Deep Trust in the Loving Care of God

"Her deep trust in the loving care of her God gave her the strength to be a valiant woman doing the work of Christ."  from American Catholic on St. Francis Xavier Cabrini.

Two nights ago I used Jennifer Fulwiler’s Saint's Name Generator program to have a saint chosen at random to be my patron for the year.  I was given St. Francis Xavier Cabrini.  I knew she had founded orphanages and hospitals.  Actually she founded 67 such institutions.  The number alone speaks to having the faith to move mountains.

"Deep trust" is what our Lord deserves from us.  When I think about what makes me strong it is my faith based on the teaching of Romans 8:28:

28 We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

I know this, but there is a chasm between knowing it, believing it, and having "deep trust".

Truly God is ever present . . . Almighty, all-loving, omniscient God, dwelling within my soul, and filling all things.

All of us are being drawn not just to a stronger faith and belief that he is ever present, but also to a more constant awareness that his loving care and the power behind his Providence is also ever present.

Yesterday I was re-reading from the teaching of St. Seraphim of Sarov.  I read:

"How great is God's compassion to our misery, that is to say, our inattention to His care for us, when God says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock (Rev. 3:20), meaning by 'door' the course of our life which has not yet been closed by death! Oh, how I wish, your Godliness, that in this life you may always be in the Spirit of God! 'In whatsoever I find you, in that will I judge you,' says the Lord."

"Woe to us if He finds us overcharged with the cares and sorrows of this life! For who will be able to bear His anger, who will withstand the wrath of His countenance? That is why it has been said: Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation (Mk. 14:38), that is lest you be deprived of the Spirit of God, for watching and prayer bring us His grace."

The highlighted parts speak to the chasm that stands between where I am now, believing yes, but without a deep trust and pervasive awareness of this truth.

How much more sensitive might I become to the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and how much more faithfully would I understand and respond to God's will in my life, cooperating with how he wants to use me, and where he is leading me, if my faith and belief turned into a deep trust?

The following passage will take you about a half hour to 45 minutes to read (more or less), but it is truly rich.  It enriched my understanding and provided great ordering of my priorities here at the beginning of another year.

St. Seraphim of Sarov's Conversation With Nicholas Motovilov