Simplicity: Centering One’s Heart on God
My God, not my intellect, but God; not the will, but God; … not breath, but God; … not repose, but God; … not distinctions, but God … not promotions, but God; God in all things and forevermore. (OOCC, X, p. 131; STA, 187)
The virtue of simplicity, according to St. Vincent Pallotti, is a centering of one’s heart on God. This centering, in the initial stages of a person’s spiritual journey, calls for hard work as it involves making a preferential option for God. In other words, a person has to give preference to God and give secondary importance to a number of things which are also significant to him. It is important to note that St. Vincent does not deny the value of those things to which he gives secondary importance, but only makes a preferential option for God. Some of those things he has to let go to prefer God are his intellect, his will, his soul, his senses, his breath, his feelings, his heart, his body, the air he breathes, the food and drink, the clothes he wears, the rest he takes, every earthly good he uses, the various riches he possesses, the honors, the dignities, and the distinctions he has received, and the various promotions he has been given. All of these things were dear to him, but he had to let go in order to experience all things in God. When a person makes a preferential option for God and chooses him as his first priority in his life, every other thing takes its proper place in the life of the person.
Does the virtue of simplicity help me to center my heart on God? Do I make a preferential option to choose God as my first priority in my life? Am I able to give every other significant thing in my life a secondary place, without denying its value and worth? Am I able to find all things in God?
May the Lord, who is good, grant pardon to everyone who has resolved to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers. (II Chro. 30: 18 – 19)