of the Church

Lay People as Teachers of the Church

February 24, 2022
Image by Наркологическая Клиника from Pixabay

The Spiritual Aftermath of Covid-19

March 29, 2021

Browse by Category

BEATUS POPULUS CUIUS DOMINUS DEUS EIUS

The most respected digital Catholic journal from Rome. A must-read on all the present issues alive in the Church. Discover top Church scholars interpreting the history, politics, culture, science and art in the light of the Christian faith.

Categories

  Editions
  Church Thought
  Authors
  Church 
 
  Culture
  Perspective Series
  Politics & Socitey

 

About Us

   Contact Us
   La Civiltà Cattolica  
   China Forum
   Feedback
   Terms & Conditions
   Privacy Policy
    Email : [email protected]
My IP Address : 44.200.171.156
Facebook Twitter Instagram

© Union of Catholic Asian News 2023 | All Rights Reserved.
Except for any fair dealing permitted under the Hong Kong Copyright Ordinance, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without prior permission.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Church Life
    • Faith
    • Mission
    • People
    • Pope Francis
    • Spirituality
  • Church Thought
    • Doctrine
    • Scripture
    • Theology
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Editions
  • Authors
  • Donate
SUBSCRIBE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?
Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
  • Login
  • Sign Up
Forgot Password?
Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

laciviltacattolica.com uses cookies and similar technologies to optimize the user experience,  analyze site traffic and communicate with subscribers. To read more about how we use cookies and how you can control them click on settings, or click Accept to start browsing our site.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.