Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena (ULRA)

In Psalm 39:9 of the Old Testament, it is written, “To do Thy Will, O my God, is all my delight. Behold, I come.” God loves me, and I must love Him in return. His delight is to be with me; let it be mine, to be with Him. The most effective transforming prayer that can be said comes from the heart. It is, “Thy Will be Done.” There is no doubt that the measure of a person’s moral holiness is the wanting and the doing of the Will of God: It is the measure of a person’s faith; it is the singular measure of our love for God; it matters not with what intensity we pray, or the measure of our personal faith; everything is contained in the wanting and the doing of the Will of God:

“THY WILL BE DONE
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.”

“Not all who call out, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of God, but he who does the Will of God.” Matt.7:21 “If you love Me, you will keep My Commandments.” John 14:15

There is a struggle in us and we must ask ourselves very honestly, “Do I really want God’s Will? Or, do I want Him to do my will?” Do I say in prayer, “Lord, what is Your Will, this is all I want?” Or, do I make my own plans first and then say, “Come on God, come on now and support my plans, I want to be healthy, happy, comfortable, respected and secure.” But, before answering these questions you must first ask yourself two questions:

1. Do I really believe deep down inside of me, that God wants my happiness more than I do? Do I really believe that?

2. Do I really believe that God knows better than I, what will make me happy? And, do I trust Him to give it to me?

When our prayers are not answered promptly and, in the way we have pleaded with God they should be, do we then pout saying, “God is not listening to us, it is useless and then do we quit praying?”

God knows more about achieving my eventual happiness than I ever can know. He is working out a bigger and more far reaching plan that I can even comprehend: A plan for my happiness. My wanting God’s Will and my doing God’s Will are going to have great bearing on my prayer. Thy Will be done is the prayer of a spouse. By these words, we, who are followers of Jesus, become also His spouses. When I surrender everything to Him, it is this very surrender which becomes the proof of my love. Our Lord approaches with burning desire, as the loving Spouse of my soul, and my gift to Him of my will is the only offering I can make which is worthy of Him. By my surrender, I become entirely His.

I LIVE NOW,
NOT I,
BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME!

When I go to pray, do I ask God about my place in His plans! God has plans for the world and each one of us in the world. The plan for our lives is hidden in God from all eternity. These plans were revealed to the world by Jesus Christ. And, it is now for us to live out His plan to achieve His Divine Design for the world and souls. God wants to fill us with life, joy and peace. This can only be achieved when we become one Family of God, when we love God above all things and our neighbor for the love of God. We pray well when we say, “O Lord, what is my place in Your plan? O, God, be a light to my mind and a lantern to my feet. I know You have a plan for my life, what would You like me to do to help you achieve Your plan? What is the role You want me to play? What is the message I am to deliver, the song I am to sing, what act of love do You want from my life?” It is we who must seek to find our place in God’s plans for this is the only fitting response to His invitation of faith. “Dear Father, I know you have something special for me to contribute and I want to contribute it. What is Thy Will?” God does not have a specific will to regulate all our choices and every detail of our lives, overriding all individual decisions. This would deprive us of free will and our acts of love would be rendered sterile. God has a general will for all of His children, and it might be something like this, “Do something loving with your life, your talents and your time! Do something beautiful for Me! Make love your life principle!” The surest guide to the Will of God for each one of us is the daily duties of our state in life. We may know, with certainty, that these duties are, without doubt, God’s Will for us. If there is something special God wants us to do with our lives, He will place deep attraction in our soul for this thing: a religious vocation, a career, a partner for life, to give help to a certain person and so on. When these moments of grace come upon us, we sense that God is asking this special thing of us.

The YES that I say to God’s Will, means the acceptance of His plan in all the details of my life. I must accept who I am, the gifts I have been given, my shortcomings and strengths, the parents of whom I was born, the place in which I live, all the details of my life are God’s Will for me. I accept them, dear God, as Thy Will for me. When God created this world, there were lots of other worlds He could have made. He knew the details of each one, and He chose this one and me with this life of mine. Thy Will Be Done! This is what I too want, whatever You want of me. Everyone who will embrace the Will of God, wholeheartedly, will automatically eliminate 95% of the normal suffering that enters the life of a human being. What disturbs our peace of soul are the conflicting desires we possess. “I want this, I want that, I must have this, it must be that way.” We set our hearts on things and then we are crushed when our plans and desires are not realized. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there is your heart.” If my treasure be the Will of God, I will always seek His Will and give my best effort, allowing God to bless it with success or failure. This alone is the secret of true peace. “You are my God, You know what will make me happy far better than I; do with me whatever You will.” There is complete peace in our surrender to God’s Will. We must want to become what God wants us to become, live only as long as He wishes us to live, accept the successes and failures He sends to us with perfect peace. In such a life, suffering must be given a different name. Even life or death holds little terror, if we cherish above all the Will of God. There will be no conflicts of interest. Oh! To want only what He wants, to accomplish only the things He has called me to do, to walk through only the doors He opens for me: This is true happiness.

Once I surrender to God, He carries me in His arms for He knows what is best for me. He is moving with me in the direction of Heaven. I must not be afraid He will drop me. I must stop grabbing on to the banisters of life. God whispers to me, “You must let go,” so that we can move toward Heaven. Do I look at Him with plaintive eyes, and say, “I am afraid You will drop me? I lack trust and conviction in Your Love and Your Wisdom. I am a fraction. My God make me whole!” Let me not faint when the crosses come.

The Road of Pain is the way to Heaven; the hurtful things in life are the most divine blessings, and these should be embraced as God’s greatest gifts. The cross makes me like Jesus. It is the pledge of union with His adorable Heart. There is no real love and no real holiness without the cross. Every trifling cross is a fragment of the Sacred Host, for in it, is contained our God, whole and entire.

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee! I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not trust and do not love Thee.