The greatest happiness of man on earth is to have perfect conformity to the will of God
Summary of the practice of Christian perfection by Father Alphonse Rodriguez, Extract:
That the greatest happiness of man on earth is to have perfect conformity to the will of God.
He who will have succeeded in having complete conformity to the divine will, taking all things as sent by God. order of providence, and by conforming to all that God wills, will have acquired the sovereign happiness of the righteous on earth, since he will fully possess this interior peace and this ineffable joy, in which the true beatitude of this life consists: What constitutes , says the Apostle (Rom. 14, 17), the kingdom of God , that is to say, the blessedness of the saints in the world, is not drinking and eating; it is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit . This is what this anticipated beatitude consists of; this is this paradise of delights, which we can enjoy here below; and it is with good reason that we call it beatitude, since through it we become in some way similar to the blessed. For, as there is no change or vicissitude in Heaven, and the blessed are there in a fixed and invariable state, enjoying without interruption the sight of God; also in the world, those who have managed to establish themselves in perfect conformity to the divine will, and to put all their contentment in the good pleasure of God, are no longer worried or troubled by the instability of things human, and the various accidents of life. Their will is so subject to that of God, that the conviction they have that everything comes from him, and that it is his will which is accomplished in them in all the most unfortunate things that happen to them, means that, preferring his to theirs, all their sufferings and all their sorrows are changed into joy, and all their bitterness is converted into sweetness and consolations. Nothing can ever disturb them: eh! who could afflict them? The contempt, the disgraces, the reversals of fortune, the humiliations, the persecutions, the pain, the affronts? Because this is what usually makes the most vivid impressions on a soul. But far from being distressed by them, they regard them and receive them as a singular favor which comes to them from the hand of God: there is therefore nothing that can alter the peace and tranquility of their soul. This is the true source of that serenity and sweet joy, which always appeared on the faces and in all the words and actions of the saints; of a Saint Anthony, a Saint Dominic, a Saint Francis, and so many great characters of recent centuries; and what we notice in particular about Saint Ignatius (L. 5. c 5. Vit. sacti Ignat.): this is still ordinarily noticed in all true servants of God. But perhaps, it will be said, these great saints were exempt from the miseries of life: perhaps they were not subject to bodily infirmities; perhaps they experienced no temptation, they had nothing painful to suffer, perhaps no untoward accident happened to them. This undoubtedly happened to them, and more unfortunate ones than to us; for afflictions, contempts and sufferings are the portion of the saints; and those whom God loves most are ordinarily those to whom he sends the heaviest crosses, and to whom he spares the harshest trials. By what miracle did it happen that they always remained in the same equality of spirit; that they always preserved such perfect tranquility within and without; and that they always had joy in their hearts and imprint on their faces, as if every day had been for them days of celebration and rejoicing? This is because they had managed to establish themselves in complete conformity to the divine will; that they put all their happiness into seeing it accomplished; and in everything that happened to them, they found reasons for joy and satisfaction. All things turn out for good (Rom. 8, 28) to those who love God . The righteous will not be afflicted (Prov. 12, 21), whatever may happen to him . The pains, the temptations, the afflictions, everything was converted into joy for them, because they knew that all this proceeded from the will of God, in which they had established all their happiness; and thus possessing all the beatitude that can be enjoyed on earth, they tasted in advance the sweetness and advantages of the glory with which they would one day be fully satisfied in Heaven. How happy we would be if we could put all our joy in the accomplishment of God's will, and if we could succeed in having no will in all things other than his! Grant, Lord, we must say to him, that I only know how to want, or not want, what you want, or do not want; let this be all my happiness and all my consolation: It is advantageous for me to be so attached to my God (Ps. 72, 28), that I base my hope only in him. How happy we would be, I said, if we were always so united to God, that in all our actions, in all our afflictions and our sufferings, we had no other view than the accomplishment of his will for us. ! This is what made it said of a great servant of God (De Imit. JCI 1. c. 3), that he to whom everything is nothing but a single thing, who relates everything to a single thing, and who sees everything in one thing only, will always keep his heart in great tranquility, and will remain in peace in the bosom of God.
