Most people, Christians included, behave, think, and speak as if they are standing right in the middle of the universe, with everything and everyone swirling around them. This worldview is just as misguided as the medieval belief that the earth was the centre of the cosmos.
The truth is that it is God, not us, who is the centre of all creation. We may agree with this theologically, but most of us have to hit bottom and become desperate before we admit we are not in charge. The grace of self-knowledge allows us to perceive the truth about ourselves in relation to God. The great challenge for egocentric people is to learn how to live in Christ and allow Jesus to live fully within them.
Missing the Point
Years ago, I sensed these words interiorly as God challenged my whole understanding of how to live the Catholic faith:
You think you are building My Kingdom as you frantically run around trying to but you are actually hindering the work of My Holy Spirit.
All I want, all I need, is for you to stand at the foot of My Son’s Cross and allow the Flames of His Love to pierce your heart, transforming you into His presence on earth.
I was shocked by this warning from God and humbled by the uncomfortable realization that I had completely missed the whole point of living the Christian life. Slowly, I became aware that my ideas about being a dedicated Catholic were not truly in sync with God’s plans for me. As Scripture explains:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9)
I now realize a willingness to wait patiently for God to act first, with inner stillness and peace, is essential. There should be no anxiety or forced activity in prayer. He asks that we simply stand in silence, unmoved, in loving adoration. We gaze upon Him as His loving gaze penetrates and touches us at the very ground of our being. Christ purifies us until we can say with Saint Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”.
I am not alone. Many modern Catholics are so caught up in doing that they forget Christ’s primary mission. He died, rose again, and sent the Holy Spirit to transform us first. Then all our actions, work, and service flow from our union with Him:
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. (John 14:18–20)
The Goal of the Spiritual Life
The goal of the spiritual life is to cooperate with grace so that we may one day be fully united with our Beloved. This goal—union with God—is not a fairy tale reserved for the great saints of history. As Pope Francis often reminded us, holiness is for everyone, in every state of life.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 142,143):
MAN’S RESPONSE TO GOD
By his Revelation, “the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company.” The adequate response to this invitation is faith.
By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, “the obedience of faith”.
Once I humbly allowed Christ to save me from myself, I experienced an expansive opening of my deepest self to joy and to His radiant light. I am finally at peace with this God-directed process of sanctification.
Only God can help us let go of our old way of life so that we may be transformed. Part of this renewal comes through purgation, as He reveals our attachment to sin. Only by His grace can we recognize, reject, and overcome sin, moving from darkness into His marvelous light.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that our sanctification comes only through the power of the Holy Spirit and the saving work of Christ on the Cross:
The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.” (Council of Trent, 1547; CCC 1989)
There is no need to strive, because the Lord always acts first. Often, I am simply called to wait patiently until He whispers—and then to obey His Word.
God slowly weans us from our egocentricity through gentle touches of His love and joy. It is a wonderful journey into the very heart of God. When we stop trying to save ourselves and instead give God permission to save us, we have finally begun to understand the Good News of Jesus Christ. Only then do we allow God to take His rightful place at the centre of our universe.
