Endure despite being lost

In the past catechesis we had the opportunity to follow the apostles who were lost at sea. They trusted God and he sent them to the stormy sea. I do not know, I do not understand, I do not succeed, these are often our experiences. Now let’s see how this feeling of loss is being considered by the trapped monk Father Hieronym:

«Let us note what our Lord reproaches to all those who consider themselves faithful friends:“ Your love is like the morning cloud and like the dew that passes in the morning ”(Oz 6: 4). We could also interpret this verse in the following way: you begin but do not persist; you come, but then you leave. Your stamina will last no more than one morning, at most one day! It’s not hard to say: I love you! The difficulty arises when we add this word: forever, but even more when it comes to turning our confession into concrete deeds. Because “forever” takes a long, very long time. As long as the enchantment of a loved one is still alive, maintaining faithfulness is not laborious or painful. However, so that this enchantment does not fade with the passage of time that “reveals the reality of life,” one who loves should be able to awaken his enchantment in order to keep it in its original freshness. Could it be the implications of love against itself? Not at all. The truth is just that. Because what attracted you yesterday, it deserves to attract you today, as long as you have the strength to rise from mere emotional desire to loyalty, from complaints and whining to melodies. No one wants to say: I can’t love. But everyone is threatened to find himself one day when he is forced by circumstances to say: I am in the end, I can no longer love. For if one is to love the same object at all times, a source must spring out in the depths of his soul. On the one hand, he must not forget the past, on the other he must be able to create. Every day it is necessary to discover something that is supposed to form the content of this very day. Love can sometimes be a weakness, but staying in love or friendship is always a manifestation of generosity and victory.

You will love the Lord of your God: this commandment does not place a burden on us that we cannot bear. But how much strength does it require us to fulfill every day, unchanged and throughout our lives! Yet it may not be enough to achieve this goal. Just as little is enough to keep a fire in the middle of a forest where there is no need for wood. And yet this minimum is often beyond our power. As soon as God’s friendship ceases to be attractive to us, as soon as the harsh grayness of everyday monotony begins to take hold of us, there remains only one way to break away from the lowland world and start to rise again: it is prayer. So whoever wants to remain in friendship with God must persevere in prayer.

For it is no small thing to persevere in the love of an object that is beyond our sensory perception, relying only on one means that also cannot feed our senses with the food to which they are adapted. Only theological love, the gift of God’s grace, binds us to God. After all, it is not easy for us to maintain vigilance, to ask this grace every day and to be able to receive it.

A truly wonderful effort is prayer, in which one continues, even when the source of his feelings and desires is drying up. Human patience is also amazing in the face of God’s silence. Amazing is the persistent effort with which one can seek love, which remains hidden and which as if not even want to manifest. Amazing is a crooked poor man who does not leave the Almighty and tries to keep up with him ». (Father Hieronymus, Hot Coals, Ray, 2017, pp. 23-25)

Father Hieronymus further emphasized in his reflections that faith should result in an effort to persevere on the path. He says perseverance must be seen as a fundamental value. For every time the world is moving in a certain direction, we can bet that the spirit of God blows in the opposite direction. The world today is more than ever eager for change and adventure. From this we can conclude that God does not want change or adventure for his friends. It therefore invites us to build on security and perseverance. It invites us to rule out any doubt about the meaning of what we do. He compares all perseverance to the work of a forester, who is planting today and cutting down the first trees will be his great-grandson by a hundred years.

What can this perseverance mean to us? Constant return to basics. The first step on the path of evangelization is our oiks. A group of people we have a relationship with. That is why the source of love and emotions may dry out there slowly. So if we can no longer, pray for anything and no one, we can still give it for them. We should pray for our oiks. What does it mean? We should long for their salvation. So we ask God’s blessing for them. We can always tell them about God, talk to them about God, even when we are completely arid. So let us not leave this certain point, we can always come back here.

What helps me to awaken enchantment?