In the Present Moment

The other day I was putting socks on Thomas, slightly annoyed that my three-and-a-half year old still “needs” me to dress him. Then God graced me with the realization that if Jesus ever wore socks, His Mother would never find it annoying to place the socks on His feet. Instead, she would’ve been overjoyed at the privilege of being asked to perform such an act of service.

Granted, my Thomas’ little feet will never plod La Via Crucis, nor will they be pierced with nails the suffering of which would redeem the world. Still, my Thomas’ feet are a sign of those blessed, pierced feet of Our Lord. This small act of love could be done for my son with the intention of offering it to Our Lord, to tell Him that the same I would do for Him if I could.

Grace is a purely free gift from God. There is nothing I can do to purchase it; I must wait patiently for Him to give what He chooses, when He chooses. Yet, at the same time, its effectiveness in performing miraculous deeds in my soul depends on my cooperation. That at each moment I am given an opportunity to give my “fiat” is incredible.

Every person in our path can either be recognized with a smile, or ignored as we are lost in thoughts of our own little world. Each evening I can silently do the dishes, or silently leave them for my spouse. When I’m confronted by a child who seeks my attention, I can see Christ in the child and listen attentively to whatever illogical, long-winded story they have to tell, or I can distractedly express by my disinterest how unimportant he or she is. Every time I can bring my will to say yes to Him in these hidden encounters, I open myself to a new infusion of His grace.

“In proportion to the intensity of my love for God, my supernatural life may increase at every moment by a new infusion of the grace of the active presence of Jesus in me…It is certain that by every event, person or thing, Thou, Jesus, Thou Thyself, do present Thyself objectively to me at every instant of the day. Thou do hide Thy wisdom and Thy love beneath these appearances and do request my cooperation to increase Thy life in myself.

Oh my soul, at every instant Jesus presents Himself to you by the GRACE OF THE PRESENT MOMENT – every time there is a prayer to say, a Mass to celebrate or to hear, reading to be done, or acts of patience, of zeal, of renunciation, of struggle, confidence, or love to be produced. Would you dare look the other way, or try to
avoid His gaze?”

- The Soul of the Apostolate, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, OCSO