A Life of Union with God
We must live our life with our mind and heart united and directed towards God … [This is achieved] through external modesty … and with the spirit of faith, by which we see God in everything, because in everything he is found in immensity. (OOCC, II, p. 21)
St. Vincent Pallotti lived his life with his mind and heart united and directed towards God. This union with God and the orientation towards God remained in him as a permanent state-of-being. He achieved this state of union with God, as he himself testified, by the practice of external modesty coupled with the cultivation of the spirit of genuine faith. The practice of external modesty consisted of the right use of all his senses. Moderation in the use of his senses helped St. Vincent to maintain a proper relationship with the things of this world. He never allowed the things of the world to control him or to affect the deeper concerns of his life. While giving the things of this world the attention they deserved, he was able to move beyond them to their creator. The practice of the spirit of faith helped St. Vincent to see the hand of God in everything that happened in his life. He knew that God had a personal plan for him in his general plan for the whole of creation. His endeavor in life was to discern this personal plan of God for him, accomplish it in the best way possible, and in the process complete his role in the realization of God’s general plan for the whole of creation. In this manner, by the practice of external modesty and the cultivation of the spirit of faith, St. Vincent lived a life of perpetual union with God.
Do I attempt to live a life of union with God as a permanent state-of- being? Do I practice external modesty as a means to regulate my relationship with the things of the world? Do I cultivate a genuine spirit of faith in my life? Do I recognize and accomplish God’s plan in my life?
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:28)